of a crafty

By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
UTH JENNINGS HAD OPERATED a craft shop out of a five-car garage on Custer-Orangeville Road, but a trip to Cleveland in 1971 gave the business a new direction.
She had seen how Faberge-style decorative eggs were made and decided to learn the craft. Since then, Jennings, 72, has used her artistry to turn bird eggs into pieces of art and beauty.
From her Alcraft Egg Artistry housed in the expanded garage, Jennings displays her work for sale and teaches others how its done.
Alcraft is the only store in the eastern part of the U.S. dedicated exclusively to the art of decorating Faberge-style eggs, she said. The store offers a catalog.
Some of her eggs shells sell for $50; others can be as pricey as $2,000.
There are large eggs with smaller ones inside. Some are jewelry boxes and music boxes that are lighted from inside.
Patriotic
One patriotic shell has Betsy Ross holding a flag next to a fireplace.
Jennings' 74-year-old husband, Carl, makes the bases on which the completed shells are displayed, and does the electrical work.
One goose egg has a tiny workable chess set inside. There are also ornaments to decorate Christmas trees.
Jennings even made a 12-piece set of napkin rings for a customer who wanted them to match the color of her china.
"The egg is a symbol of life," Jennings said, noting the Chinese give them as presents with the birth of a baby.
Jennings uses the eggs of swans, geese, ducks, pigeons, ostriches, peacocks, pheasants, turkeys, emus, rheas, finches and quails. She orders them from hatcheries throughout the world.
An egg from a rare cassowary found in New Guinea and Australia costs $100.
Chicken eggs aren't used because their shells are too thin.
Jennings simply doesn't drop eggs. Larger pieces, though, can be glued together if damaged.
She handles her finished eggs in a matter-of-fact manner. The ostrich egg shells are sturdy, about the thickness of better china.
Time it takes
It takes Jennings between 10 and 90 hours to complete a project. She has about 300 on display at Alcraft.
Most of the time is spent marking the egg before cutting it. A high-speed dental drill is used to carve the shells.
Her husband makes dust boxes so an artisan can cut the shells with the dust being vented outside to protect the lungs.
"I could never have this without him," Jennings said.
Since Jennings began teaching the craft, only two students have dropped out of her classes.
"It just wasn't the type of art they wanted to do," Jennings said.
Mary Anna Evans of Hubbard, Jennings' sister, decided in 1990 at the urging of their mother, Zula Bible, to decorate eggs.
"I took a class and never stopped," Evans said, noting she not only takes lessons from her sister but has been to seminars in Texas, Arizona, Michigan and Illinois.
Although she has three cabinets at home filled with her eggs, Evans said she gives them away to celebrate weddings and retirements.
"When I give an egg away, it's part of me," she said.
"It's relaxing," commented Beverly Taylor of Masury, who has been decorating eggs for 10 years.
Taylor visited Alcraft and decided to give it a try. She gets her patterns from Jennings and other teachers, crafts an egg and then alters the pattern to come up with another design.
A large part of the Jennings' business is selling egg supplies and accessories such as egg stands, braids, trims and Austrian jewels.
Jennings said the Japanese, both in this country and in Japan, are her largest customer base. Australians also buy a lot of supplies.
About 60 artisans will attend a seminar this summer at Alcraft.
yovich@vindy.com