creative jewish mom

A Colorful Mixed Media Vase Of Flowers Painted In My Sketchbook!

I used to have a fear of creating in my sketchbook, and now suddenly I am just as happy as can be creating in a large 8 1/2 x 11" book, and being possibly more brave since I am telling a story about my creative journey within the pages. Every good story has its ups and downs as should every creative journey! And funny enough, since the most recent vase of flowers painting is snug in my journal, I don't have to worry about what to do with it! Truthfully I am considering printing a copy to hang in the succah, wouldn't that be fun, as well as a step forward in my plans to start producing posters. (I have some in the works, stay tuned for that!) In case you are wondering, this is technically "mixed media" as a paint pen and waterproof black fine liner were used as well as acrylic paint. I will post the steps involved in painting a vase like this in the near future, in the mean time, take a look at the adjacent page, which I painted as I was painting the flowers....something completely different and a very lively companion to these flowers, not to mention a very simple way to make a vibrant abstract page of color, or dare I say painting?

Oleander In Bloom In Israel

Right about now I should be working on Succah decorations (truthfully I have enough in boxes in the attic for a few succahs, as you can imagine....) but instead I've been painting in my art journal and looking at some of my own photos for inspiration. Up the hill from my house and within our cobblestone paved "old city" sits this gated entrance, complete with a lovely oleander bush and a palm, that is so very picturesque and begging to be painted! Since I shared with you my oleander sketch earlier this week, I thought I would share photos of this special little spot, either as inspiration to plant some oleander, or to put paint brush or pen to paper, you decide!

Negative Shape Flower Painting Exercise In My Sketchbook

Negative shape painting is a great art technique that every crafter out to have up their sleeve, as it is great for making art and illustrations of all kinds, and especially wonderful when introduced to kids! This technique would be perfect for making art for the Succah, (think pomegranates, fig leaves, apples, olive branches etc.) since now is the time to gets those gears turning as far as succah decorations are concerned!

I did this vibrant flower illustration/painting in my landscape sized art journal, right next to a little floral drawing study done with markers, as the paper in this sketchbook is very thick. Markers can be fun, but the results achieved with negative shape painting and acrylic paint are soooooo much richer and more interesting. Of course the great think about a sketchbook/art journal is that you can and should experiment with a variety of materials and techniques, and then you have that experiment on hand in a reference book of sorts to look back on!

The most important aspect, I believe, in the negative shape painting technique is creating an interesting background, as it peaks through the shapes in the end result. This background was created by using up extra paint on my paint brush from a little painting I was trying to complete, and while that painting wasn't such a great success this little exercise in my sketchbook was. So you just never know where the art journey will take you, so just be open to unexpected results that may just be better than anything you had planned! Keep on reading for more on how to create something similar, and espcially for how I created the background as well as a look at it before the black layer was painted.......

A Peek In My Sketchbook: Floral Sketch With Colored Pencils

Today was the minor fast called the Fast of Gedaliah, which always takes place the day after Rosh HaShana, and whose timing is excellent after all those festive meals! While fasting and catching up on some computer work after 3 plus days of being unplugged, I came across a few photos of the oleander blooms in my container garden, and was overtaken by the need to draw the flowers, using the photo as reference, and so I did, as I am committed to keeping my art journal/sketchbook practice alive and well. So I grabbed the large journal I'm currently working in (I also have a smallish watercolor paper landscape journal for more painting oriented explorations) and a pencil and started sketching with confidence. Having spent so many hours drawing flowers in my sketchbook, (take a look at all those posts here) in accordance with tutorials from various bullet journal experts, and a few how to draw books, I now feel like I've really gotten to a place where I feel confident about my drawing skills, which is a great feeling! Now if I can just take that into a painting practice, maybe I'll at long last be able to paint those paintings of my dreams? As I always like to mention, developing a sketchbook practice is a great way to bring some creativity into your life daily without having to committ to a big chunk of time, and that consistency is what counts, and ultimately helps us achieve the results we desire in art practices that do not take place in a journal, unless of course that is your art practice! Okay, lets take a look at the simple steps involves in drawing a quick floral sketch and adding color with colored pencils!

Craft Schooling Sunday Will Resume Next Week

Thanks so much for stopping by, today is the second day of the Jewish New Year, Rosh HaShana, and we are unplugged and celebrating the holiday, so Craft Schooling Sunday is postponed until next week. Wishing everyone a shanah tovah, a good year, and a gemar chatima tovah, may you be inscribed in the book of life! And may you and yours have a year filled with good health, financial stability, blessings all around and time for creativity!

See you next week, which will be during the period called "the ten days of repentence" leading up to Yom Kippur. I don't generally do much crafting for Yom Kippur, but four days after that is Succot, the craftiest holiday of the year. And now, with the whole country on lockdown, well I can imagine the succahs will be the most beautiful ever, hopefully mine included! But first, we have a lot of praying to do, and as I type this I am cooking for Rosh HaShana, which involves lots of symbolic foods, including round challahs and raisins in those challahs! Phew, apple with honey requires no preparation, and is always delicious.

I almost forgot, now I get to say, looking forward to reconnecting in the new year!

Wishing You A Shanah Tovah And A Sweet As Honey New Year!

Dear Readers, I had dreamed of taking photos of one of the pomegranate laden trees in the neighborhood in order to wish you a Shanah Tovah, a happy new year, but as is par for the course here at CJM central, we are going out town tonight, together with all the food I've cooked and baked, and all the food I will cook at our destination. Which means there is simply no time left other than to wish you a Shanah Tovah, and to share with you some photos of bee hives that I see on my evening walk. Rosh HaShana, the Jewish new year is all about honey, and dipping apples in honey, so these photos are timely, indeed! And the other lovely thing about these bee hives is that they are in the middle of an olive orchard, which is also a grazing parcel for a herd of cows now and then.

Apple Cake Cards For Rosh HaShana, Or Someone's Birthday, Or Both?

One of my sweet sons has a 17th birthday tomorrow, just two days shy of Rosh HaShana, and this year, unlike previous years when the men and boys travel out of town for the holiday leaving us women to bask in the freedom of just being women, ahhhh, but never mind, that is not happening this year, or so it seems, which means that for the first time in about ten years I have the chance to make a proper birthday party for my son on his actual birthday! Not all the family will have arrived back home from their various schools, but at least I can decorate!

Just in time for my birthday decor needs, my friend Amanda Evanston posted a video on her Facebook page showing how to make some artful cakes, in preparation for the opening of her private Facebook group, (to let in another batch of members, which only happens twice a year) so check out the video here, and consider treating yourself to a membership in her Insider's Group, totally amazing, and the biggest comitment you'll need to make is for a month, so given all the videos now available there, nothing lost. This is not a paid post, just spreading good news about something that could really change your art game, if you are up for it!

Okay, back to Rosh HaShana apple cake and birthday cake, which could in fact be one and the same as Rosh HaShana is the world's birthday, at least on the Jewish calendar, but available for all to celebrate, so feel free to join in! There will be honey cake and apples dipped in honey and dates and pomegranites and carrots and beets and pumpkin and leek and maybe even a fish head if you are lucky. (I just mentioned the symbolic foods we eat on the holiday.....we also eat several course festive meals and everyone listens to the blowing of the shofar, this year on Sunday only.)

Once again, I am going off on a tangent and you might like to paint some festive apples or a birthday cake, right? Okay, let's do it........

A New Category Just In Time For Rosh HaShana: Apples!

Dear Readers: With Rosh HaShana coming up this Friday night, the crafting frenzy has begun, and I realized I could really help make your life so much easier if I put all the apple crafts together, as what says Rosh HaShana more than apples? So, I'm happy to say there are 29 posts (and counting) in this new category, where you can learn how to make apple themed crafts to your heart's content. Best of all, most of them are either very simple or use recycled materials together with a few basic art supplies. So lets fill the world with crafted apples and bring joy, blessings and creativity into the new year! Wishing everyone a new year filled with good health, financial stability, and the time to make creativity an important part of our lives, because it IS important, truly!

In case you missed the two links to the new category in the paragraph above, no worries, find that apple category here. Yes, just click on that word here, and a world of apples awaits!

Festive Painted Apples For Rosh HaShana

Let the Rosh HaShana crafting take over your dining room table, because what a great way to end the Jewish year! And with just a bit of forethought, whatever you make now can be used as decorations in the Succah (coming up 2 weeks after Rosh HaShana), or as little gifts or cards to wish neighbors, family and friends a sweet New Year! We are about to enter a three week lock down here in Israel, which means more time for family crafting, and hopefully a succah that is more creative than ever! But lest I digress, first let's celebrate Rosh HaShana and a family birthday Wednesday night, with lots of color and fun painted everything!

I have been going to town with painting a whole box full of styrofoam apples, and then doodling on them with a white paint pen, and at the moment those that are still in my house (I sent a basket full to loved ones for Rosh HaShana) are actually living in a glass fish bowl, which is a fun way to use a fish bowl if you have yet to make it a terrarium! Okay, lets talk about how to decorate your little painted apples, as there are so many options!

Now Is The Time To Get Crafting For Rosh HaShana!

Sometimes I feel like I might just be the only Jewish crafting coach in the world, and that dear readers is why I am posting some photos of what is going on right now on my kitchen table, namely to get you inspired to use this very last week of the Jewish year to engage in creativity, while at the same time making decorations for Rosh HaShana and Succot to boot! This last week of the year is a very introspective and important one, as we have the ability to make amends for things that didn't go quite as planned during the year, whether it be with relationships, mindset, reaching goals, setting proirities, making wise food choices, among the many aspects of life that we can control. So while you may wonder if creativity has a place, I say that it most certainly does, and especially if your home is lacking in creative activites......turn up the heat and get those creative gears turning, and while you are crafting, you can certainly fill your crafts with great intentions and talk to those you may be creating with about some of the things I've mentioned here. Or maybe it is just about spending time with some loved ones who many need just a little bit of extra attention this week? Or maybe it quite simply about your own well being and your need for creativity, which should never be shoved into the closet. Okay, enough said, less thinking and more doing, at least when it comes to crafts and creativity! Let's take a closer look at what is going on here at CJM headquarters! Wishing everyone a meaningful and productive last week of the year!