creative jewish mom

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! Today is a rainy winter day, so I'm not sure what is going on with the almond trees that should be blooming just about now. I don't see any from my house, so stay tuned for that, and with the festive holiday of Purim in just one month, now is the time to get crafting. No costumes for me to make this year, and we won't be having a huge party either, waaah, but I will invest in our gifts of food for the neighbors, which is going to be something more crafty and creative than the last two years (I gave a gorgeous and delicious spread of Moroccan salads.....) and I've been saving oatmeal cans, so those will have to figure in there somewhere, maybe stacked to make a castle tower from two? Okay, but first maybe a little crocheting is in order as I need to make some baby doll clothes for a birthday......and speaking of crotcheting, wow, there were some great projects in last week's party, and so keep on reading to enjoy them in the features. Stay healthy and stay creative!

5 Steps To Create a Meditation Space at Home

Meditation is a perfect life-enhancement tool anytime, and especially now with all the stress we are facing worldwide. Meditation can help you clear your mind, and help you connect your thoughts with your feelings. People meditate to create healthy habits, such as a positive attitude, self-discipline, restful sleep, and even to lower anxiety and stress levels.

Who couldn't use a little injection of stress relief right about now? You can count me in, certainly! Before we get started with talking about creating a space or spot for a meditation practice in your home, I did want to mention something about the source of meditation. Most folks assume that meditation has its roots in Asia and India, but guess what friends, there is also a strong Jewish tradition of meditation that is even referred to in the Torah! Jewish meditation includes practices of settling the mind, introspection, visualization, emotional insight (for example.) Jewish meditation also differs from other forms of meditation in that it may accompany unstructured, personal Jewish prayer, or be part of structured Jewish services. Of course it can, like other forms of meditation be separate from prayer practices as well.

Through the centuries, Jewish meditation practices have been developed in many movements, including among Maimonideans (Moses Maimonides and Abraham Maimonides), the Kabbalists (Abraham Abulafia, Isaac the Blind, Azriel of Gerona, Moses Cordovero, Yosef Karo and Isaac Luria), Hasidic rabbis (Baal Shem Tov, Schneur Zalman of Liadi and Nachman of Breslov), and the Musar movement rabbis (Israel Salanter and Simcha Zissel Ziv). Very interesting indeed, and truly drives home the point that meditation is something worth including in our daily lives.

Okay, now that we know meditation is worth considering, lets figure out how and where to do it in our home! It is true you don't need to dedicate more that ten minutes, if that is what you have at the moment, so we aren't talking about renovation or even a monetary investment, just some simple groundwork to ensure your success.

Amazing Photoshop Effects That Might Interest You

Above: An image like this one can be created by first transforming the photo into a black and white or sepia toned image, and then applying a filter, in this case a dusty pink.

In case you are wondering, did you know that "post processing" of digital photographs is half the work when it comes to taking great photographs? Those gorgeous photos you see everywhere partly professional equipment and partly digital enhancement, in almost every case. The good news is that for those who do not have expensive camera equipment or knowledge, by simply using the right program to enhance your photos you can achieve professional looking images!

As a graphic designer and blogger, I use photography in most of my work, and have been using Photoshop practically since day 1. I use it for everything from minimal dark/light adjustments, white balance adjustments, color balance adjustments to retouching and cropping. Ah yes, and lets not forget adding titles and watermarks to the photos I post here on the blog! But truthfully, there is much much more to Photoshop that I really should be familiar with. My use of Photoshop might be compared to driving a Lamborghini in the slow lane, and now that I've admitted to that, it is time to get up to speed!

Photoshop has been an irreplaceable tool in photography, graphic design, and many other creative fields for over two decades. What makes Photoshop one of the best graphic tools ever made is the constant innovation that goes into upgrading it every year. From web design to architecture, Photoshop is integral to several industries that rely on it for special effects and editing. Whether you’re new to graphic design or an expert, it’s hard not to incorporate some of Photoshop’s effects in your work. Staying up to date on the newest effects and editing tools will help you become better at what you do. (Note to self!) So lets learn about some of the latest and most effective Photoshop effects, no time like the present!

Trees In Bloom On A Milk Carton Craft!

Tonight is the wonderful Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat, so it is time to get crafting, either to create decor for the holiday, or as an activity to honor the holiday. After all, whimical paintings of trees in bloom gracing milk cartons is something one can certainly enjoy for a good few months? I just love painting on milk cartons because the results are ready to display and honestly it is just so darn cute, and unexpected, a great combination! Last week I shared milk carton row houses with heart graffiti, and now I'm sharing almond trees in bloom painted on the rejects from the previous project, which is a perfect way to go! And the truth is I started painting whimsical almond trees in bloom on paper, check it out here, and then I started to explore the topic further on milk cartons. In case you are wondering, this painting on milk carton trend is not likely to disappear any time soon, I'm already thinking about Purim, the next Jewish holiday! Okay, but first things first, lets take a look at how to go about painting blooming fruit trees on milk cartons!

Trees In Bloom Finger Paintings For All Ages!

Tonight is the wonderful Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat, the new year for fruit bearing trees, so what better time than to get the family together, or carve out some time for yourself, to paint some artful and whimsical almond trees in bloom! Okay, if you wish they can be cherry blossom trees, no problem! And best of all, you can choose to do this trees in bloom painting project without using any brushes at all, just fingers and a few q-tips, imagine that! That is right dear readers, finger painting isn't always for little kids, it can be great for any age!

The trees in bloom paintings that I'm sharing with you here were painted based on an online family friendly painting class by my friend Amanda Evanston, and the class is called Brushless Botanicals: Chagall Trees! Perfect, right? (Chagall was Jewish and includes many Jewish themes in his paintings, so get inspired by Chagal and paint anything floating in the sky!) There's a whole section about Chagall which is really interesting, in addition to several painting lessons to create trees inspired by Chagall. I took it one step further to create trees in bloom, and added some paint pen details as seen in the painting above, but you may choose to stick with just your fingers......there are no rules folks! Also, do take a look at Amanda Evanston's Facebook page every Wednesday, starting today, for some free mini classes, including one today (up for 24 hours) that uses spaghetti as a painting tool, don't miss it!

Okay, back to our Tu B'Shevat scheduling, lets paint some joyful trees in bloom, and I've even painted some on milk cartons, which together with these paintings are this year's holiday decorations! Okay let's take a closer look......

Folk Art Trees In Bloom Doodle Painting

Looking for a fun tree doodle, that is simple with great results, and that you could even use as a Tu B'Shevat craft? These folk art doodle trees are sweet as can be, and look great as is, on paper, but one could also draw them on cereal box cardboard and use them for a garland or napkin rings, or how about a grove of stand up folk art doodle trees? This was a first for me, and I have to admit, the last time I tried to doodle trees in my sketchbook, sometime last May, I failed completely, but I just had to get back up on the horse, and this time, yippee, I've already filled six pages in my sketchbook with doodle trees and I am thrilled! And after all the acrylic paintings I've been doing in the same sketchbook, I need to do a whole bunch of pages that aren't so paint laden, and this is a good start! I have actually taken photos of these doodles in progress in order to do a small tutorial, so lets get started!

Simple Doodle Trees Painting For Tu B'Shevat

Tu B'Shevat, the Jewish New Year for fruit bearing trees is this coming Wednesday night, so now is the time to make some simple tree-themed crafts to fill your home with joy! We are fortunate to live in Israel where we witness the blooming of the very first fruit tree, the almond tree, right around the holiday, so the holiday is especially anticipated. This first sign of spring in the dead of winter is something very special. and certainly brings great joy to those of us who are paying attention. Of course school children celebrate this event and there is a song in hebrew about the blooming of the almond trees, but it is something special for every age. I generally photography the blooming almond trees each year, so stay tuned for that. In the mean time, lets get started with tree themed crafts by making a simple doodle tree painting, that you can enjoy just for the sake of creating something, or use as a sign, or even cut out the trees to make a garland, or napkin rings, or place cards for your Tu B'Shevat seder! Okay, time is of the essence, lets get started!

Printable Fruit Themed Favor Boxes For Tu B'Shevat!

Looking for a great looking and festive something for your Tu B'Shevat table? How about creating your own fruit themed boxes from my printable, available on my creativejewishmom/Etsy, and then stacking them up for the greatest looking centerpiece ever? Honestly these boxes look so great I enjoy looking at them stacked up casually, and I don't think I could part with any at the moment! But maybe by the time Tu B'Shevat rolls around in a few days, I'll be ready to fill them with dried fruits and nuts to give as little gifts to friends and neighbors to celebrate the Jewish New Year for the fruit bearing trees!

What can I tell you about these little boxes? Well, you do need to be handy with a craft knife to cut them out once printed on heavy paper, but the assembly is simple and once they become little boxes they are simply adorable! And of course you don't have to use them as boxes at all, seal up all the sides and display them as fruity cubes, hanging mobile style or stacked like blocks. And if you're not into assembling the boxes, so use the square panels to make a glorious paneled wall hanging by stringing a whole bunch together like a coat of armor, if you know what I mean?

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Thanks so much for joining me here on Craft Schooling Sunday! We have been having some real winter weather at last, with lots of rain and temperatures low enough at night for me to bring in a few succulents, one night that is! The next Jewish holiday, coming up this Wednesday night, is the wonderful holiday of Tu B'Shevat, which is the new year for the fruit bearing trees. Here in Northern Israel, our lovely old almond trees bloom right around the holiday, and due to the warmer than usual weather I saw one already in bloom last week. Tu B'shevat even has a "seder" with 4 cups of wine that some folks choose to do, while others make feasts consisting of as many kinds of fruits as possible, and especially the fruits that are amongst the 7 holy species, which are grapes, figs, dates, olives and pomegranites. Nuts are "fruit" as well, so we buy as  many kinds as are available, and just with that a feast is born! I've been painting, so some of the new crafts I'll be sharing this week are yes, fun paintings of almond trees in bloom. There are many more fun crafts for Tu B'Shevat in my archives, but there is only so much time! And with all the great inspiration from last week's party, well who can decide? The main thing is to spend less time looking at great projects and more time doing them, so enjoy the features from last week's party and get crafting!

Seven Save the Date Card Ideas That Couples Need to Know About

Mazel Tov, you've set a date for you special occasion, whether it be a wedding, milestone anniversary or birthday, bar/bat mitzvah, or family reunion, just for example. Now is the time to let all your friends and family know about the upcoming event, and a wonderful and exciting way to do it is with save the date cards. With so many options and the ability to simply order cards online, there really is no reason not to go for it and order something to show your guests how much you care about including them!

Save the date cards are advisable to spread the word about the approaching event, and while traditionally used for weddings and fund raising events, why not use them for every important event? In this day and age, who doesn't love getting snail mail? Wondering what kind of save the date card is right for you? Lets delve into it a bit further, come on, that date is approaching, and I've got seven fun ideas to get those creative gears turning!