creative jewish mom

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!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! Wow, we are now entering the very last year of the Jewish year, and as I write this we are about to celebrate the very last shabbat of the year. The pressure is now on to do our very best in every area of our lives and relationships in this week, especially as we can in essence make up for for things we didn't quite handle as we should have in the past year. So try to be extra kind and forgiving this week, to yourself and others, do an accounting of areas that could use some attention, and make sure to remember that there is a master plan and many things are just beyond our control, and our job is to figure out to make the best of things in any situation. That said, I must run as being ready early for shabbat is a goal that I want to accomplish, at least this week when there are no excuses as there are no huge group of guest arriving! Enjoy the last week of the year, and of course, don't forget to include some creativity, crafting for Rosh HaShana and Succot are valuable ways to spend time. And now, enjoy the features from last week's party......

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! We have been experiencing an extreme heat wave, with temps expected to be as high as 107 F, which is not at all a regular occurence for us here in Northern Israel on our coolish mountaintop location. Very grateful for air conditioning right about now, as I get ready for Shabbat ( I usually write this on Friday afternoon) with the challah baking now back in my court as my teen daughter has flown the coop for school and arrived home on the bus sometime around 4 am, sooooooo, challah it will be. I am about to look up the recipe here on the blog, just to make sure I remember correctly, as it has literally been years! Speaking of years, I haven't picked up a crochet hook since January and feeling the need to crochet something, especially with all the great features, or maybe it is time to knit baby booties? Enjoy the features, and think about delving in to the projects for Rosh HaShana, which is in just two weeks!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! With Rosh HaShana in just 3 weeks, yikes, time is whizzing by! Last night I passed by a tree packed with nearly ripe pomegranites which was a true reminder of the season, and a gorgeous one to boot. I hope to have a moment to photograph that to share with you, and or course try to paint some pomegranites as well, which could make lovely little Jewish New Year cards! I have been busy with graphic design work and some sketching and a bit of painting in my sketchbook, but dreaming of painting on a  larger scale, and picking up the crochet hook to crochet some clouds for a baby mobile or even for a succah mobile, now that would be amazing! It just so happens that I'm not the only one thinking about crocheting, as the features from last week's party are almost all just that. So enjoy and if you have yet to give crocheting a try, now is a great time, especially with gift giving season quickly approaching! Enjoy!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks for joining me here! I want to wish everyone a very happy and fulfilling Jewish month of Elul! Elul is the last month of the year, and our opportunity to make amends for all the things during the year that we didn't quite realize as we could have, for the people we may have hurt in any way, for the things we didn't pay attention to as we should have and for the ways in which we could have been kinder to all those around us, including ourselves, just for starters! The astrological sign of the month of Elul is Virgo, because it just occurs to me that this is the time in which we try to purify ourselves and our lives as much as possible in preparation for the Jewish New Year, which also happens to be the day in which we are judged. This is truly serious business for many, so if you notice the tone of my writing changing a bit this month, to be a bit more thoughtful or possibly spiritual, now you know why!

With Rosh HaShana just a month away, that means now is the time for yes, Rosh HaShana crafting, which traditionally might mean cards and little gifts to give to neighbors and friends and family. My kids always prepared a little note for all their classmates together with a small treat. If I am home (last year I was not....but will try to post photos of that adventure soon) I also make something to give to a few neighbors, as spreading joy is a good thing to do in general and especially when you are taking your first step into a new year!

Speaking of first steps, now might also be a great time to try a new craft, or include someone in your crafting who could use the distraction, the skill building or the attention! Enjoy the features from last week's party, and keep those creative gears turning!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! Here we are in the middle of August, and the vacation island is about to end, well at least for two of my teens, one is starting school on Sunday (this is not a weekend day for us here in Israel, waaah) and the second a week later at the beginning of the Jewish month of Elul. It looks like my daughter won't be starting back until after Succot, so likely in another 2 months or so, which means more time to work on photography (in addition to college entrance exams) and guitar, which she's just picked up after years of piano lessons. I have been trying to fit some web design work into my schedule as well as designing a nursery (so much fun!) in the midst of our quasi summer vacation, and truthfully looking forward to some kind of schedule once the boys go back to school, having been home for five months. Not complaining we are grateful for our health, and I really enjoyed this family time, which even included some pockets of creativity with the teens! Speaking of creativity, lets take a look at the features from last week's party:

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! Summer is in full swing, and since we are usually in the USA during this period, there is something I've discovered for the first time this year with my kids, and that is that teens are perfectly capable of making their own plans with friends for outings and even overnight trips, (here in Israel the country is small and bus travel is safe, so kids get used to traveling from north to south to visit family at a fairly young age, often with someone keeping an eye on them) so the anxiousness regarding what we will be doing during this vacation period is simply non-exhistent, phew! I do hope we'll take some family trips, but without the pressure from the kids I can just calmly figure out where to go and when. Personally I'd rather stay home and paint or sketch, or try out my new gelli plate, since this is actually the worst time of year to go anywhere as the whole country is basically on vacation.

I've been delving into the idea of making succah decorations now, when there is time, and I've made a bunch of plastic bag pom poms, and I have a huge number of plastic techina bottles waiting for their turn in the spotlight. Washing out all the containers is a bit of a headache, but I'm gonna do it, as those containers have taken over an entire kitchen cabinet, with more in boxes in the basement! I also had fleeting thought about using the gelli plate to print some fabric panels for the succah, which would be wonderful, but then again I already have many options fabric wise, so maybe my time would be better spent elsewhere, like simply making some printed wall hangings to sell? Okay, we won't go there right now, instead lets get inspired by all the great features from last week's party, including one pumpkin themed recycling craft! (Because crafting ahead of time is the best......) Enjoy!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! Phew, we have completed the 3 week mourning period that occurs right in the middle of summer, and now, let summer vacation really begin. Hmmm, in previous years maybe, when we were blessed with the opportunity to travel abroad and spend precious time with dear family. This year, well, we've already been on "vacation" of sorts since before Passover, with my teens learning by phone and traveling now and again to take tests, so this three week vacation period before the start of the Jewish month of Elul, and thus a return to school, will be a bit different this year. I do realize that the feeling of being on vacation is something that the kids need, so we will make a big effort to do barbeques (from our own porch with a mountain view) and take day trips to the Meditteranean coast, an hour from home, (can't wait for that!) and around Northern Israel where there are many many beautiful and interesting things to see.

And like I always say, now is a great time to get started with Succah decorations, when there is time to get creative! I have been saving a particular container all year long to cover a whole wall of the succah, and my current passion is making tiny origami stars and plastic bag pom poms which I will share soon! Okay, that is all for now, hope everyone is well, and taking advantage of a slightly different summer by using it to get creative! And now for the features from last week's party, enjoy!

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! Summer is zooming by on what feels like a never ending school vacation with just one out of three teens slated to return to school in another month, and the other two, hmmmm. I have been blessed to travel every summer for at least a month each year, but this year we are staying put so we will have to plan lots of day trips to make the most of the three week vacation coming up right after Tisha B'Av. Speaking of T'isha B'av, the 9th of Av, this major fast day and saddest day on the Jewish calendar is coming up on Wednesday night, so this week is all about thinking about how we as individuals can help rebuild the world, even with small acts. In the face of the pandemic, there is more obvious food for thought than in previous years and yet with all the coping that is required sometimes it is hard to look at the bigger picture, and yet we must! So wishing everyone a meaningful week and a productive week, which might just mean filling your days with creativity! So enjoy the features from last week's party, and then get off the computer and get crafting, or maybe learn a new doodle to add to your sketchbook?

Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday

Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday, thanks so much for joining me here! Wow, July is already half way through, and no return to school in sight, just hoping that there will be come Sept.1st (for my daughter) and Rosh Chodesh Elul (for my sons, whose schools are according to the Jewish calendar) though nothing is certain. We are in the Jewish mourning period known as the "three weeks" which until next Wednesday means no haircuts, no music and no parties, with the rules becoming much stricter for the last nine days, as we approach the saddest day of the year, T'isha B'Av, which is also a major fast day.  I am hoping to get some more Jerusalem themed crafts out into the world in the coming week, so now that I've said it, I hope it will happen. As you can see from the previous posts this week, most of my creative time has been going into filling my new twice the size sketchbook, which I am loving! I'm realizing that drawing flowers over and over is going to help when I get pack to painting them, since if you want to abstract something it sure helps to know what that something really looks like! Okay, I've got two sinks full of dishes and a bit of cooking to do, so hope everyone is well, and enjoy the features from last week's party!