New Year resolutions – Tutorial

I want to share with you a project I did for the Jewish New Year back in September. I always decide a lot of things in the beginning of the year, but then they seem to fade as time goes by. So this year I decided to keep all my resolutions close to me, so I will be reminded of them all the time.

Here is how you do it:

1. You take an empty gum box and cover it with paper. Don't cover all of it with one piece of paper, because it will be very hard to fold. Measure the different sections of the box and cover them with separate pieces. Make sure to leave the folds uncovered.

2. To cover the wavy front trace the line with a pencil and cut accordingly.

3. Make a cut on the front of the box so it will be possible to close it by tucking the flap in it.

4. Cut as many pieces of cardstock to fit inside the box. Write your resolutions on them and embellish.

Now you have your resolution box and no excuses!

Have a happy, prosperous New Year!!

Einat

Technique Corner

Whenever I use a fun technique I like to share it with all of you. So I decided to start "Technique Corner" which will be THE place to find easy, fun and quick techniques. This way, each time you'll see the title "Technique Corner" you'll know there is fun to be learned and new things to try.

I did this layout for My Punch's kit of the month club. This is a layout with a photo of my son when he was 1 month old. I wanted to give this layout an atmosphere of a magical peaceful night. I added the moon with the hat and instead of just adding stars; I hanged them on a string. As if they were hanging from the sky, twinkling and shining.

Here's how you can do it:
1. Cut or punch stars.

2. Arrange the stars on the paper.

3. Take a piece of string, yarn or twine and put it on the paper in a curve following the pattern of stars you created.

4. Adhere each star to the paper with 3D adhesive while securing the string in between them.

5. Secure the edges of the string by tying or stapling.
I hope you'll try this cute technique on one of your projects.


Einat

Have a very merry Christmas

Dear friends,

I wish you all a very merry Christmas, a time of family love and joyful gatherings.

If the sun is shining or the snow is falling, I hope this season will bring you light and happiness.

Have a fun holiday with those you love and a happy, peaceful and great new year.

Einat

First time ever layout and technique

This is another DT layout I did for My Punch and it tells the funniest story ever!

As you know a Jewish woman lights two candles every Friday evening to welcome the Sabbath. She covers her head, lights the candles and sais a blessing. All kindergartens have the Sabbath ceremony each Friday at the end of the day. One of the girls acts as "the mother" and lights the candles. My son decided it's not fair that only girls can light the candles. He wants to do it too! The kindergarten teacher didn't mind and went along with him and so did we. When Friday arrived he covered his head, lit the candles and said the blessing. Don't you think it's cute?

I didn't use a lot of materials for this layout. I wanted to keep it simple and tell the story. I did use one technique I want to share with you: the recycled flower technique.

I first punched the large orange flower that is tucked under the right photo. Then I used the little pieces I removed from the flower's petals to create a smaller flower that I added above the same photo.

This is a great way to use all your supplies and recycle the leftovers.









Try and find ways to maximize your supplies and use leftovers in your next project.

Einat

Sizzix Triple Play Blog Hop, week 7: Christmas Countdown

Hello my friends, we have reached our final week in the blog hop. I'm so sorry it's over; I had so much fun making all these wonderful projects. Thus week is no different, Eileen Hull designed a bunch of Treat Bag Toppers and we got to play with them! I wanted to create something different and not use them as toppers for a treat bag. Their shape reminded me of those standing calendars you put on your desk, so I decided to design a Christmas countdown calendar.

I covered all the larger shapes with paper and colored the smaller shapes with colored pencil. I made small pages counting down to Christmas and attached them to the topper. I added the title to one of the shapes and embellished it. I adhered the shapes to a wire and inserted it through the fold line, securing them on the back with sticky tape.

I hope you enjoyed the blog hop as much as I did. Please visit all the other blogs in the hop by using the button on the right side.

Have a merry Christmas!

Einat

And the winner is...

I'm sorry it took me so long to announce the winner of the baby card, but I haven't forgotten! I was really busy with a few deadlines, projects and Hanukkah, but I know it's not an excuse and I apologize.

I'm proud to announce that the winner is: Donna Henley Congratulations!

Please e-mail me your address to: kessler8@netvision.net.il

For all of you who didn't win, there will be another opportunity very soon...

Einat

Sizzix Triple Play Blog Hop, week 6: YOU Mini Album (Tutorial)

Week 6 of the Blog Hop is here! I can't believe 6 weeks have already passed and the hop is almost over. I love mini albums, so I was very excited to play around with Brenda Pinnick's Album, Brackets XL Die. I got paper and canvas pieces which made it even more fun. What made my happy feeling complete was the fact that the idea I had for the mini album solved a problem for me. When I put photos of my kids in my purse they always get lost and if I put them in a mini album it doesn't stay whole for a long time because of all the stuff I have in the purse. This mini is perfect for that because it has a bag of its own!

I took the two large canvas pieces, sewed them together and made a little special bag to put my mini album in. then I made the pages of the mini from the smaller canvas and paper pieces. I used a lot of fun techniques in this project, so I included a tutorial in the post so you can try them too.

Materials I used:

Sizzix Bigz XL Die - Album, Brackets, by Brenda Pinnick
Acrylic paint: plaid
Gesso: Ranger
Gloss Multi-Medium: Ranger
Foam stamp
Fabric letters: Prima
Ink: Ranger
Threads
Patterned paper: Graphic 45, Fancy Pants, MME
Letters: My Little Shoe Box
Buttons
Chipboard embellishment: American Crafts
Rhinestones, pearls: Queen & Co.
Lace
Eyelets

Bag:

1. Faux Batik on Canvas technique: spread Gloss Multi-Medium onto non-stick craft sheet. Stamp with the foam stamp into the multi-medium and then stamp the canvas. Let dry. Brush a watery paint mixture on top. After the canvas is dry add more colors to the stamp.

2. Sew the two pieces of the bag together leaving the top open. You can extend the sewing on the top side, but only on the front piece.

3. Color Change technique (optional): I changed the color of the chipboard bird to match the color scheme. Paint embellishment with Gesso. Let dry. Paint over the gesso with acrylic paint. Let dry.

4. Add fabric letters and embellishments.

Mini album pages:

1. Wash paint technique: brush a watery mixture of two colors on the fabric pieces. Let dry. Ink the edges.

2. Shaped pages technique: trace the shape of the canvas pieces onto patterned paper. Cut accordingly.

3. Add photo to each page.

4. Add title to each page.

5. Cut outs technique: create your own cut outs by cutting patterns and shapes from patterned papers.

6. Embellish the pages with buttons, rhinestones and lace.

7. Add eyelets to all the pages and tie with strings.

Keep hopping to see all the wonderful creations made by the other designers in the blog Hop.

See you next time!

Einat

If you really knew me

I usually design for my clients or my kids. For once I decided to design a layout for myself about myself. It's a very simple layout in terms of design, but not so simple (to me) in terms of exposure.

Since it's all in Hebrew here is the translation. The title: If you really knew me. The journaling is a collection of sentences describing me: I love Sudoku and my husband bought me an electronic Sudoku game, I saw the movie "Back to the Future" many times and it's my favorite movie, My favorite holiday is the Jewish New Year, I always eat an olive after I ate something sweet, I still have my stickers collection from when I was 12 years old, I love cats but my husband is allergic, I like my hair. Now you know almost everything there is to know about me.

Try making a layout for yourselves; it might be more challenging than you think.

Einat

Sizzix Triple Play Blog Hop, week 5: Festival of lights

My Sizzix project this week is all about Hanukkah. The 3D Pop-up Gift Card Holder designed by Karen Burniston is just perfect for a Hanukkah card and since I won this Die I could make the card with the colors of my choice. Hanukkah is the festival of lights, so all the colors of the card are bright and fiery.

For those of you who don't know what Hanukkah is all about here is the story:

Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday celebrated in December, for eight days and nights. In Hebrew, the word “hanukkah” means “dedication.” The name reminds us that this holiday commemorates the re-dedication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem following the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks.

In 168 B.C.E. the Jewish Temple was seized by Syrian-Greek soldiers and dedicated to the worship of the god Zeus. This upset the Jewish people, but many were afraid to fight back for fear of reprisals. Then the Syrian-Greek emperor Antiochus made the observance of Judaism an offense punishable by death. Jewish resistance began in the village of Modiin, near Jerusalem. Greek soldiers forcibly gathered the Jewish villages and told them to bow down to an idol, and then eat the flesh of a pig – both practices that are forbidden to Jews. A Greek officer ordered Mattathias, a High Priest, to acquiesce to their demands, but he refused. His five sons and the other villagers attacked the soldiers, killing all of them.

Mattathias and his family went into hiding in the mountains, where other Jews wishing to fight against the Greeks joined them. Eventually they succeeded in retaking their land from the Greeks. These rebels became known as the Maccabees, or Hasmoneans.
Once the Maccabees had regained control they returned to the Temple in Jerusalem that was spiritually defiled by being used for the worship of foreign gods and also by practices such as sacrificing swine. Jewish troops were determined to purify the Temple by burning ritual oil in the Temple’s menorah for eight days. But to their dismay, they discovered that there was only one day's worth of oil left in the Temple. They lit the menorah anyway and to their surprise the small amount of oil lasted the full eight days.

This is the miracle of the Hanukkah oil that is celebrated every year when Jews light a special menorah known as a hanukkiyah for eight days. One candle is lit on the first night of Hanukkah, two on the second, and so on, until eight candles are lit.

Other Hanukkah traditions are:
Spinning the dreidel: A popular Hanukkah game of spinning the dreidel, which is a four-sided top with Hebrew letters written on each side. Gelt, which are chocolate coins covered with tin foil, are part of this game.

Eating fried foods: Because Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of oil, it is traditional to eat fried foods such as latkes (pancakes made out of potatoes and fried in oil) and sufganiyot (jelly-filled donuts that are fried) during the holiday.

The card is embellished with Hanukkah symbols like candles and dreidels, which are all made with paper piecing technique. I also added the wrap of the Hanukkah Gelt to give it a little flair. The title on the card sais: Happy Hanukkah.
Make sure to keep hopping to see all the wonderful creations. You can find the complete artists' list on the Sizzix blog
Happy Hanukkah to everyone!
Einat

Happy Hanukkah – Paper Candles Tutorial

Today is the first day of Hanukkah and we light one candle. I made this layout with a few Hanukkah photos from last year for My Punch November kit. I used a cool technique to create the 3D candles.

Here is how it's done:

• Cut 3" X 2" rectangular pieces from patterned paper.

• Roll up each piece of paper and adhere the edge.

• Cut flame. Embellish with stickles, ink or paint.

• Attach the flame to the candle by adhering it to the inside of the roll with a piece of 3D foam tape.

Embellish your Hanukkah, Christmas or any other layout with these beautiful cool candles.

Tune in tomorrow for the Sizzix Triple Blog Hop with a fun project.

Einat