I Never Promised You a Rose Garden ....

...but I did insinuate that I was going to show you how to incorporate your Hebrew roots with a snowman. This is a stuffed snowman and he'll never make you feel cold.

First I used a compass to draw three circles, in which the diameters in inches measured 8 1/2, 7 and 6, on scrap paper to be used as patterns but you could use any graduated sizes. Then these were pinned onto fabric, in this case chenille, and cut out.

I then made wide stitches around each fabric circle and drew the thread tight, and secured the last stitch, just like making a yo-yo. I then stuffed the openings with as much stuffing as each would take.
Next I hot-glued the three together, the largest being at the bottom and the smallest at the top.

To finish my snowman off, I glued on a carrot nose made from a rolled up piece of felt and beads for eyes and buttons. However, to make my snowman take on a Hebrew persona, I added a black hat, side curls and a tallit.

Now for the big reveal:

This is the only Hebrew snowman I plan on making. Have a blessed week Dear Ones!

Incorporating Symbols Of Faith Into Your Surroundings

Hi everyone! I'm so glad to be back after being absent from this blog. I'm already planning more projects for future posts. The whole idea of starting this blog in the first place wasn't intended to be a look-at-what-I-did-aren't-I-great blog but a way of sharing ideas. I hoped to provide encouragement for readers to surround themselves with objects and material that remind them of the true foundations of their faith.

Having left behind the pagan holidays and embraced the Feast Days of Yahweh, I've found very limited  availability of Hebrew Roots or Feast Day themed items. So, I thought why not make my own and encourage others in the same pursuit. Pinterest is a great website to garner ideas. I find it a challenge to take ideas from there, or anywhere else for that matter, incorporate and combine them into finished projects that are encouraging to me and can also be a witness to visitors.

If you are still involved with the past holidays that most of us were brought up to celebrate, I'm not going to beat you over the head with a Torah scroll. As I learned about the Feast Days, seven in all, I found I was too busy trying to keep up to miss the others. I had left Halloween and Easter behind some time ago in my journey but not Christmas until about 5+ years ago when I started pursuing the Torah. Christmas was a big holiday time for me with all it's trimmings, but I now have seven holidays to celebrate that leave past holidays in the past. I would encourage readers to have fun and decorate and craft to your heart's content. Personally, I think our Abba delights when His children operate in the giftings He has placed in us.

Now that I've said my peace, I'll share two new items that I'm adding to my decor. If you check out the craft supplies list tab on the top of this page, you'll find a source for the stencils I used for this project.

A 6 inch square canvas stenciled with acrylic paint and a small pillow, stenciled,trimmed and sewn, stuffed with homemade potpourri. It smells great and I think I'll leave it on my desk to enjoy.

I combined the menorah picture on a  wall with a past project, a reminder to pray .

Wait until you see my next post. How can you combine Hebrew roots with snowmen? You'll see.

Feast of Trumpets

And יהוה spoke to Moses saying "Speak to the Children of Israel saying, in the seventh month. on the first day of the month, you will have a Sabbath (Feast of Trumpets), a memorial of the blowing of trumpets, a sacred convocation. Leviticus 23: 23-24 (The Messianic Alef Tav Scriptures)

You may know this day as Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, but it is good to go back and remember YHVH's original purpose for observing this day. It's a call to examine ourselves over the next ten days known as The Ten Days of Awe leading up to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and repent of the sins in our lives. I realize I may be preaching to the choir but this is for those of you who may be new to this walk and just learning. This is my 5th year of observing the Feast Days and tonight I'll go outside, sound my shofar and start to consider my ways.

And so....Chag Samaech Dear Ones!

A Different Kind Of Stencil

I'm still trying to get back into a regular schedule for my blog post so please keep checking back. Because of a neighbor situation I've recently moved my studio into a different area of the house. Now that I'm pretty much settled in I've started looking for interesting ideas to share with my readers.

Recently I've notice a flurry of YouTube videos showing how to make hot glue stencils. I just had to give it a try.

I used a translucent silicon ipad cover from the dollar store that a friend gave me as a work surface. It's also been suggested to use a silicon baking sheet or freezer or parchment paper for a work surface. I would suggest any surface that won't melt from the hot glue that said glue can be easily peeled off after it's cooled.

Then I drew some shapes with a black sharpie on scrap paper that I placed under the silicon ipad cover. It isn't necessary to use a pattern but for me it was a lot more accurate that it could have been otherwise. With my glue gun well heated I drew the shapes carefully with the hot glue.

I peeled the shapes off of the surface, placed them on card stock and sprayed them with some paint. This was the result.

This was only an experiment but I can see that stencils can be made that are not readily available commercially. I especially like the idea of using words spelled in cursive. My brain gears are clicking away as I think of how I can use this idea. Maybe on an art quilt or hand stenciled fabric for a garment. Ah, the possibilities!

I hope you'll try this technique yourself. But for now I'll just say:

I'm Back!

I'm back although I didn't really go anywhere. Basically I found myself running out of steam for this blog. I had exhausted the ideas I had to share with my readers along with dealing with family issues that kept me distracted. I apologize dear ones but I needed to take the time to 'chill' for a while so I could bring you something fresh.

When I started this blog it was with the idea that there are other like-minded creative types coming into the Hebrew roots walk. I've had a difficult time searching out more Hebrew themed craft materials, especially linking Judah and Ephraim. Instead of just showing you what I've done I will be introducing some ideas in future posts to make your own (semi)raw materials to use and projects to use them on. Also I've been prompted to add more substance to my posts in the way of encouraging Scripture and maybe tidbits of what I've learned. This is a scary step for me. I may stumble and fall on my face sometimes but  I'm looking forward to the future and sharing with you dear ones.

Recently I viewed a YouTube video in which a crafter was painting flowers on white ceramic tile purchased from a home improvement store. She used Folkart brand enamel from the craft store but, since I had stained glass paint left from my last project,  I used what I already had. The tile cost all of 32 cents. What a bargain! I love it when my crafting costs so little. These tiles came in two sizes 4 square inches and 6 square inches. The larger of the two cost approximately 46 cents.

I started my project with making a simple stencil out of heavy paper. I used a soft lead pencil to trace my stencil onto the tile. I had to take care in this step because the pencil mark could be wiped off very easily. You could also transfer your pattern with graphite transfer paper. The outline of my motif  was applied and then the motif was filled in with the paint. I then freehand painted stripes on the tile.

Folkart Enamels or stained glass paint could be used.

The finished tile is a little bit folk-artsy but I like it. This could be used for a coaster (put cork or felt buttons on the backside first) or displayed using a small plate or picture frame stand.

A Pesach Project

I'm still working on adding more to my Pesach tablescape. This week I fashioned a three-panel display. It would work well on my table and also fit in as a display with other Pesach decorations.

First I cut three identically sized foam board panels. I covered the panels with glitter impregnated felt that I had in my stash of supplies after I trimmed the edges with narrow ribbon. I spaced the panels a short distance from each other on the felt in anticipation of using the felt as a hinge  between the panels. Since the felt pieces weren't long enough to place on one side of the three panels, I glued two panels to the first piece of felt and a piece of felt to the third panel. I flipped the panels over and proceeded to do just opposite on the backside of the panels. I know this is possibly confusing for my readers to understand but in essence what I did was create a hinged three-panel display.

Next:

  Once the three panels were assembled into one unit the fun part began. I drew number stencils in reverse representing the year on the back of glittered canvas. I cut them out and glued them to the middle panels.

Then fancy ribbon was applied on each panel and the appropriate words were a added with dimensional glitter paint. The backside of my display is identical to the front so it can be view on both sides when placed on a table.

The project I posted last week of the candle holders went perfectly with my panels. I'll be adding these items to last year's projects on my Pesach table this year. My collection is growing.

Getting Ready For Passover

The cleaning has begun this week. The first room is my studio and supplies closet. If I wait until the week before Pesach I can barely get the kitchen done so I'm attempting an early start. Maybe I can get the whole house clean in time this year.

I've been brainstorming what projects to share leading up to Pesach. (Still brainstorming...LOL) This week's presentation is a set of candle holders for my Pesach table. A friend had gifted me with a kit of stained glass paint and I purchased two glass votive candle holders at a local $ store. I decided to use votive candle holders instead of regular taper holders to save my tablecloth from dripping wax as the candles burned.

First I drew my designs on paper. Actually I reused patterns I had previously used in other projects. I prepared the glass as per directions. Then I taped my designs inside of the candle holders.

My designs were outlined with the 'fake' lead that came with the kit.

Next I proceeded to apply the paint, not an easy task. Because the glass is rounded, the paint kept migrating and pooling at the sides of the design. I was concerned that it would spill over and run down the glass.

Here is my finished project.

I placed the letter Shin and a dove on each votive. This gives the choice of a different orientation to place them on the table.