Guest Designer Natasja Verbeek

I am delighted to present you with Natasja Verbeek, a very talented scrapper from Holland. Natasja designs for 'Cosmo Cricket' and is a member of the 'Tattered angels' educators team. Her work is being published in dutch scrapbook magazines as well as international ones. She is known for her interesting workshops and tutorials.
Natasja was kind enough to find time to play with our supplies and scrap specially for our blog. Her work is beautiful as always.

Thank you, Natasja!

Crafting Jewish Sukkot Crafts

Happy Sukkot to all!

Enjoy this recipe, from the book Crafting Jewish!

● ■ ● ● ■ ● ● ■ ● apple-pear gallete ● ■ ● ● ■ ● ● ■ ●

This is a wonderful Succot dessert because it highlights the seasonal fall fruits.

Ingredients:

- 2 cups flour - 1 tablespoon sugar - 1 ½ sticks margarine - ½ cup cold water Filling Ingredients: - 3 baking apples - 2 ripe pears - 3 tablespoons sugar, divided - 1 teaspoon cinnamon - 4 tablespoons margarine, divided

How to do it: 1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Mix flour and sugar together in the mixing bowl. Cut the 1½ sticks of margarine into slivers; add to the flour and sugar. Blend together with your fingers or the pastry cutter until the mixture looks like lumpy peas.

3. Slowly add the water and knead by hand until soft dough forms. With the rolling pin, roll the dough out into a large circle the size of a dinner plate and place dough onto the cookie sheet.

4. Use the vegetable peeler to peel apples and pears. With the sharp knife, cut out the cores. Quarter and slice the fruit. Pile the fruit slices onto the center of the dough. Leave an approximately 2" border of dough around the fruit.

5. Mix 2 tablespoons of sugar and the cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle the apples and pears with this mixture. Cut 2 tablespoons margarine into small pieces and scatter the small pieces of margarine on top of the fruit.

6. Fold the dough up and around the mound of apples and pears.

7. Place remaining 2 tablespoons margarine into a microwave-safe bowl. Melt the margarine in the microwave for 30 seconds. With a pastry brush, brush the crust with the melted margarine and sprinkle remaining tablespoon sugar over the crust.

8. Bake for 45 minutes–1 hour. Remove from the oven and transfer to a serving plate. Cut into wedge-shaped servings.

Estimated prep time: 30 minutes Bake time: 45 minutes – 1 hourParve • Yield: 8 servings

Rosh Hashanah Table

Since many of us don't take pictures during the holidays, our holiday photos are staged table shots taken before the holiday begins.

Maya Oren-Dahan used the Rosh Hashanah collection and the monthly sketch for this lovely layout of her table. Doesn't the food look delicious?

I wish you all an easy and meaningful fast.

September Sketch Challenge

Thanks again to Jana Eubank for allowing us to use one of her wonderful sketches! Here is September's sketch inspiration:

The layering and scalloped edging on this sketch really caught my eye. Sketches can be interpreted in any way you wish. They can be "down-sized" to make a card or you can even use this one to make an 8 1/2 x 11" page. Be creative!

With Rosh Hashanah approaching, I decided to use the sketch as a guide to make a card:

Lisa Spiegel made this beautiful monochromatic layout with the Rosh Hashanah collection:

Rachel M made a card with the Hanukkah collection:

Now it's your turn to show us your creations using CJS papers and Jana's sketch. Don't forget to link us up so we can see what you've made. Happy scrapping!

Quick New Year Cards

The High Holidays are very early this year. Just as I'm thinking about trying to fit in one more day at the beach, I have to start mailing my Rosh HaShana cards. I don't send a lot of cards, so I would like each one to be special. It's my personal opinion that even the simplest hand-made card is more personal than a store-bought card.Here's my formula for simple but quick handmade cards:

1. Start with high quality cardstock. Remember the recipient will be handling the card, and even someone who has never done paper crafts will appreciate the feel of fine quality.
2. Use beautiful patterned paper and cut it into an interesting shape, or one that includes a greeting.
3. Add one more thing to give the card dimension and that personal feel. The one more thing can be a piece of ribbon, another layer of cardstock matting, or a simple embellishment.

Here's a lovely card from Lisa Spiegel. She used a similar formula, layering several patterned papers from the Rosh HaShana collection



I hope we've given you a few ideas to create some quick Rosh HaShana cards.

L'Shana Tova to you and your family!