Crafting Jewish Style New Design Team Members

After much deliberation and time we have finally put our new design team together. Thanks to all of you have submitted layouts and portfolios for consideration. (We look forward to seeing some of the submitted work on Guest Designer basis.)Please continue playing along with us!

Drumroll please.....DaDa Dummm..... our new team members (in alphabetical order) are:

Shir Benovich-Modiin,Israel
Aliza Deutsch- NY, New York
Julie Gelfand- Woodland Hills, California
Cassie S.-Denver, Colorado
Irit Shalom-Rehovot,Israel

We are so glad they are joining the Crafting Jewish Style design team and we want to share with you a little bit about them.

Shir Benovich




Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you started scrapbooking:

I'm a QA engineer, working in a software company. Next week I'm starting a new role: QA Team Leader :-)
I started scrapbooking while I was pregnant with my first baby, Yaara (she is now 6 & half years). I knew I wanted to create a special album for my baby and I searched the internet and discovered this crazy-fantastic world!

How would you describe your style?

I think that I can define my style as Clean & Simple. I don't like messy work, but I like to try new techniques every once in a while.

How and when do you make time for scrapbooking?

I try to scrapbook everyday - my girls love to "create" with me and it's part of our everyday lives. After they go to sleep I usually scrapbook more, trying to create layouts, cards, participating in challenges, etc.


What are your 3 favorite products/tools and why?

My 3 favorite products / tools (these days, it changes from time to time :-)): Ink (pigment ink, for 'edge"-ing the papers), Sew Easy by We R Memory Keepers (it adds texture and although it takes time - I love the result!) and the third can be ribbons (I think they upgrade every layout and card). I love many other products & tools and if I think about it more I may change my selection, so I stop now :-)

Aliza Deutsch



Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you started scrapbooking:


I am a preschool teacher, though (interesting tidbit) I stopped teaching for a few years and worked as a construction worker. I am now back at teaching, and I am loving it.
I started scrapbooking in about 2005. I always admired pretty papers, and art tools, but I felt like I wasn't artistic. Then a friend of mine, shared some of her patterned paper with me. I took out some books, bought a few paper punches, and I struggled with them till I started to make things that I liked.
At first, I only made cards, because a whole page was too intimidating. Then I got a small 6x6 album as a gift, and I began to work with photos. Little by little my confidence (and my collection of supplies) grew. I now refer to scrapbooking as my art work. Very recently, I have been using longer and longer journaling on my pages, and I am starting to think, "do I like writing too?" Could be.

How would you describe your style?

My style is definitely simple, with nice clean lines.

Do you have a favorite layout; describe?


I don't have one particular favorite layout. I like looking back at all the pictures and stories. Although, here's a recent one.



How and when do you make time for scrapbooking?

Making time for scrapbooking--well that is always a challenge. It helps that I am working part time this year, and that my kids are not so little anymore. Otherwise, it's just about making choices about how to spend my time. My home could be cleaner, I'd love to bake a bit more than I do, but I really want to capture our family memories, and create art more than those other things right now. I also used to go to sleep earlier, but realized I prefer those extra hours for scrapbooking.

What are your 3 favorite products/tools and why?

Hmm... favorite tools. I love tools (I refer you back to the construction worker tidbit). I think I love my paper trimmer most, my nice sharp scissors, and paper punches. Those punches were out of style for a while, and it seems they are having a comeback with so many new designs every day. I also recently bought "sew easy" that pierces your paper with patterns for different kinds of stitching. That is 4 tools, but I love it too, because I don't have a sewing machine, and I don't think there will be one in my near future.


Julie Gelfand




Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you started scrapbooking:

I'm Julie Gelfand. I live in Woodland Hills, CA with my husband
Gregg, and 3 beautiful daughters. Carly will be 8 in April. Maya and
Hayden are 2 years, 2 months. And let's not forget two wacky dogs who
have been known to be escape artists.
I started scrapbooking in the summer of 2003 when Carly was about 3 months old. I caught "Scrapbooking" with Sandy Genovese somewhere on cable and thought
"wow, that's really cool. I want to do that." I found an "Intro to Scrapbooking" class at my local LSS, took the first class and stayed for the second "Beyond Basics" class right after. I was hooked.

When I'm not scrapbooking, I work part time as a freelance TV Associate Director. I work on mostly live variety and reality shows. Most recently, I worked on the Oscars Red Carpet show and I'll be working on about half of the upcoming season on "America's Best Dance Crew". My "regular" gigs are "Big Brother" and the Jerry Lewis Telethon. I bop around from show to show.
I also play the flute (flute, piccolo, alto and bass flute) and I play with a flute choir every Thursday. I'm a huge fan of the Los Angeles Kings. I'm also
busy with Carly's school (I do the school yearbook) and I'm on the
National Board of the Directors Guild of America (my union).


How do you make time for scrapping?


I am a busy mom but I do make time to do things for myself, which is
scrapbooking. Luckily, there's a regular crop that happens twice a month in my area which I really motivate to make at least one of the nights, and there's always other crops or weekend get aways that allow me to scrap and relax my brain.

How would you describe your style?

I'm not sure how I would describe my scrapping style. I think I'm a little bit of everything. Sometimes I do really simple scrapbooking and it's great. Other times, I put lots of elements, embellies, pictures on a page and that's great too. I do like to scrap more than one photo. There are times where one picture can say it all but I love to take pictures and there are times when it takes lots of shots
to tell the story.

Any favorite layouts you'd like to share?

I have lots of favorite LOs. Of the ones that I submitted, they're all a "favorite" for different reasons. I'll highlight two and explain why they're special to me.




My husband and I, when we first started dating, we made a joke about "making out at the Lincoln Memorial". We were in DC for a job and we had a friend take this picture of us. There were a bunch of people standing in front of Mr. Lincoln which I photoshopped out, LOL. It was a special moment for us and this photo captured the moment.




This LO was done pretty recently. This was taken right after I had
given birth to our twin girls. We didn't know if we were going to
have boys or girls so when Gregg came out to tell Carly that she had
sisters, she was thrilled. Lisa Spiegel (yes, DT Lisa) was also at
the hospital and was able to capture Carly's excitement. I treasure
this picture because it was it was just so pure.

What are your 3 favorite products/tools and why?

What are my three favorite products/tools? Just three, hmm. I love
Thickers. I have practically every font, color, style. It's the
perfect (IMO) product to label and create any title. I love my ATG
adhesive guns. I've been using Pop Dots a lot lately to add
dimension. I'm also a huge fan of anything Basic Grey (as you can
tell by my LO samples). I love that you can pretty much cut a couple
of patterned papers into a few different sizes, slap a photo on and it
works. Okay, not quite that simple but not that complicated either.
Sorry, 4 products are my current faves.



Cassie S.



Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you started scrapbooking:

I'm a library technician at a law school library.
I started scrapbooking in 1998 when I was 17. My sister just had my first nephew and she wanted to make a scrapbook for him. I went with her to a scrapbooking store. I thought it looked fun so I bought some stuff. Twelve years later I now scrapbook for her.
How would you describe your style?

I think I have a very eclectic style. My pages really depends on my mood. Sometimes I go with very distressed and grungy look and sometime I go with more bright and airy layouts.

Do you have a favorite layout; describe?



I think my favorite layout is a layout I did about one of my husband and my date nights. It came together really quickly and was just inspired. I think it is very whimsical and has some great colors.

How and when do you make time for scrapbooking?

After my husband leaves for work in the morning I have about 30 minutes home alone before I have to go to work and I tend to get a lot done in that time. It is one of my most inspired times.

What are your 3 favorite products/tools and why?

I love Distress Inks because they are so versatile, Glimmer Mist because I love the dimension and flare it adds to projects, and I love my Fiskars craft knife because I do a lot of hand cutting and it is so handy.

Irit Shalom

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you started scrapbooking:




I am a working dentist, mom of 4 grown ups. I'm married to a retired police officer and I'm a very new grandma to an adorable baby boy named Omer.
I've been crafting for ages, and scrapbooking for about 4-5 years. Two years ago I took a big jump into designing and blogging.
I was a polymer clay and jewelry making artist long before I knew scrapbooking and papercrafting existed at all. My only sister lives in NY. After visiting her there, and seeing all the shows, museums, etc, she gave me a scrapbooking class as a present, to chronicle the trip. This was a love from a first try! Now here I am,scrapping a layout a day, sometimes 2...


How would you describe your style?


My style is a shabby/vintage. I can scrap in any style, but not clean and simple.. When I try it simple- it goes to shabby.. One way, or the other...

How do you make time for scrapping?

As all my kids are grown ups(one married, one working in Spain and 2 girls are college students) and my DH loves to cook and buy groceries- I actually have a lot of time for crafting. I work part time, approximately 30 hours a week in a dental clinic , and all other time is mine. OK- not all, as we, my DH and I , dance our Israeli folk dances 2-3 evenings a week. we've been doing it for 15 years and it is a hobby that ties us together.

What are your 3 favorite products/tools and why?

My favorite products? Paper is a first and the most needed. You need paper to papercraft, don't you?
Then there are flowers, all kinds of- my own hand made, bought, any kind.
Most of all, I need my distressing tools and a lot of distressing inks!




Thank you ladies for sharing with us. We are amazed by your creativity, and are looking forward to see what will inspire you as Crafting Jewish Style design team members!

Tell us what you think about our new team members? Aren't they great?

Purim layout

Did you know that Purim is 3 weeks away? Time to start thinking about those costumes! I have to admit that it was a while since I went to Purim party for adults. Probably the last time it was on 2001. We still lived in Israel at that time. It was a big office party. I was 5 months pregnant with my second daughter and that explains why I don't remember much details about the party. My husband said that the face painting was done at the party and I have a distant memory of a mechanical bull..... I think it was a cowboy themed party. My husband Ofir is dressed up as a gardener (The back of his shirt says "Ofir's Gardens"). I am not sure what I was supposed to be. I probably just picked a dress that fit my 5 months pregnant belly. It is possible that I attempted to wear wings, but I am not so sure.

I found perfect papers from the Crafting Jewish Style Passover collection for my layout. The earth tones of greens, browns and pinks matched my pictures. I used border punch to add some interest to the page. I made 3 folded flowers from the striped paper. I sprayed the flowers with Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz.

The butterflies are punched out from the same paper that I used for the journaling block but they are sprayed with Cherry Ice Smooch Spritz. The color matches perfectly the pink stripes in the patterned paper.

Do you dress up for Purim? Do you have some fun layouts to share? Please do!

A quick card!

Hi there..I'm interrupting the Design Team Call to showcase a quick card that was made in less than 5 minutes!  Because, let's face it...sometimes, you need a card in a hurry. ;)  I used the backside of the Rosh Hashanah packaging, some aqua bling cardstock, an aqua flower, a bit of tulle and a couple pins to create this quick Mazel Tov card for a Bat Mitzvah girl. :)

Nothing hard to create, but it sure looks fancy, huh?  So grab a bit of Crafting Jewish Style paper and create some quick cards for your gift giving needs. Be sure to share with us by linking us in the comments.  We love to see what you create!

Crafting Jewish Style design team call update

Hi everyone! We are having a short warm spell, here in the Northeast,and boy does it feel good! The piles of snow are actually receding and it seems like Spring is not too far off.(I know the weatherman has promised more cold weather, but a girl can dream..)

Anyway, we've gotten some lovely design team submissions and we are in talks with some potential new team members. Yay! Here are some more details about the design team obligations:

Each team member usually posts twice a month but sometimes more before holidays.
The post vary. Every month we have an assortment of posts which include, sketches, tutorials, cards, crafts and/or recipes, team challenge, guest designers, etc. We have a post schedule where we rotate the team's requirements. The blog coordinator rotates posts so that no one person is doing the same post(s) every month.
We are a very flexible team, and if one month or time is hard for someone we accommodate and are very understanding, we're all busy working women, who squeeze crafting into our hectic lives.
In general, we do Jewish related posts before a major holiday. Occasionally, we will do a Jewish themed post at other times as well. (ex: Hanukkah in July, Bar/Bat Mitzvah)
Our main goal is to showcase the Crafting Jewish Style product line and its versatility. Our secondary goal is to provide a fun forum for Jewish and non Jewish scrappers and crafters. You will be supplied with our full line of products to work with.

If you think you have what it takes to join our team email us info@craftingjewishstyle.com. If a long commitment is not for you, we are always looking for guest designers and/or crafty people for guest posts. So send us samples of your work.

Let us know, if you are you enjoying the brief warm spell.
Does the weather affect your scrapbooking?


Shabbat Shalom!


15% off all orders at Crafting Jewish Style!

Use coupon code: winter15

Crafting Jewish Style Design Team Call

Sweet news for all you scrappers and crafters out there-Crafting Jewish Style is looking to expand its design team.
We are looking for a few "someones" who have a fresh scrapbooking style and could commit to producing and posting 2-3 layouts, cards or projects a month. Knowledge of (and ability to scrap about) Jewish holidays and life events is necessary for joining this team.
If you feel that you've got what it takes to join our team then email your scrapbooking resume or some layout samples to info@craftingjewishstyle.com.

Purim is coming soon and we will have some goodies and fun stuff for you. Leave a comment and you'll be entered in or prePurim giveaway details to follow.

Here's something special to banish the midwinter blues:

15% off all orders at Crafting Jewish Style!

Use coupon code: winter15

Order now and get scrapping!

Jerusalem of Legos

In December, we had a wonderful program at our synagogue where we built a model of Jerusalem from Legos. A giant map was placed on the floor and the children chose buildings to work on, either individually or in groups. The grown-ups got to help too. After we were done, the organizer walked through the model city and taught us about each building. For the people who have never visited Jerusalem, it was like a virtual visit. For those of us who have been there, it was a wonderful reminder of a special city.

My older son, Zachary teamed up with the other third grade boys to build the Tower of David, an old Tower near the Jaffa Gate which has been turned into a museum. This was a great choice for him since he particularly enjoyed the exhibit when we were there. Each of the major buildings was assigned a particular color of bricks, so they were told to build the Tower of David in red.


My younger son Benjamin chose to build a gate and was assigned the New Gate. He was very proud of his creation and was happy to pose in front of it.


Since each of my sons were very proud of their participation in this event, I wanted to make a layout for each of their scrapbooks. I chose CJS papers with dotted patterns to echo the dots on the Legos. In case you are wondering, I asked my sons to "loan" me a few real Legos to use as embellishments. After much consideration, they looked through the thousands of Legos in the playroom and came up with 3 pieces that they were willing to share.

Scrapbooking and Papercrafting with Crafting Jewish Style-Silhouette Tutorial

Got Snow?
This card says it all! We have lots of it-with more on the way! It doesn't seem like winter is going away anytime soon! Wouldn't you love to be doing this?



See how nicely CJ Style products translate into everyday layouts and cards...

Anyway, let's think positive thoughts, summer is just a few months away! I hope this snow doesn't mess up preCHA plans...flights are being cancelled left and right..uhoh!

I love scrapbooking.
I love putting together layouts and telling a story through the pictures and embellishments that I have chosen.
I love having special and mundane moments-particularly the everyday moments in time- documented in a creative way.
I love looking through my scrapbooks and seeing how my style has evolved over time. (no more bubble lettering!)

I hate not ever being caught up with my pictures.
I hate that I'm never sure if a layout is ever done.
I hate that I always think it's not good enough (good enough for what-I'm not sure...)

That's why I love using scrapbooking products for my own crafty fun. I love playing with the paper, and embellishments and using them on all different surfaces to add some extra goodness to projects-with no pictures and journaling to worry about!

A silhouette is a fun papercrafting project that is quick, easy and personal. Best of all, you only need basic supplies for it!

There are many tutorials for silhouettes floating around. These instructions are really simple; no photoshop skill required!




What you will need:

side profile photo

pencil and paper

fine tip black marker

scissors

scrapbooking paper and solid cardstock-we used paper from the Passover line

gluestick or double sided tape

frame

Directions:

1. Print out photo in black and white on regular paper. Or, take photo and copy in black and white on regular paper. Enlarge or reduce photo to your preferred dimensions.

2. Outline profile with the black marker

3. Cut out silhouette along the black outline.

4. With the pencil,trace the cut out silhouette onto the back of your solid cardstock and cut out.

5. Glue the silhouette to the patterned paper and place in frame.

Standback and admire your handiwork!



Do you papercraft? Or are you strictly into scrapbooking?
What's your favorite project? How do you know when a layout is done? Do you get "layout anxiety"? Drop us a line, especially if you are enjoying a snow day!


For those of you attending CHA and/or the NY International Gift Show, Crafting Jewish Style will be having reps and/or designers at both shows who would love to meet with you! Contact us to set up an appointment. We can't wait to meet you!info@craftingjewishstyle.com