Treasure Boxes

A couple of weeks ago I took a table at a fund-raising event at our local cultural centre. The event was arranged by the kids at the high school that my boys will hopefully eventually go to and I was happy to support it. The kids put on a show in the concert hall and arranged sales tables in the gallery upstairs. I haven't mentioned the fund-raiser here before because sadly, for the seven talented craftspeople and fellow parents selling their goods there, it was a non-event. No-one seemed to know that we were hiding upstairs in the gallery and no-one sold very much at all! We all had a lovely time together though and it is always fun bonding with people who understand and appreciate what you do.
I had prepared quite a lot of cards for the sale - never a bad thing because I now have plenty of stock at home - and also had fun making these little treasure boxes, which did not return home with me that evening. The last time I had taken part in the very same event my little boxes proved very popular with the girls and I had had a few requests for something for the boys too. Football is always a winner and the slightly scruffy little character that I created seemed to work well with that theme. The lady who purchased my boxes told me that her boys would have to complete their sticker charts before receiving their gift. I hope that they have earned them by now and are enjoying filling their boxes up with all kinds of 'treasure'. There are more Treasure Boxes available in my shop.

Football Crazy, Football Mad

Being married to a football fan, and being Mum to two boys, football seems to feature a lot in my life, and that seems to be the case with my creative work too at the moment! I have created football themed cards before, here, here and here, to show you just a few, and this week saw me preparing more paper footballs. I participated in a school craft fair last week and sold a number of my little treasure boxes, but one boy there wanted a football themed box, which I of course promised to make for him. You can see the finished box above.
Below is a card I made for an eleven year old boy. He is the same long-haired boy who featured on one of the cards in my last post, but this time I was asked to show him wearing his black baseball cap, wearing the dark blue football shirt of his club and, of course, holding a football.
Ready? Que sera sera, whatever will be, will be, we're going to Wembley, que sera sera...

A Chanukah Fair and an Etsy Treasury

I participated in a Chanukah fair last week in the function hall of one of the nearby kibbutzim. The place was pretty busy but I can't say that it was one of my more successful evenings. I guess you win some and you lose some. Above, you can see a photo of my table. Not the biggest space ever, but I was able to show my 'Handmade in Israel' goodies well enough.
On a more exciting note, I received an e-mail this morning from Busy Beads to say that she had included one of my papercut picture in her Penguin Power Treasury. I quickly went over to look and it was pretty exciting to see my penguin there amongst such other lovely pieces. If anyone is interested in my picture (seen here middle row, on the left), it is available in my shop.

Penguins and Presents

It's been a busy few days here at 'Handmade in Israel'. I have a few new custom-made cards to show you, but in the meantime thought I'd show you some recent work and work in progress. Clockwise, from the top centre row, you can see a birthday card for a soon-to-be four year old who loves painting and drawing, and a little football in his spare time; Some pretty floral birthday cards personalised for a customer; Chanukah gift tags to fill my baskets at an upcoming fair; Penguins being prepared for a couple of papercut pictures; Chanukah gift tags in use.

All the Fun of the Fair

Yesterday I participated in my first fair for quite some time, and it was a very successful day for me. The weather was bad - yes, even in Israel - and so, though we were supposed to be outdoors, the day before I received a phone call to say that we were moving indoors and that space was somewhat limited. Subsequently my table was very small and rather restricted what I was able to show, but fortunately it didn't seem to put people off. My framed pictures were popular, and of course the cards too, and there are quite a few children who will be receiving my little trinket boxes for their Chanukah gifts this year. A good start to the season for me!

Two New Years

Over a month has passed since I last posted. Since then we have been on a wonderful holiday to France, the kids have been home, and consequently very little work has been done! My boys have gone back to school today and now it is time to knuckle down and create some art. As well as the start of the school year, the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, is rapidly approaching and some of the very little time I got to work during the school holidays was spent working on a new design for my new year greetings cards. I will be making them in both hebrew and english. I also need to boost my card supply as I have a fair coming up too. Time to get to work...

Showing my work

I recently took part in an evening at my son's school showcasing the work of artist and therapist parents. I actually designed the cover of the evening's brochure aswell (in the centre of the above photgraph) which was an added bit of advertising for me. The evening was reasonably well attended and hopefully may bring me a few orders.