Member Focus on Georgia Morgan aka oakGeorgia

 
Georgia Morgan of Urbana, Illinois has a wonderful shop filled with metal and polymer clay jewelry, one of a kind beads, artisan switch-plates and outlet covers.  She describes her shop with: “My main artistic influences have been the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements, and the work that resonates the most with me combines organic elements in a geometric framework.”

Curious?  Keep reading!

How did you come to choose your craft or product? 
I honestly don’t remember how I started making jewelry—maybe I complained to a fiber arts friend (I have been a knitter since forever) that I couldn’t find a necklace of the sort I wanted, and she pointed me to a source for beads. I got into polymer clay when I got frustrated finding beads suitable for projects I had in mind, and discovered a whole world of possibilities.

What materials do you use?
Polymer clay, copper, silver, other metals, gemstone beads. I used to work exclusively with gemstone beads, now they function mainly as accents.

What is your favorite item in your shop right now? 

Amethyst Dragonfly:
 

How do you budget your time?
I am pretty much a free spirit, but there never seems to be enough time in the day to do everything.

What do you do when you're totally uninspired?
Clean my workspace; update my website, prepare work for display.

Around the Web:

An Etsy seller since December 2008, Georgia also can be seen at georgiamorgan.net.

Do you sell outside Etsy? If so, where? 
At local art fairs, galleries, and state museum art shops. (Check out her site.)

Any advice to new Etsy sellers?
The Etsy Storque articles are very helpful, also the Etsy Forum archives. 

You can visit her “Art Gallery 2009” at Flickr.

Photos are so important; do you have any special process for taking yours?
I use a light box and floodlights. Recently upgraded to a digital SLR which ♥ I LOVE ♥.

I think Georgia’s passion for her art really shows in her work.  I hope you get a chance to stop by this Etsy seller’s shop and have enjoyed the Member Feature.

Give the Gift of Peace

Enjoy these two Treasuries until they expire on Thursday, 10/29:

 

Hanukkah is Coming - Sneak Peek

I can't hold it in any more. The EtsyChai Jewish Street team and members of the Etsy Israel team are joining forces to bring you a sale. More details will be coming soon, so watch this blog.

We're very busy making new items and there will be prizes and discounts during this sale. You won't want to miss it.

Hanukkah is coming!

Linda B.

EtsyChai Team leader

On the Web with EtsyChai - Mark Kaplan

Another web sighting … this time a feature of Mark Kaplan on the beautiful blog of Kaelin Design- Tales from the Studio.

My favorite quote from Mark in the web interview:

“I mostly just listen to my inner self and don’t really care too much what others think anyway…”

Go read it, here, and see for yourself!

What an interesting guy.  I couldn’t resist pulling this picture from his flickr pool - (click picture to visit there):

And of course, he has an Etsy shop! 

 Mark Kaplan ........hand made fine jewelry

You get a feel for his work right in his shop announcement:

“I care about where I live, so all my precious metals are made from certified 100% recycled material (not mined)...”

And is work is thought provoking and beautiful:

pice coin global earrings

New Moon, the sequel

Clicking on pictures in the article will take you to the respective EtsyChai shops.
Post submitted by Linda B., Jewelry Designer

This Shabbat, I will have the privilege of announcing the new month of Cheshvan, on Sun. Oct 18 and Mon. Oct. 19. with a special prayer in our Sim Shalom siddur. I try to do it the way our Hazzan chanted it so beautifully. Our shul is small so we do not have a Women’s Rosh Hodesh Group. Rosh Hodesh gives us the time to say special prayers. Reciting prayers is always a mitzvah.

Face of the Moon

I looked online and found some details about the month of Cheshvan*:

Cheshvan           Mazal/Constellation:  Scorpion

Significance of the Month:
Cheshvan, the eighth month of the Jewish calendar, is often referred to as Mar Cheshvan ("Bitter Cheshvan") because it has no holidays. In Israel the rainy season, which marks the onset of winter, begins in Cheshvan.
Holidays
There are no holidays in Cheshvan. However, two tragic events occurred during this month. Kristalnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, and the beginning of the Holocaust, was on 15 Cheshvan 5699 (1938). In 5756 (1995), Yitzhak Rabin, the Prime Minister of Israel, was assassinated on 12 Cheshvan.
Women to Celebrate
The Matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah - The weekly Torah readings during the month of Cheshvan focus on the stories of our Matriarchs and Patriarchs.

Only in a Pink Moon

Famous Women's Yahrzeits
Rachel our Matriarch - 11 Cheshvan. The favorite wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin. Rachel is buried in the Tomb of Rachel in Bethlehem.
Hannah Senesh - 20 Cheshvan 5705 (November 6, 1944). A paratrooper in the British Army, Hannah helped to organize Partisan efforts in Yugoslavia and Hungary. She was captured by the Nazis who tortured and killed her. Hannah wrote poetry that is often read and sung in Holocaust memorial services.
Rachel Yanait Ben-Tzvi - 24 Cheshvan 5740 (November 14, 1979). Rachel Yanait Ben Tzvi immigrated to what was then Turkish Palestine as a young pioneer in 1908. She became one of the leading activists in the Zionist movement and the Haganah (the pre-state, Jewish military organization) and married Yitzhak Ben Tzvi, who was later elected second president of Israel.

Moon and Stars

Text Studies
Hannah and Prayer - In this month of celebrating the matriarch, learn about another Biblical woman who has had a profound influence on us. Our way of prayer is modeled after Hannah, Samuel the Prophet's mother.

Night and Day

* http://www.hillel.org/jewish/rituals/roshchodesh/chesvan.htm

Do you keep monthly traditions?

New Moon

No, EtsyChai hasn’t started blogging about popular vampire literature.  (Being a vampire wouldn’t be kosher…)  Instead, here’s a short post about Rosh Chodesh/ראש חודש‎, the Head or Beginning of the Month because the Jewish calendar is based on lunar cycles.  It’s “the name for the first day of every month in the Hebrew calendar, marked by the appearance of the New Moon.”  (Thanks Wikipedia.) 

This month’s new moon is Sunday, October 18 and Monday, October 19.  There are many traditional observances about this monthly, minor holiday, as well as many modern ones.  Some communities celebrate Rosh Chodesh as an exclusively women’s holiday, abstaining from work, gathering in Rosh Chodesh groups, Torah study, and/or discussing women’s issues.  How do you/your community celebrate this monthly holiday?

Here at the EtsyChai Street Team blog, we’ll celebrate with some of our member’s beautiful items:

Wrap your neck in moonlight!

Baby Moon Earrings

Modern Moon Chai Necklace

Sunday night starts the month of Cheshvan, come back then (or subscribe for updates) for part II of this blog post.

New & Blue

Become a Fan! EtsyChai Jewish St. Team

 

And check out this great new Treasury, viewable only until it expires on the date shown on the lower-right of the image:

 

 

Etsy Sellers, Want to Join EtsyChai? Membership is temporarily closed, sign up for email updates at this blog to find out when we'll re-open.

What Does Simchat Torah Mean to You?

I posed this question in our group message boards, and here’s what members have to say.  Along with their comments, enjoy some featured items from different EtsyChai artists!

Anne of DowntoEarthCreations wrote:
“Oh, I love Simchat Torah! My favorite service was one where we unrolled the whole Torah and stood around in a circle with each congregant holding up one part. Our wonderful rabbi walked around and read a part from each person's section. It was sooooooo meaningful!”

Ruth  of RuthFiberJudaica wrote:
“Simchat Torah is hard to write about. I have been in the most beautiful synagogues with meaningful services yet not everyone pulls off a good Simchat Torah. Why is this? I do not know. I can just encourage everyone to make it happen. Let loose (without going too far seems to be a challenge) and rejoice in our gift of the Torah. When my kids were little we made our own flags, they are now hanging in our Sukkah and I am waiting patiently for the next generation of flags! Please lets start making flags by hand!
Chag Semeach” (Happy Holiday) 

Eileen of GoofingOff & MissEileen replied:
“When I was little, I lived on the navy base in Brooklyn. We didn't have a shul on base so my father (a Navy SeaBee) and another Jewish man (another SeaBee) went to the commanding officer to get permission to build one. Everyone in our little Jewish community and our friends took part in the building and planning. My sisters and I all took part in hammering and carrying wood, whatever we could do to make this wonderful thing happen. When it was close to being finished, one of the officers presented the Ten Commandments cut from wood, sanded, and finished to perfection. Then, the synagogue across the bay, lent us their Torah to use for our prayers and dedicate the shul. The beautiful woodwork and the scrolls come to mind whenever I think of Simchat Torah, the festival of the Torah.” 

Lisa of Hautefelt answered:
“In our shul, all the children go up to the bima for a blessing. I love it when they stand up there, crowding under a tallit to receive something so beautiful and NON materialistic.

April  of AgruArts said:
“Now, I don't know about other synagogues.  But at mine, a Conservative one, they get as many people up as possible during the many aliyot.  After each one, everyone exits the bimah (dais) through the rear, where shots or wine and hard liquor are poured and imbibed -- juice is available for the under-21 set. By the time all the readings and aliyot are done, everyone was a bit tipsy.” 

Linda of Linda B’s Beaded Jewelry wrote:
“As a child, the only thing I remember about Simchat Torah is marching around the sanctuary with a flag and an apple.   In my adult life as a Conservative Jewish woman, I am pleased to be able to hold a Torah and dance with it along with my fellow congregants. The Torah is the symbol of our people and what we hold holy. To hold it within my arms in a truly awesome, spiritual experience.   And, our synagogue usually provides taffy apples for this holiday. I'm learning that it's usually about the food. It's funny, but true. ”

Shelley of Poemweave Designs  &  Gratitude Jewelry replied:
“We do something similar for Simchat Torah at our synagogue. The Torah is unrolled around the sanctuary, with about 50 members of the congregation holding it up. Then all the b'nai mitzvah kids from the last year (we only have about 12 b'nai mitzvah per year) stand in the appropriate place around the sanctuary in front of the scroll and read their maftir in order. My son will read tomorrow night since his bar mitzvah was just this past May.”

and my two cents, as I put together this post – Tammy from SILVER Mountain Originals:
“During Simchat Torah at my synagogue, there is the Consecration of the First Grade Class, and we all celebrate this milestone in their congregational life, parading through the sanctuary with the scrolls while singing, then unrolling and re-rolling the Torah for the coming year along with everyone carefully holding up an edge.  It’s especially nice to see many generations together during services like this.”  (I wasn’t going to put up my own comment until I saw this cute mezuzah case and thought it would make a nice gift for a child starting their Jewish education!   - Tammy)

 What are your holiday memories?  Can you relate to any of these?

Simchat Torah – Part I

Thanks go to April of AgruArts for submitting this great, informative article!

Shabbat services in Judaism are usually repetitive in their nature from week to week. We follow the same sequence of prayers, perform the same ritualistic actions, and mostly use the same melodies during our annual cycle. Sure, once in a while we add a few words to the prayers in honor of certain holidays. But the one constantly changing aspect of the service is the Parshat (Torah portion or chapters) we read each week. In fact, most congregations read through the entire Torah (the first five books of our Bible) over the course of a year.

Simchat Torah (Rejoicing with the Torah) is the holiday where we finish the entire cycle and begin anew.

As with all Jewish holidays, the celebrations begin the night before. But the REAL party is the day of the festival which, incidentally, might not begin on a Saturday. It is the finality of the celebration of Sukkot and the cycle of holidays that began with Rosh Hashanah (New Year). On Simchat Torah, all the Torahs are taken out of the congregation's Ark. The final part of Deuteronomy (the final book in the Torah) is read, immediately followed by the first chapter of Genesis. The readings are divided up into sections, with members of the congregations coming up between each section to say a prayer blessing the end of one mini-section and the beginning of the next. These blessings are called aliyot (ascents).

After the readings and aliyot are done, songs are sung and the Torahs are danced with, being passed from person to person, since dancing with the word of G-d is a mitzvah (commandment). Children are generally given candy to show them the word of G-d is sweet. Adults continue to dance, drink, and celebrate our covenant with G-d.

Great ideas to help YOU celebrate from EtsyChai shops:

--April
http://agru.etsy.com

Part II will appear tomorrow: “What Does Simchat Torah Mean to You?” where EtsyChai members share some holiday experiences.

Introducing… On the Web with EtsyChai

This post begins a series of web highlights… fun news, member features and more!

I’m going to keep this one simple instead of repeating what’s already been said, just give you some teasers and the link to read more….

The High Plains Knitter has featured our Sandi! Read it here.  You’re wondering what the Village People are doing here, aren’t you? You’ll have to read the blog feature to find out! Another fun thing about Sandi is, she finds some great articles to read online and shares them with the group. This one cracked me up, Saving Paula Abdul.

I loved reading the interview and learning new things about our team-mate, as well as finding out about the other groups she’s involved in online:

There’s always something interesting and sometimes, surprising, to learn!

What are your favorite blog features to read about?

Autumn Colors

Enjoy these team treasuries and be sure to click on the pictures before they expire! (see the date/time on the bottom right of each picture.)

 

 

 

Are you in a treasury?  Check out this great tool to see if you’re in one, or even see when the next Treasury is going to become available! *** “Craftopolis” Treasure Hunt ***