It's alive! It's alive!

Holy Smurfette,  I haven't blogged here for months! I think I owe you guys a life update.

Well, I sold and cleared my parents house and am no longer puppeteering on the roof. After staying here and there for a while, I finally rented a small (small) flat with a nice little terrace, so I guess I am now puppeteer on the terrace till further notice!

I haven't yet completed arranging my new home, and need an electrician to come and do come work before I can arrange separate working and sitting areas in my living room, which currently resembles a doctor's clinic or some other place where you will find a TV, computer desk, and sofa all cramped up in a small space. I also find it hard to believe I will be able to create here as I used to in my previous home, since there is not enough space. But this is a temporary home, to heal in and continue to the rest of my life, and I am pleased. It also comes with a resident cat. She doesn't live with me (as I already said, it's a very small single bedroom flat) but she does arrive for dinner and I just bought her a nice warm bed for winter, which I put on the terrace where she eats earlier today. I named her Sfameow, which roughly translates as "the mustached meow". I know, it doesn't make much sense in Hebrew either, but it's a fun word to pronounce.

Such a beautiful baby she is!

I am slowly getting used to my new home and my new life and am planning my near future while enjoying the present as much as I can. I decided to reopen my Etsy shops, even though it will be challenging to make new items in this environment, but the holidays are coming and there really is no reason not to sell what I already have ready. So I started with the puppets & crafts shop, and the jewelry & art shop will soon follow.

That's it for now. I promise to update this blog more often now, so visit again soon and before you go - one last picture of my previous new love.

I honestly feel like I've been living in a Simon's Cat episode for the past month!

Ein Kerem

This Friday I was invited to the grand opening of a new high end boutique hotel in the Ein Kerem neighborhood in southwest Jerusalem. It is one of the most beautiful places in the city (which holds so many gems) .

The hotel itself has an amazing view of the mountains surrounding it and the various monks and churches built on their hillsides. We had wonderful local wines and beers and excellent cheeses and sweet treats, and finally drove back home cheerful and well rested after spending a relaxed and most beautiful afternoon with a dear friend (and some of the richest people in Israel).

Here are some photos I took, I hope you like them.

It was very hot, then a friend told me the coolest place to sit at was the sauna, which was obviously,  not operating at the time. She was right, it felt like the little cave was air conditioned and the benches were cool as ice. It was a wonderful place a chat and a glass of wine.

View of the Gorny Monastery.

The Church of St John the Baptist.

And on the street outside - one of the ministers from the near by monk stopped to buy a cold drink on a local kiosk. I just love this photo.

It Gets Better

I have a confession: I am straight. Utterly and completely straight.

And yet, when I came about the It Gets Better project, I teared up while watching some of the wonderful videos on their website. 

The goal of this project is to show gay, lesbian and transgendered youth, especially suicidal ones, that a good future does wait for them - one filled with love, success, friends, fun, joy and all other things grown ups know there is to life, which is sometimes invisible to young people.

But I also relate to the message - I was bullied for many years as a child. I was too different, too sensitive, too desperate for love, too loud, too silly, too smart and on top of all - too fat. One of the great wonders of my life (to me) is how I managed to grow up to be a loving compassionate woman and not a bitter, spiteful, miserable person. Somehow, I always find the power to continue - despite adversities and no matter how lonely I feel.

So I relate to the wonderful message of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and would like to add to it - No matter how "strange" you are, persevere, educate yourself about being fabulous and reach out to people you can relate to and don't lose hope, because no matter what injures your soul - It does get better.

My puppet Erez and his partner Motti.

I am indeed a proud mother!

Puppeteer on the roof

Today was such a beautiful sunny day, following several rainy ones, that I decided to spend a few hours on the roof.

Last month I sowed different types of tomatoes all over the  roof garden.Look how huge this couple is getting!

And here is a cherry tomato variety, I think it will soon be ripe for eating. This is actually from a tomato I put in the ground, and not seeds.

The orchids are blooming, finally. I can't wait for the poppies and freesia to blossom we well.

 The sky was so clear, I could see the ocean nice and clear, the first time this week.

You will be happy to hear I spent the afternoon working on an order of two full size hand puppets. Can you spot the fetal puppets in this photo?
 

I still have a lot of work on this order, but I got a nice start. I missed working on the roof. I honestly have no idea how I am supposed to sell this apartment, but I do know one thing - I will be buying a smaller roof garden flat, no doubt about that.

I will be posting more about the new puppets as work progress. I already made a new custom ordered Flutterbutt this week, but a waiting for something to arrive by mail before I can show her off. I see lots of puppet making in the near future, yay!

Organ donor's card

This morning I was invited to add my photo to a Facebook gallery of Israeli trendsetters who showcase their organ donor's card gallery. Obviously, I agreed, since organ donations are an explosive issue in Israeli society, as orthodox Jews oppose to harming the wholeness of the dead body, which means they oppose to donating organs. So there is always this or another argument about this topic in the news or media, and I feel it is important to take a stand.

Since this is a serious issue (too serious, perhaps) I decided to ask Nick the puppet to pose with me. This is one of the photos we took (gosh, I love my camera's remote control!).

I signed my card while going to the hospital with Mamisha, while she was getting chemo. It seemed that the moral thing to do, when my mother is being treated for cancer, is to add my little bit of good karma for her and all the other people who are suffering. It was the right thing to do.

I hope that you, wherever you are, carry your local version of an organ donor's card. We can help make this life a little more beautiful, especially during the holiday season. It is one simple thing we can all do in order improve the world we live in (and Nick thinks so too).

You can run but you can't hide

Two weeks had passed since Mamisha's death, and my friend was going to London for a week. I decided I need to run away from all that's going on in my life, and managed to get a last minute flight and join her. I realized (a great cliché, I know) you really can't run away from yourself and that your troubles follow you wherever you go, but still - crying in London is so much more photogenic than crying in Herzelia, wouldn't you agree?

Pinky had a great time, despite missing Barbie.

We saw The Merry Wives of Windsor on the Globe theater, which was absolutely divine!

We also went to Stratford to visit Shakespere, but he wasn't home so we bought cake instead, in a tea house haunted by a ghostly cat.

Pinky and I finally met Junie Ju (and had some more cake)!!!

I did tons of shopping.

Went to a musical (the right message at the right time, if there ever was one)



And finally, had some more cake.

That's it for now, but I will write more later and introduce you to some wonderful beasts and such. Till then - I bid you well.

Beautiful Blogger Award

Today I was pleasantly surprised to find Lisa from Visual Journey Photography honored me with the Beautiful Blogger Award, yay!

To keep with the award tradition, here are 7 interesting things about myself:

1. I am actually a certified puppeteer and puppetry instructor.
2. I started studying communications and cinema in the Tel-Aviv university, but left before completing my degree.
3. I served as a computer operator in the Israeli Air Force.
4. I also write a plus size fashion blog in Hebrew
5. I have a habit of changing my hairstyle and color whenever a major event happens in my life.
6. I am dying for a tattoo and already know what I want it to be, but haven't yet found the courage to do it because I don't really trust anyone else's painting skills.
7. I am probably the only person in the world (certainly in my family and circle of friends) who loves yellow cakes with margarine cream (similar to buttercream, made of margarine and sugar and tons of food coloring). I get or make one for my birthday every year. The more embellished, the better.

 And now, I will pass the award on to a few of my favorite blogs. I would love to pass them on to Hebrew blogs, but I think it will break the chain, so I will concentrate on English ones. Here we go!

1. Junie's blog - Because she is one of my best and dearest friends in the whole wide world, and because she makes the sweetest most funniest cards.
2. Joojoo's blog - The most inspiring, delicate, beautiful art blog around.
3. Yael's literary blog - She writes beautifully and I also love her photographs.
4. Candleguy's Place - Because not only is Donald a real live American war hero, he is also an inspiring storyteller with a a heart as wide as the ocean.
5. Aya's art adventures - Aya is in love with humanity, both its dark and beautiful sides. She is also a great artist whose writing will tear your heart out at times.
   
   And finally, two bloggers who hardly need an introduction (or my award)
   
   
6. Saks in the city - Sakina is my plus size fashion guru. She is beautifully curvy and has the most stylish taste. She introduced me the wondrous world of Asos (God help my credit debt).
7. Le blog de big beauty - Stephanie is my second greatest plus size fashion guru. She inspires me to try more classic looks, as well as gives me the courage to show myself to the world as I truly am.

That is it. I hope you will enjoy these blogs, and thank you again Lisa for brightening up my (oh so very icky) mood!

Moomins!

I never considered myself a huge Moomin fan. I mean, I read the books when I was small, but I never found myself romancing about them as a grown up. I usually prefer a good Willo the Wisp (preferably, Moog) or a nice Smurf. But when I saw this entry, on Loobilu's blog, I was like

SHOW ME DA MOOMINZ!!

And so, I went to Hapsitukka's wonderful little Etsy shop. Hapsitukka from Finland, sells items handmade of vintage Moomin fabric. It took me a while to decide, but I finally chose a Moomin pouch for my tiny laptop and a Moomin pillow cover for my bed. The package I received was a feast to the eyes, with amazingly wonderful Moomin stamps!

A friend from work, who collects stamps, tried all sorts of shenanigans to get his filthy hands on them, but all in vain. I would have gladly be satisfied with just these stamps, but no! The perfectly soft and lovely items I ordered arrived with a complimentary postcard and the sweetest piece of vintage Moomins in love fabric. Joy, I name thee Moomin.

And now, I'm off to bed but I shall leave you with a little Moomin clip I found. Ta ta dear readers, and sleep tight.

Happy Passover!

Today is Passover Eve, time to celebrate with family and wash tons of indigestible foods down with plenty of red wine.

Whatever shall I do?

I am going through a little wave of blah, which is much like a tsunami, only it covers you with an overwhelming sense of blah (which, you must agree, is way better than walls of water). Still, if it was water instead of blah, I would not be worrying about my shop.

I want to come up with a new and exciting product, but all I can think of is blah as well as a little "munch munch" every now and then. I think the only thing I've done successfully these past few weeks, outside of work, is gain weight.

I am all dried up, let's eat!

So I am calling out for help - if you have cool project ideas for me, or a source of inspiration which always helps you, or anything else you would like to share - please comment!

All hail Princess Luli !!

Congratulations to Princess Luli, who passed her dancing tests with flying colors for the second year in a row!

Rubber stamp

Every aspiring dictator needs a rubber stamp. I already have one for my Etsy shop, but it is in English and I have plans for Israel too. So I was shopping for a Hebrew stamp and that brought me to the amazing, talented and oh so nice Mekoopelet.

After I initiated contact ("Hello I plan to control the world, and need a rubber stamp") Mekoopelet and I started a correspondence where I described what I am looking for, she sends me a draft  and so forth. We worked on several options, including either my website address or my phone number. Combining both would create a big stamp, and I wanted a relatively small one. She also suggested several illustrations, based on photos I sent her. It was quite clear from the get go, that Pinky would have to appear as my logo.

 

An advanced draft

Eventually, I decided I want to go with the smaller stamp, with my name and the Pinky sketch only and asked Mekoopelet to create two separate mini stamps - one with my URL (for business purposes) and one with my phone number (for stamping my books and taking over the world) and so she did! Yesterday, I received this wonderful wrap in the mail.

Next Pinky and I did some test stamping. Needless to say, he was very excited. Mekoopelet also sent the beautiful mounted stamp card you can see on the photo.

Finally, when we agreed we are satisfied, Pinky called Shafani (Pinky's stuffed bunny) to help with an official rubber stamp portrait. Remember this portrait well, for it may flutter on the flags of our proud nation one day soon (you would expect my portrait wouldn't you? But I know Pinky, and I know who is really having the last word around this house).

Are you a megalomaniac freak or a handmade artist? Do you sell vintage clothing you need to label or maybe would simply like to get your books back when you lend them? Email Mekoopelet today, order a stamp and tell her Pinky sent you.

Am I still ill? Oh no

Oh yes, I am still ill damn it. A week and a half now, and it hasn't been a month since the last time. I am going to see a specialist next week in hopes of findings why I am getting bad colds so often. So I am stuck at home blowing my nose silly and cursing the minute I was born. My huge stash of aloe lotion Kleenex is about to expire and I missed God knows how many days at work. But as Morrissey says, there's a brighter side to life.

First off, I got word that Tzipi the world traveling Flutterbutt finally arrived to the UK. Her host will blog about her soon, as well as knit her a sweater (poor thing is reportedly freezing). On top of that news, a wonderful package of miniature shoes arrived from Hong Kong today, bearing among other things, a little surprise I got for Erez who is also sick as a bat these past few days. Low and behold his highness's new donkey slippers!

I better get back to coughing and twitting. It's good I can speak without opening my mouth and infecting innocent people. But before I do, one excellent new site for Etsy sellers. Cr8tivity is loaded with stats and useful tools which exceed Craftcult by far. Enter your Etsy username and see all it has to offer. I wonder how many people use it, and if it is a good idea to advertise on it. Enjoy!

Pansies

This morning I woke up bright and early. It's very warm here these past couple of days (I even saw a cockroach last night, what's up with that?), the sun is shining and the birds are singing. Our roof garden is coming to life with all sorts of flowers and even a brand new strawberry plant I bought the other day. I decided to show off my pansies, after seeing Ayelet do so on her blog!

Have a nice weekend, and don't forget to join my giveaway