EMS Arts

An awesome gift!

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:30:00 +0000

A while ago I won a giveaway at Inspirato Designs, run by Michelle, a very talented artist who draws pets. I so much wanted to have a portrait of my sweetie Joey, who went missing a few years ago. Those of you, who know me, know how I suffered after the loss of Joey. He was such a special cat! Great was my joy when I got a letter, I won!

And a few days ago it came in the post. Incredible, what an awesome portrait!
I photographed it after I had framed and hung it already (not the final place, but we are still painting walls) and the photo doesn't do it justice, but so you get an idea. It's done after the photo in my sidebar and it's him exactly!

Thank you so much Michelle!

You can find Michelle's blog here,

her pet portrait portfolio here,

and her Etsy store here.

Poser Victoria 4 faces review

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Fri, 04 May 2012 12:06:00 +0000

I just tested these faces for Victoria 4 by Irishmiss. One of my renders.

They load fast and you don't need the V4 morph injections! What I loved about them is they are different (12 faces in total!) and not the standard Barbie faces. They cost $3.99 but are 3 weeks on sale for just $1.99. Get them here.

Happy INSD - Sale!

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:11:00 +0000

In honor of International Scrapbook Day my store is on sale for the weekend!

Douce Floraison - blog train freebie!

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Tue, 01 May 2012 04:54:00 +0000

Our May train is leaving the station! Hop over to all the blogs below to collect a wonderful superlarge kit Douce Floraison in beautiful spring pastels with a million flowers! Remember the designers live in different time zones and not all parts may be up yet. Please leave them some love if you like the blogtrain! Have fun!

Here is my part

and the other stations you find here!

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Star Song Studio

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Lins Creations

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Simplette

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Dillie's Designs

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Scrapmania

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BlueCat

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J&M Creations

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Cocotounette

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Dhariana Scraps

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PMarie

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Jemiah's Digital Designs

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Lady

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EMS Arts

YOU ARE HERE

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Chairs makeover

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:01:00 +0000

This Passover Seder we were nine together and as my table has 8 chairs, I came one short. Just the other day I saw these two guys standing next to the garbage bin. Not to happy looking, but real wood.

I painted them with two coats of Pearl Grey (that's what I had still in my shed)

They would get the Ikea slipcover I use for my other chairs to match, but I wanted also to cover that hideous old fabric. I re-covered them with fabric I had bought in the sale at Contemporary Cloth store called Elizabeth Rose - Tolle - Blue Ecru - In the Beginning Fabric.

oops photo came out off focus

with the washable Ikea slipcovers (easy because of my cats)

I love the result!

and the Passover seder was wonderful!

We are blessed!

Auroral Muse layouts

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:18:00 +0000

Two new layouts done with Auroral Muse for Karen!

At my gallery at CSD and Digishoptalk

Then, rising with Auroras light, The Muse invoked, sit down to write; paint, smile, breath, live.... Made in gorgeous orange, blue and purple tones, based in the soft fragrance and the screaming sensation of a young sunrise, painting amazing unicorns dressed in flowers, exploring the tinted textures of a creative artist... All this and much more in this fabulous, dreamy kit. The set includes 22 gorgeous, painted, textured papers of 12x12 inches-JPG-300dpi and 120 stunning, unique, assorted and magical elements at 300dpi-PNG format. Available at : Scrappity doo dah Digidesignresort coolscrapsdigital

Happy Pesach/Pasha

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 07:07:00 +0000

Tonight we start Pesach (Jewish Passover) with the traditional Pesach seder. My mom will be over, as well as the four girls and two boyfriends, so we"ll be nine! I wish you all a wonderful Passover or Good Friday/Pasha/Easter!!

CT work You make me so proud

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 07:03:00 +0000

Another pair of layouts for Karen, with my daughter Yael :) Kit is Kakleidesigns You make me so proud, available at CSD.

At my gallery at CSD and Digishoptalk

Organic Lemonade

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 08:28:00 +0000

Every shabbat we have a 2-liter/half a gallon plastic bottle of "fresh" orange juice at the dinner table. Cost: 22 shekels (6 dollars) and a plastic bottle to take to recycling. That's 52 weeks a year, making 52 x 6 dollars is around 300 dollars yearly.

This is what I have in my garden....

Under this lemon tree lay dozens of lemons on the ground wasting into compost. Year after year (I live in this house for 18 years now).

This year we picked them up, picked also many of the overfull branches.

and did this...

Both Yael and Sarai had a large juice-presser (hubby had a simple table juice presser and I cut the lemons). The girls loved it and were disappointed as we finished already the large bucket and two full bags. It took less than an hour.

Result, more than a gallon (5 liters) of fresh pressed pure lemon juice.

I brought it to a boil, adding sugar (for every liter and a half of lemon juice, one kilo sugar) and made it into concentrated lemon syrup (constant move the lemon juice in order for all the sugar to dissolve).

The concentrate syrup we placed in well cleaned olive oil bottles and other reused glass containers. Just leave enough space at the top of the jar for the juice to expand when it freezes, otherwise the jar will crack!

We put it all in the freezer and one large bottle in the fridge for immediate use. To make the lemonade I put a bottom of syrup in a bottle and add water. Add a few mint (nana) leaves and it's ready.

Tasty, organic, no artificial flavors or other chemical additives, simple, ready when you need it, no plastic waste bottles and above all for free!

We made our backyard ready for summer and sat outside already enjoying our lemons :)

Have a great week!

CSD April blogtrain

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Our April blogtrain "When Nature Awakes", sponsored by CSD is leaving April first!

Its that time again, and the following Designers have outdone themselves

to bring you this exquisite collection of Freebies. Hop on over to each

and every blog, you are sure to end up with an amazing perfectly matching kit. Don't forget to leave them some love.

Here is my portion!

PARTICIPANTS LIST

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EMSArts<< YOU ARE HERE!

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Karen Diamond Designs

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DownUnderScraps

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April store news

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 04:50:00 +0000

It's April already! We have loads of store news, including a big springcleaning sale!

CSD Newsletter April 2012 Week 1
CSD MEGA April 2012: La Couture, get this beautiful super large scrapkit free with purchase!

this is my part in the kit

RETIREMENT SALE March 31-April 13 (2012). I will be retiring some 10 products. They will be gone forever by April 13th.

EMS Arts Spring Store sale! 20% on all, including new products and CU!

Patchouli

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:26:00 +0000

Two and an half year ago some anonymous person dropped a carton box with a mommy cat and 5 kittens of perhaps a week old in our backyard and sped off. Remember my story and my layout above?

What happened since.
The mother-cat found a good home at a neighbour. We managed to spay/neuter four of the five kittens, but at the day of the Vet visit one of the male kittens named Simba (six months old by then) had wandered off and missed his appointment. A month or so later Simba ran off and didn't return and probably found his luck elsewhere. One of the girls, Bella went missing last Autumn :( and so we are left with 3 of the kittens, now 2 and a half years old! Oliver, Couscous and Patchouli. Patchouli is the lazy one :)

A thing of beauty

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 16:16:00 +0000

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
pass into nothingness; but still will keep A bower quiet for us,.....

so wrote John Keats (1795-1821)

A beautiful day it was, filled with beauty.

Yael.
In the morning sunlight in our backyard. She is going to be 15 in June.

This was Michal (19) about the same age as Yael.

and this was Sarai (17) when she was 15!

Than my mom came to visit today and brought me this!

Together we visited a small local thrift store and look what I found!

A pair of lovely yellow amber glass votives!

and a tin (pewter) tumbler, lovely decorated. It's stamped on the bottom with an eagle and the letters A and F I think, but I didn't have the time yet to check it out. It's great to put my cake forks in! Love love!

I also found a tiny pepper pot (I think it is). I think it's silverplate on a blue container. Sweet.

and this lovely pair of vases!

May you all have a beautiful weekend!

Unconditional Love - New Fan freebie minikit

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 10:48:00 +0000

I have a new free minikit for my fans over at Facebook, 12 papers and 20 elements, fullsize, 300 DPI, Personal use. It's called Unconditional. Get it at my facebook page (button right). Hope you like :)

and my layout with my sweetie Joey, still missing.

Uploaded to my galleries
CSD
Designer Digitals
Digiscrap Addicts
Digishop talk

Passover scrapkit in store and freebie!

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 07:41:00 +0000

My Passover scrap-kit is finally in store!

Passover is a scrapkit for the Jewish Passover or Pesach holiday, celebrating the exodus of the Jews from the slavery in ancient Egypt under leadership of Moses. It is celebrated around April each year. This kit has enough elements and papers for all your festival scrapping and hybrid projects! Fullsize, 300 DPI, Personal use/S4H. This is a digital download.

10 fullsize papers, 300 DPI
20 wordbits (one wordart, the words Passover, Pesah, Pesach and the Hebrew version in different styles/colors)
50 unique elements (click store link to view full list of elements)

EXCLUSIVE FOR CSD!!

Layouts
by Karen

layouts by Amanda (the first layout uses also elements from other kits by me).

layout by Shirl

and by me

You can download the quickpage of this layout (fullsize, 12x12, 300 DPI, PU)

Yael

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 09:33:00 +0000

A layout for Karen, with my daughter Yael :)

At my gallery at CSD and Digishoptalk

The Habit of Hope (S4H)

Practice hope. As hopefulness becomes a habit, you can achieve a permanently happy spirit. Norman Vincent Peale

Available at stores and on sale!

CSD DDR SDD

Spring - with a freebie

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 10:42:00 +0000

It's official! It is spring. Personally I love the winters here: rain, storm (would love snow as well, but the last time it snowed where I live, was in 1959 so they say), but the weather right now is nice, around 20 Celcius/ 50 F. A lot nicer than the 40C/100F we usually get in high summer!

My cats love the spring weather and are a lot outside. When it's cold, I sometimes have 10 cats cuddled up inside our small house and they all want their own private space, so it's not easy! :)

This is Fiona.

and this is (Earl) Grey.

I made you this spring quickpage from PMarie's spring kit for the CSD QP challenge! It's fullsize, 12x12 and 300 DPI.

The cutie is Yael when she was one years old :)

I wish you all a great weekend!

Inspired

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:06:00 +0000

Both Sarai and Yael are home. All week. Their classes our out on a 4-day fieldtrip. Sarai can't go because of her arm (and she had follow up checks this morning in hospital) and Yael just hates sleeping in a tent in the middle of the desert and begged me not to send her. At her age, I loved fieldtrips, but ok she doesn't. So as hubby drove with Sarai to hospital today, I spend the day with Yael. First we cleaned her room and moved the bed in the morning and in the noon we baked a cake.

I felt so inspired by this post Black forest Bundt Cake, that we just had to try it out. And it was fun to do and delicious to taste.

and Michal baked these lemon cookies in the weekend (we have a lemon tree in the garden).

and it is spring today!

I hope you have a great week!

Back home and a freebie

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:52:00 +0000

We are back home! All went well. We had to wait seven hours in the waiting room before the surgery because of an unexpected emergency surgery, than waiting during the surgery and than waiting next to the recovery room, so we were extremely tired in the evening. Sarai just woke after 13 hours sleep :) but she is feeling good and the pain is bearable. Thank you all for your well wishes!

I made this freebie mini-kit for a challenge at CSD "CU Pack for a PU FREEBIE Challenge" (in which you must use the CU items provided - Thank you Karen!).
Credits: Kakleidesigns Fun CU mix

I hope you like it :) It's full-size, 300 DPI and Personal use. Seven papers and 17 elements.

If you would like more scrap material in this color palette, please view Delilah in my store.

What a catch

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 11:16:00 +0000

Last year (read here) I bought four Italian brown glass tumblers for two shekels each (50 cents). Loved them! Pitty I had only four. I had just enough for the four of us (with Sarai and Yael), but not enough if the other kids came home for the weekend. Than one broke...and they were not used anymore, because I never had a table for 3...

Last week hubby asked if I wanted to visit the Haifa flea market. I said, "perhaps I"ll find another set of those tumblers", laughing and knowing I would not, as foreign antiques/vintage items are rare in Israel and to find EXACTLY the same, would be a chance of one in a million.

Guess what I found between all the junk (the Haifa fleamarket is for 75% junk)? A set of SIX exactly the same vintage Italian tumblers for 20 shekels together (around 5 dollars). Hehehe...I have nine now!

And below is another newbie in the house. This stray was roaming our garden last winter, but he was fighting with our other cats and we didn't take him in. This winter however the cat-catcher of the kibbutz caught him and had him neutered. All strays that are caught are spayed/neutered and vaccinated and than released again (TNR or Trap-Neuter-Release), whereby the Vet clips one of the ear points (during the anaesthesia of the spaying, so the cat doesn't feel it). This way in future they know which cat has been "helped" already and won't be taken in for surgery for nothing. I know it sounds horrible, but better a clipped ear than to be put down (animal shelters are overpopulated here). Anyway, since he has been neutered he is a darling and the other 12 cats took him in well. He feels already totally at home, despite being named "Lehben" by the kids (which means yoghurt in Hebrew, for being white...).

Tomorrow we have to take Sarai to hospital for follow-up surgery (read about her accident here) and I might not be home for a few days.

Have a great week and stay safe!

New look

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 08:00:00 +0000

As Facebook forces us to take the new timeline and I had to make a new design for the facebook page, I thought I synchronize the blog design with it! I also "decluttered" the blog sidebar for faster loading. I hope you like it!

Here is my facebook page! You can still pick up the facebook fan freebie trough the new tabs on top!

I'd love it if you "liked" me! If you have, then thanks bunches!

Purim 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 06:53:00 +0000

Purim (Hebrew: פּוּרִים Pûrîm "lots", from the word pur, related to Akkadian pūru is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from destruction in the wake of a plot by Haman, a story recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther (Megillat Esther).
According to the Book of Esther, in the Hebrew Bible, Haman, royal vizier to King Ahasverus planned to kill the Jews, but his plans were foiled by Mordecai and Queen Esther. The day of deliverance became a day of feasting and rejoicing.

Purim is celebrated by giving mutual gifts of food and drink (mishloach manot), giving charity to the poor (mattanot la-evyonim), a celebratory meal (se'udat Purim), and public recitation of the Scroll of Esther (keriat ha-megillah), additions to the prayers and the grace after meals (al hannisim). Other customs include
drinking wine, wearing of masks and costumes, and public celebration.

Each year as the kids grow, fewer of them wish to dress up. This year it is only Yael who still wanted to go to school dressed for Purim. She got her outfit together by herself, so that was one worry less. In the past to get four kids dressed up together with their misloah manot (candy parcels to exchange at school) was a major task!

This was Yael in other years (lovvve that selfmade Harry Potter costume!)

and this is Yael Purim 2012! (with chopsticks in her hair :)

This is a freebie of last year for your Purim layouts!

Fiona

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 06:04:00 +0000

This is my cat Fiona in a layout I did for Karen. One of the ladies in the house, she is a very shy cat and I have to save her from the other cats all the time! A real sweetie though.

At my gallery at CSD (click image) and Digishoptalk

Gold Approach (S4H) kit by Kakleidesigns This is a gorgeous, elegant kit full of antique gold blended with beautiful purples, this is a must have set, it will suit every vintage, heritage, cute, elegant, daily memory in a classy, elegant, luxury way, enjoy! The kit includes: 14 papers of 12x12 inches-JPG-300dpi, 62 unique, assorted elements at 300dpi-PNG format.

Get this amazing kit on Sale at her stores:
CSD DDR

ATC kit and collaboration kit (Free with purchase)

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 10:02:00 +0000

I have a new ATC kit in store! This pack has 18 beautiful ATC backgrounds, in individual png files (2.5x3.5 inch, 750x1050 pixels), 300 DPI and collected on 2 printsheets in jpg format, each with 9 cards, 300 DPI for easy printing on standard A4 paper (8.5x11 inch). These backgrounds are for Personal use, but the printed final ATC card can be sold. (personal-limited commercial use license).

Artist trading cards (or ATCs) are miniature works of art about the same size as modern baseball cards, or 2.5x3.5 inchinches (63 mm X 89 mm), small enough to fit inside standard card-collector pockets, sleeves or sheets. Cards are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc.), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc.), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc.) or even metals or cloth. The cards are usually traded or exchanged. When sold, they are usually referred to as art card editions and originals (ACEOs).

Exclusive at CSD.

Furthermore there is a new Mega collabortaion kit Changes at CSD free with purchase. I just adore the color palette of this month's theme!

Exclusively at: www.coolscrapsdigital.com
PERSONAL USE ONLY: Full Size at 300dpi.
This exquisite Mega features a staggering
324 Elements and 107 Papers!
Don't leave without it!
Contributing Designers:
Adry Piliero
butterflyDsign
Crazed Creations
Created by Jill Scraps
DHL
Dillies Designs
EMS Arts
Les Idees des Christine
LouiseL
Jessicas Sweet Nothings
KaKleiDesigns
LeaUgoScrap
Maguette
Nathalie Scrap and Design
Peek A Book
Simplette

Here is my modest contribution (I wasn't suppose to contribute this month, but couldn't resist these beautiful colors :)

This kit has a $10 value! Get it free with purchase!

Simply spend $10 in products:

Add this $10 Mega to your cart, then add $10 “more” dollars in other products to your store, then begin check-out and use the following coupon to bring the mega price of $10 down to $0.00.
You won’t be disappointed.
coupon code: CHANGES

Saint Patricks Day

noreply@blogger.com (Elsina) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 09:35:00 +0000

I made a little Saint Paddies card in Bryce for the St Patricks challenge at the TEG 3D forum. If you want to enter, you have till March 17th! Enter here!
Now I still have to find that pot of gold out there somewhere....

Éirinn go brách :)

By the way, Daz extended it's offer to get Bryce Pro for free, till the end of march! Click here.