Welcome to Jewish Gift Place! There is nothing like a handmade gift to make a home
feel special and warm. In our Jewish gift collection, everything is
handmade. Whether you are looking for a wedding gift, a Bar
Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah gift, a gift for a new home, or a gift for yourself,
we are sure that you will find the perfect handcrafted Judaica gift at
Jewish Gift Place. We have handmade jewelry, menorahs, and mezuzahs by
Michal Golan, handmade jewelry by Michael Bromberg, hand painted silk tallit
by Nicole Curl and Jan Marie Lanier, handcrafted metals by Gary Rosenthal,
and handmade glass items by K4 Glassart. Each item is unique and beautiful.
If you know of a Judaica artist whose work should be included in our
collection, let us know.
About Risa Borsykowsky
I have always loved the arts, crafts, and design. I have taken dozens of
classes through the years in all kinds of crafts such as basket making,
jewelry making, watercolor, oil, & acrylic painting, photography,
calligraphy, and pottery. My shelves are filled with the beautiful pottery
plates, bowls, mugs, and vases that I've made. My watercolor paintings hang
from the walls. I love photography. There is always a crafts project going
on in my house - collages, stepping stones, handmade soap, jewelry. I love
color, shapes, textures, symmetry, and asymmetry. In high school, I was the
Arts Editor for New Youth Communications, and I was an Arts & Crafts
counselor during the summers.
A lot has happened to me since my oldest son, Joshua, was born in 1999.
When Joshua was 6 months old, I took my first web design class. It wasn't
easy juggling my full-time job, a newborn, and classes on the weekend, but
by June 2000, I was able to make web design my career and work from home and
be with my baby more (and add two more boys along the way - Daniel and
Benjamin).
I've had the best web design clients over the years, but my biggest thrill
is running this e-commerce site - www.jewishgiftplace.com. It encompasses
everything there is to learn about web design, SEO, internet marketing,
traditional marketing, and running a business. It is about my favorite topic
- handmade items. It is incredibly exciting and rewarding.
In addition to running Jewish Gift Place, I am also a moderator at Cre8asite
Forums, a Web Design, SEO, and Internet Marketing forum.
I have been married to my high school sweetheart, Michael, since 1990 and we
dated for seven years before that. One of our first dates was Billy Joel's
1982-83 New Year's Eve concert. I have been blessed with three incredible
boys and we love to go bike riding and camping. We have a 21' trailer and we
go on about five camping trips a year.
It is my great joy to work on this website. One of my great thrills is getting to meet the artists at the trade shows I attend twice a year. To learn more about the artists, visit our Interview With the Artist page. I hope you enjoy viewing all of
the beautiful handcrafted Judaica items carefully selected to be in our
collection as much as I enjoy bringing them to you.
About Ulana Illiano
When I began working for Risa at Jewish Gift Place in 2008, I could not have imagined what a wonderful experience it would be -- both personally and professionally. Specifically, I assist Risa with all aspects of e-commerce management, internet marketing, and social media. An average day can encompass anything from adding new products, to creating a beautiful landing page graphic, to writing a blog post, to tweeting with our customers! Risa encourages a very creative atmosphere and I enjoy the daily give and take of ideas and inspiration. I love learning about our artists and their craft, as well as brainstorming new goals for the site!
I grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and attended New York University where I studied Political Science. Probably a mistake for me, since my true love has always been technology. I am a definitely a 'tech geek' at heart!
Personally, as a wife and mother, to be able to work from home has been very rewarding. It is really wonderful to be able to make being a stay-at-home mom a priority, while still following my professional aspirations. I have learned so much from Risa, and it is her vision and eye for beauty that has made Jewish Gift Place the success that it is! Now that Lisa has rounded out the team, I look forward to many exciting adventures ahead!
About Lisa Storms
I came on board Jewish Gift Place in November 2009 and have never looked back! I work with two incredible women whom I admire and respect and have taught me so much already. Although it is great to be able to work from home, I really do enjoy the times we get together to collaborate, because more often than not, those times involve a lot of laughing! As moms juggling husbands, kids, and work, we have a lot in common and work well together. I never felt like the "new kid" and Risa and Lana took me in and instantly made me feel at home.
As an English major with a minor in French, I have always been interested in reading, writing, research, and other cultures. I love writing informative articles, and blog posts about our products, the artists who create them, and the symbolism and meaning behind them. I enjoy learning new things and sharing the information with our customers and visitors to our website.
I have had some really unique experiences in my life, having worked in sales and marketing for some time, mostly selling wine and liquor, and also having competed in a few beauty pageants along the way. In the Mrs. New York America pageant, I was named Ms. Photogenic and Ms. Congeniality 2003, and in a subsequent pageant in New England, I placed 2nd runner-up. I learned a lot about myself and others by competing in pageants - like believing in yourself as well as honing interviewing skills and also how to accept criticism graciously. Soon after, I became a promotional model and recently, I had the unique pleasure of coaching an up and coming teen pageant queen. These experiences really helped shape who I am today as a wife, a mother, a friend, and a writer.
I have written several articles on the internet ranging from working at home to how to dress for your body type. I credit my education and my unique life experiences with affording me the knowledge and skills it takes to write in an intelligent, informative, and hopefully, entertaining manner. Working for Risa and Jewish Gift Place helps make all this happen for me and I am one of those lucky people who gets to say that I really enjoy what I do for a living!
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