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Happy New Year!

Posted by Risa on January 5th, 2010 — in Newsletters | Click here to comment

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of our friends from Jewish Gift Place! We wish you and your family the best of health and happiness in 2010!

It has been a very exciting year at Jewish Gift Place, so I thought I’d share with you the highlights of what’s been going on here, and what we hope to bring to you in 2010.

Artist’s Interview Series

At Jewish Gift Place, we are passionate about handmade items. Whether the piece is handpainted, sculpted, welded, built, or fired, every single piece we sell is made lovingly by hand with an artist standing behind every single item.

The Artists of Jewish Gift Place

This year, we interviewed eight of our incredible artists. With questions such as “How did you get started?” and “What do you enjoy most about this career?” the following artists gave us insight into their lives as artists:

Don’t miss our round-up of the artists answering the question, “What advice would you give to an artist just starting out?” Read the entire article for their interesting and insightful answers.

Check out the entire Interview with the Artist series. We’ll be adding more interviews throughout the year.

New Artists Join Jewish Gift Place

We’re always on the lookout for new artists that bring a different style of Judaica to Jewish Gift Place. This year, we added the beautiful work of Davida Designs and Angie Olami. Davida Newman of Davida Designs creates sterling silver designs out of the Hebrew alphabet, creating beautiful letters with intricate detail. Angie Olami has a beautiful collection of Judaica made with 2000 year old Roman glass.

Davida Designs and Angie Olami

There are several new artists that we’ll be adding to our collection in 2010 including Sarah Beames,Susan Fullenbaum, and several more that I’ve had my eye on for a while.

We’ll also be adding more items from our existing artists including Infinity Art in Metal, Michael Bromberg, Ayala Bar, and Gary Rosenthal – who always has something new going on. Gary’s newest pieces, his picture frames, are already popular with our customers. His frames include both Judaic designs and designs for any occasion and religion.

WWe just added a few special new pieces from Michael Bromberg – Shema necklaces, lockets, and mezuzah pendants.

Jewelry from the Michael Bromberg Collection

I am very excited to announce that Lisa Storms has just joined our staff in November. Like Ulana Illiano (who will be with us 2 years in February) and me, Lisa is a work-at-home mom of Madison, her 9 year-old daughter. Lisa is an excellent writer and will be helping out with adding new products to the website and sharing what’s new at Jewish Gift Place on Twitter and Facebook. She’ll be writing articles and contributing to the blog, as well. Welcome, Lisa! Below are photos of Lisa, Lana, and me, and our kids.

Lisa Storms Ulana Illiano Risa Borsykowsky

Looking Forward

We’d love to hear from you! Is there is an artist whose work you’d like to see at Jewish Gift Place? Are there any articles you’d like to read? Let us know! I’m excited about going to the Jacob Javits International Gift Fair at the end of January to discover new artists and buy the newest items from our existing artists. I also hope to go to Philadelphia, PA in February for the Buyer’s Market of American Craft. If you love craft fairs, this is the most amazing craft fair you can imagine! I’d love to buy everything there!

Remember, through Friday, 1/8/10, save $10 off any purchase. Use Code 128 at Step 2 of checkout.

We wish you the best of everything in 2010!

Rosh Hashana

Posted by Risa on September 22nd, 2009 — in Holidays & Celebrations, Newsletters | Click here to comment

L’SHANA TOVA!

With Rosh Hashana starting tomorrow night, we want to wish all of you a very happy and healthy New Year! L’SHANA TOVA TIKATEVU! May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year!

Thank you for your business for the past year and the kind feedback that I’ve gotten from many of you. We have lots of new handmade items to share with you for the upcoming holidays, so stay tuned!

NEW INTERVIEW WITH GARY ROSENTHAL!

I am delighted to announce that I have just posted a new interview with Gary Rosenthal on the site! Not only is he an inspired artist, but he is a person who cares deeply about others and making a difference in the world. Gary’s work in the community, and with his special needs employees, is inspirational! In this interview, Gary talks about his new woven line of Judaica that is handcrafted with the assistance of two autistic workers in his studio. Gary also talks about his plans for the future which include a project that he hopes to be his biggest to date! Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

Risa Borsykowsky: What gave you the idea of employing people with autism to help weave the items?

Gary Rosenthal: I like to say that all of my staff/associates do what they do better than I would do. No where is this clearer than with my autistic associates. Everyone is different, but John and Tim love to work on repetitive tasks where precision is critical. Weaving is a favorite task and the more the better. After the mezuzahs were so successful, I was determined to create more woven items so that eventually I could hire another autistic staffer for just that collection. That is still my hope.

Read the entire Gary Rosenthal interview and check out the Woven Collection.

FREE GARY ROSENTHAL DREIDEL WITH $100 PURCHASE!

I am very excited to offer my customers a FREE gift with every $100 purchase. Gary Rosenthal is one of the most popular artists at Jewish Gift Place, so I KNOW that you will absolutely LOVE these GORGEOUS dreidels! Each dreidel is 2″x2″ and is made out of brilliantly colored fused glass and no two are alike!

Wishing you and your family a Sweet New Year!

Risa Borsykowsky,
Owner and
Ulana Illiano
Jewish Gift Place

L’Shana Tova! A Good New Year!

Posted by Risa on August 25th, 2009 — in Holidays & Celebrations, Newsletters | Click here to comment

I can’t believe the summer is almost over! Rosh Hashana is fast approaching and since it is a holiday of reflection and renewal, I thought it would be a good time to update you on what has been going on at Jewish Gift Place this summer– to reflect on where we have been and what lies ahead.

This summer has been a busy one for us. With three young boys at home for the summer, my family has taken two wonderful camping trips to the Poconos in Pennsylvania, and next week, we’re off to the Finger Lakes in New York and Niagara Falls in Canada.

Lana also had an opportunity to get away for a family reunion on the beaches of Ogunquit, Maine to enjoy some R&R!

The next few weeks will be a whirlwind with back to school preparations and then we will welcome in the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashana. You might find our informative article, “What is Rosh Hashana?” interesting. We’ve just added some incredible new Rosh Hashana pieces that I am sure you will love.

NEW ROSH HASHANA GIFTS

Emily Rosenfeld has created a lovely pewter honey bowl with dipper that I am sure will be a hit. Emily’s Judaica is such a unique combination of the contemporary and the traditional. Her pieces are always a hit with our customers.

As always, Gary Rosenthal is an inspired worker bee who keeps creating the most gorgeous pieces. He has just added two Rosh Hashana items, an apple dish and a honey bowl that are just exquisite and so identifiably a “Gary Rosenthal.”

Shraga Landesman has a lovely collection of Judaica as well and we have just added his Apple and Honey Tray. It is really an incredible piece that combines stainless steel, beechwood and glass in a simple yet meaningful way.

WHAT’S NEW

Last Sunday, 8/16/09, I attended the New York International Gift Fair at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. The Gift Fair is always breathtaking in its scale and pace, and, as always, an amazing experience.

I saw some incredible new woven pieces from Gary Rosenthal, and Michal Golan added new hamsas to her collection. We’ll be adding these new items soon. I caught up with many of the other artists and I’ll be writing about that and showing photos on our blog soon.

We have already received new Judaica jewelry from our newest artist, Angie Olami, who makes the most beautiful jewelry with Roman glass from Israel. You will love her work! We will be adding her products soon and I can’t wait to share them with you!

We started a Twitter account, so you can follow us there.

We issued our first press release, “Work-at-Home Mom and Web Entrepreneur Celebrates 2 Years of Selling Handmade Judaica Online.”

UPCOMING EVENTS

We’re very excited to have updated our Gary Rosenthal interview. It will be online soon and we’ll be writing a press release about it, as well. Gary is a wonderful artist and person, and I know you’ll find this interview very interesting.

We also have an interview with the amazing Israeli artist, Ayala Bar, in the works. We are proud to carry the entire Ayala Bar Fall 2009 Collection.

* * * * * * * * * *

As I reflect back on this past year, I would like to thank all of you for your support of Jewish Gift Place in a time when I know we are all feeling the crunch. It is an honor and pleasure to bring our collection of handmade Judaica to you. Thank you for appreciating beautiful handcrafted Judaica and the artisans that craft it.

We wish all of you a Happy New Year and a healthy and peaceful year ahead!

Risa Borsykowsky,
Owner and
Ulana Illiano

Jewish Gift Place

Jewish Gifts For Father’s Day

Posted by Ulana Illiano on June 10th, 2009 — in Newsletters | Click here to comment

“When a father gives to his child, both laugh; when a child gives to his father, both cry.” ~Jewish Proverb

This lovely Jewish proverb is the perfect inspiration for Father’s Day, which is right around the corner on Sunday, June 21. As a wife and mother of three beautiful young boys, I am surrounded by men! So when I attend trade shows and seek out new artists, it is usually the Jewish gifts for men that really catch my eye! This newsletter will focus on gifts for the men in your life, especially those fathers we would like to honor on Father’s Day and every day!

When I think of the perfect Father’s Day gift, the Eduardo Milieris Jewish Watch Collection immediately comes to mind. Eduardo’s handcrafted modern copper watches are truly wearable art and are some of my most popular items. Eduardo’s Hebrew watch is both traditional yet contemporary and we carry the entire collection of Eduardo Milieris watches on our site.

Another favorite artist of mine is Cynthia Gale. Her Cynthia Gale Men’s Sterling Silver Star of David is absolutely spectacular! The detail on this necklace makes this piece unlike any other men’s Star of David that you’ve seen. Another favorite is the Sterling Silver Jewish Star Necklace on Leather which is magnificent and extremely popular with our customers. Cynthia Gale does a similar necklace with a Chai pendant as well as some other styles in 18K gold vermeil. All of her necklaces are strikingly beautiful. See the entire Cynthia
Gale collection.

Artist Michael Bromberg has a lovely collection of men’s Jewish jewelry that are inspired by the mezuzah. His mezuzah pendant necklace in sterling silver and 14k gold is a favorite of mine. The workmanship and detail on the piece is exquisite.We carry other beautiful pieces by Michael Bromberg that can be found on our website.

If your father or husband is a wine lover, what better gift than a lovely bottle of wine paired with a decorative wine bottle stopper? They come embellished with traditional Jewish symbols such as the Star of David (shown), Chai, and the Torah, among others. We also sell them as a set of five in case you have fathers-in-law, uncles and brothers on your list!

So you see, at Jewish Gift Place, we have a wide assortment of gives perfect for Father’s Day giving and in every price range! If you need additional information or just need a second opinion, give us a call at 917-450-4434 — we’d love to hear from you!

On a final note, since our last newsletter, we have added the work of some new artists to our site. Take a moment to discover their beautiful work:

Happy Father’s Day from Jewish Gift Place!

Risa Borsykowsky, Owner
917-450-4434
www.jewishgiftplace.com

FATHER’S
DAY PICKS