Today is the grand opening of DaDragons (that would be me) Online Web Store!!
After much beating and pounding (by some feline named person) and modem meltdown by my WP guru, It is finally online and ready for business. Plenty of sale prices and fun stuff (I hope) Thanks so much for taking a gander.
dadragon….aka me…aka Kathi
Yesterday and today I am working on getting my new store ready for it’s grand opening! I have gotten images take and edited, categories in the store all set and am in the process of uploading items. This weekend I am planning on getting my cane images taken and will have canes uploaded. I am so excited. Finally….DaDragon’s store will be open for business!
Thanks and kudos go to Elaine for getting my store software loaded and working out the kinks in there. Thanks also go to Cat for providing the proverbial boot upside my tukus, and making me actually *do* the work in getting the store going. I would so much rather play with clay then do the behind the scene geek work that it takes to get things photo’s, edited, and uploaded.
and now ….back to work so Cat won’t yell at me from CHA 
Today I sat down at my clay table and just let my hands create. I had no plan, no thought as to what I would make. What I had was a box of small test tubes, clay ready to be used and some time. What came out was what I am calling my prototype mezuzah. Once I had the clay portion done, sanded and buffed I decided that copper would look nice with it so dug around in my stash of metal stuff, found some sheet copper and hauled out the copper wire. A little tapping, drilling and wiring later the mezuzah was finished. A non-kosher scroll containing the Torah portions that are contained in the mezuzah, slide nicely into the test tube via the opening in the back. Here is a good description of what a mezuzah is and the scroll found at wikipedia.
When I posted the hamsa I had made, Toby asked where the close up of the home blessing was. Of course I had forgotten to take one so I am now fixing that error. Here is a close up of the blessing in part Hebrew and English, done using Lisa Pavelka’s waterslide transfer paper. I find this makes for a very easy simple method for transfers.
Thank you for looking and stopping by. Shalom.
Last week I was working on a few hamsa for the Judaica shop at my Temple. I finally got to finish them up this weekend. The canes I used were some of mine and some of Elaine Robitaille’s obtained off the ClayChicks Etsy Shop. Her partner in floral caning, Carolyn Jordan, added one of her beautiful flower canes to my collection too. Being as that I am NOT a flower caner, being able to purchase these canes from these two amazing artists was a blessing for me.
The fist hamsa is a smaller version which could be hung in a house, or studio, or where ever you would like one. The clay portion measures 3 1/2″ from top to tip of the finger. It also contains the Jewish home blessing, partially in Hebrew and then in English.
The next three Hamsa I made are of the larger version, measuring 5″ from the top to the fingertip of the clay portion. These too have the Jewish home blessing on them, and are decorated with beads and micro macrame’ and a hanger, either a ring or a small piece of mesquite wood.
A little history of the Hamsa for those who do not know what they are.
The symbol of the hand in Mediterranean cultures is ancient as in far east cultures. There are speculations that the Jews were among the first to use it as a protective amulet, also called “Hand of Miriam”. This tradition predates the Muslim use of the Hamsa (called the hand of Fatima, daughter of Mohammed) by at least a thousand years.
The hamsa, hung on a wall, is a very common ornament in Morocco, Israel and the Middle East. The use of the Hamsa is part of the Jewish and Israeli folklore and superstition, but it has nothing to do with the official Jewish religion. Of course, many people today display or wear hamsas as ornaments, without giving any thought to their supposed magical properties.
The symbolism of the Hamsa: The hamsa hand (Arabic) or chamesh hand (Hebrew) is an old and still popular amulet for magical protection from the evil eye known to draw positive energy, happiness, riches and health. The Chamsa’s (semitic root meaning five) includes five digits and symbolizes the Creator’s protective hand. Five is by itself a number which is known as a protector.