Papercut madness

Famille Summerbelle has conquered Paris, London and New York and now The World. Enjoy!

The Magician next door: Jenny

Jenny has a cat named Blueskii and she lives in Jerusalem with her boyfriend. She's an illustrator and a toymaker - the magician next door. Her work is full of magic, wonder and delight and on her website Mytinydream.com, she advices people to be happy every day, and she sure makes that easier for people by creating her wonderful work of illustrations, tiny things and toys.

I asked Jenny a few neighborly questions:
Who are you?
"I am Jenny. I am living in Jerusalem, in Israel. I was born in Russia and at the age of 11 I came to Israel with my family. I finished my studies In Bezalel academy of art and design. I studied Illustration, and finished it with excellence!!" 

When did you start to make toys?
"I just started making toys about 2 weeks ago, (usually I am making illustrations www.mytinydream.com ), I love the long process of making a toy, it starts with a small ball of fimo and after long time it became a creature with a full life, that I can even talk with! it is really amazing for me... then I am making few more tiny toys for the first toy I made and then it become a full tiny world with his own happening and future, that can become a story!"

Where do you find inspiration?
"My inspiration comes from my mind or my dreams, and sometimes from my hands...." 

How do you make your toys?
"I make my toys of fimo and them coloring by acrylic." 

Do you play with toys?
"I am not playing with toys a lot, but I love to look at them and sometimes talking to them a bit, or just taking them to a new places......."

What was your favorite toy as a kid?
"When I was a little little child my Mom took me to a kids shop, and told me to choose any toy I like,and I choose a bear with green pants, my mom told me years later that it was super ugly bear, but I actually remember him very well, and I also remember that I loved him very much!"

You can see more of Jenny's work here and check out her Etsy shop here.

Create: Found forest sticks

I love these painted forest sticks that I found on Ginettesqulette's photostream on Flickr. This is a great idea and something that would be fun to do with kids.

Let's play: In the woods

While traveling with my family through Hallormsstaðaskógur, the largest and dare I say only forest in Iceland, we came across a magical playground, with teepees made out of branches. They were built around birch trees and scattered around the play area, which made it look like a small village. I sort of expected Bilbo Baggins to come stepping out of one of them welcoming us to the Shire. The kids were instantly taken by the branched teepees and had fun playing the rest of the afternoon.