Local artists fashion JudaicaMaria Weisbrod went shopping on the Internet - and a business was born.Browsing for a gift, Weisbrod found a design for a head covering fashioned from wire and beads that looked as if it had been crocheted. "I started messing around with it," says Weisbrod, a professionally trained actress who performs frequently in the Valley under her maiden name Amorocho and says she has always done crafts in her spare time. "I just took an idea and elaborated on it." That was four years ago; today, Weisbrod's kippot are sold in a number of gift shops, including the Har Zion Sisterhood Judaica Shop, Temple Chai Judaica Shop and Hakol, and adorn the heads of any number of Valley women. Weisbrod says Har Zion's Phyllis Weinstein may have been her first customer. Weinstein wore the unusual kippah to a regional Sisterhood conference and handed out Weisbrod's card. "A woman called me up," says Weisbrod, and Keepsake Kippot was on its way. Weisbrod, married and the mother of two sons, says she now employs a woman to do the beading but still does all the weaving herself. "I take it with me, to rehearsals, if I am taking the kids someplace," she says. "I can carry it around and do it anywhere." She says the kippot, which retail for $25, take less than an hour to complete. They can be ordered online at keepsakekippot@cox.net or by phone at 602-569-5500. Weisbrod recently obtained a business license and has expanded her business to California. "Local shops and clients have been with me from the beginning," she says gratefully. Now, she says, she is fielding inquiries from all over the country, and the business is growing. Weisbrod, whose family belongs to Temple Kol Ami, says she gets immense satisfaction knowing that women are wearing her kippot to pray. "It is something they use, not just something pretty," she says. Bonnie Miller loves making pretty things. That's what led the busy mother of two teenagers to fashioning distinctive jewelry of silver, beads and semiprecious stones and pearls. Her bracelets are featured at Hakol, at Temple Kol Ami, where Miller and her husband, Keith, are members, and at other select Valley locations. Miller, who has a background in art, has been making the beaded bracelets, earrings and belts for the past five years. Working at a local bead shop exposed her to the craft and inspired her creativity. Miller works from her Scottsdale home studio. Her most popular items are bracelets for bat mitzvah gifts adorned with tiny silver Torahs. They retail for $36, unless Miller incorporates more expensive baubles. Bracelets selling for $54 (triple chai, she notes) might incorporate bigger pearls and crystals. She also welcomes special orders and can be contacted at her business, Just Let Me Bead, at 480-451-1801. She has continued to work at the bead shop to keep on top of the latest designs and materials. "I see everything first," she says. Miller loves the creative process but still delights at seeing someone wearing one of her designs. "The biggest thrill is to run into someone, and they are wearing a piece - and they love it." |
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