60 for Old Age

A customer asked me to make a special birthday card for her sister, who was turning 60 in August. She told me that her sister has seven children and now four little granddaughters. Family is very important to her. She also has a Labrador called Sunny.

My customer's sister was born in England, lived in Israel for 20+ years, and now lives in New York. Israel and Judaism are very important to her. Oh, and apparently she is a brilliant baker as well.

I decided to show my customer's sister proudly showing off some of the incredible bread she bakes. She is also holding a book of Tehillim. Psalms ("Tehillim"), the first book of the section in the Hebrew Bible called Writings, is an anthology of 150 poems attributed to King David and to others. It includes songs of praise to God, laments of communal or personal tragedy, and expressions of anger, despair, hope, and gratitude.
Behind her, small flags of the UK, USA, and Israel represent the countries she has lived in, with the Israeli flag made more prominent. I added a small graphic representing the family that is so important to her. My customer was keen for me to also show a range of children - some Haredi and some with tattoos! The dog was also included as well.
Finally, the Hebrew greeting on the card says:

60 לזקנה = זה קנה הדעת

The Hebrew phrase from Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) 5:21 is a play on words and gematria (Hebrew numerology), where letters and numbers hold symbolic meaning. The literal translation means:

"60 for old age = this one has acquired wisdom"

   "60 לזקנה"

means "60 [is the age] of old age". This refers to the traditional idea that age 60 marks the beginning of "זקנה" (old age), as mentioned in Jewish sources.

"זה קנה הדעת" - "This one has acquired knowledge/wisdom" is a wordplay: The Hebrew letters in "זה קנה הדעת" (zeh kanah hada'at) add up numerically to 60 using gematria. It also implies that by reaching 60, a person has gained true wisdom or understanding.
So, the greeting is a poetic way of saying that turning 60 isn't just about getting older - it's about reaching an age of wisdom and insight. The phrase implies respect and honour for someone who has lived long enough to gain deep understanding.

My customer's sister loved the card.

* This post has been shared on Happiness is Homemade, Craft Schooling Sunday, Busy Monday.

Shai and Nurit

Shai was turning 19, so his mum asked me to make him a card. He loves to sing and leyn she told me. When the Torah is read in the Synagogue it is often chanted. This is described as leyning, which comes from the Yiddish word 'leyn', which means to read. He also plays the guitar, enjoys board games, and - according to Mum - has an incredible general knowledge of geography, including places, countries, cities, and capitals. He always walks around with headphones on too, she added.

I decided to show Shai playing the guitar. He is wearing a black knitted kippah on his head, and has his beloved headphones on too! In the background I added a map of the world to illustrate his interest in different places and countries, along with a picture of one of his favourite board games, Catan. Finally, I crafted a small Torah scroll and a yad. The Torah scroll contains the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The yad, meaning "hand" in Hebrew, is a pointer used during its reading to avoid direct contact with the sacred text.

Not long after, Shai's sister Nurit was also about to celebrate a birthday. She was turning 14. Mum told me that she also loves board games, and that Ticket to Ride is one of her favourites. She plays the piano, loves notebooks and journals, and enjoys popcorn and movie nights with her friends.

I have shown Nurit playing a tune on the piano. In the background are a couple of notebooks and a pencil, a picture of her favourite board game, and some popcorn in a red-and-white striped container. The container is very commonly associated with movie theatres and movie nights. Who knows? Maybe Nurit pulls one out when hosting a cozy movie night with friends at home.

* This post has been shared on Happiness is Homemade and Busy Monday.

A Handmade Tribute to 50 Years Together

A customer asked if I was able to create a special card for her parents 50th wedding anniversary in July. She sent me a picture of them on their wedding day, below, and asked whether I could create a replica of the photo. "I love this photo of them" she told me.
I carefully recreated the picture of her mum in her gorgeous long blue dress and white hat, and her dad in a dark blue suit adorned with a peach boutonnière. To complete the scene, I even included the brick wall of the synagogue where they were married. In honor of the couple's 50 years of marriage, I highlighted their Golden Anniversary with a gold "50" and matching hearts.

My customer was thrilled with the card. "Hi Lisa, thanks again for my parents' card, am so in love with it," she wrote to me. She later followed up, saying, "They [her parents] LOVED it! They put it up right on the front at their party so everyone could see it. So many people came up to me complimenting it too."

* This post has been shared on Happiness is Homemade, Busy Monday, Inspire Me Monday, Tuesday Turn About and Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop.

Colour

Back in December I went to see the exhibition "Colour" at the Design Museum in Holon. The exhibition explored the subject of colour from a variety of perspectives: how we understand, perceive, and interpret colour, how it affects objects, and how a specific colour becomes associated with a value, product, or abstract concept. It showcased the works of some 30 Israeli designers from various design disciplines: product design, textile design, visual communication, fashion, and illustration. Most of the pieces were specially created for the exhibition and were being displayed for the first time.

The lower gallery of the museum featured projects concerned with colour as a material, exploring how it comes into being by means of both innovative and traditional technologies. The upper gallery showcased works that demonstrated how surroundings and experiences are created using colours.

The most interesting part of the exhibition for me was in the museum's peripheral gallery. Displays explored colour trends and the historical and cultural reasons for choosing a certain colour to represent a particular idea.
I learnt about the 17 different colours of berets that Israel Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers wear and the reasons the colours were chosen, above. Initially, most soldiers wore olive-green berets. Over time, however, different colours came to be identified with different military corps and brigades. For instance, the colour red was chosen for the berets worn by paratroopers, since it is identified with paratrooper units worldwide; brown is the colour of the berets worn by Golani soldiers, representing a connection to the earth and to roots; the green colour of the Nahal beret represents the brigade's affinity with agriculture and settlement building; until 2000, the artillery corps wore black berets. It was then decided to change the colour to turquoise, symbolizing the sky that the artillery passes through, and thus strengthening the soldiers' sense of pride. And what about the purple beret worn by Givati soldiers? The Hebrew word for purple, sagol, is associated with violet flowers, sigaliyot (violets). It is also related to the brigade's motto, which contains the word segula (select, chosen), sharing same root with the word sagol.

Another display showed pigments produced from soil samples from the Ramon Crater mixed into white clay, above, highlighting the crater's profusion of natural earth tones, which vary from intense orange to deep purple.

The team colours of the Israeli football clubs have relevance too. The colour red has been identified with Hapoel Tel Aviv since its foundation in 1926, above. The club's crest features a figure throwing an iron ball alongside the Soviet hammer and sickle, which represented the working class. The blood shed as part of the struggle for workers' rights was symbolized by the colour red as a representation of self-sacrifice, courage, rebellion and freedom. By contrast, the yellow colour of the Maccabi Tel Aviv kit came to be associated with the team only in 1942, when it was chosen as a means of identification with the European Jews persecuted by the Nazis and forced to wear the Yellow Star. 

The Flag of all Flags project, above, was displayed at the entrance to the museum's upper gallery. The flag is a composition of various flat shapes, symbols and colours that forms one playful and vibrant flag - a flag of visual optimism. Recognizing how flags are often used for bad purposes, generating an "us vs. them" sentiment, this flag was created aims to unite rather than divide. It has a little bit of everything in it!

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun., Busy Monday, Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), Tuesday Turn About and Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop.

Yonatan and Eilon

Yonatan recently went on a long trek in Nepal and is now working as a bartender at events. His mum asked me to make him a card for his 22nd birthday and wondered if I could somehow combine these two things. She also asked me to add a heart with the name of Yonatan's girlfriend on it.
She sent me a photo of Yonatan next to a sign saying Larke Pass. I learnt that the Larke Pass, also known as Larkya La, is a high mountain pass in Nepal, situated at an elevation of 5,106 metres (16,752 feet). It is the highest point on the Manaslu Circuit Trek. The pass is marked by a sign indicating its elevation and is a popular spot for trekkers to take photos. The sign is often adorned with prayer flags, adding to the scenic and spiritual atmosphere of the location.
Mum also sent me a photo of Yonatan mixing a cocktail.
I decided to show Yonatan in front of the Larke Pass sign, dressed in his mountaineering clothing. At the same time, he is holding a cocktail shaker and has already mixed a few drinks, which I placed next to him. I added some trekking poles, a red heart with his girlfriend Eden's name on it, and a big yellow number 22 to mark his age.
Apparently Yonatan absolutely loved it!

Yonatan's little brother Eilon celebrated his 10th birthday a few months ago. Mum asked me to show him playing the piano on his card, but wanted me to add a basketball and some milk chocolate M&M's as well. The yellow number 10 shows his age.

Eilon loved his card too. "Thank you so much for the cards! They made our day." mum wrote to me.

* This post has been shared on Happiness is Homemade, Tuesday Turn About, Creative Muster, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop and Inspire Me Monday.