A Family Picture

Galia's mum wanted a very special card for her daughter's 30th birthday but it had to be made at the last minute. A new addition to the family, a baby boy, was born not long before her 30th birthday. Mum (grandma) wanted me to wait until the baby arrived before I made the card.

Once he had made his appearance, I was able to create the family picture. I showed Galia holding her baby son. Her husband has his arm around their two year old daughter, while Ollie the dog makes an appearance too.

Happy 30th Birthday Galia.

* This post has been shared on Tuesday Turn About, Creative Muster Link-Up

Twins 18th Birthday

I have made birthday cards for twins Amitai and Gavriel many times over the years, the last time being in 2021, when they turned 15. In October they turned 18 and once again their mum asked me to make each young man a special card to mark their big day.

Amitai enjoys spending time in the gym, where he builds up his strength and muscle with dumbbells and barbells. He plays FIFA on his Xbox, and goes to כושר קרבי, or combat fitness, a pre-army physical fitness class. He is also a big Spurs supporter.

Amitai's mum told me that he has a mullet haircut, a style that first became popular in the 80s and has once again come back into fashion!
His birthday card shows him working out, the latest FIFA game, the cockerel and ball emblem of Spurs, and the fitness class logo. A big number 18 marks his age.

Amitai's brother, Gavriel enjoys playing computer games. He loves the family's cat, Molly, and is also a regular at כושר קרבי, or combat fitness, where mum said they mostly seem to run around and crawl though sand!

My card shows bearded Gavriel holding Molly the cat. The computer game Polygon can be seen on his laptop. Once again I added the fitness class logo, and a big number 18 to mark Gavriel's age.

Mum was delighted with the cards and sent me these fabulous photos on the day of their birthday. They were captioned with the simple message "Perfect".

* This post has ben shared on Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things

Emily & Sam ❤️

A customer wrote to tell me that her niece in the UK had just got engaged. She wanted to order a card showing Emily, her niece, with Sam, her now fiancé. Sam should be pointing to the ring, she said. She sent me a few of the couples' engagement photos for reference.

It was a cute card to make and my customer was happy. "It's absolutely fantastic... Wow, you are so talented. Thank you so much!" she wrote to me. She loved the fact that I had included the exact background where the couple had got engaged.

It seems that the bride-to-be's mum was thrilled too. "The card is amazing Lisa. You are beyond talented. We love your cards ❤❤❤"

* This post has been shared on Craft Schooling Sunday, Tuesday Turn About, Wednesdays in the Studio, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop and Creatively Crafty Linky Party.

Benjo's Album

Benjo celebrated his Bar Mitzvah back in November and I made him an album, just like I did for his older brothers Ro'i, Yonatan and Daniel. And believe it or not, there is still one more brother to be Bar Mitzvahed! I will make him his own album in a few years time.

I have made many birthday cards for Benjo and his brothers over the years as well, so his mum knew exactly how I work. She asked me to show Benjo on the cover of his album wearing tefillin (phylacteries). Tefillin consist of two leather boxes with parchment with biblical passages inside. Jewish men start wearing tefillin just before their Bar Mitzvah. They are worn on the forehead and upper arm. A right-handed person, which Benjo is, places tefillin on the left arm.

Benjo loves sushi, so mum asked me to put some on the album cover as well. He has some prized Sonos Ace headphones, and finally, he wanted Chelsea Football Club somehow to feature too.

I have shown Benjo wearing his tefillin on his head and on his left arm. Behind him is the Chelsea badge with a blue lion rampant on it. The lion was initially based on the official coat of arms for the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea. Benjo's white headphones are also in the background, while to his left is a plate with some sushi, and next to it some chopsticks.
Benjo's name appears at the top in gold Hebrew letters. The words Bar Mitzvah and date are at the bottom. There is a tallit in two corners of the album. The tallit is a fringed garment worn as a prayer shawl by Jewish men over Bar Mitzvah age during morning prayer services, and on the Sabbath and on holidays.

I decorated five pages inside the album. Each page had a tallit on it. In addition, on the first page I added the Chelsea badge and a football. The following page featured Benjo's Sonos Ace headphones and also his VR headset. Next came the GeoGuessr logo, with a map of the world in the background. GeoGuessr is an online geography game in which players are tasked to guess locations from Google Street View imagery. Benjo loves the beach, so I added a little beach scene with the sun setting. Apparently his family always head to the beach later on in the day.

Finally, Benjo likes to cook. Mum asked me to include his hand held food burner torch and Benjo especially wanted me to show it with a blue flame coming out of it. There was also a request for me to add a wok with noodles and chopped vegetables, just as I had done for his brother Daniel's album.

Mum was delighted with the album and prominently displayed it at Benjo's Bar Mitzvah celebration. He wanted to add all the memorabilia from his Bar Mitzvah to the book after the event.
"The album is absolutely stunning!! We all LOVE the album and feel special to have it!" she wrote to me.

* This post has been shared on Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop and Wednesdays in the Studio.