Pull-ups and the Piano

Gavriel and Amitai turned 14. Last year I showed Gavriel playing the piano on his birthday card, while Amitai was into running, biking and swimming in triathlons. A year on and their interests have changed again, primarily because of the coronavirus.

Amitai is a big Tottenham Hotspur supporter, so mum asked if I could show him wearing his new Spurs shirt (Tottenham Hotspur Football Club are commonly referred to as  Spurs), while doing pull-ups for exercise in the park. He also likes playing on his Xbox, so I included that on the card as well. A big number 14 marks his age.

Gavriel still plays the piano. Mum told me that he has an organ at home and that is what he has been practising on. He also likes playing on his iPad and the family cat, Molly, had to appear on Gavriel's card as well.

For years they have had their favourite colours. Amitai likes yellow, so I made that the background colour of his card, while Gavriel favours red. Mum shared these brilliant photos of the boys with their birthday cards on Facebook. They look happy enough with their cards!

* This post has been shared on Little Things Thursday,  Creative Crafty Link Party,  Thursday Favorite Things, Funtastic Friday, Craft Schooling Sunday and All Seasons.

A 9th Anniversary and an 8th Birthday

A regular customer sent me a favourite photo of her husband and kids and asked me to recreate it in paper for her and her husband's 9th wedding anniversary. I showed their blonde haired boys and brown haired daughter, carefully copying the patterns and stripes on their respective T-shirts. My customer's husband is in the background. I added a big number 9 to mark the number of years that the couple have been married.

At the same time I made a card for their daughter, Ma'ayan, for her 8th birthday. Last year I showed her doing gymnastics on her card. This year I once again based the card on a recent photo of the birthday girl sitting on a swing but added balloons and flowers to give it a birthday theme. A big yellow number 8 marks her age. 

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

Polly and Marc

Polly and Marc celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, their silver wedding, back in October. Both Polly and Marc asked me to make cards to mark the occasion so, once one order had been received, I had to guide the second order in a very different direction. I needed to make sure that they received two very different cards to mark their special day!

Polly chose to use the couple's wedding photo for her card. I made sure to get her hair colour exactly right and to match the blue of Marc's suit.  I added the chuppah, the canopy beneath which Jewish marriage ceremonies are performed, in the background. A silver number 25 marks the number of years they have been married.

Marc went in another direction. He knew that Polly favours my papercut art and, after some discussion, I suggested creating a card based on their ketubah. The ketubah is a marriage contract that explains the basic material, conjugal and moral responsibilities of the husband to his wife. It is signed by the groom, as well as two witnesses, and given to the bride during the wedding ceremony.

Ketubot are made in a wide range of designs, usually following the tastes and styles of the time and the region in which they are made. Polly and Marc's beautiful ketubah is based on a circular design. I used that shape for my papercut, carefully cutting out the zigzag edges. Inside I cut out "25 Years" and added the tree which can be seen in the centre of their ketubah, above. A yellow paper inlay matches the gorgeous glowing sky.

"Thank you again for our lovely cards!" Polly wrote to me. She had been deliberating whether to order a papercut card but, having received Marc's card, was glad that she hadn't done so in the end!

* This post has been shared on Little Things Thursday, Creatively Crafty Link Party, All Seasons and Craft Schooling Sunday.