Loved, Cherished and Celebrated

Some cards come out just as I want them to, and this was definitely one of those!

My customer asked me to create an extra-large card for her mum's 80th birthday. She shared that her mum loves embroidery - stitching cushions, challah covers, and tallit bags - as well as gardening and flowers, and she also enjoys a nice glass of red wine.

In addition, she asked me to add three balloons to the front of the card, each with a letter - Y, M, and A. These are the initials of my customer's kids, and she said her mum truly loves them.

I decided to show bespectacled mum doing some embroidery, needle and thread in hand. Next to her are some embroidery scissors and a glass of red wine. She's sitting at a table in her garden, surrounded by bushes and plants, with flowers decorating the table. I also added the initialed balloons - all tied together with another flower - and a big red number 80 to celebrate her milestone birthday.

I thought that the greeting my customer sent me was just lovely: 80 Years Loved, Cherished, and Celebrated. It perfectly captures the warmth and joy of such a special milestone birthday.

The card was very well received! My customer, who lives nearby, came by to pick it up. At the time, only Mister Handmade in Israel was home, so she sent me this sweet message:
"Sooooo beautiful ❤️❤️❤️"
It really made my day to hear how much she loved it!

* This post has been shared on Craft Schooling Sunday, Happiness is Homemade, Mosaic Monday, Handmade Monday, Busy Monday and Inspire Me Monday.

Two at 25

Ro'i was turning 25, and his mum thought his birthday card should feature a picture of him from his recent trip to Vietnam. Since he is also studying theatre, she wondered if I could include something showing him rehearsing lines. In the end, she sent me a few photos from Ro'i's travels, and we agreed that a particular photo of him wearing a motorcycle helmet would be fun to use. In the photo, he is standing with his arms spread wide, enjoying the view - like a performer about to take a bow on stage. So, I decided to add red theatre curtains to the card while keeping the Vietnamese scenery in the background.

Mum also sent me the badge of the school Ro'i attends, Nissan Nativ Acting Studio, to include on the card. I did some research and learnt that Nissan Nativ was an influential Israeli director, actor and acting teacher. He emigrated without his family to Mandatory Palestine in 1937. He was a commander during the War of Independence. After the war, he enrolled at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, then later moved from Israel to Paris where he studied mime. He worked as an Israeli theatre director and at Israel Radio when he returned from France.
Nissan Nativ founded the renowned Nissan Nativ Acting Studio in 1963. Many of Israel's best known actors are alumni of the school.

Roi's mum was delighted with the card. "You did such a brilliant job on Roi's card! It put a smile on all our faces the minute we saw it! I can't wait for Ro'i to see it on his birthday!" she wrote to me.

Another customer requested a card for a 25th birthday; her daughter was celebrating her 25th in January. She asked me to include a bikini, chips (french fries), the Israel Air Force, a pakal kafe (coffee kit), and the number 25 on the card.

I decided to depict her daughter holding a plate of chips. To her left is the emblem of the Israel Air Force, commonly known as Kheil HaAvir, or Air Corps. The emblem features a sword and an olive branch surrounding a roundel, which displays a white Star of David on a blue circle. The sword symbolizes the air force's combat readiness and defensive strength, while the olive branch represents the ultimate goal and hope for peace. This combination - a sword wrapped in an olive branch - was originally the symbol of the Haganah, the pre-state paramilitary organization that served as the predecessor to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Wings, a common symbol in air force insignias worldwide, flank the sword and olive branch. The wings on the emblem symbolize flight, freedom, and protection, representing the Air Force's role in defending the skies and securing the nation from above.

On her right I added the number 25 to mark her age, and below that is the pakal kafe. The word pakal is actually an acronym of the words pkudat keva lechayal, which means "a fixed command for soldiers," that is - everything the soldier must have with him at all times. But as in many other cases, army acronyms and army slang receive other meanings outside of military life and one such example is pakal kafe - everything you might need in order to make coffee (or tea) outside. My eldest son uses his all the time!

Finally, I added a pink polka-dot bikini.

The word Brocha in the greeting on the card, "From day one to twenty-five, you've been our greatest Brocha", means "blessing".

* This post has been shared on Craft Schooling Sunday, Mosaic Monday, Happiness is Homemade, Busy Monday, The Good. The Random. The Fun., Inspire Me Monday, Tuesday Turn About and Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop.

Tel Kesalon

On a beautiful day in December we decided it was time for us to start hiking again. We used to hike often, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, but since losing Gadi it has been hard to find the will. The bright sunny weather on this particular weekend gave us the extra push to get up and start walking, along with the knowledge that Israel's winter flower season was just beginning.

I chose a short but beautiful hike on Tel Kesalon, in the Jerusalem Hills. Kesalon is a biblical site mentioned in the Book of Joshua as part of the northern border of the territory allotted to the tribe of Judah:

Then it curved westward from Baalah to Mount Seir, ran along the northern slope of Mount Jearim (that is, Kesalon), continued down to Beth Shemesh and crossed to Timnah -  Joshua 15:10

Kesalon was a large Jewish village during the Roman period in Israel. In 1596 Kisla, as it was then known, was a village in the subdistrict of Ramla with a population of sixty-one. It paid taxes on wheat, barley, sesame, and fruit trees as well as on goats and beehives. Most of what is visible on Tel Kesalon today is the remains of an Arab village called Kasla, which was conquered during the War of Independence in 1948. The ruins, including crumbling walls and terraces, add a historical charm to the natural landscape.

The nearby modern moshav of Kesalon, founded in 1952, is named after this site. New immigrants from Yemen, brought to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet, were given farmland there, but abandoned the moshav a few years later to join members of the Yemenite community living in Rosh Ha'ayin. Their place was taken by Jewish immigrants from Morocco.

We started our hike by climbing the tel itself. A tel is a mound or small hill that has been formed over time by layers of settlement. The view from the top, of Moshav Kesalon on one side and Moshav Beit Meir on the other, was fabulous. A Jewish National Fund forest was planted around Tel Kesalon and the surrounding area, named Ya'ar Hakdoshim (Forest of the Martyrs). It commemorates the victims of the Holocaust and contains six million trees, symbolizing the six million Jews who perished. Planting began in 1946 and memorials for perished communities are set throughout the forest. There are various springs in the area and the Kesalon stream passes on the north side of the hill, more than 200m below the summit. Almond trees grow on top of the tel and cactuses grow along the site's southern slopes.

We climbed back down Tel Kesalon and began our hike. I immediately spotted pale pink sitvanit hayoreh (Steven's meadow saffron), one of the first flowering plants of the autumn, and clusters of rakefot (Persian cyclamen). As we hiked further along the path I glimpsed karkom (winter crocus) and bunches of white narcissus blooms (Narcissus tazetta or Paperwhite) growing among the rocks. We passed a spring, its water tinted green by algae, and headed towards Ein Kesla, a stone pool carved around a natural spring. In late December the pool was still dry.

After a while it was time for us to retrace our steps and head back towards Tel Kesalon and our car. The rocky path along the side of the valley was precarious at times, but the views over the deep valley of the Kesalon stream were once again breathtaking. We then returned to the path we had started our hike on, but this time it circled around the other side of the tel, ultimately reaching the hilltop where we had started out earlier in the day.

It was time for lunch in one of the many picnic areas of the Forest of the Martyrs. Although it was December, just a few days before Christmas, the pleasant weather had drawn many people outdoors. As we picnicked, we spoke about Gadi and how much he would have enjoyed the hike. Pushing ourselves to return to the great outdoors felt right, and we were glad we had taken that step.

* This post has been shared on Floral Friday Fotos, Nature Notes, Mosaic Monday, Through My Lens, Busy Monday, Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), Tuesday Turn About and Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop.