Etsy Item Of The Day

A week ago I received an e-mail from Jackie telling me that she had come across my Easter cards and asking if she could feature them on her blog, http://etsyitemoftheday.com/. I was of course delighted to read of her interest in my cards and am very excited to tell you that they are today's 'Item Of The Day' on her blog. If you click on the badge below it will take you straight there and you can read the kind things she has said about my work. Thank you so much, Jackie. I am so pleased that you think my cards "beat the socks off the Easter card selection at your local big box". If anyone is interested in purchasing my Easter cards, they are available in my shop and I would be very happy if you popped over to have a little look.

Coming of Age

Back in November I told you about the back to front Hebrew cards that I had begun supplying to a local Judaica shop. I am pleased to say that they seem to be selling well and I took more cards to the shop this last week. Whilst I have some favourite designs that I love to create over and over again, I am always keen to develop my handmade card designs and 'tweak' them a bit each time I make a new batch. You have seen the Barmitzvah cards, with the blue stripes and silver Star of David before, but the Batmitzvah cards have changed a little, hopefully for the better! I took two designs along to the shop. Above, you can see some pretty pastel coloured cards with the number 12 on them (the age that a Jewish girl become a Batmitzvah) and a white Dove of Peace. The Hebrew greeting says "Blessings on the occasion of your Batmitzvah". I also created a second design, seen below with the Barmitzvah cards, so that a potential buyer has a 'range' to choose from.

Into The Woods

Some very talented girls in my city recently put on an excellent production of Stephen Sondheim's 'Into The Woods'. The young lady who played Little Red Riding Hood celebrated her Batmitzvah this last week and I was asked to create a card for her from all the cast. On stage she had worn her dark hair in long plaits or bunches, so I portrayed her as I remembered seeing her, wearing her red hooded cape, carrying her food basket, and with the wolf lingering in the background in the woods. The friend who ordered the card from me has just reported back that Red Riding Hood, and all the members of the cast, were delighted with the card.

Wine and Cake Celebrations

I have been busy over the last few days with some custom orders and am able to show you a few of them now.
Clockwise, from the top right, an anniversary card for a special Mum and Dad; 'Happy 75th Birthday Dad'; a sneak peak of a 65th birthday card to a good friend who has recently become a grandma; finally, top left, a pretty birthday card requested for a special niece.I was flattered to receive a wonderful blog award from Kathy at Lizzie Jane. Kathy always has something lovely to say about my work and I really appreciate her kind words.
The rules are as follows:
1. Nominate women who show great attitude.
2. Link to them.
3. Leave them a comment so they pick up their award.
Here are the women I nominate:
1. Jenni at Embellish. Jenni's range of work is incredible. She is another regular visitor to my blog and, once again, her words mean a lot to me.
2. Lisa and Sarah at A Spoonful of Sugar. I think everyone must already know their lovely blog. Their work is always stunning and they are both so talented in many areas.
3. Elsita at Elsa Mora. I don't have any direct contact with Elsita but I am a lurker on her blog and am now delurking to tell you all about her amazing work, especially her papercuts. They are inspirational!
I hope that you have fun visiting the wonderful blogs that I have selected and, if any of you girls pick up your award and decide to pass it on, have fun!

Football Crazy, Football Mad

Being married to a football fan, and being Mum to two boys, football seems to feature a lot in my life, and that seems to be the case with my creative work too at the moment! I have created football themed cards before, here, here and here, to show you just a few, and this week saw me preparing more paper footballs. I participated in a school craft fair last week and sold a number of my little treasure boxes, but one boy there wanted a football themed box, which I of course promised to make for him. You can see the finished box above.
Below is a card I made for an eleven year old boy. He is the same long-haired boy who featured on one of the cards in my last post, but this time I was asked to show him wearing his black baseball cap, wearing the dark blue football shirt of his club and, of course, holding a football.
Ready? Que sera sera, whatever will be, will be, we're going to Wembley, que sera sera...

Clowning About

The above cards were created some time ago and I have been patiently waiting to show them to you. A wonderfully supportive friend of mine was super organised and gave me her list of card requirements back in January, but I knew that all the birthdays were in February and didn't want to spoil any surprises by showing them too early. We're now in March, so I think it is safe for me to explain all the cards now.
Starting from the top right you can see a card showing the South African flag and underneath a map of the country. The lady who received the card was due to be travelling there on her birthday. Next is a pretty floral card for an anniversary, and after that comes a card for 'Grandpa' who had made comments about his grandson's long hair, so I was asked to illustrate all the grandchildren and their particular hair styles! Bottom left, you can see a card for a five year old who is currently learning his numbers and letters of the alphabet, then a 65th birthday card, and finally a sweet little clown card for a one year old. Those of us of the Jewish faith are soon to be celebrating the festival of Purim, the holiday that commemorates the time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from annihilation by the courage of a young woman called Esther. During Purim many kids dress up and I have seen a few little clowns, like the one on my card, on the way to school this morning!I have seen some wonderful Moo cards featured on many blogs and decided it was time for me to order some too. You can see a selection of the designs that I ordered above. I am thrilled with them and hope that they will be a nice little extra when I send out my card orders.

It's Springtime... in my shop

We've had more much needed rain over the last few days here in Israel, but in the meantime I have been preparing cards for Spring! The Easter cards (above) and Passover cards (below) are now available in my shop and I'd love you pop over and have a look. For those of you who are intrigued by the Hebrew greeting, as well as by the English one on my Passover cards, it simply says "May you have a happy and kosher Passover". Shortly after I uploaded the new cards into my shop, I was delighted to receive an e-mail from Batya of Art Definition telling me that she had included my Easter cards in her latest Etsy treasury. It was a beautiful treasury showing the work of many talented folk here in the 'Holy Land' and I was very excited to be included in such a lovely collection. My Easter cards, with their daffodils and daisies, are in the top left corner (see below). Finally, I also received a message the very same day from JewelrybyJozie letting me know that my Japanese Woman papercut picture had been chosen on her blog as her pick of the day.
What an exciting day for me!