75, 80, 90...

I seem to have been busy with a number of 'age' cards recently. In my second to last post I showed you a 60th birthday card. Today I made a special card for an upcoming 88th birthday celebration and the cards you can see here were made for a 75, 80 and 90 year old.

This card, above, went to a special Savta (the Hebrew for Grandmother) in the UK. Her two red-headed grandsons live here in Israel, whilst the other three kids are in London. One of the redheads babysits for my boys, so it was easy to come up with a 'portrait' of him. For all the others, I worked from photos.
Even though the card was not actually from me, I received a lovely e-mail when it had arrived at its destination. "Today we received the 8Oth birthday card for my mother from her grandchildren. Another superb card. Thank you."

Along a similar theme, I was also asked to make a card for another UK-based Grandma. This time I showed the grandchildren and Mum and Dad! I was told that Grandma Betty loves crosswords and anything book related. In addition, my customer, who has ordered from me several times before, updated me as to what type of kippa (skullcap) his sons now wear and the shapes of his kid's glasses! I always make a point of telling my customers that my designs are by no means realistic portraits but, with all these specific little details, I hope that somehow my characters do look a little bit like the people they are supposed to represent!
After this card was delivered, I received one of the nicest thank you e-mails ever!
"Hi Lisa,
Just want to let you know that Grandma Betty loved the card. She thought it made her look a lot younger!!! Thanks for bringing joy to our family."
It doesn't get much better than that, does it?

I have no idea what the person who received this last card looks like! A simple request was made for a 75th birthday card for a gentleman who is a rugby league fan and also enjoys a little gambling and greyhound racing. He originates from Ireland, thus I added the Shamrock - a 3-leaf Clover and Ireland's most recognized national symbol.
My customer seemed particularly impressed with the greyhound illustrated on the card. I didn't let on that my youngest son had recently read Michael Morpurgo's 'Born to Run' and had urged me to read it as well. The book is a bittersweet tale of a champion greyhound's journey through life and so, by the time I needed to illustrate this particular card, I was well briefed on greyhounds and exactly how they should look.