A Yerushalmi Born in Beverly Hills

We had to make a dash for our safe room again last night as the sirens wailed and the Iron Dome intercepted rockets sent from Gaza. I’m very tired today but I am also trying to remember that we are the "lucky" ones, only getting up once in the night. I cannot even imagine what it is like to be living in the south. But this is a blog about my paper art. Instead of complaining, I am going to show you one of my latest creations for some light relief.

A new customer contacted me with a request for a handmade card for her husband's upcoming 40th birthday. She wanted me to show their large family on the card. "My husband always wears polo shirts and khakis", she told me. He is a Yerushalmi (a person who lives in Jerusalem) at heart, but was born in Beverly Hills. "I would love the background to look like the old city of Jerusalem, but also Beverly Hills", she wrote.

Well, it transpires that 7 people is a lot to fit on one card! I made this an extra large card, measuring 19x27cm folded. I carefully crafted each member of the family, from mum and dad down to the youngest son. They all have brown hair but, if you look closely, you will see that I matched their various shades of brown. Likewise I matched their eye colour - some members of the family have light brown eyes, others dark. Mum covers her hair for modesty and the male members of the family all wear kippot (skullcaps).

My customer also requested that I show the entire family in blue and white clothes, the colours of the Israeli flag. Her husband still had to be in his white polo shirt and she asked me to add a small Mickey Mouse insignia to the shirt, a reminder of a previous visit to one of the Disney parks.

Finally, I added two photos to the card - one of Beverly Hills, her husband's birthplace, and one of the Old City of Jerusalem.

I'm not going to lie, this card was a lot of work but my customer was happy and, I hope, her husband too!

* This post has been shared on Share Your Style, Little Things Thursday, Creatively Crafty Link Party, Thursday Favorite Things and Craft Schooling Sunday.