Her New Kids!

A customer recently asked me to create a special card for her dear friend's 60th birthday. She sent me several photos of her friend, along with an adorable picture of her new dachshunds, Coco and Lulu.
"These are her new kids!" she told me.
She also asked me to include small Australian, Canadian, and Israeli flags on the card, as well as a prominent number 60 to mark this very special milestone birthday.

I carefully created a paper likeness of her friend, with the two long haired dachshunds in her arms. I added the Australian, Canadian, and Israeli flags as requested, along with a big number 60. To complete the design, I added a small red heart.

My customer was thrilled with the card. "Lisa, the card is perfect. Thank you so, so much. I love the way you have captured the dachshunds in Nicki's arms. They are like her 4th and 5th babies!"
She even sent me the wonderful video I have shared near the top of this post, showing her friend's reaction. "Nicki was so overcome she couldn't talk - only cry. She absolutely loved the card. Thank you so much."

Not long afterwards, the card was beautifully framed, and Nicki announced that it would soon have pride of place on her wall.

* This post has been shared on Happiness is Homemade, Mosaic Monday, Handmade Monday, Busy Monday, Monday Morning Blog Club, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop, Creatively Crafty Linky Party and Thursday Favorite Things.

A Grandma Who Loves Gardening, Reading, and Games

On Thursday morning, the last day of Passover, after 40 days of war, we woke to a ceasefire. The quiet felt unfamiliar. No planes overhead. No sirens. Not even the usual blaring alerts the moment I stepped into the shower. It was almost unsettling in its stillness.
And yet, I can't help but wonder - is this really what we hope for after everything we've been through? Homes lie shattered. Too many lives have been lost. And despite it all, the Iranian regime remains a global threat, continuing its pursuit of nuclear capability while tightening its grip on one of the world’s most vital waterways, the Strait of Hormuz.
We find ourselves standing in the wreckage, somehow expected to return to normal after more than a month of living on edge, in a reality that feels anything but ordinary.
Soon, Israel will shift from this fragile quiet into remembrance. The country will mark Yom Hazikaron, the day we remember Israel's fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism. Since losing Gadi, this day has become deeply personal for me, and I can no longer make the emotional transition to Yom Ha'atzmaut, Independence Day, which begins the following evening, the moment Memorial Day ends.
And still, despite everything, I return to my cards. With paper and glue and careful hands, I keep creating. It is my way of holding on and, in some small way, moving forward.

This card request followed soon after the extra-large 80th birthday card I designed for another special grandma, and the briefs for the two projects were strikingly similar. Both grandmas, it seems, enjoy gardening, so once again I started with a background of a garden and shrubs. This grandma, Vicki, was turning 85. She has 5 grandchildren and, as well as gardening and flowers, she enjoys reading and board games.  

My customer wanted her children's names incorporated into the flowers, which I arranged into girls and boys for visual balance. I also checked which board games grandma enjoys and learned it’s backgammon, cards, and Rummikub.

I chose to depict grandma sitting at a garden table, a Rummikub rack before her and a tile poised in her hand. Next to her sits a small pile of books, waiting to be read. In the background, I added the requested flowers, along with a plant pot and trowel. Finally, a large 85 marks her age.

Her daughter, my customer, was delighted with the card!

* This post has been shared on Happiness Is Homemade, Mosaic Monday, Handmade Monday, Busy Monday, Monday Morning Blog Club, Talking About It Tuesdays, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop, Creatively Crafty Linky Party, Little Things Thursday, Funtastic Friday and Crazy Little Lovebirds.

Stomp Like Shrek, Sing Like Maria

Our Passover Seder itself was uninterrupted, though other parts of the country were not as fortunate. The day began with a barrage of missiles that disrupted our preparations, and there were more sirens again in the early evening. Still, we were lucky to be able to sit down and share a special evening with good friends. Since then, of course, the sirens have continued.
Tragically, a young man from my boys' school was killed in Lebanon. Even more heartbreaking, his sister - whom my eldest son knows - also lost her boyfriend on 7th October.
Life can be unbearably cruel.
It feels strange to move from all of this into something as simple as sharing another of my handmade cards, yet somehow life keeps making room for both.

A new customer got in touch to say that her daughter, Carmi, would be turning 25 in February. She asked if I could create one of my cards for her. According to her mum, Carmi loves running, Shrek, and The Sound of Music. She sent me a photo of her daughter for reference, adding that if I could somehow include the word !מ-טו-רף - which means something like "crazy" or "wild" in a playful sense - that would be great.

I carefully created a paper version of Carmi, showing her running, her hair blowing in the wind. Next to her is the original soundtrack album cover of The Sound of Music, surrounded by little music notes - apparently she loves singing the songs from the musical. Below that, I added a little green Shrek, the large, lovable ogre from the animated movie of the same name. His bright green colour and big ears make him instantly recognisable! Finally, a big number 25 highlights Carmi's age.

The greeting on the card reads: “Happy Birthday, Carmi, from your
!מ-טו-רף family xoxo” - apparently she is always using the Hebrew word !מ-טו-רף

* This post has been shared on Happiness is Homemade, Mosaic Monday, Busy Monday, Tuesday Turn About, Talking About It Tuesdays, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop, Thursday Favorite Things, Funtastic Friday and BFF Open House.