Hila 25

Hila, my eldest son's girlfriend, turned 25 at the end of June. She has been part of our family for some time now and receives one of my handmade cards each year. Last year's birthday card featured her family's dogs, Toffee and Archie, quite prominently. The year before, I illustrated her and Nadav at a cooking workshop in the Vietnamese city of Hội An.

This year, Nadav sent me this brilliant photo of Hila and Toro, the rescue pup they adopted last year, below. It was taken in the open spaces of Kibbutz Ramot Menashe, where Hila grew up, and the two of them look like they're having a wonderful time together. It's quite amazing how high Toro can jump!

Nadav hoped a card based on this photo would be a memorable one for her.

I nearly always sketch my cards first, and this time the sketch is worth sharing. I wanted to preserve the natural background of the original photo while still making Hila and Toro the focal point. You can't see Toro's face on my card, but you can see just how much energy he has!

I added a large number 25 to mark Hila's age, and the Hebrew greeting simply reads, "Happy Birthday Hila".
I've also included one final, slightly gratuitous, photo of Toro at the bottom of this post - this time showing his face - because it would be unfair not to let everyone appreciate just how handsome he is ☺

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Twenty Five

Our eldest son turned twenty five a couple of weeks ago and Mister Handmade in Israel spent the entire day saying "I can't believe he's 25!". We couldn't celebrate with Nadav on his actual birthday, but a few days later we drove down to Be'er Sheva, where he and his girlfriend Hila live, and took them out for a birthday dinner. His card was therefore a couple of days late, but was well received nonetheless.

In July Nadav and Hila adopted a rescue pup, who they have called Toro. It was obvious to me that Toro had to be on Nadav's card this year. He is still very much a puppy and requires a lot of attention, but fortunately he gets attention and lots of love in bucketloads! We looked after Toro for a few weeks back in the summer, when Nadav and Hila were travelling, and let's just say it was, erm, hard work! He is adorable though and he has gone to the perfect home.

I showed Nadav and Toro together on the card. Nadav is wearing his uniform beige T-shirt and jeans. Unlike his mum who loves colour, he favours more boring muted tones, and funnily enough was wearing beige on the day we met (see the second photo down).

Nadav and Hila also just bought their first car, a white Kia Seltos. I carefully created a paper version of their new car, even down to the registration plate, though obviously I am not showing you that here.

I added the red Arsenal crest below the car. As I have mentioned many times before, Nadav is obsessed with the Premier League football club and their crest just had to appear on his card, as it has done nearly every year since he was very young. Finally, I added a big red number 25 to mark his age.

I made him a birthday cake as well, although he only got to enjoy it a few days after his actual birthday - and after we'd already been out for a delicious meal! We were all pretty full, but we showed willing and had a slice of cake anyway 🤣. Nadav and Hila finished off the rest over the next few days, and he told me it was really good!

*This post has been shared on Happiness is Homemade, Craft Schooling Sunday, Busy Monday, Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), Tuesday Turn About, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop, Thursday Favorite Things and Inspire Me Monday.

Hila 24

My eldest son's girlfriend, Hila, turned 24 at the end of June. We were supposed to be in the UK on her birthday, so I made her card well in advance to ensure it would be in the right place at the right time. Of course, we ended up not travelling because of the war with Iran, so Nadav and Hila were actually with us on the morning of her birthday and her card was in Be'er Sheva where they live! Nonetheless, she received it later in the day and, as you can see, was thrilled with it!

I showed Hila with her family's dogs on the front of her card. To say that the dogs, Toffee and Archie, are important members of her family would be an understatement! Toffee, a Border Collie, is an older dog and has been with the family for some years. One day, while walking on the kibbutz where they live, Hila and her dad found Archie, a Dogo Argentino-Pitbull mix puppy, and brought him home. He is a huge, playful young dog, full of energy, and is now very much loved.

Hila is sitting with Toffee on her left and Archie on her right. I added the open spaces of Kibbutz Ramot Menashe, where Hila grew up, behind them. The Ramot Menashe region, where the kibbutz is located, is known for its striking landscape of planted forests - mainly pine, cypress, and eucalyptus - interwoven with natural oak woodlands, open fields, and flowing streams.

A large yellow number 24 marks Hila's age, and the Hebrew greeting simply reads, "Happy Birthday Hila".

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun., Tuesday Turn About and Creative Muster.