Running, Cricket and Grilling

Danny recently turned 50. He likes his beer, particularly Tetleys and Boddingtons, he supports Nottingham Forest F.C. and is a keen runner. His wife told me that he wears a white cap when he runs and a sweatband on his arm, so I made sure to include those little details on his birthday card.

I showed Danny running on his card. He has a can of Boddingtons in his hand. The Forest club badge is to his right, while some more cans of beer can be seen behind him. Since he celebrated his birthday during the coronavirus pandemic, I added a blue mask and the coronavirus symbol in a red prohibition sign. They served as a reminder - not that he needed it - of what was happening in the world when he celebrated his 50th birthday. A big red number 50 marks his age.

Danny's wife was thrilled with the card and shared the photo, above top, on Facebook. "Thanks Lisa Isaacs from Handmade in Israel for this brilliant card." she wrote.

A new customer contacted me with a request for a personalised card for her husband's 40th birthday. He is into cricket and growing tomatoes, she told me. She asked me to include the family dog on the card as well.

I showed him, cricket bat in hand, with the dog, a gorgeous Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, next to him. A tomato plant is growing beautifully behind him and behind the plant are some cricket stumps. A big red number 40 marks his age.

He loved the card.

Finally, this request was for a birthday card for a guy who loves grilling, playing Xbox, skiing, technology and playing frisbee. I have shown him with a pair of skis in one hand and a sausage on a grilling fork in the other! A frisbee is flying towards him and a barbecue is open behind him. In the front I added an Xbox and controller and some little symbols to illustrate his love of technology.
My customer wrote on Facebook that I did a fabulous job!

* This post has been shared on Little Things Thursday, Creatively Crafty, All Seasons, Inspire Me Monday, Wonderful Wednesday and {wow me} wednesday.

Football and Fishing at Fifty

Mark really wanted a Lordship from the Principality of Sealand for his 50th birthday and so that is what his family surprised him with on his special day. His wife asked if I could make a card based on that theme.

I have shown "Lord Mark" standing in front of Roughs Tower, an offshore platform in the North Sea which Sealand claims as its territory. He is wearing a Manchester City F.C. shirt to show his support for his favourite football team and is holding the certificate declaring his Lordship.
Balloons and a big red number 50 mark his age.
I hope that his family now remember to address him in the appropriate way!

Another husband was celebrating his 50th birthday as well. His wife told me that his hobbies include cricket and fishing and watching rugby and football. She also wanted me to put a 50 somewhere on the card.
I have shown Gerald with a fishing rod over his shoulder and a cricket bat in his other hand. To his right is the badge of his favourite football team, Watford F.C. and to his left the England national rugby union team emblem, a red rose.
My customer seemed thrilled with the card. "I love love love it!!! Thank you" she wrote to me.

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun., The Weekly Link Up, Made By You Monday

Birthday Cards for Dads

A new customer spotted my work online and contacted me to see if I could make a birthday card for her dad's upcoming 70th birthday. His hobbies include following Manchester United F.C., swimming, walking and Pilates and he loves Bazooka bubble gum, she told me. It was definitely the first time I had been asked to feature bubble gum on a card!
Dad's favourite hobby is walking in the countryside, so I have shown him against a background of rolling green hills. He has a rucksack on his back. I added a big red number 70 in the top left-hand corner of the card, followed by some Bazooka bubble gums, the Manchester United club crest and a football. A silhouette of dad doing some Pilates can be seen to his left, along with a swimming towel and goggles.

My customer left the most wonderful review in my Etsy shop:
"Wonderful job. Lisa finished it very fast and went to great effort to ensure it was delivered on time. She did a superb job, we all loved it. The likeness was amazing and the card was fantastic. Thank you!"

This dad was turning 75. I made a birthday card for his wife earlier in the year. He likes watching Formula 1 and cricket, his son told me, and he is very keen on building Lego models. He is also a fan of Emmerdale, a television soap opera set in the heart of the Yorkshire countryside.
I have shown him with some Lego in his hand. A television screen behind him has the Emmerdale opening title on it. I added the number 75 to mark his age, the red Formula 1 logo - apparently its red colour represents passion and energy - and a racing car, and finally, a cricket bat, ball and stumps. The bat looks a bit wonky in this photo but I straightened it up before I sent the card out!
"I'm sure my Dad will love the card" his son wrote to me.

* This post has been shared on {wow me} wednesday, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop, The Happy Now Blog Link-Up, Little Things Thursday and Creatively Crafty Link Party.

Vacuuming and loving it

A friend asked me to make a special birthday card for his Mummy's upcoming 80th birthday. She has taken up ice skating, he told me, and she loves vacuuming! I am pretty sure that this is the first time I have put a vacuum cleaner on a birthday card. I suggested adding a paper portrait of mum since she is instantly recognisable by her red hair. I also included a little map of Israel. Mum lives in England but many of her family live here. I added a photograph of the family too. They are an incredibly close-knit group.

I have been asked for quite a number of 80th birthday cards recently, perhaps because I posted the card I made for my own dad a few weeks ago. This dad, below, is a Manchester City F.C. fan. He also likes cricket and follows Lancashire Cricket Club. He enjoys playing Bridge, in his retirement he helps to run a local charity second hand bookshop, whilst his working life involved shoes. Finally I added the crest of the college he attended in his youth, Brasenose College, Oxford.

My customer was very happy with the card, as it seems was her dad.
"Just to let you know the card you made was a great success. My father was touched by all the details on it, especially the Brasenose College crest. Thanks so much from a very satisfied customer and a very happy recipient."

Finally, this Scottish dad was also celebrating his 80th birthday. This customer was keen for me to show her silver haired dad with his little curly pony tail! Other things she suggested I put on the card included a kilt (I copied the exact tartan from the photo she sent me of her dad), a sports car, a bottle of whisky and some books. She also asked me to add some big headphones and some music notes since her dad very much enjoys listening to classical music. A big number 80 finished the card off nicely.
The greeting on this card says "Happy 80th Birthday Zeide". Zeide is Yiddish for "grandfather".

* This post has been shared on Sunday Features, Sweet Inspiration Link Party, All Seasons, {nifty thrifty sunday}, The Good. The Random. The Fun. and Wednesday Link Up.

Barça, Barça, Baaarça!

"Yonatan has been begging for his own card, especially since his brothers and all our family have got one over the years" his Mum wrote to me. So I made him a card for his 7th birthday. "He is absolutely soccer crazy!" she said. "He supports Barcelona football team. At the moment he is obsessed with the "Supergol" football cards and album [a sticker album of Israel's football league which is published every year], and loves his golden ball and golden box. Of course his red football boots are crucial too!" "I hope you can depict some of this in the card!" Mum wrote. Of course I could!

I showed Yonatan wearing his beloved team's cap. He has his golden ball in one hand. Behind him is the Supergol album and some stickers, his golden box and his much-loved red football boots. The
Barça crest, which shows the St George Cross and the red and yellow bars of the flag of Barcelona, the club initials FCB on a strip across the centre, and below, the Barça colours and a ball, is next to him. A big red number 7 marks his age.

Mum was kind enough to message me to tell me that the card had arrived. "I love it! I'm sure he [Yonatan] will too!" she wrote. Then the next day she followed up to say that "Yonatan, and all his friends, loved the card, especially seeing HIS shoes!"
Never underestimate the importance of a special birthday card.

Roi's mum also wanted a special card for her son's birthday. Last year the theme of his card was climbing, but this year mum had a long list of things she wanted me to include. She specifically asked me to show her son standing on his head! His various interests (apart from standing on his head) include playing the guitar, Kosher Kravi (combat fitness) and drama. He is a madrich (youth counsellor) with the Hebrew Scout Movement in Israel and he likes to eat hamburgers from a favourite restaurant.
I showed Ro'i standing on his head and added the Scouts badge, the Hebrew words for combat fitness and a little book that says מחזה (play) on it, to his left. To his right is a guitar, and a hamburger, along with the logo of Ro'i's favourite restaurant. Finally, the number 17 marks his age.
It seems that my card made Ro'i's brothers laugh (and I know why - he did look a little strange when turned the right way up!):
"Lisa, it's the coolest card ever! We all had such a laugh looking at it... the boys kept turning it over and laughing. I hope you had fun making it because we love it!"

Well, it's good to have a giggle!

Lastly, this small card was a request for a young man who likes cricket and football. I remember creating a card for him with a cute green monster on it, back in 2014. It seems that he has moved on to sportier things since then.

* This post has been shared on Welcome To The Weekend, No Rules Weekend Blog Party, Anything Blue Friday, Sunday Features, Sweet Inspiration Link Party, Sunday Snap, {nifty thrifty sunday}, Seasons, Happiness is Homemade, Amaze Me Monday, Inspiration Monday, Busy Monday, The Good. The Random. The Fun., Monday Morning Blog Club, Make It Pretty Monday and Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday).

Elisha's Album

Elisha is my youngest son's best friend. They first met when his Mum and I went to Mum & Baby Group together, and they have remained good friends ever since, even though they now go to different schools.

Elisha recently celebrated his Bar Mitzvah and Mum asked me to create an album for this special occasion. Elisha is a sporty guy and enjoys playing cricket. He is dedicated to his faith so mum asked me if I could include the Kotel, or Western Wall, in Jerusalem in my design, and also show him wearing his tefillin. The Kotel is the holiest of Jewish sites, sacred because it is a remnant of the Herodian retaining wall that once enclosed and supported the Second Temple. It has also been called the "Wailing Wall" by observers because for centuries Jews have gathered there to lament the loss of their temple. Tefillin are a set of small black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah. They are worn by male observant Jews during weekday morning prayers.

Elisha is also a keen supporter of Carlton Football Club, a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, and Mum wanted the Australian and Israeli flags on the album too (Elisha, and his parents, are both Australian and Israeli).

I have shown blue-eyed Elisha wearing his tefillin on his arm and on his forehead. He is holding a cricket bat, and the stumps and bails are next to him. Elisha wears a white t-shirt when he plays cricket and it has his name in navy blue letters printed on the back of it. Allowing for a little artistic license, I put it on the front of his t-shirt instead. The Carlton badge, and the flags of Australia and Israeli, are to his left. The background box is a photo of the Kotel.

The red lettering shows Elisha's name and birthday in Hebrew. The Star of David, or Magen David, in two corners add another Jewish element.

As always, I decorated five pages inside the album. The opening page featured a cricket bat, stumps and a ball. A photograph of the Kotel and then Elisha's small black leather tefillin followed. The badge of his favourite team, Carlton, came next, whilst the last page in the album featured the Australian and Israeli flags.

Mum declared it "Perfect!". "I love it!" she said.