Half a Grapefruit for Dinner

Saba and Safta (the Hebrew names for grandfather and grandmother respectively) eat half a grapefruit each before their meals. It was Saba's birthday and his children asked me to make him a special card showing them at the Shabbat (Sabbath) dinner table, eating their grapefruit halves!

Safta is left-handed so I showed her on the right, with a grapefruit spoon in her left hand. Saba is on the left so that they won't elbow each other when eating! They are seated at the Shabbat table. It is covered with a white tablecloth, a custom which began in the Middle Ages when wealthy homes began using ornate white tablecloths for festive meals. Two challot and two candlesticks are also on the table. The two loaves are placed on the table to reference the Jewish teaching that a double portion of manna fell from heaven on Friday to last through the Shabbat.

The two candles are lit in honour of Shabbat and in some homes, including my own, an additional candle is lit for each child. The lighting of Shabbat candles has a dual purpose: To "honour Shabbat" (כבוד שבת) and create shalom bayit or domestic peace (שלום בית).
Both Saba and Safta loved the card.

Another customer contacted me with a request for an 80th birthday card for her dad. "It would be great if you could have him wearing a blue button down shirt and khaki pants" she wrote to me. She also wanted an 80 on the card. She mentioned that her dad is a retired maths professor. I suggested adding a few maths symbols in the background and she liked that idea too.

I showed dad in the requested outfit. He is holding the number 80 in one hand, whilst the maths symbols are dotted all around him. My customer reported back that dad liked the card!

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The Medals on His Chest

The customer who ordered this anniversary card for her husband also wanted a birthday card for her dad. She sent me a photo of the smartly dressed gentleman and asked me to base the card on that picture. The medals dad is wearing all mean something, she told me. I needed to get them just right! In addition, dark chocolate and weights were requested in the background.

I have shown her 87 year old dad wearing his black army beret and proudly displaying his war medals. I carefully cut out photos of each medal for accuracy and then added the relevant colour ribbon. Above his medal is a red poppy, the enduring symbol of remembrance of the First World War. Poppies are worn as a show of support for Britain's Armed Forces community and are sold in honour of Remembrance Day. The flowers were a common sight on the Western Front and grew on the battlefields of Flanders, flourishing in the soil churned up by the fighting and shelling.

My customer was thrilled with her dad's card. "The card is fantastic. Absolutely amazing!" she wrote to me. I have made many cards for young men and women about to enter the Israel Defence Forces, but this was, I think, my first for an old soldier.

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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.

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