30 Years and 60 Years

This couple were celebrating 30 years of marriage, the Pearl wedding anniversary. The "bride" asked me to make a card based on their wedding photo. I carefully matched the groom's grey suit and the pink carnation in his lapel. The bride's dress, with all its lace, was a little more complicated but I managed with some help from Adobe Photoshop. Her flowers, she told me, were peachy pink so I made sure to include those colours in her hair and bouquet.

Around the same time the bride's parents were celebrating 60 years of marriage, their Diamond anniversary. (An interesting aside, in the United Kingdom the diamond was a well known symbol for the 75th anniversary, but this changed to the now more common 60th anniversary after Queen Victoria's 60 years on the throne was widely marked as her Diamond Jubilee.) Once again I received their wedding photo and recreated it in paper. This groom was in top hat and, I presume, tails, whilst his bride also had some lace on her dress and a beautiful big veil. Their daughter sent me some favourite photos of her parents over the years which I added to the card as well.
Her parents loved it.

* This post has been shared on Inspire Me Monday, The Good. The Random. The Fun. and Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop.

60th Wedding Anniversary

Photo credit: Debbie Zimelman Photography

A photographer friend of mine sent me a beautiful shot of her parents hiking in the Austrian Alps in August 2018, above. It was soon to be their 60th wedding anniversary, the diamond anniversary, she told me. She wanted to know if I could create a special card based on the photo.
I recreated the picture out of paper, taking great care over the tiny details of their backpacks, hats and sunglasses.
My friend told me that her parents loved the card.

Friends of ours were celebrating their silver wedding anniversary, 25 years. I cut out a large silver number 25 and placed it on a scalloped circle, then decorated the card with flowers and a bow.

We recently celebrated the holiday of Purim. Purim, which literally means "lots", is a holiday commemorating the rescue of Jews living in the ancient Persian Empire from certain destruction at the hands of Haman, an evil nobleman. I have previously written about the history of the holiday here and here.
On Purim Jews are also commanded to send gifts of food and drink, referred to as the 'sending out portions' or in Hebrew, Mishloach Manot. A common treat to be included in these food baskets are 'Haman's pockets', sometimes called Hamantashen or Oznei Haman. These triangular chocolate or fruit-filled cookies supposedly represent either Haman's three-cornered hat or his ears. Their formation varies from hard pastry to soft doughy casings. Mine were soft, crumbly and, if I may say so, rather delicious!
If you would like to bake some yourself, the recipe is here.

* This post has been shared on All Seasons, Happiness is Homemade, Amaze Me Monday, Creative Mondays, The Good. The Random. The Fun., Made by You Monday, Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) and My Corner of the World.

She Loves the City of Tel Aviv

Not that long ago this lovely lady ordered cards for her mum and for a good friend. It was therefore a nice surprise when her husband called me to tell me that it was his wife's birthday and that, since she is such a fan of my designs, he wanted to order a card for her big day as well! She likes fashion and shoes, he said, and she loves the city of Tel Aviv and her job at Joy Tunes there.
The birthday girl was thrilled with her card. She posted it on Facebook and captioned it "The best birthday card ever... especially love how I look 10 years younger!"

My parents-in-law recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary, the diamond anniversary. We marked their special day with them back in August, making a quick visit to the UK en route to Barcelona. (Gosh, it sounds like we are world travellers - we're really not!). I made this card for them for their big day. The "60 Years" is silver (a diamond anniversary card needed some sparkle!) and I added two champagne glasses, hearts and flowers.
I hope they liked their card. However, I am sure that the one they received from The Queen was far more exciting! A friend reminded me that cards are sent on behalf of The Queen to people celebrating significant milestones. The diamond wedding anniversary is one of them. Armed with all the information I needed about my in-laws wedding day, it was relatively easy to arrange it online and I am told that they were delighted to receive it! The congratulatory messages consist of a card containing a personalised message and comes in a special envelope.

Whilst my in-laws were celebrating 60 years of married life, another couple were marking 25 years. A customer asked me to create a silver wedding card for them. I cut out a large silver number 25 and placed it on a scalloped circle, then decorated the card with flowers, a tiny heart and a silver bow.

* This post has been shared on Wednesday Around the World, Wow Us Wednesdays, {wow me} wednesday, Artsy-Fartsy, Share Your Cup Thursday, The Homemaking Party, Little Things Thursday, Happiness is Homemade and Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday).