Emily & Sam ❤️

A customer wrote to tell me that her niece in the UK had just got engaged. She wanted to order a card showing Emily, her niece, with Sam, her now fiancé. Sam should be pointing to the ring, she said. She sent me a few of the couples' engagement photos for reference.

It was a cute card to make and my customer was happy. "It's absolutely fantastic... Wow, you are so talented. Thank you so much!" she wrote to me. She loved the fact that I had included the exact background where the couple had got engaged.

It seems that the bride-to-be's mum was thrilled too. "The card is amazing Lisa. You are beyond talented. We love your cards ❤❤❤"

* This post has been shared on Craft Schooling Sunday, Tuesday Turn About, Wednesdays in the Studio, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop and Creatively Crafty Linky Party.

Their Engagement Announcement

* This post was written before my son passed away.

A regular customer contacted me with a request for another card. Two of her workmates had just got engaged to each other. She sent me their engagement announcement and asked me to base my design on the photo of the couple. She also requested that I add the date they got engaged.

I carefully copied the photo of my customer's workmates, making sure to include the pattern on the bride-to-be's top and the stripes on her groom's shirt. Her hair was difficult since her light brown hair is darker at the roots but I managed to merge the two different colours of paper quite successfully.
I placed my portrait of the couple on a green background with a white frame, just like their own announcement. The flower was similar to one they had used too.

The Hebrew greeting on the card simply says "Mazal Tov Rivka and Michael". Mazal Tov literally means "good luck", though in practice the phrase is used to express "congratulations".
My customer was delighted. "Received the card. Beautiful as always. Thank you" she wrote to me.

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun.

Engagement and Wedding Wishes

I met South African born Dani back in 1995 when we were both on the same ulpan (a school for the intensive study of Hebrew; the Hebrew word means studio or teaching, instruction) in Jerusalem. Roll on many years and Dani has moved onto pastures new in the US, whilst I am obviously still in Israel.

We have met up a few times over the years and social media of course means that we are able to keep in pretty regular contact. Recently I was excited to wake up to a Whatsapp from Dani telling me that she had got engaged to her partner of 7 years, Brendan. I know that she appreciates my handmade cards since she has ordered a few for her friends, so I decided to make the couple a card to mark their engagement.

I cut out their names and added some hearts and a banner marking the date of their engagement to the design. Of course, once I had finished, I realised that I had written the date using the British English format and not American English! Oh well, I guess I'm a Brit and that's the way I write the date.

I realise I forgot to share the card I made for my niece and her new husband when they got married last October. You may remember the trip I made to the UK and the lovely places we visited. The invitation we received for the wedding was in gold lettering, so I decided to create a design using white stock and a yellow (in place of gold) paper inlay. In fact, the colour scheme for the wedding turned out to be a gorgeous autumnal rust-brown. It was a beautiful wedding!

* This post has been shared on Little Things Thursday, Crafty Creators Link Party, Creatively Crafty Link Party and Thursday Favorite Things.

A Covid-19 Engagement

A new customer contacted me with a request for some framed art. Her sister-in-law had got engaged and she thought it would be nice to give the new couple one of my pictures based on their engagement photo. They had met and got engaged through Covid-19, so she thought it might be cute to make the "diamond" on her sister-in-law's engagement ring a little corona ball. We also agreed to keep the masks that they are wearing on their chins as a reminder of the period.  

I have shown the couple exactly as they appear in the photo, making sure to create the bride-to-be's jacket in denim and to add the teeny tiny logo on her fiancé's shirt. The proposal was at sunset, so I showed the sun setting in the background.

My customer also wanted to add their names on the picture, along with the date of their engagement. I added them in Hebrew at the bottom of the piece.

My customer seemed delighted with her picture. "I've been waiting for an occasion to get one of your cards or pictures" she told me. Her sister-in-law was happy for me to share it here on my blog. "Thank you for the wonderful picture." she said.

* This post has been shared on Share Your Style, Little Things Thursday, Creatively Crafty Link Party, Thursday Favorite Things and Craft Schooling Sunday.

Capturing the Moment

Last year I made my husband's all-time favourite card. A customer sent me a photograph of her friends who were newly engaged and asked me to recreate the photograph in paper. So I did. And it came out really well.

This year the brother of the guy on the first card got engaged and so another card was requested along the same lines.

The photo I was sent this time showed the new couple holding hands, standing by a pool of water. The colours were lovely and the image a strong one to work with. I did not attempt to copy every reed in the water but rather tried to give an impression of all the plants and their reflections. I dressed the couple exactly as they are in the photograph.

On the front of the card my customer wanted the short and sweet greeting 'Rafi ♥ Maggie'.

A couple of weeks after I mailed the card I received a lovely thank you message. "It [the card] came out really nicely" my customer wrote. "It was much appreciated by the young couple. You managed to capture the moment beautifully!".

A Photo Copy

At the beginning of the summer I received a photo in my inbox which a customer wanted me to recreate in paper!  She realised that there would be a lot of work involved but wanted a really special card for the wedding of a young man she is very close to.  "I'd love it to be as close a copy of the photo as it can be." she said. An unusual request but one I was happy to have a go at.

My customer was quite specific - she wanted the trees and leaves behind the bench, as well as the couple in the exact pose as in the photo. I dressed them in the very same clothes and had them sitting back-to-back on the bench as she requested. I hand cut each of those little leaves in different autumnal shades too.

On the front of the card she wanted the short and sweet greeting 'Danny ♥ Malki' and inside 'Wishing you a lifetime of happiness, laughter, joy and simcha.'

It took me quite some time to complete this card because I was working to such a specific brief but my lovely customer was encouraging. "I have absolutely no doubt that we will love what you create" she wrote.

I am happy to say that she did.