The Best of 2021 - Part I

1. Zeph the Border Collie  2. 17  3. Biking in the Forest  4. Turning My Greeting Cards Into Wall Art  5. I Love You ❤  6. Running on the Track  7. Cheers for 50 years  8. Their First Anniversary  9. Twenty One  10. Eighteen

If I was to sum up 2021, I would say that it has been a strange old year but perhaps slightly less strange than 2020! As always, I have been busy with my customised cards and papercut pictures. Parties and celebrations started to actually happen, meaning that customers were once again ordering my personalised albums too. I am pleased to say that many people have received my cards on their birthday or anniversary this year and I have made quite a number of large pictures to mark some special occasions. (Unfortunately sometimes my customers do not want me to share them here).
As is common at this time of the year, I thought it would be fun to collect together my top 10 favourite designs from this past year and show them to you once again. You may be able to spot your own card, picture or album amongst my collections. I added some other favourites worth mentioning as well at the end of this post. Some of my creations stayed in Israel, whilst others have travelled far, to the UK and USA and beyond. I hope they made people happy!

1. Yoni's Album  2. Critical Mass Forever  3. Hadar's Album  4. Recipe Cards  5. Gavriel's Album  6. A Covid-19 Engagement  7. Nili's Album  8. Hanging by the Front Door  9. Shirel's Album  10. Yishai's Bar Mitzvah Album

I have also visited some interesting places here in Israel this year and hiked some wonderful trails too. In October I finally managed a trip to the UK after 1 year and 8 months of not seeing my family there. I love taking photos wherever I go and enjoy sharing them here on my blog. I often find out even more about an area I have visited after the event, whilst writing up my post. I'm saving my top 10 favourite hikes and places for another time.

Mindfulness, Calm, Breathe

Her "Lisa Card"

Noa & Nadav

Whilst those of us of the Jewish faith celebrated the eight-day holiday of Chanukah at the end of November and beginning of this month, many of you are now celebrating Christmas. Warmest wishes for the holiday season. Thank you so much for your support in the past year, for taking the time to pop by and see what's happening over here at Handmade in Israel and for buying what you've seen on my blog. In June I wrote my 1,000th post and I continue to enjoy composing each and every one of them. I hope you will continue to visit and enjoy my posts in 2022, as I share the coming year's designs and a few more of my adventures in Israel.

Don't forget that you can subscribe to my blog, and follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Oh, and please pop by my shop now and then to see what is new there.
Wishing you a healthy and happy 2022!

* This post has been shared on Little Things Thursday, Creatively Crafty Link Party, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop

The Best of 2020 - Part I

1. The Colour Purple for a Silver Wedding  2. Thank You Ceri  3. Happy Sweet 16  4. Seventeen  5. Corona Cards  6. Polly  7. Lilach & Ian  8. Nir  9. Twenty  10. Thumbs up for 10

Well, what a year 2020 has been! Covid-19 has made it a very, very strange year for us all. Here in Israel we are currently in our third lockdown and most things are closed. The vaccine gives us hope, though for sure life is not going to return to normal for a very long time. However, as someone who has worked from home for many years, things have been okay for me personally. I have continued to work as normal, albeit with Mister Handmade in Israel and my youngest son home as well. My only real struggle has been the length of time it took for orders to reach abroad, primarily to the US, but fortunately my customers have been nothing but understanding. Lucky me!

In 2020 there were far fewer celebrations and those that did take place were small. I have made a lot less personalised albums this year, though I am pleased to report that I do have a few orders already lined up for the beginning of next year. On the other hand, I have been very busy with my customised cards and papercut pictures. Many people have received my cards on their birthday or anniversary and a few cards have been sent just to make someone smile! I have made quite a number of large framed pictures to mark some special occasions. I hope my art has somehow helped in a tiny way during this difficult year.

1. Panda  2. Achva  3. Esther's Studio  4. Superman  5. Pomegranates  6. A Family Portrait for a 40th Birthday  7. Fox Art  8. A Princess Themed Wedding  9. Blessing for the Home  10. Lily

As is common at this time of the year, I thought it would be fun to collect together my Top 10 favourite designs from this past year and show them to you once again. I have linked to some other special projects I worked on as well. Have you spotted your card or picture amongst my collections?

I have also visited some interesting places, all within a short distance of where I live. 2020 has not been the year for travel - my long-awaited school reunion trip to the UK was of course cancelled and I haven't seen my dad for many months - but Mister Handmade in Israel and I have been out for some lovely walks and discovered some amazing and beautiful places which I have shared with you as an occasional travel post. I'm saving my top 10 favourite places for another time.

5 Cards for a 50th Birthday

Emuna's Album

K is for Karina

Thank you so much for taking the time this past year to pop by and see what's happening over here at Handmade in Israel, especially those of you who have commented, liked, shared and bought what you've seen on my blog. I have enjoyed composing each and every one of my blog posts and hope you will continue to visit and enjoy them in 2021, as I share the coming year's papercut designs and a few more of my adventures in Israel.

Don't forget that you can subscribe to my blog, and follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Oh, and please pop by my shop now and then to see what is new there.
Wishing you a safe and better start to 2021!

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun., Little Cottage Link Party, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop, Creative Crafty Link Party, Craft Schooling Sunday and All Seasons.

The Queen of Facebook

Sarah turned 50 at the end of August. She is a technical writer and the self-declared "Queen of Facebook", so her husband asked me for a birthday card based around those themes. Most British, or even just English speakers in Israel, will have come across Sarah's name on Facebook. I am sure she won't mind me saying that she is quite vocal there!

I decided to show Sarah sitting at her desk. Apparently she uses Facebook on her laptop and on her phone. She also never ever calls anyone and is instead a big Whatsapp user. Therefore the laptop in front of her has her Facebook profile on the screen. Another computer is displaying the Siemplify homepage, the company that she works for. The phone has Whatsapp on it. I added a big number 50 to mark her age and some colourful balloons to give the card a birthday theme.

Sarah's husband reported that the card was a "big hit!"

* This post has been shared on Little Things Thursday, Creatively Crafty, Creative Compulsions Linky Party, Thursday Favorite Things and Craft Schooling Sunday.

The Best of 2019 - Part I

1. I Love You 2. Eilon 3. 21 Years 4. We Are the Champions 5. Their Wedding Picture 6. She Cheered with Joy! 7. #50cardsfor50  8. Lior's Best Friends 9. Amit & Roei 10. Benjo

Whilst many of you are now celebrating Christmas, we are right in the middle of the Chanukah holiday. Presents have been exchanged and doughnuts and latkes have been consumed (fried foods are an important part of the holiday as they represent the small amount of oil that miraculously burned for 8 days instead of just one when the Jews rededicated the Second Temple in Jerusalem after overcoming oppression). Whatever you are celebrating, happy holidays to you and best wishes for an amazing year ahead!
2019 started pretty badly for me and my days were somewhat disrupted with medical treatments. I'm pleased to report that things did get back to normal (though if someone knows of a magical cure for tendinitis, I'd love to hear from you!). I was soon back to making my customised cards, albums and papercut pictures for Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and more.
As is common at this time of the year, I thought it would be fun to collect together some of my favourite designs from this past year and show them to you once again. I have chosen my Top 10 favourite cards and linked to some special projects I worked on as well. Have you spotted your card, album or picture amongst my collection?
I have also visited some interesting places in Israel and was lucky enough to enjoy a wonderful holiday with my husband and eldest son in Hungary before he joined the Israeli Defence Forces in the summer. I'm saving my top 10 favourite places for another post. Please look out for it.

Daniel's Album

Bookmarks

Panda

Thank you so much for taking time out of your daily lives this past year to pop by and see what's happening over here at Handmade in Israel. I am always very happy to read your encouraging comments and receive your support. Even after 12 years of blogging I still enjoy composing each and every one of my blog posts and am always excited to press that 'Publish' button when the time is right. I hope you will continue to enjoy them too in 2020 as I share the coming year's papercut designs and a few more of my adventures in Israel.
Don't forget that you can subscribe to my blog, and follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Oh, and please pop by my shop now and then to see what is new there.
Wishing you a wonderful, happy and colourful Chanukah, Christmas and New Year, and a safe and exciting start to 2020!

* This post has been shared on All Seasons, MMM Block Party, Mix it up Monday!, The Good. The Random. The Fun., Tuesdays with a Twist, Creatively Crafty, Creative Mondays Link Up.

The Adventurer

A regular customer asked me to make a birthday card for her mum. She sent me a photo of her mum paragliding and asked me to use it as the inspiration. She told me that her mum is an amazing woman. Judging by the photo, she is obviously a very brave lady as well!

I created a paper version of mum free-flying, removing the instructor from the picture and collaging some photos of trees to create a matching background to the photo. I added a big red number 69 to mark her age. "Happy Birthday adventurer" was the greeting her daughter wanted on the card.

My customer was delighted with the card. "Your cards make her [mum] extremely happy, so thank you" she wrote to me. I was very pleased when she sent me this photo of mum opening the card on her birthday and then shared my work on Facebook. We both belong to an Israeli women entrepreneurs' networking group and my customer shared her excitement over the card there.

"Big shout out to Lisa Isaacs who yet again made my mum so happy even though we couldn’t be with her for her birthday. She makes the most beautiful cards that we all treasure."

* This post has been shared on Amaze Me Monday, Creative Mondays, The Good. The Random. The Fun., Made by You Monday, Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) and Creatively Crafty.

Bookmarks

At the end of last week I participated in the IWEN retreat 2019.  IWEN, which stands for Israeli Women Entrepreneurs' Network, is a Facebook group which is designed to provide a platform for information, exchange of ideas and support for female entrepreneurs in Israel. The retreat was an opportunity to put faces to some of the names I recognised from the group. I learnt a tremendous amount from the various presentations that were made. The incredible women who participated in the retreat were all professional, determined strong women who came together to support, network and, yes, have fun together!

Some time before the retreat a request was put out for "swag". The organisers were putting together a gift bag for the retreat participants. I saw it as an opportunity to contribute something with my name and brand and was happy to come up with something suitable.

The retreat took place at a hotel in the coastal city of Herzliya. The view from my room was fabulous! It was good to make some new connections and I was happy that everyone received a colourful "Lisa Isaacs Papercut Art" bookmark in their gift bags. I designed and had them printed with all my details on the back. Now everyone knows where to find me on Etsy, Blogger, Facebook and Twitter!

* This post has been shared on Amaze Me Monday, The Good. The Random. The Fun., Creative Mondays, Made by You Monday, Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), Our World Tuesday, Pictorial Tuesday and Creatively Crafty.