Aliyah

A customer admired my Am Yisrael Chai papercut and asked me to make a card with the same message on it for her daughter who was making aliyah. The Hebrew word aliyah literally means ascent or rise, but for generations it has been used to mean "moving to Israel". My customer wanted a nice card for her daughter to find when she arrived at her new home here.

Jewish tradition views travelling to the Land of Israel as an ascent, both geographically and metaphysically. The opposite action - emigration by Jews from Israel - is referred to in the Hebrew language as yerida (descent). The Law of Return that was passed by the Knesset (the legislative branch of the government of Israel) in 1950 gives all diaspora Jews, as well as their children and grandchildren, the right to relocate to Israel and acquire Israeli citizenship on the basis of connecting to their Jewish identity. 

I created a card with the blue and white flag of Israel on it. The flag consists of a white background with a blue Star of David in the centre and two horizontal blue stripes at the top and bottom. The Star of David is a widely acknowledged symbol of the Jewish people and of Judaism. The stripes recall the design of the tallit, the traditional Jewish prayer shawl. A white dove with an olive branch in its beak, a symbol of peace from the biblical story of Noah's ark, is hovering in front of the flag. Noah released the dove to find dry land after The Flood, and the dove returned carrying an olive branch, signaling that the flood had receded. I added a bright red pomegranate, one of Israel's Seven Species. In Jewish tradition, pomegranates are, among other things, a symbol of love. Finally, I cut out the Hebrew letters spelling out the words Am Yisrael Chai, "The people of Israel live". The slogan is used as a patriotic phrase, an equivalent of "Long Live Israel." The word "Chai" - meaning life, living, or alive - itself has a very special meaning and long history as a Jewish symbol, all explained in my Chai blog post.

My customer's daughter was delighted with her card. "Thank you for this gorgeous card!" she wrote to her mum. "I don’t know how you managed to get it posted here successfully!" she said. And that, dear readers, is a whole 'nother story...

* This post has been shared on Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop

Happy 70th Birthday Savta

My customer had a special request. She wanted an extra large card for her mum's upcoming 70th birthday. Her mum has seven grandchildren and she wanted a card that could fit them all on.

My customer sent me a bunch of photos showing each grandchild. After a lot of discussion about their various ages, heights, hairstyles and hair colours, I was able to work out who was the tallest amongst them all and who was the shortest. I was told that mum herself is quite short, so the two oldest grandchildren needed to be taller than her!

We also decided to put the Israeli flag and a Union Jack on the card, since mum is an Israeli living in London, though she was actually born in Morocco! I added a big number 70 to mark her age.

The greeting on the card says "Happy 70th Birthday Savta". Savta or safta is the Hebrew word for grandmother.
My customer told me that her mum loved the card.

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun., Tuesday Turn About, The Happy Now Blog Link- Up and Sundays on Silverado.

Max and Ben

Max was turning 18. I have made many cards for him over the years, including this one for his Bar Mitzvah, but on this occasion his auntie didn't suggest a particular theme. She did send me a recent photo of her nephew, so I decided to simply create a paper portrait of him holding up a big number 18. I added some balloons and stars as well.

"He really liked it!" his aunt told. "It looks just like him."

Ben has also received birthday cards made by me for many years. This year's card had a locksmith theme, since that's what he is currently working as, while spending time in the USA. His mum requested a USA flag somewhere on the card too.

I cut out various keys and locks and added a big Stars and Stripes to this small card. As a matter of interest, the 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 U.S. states, and the 13 stripes represent the thirteen British colonies that declared independence from Great Britain and became the first states in the US. The colours of the flag are symbolic as well; red symbolises hardiness and valour, white symbolises purity and innocence, and blue represents vigilance, perseverance and justice.

Friday evening marks the start of Pesach, or Passover, and my family and I will celebrate the Passover Seder. You can read more about it in two of my previous posts here and here. 'Chag Pesach Sameach', a happy Passover festival, to all celebrating.

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

We Can’t Keep Up!

Remember the birthday card I made for the Spurs supporter? I made one for the same customer's dad too. He loves fishing, tennis and whisky, his daughter told me. She also mentioned that he is a huge Zionist and asked me to include an Israeli flag somewhere on the card.

I showed my customer's dad wearing a bright red T-shirt (she mentioned that he likes to wear bright colours like yellow or red). He has a fishing rod, with a fish dangling from it, in one hand and a tennis racket in the other. A yellow tennis ball is flying off the racket.

Behind dad is the river he is fishing in. There are some reeds on the banks of the river and the Israeli flag stands in them! Finally, next to my customer's dad is a tumbler of his favourite tipple, whisky, along with a bottle of whisky too.

"We love you Dad, we can’t keep up!" was the greeting his daughter asked me to put on the front of the card. It does indeed sound like her dad is a busy man!

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

Marking Some Special Occasions

Eden was turning 21! I have been making cards to mark her birthday for years. Some of you may remember this lovely story, when she called me at the tender age of 9 to thank me for making her a great card - and it wasn't even from me!

These days Eden is a soldier in the Israeli army and is also interested in cosmetics and special effects makeup. I have made cards on those themes several times before. For her 21st birthday I decided to just have fun and make a card celebrating 21. Mum told me that she likes candles, so I added those to the card and some gift wrapped presents too. The big heart shaped balloons mark her age. 

Joshua was joining the Israeli Air Force and was due to start the pilots course, considered one of the most prestigious courses in the IDF (The Israel Defence Forces). His mum asked me to make him a special good luck card. 

I have shown Joshua in his beige madei alef uniform. (There are two types of uniforms (madim) in the army, madei alef and madei bet. In all units madei bet are olive green, however madei alef differ for each force.) He is wearing the dark grey beret belonging to the Air Force. I kept his goatee beard for the card though in reality beards are not allowed in the army, with a few exceptions. I added the badge and flag of the Israeli Air Force, a light blue flag with thin stripes and the air force roundel with a blue six-pointed star in the centre. Finally, some black army boots and some "Top Gun" style aviator sunglasses are next to him.
The Hebrew greeting on the card says "An easy and successful recruitment, Joshua".

Lastly, Tamar was celebrating her Bat Mitzvah, the Jewish coming of age ceremony for girls. I made cards for her brothers' Bar Mitzvahs. You can see them here and here. Tamar's mum also wanted her daughter to receive a special card to mark the occasion. She is very fond of handicrafts, mum told me, and she makes amazing cakes. She also likes to cook and draws and paints very nicely too. Her favourite colours are black, white and turquoise.
I have shown blonde-haired Tamar busy mixing something. There is a rolling pin and some eggs on the table in front of her, along with some paints and pencils for her creative work. Behind her is a big number 12 to mark her age. It is made from a picture of a cake she herself baked. I also added pictures of some of her own creations made from beads. 
The Hebrew greeting on the card says "Our beloved Tamari. Congratulations to the Bat Mitzvah ❤". Bat Mitzvah is the name of the coming of age ceremony and also the name used to address the young lady on the occasion.

* This post has been shared on Funtastic Friday, Create, Bake, Grow & Gather, Craft Schooling Sunday. and The Good. The Random. The Fun.