A Favourite Photo of Safta and Saba

This particular safta and saba (the Hebrew names for grandmother and grandfather) have been receiving my handmade cards for years. It's become a tradition. In the past I have shown Safta making her wonderful chicken soup and more recently, playing Solitaire on her iPad. Saba's most recent birthday card showed the two of them tucking into their daily grapefruit.

This year their daughter-in-law sent me a favourite photo of the couple and asked if I could recreate it for Safta's birthday card. It was actually a really great photo for this type of project. Safta and Saba's clothes were beautifully coordinated and I was able to create the card using a colour palette of pinks and greys.

I hope Safta liked her card.

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

Two Sabas at Seventy

A customer and her husband individually contacted me with requests for 70th birthday cards for their respective dads. They wanted cards showing each grandfather or Saba, the Hebrew word for grandfather, with their grandchildren.

The first card showed the grandfather who lives in Israel. This card opens from left to right since the Hebrew greeting reads from right to left and is written on the inner left side of the card. I have shown saba standing with his grandchildren on the balcony of the family's flat. I hinted at the buildings and trees in the background and carefully copied the dots on the little girl's dress and the dinosaurs on the boys' pyjamas.

The Hebrew greeting on the card simply says "Happy Birthday". My customer requested the big gold number 70. "Thanks for your amazing work" he wrote to me.

His wife wanted a birthday card for the grandfather who lives in the UK. This time I was to show grandpa with his wife, along with the three grandchildren. My customer also requested a sunset in the background since the family always meet in Eilat, the southern Israeli port and resort town on the Red Sea, near Jordan.

Once again I carefully recreated the pattern on the boy's T-shirt, the beads around his sister's neck and included the flowers on grandpa's wife's dress.

The greeting on this card wishes grandpa "L'Chayim". L'Chayim in Hebrew is a toast meaning "to life".

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

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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An 80th Birthday and a Happy Anniversary

Safta (the Hebrew word for Grandmother) was turning 80 but unfortunately it was during Israel's recent lockdown, so the family could not be together to celebrate her big day. Her daughter-in-law therefore asked me to make a special card which she intended to photograph and send to Safta by Whatsapp.

I showed Safta holding a big chocolate cake with the number 80 in candles. She is surrounded by balloons and bunting and I added a few Israeli flags since she and her husband have recently moved here permanently.

Her daughter-in-law said the card was perfect!

Safta and Saba (the Hebrew word for Grandfather) also recently celebrated their wedding anniversary. Their daughter-in-law came back to me once again with a request for another card.

This time I showed the couple on the card. They are enjoying a glass of champagne to celebrate their anniversary. Saba is wearing the pale blue cap that his family says he always wears. In front of them is the opened bottle of champagne and a pink rose.

Despite restrictions, I hope they had a lovely day.

* This post has been shared on {wow me} wednesday, Creatively Crafty Link Party, Thursday Favorite Things, Craft Schooling Sunday and Little Things Thursday.