Shai and Nurit

Shai was turning 19, so his mum asked me to make him a card. He loves to sing and leyn she told me. When the Torah is read in the Synagogue it is often chanted. This is described as leyning, which comes from the Yiddish word 'leyn', which means to read. He also plays the guitar, enjoys board games, and - according to Mum - has an incredible general knowledge of geography, including places, countries, cities, and capitals. He always walks around with headphones on too, she added.

I decided to show Shai playing the guitar. He is wearing a black knitted kippah on his head, and has his beloved headphones on too! In the background I added a map of the world to illustrate his interest in different places and countries, along with a picture of one of his favourite board games, Catan. Finally, I crafted a small Torah scroll and a yad. The Torah scroll contains the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The yad, meaning "hand" in Hebrew, is a pointer used during its reading to avoid direct contact with the sacred text.

Not long after, Shai's sister Nurit was also about to celebrate a birthday. She was turning 14. Mum told me that she also loves board games, and that Ticket to Ride is one of her favourites. She plays the piano, loves notebooks and journals, and enjoys popcorn and movie nights with her friends.

I have shown Nurit playing a tune on the piano. In the background are a couple of notebooks and a pencil, a picture of her favourite board game, and some popcorn in a red-and-white striped container. The container is very commonly associated with movie theatres and movie nights. Who knows? Maybe Nurit pulls one out when hosting a cozy movie night with friends at home.

* This post has been shared on Happiness is Homemade and Busy Monday.

Yonatan and Yishai

Yonatan was turning 21. His mum asked me to make him a birthday card showing him wearing his black army vest top with the logo and name Magist (מאגיסט) on it. Yonatan's black vest in fact has the logo on the back of it but, with some artistic licence, I put it on the front.

The MAG (a heavy machine gun) is one of the oldest and most powerful weapons of the IDF (the Israel Defence Forces). A Magist (heavy machine gunner) is a soldier who, on long marches and trips into the field, is charged with carrying a gun five times the weight of the normal M-16 rifle most soldiers carry, and wearing a tactical vest weighing twice as much as well. 

Mum also asked me to show Yonatan playing the guitar. I didn't want to cover his vest, so had him holding the guitar instead. In the background I added two badges of Sayeret Golani, the Golani brigade's scouting unit. It is one of several units which specialize in intelligence gathering and surveillance. Sayeret (סיירת) means "Reconnaissance", Golani is one of the five infantry brigades of the IDF.

A big 21 marks Yonatan's age.

14-year-old Yishai is Yonatan's cousin. He had seen the cards I have made for Yonatan and his brothers over the years and put in a request for his own. Apparently he loves my cards and they have inspired him to make a few in a similar style to mine.

Yishai wanted me to show him with Disneyworld in the background. He has big blue-turquoise eyes, his mum told me, so we decided to show him wearing a T-shirt of that colour. She asked me to add a 14 on the card as well.

The card was very well received. "It is gorgeous!" mum messaged me. "Just perfect!"

* This post has been shared on Create, Bake, Grow & Gather

Aliza's Album

Aliza's Bat Mitzvah party was delayed due to Covid-19 but she was finally able to celebrate it last month and was able to put the album I made some weeks ago to good use. Her mum asked me to show Aliza with the family's Maltese dog, Buddy, on the front of the album. She plays the guitar, likes to make and eat sushi and enjoys watching Netflix on her laptop computer. Mum told me that Aliza's outfit of choice is currently a white T-shirt, a black knee length skirt and blue denim jacket.

As requested, I showed Aliza holding Buddy with one arm. Her guitar is in her other hand. She is wearing her denim jacket. Behind her is her laptop computer, with Netflix open on the screen and next to her is a plate of sushi. The album opens the Hebrew way (Hebrew books open from right-to-left). Aliza's name appears at the top in English and the Hebrew words בת המצווה של עליזה, Eliza's Bat Mitzvah, are at the bottom.

Mum initially told me that Aliza's favourite colour is yellow but then Aliza requested pale pink. She also asked if I could add musical notes in two corners of the album cover.

I decorated several pages inside Aliza's album. The first page, above and below, showed a burger and chips, which was apparently the theme of the Bat Mitzvah party and is another one of Aliza's favourite foods. 

Next I cut out a tiny guitar, below, and a saxophone. Mum told me that Aliza is much more into playing the guitar but is learning to play the sax this year too. The following page showed Aliza's favourite Marvel icons, which she specified were Spiderman, Ironman and Black Panther, then I created a page showing the emojis she uses the most on WhatsApp. I added a little mobile phone with Whatsapp open on the screen as well.

Finally, the last page in Aliza's album was devoted to Buddy the Maltese dog.

Aliza's mum was happy with the album. "I am so pleased we found you online. This is gorgeous and she's so excited!" she wrote to me, then followed up by telling me that "Aliza loves it".

* This post has been shared on Link-up Potpourri, The Good. The Random. The Fun. and Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday).