Shalva's Album

Shalva recently celebrated her Bat Mitzvah. Her parents asked me to make her an album that could be displayed at her party for all her friends to sign. They told me that she likes Harry Potter, baking, anime and maths. They requested an album that opens the Hebrew way (Hebrew books open from right-to-left).

I decided to show brown-haired Shalva wearing a black Harry Potter cloak and holding a wand. In her other hand she has a plate of cupcakes to represent her interest in baking. Behind her are some maths symbols and the number 12 to mark her age. There is also an anime picture behind her and in front of her is a mixing bowl and another cupcake. The background box is blue since that is her favourite colour.

Shalva's name appears at the top and the Hebrew date of her Bat Mitzvah celebration is at the bottom of the album's cover. Hebrew dates are written right-to-left with the day of the month, followed by the month name, then the Hebrew year. The Gregorian calendar date is below the Hebrew one.

I decorated five pages inside Shalva's album. The first page has a Harry Potter theme. I cut out a tiny broomstick, similar to the one Harry was given when he joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I added the black Sorting Hat and a cauldron for brewing and holding potions, below.

The next page has a baking theme, above. I added some tiny cupcakes, a mixing bowl, wooden spoon and a spatula. Shalva's mum mentioned that Shalva goes horse riding too, so I cut out a brown horse for the following page, below.

The last two illustrated pages in Shalva's album show various maths symbols, representing her interest in the subject, and some anime characters too. The word anime - pronounced "ah-knee-may" - is an abbreviation of the word animation. In Japan, the word is used to refer to all animation. However, outside of Japan, it has become the catch-all term for animation from Japan.

Shalva's mum was very pleased with the album and decided that she would like to use my cover illustration for other things at the Bat Mitzvah celebration. (I offer this as a package. Please discuss it with me if you are interested in doing something similar). I scanned the cover for her and she made these cute laminated labels which were placed on top of the napkin of each place setting at the party. The labels were also stuck on each party bag that Shalva's friends took home, above.

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Sisters, Sisters, There Were Never Such Devoted Sisters

Happy New Year! For my first post of 2022 I have a custom made birthday card to show you, made for someone who regularly buys my cards and has them bought for her.

Mizzie's was going to be in England for her birthday and was planning to celebrate this year with her two sisters who live there. Her husband asked me to make her a card showing the three of them together. I based my design on a photo he sent me which was taken a few year ago, but he asked me to change their outfits according to some other photos he sent. 

I showed curly haired Mizzie in the centre of the card. Her twin sister, who has straight hair, is on her right, whilst her older sister, wearing the hat, is on her left.

Her husband was delighted with the card when he saw it. "Thanks for the great card" he messaged me. Then Mizzie wrote to me from the UK:
"Just opened my card and I LOVE IT! What a lovely surprise!"

Galia and Doron were also celebrating their respective birthdays. The theme for Galia's card should be naturopathy, her mum told me. She has just qualified as a naturopath. For those not in the know (like myself!), naturopathic medicine is a system that uses natural remedies to help the body heal itself. It embraces many therapies, including herbs, massage, acupuncture, exercise and nutritional counselling.

I created a small card showing a mortar and pestle with some herbs in it. Some leaves and flowers and a couple of bottles of essential oil surround it.

Doron was overseas for his birthday but his mother-in-law wanted him to have one of my cards as well! He is studying mechanical engineering at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, so she asked me to include the university's logo and some maths and physics symbols on a blackboard. Apparently one of his tutors is the British-Israeli mathematician Ruth Lawrence. The Brits amongst us will remember her for having been a child maths prodigy who graduated Oxford at 13. She now lives in Jerusalem and apparently likes to teach her students using an old fashioned blackboard, hence the request for it on Doron's card!

* 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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