To the Skies

Eden's 24th birthday was coming up and her mum asked me to make a card for her. She is a flight attendant for El Al, Israel's national airline, so mum asked me to show her daughter wearing their navy blue uniform. She told me that Eden regularly flies to New York and that it is her favourite place for a layover.

I decided to show Eden wearing the uniform she wears during flights. She prefers trousers with a white short-sleeved shirt and waistcoat. Mum made sure I knew about the gold tag she wears on her waistcoat and the scarf that all the female attendants wear. In addition, she always wears her hair in a plait with hair bands going down it, a style that keeps her hair away from her face.

There are blues skies and white clouds behind Eden. I added a number 24 to mark her age, along with a small photo of Times Square and the famous I ❤ NY logo. The logo was designed by graphic designer Milton Glaser in 1976 in the back of a taxi and has been used since 1977 to promote tourism in the state of New York.
A small plane is decorated in El Al's livery, which features a blue stripe with a thick silver border on the bottom that sweeps across the side of the aircraft near the wing, and a turquoise tailfin with the flag of Israel at the top.

El Al was founded in November 1948 as Israel's national airline and operated its first scheduled flight on 31st July 1949 from Tel Aviv, Israel to Rome and Paris. The airline began flying to many European destinations the same year, with services to the United States and South Africa starting in 1951. It is the only commercial airline to equip its planes with missile defence systems to protect its planes against surface-to-air missiles, and is considered one of the world's most secure airlines.

The name "El Al" comes from the Tanach, or Hebrew Bible, and means "to the above" or more poetically "to the skies". The phrase comes from the Book of Hosea. In the seventh verse of Chapter 11 of the book it says: "And my people are in suspense about returning to me; and though they call them to the above [el-al], none at all will lift himself up."
Eden messaged me to say that she loved the card.

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun. and Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday).

Ella and Shulamit

Ella recently turned 16. Her Mum, who tells me that they cannot celebrate a birthday in their family without one of my cards, this time requested a picture of her daughter in front of the New York skyline. She also mentioned some other New York symbols - the Statue of Liberty and Times Square - and I added "The Big Apple", which was actually quite tiny, for good measure! A big red number 16 marks Ella's age. 

A new customer discovered my cards and wrote to me to see if I could make one for her friend who was soon to be celebrating her 27th birthday. She loves swimming and even swam the Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee) twice, my customer wrote. She also loves hiking, especially at Sachne (a national park in Israel which has naturally warm water where visitors can swim all year round). Could I put a sign pointing to Sachne on the card? The birthday girl also really loves make-up and is currently doing a make-up course. Though her interests are all extremely varied, my customer was keen to include everything since she felt that they really characterise her friend. 

I showed Shulamit in the green tshirt she was wearing in the photos her friend sent me. She has swimming goggles on her head and a make-brush and a compact blusher in her hands. Behind her is a photo of the Kinneret, and next to her some walking boots, lipstick and nail polish. The requested sign pointing to her favourite place, Sachne, is behind her.

Since Shulamit comes from a British family my customer thought that the birthday greeting should be in English. "I gave it to her and she loved it so much!" she later wrote to me.

* This post has been shared on Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), Amaze Me Mondays, Creative Mondays, Monday's Musings, Coastal Charm, Make it Pretty Monday, Happiness is Homemade, The Good. The Random. The Fun., Blue Monday, Our World Tuesday and Seasons.

Basketball, Books and Barbecuing

A lovely new customer contacted me about a birthday card for her husband. She wanted me to create a card with an illustration of her lawyer husband on it and to somehow include his love of basketball and books. She also requested a background of the New York skyline.

I have shown her bald headed husband (apparently he loved the card and wasn't at all offended!) spinning a basketball on one finger. In his other hand he has a book with the logo of the Israel Bar Association on the cover. The book opens the H​ebrew​ way, from right to left. Next to him is a small pile of yet more books, and behind him the Statue of Liberty and the New York skyline.
The Hebrew greeting on the card says "To Our Hanan, Many Congratulations".

Soon afterwards the same customer came back to me for another card, this time for her brother. She requested a picture of her brother standing behind a barbeque. grilling steaks. I was also asked to include a pair of blue jeans, a black bicycle, and a pair of tefillin (tefillin are a set of small cubic leather boxes painted black, containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Bible).

The Hebrew greeting on the card says "To My Dearest Brother, Congratulations".

Both cards were a lot of fun to create and my new customer seemed delighted with them.

"Wow wow dear Lisa, you are simply a great artist! The card came out amazing! How great! Huge thanks!" and then "Dear Lisa, it turned out beautifully. Thank you, thank you and thank you again. You are amazing."

* This post has been shared on My Sunday Photo, Our World and Seasons.