30 Years and in the Spotlight

A lady contacted me with a request for a pearl wedding card to mark her daughter and son-in-law's 30th wedding anniversary. She gave me a little background information about the couple. Her daughter is a lawyer but also a singer. Apparently she sings in classical choirs both in Israel and abroad. Her husband is a psychologist. She asked me to include some music notes and a microphone on the card, and a book and newspaper design for the psychologist. I included a law book for the lawyer as well.

The Hebrew greeting on the card wishes the couple Mazal Tov - literally meaning "good luck", though the phrase is used to express "congratulations" - on their special anniversary.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Sarah Sussman of the 'Judaica in the Spotlight' online art magazine to see if I would like to be interviewed for the arts section. I was delighted to be asked and was happy to answer the questions she subsequently sent me.

Sarah wanted to know what inspired me to become an artist and what my speciality is. She wanted to know how and where I work, what the most indispensable item in my studio is, and from where I take my inspiration. She asked me about my favourite items in my current collection and about the first artwork I ever sold.

The interview went live on 'Judaica in the Spotlight' in March. For those of you who may not have seen the feature yet, please do pop by and "read all about it" here. I hope that you enjoy learning a little bit more about me, my work and my inspirations.

25 Years!

A Photo Copy

שלום Shalom

* This post has been shared on Little Things Thursday, Thankful Thursday, Creatively Crafty, Thursday Favorite Things and All Seasons.

All Things Paper

Some time ago I discovered, quite by chance, the blog All Things Paper. Well, I'm passionate about "all things paper" and soon became a regular visitor. Ann Martin, the quilling enthusiast behind the blog, covers some amazing paper related topics and I often feel compelled to comment on the beautiful pieces she displays. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago Ann wrote to me and told me that she'd been thinking that my work would make a great feature post one day! I  was blown away by this. The artists she writes about are, well, artists! I couldn't believe that she considered me worthy of a write-up, but she did!

Ann wanted to know how I got started making personalized cards and about my favourite tools. She wanted to confirm that she was correct in thinking that all of my cutting is by hand (it is). "People will be amazed, as your work is so perfect!" she added. I think I was blushing at this point.

The feature post all about my creative work, and a little bit about me, appeared on 'All Things Paper' last week. Ann covered pretty much everything - my albums, cards and papercut pictures - and I was delighted to learn that she reads my blog regularly too. In addition to my latest paper cutting projects, Ann mentioned my blogging about the Jewish holidays, my occasional cooking antics, and our many day trips around Israel. It was a very flattering piece and some even more wonderful comments were left!

A big thank you for writing about me Ann. And for those of you who may not have seen the feature yet, do pop by and "read all about it" here.

It's All in the Details

I have a customer to whom I have given the title 'The Queen of Detail'. Whilst most people come to me and ask me to make a thank you card for their driving instructor and I am left to come up with something good, this lovely lady briefs me in detail. And I mean DETAIL!
On this occasion my customer wanted a thank you card for her driving teacher.  She asked for a side picture of a brown car, with the oval sign on the side of the car advertising her teacher's name and number. The sign also needed to show a handicapped sign as he teaches both abled and non-abled people. The triangular learner driver sign used here in Israel had to be on the car roof too.  At the front window she asked me to show her teacher sitting, smiling and looking at us, with an arm leaning on the window ledge.  Apparently he has blue eyes, a pepper grey beard and hair, and wears his sunglasses perched on top of his head.  And, oh yes, he has a small diamond stud in his ear!
The greeting on the front of the card says, in Hebrew, 'Thank you from all of my heart'. Simple!
My customer ended her e-mail by asking me to let her know if I needed other details!
So, what do you think? Did I get it right? Did I remember everything? Funnily enough, even though my customer had essentially designed the card in her head, I still think that the end result has a touch of 'Handmade in Israel' about it. She was very happy with it. "I love the card!" she wrote, "Another great production!". Her teacher loved it too.
Phew!

A Saracens Fan

The boy celebrating his Bar Mitzvah on this occasion is a Saracens fan. I now know that the Saracens are a professional rugby union team based in St. Albans, England. It made a nice change to be creating a rugby card, rather than my usual football! Once again it was requested that I personalise the card with his favourite team but also add a Jewish element to it, so I have illustrated the Bar Mitzvah boy playing his favourite sport, dressed in his favourite team's colours but also wearing the traditional kippa (skullcap).
I also created some more traditional cards for the rest of his family. His parents and grandparents received 'Handmade in Israel' cards, below, depicting a Bar Mitzvah boy, Star of David and Torah scroll and tallit (prayer shawl).

Last week my nephew in London celebrated his birthday. It is sometimes hard to know how to illustrate a card for a 17 year old boy, and especially one whom I have created cards for many, many times before. I know that he is a table tennis player and a keen Arsenal supporter, so a colourful card with a bat and football was put together.

Today is the last day of the Etsy Greetings Team's Valentine's Day promotion. Terri of Cards and Moore by Terri, who has worked really hard pulling this promotion together, kindly included my Pack of 5 Valentine's Day Cards in an Etsy Treasury, seen below in the centre of the bottom row. They were in great company, and if you haven't yet searched Etsy for the perfect card, why not drop by now and purchase a card? Search "egvdpromo" on Etsy to find stunning handmade cards, made by some incredibly talented people.

Ready Steady Go!

I have two ranges of cards. The large custom-made cards, when I create a one of a kind card for a specific person according to their hobbies, loves, favourite football team... the list goes on! These cards can take me some time to create, particularly when I get very involved in the details. You have seen many of them here on my blog and I hope to show you many more to come. I also make cards for all occasions, for people to buy ready made. These ready made cards are simpler to create, once I have finalised the design, and I can produce many cards of the same design if a particular person, or occasionally a store, has requested birthday, new baby or maybe Barmitzvah cards. Above and below, you can see some ready made cards that I have been working on this week. Some Mazal Tov (or Mazeltov, the anglicised version) cards and some new baby cards. I especially love creating these baby cards. Those little round faces bring a smile to my face every time.

A bit about me

Gill and Kellie left some very kind comments on my blog, complimenting me on my recent designs and asking me to explain a little more of my background. I started this blog to write about and display my work on-line, and wish it to remain a blog about my arts and crafts endeavours, but I am of course happy to outline a little of my background and how it influences my work.

In my very first posting I mentioned that I am a graphic designer by profession and currently work from home, creating greetings cards, gift boxes and pictures, primarily working with cut paper. I am Mum to two boys, aged seven and five, and work like mad on my art when they are out at school in the mornings (here in Israel they start school early and come home early, at 1:30pm). Time is limited but I really enjoy what I do and find that it works round my schedule perfectly.

All the cards are hand crafted. I make cards for all occasions, that people buy as is, but I also design and produce cards to order. The custom-made cards can take me some time to create, particularly when I get very involved in the details. On other mornings I can produce many cards of the same design, if a particular person, or occasionally a store, has requested birthday, new baby or maybe Barmitzvah cards. It all depends on the particular design really.

I am British-born, hence the reasonable standard of English (I hope!), married to a Londoner whom I met over here, and have lived here in Israel for over 13 years now. My custom-made cards are generally requested by the Anglos here, but my more general designs are bought by Anglos and Israelis alike, and therefore I produce them in both languages.

Above you can see examples of some of my many designs. From left to right, a floral greeting card for every occasion, cards for a new baby, and a birthday card in Hebrew - Yom Holedet Same'ach! Below are two examples of my Barmitzvah card designs. On the left a boy holding a Torah with the words Mazal Tov, or congratulations in English, written on it, and on the right a more traditional design with a Magen David, or Star of David and stripes to represent the Tallit, the Jewish prayer shawl, which a boy is obligated to wear in the synagogue from the day of his Barmitzvah and onwards.

I hope that you have enjoyed this outline of my work, and also the lessons about the Jewish faith that seem to have accompanied it! I hope to start an Etsy shop in the not too distant future, but in the meantime look forward to your continued visits to my blog and the opportunity to share my work and thoughts with you.