17 and 18

The new customer who saw and loved the birthday cards that I made for Ilana came back to me once again, this time for a card for a daughter whose birthday was in January. I previously made a birthday card for another daughter back in December. Like her younger sister, this young lady also plays netball. She does gel nails as a hobby for clients, and mum told me that she loves to sleep!

I showed the birthday girl wearing the khaki green shirt that her netball team plays in. I showed her younger sister wearing the same shirt. She has a netball in her hands. Behind her is a dream bubble showing her fast asleep in bed! I added some little bottles of nail varnish and a nail file, to represent her work as a nail technician. If you look carefully, you will see that she also has beautiful pink gel nails! Finally, I added a number 17 to mark her age.

I had another request, this time for an 18th birthday card. This young lady belongs to Shevet Modi'in, a Jerusalem based Scout troop. Mum sent me a photo of her daughter's khaki Scout shirt, which is absolutely covered in badges! The khaki shirt is the same across the world for the Scouts' movement. Shevet Modi'in wear a blue aniva, or neckerchief. Much like the khaki shirt, the use of the anivot is the same throughout the movement. It connects each troop to the entire Scout movement.

Mum told me that her daughter always carries a particular water bottle. Along with the badge emblazoned shirt, I also carefully copied the green water bottle. Finally, this young lady drives her dad's green Mazda 2, which the family call 'Froggie' 🐸. I added the car to her card, along with a big pink number 18.

* This post has been shared on Tuesday Turn About, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop and Thursday Favorite Things.

Under the Sea

A lady in the US found me on Etsy. She messaged me to ask me if I could make a card for a friend’s daughter who was soon to be celebrating her Bat Mitzvah. She said that she hadn't liked any cards until she came across mine! Plus, she thought it would be extra special for the card to come from Israel.
I was happy to make one for her. 

The young lady in question loves all animals, especially cats and sea life, my customer told me. She likes music, plays the piano, dances and is in the Girl Scouts. She likes a lot of different colours: blues, purples and pinks. Her Bat Mitzvah celebration was going to have an ocean/sea life theme.
My customer sent me some photos of the Bat Mitzvah girl. I noticed that she often wears a bow in her hair and checked whether I should show her with one. My customer agreed that I should.

I showed the Bat Mitzvah girl in the centre of the card wearing a pink top and a pink hair bow. She has one arm in the air, as if she is dancing, and she is holding a cat in the other arm. Behind her is an underwater scene, with a little blue fish, a purple seahorse, an aquatic plant and a shell. Bubbles and music notes surround her. To her left are the green badges of the Girl Scouts of the USA and also the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida. Lastly, I added a piano because you can always spot a piano under the sea, right?

My customer was delighted with the card and left me a wonderful review in my Etsy shop:

"I received my customized card today. I could not be happier. It is for a Bat Mitzvah so having it created especially for her (especially since her name is never on anything) and being from Israel is super special. I know she will love it. This Etsy shop was also an absolute pleasure to work with. And though international shipping takes longer, they shipped my item out very quickly and communicated well. Thank you again!"

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

Skiing and Studying

A new customer wrote to me to tell me that her son's Bar Mitzvah was approaching at the end of January and she wanted to order a card. "They're beautiful!" she wrote to me. Her son's passion is skiing and if they weren't in Israel, her son was going to have his Bar Mitzvah celebration on the mountains in Colorado. She wanted to know if I could create a card that incorporated the Bar Mitzvah theme and tefillin, along with mountains and skiing.
Of course I could!

I showed the Bar Mitzvah boy wearing a green ski jacket and holding a pair of skis. He is also wearing tefillin. Tefillin (sometimes called phylacteries) are cubic black leather boxes with leather straps that Orthodox Jewish men wear on their head and their arm during weekday morning prayer. Jewish men start wearing tefillin just before their Bar Mitzvah.

Tefillin have two leather boxes, one of which is worn on the arm and the other of which is worn on the head. If you are right-handed, which this young man is, you should wear tefillin on the bicep of your left arm. The tefillin box worn on the head should be centred just above the forehead with the two leather straps wrapped around the head, then hanging down over the shoulders.

Behind the picture of this young man I cut out some snowy mountains and a ski lift. I added the number 13 to mark his age and the age that Jewish boys become Bar Mitzvah.

His mum wrote "The card was super cute!"

Eliya was turning 17. Her mum told me that she is a swimmer and is completing a Wingate* course to become an instructor. She was a madricha (youth leader) in the Scouts, or Tzofim as they are known in Hebrew, and is now a רשג״דית (ראש גדוד or senior counsellor) in charge of a whole age group. Finally, Eliya's mum told me that she is taking 5 units in Arabic, maths and physics at school. Israeli kids graduate from high school after taking exams available in different levels of difficulty, marked as units. 5 is the highest level. Eliya is obviously a smart young lady!

I have shown Eliya holding a pile of books. Each book shows the subject and number of units she is taking. To her right is a swimming costume, swim cap and goggles, along with the badge of the Academic College at Wingate. On her left I added her green and white striped tie, which shows her rank in the Israeli Scouts.

Mum told me that "She loved the card. It was perfect."

* The Wingate Institute, officially Orde Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sports, is a sports training facility located south of Netanya, established in 1957. It is named after the senior British Army officer and supporter of Zionism, Orde Wingate. The facility serves as the host facility for numerous Israeli national teams.

** This post has been shared on Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things