A Star Gazer and a Pastry Chef

A lovely lady in one of the Facebook networking groups I belong to wrote to me and requested a card for her cousin who was soon to be celebrating her Bat Mitzvah. The brief was simple. She loves outer space.
I love it when I have so much leeway with my design and was full of ideas for this card. I suggested a little paper portrait of my customer's cousin along with planets, stars, maybe a telescope and more. She asked me to put a number 12 somewhere on the card (the age that Jewish girls become a Bat Mitzvah) and to add the words 'mazal tov' (congratulations) in Hebrew on the front.

Another customer wrote and told me that she was leaving her current job as a pastry chef and would love to give one of my cards to her manager. She asked me to put pastry chef things like a whisk, a chef's knife and spatula on the card. Maybe a cake and splashes of cake mixes too. I had permission to "go wild" and do whatever I fancy. So I did!

I crafted a big sandwich cake for the centre of the card, then cut out tiny kitchen utensils, cookies, croissants and cupcakes. Then, as requested, I 'splashed' different coloured cake mixes all around the card.

The Hebrew greeting on the front of the cards says "תודה רבה על הכל", "Thank you for everything".

"Thank you so much. It was perfect!" my customer wrote to me.

* This post has been shared on Little Things Thursday, Creatively Crafty, Thursday Favorite Things, Welcome To The Weekend Link Up, Pink Saturday and All Seasons.

Thank You

I belong to the Facebook group IWEN (Israeli Women Entrepreneurs' Network). Once a week we are allowed to advertise on a thread in the group and one of those weeks a lovely lady contacted me about making thank you cards for her. She organises private tours of Israel and wanted some cards to thank her customers for choosing her business.

My new customer had spotted this card on my Facebook business page and decided that she liked the idea of a papercut card with Thank You as the text. She wanted the cards to be large because she wanted them to make a statement. She also asked me to line the cards with a blue paper inlay which would make them blue and white - the colours of the flag of Israel.
This was a fun project to work on. Occasional repetitive work like this can be quite relaxing once I have come up with the initial design.
"Thanks again for the super quick turnaround - I really do appreciate it." she wrote to me. I hope her customers like their handcut papercut cards.

* This post has been shared on All Seasons, {nifty thrifty sunday}, Happiness is Homemade, Creative Mondays, The Good. The Random. The Fun.

Once there was a Doctor, a Cabbie and a Lawyer...

A customer of mine asked me to create a special card for her doctor who, she told me, is amazing in every way. He talks, he listens, he never rushes. No other doc comes close, she said. So she wanted a special card to thank him.
She sent me some photos of him but already had the idea in her head that her doctor should be in the centre of the card wearing a red cape. On his shirt it had to say Dr. Flash with a lightning bolt. Around this I was asked to include a pair of lungs (definitely a first for me!), a stethoscope, and the logos for Penn Medicine and NYU School of Medicine. She also found out that her doctor loves Jameson Irish Whiskey and thought it would be fun to include that too.
"Dr. Flash" loved the card. "Thanks so much for your card. It is absolutely wonderful - best ever" he told her.

Another customer asked me to create a card for her cousin who was turning 70. He's a black cab driver in London and likes music, especially jazz. Once again I was sent a photo of the gentleman concerned so was able to create a paper portrait of him next to his cab, which has his name on the registration plate. A golden saxophone formed the letter 'J' of the word jazz and I added a few music notes too.

Finally, a regular customer received some fabulous news that her grandson had earned his Masters of Law with Distinction. She asked me to create a special card to congratulate him on his wonderful achievement. A mortar board and scroll, along with a small pile of books, clearly fitted the bill.

* This post has been shared on Blue Monday, Seasons and the Good.Random.Fun.

Saba, Sue, and Arsenal too

Saba (the Hebrew word for Grandfather) was soon to be celebrating his 80th birthday. Back in 2011 I made a card for his wife for her special day. This time my customer wanted a card along the same theme, but with the birthday boy surrounded by their 5 grandchildren. She also requested a number 80 and thought that, as a West Ham United fan, Saba might appreciate the team's colours of claret and pale blue on the card. My customer also sent me some photos of the grandchildren, as well as a photo of Saba, to help me create their paper portraits.
After delivering the card, I received the following email from her:

"Hi Lisa,
The card is stunning...I know you only offer a representation of people, but it is so much more than that... It is a great complement to the card sent to Savta four years ago.

Many, many thanks once again."

I first met author Miriam Drori at a bloggers event in Jerusalem a couple of years ago, and we have kept in contact since then. She recently travelled to the UK and asked me to make a thank you card for her author friend, Sue Barnard, whose third novel was released recently. In the two photos Miriam sent me of Sue she has her glasses on her head. Miriam thought that maybe I could show her wearing them in the same way on the card. I added a computer in the background with all of Sue's published books on the screen. Papers and pencils lay strewn around her.

Miriam seemed delighted with the card. "I love [the card], especially that screen behind Sue. Brilliant!"

My brother-in-law recently celebrated his birthday and I decided to make him one of my papercut cards. I cut his name by hand from white stock and lined the card with a bright red paper inlay because, like Mister Handmade in Israel, he's heavily in to Arsenal. With a red body and white sleeves, red and white is the main colour way in the team's shirt.

I hope he liked his card.

The First Lego League

A bunch of kids in my city recently took part in a FIRST LEGO League national robotics competition. They finished in third place, earning themselves an invitation to represent Israel in a world tournament in South Africa in May. Before the competition one of the parents asked me to make a thank you card for the team's mentors. On the front of the card she wanted me to include a yellow LEGO trophy, the logo of the Kipa Bots 992 team, as well as their school's logo, Amit Modi'in Boys. I created paper portraits of the team's mentors, and used an overall colour scheme of blue and white, matching the colours of the team t-shirt. The Hebrew greeting says "Yossi and Sigal, you are first place."

The team's research project focused on ways to make the physical classroom environment more suitable for learning with the use of new technology and layout of the classroom. The classroom they designed will be built next year in their own school here in Modi'in. They spent countless hours working on their project, all this time learning about technology, science, conducting research, and team management. I wish them lots of luck in the world tournament next month.

Another customer asked me to create a 60th birthday card for, ahem, an "old bugger". In this case she was using the humorous or affectionate British slang term for a man or child: a silly old bugger; a friendly little bugger. The gentleman who was celebrating his birthday is a doctor. He plays the saxophone, clarinet and guitar, and also enjoys walking and cycling. I have shown him in his white lab coat, with a stethoscope around his neck. He is playing his saxophone, whilst the guitar and clarinet are nearby. His bike is in the background too. What a multitalented chap he seems to be... even if he is an old bugger!

Fast Cars, Cold Beer

In addition to several wedding and Bat Mitzvah albums, I was also busy creating cards before our trip. Of course I have also been busy creating cards since we got back, but I can't show those here just yet! The card above was made for a young man's 15th birthday. His aunt told me that he plays the keyboard and enjoys singing.

This Bar Mitzvah boy likes fast cars and basketball. The invitation to his Bar Mitzvah party pictured him next to a bright red Ferrari, so I have shown the luxury sports car in the background of the card, whilst the young man can be seen playing basketball up front.

Another customer asked me to create a simple "Thank you" card for a workmate who was leaving the office. He talked of books, bookshelves and a computer.

Finally, when this 21st birthday card was ordered, my customer said "He likes a beer", so that's what he got! The greeting in Hebrew says "Happy Birthday to our son and brother."

Russian Economics

Lest you think that I haven't been creating cards lately, here are a couple of designs to prove otherwise! Actually these were made in the summer but happily I have a bit of a backlog of stuff to show you.

The first card was made for my customer's brother who was a professor of Economics at Amsterdam University and specialized in Soviet and Russian economics. Even in retirement he's still busy writing books and attending conferences, and he still lives in Amsterdam.

Not the easiest interests to portray but I had a go!

I have shown the professor dressed in his academic garb, with a pile of books nearby. The chart, coins and flag of Russia represent his specialized subject and the shield from the coat of arms of Amsterdam show the country he chose to make his home.

I noticed in the photograph my customer sent me that this gentleman was wearing some large glasses. I made sure to copy them as accurately as possible. You can see these teeny tiny black and white glasses below.

The second request from my customer was a card for a couple who live in Ireland. The gentleman is an author and has written many books, whilst his partner is a dance teacher. My customer wanted to show them with the Old City of Jerusalem in the background. I crafted the arches and stone walls of "Jerusalem of Gold" and added a little Montefiore Windmill. Some books represent his writing, whilst the black dance shoes and music notes symbolize her passion for dance.

After my customer collected her cards she was kind enough to write and tell me that she recognised her brother immediately. She later told me that her friends in Ireland and her brother were delighted with the cards.

Leah and Ari

We are well in to the summer holidays now but it's never too late to show you some thank you cards that I made for some special teachers at the end of the school year.
The first card, above, was for a lovely lady who has taught my customer's son for six years. I was asked to illustrate the young man with his teacher, who taught him several subjects including maths and Hebrew. My customer also wanted me to somehow illustrate the young man's movement from Primary to High School so, along with the school books and maths symbols, I added two little school buildings labelled 'Primary' and 'High School' in Hebrew. The arrow is pointing in the right direction.

Now I can honestly say that I don't get asked to put Haredim (the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism) on the front of my cards very often, but this gentleman was the schoolboy's aide in school and my customer said that they had a very special bond. Ari, the aide, helped the young man throughout the time of his Bar Mitzvah and my customer was keen for me to capture their special relationship on the card.
I have shown the young man and his aide, resplendent in his dark suit with white shirt, and his head covered with a black, wide-brimmed hat. There is a pair of tefillin on the card, since the art of putting on tefillin was something that the schoolboy learned from him, along with a Siddur (a Jewish prayer book containing a set of daily prayers).
My customer returned from her son's end of year party to find the cards in her letterbox. Both she and her son loved them and she wrote to say how excited she was to give the teachers something so unique.