Two at 25

Ro'i was turning 25, and his mum thought his birthday card should feature a picture of him from his recent trip to Vietnam. Since he is also studying theatre, she wondered if I could include something showing him rehearsing lines. In the end, she sent me a few photos from Ro'i's travels, and we agreed that a particular photo of him wearing a motorcycle helmet would be fun to use. In the photo, he is standing with his arms spread wide, enjoying the view - like a performer about to take a bow on stage. So, I decided to add red theatre curtains to the card while keeping the Vietnamese scenery in the background.

Mum also sent me the badge of the school Ro'i attends, Nissan Nativ Acting Studio, to include on the card. I did some research and learnt that Nissan Nativ was an influential Israeli director, actor and acting teacher. He emigrated without his family to Mandatory Palestine in 1937. He was a commander during the War of Independence. After the war, he enrolled at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, then later moved from Israel to Paris where he studied mime. He worked as an Israeli theatre director and at Israel Radio when he returned from France.
Nissan Nativ founded the renowned Nissan Nativ Acting Studio in 1963. Many of Israel's best known actors are alumni of the school.

Roi's mum was delighted with the card. "You did such a brilliant job on Roi's card! It put a smile on all our faces the minute we saw it! I can't wait for Ro'i to see it on his birthday!" she wrote to me.

Another customer requested a card for a 25th birthday; her daughter was celebrating her 25th in January. She asked me to include a bikini, chips (french fries), the Israel Air Force, a pakal kafe (coffee kit), and the number 25 on the card.

I decided to depict her daughter holding a plate of chips. To her left is the emblem of the Israel Air Force, commonly known as Kheil HaAvir, or Air Corps. The emblem features a sword and an olive branch surrounding a roundel, which displays a white Star of David on a blue circle. The sword symbolizes the air force's combat readiness and defensive strength, while the olive branch represents the ultimate goal and hope for peace. This combination - a sword wrapped in an olive branch - was originally the symbol of the Haganah, the pre-state paramilitary organization that served as the predecessor to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). Wings, a common symbol in air force insignias worldwide, flank the sword and olive branch. The wings on the emblem symbolize flight, freedom, and protection, representing the Air Force's role in defending the skies and securing the nation from above.

On her right I added the number 25 to mark her age, and below that is the pakal kafe. The word pakal is actually an acronym of the words pkudat keva lechayal, which means "a fixed command for soldiers," that is - everything the soldier must have with him at all times. But as in many other cases, army acronyms and army slang receive other meanings outside of military life and one such example is pakal kafe - everything you might need in order to make coffee (or tea) outside. My eldest son uses his all the time!

Finally, I added a pink polka-dot bikini.

The word Brocha in the greeting on the card, "From day one to twenty-five, you've been our greatest Brocha", means "blessing".

* This post has been shared on Craft Schooling Sunday, Mosaic Monday, Happiness is Homemade, Busy Monday, The Good. The Random. The Fun., Inspire Me Monday, Tuesday Turn About and Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop.

Gavriel's Album

Gavriel celebrated his Bar Mitzvah in March and his mum asked me to make him an album. She told me that her son plays the guitar, loves computer games and that his favourite colour is green. He likes reading - especially Harry Potter - and his favourite food is pizza and chips. Gavriel and his mum had spotted Daniel's album here on my blog and asked me if I could show Gavriel in the same camouflage print T-shirt and wearing tefillin.

I have shown Gavriel playing his guitar and wearing the requested tefillin, which Jewish men start to wear around the time of their Bar Mitzvah. Tefillin (sometimes called phylacteries) are cubic black leather boxes containing four hand-written texts from the Bible, with leather straps that are worn on the head and arm during weekday morning prayers. Gavriel is left handed, so he is wearing them on the bicep of his right arm and on his head, with the two leather straps hanging down over his shoulders.

I included a laptop computer on the cover of the album to represent Gavriel's love of computer games and added the covers of two of his favourite Harry Potter books as well. His favourite pizza and chips are there too.

The colour scheme for the Bar Mitzvah was green and navy so I added a navy background and a green border around the cover of the album. The gold lettering says Gavriel's Bar Mitzvah and the Hebrew date of the celebration in both English and Hebrew.

I decorated five pages inside the album. The first page shows Gavriel's guitar once again, followed by a laptop computer, then some tiny chips in a red takeaway box and a slice of cheese and tomato pizza. A page featured Gavriel's Bar Mitzvah logo, which was based on the Magen David or Star of David. Finally, the last page shows the Sorting Hat, the sentient hat at Hogwarts that magically determines which of the four school Houses each new student belongs most to. I also included a wand and the covers of Gavriel's two favourite Harry Potter books once again.

Gavriel's mum seemed delighted with the album when she collected it and I was thrilled to receive the fabulous photo of him proudly showing it off, top. "He is so happy with it! And I absolutely love it!" mum wrote to me.
If you too would like an album, please take a look at the listing for it in my shop then get in touch to order a wonderful keepsake of your special occasion.

* This post has been shared on Happiness is Homemade, Inspire Me Monday, The Good. The Random. The Fun., My Corner of the World and Craft Schooling Sunday.