The Eurasian Jay

One morning, not long ago, I looked out of the window and saw a beautiful Eurasian Jay hopping around our front garden. This particular bird is a frequent visitor to our garden and one that I always enjoy seeing. Even though I was still in my dressing gown, I grabbed my camera and, after just a handful of shots, managed to get a lovely one. The jay is sitting on our garden fence, framed beautifully by one of our flowering bushes which is currently offering some bright orange berries, below.

I posted the photo on my Facebook profile and it was popular! I decided that if my friends liked it so much, I was going to recreate the photo in paper. The piece I have made measures 20x25cm and, like much of my work, is created from layers of cut paper. The original is for sale and it is also available as print in my Etsy shop. Please send me an email or leave a comment if you are interested in purchasing the piece.

Now, a little bit about the Eurasian Jay. It is a relatively small corvid (a bird of the crow family), with a length of 34–35 cm and a wingspan of 52–58 cm. It has a stout black bill, a white throat with a thick black moustache. and the forehead and crown are white with black stripes. It has a black-and-white wing pattern with a prominent bright blue patch with fine black bars on the shoulder. The tail is mainly black.

The Eurasian Jay is an inhabitant of woodland, forest, parkland and gardens with larger trees, especially oaks. It feeds in both trees and on the ground, eating a wide range of invertebrates, acorns, seeds, berries and even young birds and eggs, bats and small rodents! It is typically rather shy and difficult to see well, but sometimes feeds out on open ground, as the one in our garden did. Pairs mate for life and work together to construct their messy-looking nests. Nests are built in trees and shrubs using twigs, with roots and hair for lining, where the female will lay four to five eggs.

The Eurasian jay is a common resident of Israeli towns and villages that have parks and green spaces, particularly in the north and central Israel.

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun., Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), Inspire Me Tuesday and Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop.

The Best of 2021 - Part I

1. Zeph the Border Collie  2. 17  3. Biking in the Forest  4. Turning My Greeting Cards Into Wall Art  5. I Love You ❤  6. Running on the Track  7. Cheers for 50 years  8. Their First Anniversary  9. Twenty One  10. Eighteen

If I was to sum up 2021, I would say that it has been a strange old year but perhaps slightly less strange than 2020! As always, I have been busy with my customised cards and papercut pictures. Parties and celebrations started to actually happen, meaning that customers were once again ordering my personalised albums too. I am pleased to say that many people have received my cards on their birthday or anniversary this year and I have made quite a number of large pictures to mark some special occasions. (Unfortunately sometimes my customers do not want me to share them here).
As is common at this time of the year, I thought it would be fun to collect together my top 10 favourite designs from this past year and show them to you once again. You may be able to spot your own card, picture or album amongst my collections. I added some other favourites worth mentioning as well at the end of this post. Some of my creations stayed in Israel, whilst others have travelled far, to the UK and USA and beyond. I hope they made people happy!

1. Yoni's Album  2. Critical Mass Forever  3. Hadar's Album  4. Recipe Cards  5. Gavriel's Album  6. A Covid-19 Engagement  7. Nili's Album  8. Hanging by the Front Door  9. Shirel's Album  10. Yishai's Bar Mitzvah Album

I have also visited some interesting places here in Israel this year and hiked some wonderful trails too. In October I finally managed a trip to the UK after 1 year and 8 months of not seeing my family there. I love taking photos wherever I go and enjoy sharing them here on my blog. I often find out even more about an area I have visited after the event, whilst writing up my post. I'm saving my top 10 favourite hikes and places for another time.

Mindfulness, Calm, Breathe

Her "Lisa Card"

Noa & Nadav

Whilst those of us of the Jewish faith celebrated the eight-day holiday of Chanukah at the end of November and beginning of this month, many of you are now celebrating Christmas. Warmest wishes for the holiday season. Thank you so much for your support in the past year, for taking the time to pop by and see what's happening over here at Handmade in Israel and for buying what you've seen on my blog. In June I wrote my 1,000th post and I continue to enjoy composing each and every one of them. I hope you will continue to visit and enjoy my posts in 2022, as I share the coming year's designs and a few more of my adventures in Israel.

Don't forget that you can subscribe to my blog, and follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Oh, and please pop by my shop now and then to see what is new there.
Wishing you a healthy and happy 2022!

* This post has been shared on Little Things Thursday, Creatively Crafty Link Party, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop

Under the Chuppah

A good friend in the US wrote to me some months ago and asked me if I could make a special card for her cousin in Israel who was getting married. She sent me a photo of the young couple and I suggested showing them under the chuppah, the canopy beneath which Jewish marriage ceremonies are performed. The couple practise Orthodox Judaism, so I made sure to show the bride in a tsanua (modest) wedding dress. According to Orthodox tradition women should dress modestly, so I showed the bride with a long sleeved and high necked dress. Her groom is wearing a suit and tie. I believe he actually wore a bowtie on their big day.
The Hebrew greeting on the card says "Gila and Shir are getting married". My customer sent me the greeting for inside the card as well, so I was able to pop it in the post directly to the couple rather than sending it to the US first!

My friend seemed delighted with the card and wrote a lovely post on Facebook.
"My amazing Brit/Israeli friend Lisa Isaacs is an artist who creates beautiful custom greeting cards. My cousin is getting married in Israel this month, so I ordered a custom card from her. Below is a photo of the engaged couple and the card. What an amazing likeness!! If you are looking for a special way to celebrate an occasion, I highly recommend Handmade in Israel. Lisa has a shop on Etsy (link below). She ships everywhere!"
http://www.handmadeinisrael.etsy.com

* This post has been shared on Little Things Thursday, Creatively Crafty Link Party, Thursday Favorite Things, The Weekend Link-Up and Craft Schooling Sunday.

The Best of 2020 - Part I

1. The Colour Purple for a Silver Wedding  2. Thank You Ceri  3. Happy Sweet 16  4. Seventeen  5. Corona Cards  6. Polly  7. Lilach & Ian  8. Nir  9. Twenty  10. Thumbs up for 10

Well, what a year 2020 has been! Covid-19 has made it a very, very strange year for us all. Here in Israel we are currently in our third lockdown and most things are closed. The vaccine gives us hope, though for sure life is not going to return to normal for a very long time. However, as someone who has worked from home for many years, things have been okay for me personally. I have continued to work as normal, albeit with Mister Handmade in Israel and my youngest son home as well. My only real struggle has been the length of time it took for orders to reach abroad, primarily to the US, but fortunately my customers have been nothing but understanding. Lucky me!

In 2020 there were far fewer celebrations and those that did take place were small. I have made a lot less personalised albums this year, though I am pleased to report that I do have a few orders already lined up for the beginning of next year. On the other hand, I have been very busy with my customised cards and papercut pictures. Many people have received my cards on their birthday or anniversary and a few cards have been sent just to make someone smile! I have made quite a number of large framed pictures to mark some special occasions. I hope my art has somehow helped in a tiny way during this difficult year.

1. Panda  2. Achva  3. Esther's Studio  4. Superman  5. Pomegranates  6. A Family Portrait for a 40th Birthday  7. Fox Art  8. A Princess Themed Wedding  9. Blessing for the Home  10. Lily

As is common at this time of the year, I thought it would be fun to collect together my Top 10 favourite designs from this past year and show them to you once again. I have linked to some other special projects I worked on as well. Have you spotted your card or picture amongst my collections?

I have also visited some interesting places, all within a short distance of where I live. 2020 has not been the year for travel - my long-awaited school reunion trip to the UK was of course cancelled and I haven't seen my dad for many months - but Mister Handmade in Israel and I have been out for some lovely walks and discovered some amazing and beautiful places which I have shared with you as an occasional travel post. I'm saving my top 10 favourite places for another time.

5 Cards for a 50th Birthday

Emuna's Album

K is for Karina

Thank you so much for taking the time this past year to pop by and see what's happening over here at Handmade in Israel, especially those of you who have commented, liked, shared and bought what you've seen on my blog. I have enjoyed composing each and every one of my blog posts and hope you will continue to visit and enjoy them in 2021, as I share the coming year's papercut designs and a few more of my adventures in Israel.

Don't forget that you can subscribe to my blog, and follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Oh, and please pop by my shop now and then to see what is new there.
Wishing you a safe and better start to 2021!

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun., Little Cottage Link Party, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop, Creative Crafty Link Party, Craft Schooling Sunday and All Seasons.

Pomegranates

I recently posted some photos on facebook which I took on a walk Mister Handmade in Israel and I went on in the Rosh HaAyin forest. One photo got much more attention than the others - a photo of some beautiful red pomegranates dangling from a laden tree in the remains of Mahtzevet HaShezafim, the Jujube Tree Quarry. So much interest in these pomegranates inspired me to create a papercut of them and this is the result.

My design is embellished with pomegranates and flowers. In the Jewish faith, pomegranates are traditionally eaten on Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) because it has 613 seeds, which coincide with the 613 commandments of the Torah. Furthermore, the pomegranate represents fruitfulness. We use them in our Rosh Hashanah meals as a positive omen.
The word "Shalom", which appears in both English and Hebrew, like many Hebrew words has more than one meaning. Shalom means peace. However "peace" is only one small part of the meaning. "Shalom" is also used to both greet people and to say goodbye, but it means much more than "peace, hello or goodbye"...
Shalom is rooted in the word שלם (shaleim) which means wholeness, completion, wellness, perfection. When we are "at peace" we feel a sense of "wholeness."

With Rosh Hashanah approaching, this papercut would make a great gift for the holiday, or for a wedding, anniversary or birthday. It is drawn and cut entirely by hand from a single sheet of Textura Recycled Bright White Card. It measures 30x21cm and fits perfectly into an IKEA frame. The backing paper can be changed, if you prefer something other than red, though I picked red as a reminder of those shiny pomegranates.

If you would like to order a papercut or take a further look, it is available right here in my Etsy shop.

* This post has been shared on Inspire Me Monday, The Good. The Random. The Fun., Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), All About Home, Tuesdays with a Twist, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop, {wow me} wednesday, Keep In Touch and All Seasons.