Elinor and Galia

Elinor's mum asked me to make a special card for her daughter's upcoming 18th birthday. She plays the violin and is a competitive swimmer, so a violin and swimming cap and goggles were requested. Elinor also likes to bake, so mum asked me to include a chocolate cake with decorations. Finally, I was told that she drives a grey seven-seater Mazda 5. I had to look that one up!

Mum was delighted with the card. "You did an outstanding job!" she wrote to me. "Elinor loved the card!"

Galia started her medical studies several months ago. Back then, her mum asked me to create a card somehow featuring the Tel Aviv University Faculty of Medicine. I went one step further and showed Galia wearing a blue medics overall and hung a stethoscope around her neck. Behind her is the Tel Aviv University Faculty of Medicine logo, along with a small pile of medical books, a bottle of pills and a syringe.

"Galia's card is just brilliant" mum wrote to me, then followed that up by telling me that Galia too loved the card.

* This post has been shared on Busy Monday,  Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Ella and Galia

Ella recently turned 18. I have made many cards for her over the years. Her mum tells me that they cannot celebrate a birthday in their family without one. This year mum requested a picture of her daughter at the school prom on the card.
I have shown Ella in the beautiful black dress she wore and with the school in the background. Ella went to the same school as my eldest son, so I was able to use one of my own photos from their end of school ceremony. The bunting matches the colours of the school logo and also the colours that the school was decorated in that the evening.

Galia's mum asked me to make her daughter a card with a pilates theme. I found a photo of her doing pilates on Facebook and copied the pose. I added a stability ball and big 24, on mum's request, to mark Galia's age.
"Love it!!!" mum messaged me. "It looks like Galia!"

* This post has been shared on Sunday Features, All Seasons, {nifty thrifty sunday}, Happiness is Homemade, Creative Mondays, The Good. The Random. The Fun. and Make It Pretty Monday.

Libi, Benjo and Galia

A customer asked me if I was available to make a birthday card for her daughter, Libi, who was turning 22 in November. She sent me a recent photo of Libi, along with a picture of Polaris, a program she developed, and her favourite game, Hitster, a party game where players arrange music cards with QR codes on a timeline in chronological order. She also showed me some little yellow and pink duck soaps Libi had made.

The card I created showed Libi holding the little duck soaps in each hand. The game and program she developed are behind her.

"It's amazing. Thank you!" mum wrote to me.

Last year, when Benjo turned 13, I made him a Bar Mitzvah album showing him wearing tefillin (phylacteries). This year mum asked me to make him a 14th birthday card with his computer and the image of a product called SwiftBreak in the background.

I decided to show him working on his Mac laptop, and added the image of SwiftBreak and a big number 14 to the card.

"Thank you so much for the perfect card! It looks just like him! You're amazing!" mum said.

Finally, Galia, a medical student, was going to be starting rotations in a hospital. Hospital rotations are hands-on, supervised work assignments in different medical departments (like surgery, pediatrics, or internal medicine) that medical students complete to gain practical experience in various specialties.

Galia's mum asked me to make her a birthday card with a stethoscope, a white coat and the logo of the Shamir Medical Center, a major hospital in Israel, on it.
Shamir Medical Center used to be known as Asaf Harofeh Medical Center. It was renamed in April 2017. The change occurred after the Israeli government decided to rename the hospital after former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir. Asaf Harofeh was an ancient Jewish physician who likely lived between the 6th and 10th centuries in Israel. He is credited as the author or co-author of the Sefer Refuot (Book of Medicines). The text contains the first known Hebrew medical oath, similar to the Hippocratic Oath.

Mum was delighted with the card. "Great card, thanks so much." she wrote to me, then sent me some lovely photos of Galia's "white coat" tekes (ceremony), when the medical students all got their white coats and stethoscopes before starting rotations in the hospital.

* This post has been shared on Happiness is Homemade, Craft Schooling Sunday, Mosaic Monday, Busy Monday, Inspire Me Monday, Tuesday Turn About, Creatively Crafty Linky Party and Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop.

Galia & Doron

Galia and Doron got married recently. Galia's mum asked me to make two cards - one for her daughter and one for the young couple - both using the design of their wedding invitation as inspiration.

The first card I made for the couple featured the teeny tiny letters of their names, handcut in the same font that was used on their invitation. I then cut out leaves in matching colours and placed them in two corners of the card, just like the invitation. 

For the second card I decided to reverse the design. I cut the leaf pattern out of the white card and added a paper inlay with a watercolour effect, in similar colours to the invitation. I then cut out Galia's name in a delicate script font, using the same watercolour paper once again.

It was interesting to see two very different cards, both inspired by the same invitation.
"Love the cards, thank you. [They are] fantastic." mum wrote to me.

I added my own small card to the collection too, once again cutting out leaves in the matching pastel colours and adding the Hebrew words מזל טוב, Mazal Tov, which literally means "good luck", though the phrase is also used to express "congratulations".

Even with the excitement of the big day, the bride was kind enough to let me know on her wedding day how much she loved the cards!

* This post has been shared on Inspire Me Tuesday, {wow me} wednesday, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop, The Wednesday Link Up, Little Things Thursday and Creatively Crafty.

 

Their First Anniversary

Galia and Doron celebrated their first wedding anniversary back in December. Galia's mum asked me to make them a special card to mark the occasion. She wanted the card to feature the young couple, along with their gorgeous dog Ollie. She also asked me to include a chanukiah on the card since the couple married during the festival of Chanukah and were due to celebrate their anniversary on the eighth day of the holiday.
A chanukiah, or Chanukah menorah, is a nine-branched candelabrum lit during the holiday. Eight of the nine branches hold candles or oil lamps that symbolise the eight nights of the holiday; on each night, one more light is lit than the previous night, until on the final night all eight branches are ignited. The ninth branch holds a candle called the shamash (servant), used to light the other eight. The candles commemorate the original Chanukah miracle of one container of oil burning for eight days in the time of the Maccabees.

My card shows Galia and Doron, along with Ollie. All eight candles are lit on the chanukiah in front of them, marking the eighth day of the holiday. I made the background gold to match the warmth of the flames and a red heart adds a little romance since it was their anniversary.

"I love love love the card!" Galia wrote to me. Her mum told me that a photo of it had made the rounds of the family Whatsapp group and that everyone loved it! 

* This post has been shared on Share Your Style, Little Things Thursday, Creatively Crafty Link Party, Thursday Favorite Things, Craft Schooling Sunday, All Seasons and Inspire Me Monday.