Blog Feed: Handmade in Israel

Sam recently celebrated his Bar Mitzvah and so I am now able to show you the customised album I created for him. Sam's Aunty ordered the album and told me that he has quite eccentric tastes. He likes The Beatles, plays the electric guitar and is in a

Ein Hod

Published on 2013-05-12 00:56:00

The artists' village of Ein Hod is situated on a hillside amongst olive groves, and nestles at the foot of Mount Carmel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. It was

Eating hamburgers and playing the violin

Published on 2013-05-04 14:23:00

I've been a busy bee creating a number of Bar and Bat Mitzvah albums lately, though I can't show them here quite yet. In between the albums there are always card orders and here are a few which I know have already been well-received. Karin was cel

Ein Tsur

Published on 2013-04-26 07:06:00

We'd been to Ramat Hanadiv, the elegant formal gardens built as a living memorial to Baron Edmond de Rothschild,

A Baby, a Birthday and a (Foot) Ball

Published on 2013-04-23 04:34:00

New baby cards are by nature quite a last minute thing. A friend was travelling to Australia and her sister gave birth to a baby girl just a few days before she was due to leave. My friend wanted to give her sister one of my cards (actually she and h

Josh, Gaby and Tequila too!

Published on 2013-04-18 00:00:00

One of my regular customers emailed me with a request for three cards. The first was a card for a friend who has moved countries. She sent me a photo of the friend and asked me to write

Independence Hall

Published on 2013-04-14 16:58:00

Tonight Yom HaZikaron, Israel's Memorial Day for her fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism, began at sunset. A siren sounded across the country for one minute and everybody stopped what they were doing to observe a minute's silence. Tomorrow the s

Nathalie's Bat Mitzvah

Published on 2013-04-08 11:29:00

It's been a little while since my last post as I have been busy preparing for, and then celebrating,

Noam's Artichokes

Published on 2013-03-22 04:00:00

Not long ago someone posted a message on my local community email list about Noam's Artichokes, an artichoke farm located in Nir Banim, a moshav in south-central Israel, about a 40 minute drive from where I live. The poster suggested a Friday (or Sha

The Bar Mitzvah Boys

Published on 2013-03-19 02:00:00

My eldest son is in his Bar Mitzvah year and it seems to be all we talk about at the moment! I am sure there will be plenty of posts about our own celebrations as we approach the date, but in the meantime I seem to be busy with Bar Mitzvah cards, inv

Matan's Bar Mitzvah

Published on 2013-03-15 02:00:00

A lovely lady who has become quite a regular customer of mine asked me to create an image to use on her son's Bar Mitzvah invitations and birkonim

A Beatles Fan

Published on 2013-03-12 01:30:00

A new customer asked me to make a Customised Papercut Picture

The Brimmed Hat

Published on 2013-03-09 12:00:00

Israel is bursting with wild flowers at the moment. The wonderful scent of spring and Passover approaching is in the air. Knowing that there would be a lot of lovely flowers to see, the youngest son and I went for a walk on Titora Hill, a popular his

Simply Red

Published on 2013-03-05 06:07:00

This sweet boy receives one of my

Back to the Lake

Published on 2013-02-28 14:00:00

So, finally I've got round to telling you about Day 3 of our northern adventures, a return visit to the Hula Lake (Agmon HaHula Reserve).

Keren's Purim

Published on 2013-02-26 03:47:00

I received a request for a

Love is in the Air

Published on 2013-02-18 10:55:00

A customer in Tel Aviv gave me a last minute order for a wedding card. She was travelling to Vancouver, Canada, for a wedding in just a few days time and wanted me to make a special card for the bride and groom. How could I resist? The bride, my cust

Ay, caramba!

Published on 2013-02-14 08:17:00

Happy Valentine's Day! I am going to take a quick break from our trip to the north to show you some recent

Nimrod's Fortress and Mount Bental

Published on 2013-02-11 01:49:00

Continuing with our northern adventures, Day 2 saw us visiting the Nimrod Fortress, the highest fortress in Israel. Situated in the northern Golan Heights, Nimrod Fortress can be found on a ridge rising about 800 metres (2,600 feet) above sea level.

Atlit and Rosh Hanikra

Published on 2013-02-06 00:00:00

Since we're now in February it's high time that I showed you some photos from out little jaunt up north in December! We had a glorious few days. It was chilly but dry and we visited some beautiful places. Our first stop on Day 1 was at the Atlit

Counting Down

Published on 2013-02-03 04:44:00

I don't make many of these! Well actually, to be more accurate, I've never made one of these before. What an age! I have made a few 100 cards over time, and I made a 101 card for "Auntie Rae" last year. I was

Avigayil's Album

Published on 2013-01-29 02:52:00

I am happy to often receive wonderful feedback from my customers and sometimes the comments I

A Collection of Cacti

Published on 2013-01-24 00:00:00

Quite some time ago

Double Digits

Published on 2013-01-21 03:19:00

We're done with the single digits in our house. Our youngest son turned 10 a few days ago and what a day he had! It started early with presents and cake, and of course a special card from Mum. He's always been a big reader. You can see here, here and

These are a few of their favourite things

Published on 2013-01-17 00:00:00

I am delighted to have one order after another coming in at the moment - long may it last - which means that I have a bunch of cards from birthdays passed to show you in this post. The young man featured above turned 16. His Mum asked me to include t

Opa and Savta

Published on 2013-01-15 00:00:00

A fellow blogger, whom I met on the Jerusalem Scavenger Hunt,

Herzl House

Published on 2013-01-11 01:00:00

The sun is not shining today, as it is in these pictures, and because of our current grisly weather we will most certainly not be going out to explore new places for a little while. The

New Year, New Babies

Published on 2013-01-08 13:41:00

Happy New Year! My first post of 2013 and what better way is there to start the year than a post about some new babies! Please excuse the fact that this photo is a little grainy. It is just so dark here at the moment. To say that it is currently ever

The Best of 2012

Published on 2012-12-31 00:30:00

1. Portions

Paper Portraits

Published on 2012-12-27 01:00:00

A customer recently asked me to make a 40th birthday card for her friend, Fiona. This particular customer knows how I work and e-mailed me a couple of snaps of her friend, along with a list of her hobbies. She told me that Fiona normally wears a band

When the Red, Red Robin

Published on 2012-12-24 01:00:00

When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin' along, along... Actually the song doesn't so much remind me of Christmas, but rather my Dad's favourite rugby league team, Hull Kingston Rovers. I have memories of Dad singing this song over and over a

After Hanukkah

Published on 2012-12-20 08:34:00

I know that in many parts of the world folk are stopping work and winding down for Christmas. It's a very different story over here though! We celebrated

The White City

Published on 2012-12-06 01:03:00

My friend Mandy came to visit us last month. She and I were at art school together so I

Do guys have sweet 16's?

Published on 2012-11-29 00:30:00

Do guys have sweet 16's? Well, if they do I guess they'd probably opt for a 'not so sweet 16' party really! Anyway, a

Up, Up and Away

Published on 2012-11-26 11:05:00

I love working with bright colour so I was pleased to get the chance to play with some gorgeous rainbow colours recently when a friend asked me to make a special card for her daughter's 18th birthday. The birthday girl's family were planning on surpr

It really looks like her!

Published on 2012-11-22 01:00:00

In spite of everything that is going on here in Israel at the moment I am going to continue blogging as normal. There are plenty

Scavenger Hunting in Nachalot

Published on 2012-11-18 00:30:00

Remember when I went scavenging around Jerusalem earlier this year? Well,

A Wine and Crossword Type of Bloke

Published on 2012-11-15 00:00:00

A customer wrote to tell me that her parents were

Shvil Izim

Published on 2012-11-11 00:00:00

We visited Shvil Izim goat farm for the first time only a few weeks ago,

Twelve

Published on 2012-11-05 11:00:00

This morning my eldest son turned 12. Wow, time really does fly! He can't already be that

Tamar's Album

Published on 2012-11-02 07:30:00

I have known Tamar since she was a baby and remember her so well at the age

Teenage Kicks

Published on 2012-10-30 02:00:00

A regular customer of mine asked me to make a birthday card for her son. I have made cards for his special day for several years now and

Seventy

Published on 2012-10-28 01:30:00

My customer wanted two cards for her Mum's special birthday. On the first one, from the grandchildren, she wanted to show Grandma's various hobbies and interests. Apparently

Weekdays of the Festival

Published on 2012-10-21 07:00:00

The Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which we celebrated recently, commemorates the years that the Jews spent in the desert on their way to the Promised Land. Sukkot is also known as the 'Feast of Tabernacles' or the 'Feast of Booths', because we literally build a booth, or Sukkah, in our gardens or on our

Sataf

Published on 2012-10-17 02:00:00

Fifty, Flowers and Fairy cakes

Published on 2012-10-13 13:30:00

When my Dad was here in the summer he asked me to make a special card for his neighbour who was going to be celebrating her 50th birthday.

Finn McMissile and the Princess

Published on 2012-10-10 02:00:00

I have a friend who is a very loyal customer and orders birthday cards for her young nephew and niece in Australia every year. You can see some of the cards I have made for them in previous years here, here and here. She recently wrote to me with this years requests, attaching up-to-date photos of the kids too. Coby was turning 5 and apparently loves the animated adventure film Cars. His favourite

Ein Prat

Published on 2012-10-06 17:29:00

With the holiday of Sukkot in full swing, we are spending time out and about with friends.

Gilad's Album

Published on 2012-09-30 02:00:00

Remember Gilad's invitation? Well, this is Gilad's album,

Laura Bolter Design

Published on 2012-09-26 15:00:00

I discovered Laura Bolter's

Love Lily

Published on 2012-09-23 02:00:00

The Bat Mitzvah card above

I stood in Venice, on the Bridge of Sighs.

Published on 2012-09-18 13:00:00

We spent

Rosh Hashanah 5773

Published on 2012-09-13 05:00:00

Gilad's Invitation

Published on 2012-09-10 02:36:00

Several years ago

Tantalizing Tuscany

Published on 2012-09-06 07:48:00

We all fell in love with Tuscany in a

A Photo Copy

Published on 2012-09-02 08:04:00

At the beginning of the summer I received a photo in my inbox which

When in Rome

Published on 2012-08-28 02:42:00

I've been

Adir's Album

Published on 2012-08-05 02:00:00

Okay, this is

The Monastery at Latrun and Ben Gurion House

Published on 2012-08-03 04:00:00

I really don't why it has taken me over 12 years to take a look at the Latrun Monastery. After all, it is situated about a ten minute drive from my home! I've driven all over the country to visit some amazing places, but sometimes I guess we miss the ones on our doorstep!

The Barkan Experience

Published on 2012-08-01 07:30:00

I am by no means an expert on wine. Like many Northern English "lasses"

Fan Mail

Published on 2012-07-30 01:00:00

A young lady from Canada e-mailed me recently

BATgirl

Published on 2012-07-26 01:30:00

I don't know this young lady, apart from what her Mum told me about her,

The Hanging Gardens of Haifa

Published on 2012-07-24 02:00:00

The youngest son had spotted a picture of Haifa's Baha'i Gardens in a magazine some time ago and wanted to visit, but I needed to wait till the school holidays to take him there. Even though Israel really is a tiny country, Haifa is quite a long drive from where we live and, whilst I have no problem with motorway driving, I prefer to drive distances

Sequin Shoes, Saba and Sam

Published on 2012-07-22 03:00:00

A regular customer of mine asked me to make a card for her niece's 15th birthday with make up as the main theme. However, the young lady also recently wore some really high multicoloured sequin wedge shoes for her brother's Bar Mitzvah celebration - apparently her feet were killing her after 5 minutes -

Born on the First of July

Published on 2012-07-19 16:00:00

The

Mey Kedem

Published on 2012-07-16 12:09:00

My Dad has just been here for visit. The kids are on holiday from school and have not yet gone off to camp, so timing worked out perfectly (not by chance, but with a little planning

You're in the Army Now

Published on 2012-07-07 14:56:00

I've been busy making a few cards "for the boys" lately, starting with this card for a recent recruit into the Israeli army. This young man gained a place in the Golani Brigade, an Israeli infantry brigade that is traditionally responsible for the northern front with Syria and Lebanon. The brigade is

Fun in the Vineyard

Published on 2012-06-29 02:30:00

The summer activities have begun. The Chavaya b'Kramim (Fun in the Vineyard) team

Sano K-300

Published on 2012-06-26 10:36:00

By far the favourite

The Magic of Challah

Published on 2012-06-21 01:30:00

A customer in the UK asked me to make a special card for her granddaughter's Bat Mitzvah. She thought that it might be nice to show a Siddur (a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers)

Birds of a Feather

Published on 2012-06-18 01:00:00

A customer in the US

Swimming and Sunshine

Published on 2012-06-14 01:30:00

My friend and loyal customer in India e-mailed me in quite a

Let There Be Light

Published on 2012-06-11 08:30:00

The hubby and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary last week. Obviously I have made, well, 14

The City of Firsts

Published on 2012-06-05 15:37:00

I moved to Israel because I love the country, not because I particularly wanted to leave the UK. Quite the contrary actually. I am very proud of my British roots. I have always had a soft spot for The Royal Family too. My Dad still has my huge collection of Princess Diana scrapbooks (ideas what to do with them please!). Therefore I have had a fabulous time over the last few days being glued to the television watching the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. I have, in fact, watched more television thes [..]

Danish and Pastries

Published on 2012-06-01 01:30:00

The majority

May we only meet on birthdays!

Published on 2012-05-27 03:30:00

I have had a whole load of album orders recently but don't want to show any of them here till the dates of the various Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrations

The Secret Cactus Garden

Published on 2012-05-24 01:30:00

We went to some amazing places over Passover and saw some wonderful sights, yet sometimes the simplest things are the ones that stick in your mind. We had tickets for the Dialogue in the Dark

All Things Paper

Published on 2012-05-08 20:00:00

Some time ago I discovered, quite by chance, the blog All Things Paper. Well, I'm passionate about "all things paper" and soon became a regular visitor. Ann Martin,

Climbing the Walls

Published on 2012-05-06 03:00:00

The Passover holiday was a long one and we were literally climbing the walls. They were pretty good walls to climb though, and it made for a fascinating morning! We did the Ramparts Walk along the walls of Jerusalem's Old City you see and our wall climbing proved to be exciting, fun and full of breathtaking views of Jerusalem. The Ramparts Walk was closed for several years for security reasons, but they are open once again and are an amazing way to see Jerusalem.

It's All in the Details

Published on 2012-05-03 03:00:00

I have a customer to whom I have given the title 'The Queen of Detail'. Whilst most people come to me and ask me to make a thank you card for their driving instructor and I am left to come up with something good, this lovely lady briefs me in detail. And I mean DETAIL! On this occasion my customer

Israel's 64th Birthday

Published on 2012-04-30 00:30:00

Last week

Scrabble

Published on 2012-04-27 03:00:00

This was one of those cards that seemed so simple to create in my head but when the time came to

Moo

Published on 2012-04-23 12:00:00

Quite some time ago now Amy from Lucykate Crafts

Ice City

Published on 2012-04-21 12:30:00

Last summer it was sand. This Passover it was ice. What am

Ben's Album

Published on 2012-04-18 11:00:00

Some time ago I rediscovered a friend on Facebook whom

Haifa International Flower Show 2012

Published on 2012-04-15 09:41:00

Passover has ended. The kids went back to school today and

Very much in love!

Published on 2012-04-10 14:54:00

Creative work

Lupin Hill

Published on 2012-04-06 03:00:00

This evening my family and

Sarah knows how to play it

Published on 2012-04-02 14:43:00

One of the most

Portions

Published on 2012-03-29 15:53:00

There is a yearly cycle in

A Bumble Bee for Grandma B

Published on 2012-03-26 05:32:00

I am always very happy to hear that people enjoy reading my blog.

Gabi's Bat Mitzvah Album

Published on 2012-03-20 07:51:00

I'm sorry that I haven't posted here for a few days. We're really excited to have

Calaniot (Wild Anemone)

Published on 2012-03-15 09:07:00

Remember this post? The

Everything's Coming Up... Purple

Published on 2012-03-12 05:31:00

I seem to have been working with a lot of purple recently. I guess I must like the colour a lot! The card above was created for a granddaughter's sixteenth birthday. Her grandma told me that she is 'into' everything to do with fashion and make-up and was delighted when I showed up with the card and had included a pair of shiny black high heeled shoes. Apparently that is exactly what grandma had bought the birthday girl as a gift. I wish her luck walking in them! A good friend of mine recently [..]

Chag Purim Sameach!

Published on 2012-03-07 04:20:00

Right now we are bang in the middle of the festival of Purim. Well, today is actually a minor fast day which commemorates Esther's three days of fasting in preparation for her meeting with the king (I have previously written a little of the history of the holiday both here and here) but tonight we will go to the synagogue to hear the reading of the Book of Esther and the festivities will really begin! Purim is one of the most entertaining Jewish holidays. When else can you dress up like a pengu [..]

Chasing Animals, Pikachu and Bart

Published on 2012-03-01 08:50:00

I've had a wonderfully busy few weeks with lots of lovely orders for customised cards and albums coming in. Amongst all the e-mails I received a request from my good friend in India who wanted a customised card for her 6 year old's birthday. "I'm so happy I order your cards" she told me, "it's now one of our birthday traditions. We can't have a birthday without your card. The boys expect it and look forward to it". Last year her son was busy being 'Mr Maker'. This year he enjoys playing the pia [..]

Eden's Bat Mitzvah

Published on 2012-02-26 15:30:00

Some custom orders are especially nice to do when you know just how much they are going to be appreciated. This order was one of them! The young lady who was celebrating her Bat Mitzvah has been part of my life pretty much since she was born. Her Mum is a good friend of mine, and her daughter has often received birthday cards of mine and has very sweetly told me many times how much she likes my work. When her Mum asked me to make an album for her daughter's Bat Mitzvah I knew that a lot of care [..]

The almond tree blossoms

Published on 2012-02-23 03:00:00

In Israel flowers bloom all year, in the cold and rainy season as well as in the burning heat of summer. Even the months of January and February provide us with, amongst other flowers, the beautiful red anemone which grows wild in some parts of the country. The anemone is called Calanit in Hebrew, from the word "Cala כלה" which means "bride". The Calanit supposedly earned its name because of its beauty and majesty, evoking a bride on her wedding day. January and February also see the almond t [..]

A Birthday Book

Published on 2012-02-19 11:01:00

My youngest son, the 9 year old, loves to write stories in English (he speaks both English and Hebrew) and even though I am his Mum and so am terribly biased, I think he has a real talent for it. A while back he decided that he was going to publish a book of his short stories. I am delighted that he has such grand aspirations and decided to make that dream come true for him as a special birthday present. I mentioned it briefly here. After a little research on the internet I decided upon a comp [..]

A Ketubah Contract and a Blog Award

Published on 2012-02-16 09:29:00

A customer asked me for a card for a Jewish wedding. She showed me the invitation she had received but didn't necessarily want me to use it as the theme for the card and was happy for me to come up with something myself. I decided to create a card with some symbolic imagery yet also matched the wedding invitation in a small way. The cream coloured card and the curvy hearts in the top left hand corner were the elements which matched the invitation. In many Jewish weddings two candles are carried [..]

Without you life sucks

Published on 2012-02-13 11:00:00

This card is not a Valentine card but rather one for an anniversary. However, the theme behind it is pretty romantic so I deemed it worthy to be my Valentine's Day post. Last month I received an Etsy convo from a fellow seller telling me that she is crazy about the paper cut style of cards that I make. She wanted to have a special card made for her up-and-coming anniversary and had some very specific ideas about it which she clearly thought suited my style of work. My customer had decided upon [..]

Cookies, Cakes and Cards

Published on 2012-02-08 16:19:00

The other day my friend Katie e-mailed me with the recipe for Lorraine Pascale's Double Chocolate Chip Cookies. "They're really, really good" she told me, so I made a batch of them. After all, who needs convincing when it comes to cookies?* I have a tendency when it comes to cookie recipes to leave them in the oven a little bit too long. I’m always sure they’re not done enough as they look so soft, which of course means that they generally come out and harden up far too much. With this recip [..]

Scavenging around Jerusalem

Published on 2012-02-05 09:52:00

My usual Friday morning activities include cooking for Shabbat, perhaps a little shopping and there's always an errand or two to run. This last Friday morning my routine changed. This last Friday morning I was delighted to be invited to take part in a Jerusalem Scavenger Hunt for bloggers. Fortunately, after a week of rain and grey skies, the sun came out as we drove towards Jerusalem and, arriving at our designated meeting point in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City (in Hebrew known as [..]

The Boys Are Back In Town

Published on 2012-02-02 07:00:00

I have made a bunch of cards for boys recently. First up was a request for an 11 year old in India who visited the Taj Mahal on his birthday (lucky him!), so I was asked to feature it prominently on his card. His parents also felt that the young man had been working really hard at school and on his many school projects lately, thus a laptop with PowerPoint displayed on it and some drawing and crafting items were added. His Mum also mentioned that he loves to eat orange ice lollies all day long, [..]

Valentine Birds

Published on 2012-01-30 07:00:00

Welcome to the Etsy Greetings Valentine Blog Hop! The hop starts at the team blog, where you'll find a complete list of participating blogs. Start there or jump right in here and use the red arrows at the end of this post to navigate to other participating blogs! For this hop we were asked to pair a Valentine card from our own shop with a gift item from anywhere on Etsy. The decision was pretty easy for me. I have a favourite card in my shop which is perfect for Valentine's Day, an anniversary [..]

Coming to Light

Published on 2012-01-25 06:43:00

Some time ago I read an online article about the origami exhibition Yotze la-Or (“yotze la-or” means both “coming to light” and “published” in Hebrew). The paper lanterns shown looked amazing and so I was excited to take a morning away from my own paper crafting to view the exhibition at a small gallery in nearby Holon. I discovered that the artist whose creations I found so inspiring was Ilan Garibi, a retired Israeli Defence Forces officer. The articIe I read about the exhibition [..]

Nine

Published on 2012-01-19 03:30:00

We had an early start this morning. I crawled out of bed when it was still dark to make sandwiches and get the boys' school bags ready early. Why? Because my youngest son turned 9 today and we had presents to open and cake to eat of course! There was a special card from Mummy too. My eldest son had been begging to see it for several days but I kept it well hidden. Both boys have learned to expect them and anxiously wait to see how I have portrayed them that year. This year's card seems to have b [..]

Family is Everything

Published on 2012-01-15 14:37:00

It has to be said that most of the enquiries I receive about my cards are from women. Mums, Grandmas and Aunties. I get the occasional call - usually quite last minute - from a husband, and even more occasionally, from a Grandpa. I don't often receive requests for cards from kids, but in this case a gorgeous 11 year old girl who knows that her Mum loves my cards, wanted to order one for her Mum's birthday! I was totally taken aback by this young lady's somewhat rushed call - she was using Mum's [..]

101 Not Out

Published on 2012-01-11 11:24:00

Not long ago I received a phone call requesting an 80th birthday card. My customer initially did not know what kind of image he wanted on the card but, after some prompting, it soon emerged that this was a card that was travelling a long way, to Australia to be exact. It seems that 'Joe', the birthday boy, used to play cricket in his younger days, and was a politician and a retired lawyer to boot! I had more than enough to work with and, after seeing a snapshot of the celebrant, was able to put [..]

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