by thediva on June 28, 2010
For my parents’ 50th anniversary, I wanted to make them something by hand, something special just from me and my brother and sister-in-law.
I’ve made a number special books for clients over the years, in the “X reasons why we love you” vein. The first one, 80 Reasons Why We Love You Dad was such a hit, that it spawned several more client commissions, all from word of mouth.
I wanted to make a similar book for my dad’s 70th birthday, and then for my mom’s, but somehow I never managed to make that happen. So when their 50th anniversary approached, I knew I need to jump on it!
(Plus 50 reasons x 1 is a lot less work than 70 reasons x 2!)
Mom and Pop’s actual anniversary was June 12, but the big party was June 19, and I presented the book during my toast.
Needless to say, they loved it. I’m delighted to report they’re having a display case built for it, so it will live where people can enjoy it, rather than up on a shelf somewhere.
I’ll take some “official” pics later, but for now, here are some snapshots.
Enjoy!
by thediva on June 23, 2010
I’ve been creating anniversary ketubot since I first started as a ketubah artist. My most recent one, though, was particularly special, because it was for my own parents’ 50th anniversary!
Imagine: 50 years together! And they’re still in love.
My parents are my heroes.
The ketubah was actually a gift from my mom’s sister, my Aunt Nancy, and her entire family – kids, grandkids and great-grandkids – and Nancy’s special request was to include all of their names on the ketubah.
The only catch: the ketubah was a surprise, so my job was to sleuth around and find out which design my parents liked best! Hmmm… How to do this? At dinner with my parents and a cousin one night, I pretended to be conducting an informal poll of family and friends to find out which ketubah I should feature on my home page.
Sneaky!
My mom said of course I should put my best seller on the home page, but I said I was curious what her favorite was. Without hesitation she said “Oh, Spiral of Life, definitely. But your dad won’t like that one.”
“Dad?” I asked, “which one is your favorite?”
Surprisingly (and thankfully), Spiral of Life was his favorite too!
A few weeks later, while giving a presentation to my synagogue about the art and history of the ketubah, I happened to hold up a copy of my Spiral of Life ketubah. My mom said again “Oh, that one’s my favorite.” But then she said that she wasn’t crazy about the colors!
Yikes!
Time to do some custom colorization magic in Photoshop!
I had the ketubah framed, and Nancy and I managed to keep it secret for months. Last Sunday her whole family presented the ketubah to my astonished parents. They loved it!
Next up: pics of the special handmade book I made as my gift from me and my brother and sister-in-law. Plus pics of the invitations I designed especially for the anniversary party.
