Jade's Bat Mitzvah

The reason we were in London just now - two weeks before the kids broke up from school for the Chanukah holidays, and not actually during the school holidays - was to celebrate our niece's Bat Mitzvah. December 10th was the date that had been chosen to celebrate it on, so that was the date we were there! I hinted in a previous post that there was another creation to show you, aside from the artwork I made for her invitations and here it is. A customised album of course!

After a little discussion, it was decided that the cover of the album should show the same image as her invitations, which I have already blogged about here. I rarely repeat a design in this way, so it was a little strange for me to be re-drawing everything again, using the very same papers and colours. I changed the wording slightly on the album to include the date of her Bat Mitzvah ceremony in the synagogue, her name and the words Bat Mitzvah in Hebrew.

My sister-in-law gave me a few more themes to work with for the inside pages. I had already included my niece's love of reading, fashion design, drawing and facebooking on her iPod Touch on the cover. Along with these interests, I learnt that she loves sushi (don't we all?), drinking hot chocolate and reading a particular style magazine. I added her High School badge too.

When we arrived in London I was thrilled to discover that my sister and brother in law had used my artwork on several things. I was shown the postcard sized thank you cards and the benchers. (Bencher is the most common word used for the Jewish book of Grace after Meals. The word Bencher originates from the Yiddish language. Literally translated the word bencher means "Blesser".)

The Bat Mitzvah party had a purple theme - purple had been suggested for my niece's t-shirt when I had asked what her favourite colour was - and my design blended in beautifully! You can see the postcards being used as table decorations, below, and the Grace after Meals booklets in the background.
My brother in law thanked me for my artwork in his short speech and I am happy to say that I received many, many compliments throughout the evening.

* Tonight we light the first candle on our Chanukiah, the nine-branched candelabra which is used during the festival of Chanukah, and the eight-day holiday, the Festival of Lights, will begin. I recently wrote all about the holiday here. Please hop on over and learn a little bit about Chanukah and the reasons why the Jewish people celebrate it.