Born on the First of July

The First of July was a popular date for Bar and Bat Mitzvah's this year. I made three albums for that date alone! There is of course a reason that there seemed to be so many simchas (happy occasions) at the beginning of the summer. Firstly the Counting of the Omer (a verbal counting of each of the forty-nine days between the Jewish holidays of Passover and Shavuot) is a  time of semi-mourning during which Halakha (Jewish religious law) forbids joyous activities. Now we are in the Three Weeks, a period of mourning on account of the collapse of Jerusalem during the Roman occupation. Weddings and other joyful occasions are traditionally not held at this time and so, whilst all of the kids I made albums for were certainly not born on the First of July, they got to celebrate their Bar and Bat Mitzvah's on that day since it fell between the two mourning periods.

One young lady who had her Bat Mitzvah on that day was Charlie. My customer told me that Charlie plays the piano, likes singing, and is very creative and arty. The photo I received of her showed her blondish wavy hair and I had fun recreating it in paper.

I have shown Charlie sitting at the piano, singing along to the music. There are a few arts and crafts supplies nearby, and her beloved Blackberry mobile phone is perched on top of the piano. 

I decorated the inside pages of the album along different themes. The Bat Mitzvah girl likes to go swimming (above). I added her school's badge with a couple of books and pencils (below), a few more arts and crafts materials, some music notes and a treble clef to represent her piano playing and singing, and finally showed her with her dark haired best friend.

Mazal Tov on your Bat Mitzvah Charlie. More First of July albums will follow shortly...