Tali's Recipe Book

Remember the recipe book I put together? Well, I made another one. The very same day that I showed it on my blog a customer wrote to ask whether I could make one for her granddaughter's upcoming Bat Mitzvah. Social media working at its best!
My customer told me that her granddaughter, the Bat Mitzvah girl, loves shopping, fashion and listening to music on her iPod touch. She enjoys holidays in the sun and is also a keen cook. Her grandma thought that a recipe book was the ideal gift for her.

A little bit of sketching and I managed to piece all of the young lady's interests together. I decided to show her by the beach, with a big yellow sun in the background and her flip-flops and towel nearby. She is wearing her favourite Hollister hoodie and has her new silver heart necklace, recently given to her by her parents, around her neck. It looks like she has been shopping too and bags from Selfridges and Abercrombie are in the background. I am told they are her favourite places to shop!

Because this is the cover for a recipe book, and because Tali loves to cook, I have shown her with a mixing bowl in one hand and with a big cooking pot nearby. Her other hand is busy with her iPod. I have a child of almost the same age. I know what's important.

Now, the inside pages took on a life of their own. We originally talked of filling 10 of the pages, and leaving the other 10 for future use. Well, the book grew and grew and grew, and soon it was full. It was quite a jigsaw to make it all fit!

Tali, and her Mum, are apparently always associated with the colour pink. She loves flowers, hearts, nail polish and basically anything girlie and so, once the pages were laid out, that's what went on them.

My customer, well actually her daughter, the Bat Mitzvah girl's Aunt, collected recipes and delightful messages from the young lady's friends and family, and the book was soon filled with some fabulous ideas... and lots of love.

I added a little illustration of the relevant food item on the recipe pages, just some of which I have shown here. Thus the carrot cake recipe was decorated with bright orange carrots, and the strawberry cheesecake page got some sweet little strawberries to make it look pretty. I cut some teeny tiny pink raspberries to go on 'The Princess Tali Pink Ripple Cake' page too. What a great name!

Tali was getting some Uggs as a Bat Mitzvah gift and her Aunt was keen that they should appear too. They don't have a lot to do with recipes or food but they looked pretty cute anyway!

My customer emailed me when the album arrived. "Album amazing!" her message said. "Thank you SO much! You went to so much trouble on our behalf."

Apparently Tali was thrilled with it too. She couldn't believe how many of her friends had sent messages and contributed to the book, and when her grandparents gave it to her she kept going to reread it again and again.

I hope that it is something she will really treasure.