Gabriel's Album

Gabriel's Mum spotted my customised albums in my Etsy shop and asked me to make one for her son's Bar Mitzvah celebration. His Bar Mitzvah was at the beginning of this month and the album was going to be used for guests at the party to sign in and leave Gabriel a message. Mum sent me all the information I needed to create the book. Gabriel's favourite colours are blue, green and red, she wrote. He loves baseball - his favourite team being the New York Yankees. He also enjoys video games, computers, music and books. He likes to eat doughnuts and also hamburgers piled high with pickles, onions, ketchup and mustard. Gabriel has brown hair and hazel eyes and wears black rim glasses. I had plenty to work with!

I have shown Gabriel on the cover of his Bar Mitzvah album with a baseball bat swung over his shoulder. He has an iced doughnut in his other hand (chocolate glaze - his favourite!). To his right are some music notes and a small pile of books, and to his left the Yankees logo, his laptop computer and a burger. I made the background bright green and his shirt blue, to match the colour scheme of his party, and added some small details in red to include that colour too. Mum asked for vibrant colours!

As well as designing the cover of Gabriel's album, I also decorated several pages inside it. The first page had a baseball theme and showed a bat, a baseball glove and ball, and the interlocking "NY" Yankees badge once again. (Interesting fact - the famous interlocking "NY" logo predates the Yankees. It first was designed by Tiffany and Co. as part of a Medal of Valor for John McDowell, an NYPD officer who was shot in the line of duty in 1877.) Next I illustrated Gabriel's laptop computer with the title of one of his favourite games, Minecraft, showing on the screen. This was followed by a page displaying a small pile of books and a shelf behind filled with books too. Another page showed a plate holding two tiny doughnuts covered in sprinkles (or hundreds and thousands as I call them) and also a burger overflowing with all of Gabriel's favourite toppings. Finally on the last page I added some colourful music notes to illustrate his love of music. Each page also features a gold Star of David. 

Mum was kind enough to let me know when the album had arrived in New York. "Gabriel just got home from school and the package was at our door. We were so excited to open. We love it! It looks amazing... thank you so much!!" she wrote.

* This post has been shared on The Happy Now Blog Link- Up, Wednesday around the World, {wow me} wednesday, Wow Us Wednesdays, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop, Wednesday Blog Hop, Share Your Cup Thursday, Artsy-Fartsy Link Party, The Creative Circle, Encouraging Hearts & Home Blog Hop, Little Things Thursday, Anything Blue Friday and Happiness is Homemade.