Shalva's Album

Shalva recently celebrated her Bat Mitzvah. Her parents asked me to make her an album that could be displayed at her party for all her friends to sign. They told me that she likes Harry Potter, baking, anime and maths. They requested an album that opens the Hebrew way (Hebrew books open from right-to-left).

I decided to show brown-haired Shalva wearing a black Harry Potter cloak and holding a wand. In her other hand she has a plate of cupcakes to represent her interest in baking. Behind her are some maths symbols and the number 12 to mark her age. There is also an anime picture behind her and in front of her is a mixing bowl and another cupcake. The background box is blue since that is her favourite colour.

Shalva's name appears at the top and the Hebrew date of her Bat Mitzvah celebration is at the bottom of the album's cover. Hebrew dates are written right-to-left with the day of the month, followed by the month name, then the Hebrew year. The Gregorian calendar date is below the Hebrew one.

I decorated five pages inside Shalva's album. The first page has a Harry Potter theme. I cut out a tiny broomstick, similar to the one Harry was given when he joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I added the black Sorting Hat and a cauldron for brewing and holding potions, below.

The next page has a baking theme, above. I added some tiny cupcakes, a mixing bowl, wooden spoon and a spatula. Shalva's mum mentioned that Shalva goes horse riding too, so I cut out a brown horse for the following page, below.

The last two illustrated pages in Shalva's album show various maths symbols, representing her interest in the subject, and some anime characters too. The word anime - pronounced "ah-knee-may" - is an abbreviation of the word animation. In Japan, the word is used to refer to all animation. However, outside of Japan, it has become the catch-all term for animation from Japan.

Shalva's mum was very pleased with the album and decided that she would like to use my cover illustration for other things at the Bat Mitzvah celebration. (I offer this as a package. Please discuss it with me if you are interested in doing something similar). I scanned the cover for her and she made these cute laminated labels which were placed on top of the napkin of each place setting at the party. The labels were also stuck on each party bag that Shalva's friends took home, above.

* This post has been shared on Little Things Thursday, Creatively Crafty Link Party, Thursday Favorite Things, Funtastic Friday Link Party