Kayla's Album

I made a sign-in book for Kayla's brother Jack back in March 2022. In 2023 their mum got in touch again to see if I was available to make another book, this time for her daughter.
The theme of the Bat Mitzvah is "what candles and light mean in Judaism", mum told me. Kayla loves the sunset at the beach. The candle lighting theme came about because of that.

Mum sent me a few photos of Kayla lighting the Shabbat candles by a window and left it to me to decide which was the best way to illustrate her daughter. She also asked if it was possible to add Kayla's Bat Mitzvah invitation to the design too. She originally wanted me to leave the date off the cover because it was already on the invitation, but the text was so very small that I suggested adding it in gold lettering as well.

Blonde hair and blue eyed Kayla is wearing the dress she planned to wear for her Bat Mitzvah. She is lighting the silver Shabbat candles by a window. A card showing the blessing that we make when lighting the candles is next to the candles.

It reads as follows:

Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to light the Shabbat lamp.
Shabbat candles are candles lit on Friday evening before sunset to usher in the Jewish Sabbath. It is customary to light two candles. I also light a candle for each of my children and am currently also lighting a third one for the Israeli hostages in Gaza, who are unable to light their own candles.

Even though the walls in the photos I received were white, I suggested making them a bolder colour to make Kayla stand out. I chose this flame yellow colour because of Kayla's chosen theme of candles and light.

I decorated several pages inside Kayla's book too. The first page shows her doing gymnastics, a hobby which she practices four times a week! She is wearing a black leotard and black shorts.

Next, I showed some of Kayla's friends. Mum said that Kayla's friends are important to her but that she also loves the television sitcom "Friends", so I added the show's logo as well.

Kayla also loves Netflix, so the following page shows it on the screen of her phone. She is a keen member of Bnei Akiva, the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 42 countries. I showed the logo of the movement, which is made up of the Luchot (two stone tablets representing the Torah), wheat, an olive branch and a scythe and pitchfork. Kayla likes to be with her friends at Bnei Akiva, so I added a couple more friends too.

Pepper the family dog makes an appearance on the final page.

Kayla's mum wrote "The book is amazing. Thank you very much."
Just like Elisha, Kayla's Bat Mitzvah celebration was planned before 7th October, when terrorist attacks killed approximately 1,200 Israelis (and more have died in subsequent operations in Gaza and against Hezbollah). War broke out in Israel. I hope that Kayla was still somehow able to mark her Bat Mitzvah later that same month.

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun. and Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday).