second alphabet

An ongoing project is my ALAW (a letter a week) so at the end of the year I'll have two alphabets completed - I made the first alphabet into an accordion book (you can see it here).  This time I wanted to incorporate my photography as well as make a little more complicated book.

I decided on flowers as my theme since I have tons of flower pictures I've taken over the years.  My idea is to make a pocket featuring the letter of the alphabet (in the prescribed 3x3" format) and then tuck my photos of flowers starting with that letter inside the pocket.  The lettering in the background is computer generated and is a list of flowers beginning with the letter drawn.  I did a ton of research trying to find as many for each letter as I could.  (for example, the background text for the A is agapanthus, anthurium, aster, astilbe, acacia, alstromeria, acanthus, amaranthus, anemone, allium, amaryllis.  I won't have photos of all those, but of more than one!

lettering done with a parallel pen - still learning how to use it evenly

Then came the hard part of selecting which flower starting with "D" I was going to use.  I decided not to limit myself so redesigned the pockets with gussets so they could hold multiple photos.  I found this bit of leftover paper that is perfect but I don't have a lot of it so if I mess up writing a letter I don't have room for many corrections so I think I'll wait til I draw them all then go back and redo my least favorites.  Or, maybe I'll just go look for another paper :)

agapanthus and astilbe, photo size 2.5" x 5" to fit inside the 3" pockets

bird of paradise

clematis

dahlia and daffodils

Now that I've settled on a plan, I'm off and running - I've made a list of the letters I don't have a flower to go with and so now I'll be on the hunt as we go on vacation next week.  I need to fill in those holes!

They'll look something like this .....

I'm also sharing this post with Artists in Blogland.  It's a great site to share what you've been up to creatively....I usually forget to add my post, but lots of people participate so it's worth a visit.

THIS SOUNDS LIKE FUN

I came across this in my blog reading today and thought I'd share in case any of you want to join in.  Donna Downey (Simply Me) put out an international call to help her decorate her new studio space and it sounds like SO much fun!  She wants any and all takers to decorate a paintbrush that will then adorn the walls of her public restrooms.  Simple or elaborate, the style is up to you.  You can read more here.

    

These images are from her site - one on the left done by Julie Fei Fen Balzer and on right by Donna. (she could have put it in Jenn's turquoise and lime challenge this week!).  So if the idea of having an embellished paintbrush along with a card proclaiming your info hanging in the restroom gallery of Donna's studio appeals to you, visit her site for all the details.  Fun!