Fiona's first alphabet finished

I know that the saying 'better late than never' can be over-used but I am hoping I get away with using it again for now!

I have finally completed my first alphabet. I had managed to stay on top of the letters but the pulling together of the final piece completely eluded me for quite a while.

Barry and I have reflected that when he got ill in May, we subsequently lost about 3 months of our lives and have been busily playing catch ups ever since. So I am about 3 months late with this which kind of adds up.

Here are some photos of it being strung together.

I wanted to make a dangling piece this time - and found some beautiful silver jewellery wire in Brisbane and some silver crimps. I cut the wire into 4 x 2m lengths and threaded a crimp on each wire to form the base for my first page - Z

I then pierced a hole in the corner of the Z 'page' and threaded it along the four wires so that it rested on  the crimps. Then I measured 5cm along each wire (between each page) and threaded a crimp on each wire to that point and squeezed it so it would stay in place. I then threaded the next page Y and performed the whole shebang 26 times. Phew.

Am I making sense yet?

I tried to take some shots of it hanging, but that was hard...

But I also liked the way it folded itself gently onto the floor...

I am back on track kind of sort of with my second alphabet - the design is sorted, the pages are decorated and cut and the idea is worked out in my head...now to put pen to paper and get some letters down!

Kim Schoenberger - finally finished alphabet one!

Firstly, I must apologise for my lack of presence with ALaW the last few months, 'tis the usual story of work overload....

Doing catch up with my first alphabet and it is finished!!!  I am very happy with the outcome after which alot of brain power and contemplation went into the final touches of the light box to make it work effectively and look aesthetically appealing.

 

All complete - aerial view and lit up at night.

 

As this was my first attempt with making a light box and having no idea of 'how to' make one there were several things that didn't work which I had to reconsider! Not wanting to glue the pianola scroll down or frame the box, I decided to sandwich the scroll between two sheets of clear plexiglass raised above the light box with a 'pin' system.

 

 

Finding the exact size and system for the lighting was a challenge, which resulted in several trips and exchanges at the local hardware store, not to mention the different width cuts of timber - I eventually got it right!!! 

 

... when I found this lighting system, it fit perfectly like a glove, even the extension cord distance - if only I'd found this system first go!

 

Another view in the daylight...

 

Now that is finished, I best make a start on alphabet two!

Lisa's A to Z

As I glued on the last few letters this afternoon, it was very satisfying to finally see my first ALaW alphabet come together. I was fortunate that the presentation has fallen into place as the alphabet evolved; the only thing left to do at the end of the day was to mount the letter-filled Canson Mi-Teintes onto a piece of 50x50-centimeter board.

My favorite letters from the final six weeks (since I last posted) are 'V' and 'X'. When I mis-glued one of the letters in the second row, it threw off my original plan for the positioning of the letters (which I wanted to relate to not just those next to it, but also the letters above and below). As a result, the earlier letters are a little more crowded than I would have liked but, all in all, the alphabet seems to capture the spirit of what I had in mind when I first began.

I have really enjoyed watching all of your imaginative alphabets emerge during the first half of 2012, and look forward to seeing what unfolds over the next six months...

Lorinda's Final Letters

Inspired by the talented Terrie, I pushed on through and finished up my first alphabet this evening.

It's been such an interesting challenge using the circles (dots) and triangles. It almost seems more difficult to come up with a second alphabet when we can do whatever our little hearts please (within 3" x 3" of course).

I've so enjoyed seeing how all of the other alphabets here have come together and can't wait to see everyone's final displays and second alphabet ideas.

Lau's MNOPQRST...

Here I am !!
Those letters are a little bit brighter than the first ones...
so I think I will use darker colors for the last ones, just to vary a little bit!
I have no idea how the final presentation will be...

Lisa's N - T

Here are the next two rows of my alphabet, arranged relative to one another on the 49-square grid I've chosen as the final format (I'll save the complete view for when the alphabet is finished). My favorites of this set are 'Q' & 'R' (which I realized looks like a little 'r' if you rotate it ninety degrees counterclockwise...I considered positioning it so, but decided to keep all the letters uppercase). I also like the negative space between the 'R' & the 'S'.

Only six weeks/six letters to go until we reach the half-way point of the year. Filling up this grid has served as an interesting 'calendar'―a new way to show the year's progress. I'm excited about the next alphabet, and hope that the dot/pixel constraint makes narrowing down the possibilities a bit easier this time!

Kim Schoenberger - MNOPQ - RSTUV

I'm late and early! April's letters MNOPQ and RSTUV for May. Continuing on with my polka dot pianola scroll with the letters being cut out creating a negative space. 

My research into the light box idea so far is looking to be a costly exercise!  I do want to finish the piece in this way and have been to many different stores for advice - I have a few more places to check out, however at the moment - I'm in the procrastination phase ...

Lau's letters I J K L

...............................................

: : : : : : : : : : :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: : : : : : : : : : 

. : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . 

........i......j.......k......l........

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

...............................................

...h.o.p.e.....y.o.u.....w.i.l.l.....e.n.j.o.y...

Lisa's A through M

It has been a while since my first ALaW post, which was mainly a loose collection of ideas with very little direction. Although I finally did find myself on a path, and have been gradually building my alphabet (the non-dotty one), this is the first post showing my progress. To see a few more photos and read some notes on the process, please follow this link.


I have really enjoyed visiting the ALaW blog over the last few months—thanks to all of you for the inspiration!

— Lisa

Kim Schoenberger - FGHIJKL

Once again I am late! Seems to be the norm for me these days, funny thing I used to be so punctual - not sure where that went to.... ? :-\

So my post today is both February and March and an additional picture of how the piece is coming along. Still working on the polka dot theme...

February merges into March with "I"

Starting to take shape all rolled out - A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J

I've started looking into the finishing of the piece, this one's a bit more technical and I believe it's going to take a little more time to nut out what I'll be needing in turns of the final touches and from whom. I want to create a light box effect like they appear in these photo's, hopefully it'll work out - things always sound great in 'theory'

Lau E F G H

des p'tits points, des p'tits points, toujours des p'tits points....
Here are four more letters.
I was late so I made those four letters at the same time...................
outch !!! my eyes flashed during a couple of hours......