Next letters for Valerie

I have added a Stop sign to all of the towns in pale silver with a red word.

Stop at this town, see the sights, Look around the culture of the place, Visit the tourist views etc. and Enjoy your stay.

Progress on the Tamil English slang

It's been a while since I posted my progress on the Tamil English slang which I'm trying to document.

Here's e, f, g and h
e - is for empty. - adjective. \ yemp-tee\
definition - as in empty biryani. Biryani rice without pieces of chicken or mutton.
f - is for figure - noun. \fig-er\
definition - a beautifulor sexy girl.
g - is for gym body - phrase. \Jimbaadi\
definition - usually pronounced as a single word, 'jimbaadi', refers to someone whose physique is relatively well honed. If you are stout but not fat and do not have a very visible paunch then a tight t-shirt will also do the trick.
h- is for hot drinks.
definition -an alcoholic beverage.

i - item number - a song and dance sequence in a tamil movie done by a voluptuous young woman who is dressed provocatively. All movies include an item number its part of the formula.  j- jacket - the blouse worn with a saree. All women go to a tailor to have their blouses 
(jackets!) stitched.
k - I haven't found a word for the letter k as yet.
l - leg pees -  The most coveted piece of chicken is the leg pees known to the rest of us as the drumstick.

Sabi's Place - India

I have chosen India as my Place alphabet - I was born in Madras but left when I was two years old and have not gone back.  It is a place which has resonated with me over the decades but, for many reasons, I never managed to make the return journey.  Now it would be much too difficult as my mobility, affected by infantile polio, is pretty limited.

So, this alphabet is a memento in reverse of the places I would have visited if I'd had the chance.  Some of the places were spoken of by my parents and friends, some are names that I like the sound of and others just looked interesting.

Using hand-made in India, I collaged sari silks and pieces torn out of an old India guide book, then gave each page a watercolour wash;  the letters were printed with wooden blocks hand carved in India and stitching round each letter highlighted it.  My current plan is to make a book with the alphabet.

Here are the first four letters:

Amritsar

Bangalore

Coimbatore

Darjeeling

Finished.......at last!

Here is my finished "Place " Alphabet. As always I really enjoyed it and I am so thankful for all your positive comments, you have no idea what they mean to me working as I do in isolation out here in the lonesome west. The cover seemed so plain that I added a collage and used photo corners to hold it in place.

Now I better get my thinking cap on for the next alphabet. I thought just for a challenge I would try to do something other than collage, I so love using paper and glue, I'm thinking I should try needle and thread, but I never have a plan, I see what happens when I look at the 7x7  blank square.

Fiona's place alphabet begins...

It didn't take me too long to work out a place I really enjoy that could use letters.  New York City is a place where most letters of the alphabet can be found and I do enjoy visiting, so....

I am embossing  a map of Manhattan Island, then chopping it up and writing letters on it. Plan A.

Here is the beginning

And some lovely 7cm x 7cm squares chopped and ready to go. Already it feels nice to me. I love the look of white embossed pages.

Next...some letters!

My first pieces of the free alphabet.  When it's finished, it makes a picture.  I wanted to use real bamboo leaves but didn't think they would survive all of the handling so I dried many leaves in the flower press, scanned them in a few sizes, printed, and cut them out.  The black is elephant dung paper for texture and the white fuzz is embroidery floss.

Thanks for looking, Anita

Since arriving in Australia (too many years ago now to count) I have always been fascinated by the colours and shapes of our fabulous gum leaves. This alphabet gives me the chance to play with those shapes, as well as indulging my fondness for painting. This alphabet is already complete, and has been put together as a double sided concertina book. The theory here, is that I will now have the time to complete the 26 miniatures that will go with Alphabet number 1. Will see just how far that gets, and if I am true to my word, then that one can be shown in it's entirety, (rather than just the Jacob's Ladders) by the end of the year.

Finished 'free' alphabet

This is really my dotty one from a couple of years ago that didn't eventuate at the time, but had to be done! Here is the finished product - a small book case.

In the end I decided not to put anything extra on the cover of each, but used small letter stamps on the spine of each volume to show which letter it is. This helps to be able to put them back in order if they are taken out.

Now I must get on with 'Place', which has been started, but not resolved as yet.

All the ALAW alphabets are looking fabulous. It's really interesting to see what ideas people have - I'm looking forward to the next lot,

not so confuzed now it's done!

Eithna.....almost complete

I have completed the "Place" alphabet  and the book is almost finished. Here are my remaining letters.

 I have to decide about the cover so I will hopefully  post the finished piece shortly.

My free alphabet.

Here are the first letters of my 2014 free alphabet.

They are from the first page of a manuscript known as the Gelase ´s Sacramentary, dated 8th century and kept in the Vaticana Library. Since only a few letters are present in this page, I'll have to imagine the missing ones.

Every letters are designed with fish and birds. The colors used are those identified in the manuscript : minium, malachite, lead yellow, lapis and vermillon.

It will be a great fun to write some words with them by the end of the year !

Free Alphabet - finished

I've finished the free alphabet but, rather foolishly, forgot to post the last letters before assembling the book.  However, they are all present!

The only thing I could think of doing with the letters to keep the finished article a manageable size was to make it into a concertina book.  And yes, it's very long but children love it.

This is the front showing that all the letters are present and correct.

 

The back view - I pasted strips of recycled gift wrap to pull it together 

and cover up some of the mess

The partly open book

Front cover

Last letters for first alphabet

Here is the end of Alphabet 1. However, I am still working not the finished article. A box has been constructed to house my little books but hasn't been covered yet.

I'm still thinking about whether or not to add anything to the finished letters - although it's looking less likely now.

I'm quite pleased with the 'Z'.

Every time I saw Fiona at SSiW I felt guilty, and now I see she has finished hers. I will get there!

All the alphabets are looking great - it's so fascinating to see the finished presentations.

I'll be back soon with mine,
confuzed.