13 done, 13 to go. And I'm one week ahead of schedule.

L is all about layers - I tore and overlapped about 7 colours of tissue paper, then added threadwork and beads. This is my favourite so far.

M is all about the paper, not the letter. Momigami is a technique of oiling, then crumpling and kneading paper which makes it stronger and gives it a different look. I could definitely tell it was stronger once I started to embroider the letter.

Now on to N and O.

I've been artistic all my life but it's only since I retired almost 3 years ago that I've really had the time to dedicate to doing creative activities. And I haven't looked back since.

I love to share what I'm working on and maybe even share a few techniques for others to try.
That's why I love to blog.

By making the commitment to blog (fairly regularly) it inspires me to keep learning and challenging myself. I love to see what others are working on - and I hope you like what you see here.

I love to make handmade books and mixed media art - incorporating thread drawings, or fabric, or coloured pencil or even acrylic into the pictures and the books. Taking art courses keeps me inspired too, plus teaching to kids and seniors - this too forces me to keep coming up with new ideas, some of which I've been able to share with others.

And here is a link to the "Grow Your Blog" site - with lots and lots of creative  blogs listed:

This first picture, not part of the alphabet book, is of an embroidered photos that I just finished this weekend.

Now, on to the book.

I'm happy with the I,- an illuminated letter, done
in coloured pencil (including some gold metallic pencil) and in ink. Some illuminated letters are very elaborate, I prefer ones that have a cleaner look.
  
  
  
J (junk) - I actually made two, but this is the better one. The first was made of mesh from an onion bag, scraps of yarn and other junk, all in orange and blue.

For the one pictured here, I raided my  sewing cabinet of items that have just been sitting there for 20+ years - an old measuring tape to form the  shape of the "J", then safety pins, little sequins and snaps added to embellish & finish.
   
   
  
The K is "Kirigami" which is the art of 3D paper cutting. Not easy and it took me 3 tries to make one that had tidy cuts. I don't think this is something I would do a lot of. 
 
 
Two more letters and I'll be at the halfway point of the alphabet.

I was able to get 3 letters done this week.

F is foiling which I did on fabric. Not easy to keep it clean looking, I think a smaller iron would have worked better. I used a gold foil, multi-colour foil, then blue over top.

G  was fun, all pencil work. Good practice for me as I don't do enough work with graphite.

H is herringbone embroidery stitch which I had never done before. I used 2 thread colours (blue and green) to try to create more depth.

Some changes to upcoming letters: J will now be "junk" and K will now be "kirigami". I had originally chosen jute, but it's just too thick for this kind of book.

I hope to post I and J by January 19th.

I'm pretty happy with how these turned out.

The D is distressed paper. I used a tea bag for part, followed by walnut ink (which was pretty strong so I had to soak up much of the ink), then juice from some blueberries.

The E is embossing on metal. This piece really brought back memories from my grade 8 metalworking class. Now I am wondering what ever happened to the embossed piece I did back then. I think it was of a sailing ship. 

The challenging part with this letter was not the embossing, but rather with colouring the metal; I used black acrylic paint, then wiped if off in circular motions to leave some of the paint in the grooves and to tone down the copper colour of the metal. It took a few tries before I was satisfied with the look.

Ready to create F & G.