Inspired by yesterday’s elastic bound books, I decided to create an alphabet book. You could use the book for any kind of alphabet. I chose to make an alphabet about being in isolation and so it turned into a much slower project. This is something I want to take my time over.
Quite often we can write something quickly. And that is a good thing. Sometimes, frequently, in fact, it is worth spending a bit more time on things. I made my pages from envelopes [because they hold letters -for an alphabet – sorry, bad joke]. I chose eight pages. That is four envelopes, front and back. I found a thin card envelope which had held a book, and I put tape over the words on the card. I decided not to design the cover until later. I have decided that this will be a special book about these unusual days, so I am going to just take things slowly.
The next thing I did was to find a spare piece of paper. I wrote out the alphabet and began to make lists of things that I am noticing here in my house, not going out. I found that some things I wrote down were not objects but feelings or thoughts so I wrote down hope and memory and quiet as well as hammock and quilt and honey. I found that I couldn’t think of words for every letter of the alphabet, so I am going to wait a while. I wrote down the word, ‘music’, but then I thought I should think more carefully and say exactly what music, name the song or the singer.
I haven’t finished my list of words. I want to add to them. I decided to start to write just one page in the book, and I chose the letter ‘B’. I had lots of words: bed, books, blossom, boxes, bath, Bach, birds, birdsong. I made a letter B on white paper and I stuck that on the page. Then I drew lots of the things in my list. I decided that I would list them all and then write about the most important one. I decided that, for me, ‘books’ were the most important things on my list of words beginning with B. I drew some of the things from the list on the page and then I wrote over the top of the drawing. I wrote about why books are important at the moment and what I am reading. Now you can’t see the drawing!
Writing Box 