This album started out as a regular ABC book with an apple on the A page, elephant on the E page, etc., and featuring photos of my granddaughters. But it soon became a major project--and the most fun album I have ever done. I did not put words on the pages, instead I put an answer sheet in the back. I used ABC books, dictionaries, etc. to get ideas for the difficult letters.

My grandchildren love the book because it has photos of them and the people they care about. Other family members enjoy trying to figure out the things on the pages. Since I only used a part of most photos I could use the one person in a 'less than perfect' photo that was not making a funny face--or the one who was! To finish the album I took photos of my granddaughters. Mostly close ups of their eyes, noses, toes, etc. and them jumping rope, yawning, winking, walking upstairs, etc.

I put large items and borders on first, then smaller things. Each page has at least twelve items. Although my other albums are simple I did 'cutesy' things in this one. I used decorative scissors and cropped photos to get more on the pages. Die-cuts and stickers were used for the more difficult letters. I got creative with color names--such as calling gold paper 'amber'. I did not describe scissors or colors unless they pertained to the letter. I used 8x10 pages--one side for each letter. The first page is a title page and the last page has the answers so there is a total of fourteen pages.

After each letter below are the 'answers' as printed in the back of the album (mostly going left to right in rows down the page) - then in [brackets] is a description of things on the page. I used letter die-cuts or stencils but ABC stickers on blocks of paper would work. The letter I used is listed first in the brackets with the location on the page abbreviated (i.e. UL = upper left, LR = lower right, etc.)

A - arrow on an 'A', autumn leaves, animals, asterisk, adorable angel in an ankle-length dress, apple, 'amazing', addition problem with answer, animals again, amber acute angle with an arched top, address (where my grandchildren live), Aunt Kendi A....(an adult), animal track, ant, another Aunt Eva--an ancestor

[UL yellow A with arrow sticker (should have used gold and called it amber);
ant, autumn leaves and 'amazing' stickers; apple and animal track die-cuts; animals is a pet photo; animals again is a photo of children with stuffed animals; asterisk, address and addition are done with pens; the 'amber acute angle with an arched top' is gold paper cut as described; both the Aunts are photos; the 'adorable angel' is a photo of a girl in an angel costume]

B - big girls on bikes, blue 'B' with bi-color bow, bouncing ball, beautiful baby, blue booties, balloons--beside each other, baby's birthday, black dog's birthday, black button, bell, binoculars, ballet slippers, butterfly, bear with a band aid, ABC book, black shoes

[UR blue stencil part of B with bow sticker;
ball, booties, bow, button, binoculars, ballet shoes, bell, bear and Band-Aid are stickers, balloons are cut from template and have photos mounted on them with confetti stickers around them; bouncing of the ball is indicated by dashes drawn with a pen and the balloons have strings drawn so it appears the bear is holding them; big girls on bikes, beautiful baby, butterfly, child with ABC book and black shoes are photos; photos on the balloons are a child's birthday and a dog in a party hat; around the baby photo is the quote 'babies are such a nice way to start people']

C - a couple of candy canes on a cranberry 'C', copper cent coin, Carl cooking out, chef's hat, Court the cranky cat (with caption), candy corn, cow mailbox, candle, cute child with calf and cow at Cheney, camera, colorful confetti, Christmas tree, Christmas presents, contented chubby-cheeked baby casually 'computing'

[UL cranberry C with candy cane stickers;
candy canes, coin, candy corn, candle, camera, and confetti stickers; the caption 'Court the cranky cat' is written with a pen under a cat photo; Christmas tree, cow mailbox, child with calf, baby at computer are photos--I cut out a chef's hat and put it on a photo of my Dad cooking out]

D - diaper pin, dozen, darling dog, dark blue dot, date, drowsy Daisy on a dresser with a doll, dollar, duck, disk, daffodil, dandelion, Daddy dining out, darting dragon fly, a daughter and other descendants of Denny down on the floor playing dress-up, diploma, deep blue 'D'

[LR deep blue D on a square of deep blue gingham with diploma sticker;
diaper pen, dollar, duck, disk, dragon fly, daffodil and diploma stickers; deep blue dot, dashed lines indicating flight of the dragon fly, dozen (12) and my daughters wedding date written with pens; dog, Daisy (the cat), dandelion, Daddy, and daughter and other descendants playing dress-up are photos]

E - Easter eggs on the edge of an evergreen 'E' , expressive eyes, elf with an envelope, endearing Easter 'bunny' eating an Easter basket, lilac ellipse, enormous eyes,elephant, exclamation mark, 'excellent', equal sign, error, ear, eyelashes

[UL stencil part of E cut from evergreen gingham with Easter eggs stickers;
Easter eggs, elf, envelope and 'excellent' stickers; the eyes, ears and eyelashes are closeup photos of my granddaughters; the exclamation mark and error (2+2=5) are done with pens; the elephant is a photo; the 'endearing Easter bunny' is a photo of one of my grandchildren wearing bunny ears - matted on a lilac colored oval (ellipse)]

F - fancy flowers, fabulous family of four, faithful friends, frog on 'F', Firefly Court street sign,flying flag, fun at the fair, fence, frowning father (and former Ford Falcon owner) with a forty pound fish, flashlight, footprint, feet and fingers, fungus, (five females, seven faces)

[UR red F (should have used deep pink and called it fuchisa) with frog sticker;
border idea is from the Spring 1997 issue of Memory Makers magazine; flag, frog, flashlight and footprint stickers, the fungus is a photo of the end of a railroad tie with fungus growing on it--something I realize not everyone has available!; family, fair and father with fish, street sign and feet and fingers are photos; friends is a photos of my oldest granddaughter with my dog--they really were best friends]

G - giraffe on green 'G' with green gingham grass, Grandpa gazing at his green and growing garden, gross(144), good grade, glad and grateful graduate, grandma, grandpa, granddaughter, 'great!' gingerbread boy, great grade, genealogy chart, grinning girls, gorilla, gumdrops

[UL green G on grass cut from evergreen gingham with giraffe sticker;
giraffe, grad hat, 'great', gingerbread boy, gorilla and gumdrops stickers; gross (144), good grade (A), great grade (A+) and genealogy tree are done with pens; Grandpa in garden, graduate, and grandparents with granddaughter and grinning girls are photos. The grinning photos were a challenge since my oldest granddaughter smiles a lot but rarely grins]

H - red riding hood and happy housewife with high hat on Halloween, Halloween candy, hearts on an 'H', halved heart, handsome husband giving horsey rides to granddaughters, 'Hooray!', hats, hammer, holly on the head of Holly the hippopotamus

[UR raspberry heart H;
Halloween candy, halved heart, 'hooray', hammer and holly stickers; red riding hood is a photo of our dog in a Halloween costume; happy housewife is a photo of my daughter on Halloween shortly after becoming a SAHM; husband, hats and hippo are photos]

I - Indian corn on inverted 'I', eating ice cream (indoors), infinity symbol, italicized IOU, an inch of ink, irises, iridescent item, Mika eating icicles, indigo integer inside an isosceles triangle, ivy, insect, I love you, I Do!

[UL green I in the stencil part of a gold I (sort of an 'inverted' I);
Indian corn and insect stickers. At the bottom of the page I put a wedding photo of my daughter and son-in-law surrounded with ivy, 'I love you' and 'I do' stickers; infinity symbol, IOU and the inch of ink are done with pens; the iridescent item is a sequin; I cut the triangle out of paper and wrote a number on it with the purple (indigo) pen; the IOU was done with a pen and the letters were slanted to the right; ice cream, dog with Christmas tree and irises are photos]

J - jubilant Jodi just married (on July 4), juveniles jumping rope in jeans, jagged Jim Dandy border, jingle bell, jack-in-the-box, Junior, joyful Jerrica, drinking juice in a jester's hat, jolly jaunty jack-o-lantern, Jeannie juggling, jelly beans on 'J'

[LR gold J inside green J stencil with jelly bean stickers;
jingle bell, jack-in the-box, jester hat, Jeannie, and jelly bean stickers; Jeannie is juggling paper punches; jack-o-lantern die-cut; Jodi, jumping rope, Jerrica, Junior and juice are photos; 'jagged Jim Dandy' border is made from two colors of paper. I made up the name after I decided to have everything on the page relate to the letters.]

K - Kelsey on a K, kangaroo with a kite, Kylie kissing (kind of), knuckles, Kelsey in a knee-length dress, a kid with a keepsake bank, Kelsey in a cap with a knot (keeping a hold on her candy), 'king' Kevin, Kendi with Kelsey, key, KS, kiwi, Kris Kringle, all kinds of kittens, (several of my kinfolk)

[UL stencil part of gold K with a photo of Kelsey;
key, king's crown and Kris Kringle stickers; kite, kangaroo, and kiwi cut from colored paper; the 'kissing--kind of', Kevin, Kendi and Kelsey and kittens are photos; I wrote KS with a pen but plan to replace it with a small die-cut.]

L - lots of leaves, lights, lilacs on a lavender 'L', ladybug, little girl licking her fingers, mat layered from lilac to lavender, lovely Lutheran learning to put on lipstick, licorice, lion, long-legged Lindy on daddy's lap, lips, lilac and lavender loops

[UR lavender L with a photo of lilacs;
leaves, lady bug, licorice and lion stickers; I triple matted a photo with lilac, purple dot and lavender paper; the 'lovely Lutheran' is my granddaughter playing with her Aunt's makeup; the lilac and lavender loops are cut from purple and purple dot paper using the scallop border line and woven together; the lights, lips, little girl and Lindy are photos]

M - music note, multi-color 'M', Megan--almost a millionaire, money, Megan on a merry-go-round, maple leaves (one is maroon), marvelous Megan, Megan (merry and mischievous--but not very modest), map of Missouri, Miranda, mouse, mailbox, medical chart, Monica and Morgan, Miranda with her mom, Mildred, Megan and Mama, (two Mr.'s, three Mrs.', and many a Miss--mostly minors)

[UL M cut from multi-dot paper;
music note, maple leaves, money, mouse, mailbox and medical chart stickers; 'almost a millionaire' is a photo with an almost filled piggy bank; masks, Megan, Monica, Morgan, Miranda, Mildred and Mama are photos; Missouri map is cut from an atlas; the 'two Mr.'s', etc. refers to the entire page]

N - nifty nest in a nook, nice Norwegian nose, nickels, north, nutty 'N', Noah's Ark, nail, nine numbers,nurses hat, needles, nap-time, nutcracker, Nativity, nap (not at night)

[UR N made from pieces of various colored paper;
nickel, Noah's ark, nurse hat, nutcracker, needles and nativity stickers; north is an arrow sticker pointing up; nail and numbers are done with a pen; nest, nose and naps are photos]

O - Jodi's offspring outdoors under the oak tree, one old-fashioned ornament, old grandpa and old grandpa--overjoyed, oak leaves, open envelope, odd way to eat an orange, opposites (on/off), ostrich on an orange oval, overweight cat, oblong 'O', orange slice, one-way, ocean

[LL stencil part of orange O with orange slice sticker;
ornament, oak leaves, open envelope, ostrich, orange slice and one-way sign stickers; the 'odd way to eat an orange' is a photo a girl eating an orange as if it were an apple; 'old grandpa' and 'old grandma' is what we call the great grandparents in our family--its a long story!; for 'opposites' I wrote the words on/off with a slash between them; offspring, cat and ocean are photos]

P - pretty purple paper border, pliers, precious pair putting a puzzle together perfectly, petite pastel pink Pittsburgh Pirates' pennant, prize on a purple polka-dotted 'P', polar bear, percent sign in parentheses, photo corners on a picture of a playful pet puppy, pumpkin, police officer (and proud papa-to-be) by a patrol car, passport, pennies, pill bottle, Pastor on a purple polygon, puzzled ant looking for a picnic, people in pink playing peek-a-boo

[UR purple dot P with best ribbon sticker;
pliers, prize (best ribbon), pumpkin, polar bear, passport, pennies, pill bottle stickers; I put question marks above the ant sticker to make him appear puzzled; I made the pink pennant from paper and wrote Pittsburgh Pirates on it; the puzzle photo is cropped in the shape of a puzzle piece; the puppy, peek-a-boo and police officer are photos; the pastor is the one who married my daughter and son-in-law and Baptized all their children--the mat is purple paper in a polygon shape; the percent sign and parenthesis were done with a pen]

Q - quarters on a 'Q', quartet of quacking ducks, quotient, question mark, Quasimodo, quilt and quilting tools, quarter of a circle, queerly colored quadruped (not quite a quarter horse), quaint quote about quilts on a quadrangle, quiet

[UL green stencil part of a Q with quarter stickers;
quilting tools stickers; question mark and quotient (4 divided by 2 = 2) done with a pen; Quasimodo is a photo of a color book; the quarter of a circle is paper; the 'queerly colored quadruped, etc.' is a rocking horse sticker with the rockers cut off; quiet, ducks and quilt are photos; the quilt quote is mounted on a green rectangle (quadrangle)]

R - rainbow, rocking horse, rabbit bank, romantic rebus, Raggedy Ann, red ribbon on a red 'R', regal Ruger, rope, red ring around red roses with a red ribbon, rhyme about a rug, rough road, retriever running in a river, row of roller-skaters

[UR red cranberry gingham R with red bow;
rainbow, rocking horse, bow and rose stickers; the rhyme, road and rope and red ring are done with pen; the romantic rebus is I love you drawn as an eye, a heart, and the letter 'u'; Ruger, the bank, rag doll, retriever and roller skaters are photos]

S - snowflake, stoplight, small Staci in a swing on a sunny summer day, shamrock, stethoscope, smiling Staci on a special spring day, seal, squirrel, shoe, 'Super', Staci (with sagging socks)--striking a pose and casting a shadow, stop and school signs (side by side), sharp scissors, starry 'S', Santa hat, Staci and her sad sisters

[LL stencil part of S cut from deep blue star paper with Santa hat sticker;
snowflake, stop light, shamrock, stethoscope, seal, shoe, scissors, super, stop sign, school sign and Santa hat stickers; Staci and squirrel are photos]

T - tending the tomatoes, 'Terrific', tossing two tennis balls, two tickets, tulip on a tan 'T', tabby cat, train (and trucks and tree), tired T.... trio talking on toy telephones, thread, thimble, tape measure, thirty tiny T.... toes, tripod, Teddy bear with tie and top hat toting a treat holder

[UR tan T outlined in brown pen with a tulip sticker;
'terrific', tickets, tabby cat, tulip, thread, thimble, tape measure, tripod and Teddy bear with tie and top hat toting a treat holder are stickers; the tomatoes, tennis ball, train and telephone are photos; the tiny toes photo I took of my three granddaughters at ages five, three and two is my favorite in the whole book.]

U - umpteen 'up' arrows, United States flag, Uncle Wayne, Ursa Major, the U....', unhappy face, under an umbrella, going upstairs, Staci looking rather unkempt in Mommy's underwear, Kendi in a state of undress, upside-down up arrow

[UL blue U;
various arrow stickers pointing up--except one in the lower right corner pointing down; flag sticker; Ursa Major made with yellow star stickers; the unhappy face is drawn on a yellow circle of paper; U.... is a family name; upstairs, underwear and umbrella are photos; the uncle is my brother (his wife says the U could also stand for ugly!)]

V - vacuuming, Viking (in a Minnesota Viking shirt), vine on a 'V', terse verse on a violet mat, visitor viewing a video, van, violinist in need of a vocalist, Valentine, vow, Veteran's flags, valedictorian, very good vanilla ice cream

[UR red V with vine sticker;
van and valentine stickers; the vow is 'I DO' sticker; the verse is written with a pen; the Viking is my Norwegian son-in-law; vacuum, visitor, flags, valedictorian, violinist and ice cream are photos]

W - wolf, wedge of watermelon, whale, Staci walking with a wagon-load of wiggling sisters, wishing well (without water), wreath, wand, woman in a wrist-lock at a wedding, wrench, walrus, white 'W', 'wow', 'well done', winter tree, wink

[LL white W outlined in black with 'wow' and 'well done' stickers;
wolf, whale, wrench, walrus and winter tree are stickers; the watermelon (slice) is made using a circle cutter; the wand is black paper with yellow brush pen; the wagon, wishing well and wink are photos; the 'woman in the wrist lock at a wedding' is a cake cutting photo.]

X - Xcellent border; Xtra special, Xciting, Xceptional Xmas; xanthous (fair-haired) girl, xylophone, XOX (kisses and hugs), xerophyte plant (plant that likes a hot dry climate), xerophilous animal (animal that likes a hot dry climate), XXX (tic tac toe), x-ray, Xu (Vietnamese coin), Xenia (Ohio), XL (extra large) 'X' (note: the Xu coin is something that I plan to put in the album but I haven't found one yet)

[LR gold X in a red X stencil;
I got 'Xtra' creative on this page! The words Xtra special, Xciting and Xceptional are written around the edges of a photo of my granddaughters on 'Xmas'; one of whom is xanthous (fair-haired). I cut a camel out of paper for the xerophilous and a cactus out green paper for the xerophyte--someday I might go to a botanical garden for xeriscape photos; I used x and o stickers for the tic tac toe; the x and o's for kisses are done with a red pen; the x-ray is clipart; Xenia, Ohio is from an atlas; the xylophone is a photo]

Y - yellow flowers on a 'Y', yield sign, yin yang, youngsters yawning, 'You did it!', year, yellow yarn, yucca, Yule log, seeding the yard as in days of yore, yo-yo, very young babies (not yet yowling)

[UL yellow Y with yellow flower photo;
'you did it' sticker; yellow yarn; the yield sigh, yo-yo, yin yang symbol and Yule log are made from paper and stickers; for the year I wrote '1997'; yard seeding, flowers, yucca, yawning and youngsters are photos]

Z - zip--zero--zilch, zechin (gold sequin), zoophilists (animal lovers) at the zoo, zip code, zipping a zipper, zygodactyl bird (parrot), zany zebra zigzagging through the zoysia grass, zinnia, zener cards, zzzzzzzzzz, lemon zest, zwieback, zucchini

[LR red Z;
zebra and parrot stickers; I fringed green paper for grass and drew dashed lines to indicate movement of the zebra; zip-zero-zilch is three zeros; the sequin is real but could be made from paper; zzzzzzzz is a photo of people sleeping; the zener cards, zucchini, zwieback and lemon zest are made from paper; the zinnia is clipart but I plan to replace it with a photo; zipper and zoo are photos]