Projects Books

The finely crafted stories in Ronna Wineberg's Second Language illuminate how we mediate and translate love and its loss. In the title story "Second Language," the main character Lucy deals with the decline of her aging parents. The deceptively titled "The Encyclopedia" is a beautiful story that charts in a few pages the entire progression of an affair. My favorite story is "After We Went South" for its combination of humor and insight and also its great secondary characters including Honey Mae Leeland, a female private investigator. The characters in Second Language get themselves into binds, often funny, many times tragic, but Ms. Wineberg always treats them with compassion and insight. It's a lovel collection!

I cannot say enough about Ronna Wineberg's book of short stories. Her use of images is so delicate that I often found myself effortlessly slipping into an interesting story about someone so believable they may as well live next door to me, only to find myself in a rich thicket of metaphor. It made me think about how "signs" are all around us, signs that show us clearly where we're going, yet we feel blind and hapless all the same. I like Ms. Wineberg's stories for her gentle reminder that life is full of turnings, and I absolutely love the way she leaves each her characters at story's end with both loss and possibility. Looking forward to further stories!

These stories are populated by real people, not completely good, not completely bad. Rather, the characters--Laura, Patrice, Doris, Cora, Helen, Shiela, etc--act as they must to get through each day. Their lives, full and complicated, include indiscretions, disappointments, and necessary lies as they search for their elusive anchors and struggle against themselves, alone.

Ronna Wineberg expertly uses words to paint the thoughts of her characters and the worlds they inhabit. The melancholy tones of the stories harmonize well with the isolation of the characters, people who are sometimes lost, sometimes desperate, always yearning, always searching. Rich internal dialogue offers long, raw glimpses into their interiors. Strong details, masterfully placed, evoke the color of their lives.

It's a lovely book that leaves the reader genuinely satisfied, all the while nodding, "Yes, this is the way real life often unfolds."

Wineberg's beautifully written narrative clearly depicts complex characters as they navigate their way through life's unpredictable journey. The reader is easily immersed into each poignant story, and can truly feel each protagonist's emotional struggles. These stories are truly a splendid work of fiction.

There is a single theme that runs through Second Language, stated poetically in the title. Love, married or unmarried, is a second way of expressing oneself, and sometimes of actually discovering another self. Certain lines and images are repeated to support this idea. Particularly moving and aesthetically pleasing is the way in which the coin collectors of the first and last stories make the entire group seem to hold hands in a sort of narrative circle.
These stories and the characters in them are seen against a backdrop of Jewish-American culture. The narrator of "The Lapse," for example, describes himself as "observant," which means a good deal more than paying attention in this case. He irritates his wife by refusing to ignore the Sabbath to attend a political meeting. In return, she considers having an affair. While these stories are not religious in any dogmatic sense, religion is taken very seriously, which has become a difficult thing to do in contemporary fiction. Instead, they are informed by an authentic sense of "chesed," a very special Jewish sense of kindness.
Ronna Wineberg is a very wise and generous writer, and Second Language is a cut above any other collection I have read recently. I hope we will be seeing more from this writer.

as another reviewer pointed out on this book: Stamp!: Tips, Techniques, and Projects for Stamp Lovers(2004)-this book Stamp Art-was entirely reprinted in that book. While this is a great book for stamp artists, I did want to forewarn anyone, like me, who owns many craft books that this book has been reprinted so double check before you order it that you don't already own it.

Other than that-Sharilyn Miller puts out a great rubber stamping book-full of easy to follow instructions and full color photos. Recommended.

The current trend (2005) in rubber stamping seems to be collage with an emphasis on the scrapbooking or altered books. This book gives you inspiration to take any of your paper obsessions a step farther.
The beautiful color photos, coupled with clear instructions help you imitate the design given or use that as a starting point for your own creation.

This book is a must have is you are involved in the paper arts.

This book was a wealth of information on everything we stampers want to know and learn about. There are tons of projects and techniques to keep you busy for a very long time. And in the back there is a helpful section of terms and resources. If you have a limited amount of dollars to spend on books about stamping then I would suggest that this book should be a "must have" for your stamping library. It was worth every penny I paid for it.

This is a wonderful book for stampers of all levels. It starts out by describing the basic materials & techniques used in stamping. Then it both demonstrates & explains step-by-step each of 15 techniques by various artists.

Some of my favorite projects include faux postage stamps, stamped booklets, miniature books, stamp carving & reverse stamping. An easy, less messy approach to marbling surfaces was indispensable to me.

The 3 galleries focusing on artistic stamping, altered surfaces, & mixed media effects are of great inspiration. Another gallery section shows a wide variety of techniques made with just one stamp, such as cranes or grapevines.

The glossary, extensive resource list & directory of artists are great bonuses. If you're looking for fresh stamping ideas focusing on non-cute, artistic stamping this is the book for you.

I've been playing around with rubber stamps and card making for awhile and have a few great books in my collection - this is definitely one of them! I've never been to a rubber stamping class or anything, just have been learning techniques from books and this one definitely has great instructions. The steps are clear, materials required are listed out, and there are lots of pictures. The samples are beautiful which make it that much more fun. The different techniques range from faux finishes to marbled surfaces to masking/layering/stenciling to reverse stamping to deep thermal embossing etc etc. There are also some neat projects like making little books. I've tried most of the techniques - all have been easy to do with the help of the steps and explainations. What a great craft this is!!

In this anthology about "women and fatness," fat women eat, exercise, laugh, cry, love, give birth, and are abused and exploited. In fact, they experience the joys and tribulations of women everywhere, but what defines them, or sets them apart, is their body size.

The American interest in fitness seems to have begun in the late 1800s, when urban sophisticate May Welland of Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence was compared to the hunt goddess Diana and noted for her slimness and athleticism. By the 1920s, thinness was firmly established as the fashion, with characters such as F. Scott Fitzgerald's Jordan Baker (The Great Gatsby) representing the slender, athletic, almost boyish ideal. In Koppelman's collection, Octavia Thanet's "The Stout Miss Hopkins's Bicycle" (1897) is an early example of how women suffered socially for their weight and how they began trying to manage it through exercise--an unthinkable notion for ladies of previous generations. One hundred years later, 1997's "The Strange History of Suzanne LaFleshe" (Hollis Seamon) also pairs two woman who to the world appear to have eating disorders--Suzanne Brown, who prefers the fullness of flesh, and Theresa, a teenager with apparent anorexia.

Some stories, like "Fat" (Grace Sartwell Mason) play purposely to the popular stereotype. Mrs. Payton Tierney substitutes a constant supply of rich foods for the love that no longer exists between her and her husband. Food is the problem and the solution as "The prison of her flesh received her" and the story ends in a surprisingly predictable way.

Stories like "Good-Bye, Old Laura" (Lucile Vaughan Payne) and "Skanks" (Rennie Sparks) capture the respective times and experiences of their teenage protagonists. Laura and Janine are complex characters whose peers influence their feelings about themselves and their bodies, with disturbing results for both. "The Hershey Bar Queen" (Elena Diaz Bjorkquist) is a teenage revenge fantasy, although the protagonist's food obsession and child-like simplicity and gullibility make the supernatural ending disappointingly ineffective.

If Mrs. Tierney, with her bonbons and distaste for exertion, is the stereotypical fat woman, the husbands in "The Feeder" (Maria Bruno) are alpha males whose wives fight back by taking control of their food, their bodies, and their weights--the thin wife consciously, the fat one less so. This story stands out for the disturbing image of a trapped, dying bird, wings broken, that is not worth saving to the insensitive husband.

"Perfectly Normal" (Lesléa Newman) is about the fat hatred and other prejudices of an anorexic wife. After making her promise not to get fat like her active, happy, lesbian sister, her husband sends her to a sanitarium before she wastes away even more. The combination of the wife's first-person perspective and the extremities of her opinions ("The least she [sister] could do was rip out the labels [of her clothing] so she would not have to be embarrassed" [about her size]) puts this story at the border of two-dimensional for the sake of making a point.

That is part of the problem with any focused collection like this; the focus on food, fat, and fat attitudes casts a blinding glare on the issues rather than truly illuminating them. It's interesting to see attitudes over the past 100 or so years, but questions arise, such as: How do those attitudes compare to those toward fat men, or to those who are different physically in other ways? If, as is claimed, only 10 percent prefer a fat partner to a normal-sized one, can the bias against fat be so definitively said to be social and cultural? Are those influences that widespread and strong? If the claim is true, are fat women really powerful erotic symbols to any but a few? It's mentioned that Lillian Russell, at more than 200 pounds, was a sex symbol of her time--but is that because she was fat or despite the fact she became fat with age?

In her defensiveness about fat, Koppelman writes, "There is nothing in women's fiction to affirm the calamitous claims of health risks made by the bariatricians, the exercise gurus, and the weight reduction mavens." Koppelman cannot be so single-minded as to confuse what appears in fiction with what happens in reality. Obesity, like other extremes, not only comes with serious health risks (for example, diabetes and all its complications), but also can limit the fat person's activities in ways that have nothing to do with societal bias (for example, I am too heavy for horseback riding, which I would love to be able to do). Koppelman's logic seems to be that, until a woman writes fiction about obesity-induced illnesses, they are not an issue for women.

The big question here is, "What does fat mean?" To the 5'7" patient in "Perfectly Normal," it means weighing more than 100-115 pounds. "The Hershey Bar Queen" weighs more than 400 pounds, as must the sideshow attractions in "Noblesse" (Mary E. Wilkins Freeman) and "Even as You and I" (Fannie Hurst). Suzanne LaFleshe weighs a little over 200. It's an important question because an active, confident, 200-pound woman, while fat by medical and social standards, may fall within the realm of normal deviation, while a girl like "The Hershey Bar Queen," enormous and obsessed with food, is a clear case of pathology. People fear pathology, whether it's morbid obesity, autism, or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The Strange History of Suzanne LaFleshe {and Other Stories of Women and Fatness} is hampered by the restrictions and biases of its focus. A few stories stand out, but many are slices of life that lack depth, context, and subtlety. Another issue is that the book copy was not proofread; there are numerous typographical errors throughout, sometimes several on a page, so that the trustworthiness of the texts is in doubt--an unfortunate problem in a work produced by an academic professional like Koppelman. Still, it's worth reading for the handful of gems.

I suppose we all have days when it seems hopeless--days when the so-called "War on Obesity" is so overwhelming, so pervasive, and so apparently effective that it seems impossible that we will ever get our point of view across. I was having one of those days when Susan Koppelman's book of short stories arrived.

I am not exaggerating when I say that this book lifted my spirits and gave me hope again. Koppelman asks in her introduction "What could women accomplish, how powerful might we become, if all the energy we turn toward our own bodies were released onto the world?" The introduction is a reaffirmation of the truth that the personal is the political, and a concise statement of the connection between feminism and fat liberation.

The book itself is arranged chronologically. "Juanita" and "The Stout Miss Hopkins's Bicycle" are both wonderful nineteenth-century stories. These women's voices from the past gave me historical perspective and made me feel a part of an inexorable tide, rather than a drop in the bucket. I especially enjoyed Lesla Newman's "Perfectly Normal," and the story by Hollis Seamon that gives the anthology its name, partly because they create memorable characters, but also because both of these stories deal with the strong connection between fat oppression, the dieting mentality, and eating disorders.

This is not Koppelman's first anthology of women's stories, each of which is grouped by theme. The scholar in me appreciated the extensive backmatter, explaining how each story fits into the history of weight obsession and women's self-empowerment. The activist in me loved the classic size acceptance quotes that accompany each story--many from books I have read, but not for a long time. We all need to hear those pithy statements over and over.

This book reminded me that the fight against fat oppression is part of the fight for women's liberation and self-empowerment. Of course the powers that be are arrayed against us. Of course it seems like an impossible battle at times. One of our most powerful weapons is surrounding ourselves with words that outrage, inspire, and uplift us--expressions of our beauty and worthiness. The stories in this anthology serve exactly that purpose.

This book of short stories is in the best tradition of the feminist movement. It raises consciousness. Few women manage to grow up in our culture oblivious to issues of weight. Most have struggled one way or another with it, some all their lives. Susan Koppelman's collection honors all these women and tells them they are okay. They are not lacking in willpower, or morally corrupt, or selfish, or greedy, or any of the other negative judgments society has visited upon them. They just are who they are and what they are. The net effect of the range of stories is to raise our awareness of the presence in our lives of women who are too often absent in our art and culture. But The Strange History of Suzanne LaFleshe isn't simply a political statement and it certainly isn't just for fat women! It's a wonderful collection that spans decades, giving us a cultural history cooked up in many different literary flavors to savor. And it stays with you. When you read it, you are both satisfied and hungry again -- for more anthologies edited by Susan Koppelman.

There were a few stories in this book that I didn't like. Many of the stories presented the heroines as not just *feeling* badly about themselves, but also as somehow *objectively* bad. In one, "The Hershey Bar Queen," I still remember that in the main character's worst, most rock-bottom moment, the description we get of her eating her candy bars is of shoving them into her "cavernous" mouth. Ugh. I would have preferred to see more stories in which we understand the struggles and difficulties one faces as a large person in the world, but one which didn't present those of us who are as being objectively revolting.

With that said, context is everything, and many of these stories require a little more history around them to properly understand just how subversive they really are. Susan Koppelman provides this context in the Afterward, which changed the way I saw several of the stories by providing the cultural context for the times in which several of them were written. "Juanita," for example, which was written in the late 19th century, struck me at first as being a story that simply reinforces the notion that fat women are drab and dowdy, and can only get the sorts of men that no one else would want. After reading the portion of the Afterward dedicated to providing context for "Juanita," however, I see it now as a deeply feminist story dedicated to the ideas of choice and freedom and independence.

There are also several stories in this collection which made me laugh out loud, such as "A Mammoth Undertaking," which is filled with moments of delicate and delightful humor, and relieve the often deadly seriousness of the subject of weight. "This Was Meant To Be," was hands-down my favorite story, in which the reader is witness to the fickle and capricious nature of society's aesthetic values. Our heroine need do nothing but be herself to be a smashing success, and all the world changes around her. I wanted to cheer when I finished it.

In stark contrast is "Goodbye, Old Laura," which is by far the most compelling piece in the collection. The writing is brilliant, and immediately I was drawn into the world and the achy inner landscape of Laura, the 200 pound teenage protagonist. Just how far I was drawn in made the ending that much more horrible. (I won't say why, to avoid spoiling it.) The worst part is that I can't tell whether the author approves of what her characters do at the end or not. Is she endorsing the gruesome ending or condemning it? I just don't know, and that is much of where the power in the story lies. I read it almost a week ago, and I am still thinking about it, and the choices we make as fat women to please those around us, and am still left wondering how many of those choices really make us happy.

There are still some stories that I don't think do justice to the fat woman's experience, and could have done without reading. However, those are more than outweighed by the rest. The very fact that so many women's voices were reclaimed from obscurity makes this book worth reading. Susan Koppelman is a brilliant author in her own right, and I strongly recommend reading the Introduction and Afterward (which I often skip). All in all, this is a book filled with excruciating pain, incredible wit, fantastic writing, and a depth and breadth of women's experiences that is both heartbreaking and wonderful.

Great choice of stories, never before gathered in one place. I used this for a women's lit class I teach, and it was the most popular book. Students related to it as a fascinating group of stories, not just as a textbook. I'll share just one of many student comments: from one who starts med school in August, "I know I'll be a better doctor because I read this book."

This book offers good strategies for implementing VoIP. It covers the feasibility studies required and pre and post evaluation of the network. Technical details are covered well but the most important aspects such as QoS, SLA's are explained in some sort of details, which is an important area when dealing with VoIP.

I used this book as one of my main reference in my final year project with UOL BSc in CIS.

I recommend this book not just for Engineers, Technicians, Managers and IT staff, but also for anyone wishing to learn about the basis of VoIP.

As one of the lead Network / IP Telephony engineers for my employer, GE IT Solutions, I was excited to learn that Cisco Press had published a book addressing the business and project management aspects of Voice Over IP (VOIP). I was glad that I picked up "Taking Charge of Your VoIP Project" by John Walker and Jeffrey Hicks (ISBN 1587200929) and I highly recommend the book to any IT decision maker, project manager, or lead engineer considering VoIP technologies.

The authors clearly indicate in their preface that the book is not a technical "how-to" manual for VoIP. Rather, the target audience is "chief information officers and information technology managers who choose to deploy VoIP in their organizations". The book opens with an overview of VoIP terminology and acronyms. For the most part, the discussion remains at a high level, although the details on IP packet headers probably could've been scaled back, given the target audience. Chapter 2 delves into the business drivers for moving to VoIP, such as convergence and ROI.

Chapter 3, Planning for VoIP, was a particularly helpful section in relation to my job functions. The chapter does a excellent job discussing the value and importance of planning and design for VoIP networks, a critical piece of any VoIP project that I feel customers (and even some vendors and implementers) often overlook. In fact, if it weren't a copyright violation, I'd probably copy the entire chapter and hand it out to any of my existing and potential VoIP customers. Better still, I'll by them a copy of this book.

Subsequent chapters of the book's focus continue to balance the business considerations with the technical aspects of VoIP. Topics of discussion include finding the right implementer, QoS tuning, ongoing VoIP Management, SLAs, and security considerations.

As mentioned earlier, I highly recommend the book to any IT decision maker, project manager, or lead engineer. I've encouraged many of my non-technical business colleagues at GE ITS to read "Taking Charge of Your VoIP Project". In fact, one of our Six Sigma quality leaders engrossed herself in the book and gained an very comprehensive understanding of both the business and technical aspects of VoIP. Next thing I know, she'll be pursuing her CCIE!

I recently read the book titled "Taking Charge Of Your VoIP Project" by John Q. Walker and Jeffrey T. Hicks. ISBN: 1587200929.
The title is a great reference for understanding VoIP technology and helps identify the many aspects that one must consider for a successful deployment of Voice over IP. Reading this book ahead of time will empower the reader with the lingo, technology and solutions to be effective when leading a team.
The book starts out by giving the reader an understanding of the basic technology concepts surrounding traditional voice networks, or Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTN) and then goes right into the basic technologies that allow Voice over IP (Data) to be a viable alternative to the traditional phone networks.
Chapter 2, Building a Business Case for VoIP, gives the reader good information to ponder over and helps identify purpose for building a case for a VoIP solution.
The next chapter, "Planning for VoIP" is one of the larger chapters and for good reason. After all, anyone in business knows that planning determines whether the project will go smoothly with little surprise or whether it's a disaster. In this chapter you'll learn about reliability, call quality assessment, and over all VoIP readiness assessment, among other things.
Another great chapter is Chapter 5, "Quality of Service and Tuning". Probably one of the biggest challenges that an organization will face. QoS is challenging due to the complexity of a true end-to-end QoS solution in an already complex data network. Accomplishing QoS requires in-depth knowledge of the existing data network. Furthermore, the communication to others on the team of what it's going to take to get the network "up to snuff" to support VoIP will be a task in and of it self. It makes ATM technology look quite attractive. The chapter has quite a bit of detail; however the authors don't drop the reader over the deep end of the technologies.
I would recommend this book to those that are anticipating implementing Voice over IP in their network, those that are in the process of piloting Voice over IP or even those that are in the midst of a VoIP implementation would benefit from this title.
The book is best suited for Project Managers, management, telecommunication and Data networking personnel. Really and truly, most anyone would benefit from reading this title. It covers such a broad range of information that having a well educated project team is going to ensure that the project goes smoothly and all things are considered. This book does an excellent job of presenting all of the issues that personnel involved in a Voice over IP project should be aware of to ensure success. It gives the reader a great appreciation for the complexities and helps a great deal with ironing out a good sound strategy.
This book has several figures, tables and diagrams. Like the old saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words". This statement holds true in the title. Like I always say, pictures are good.
The book covers everything you'd think about and everything you wouldn't think about.
Coming from the data side of a VoIP solution, I thought I had enough figured out to make a VoIP project a success. This titled made me think about issues that I would have otherwise over looked. Especially issues relating to traditional telecommunications.
Don't start you project without this book. It may end up costing you more than this book in mistakes if you don't.

Excellent book if you are looking for "in-depth" crash course in to VoIP. The amazing part was vendor neutral tone. Even though it came out of Cisco Press, it hardly preached any specific vendor. It was mostly focused on the fundamentals.

However the book lacks a decent index section. Hardly any important words are mentioned.

John Walker and Jeffrey Hicks's "Taking Charge of Your VoIP Project" (ISBN: 1587200929, Cisco Press) is an installment in Cisco's Network Business Series line of books and covers the topic of voice over IP (VoIP) from a business strategy perspective. Although the book does cover some technical aspects of VoIP, its main purpose is to guide the reader in understanding the steps from beginning to end on how to develop a business case all the way to deploying a successful and secure VoIP deployment. The book covers eight major areas:

* VoIP Basics
* Building a Business Case for VoIP
* Planning for VoIP
* Do It Yourself or Outsource?
* Quality of Service & Tuning
* Ongoing VoIP Management
* Establishing VoIP SLAs
* VoIP Security

This book's primary audience is meant to be at the managerial and above levels, although it does have value for senior technical staff, albeit from a different angle. For the management level, the book's value is in how it covers enough technical detail to make the reader aware of the complexities of VoIP, yet at the same time it presents both a business rationalization and realistic implementation steps so as not to scare the reader away (from the technology). For the senior technical staff or technical manager, the details of the technology will seem rudimentary, but the business framework may be less familiar territory, and therefore more valuable. For the technical audience, it addresses the often asked question of, "Where's the business need for VoIP?"

The eight categories can really be summed up into three major headings: VoIP Technology Summary, Business Justification, and Deployment Considerations. The "VoIP Basics" or technology summary provides the necessary background information on the PSTN and legacy PBX's in order to present the context for understanding how VoIP is a change in voice technology. This section is brief, and Walker and Hicks end with a general overview of data technology and how you converge old voice technology into it, discussing signaling, transport protocols, codecs, and the hardware necessary to make everything work. In terms of the business case for VoIP, the authors present three major cost savings opportunities: toll cost savings, simple network savings, and productivity savings. These areas are commonly talked about and should not be a surprise to the reader; the value here is that the book enables the reader to talk intelligently about the cost savings areas to a business audience. From here, Walker and Hicks cover how to project the ROI, how to make sure you have the data to back up your projections, and what associated costs should be considered before starting the project (e.g., is it cheaper to outsource?). Lastly, the authors spend time discussing both the pre and post implementation requirements and implications of running VoIP, spending less time on the technical details and more time on the big picture of implementing such a technology: Considering the quality requirements (i.e., QoS), integrating VoIP into a network management structure, establishing SLAs with the customer, and securing the technology.

Overall, the book provides a good, but broad treatment of how to present a case for VoIP and then deploy it. The irony of the book is that the readers who can best utilize the information will probably be the ones that find the book a little boring. For example, experienced managers will take away the unique points of implementing VoIP and recognize how it can fit in a realistic way for their particular environment. On the flip side, the knowledgeable network technician will similarly be able to see the nuances of VoIP that the book presents and understand the implications for the existing network. To both audiences, the pre-existing experience and knowledge may cause them to find the book too basic, although the lessons learned will most likely be valuable to them. To the less experienced readers (technical or managerial), the book is a great starting point and will most likely engage them more, but without additional references or resources (e.g., basic project management skills, understanding business budgeting cycles, etc.), the information learned may be just enough to make them dangerous.

"Taking Charge of Your VoIP Project" is a great resource for its intended audience of decision makers and project managers. It is not necessarily meant for the technical person doing the implementing, although the information is beneficial as it ties the technical to the practical.

I found this book contains everything for a beginner to get started in the craft of polmer clay. My 15 year-old has already started her project, and I'm into my 4th project. All this production and we have had the book for only 2 weeks. I'm already ordering the polymer clay by the pound. The two ounce packages are wa-a-a-a-y to small for this new found medium! If you are looking for summer projects to keep the kids busy, this is the book for you. Both Mom and the kids will be hooked in no time.

I enjoyed this book because it offered some fresh new concepts and interesting projects. I feel anyone from the beginning clayer to the accomplished artist would enjoy this book. Photography was very good. Easy to follow directions make 20 Weekend Projects with Polymer Clay a great book for all clayers. We need more like it and hopefully the author will have another one for us soon.

This book is a must for any beginning to intermediate polymer clay crafter or artisan. The projects are beautiful and very "do-able"! Irene's own projects are displayed in very good photos, and are a marvelous source of inspiration for combining techniques and textures. Her tiled mirrors and wall pieces are breathtaking.

...this is the one I'd recommend. I've been working with polymer clay for 17 years, and I have seen *all* the books. This is the one I recommend to either beginning OR more experienced clayers. A beautiful, interesting, well-done book.

This is my favorite polymer clay book -- the first book I "ask" whenever I have a question. Irene gives clear explanations, painlessly taking the reader through 20 gorgeous projects....

This book started me on yet another new craft obsession - carving my own stamps has turned out to be so much easier than I thought it would be!

I don't think there's anything the author could have added in this textbook - there are already wonderful stamps, a gallery, thorough instructions that are beautifully illustrated and tons of inspiration. Also a nice section for troubleshooting and fixing mistakes when something goes wrong in your carving - very helpful!

Very happy to have purchased this book!

Zig

If you are interested in learning how to carve your own art rubber stamps then you need this book as well as Art Stamping Workshop. Both books provide clear cut instructions on how to carve your own stamps to make artistic and fun stamps that are one of a kind. Well worth the 10 bucks here on Amazon! I recommend it.
5 stars!

I've been a stamp carver and art teacher for many years. This book is the best instruction guide for learning to carve that I have ever seen. The author has described all aspects of carving soft blocks for printmaking. Her step by step carving instructions are beautifully illustrated with good, clear photographs. This is a guide that can be followed by an absolute novice carver AND is very useful to the intermediate or advanced carver. As carving teacher that has given workshops all over the country, I found many of her carving tips useful. If I ever write a "how to" book, I hope it would be as helpful as this one. This book answers and illustrates with excellent photographs all of the FAQ's (frequently asked questions) that have come up in the carving workshops that I have taught. I own or at least have read nearly every stamp carving pamphlet and block printing "how to" book on the market. This book is the best I've ever seen. Sure wish I had written it!!

I think a new carver or Seasoned carver would be inspired to carve after taking a look at this book! Great job, Luann!

This book clearly details the ins and outs of carving your own rubber stamps, for those whose creative instincts urge them to follow their own path in the world of stamping. With clear, non-technical language, the author shows in words and pictures how even the simplest and most modest of tools can create lively stamped images which can stand on their own or be incorporated into larger and more complex works.

This is a good "inspiration" book for either the novice entry-level artist/stamper or for the seasoned creator who is looking for new directions for their art. Luann strikes a nice balance with her presentation, with an instruction book that is user friendly and free of "tech-talk". The "how-to" instructions are clearly written and well complemented by excellent photos showing exactly how to proceed. This book will be appreciated by any who purchase it as a springboard into new areas and levels of creativity.

I've been wanting to learn to weld, and all the local classes I can find seem to be geared towards getting certified instead of just teaching a hobbiest/mechanic/fixit person. So, I figured I'd just get a book and teach myself. This book seems to have all the basics I'll need to get started.

This book i just great for oxyacetyle newcomer like me. I got really good step by step indrodution. There are a lot of helpfull tips to get jobs done. I like this book because its clearly made an its what i need to build up my skills.

I bought this book on the strength of previous reviews and absolutely no experience at welding, brazing, silver-soldering, silver-brazing, sweat-soldering, or any other metal-joining skill beyond electronics soldering. It was a good choice. The author covers his subject thoroughly, clearly knows much more than he can pack into this book, and is able to present it all in an understandable fashion. There may be other books aimed at welding specialties that cover them in greater depth than this book does; this can tell you enough to let you decide whether you need more info or not. There is enough here to enable a neophyte to select, intelligently, the equipment required to accomplish whatever project he is considering. The rest is practice. The only thing lacking in the text is minor: a single color section demonstrating the differences in flames for different purposes. That information is carried by black-and-white line drawings in this book. They may be enough; I would feel a bit better-informed with a color photo (or illustration, for that matter).

For the novice only, Broad coverage of oxyaectylene welding and cutting, soldering and general information pertaining to various metals. Only a brief mention of arc welding though. 5 star rating only for those not interested in arc welding !!!

When I purchased this book I had already scheduled a stick welding class at the local vocational school. I wanted something that would help me not seem like a total noob when I got there. This book helped out greatly! This is a very infomative book and provides a good overview of all welding types.

There's something about the whole Apollo project that makes you wonder, when you really consider it, whether we peaked in 1969.

This would be a terrific addition to your space collection. It tells the stories of a variety of people who were instrumental in going to the moon, but, until now, have been overlooked. It helps to give you a fuller picture of the space program in the moon shot days. I also recommend Carrying the Fire by Mike Collins (my favorite book by an astronaut) and Flight by Chris Craft.

It might be appropriate that nearly 35 years later after the last Apollo mission (1972) names like Armstrong, Aldrin, and Lovell immediately conjour up images of the first moonlanding and the near tragic mishap of Apollo 13, thanks to Ron Howard. But if it weren't for people like Bales, McCandless, Underwood and Hatleberg - and the countless scores like them - the American public might not have even remembered the men that flew on the Apollo missions in the first place.

Watkins has done a great service to space history specifically, and this cultural experiment we call late 20th century America, by giving us fourteen glimpses into the lives of the unsung heroes behind the Apollo mission. One could only wish we had access to many more of the stories of people like Joseph Laitin, Joe Schmidt and Rodney Rose.

Knowing what the average person does about the Apollo heroes (i.e., the astronauts) gives one a foundation to appreciate what the Apollo missions accomplished and what they meant to our country. But knowing the contributions of the behind-the-scenes support people, like the ones profiled in this book, will make your understanding and appreciation of the Apollo missions go from analog to high-def plasma in 186 short pages.

Today in Space History (www.todayinspacehistory.com) gives it high marks and a must-read.

"The Unsung Heroes" is an easy read. Fourteen chapters of fourteen different people behind the scenes. From the "frogman" who was the first person to see the Apollo 11 crew after splashdown to the wife of an Apollo 14 astronaut, Billy Watkins covers a variety of backgrounds. Each 10-15 page chapter is a story unto itself, allowing a person to read a chapter at a sitting without being in suspense until the next time you pick up the book.

When you think there isn't anything more to write about Apollo and the whole moon program, this book shows how much more there might be. I don't know how Watkins was able to cut down the list to 14 but the ones selected sure show how many people there were working behind the scenes so that a few could walk on the moon. A really good read, I highly recommend it!

Very cute book with adorable ideas. Many ideas can be translated into non baby projects. Most ideas I had seen before, however it is nice to have them all in one book.

This book is so beautifully done -- the photographs, the how-tos -- that even if you don't intend to do the full blown projects, you can channel your creativity and your baby mementos into something amazing with the author's help. Great baby shower gift!

I enjoy making baby shower gifts for my friends and family. This book gave me more great ideas for unique gifts to give.

This book is a gorgeous collection of decorating projects and ideas for babies' rooms -- perfect for a shower or holiday gift, or as motivation for your own adventures with a glue stick. Suzonne's How-To's are fun and easy to understand ( as opposed to some designer project guides that leave you with a tortured mess of twigs and dough, and glitter in unmentionable places. Or . . . maybe that's just me ). Whatever your skill level, rest assured that 'B is for Baby' will inspire an artistic confidence you didn't know you had, and fulfill a creative outlet you didn't know you were missing. Have fun !

I received this book as a gift and really was excited!!! I always want to do craft projects, but sometimes feel like things are going to be too complicated. This book makes it seem easy and doable, and has inspired me to start making some craft projects right away. The step by step instructions are easy to follow. Doing small craft projects is really satisfying and I find it better for relaxing than meditating or a martini!!!

This is an incredible resource that was greatly needed. Phillip Stewart has created a comprehensive and fascinating repository for history buffs, documentarians, and anyone who needs to research the documentary film during the Great War. It boggles the imagination that Stewart was able to conduct research on all of the over 900 extant films and provide a logically organized digest for the rest of us. I highly recommend this book.

Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (10/07)

Philip W. Stewart has researched, compiled and edited this listing or catalog of historic films of action taken during World War I. The U.S. Army Signal Corps were given the assignment of obtaining photographic coverage of American participation in the War. In the introduction, Stewart reiterates the earlier statement of purpose for the filming made by K. Jack Bauer in 1957. The photographic coverage was ordered for propaganda, scientific, identification, and military reconnaissance purposes, but primarily for the production of a pictorial history of the war.

The book is divided into two sections. Part One covers U.S. military operations from the years prior to the war beginning in 19l4 and through to the returning of the troops in 1918-1919. Included in this section are films related to post-Armistice training, films relating to Allied and enemy activities, and the parades and events celebrating liberty. There are films from Washington D.C., Paris, London, and Brussels featured in these festivities filmed in 1918 and 1919.

As a U S. Navy veteran I took special note of the films related to Naval Operations. There are films featuring submarines, U-boats, destroyers, battleships, our convoy activities, and the return of the fleet in 1918.

Part two is made up of a listing of films featuring civilian activities. Several films cover the years of Woodrow Wilson's administration, his cabinet, the decisions he faced and the treaties he signed. A number of films were made of his trip to Europe in 1918 on the ocean-liner George Washington. He visited France, England and Italy. Additional trips to Europe were made in the following year. Many of the events and receptions attended during these visits were captured on film and are included in the listings.

Films featuring industry as it related to the war effort are also included in this section. The manufacturing of ordnance material, military aeroplanes, gas masks, and shipbuilding are all included.

Other patriotic activities, holiday celebrations and liberty loan drives are featured. I found the films covering the memorial services at Arlington National Cemetery, and the Burial of an Unknown Solider of particular interest.

This book is one of a kind. It is destined to become an important resource for historians, media researchers, documentary producers, and students of films. There are 957 reels of footage shot during the years 1914-1918. These include the WWI era documentary films, in record group 111, held in the U.S. National Archives. Philip W. Stewart has produced an important work in his book "Battlefilm."

A truly comprehensive resource and research tool. The author and publisher have done a remarkable job expanding Mr. Bauer's "List" and creating a reference source that is valuable and up-to-date. This is the perfect addition to my or anyone's aviation history library.

This book helped me find exactly what I was looking for for my documentary! This is a great and well organized resource!

This reference book describes, in detail, films taken during the first world war. The book is very informative and interesting. It provides a glimpse of the past.