Arts and Crafts Books

This book is absolutely wonderful. It's really amazing. Everything you could ever think would exist in a basic 18th century wardrobe is here, and the ease of use is stunning. It goes into great detail on several pieces, including several sewing techniqes. And hey, if a teen can figure it out, anybody can do it. Although some parts are a bit tricky, it is overall a wonderful book, and belongs in every costumer's library.

If only Linda Baumgarten would write more books like this!

This is one of my favorite costuming books, because its format embraces a lot of different styles and the combination is much stronger than any of them singly. The book presents information both in articles and text-box asides, and uses line drawings and period illustrations as well as photographs and patterns of the actual garments. BEST of all, the book shows clear photographs of the INTERIOR construction of these garments, which is lost in most other books. (Janet Arnold shows a few interiors, but Nancy Bradfield seems to be the best about remembering to include construction.)

I'm so very, very happy that Quite Specific Media decided to bring this one back into print!

Does the "DNA" analysis of the clothing so you can get a true picture of each garment as it marched through time. Answers questions I have always wondered. Beautiful pictures.

Like Janet Arnold's now-classic "Patterns of Fashion" books, this book takes existing museum garments and offers basic scaled patterns for them. It also offers great details about how the garments were original made, tips for using period techniques, and even a few short histories (like the history of pockets). I can't recommend the book highly enough.

The patterns are not, however, for beginning sewers; they must be scaled up to size and then made up in muslin for the best accuracy. However, even beginners can enjoy drooling over these wonderful garments (shown in color and b/w) and learning about period construction.

Fortunately, I was able to get it from our library. I guess I'll have to be patient about actually owning it, but anyway....

This book contains excellent information, not only on pattern, but on the textiles used and construction methods on actual garments. I am fascinated with how these period items were put together and amazed at the detail the researchers were able to identify - so much better than iffy descriptions of fashion plates and contemporary paintings. It is also interesting to learn how patterns would've been used with particular textiles, given cost of fabric at the time. (Interesting to me, anyway, I'm a little obsessed.)

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about re-enactment costume, or who just wants to learn more history about how things were made.

My daughter was given this book by her Aunt and Uncle, and what a wonderful surprise the book turned out to be! Quite clever, and very funny..... Though my one year old daughter is a bit young for the book, I've had more fun reading through it and wishing I was 10 years old again!

A lot of time and effort obviously went into this delightful activity book. Looking forward to Creative Aventures Part II....?!

We bought this book for our grandkids, and are ordering another copy for a friend. It is a big bright book filled with wonderful things for kids to do, things that really call on their creative juices. I think the thing that makes this book stand out is that children really get to know Courtney and her family and friends, especially when she was a little girl. It's like having Courtney to play with, and kids seem to love it.

Compiled and illustrated by Courtney Watkins, Courtney's Creative Adventures is a fun and exciting book packed from cover to cover with creative activities for young people. Color drawings and photographs illustrate suggestions for entertainments ranging from scavenger hunts, to creating puppets, to simple games shared with friends, and much, much more. Courtney's Creative adventures is enthusiastically recommended as being a great counter to summer vacation doldrums, holiday blues, and an excellent "anytime" antidote to boredom!

I always watch out for Courtney whenever she appears on the "The View"; a few months ago I ordered her book for my family and I can honestly say it's fantastic. I have never seen kids respond so quickly and so enthusiastically to a book. It's colorful, eye-catching and really fun (for all of us). She shows kids how to turn ordinary household items into magical creations. Plus, unlike other books of this kind that require your own personal laboratory, or a few hundred yards of gossamer ribbon, these projects can actually be completed by normal people with normal resources and a moderate income. Anyone with kids who have "seen this" and "done that" should get this book ASAP.

I am incredibly impressed and charmed by Ms. Watkins! What a talent and personality. This book is a treasure for both parents and children. I feel it opens the creative minds of children, crawls into their heads and really gets at what makes them excited and tick. It also helps parents bond and laugh with their kids aside from sitting in front of the TELEVISION! There is also so much information packed into this book that it is worth 3x's the price.

I can't wait to see more Courtney Watkins books!

I am really enjoying this book. It is full of information and covers just about every aspect of ceramics you can think of. I am teaching a youth ceramics class this summer and am looking forward to having this as a reference!

This is a great book for anyone who wants to work with clay. It is clearly written with prospective and actual studio potters in mind.

The book originally came out in 1992, and is now in its fourth edition. And, after mentioning some safety issues, it has plenty of instructional material on how to shape clay, and what tools to use. There are sections on hand building: pinching, coil building, and slab building. Then there's plenty about the technique of "throwing" clay on a potter's wheel, with nice sequences of photos. This takes plenty of skill and practice! As the author says, the wheel is very sensuous, rhythmic, and hypnotic. Peterson is always warning us to treat clay properly: if you attack it in one way and then hit it from another direction in the same place, you may find cracks there in firing, induced by the strains you imposed on it. It's simply wrong to overwork clay.

Still, many potters and artists like to produce many objects with the same overall shape. And that means making and using molds made from plaster, and making casting slips, so Peterson shows us quite a bit about these. After this comes a discussion of decoration. This involves artistry and visualization.

There is a good discussion of types of clays, and explanations of what earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain are. We're shown different types of clay bodies, including terra sigillata and raku (a process which requires a clay body that has some dirt mixed in with it to make it porous enough to avoid thermal shock). And there is a wonderful chapter on glazes. Following that, there is plenty about kilns and firing, including using cones, inconel tubes, and pyrometers to measure temperature.

A technical section explains how to do calculations on glazes, and there are charts of coefficients of expansion, data on frits, color charts of clay and glaze combinations, and much more.

There is a historical overview, which includes a discussion of the studio potter movement and the contributions to it from Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada. And we see some of the work of Maria Martinez and Lucy Lewis in Pueblo Indian ceramics. There is also an excellent portfolio of interesting works. I especially like some of the low-fire ones.

This is a very useful resource and I highly recommend it.

This is a large book chock full of information, and provides an in-depth survey of ceramics. There are many photographs about techniques and many illustrations of beautiful artistic ceramics pieces. Also it contains lots of technical information, tables, etc.

Since other reviews have covered the merits of this book quite well, I'll mention a few issues:

First, there are lots of sample photos of different clay bodies under different firings and different glaze colors and combinations, etc., but they are all *way too small* to really see the characteristics of each sample. Also sometimes there is a series of photos, e.g. throwing a pot, building a kiln, and when they are all arranged on the page, each one is too small (and many are b&w, from previous editions?) Otherwise the book is very well illustrated with a wide variety of work.

The glaze discussion does not cover the properties of glaze bases and coloring oxides much at all, which is something I would expect in a book of this comprehensiveness. It does spent some time on commercial fritted stains and Mayco glazes, which other books don't, and can be useful to some, especially for low-temp work. But if you really want to get into glazes, this is not the book.

For many advanced topics, she has just a mention that leaves me hungry for more. E.g. lusters she briefly mentions using and making, but Rhodes has a much more thorough discussion of making lusters. Paperclay is mentioned briefly but not enough to really tell me how to make it or use it. For many of the topics in the book, more detailed discussions are possible and likely available elsewhere. However she has assembled lots of brief mentions of different and experimental work that you might not encounter in other ceramics survey books, so it is useful for knowing what else I want to look into.

[This review pertains to the 4th edition, 2003.]

This book is an excellent reference for different levels of clay/ceramics work. It is a beautiful "coffee table book" as well.
It came in perfect condition.

If you are just learning, or are stuck in a rut, this book is a great reference for potters of all skill levels.

Stephanie Sersich's colorful book, Designing With Glass Beads, is easy to love! It has so much going for it. First, she gives you a great history of glass, very complete and well done, something which I enjoyed and found thoroughly fascinating. She also shares "her world" throughout the book, which means that you get to understand in a profound way why her glass designs are so beautiful. She comes from a super family of artists who live in Maine. In fact her very first quote which "taught me something" I hadn't thought of in that particular way before is, "Beading is a miniature game of organizing space". She says in the book she got this organizational talent from her father. You also "meet" her remarkable mother, an artist as well, and other friends such as the great glass artist Dustin Tabor.

However, even more than this, you get to play in Stephanie's exuberant world of glass! She is famous for her spectacularly beautiful Spiny Knotted Bracelet. The instuctions for this great bracelet, and for so many other beautiful pieces, will really thrill you if you love her style. They are all in this book! She has a great talent for using wire, ribbon, types of sewing, waxed linen and other bases for her jewelry pieces which enchance each one's unique and energetic beauty.
I particularly liked her Wispy Necklace (such a collection of beads and fringe!), her Tinkerbell Drop Earrings, which are simple but hip, and so many more! She is so good at what she does! It is a very exciting book to read and to have. There are all kinds of glass beads. There is lots and lots of color to entrance you as well.

There are also lots of small extras which are pleasing, such as the way she writes about what it is like to look forward to summer in Maine (an area which is pretty cold a lot of the time), and then ties that in to her signature lampworked starfish which she makes. She even shows the very first starfish she ever torched. It is sweet and pretty good!

She offers other pages of extra info like "The Art of Lampwork" which shows her making her glass beads as she explains in writing exactly what she is doing.

I like the book as much for the jewelry as for the information she shares. She is definitely an excellent teacher and a fascinating person. Her beads are beautiful and her jewelry is absolutely worth knowing how to make.

I was looking for something new and different to make. This book is just the visual I need.

This is a nice book if you would like to learn a little bit about the history of glass. I thought some of the projects were great and nice and fresh while some of the other projects were out in left field and not my style. This book is 128 pages in length with 20 projects. I was expecting some better projects in this book and also more projects. An example of one of the projects in the book is how to stack beads together and then adding this stack of beads onto at a piece of ribbon. Do we really need a project to tell use how to do this? One of the projects and why I bought the book was her Double-Clasp bracelet project. I love this idea and how you can make several variations of these little bracelets and mix and match them. I think some things are good in this book but some things need to be improved upon.

If you are into glass beads, Stephanie is the authority. The projects are beautiful eye candy that make your mouth water and you want to move to Maine to stalk her perfect artist family for inspiration. Her ideas are easy to follow but the results seem far from simple- intricate projects that look like they take a master to make.

I have taken one of Stephanie's classes and love her work. The instructions are very clear and the photographs are outstanding. This book would be a great addition to your library.

very useful reference book for inspirational creativity.

There was nothing written on this true master of Art Deco metalware, and this book is as comprehensive as a book can be on an artist. Written with respect, admiration and love for the Art Deco style and the metal craft. Cannot be surpassed. Nothing missing, nothing redundant.

I am a practicing metalsmith of 35 years. This much needed book covers it's subject from every perspective. It will become a valuable asset to historians, collectors and craftsmen. My only critique is that Joan did not include a picture of Brandt's stamp and other ways of varifying his work from fraud.

The author has produced a comprehensive work covering this great Art Deco artist and the exciting era in which he flourished. Joan Kahr's tremendous depth of knowledge and understanding comes through on every page of this beautiful book.

This book is a "must have" for any fan of French art deco/art moderne style. It is beautifully researched and written. The wonderful photography only made me long for more.

This was ourchased for my 11 year old granddaughter. She love it. Basic things are explained perfectly!!!!!!!!!!!!

This book is a great addition to your ceramics library.
It has many beautiful and colorful pictures that will definately inspire the artist in you.

excellent reference book. covers all aspects of pottery. full of wonderful ideas and is a great inspiration for the artist. i am excited about adding this book to my reference libary.

I've been throwing for about 3 years and this book was given to me as a gift. It briefly touches on many subject and has a lot of good pictures.

I would recommend this to anyone with interest in pottery, both wheel throwing and hand building.

This is a great reference book with lots of ideas and lots of illustrations. Great for someone who wants to explore out of just throwing or hand building. Great step by step ideas with great color illustrations.

This book has some great designs, but they are not for the beginner. The authors show you, step-by-step, how to carve two of the 20 patterns. One design is done in 86 steps using simple tools (pocket knife, finish nail, toothbrush, etc.) The other design is done in 39 steps using carving gouges. You will need thick-skinned pumpkins. Great book if you want to take your pumpkin carving to the next level.

We do an annual adult Pumpkin carving night and now with this book we will make them even more amazing!

This book is a great tutorial for carving a masterpiece. The pictures are very professional and every step of the process is documented. Only two carvings are shown in complete detail, but you won't be disappointed. The technique is defined in such a way that you should be able to take this idea and run with it using your own ideas. Lots of other pictures and ideas are given, just not in the detailed description as the first two. I'm very impressed.

Was easy to follow the instructions, could be used for other media other than pumpkins. Pictures were great to see visual aid. Highly recommend for a carver.

I got this book for halloween this year. Read through it in a short sitting, and had a clear view of how to create releaf style pumpkin sculptures in no time.

I had some background many years ago in highschool pottery classes doing sculture, and the techniques detailed in this book easily recapped each of the basics and then advanced into the more skilled techniques.

I highly recommend this for anyone with little to no sculpture background.

The draw backs I found with this book are that they focus heavily on how to accomplish the effects with typical knife. Then they transition in to using more specific tools. The issue being that they spend far less time detailing the technique with the specific/advanced tools, it would have been better if they keep the same level of tenique details for the advanced tools. Also on the subject of advanced tools, the author provide teh list of tools he uses(which have been built over many years specializing in the spaced). There is very little time spent on talking about what tools are used or suggestions of locations to get ahold of them. I have found that getting ahold of tools that fit the task have been hard to find and better descriptions or sources would be extremely helpful.

This book had a lot of really wonderful ideas, however, most of the crafts are for older children and my party was for 6 year olds and younger. I made the fairy braclets for the girls myself as it was a little time consuming. For kids 8+ this is a wonderful book with some really cute ideas.

for all who love fairies or crafts, this is a perfect book. Great ideas, wonderful processes and beautiful products!

I bought two copies, one for my 9 yr old daughter and one for her friend. They love it and have had the most fun with these creations. I do recommend a little adult help and guidance with the different crafts.

I bought this book, along with Sweet Pea's Garden: Special Things to Make and Do ~ A Flower Fairies Friends Book & How to Host a Flower Fairy Tea Party, to help me with my daughter's fairy birthday party. The crafts are exquisite as well as resonably easy to do. Most items can be easily found around the house or your nearest craft store. I love the crafts in both this and Sweet Pea's Garden. Both books are easy to do although I think Sweet Pea works best for our smaller fairies while this book would be perfect for an upscale girls tea party. I loved the little stories and the illustrations that were woven through the book. The only thing that dissapointed me was that there weren't any recipes. If there had been three or four little recipes that would have rounded out the book perfectly. I fell in love with the little cake in the picture of the table setting at the beginning of chapter three. The crafts included invitations, bookmarks, wings, skirts, fairy dolls with a fairy land playground, jewelry, etc. My favorite crafts were the playground and the blooming tableware. Both were made to decorate my daughters table and they were absolutely beautiful. This made for a magical day. Oh, and there are instructions for a Violet Choker by Heidi Boyd at the DIY website.

We used this little book as the basis for a flower fairy birthday party for a six year old, and it was a huge success, and considerably less expensive than renting Little Gym or another insitutional party place.

We made several decorations and the gorgeous flower fairy wands.

All of the projects would probably require adult assistance for a child under 10, but they are really lovely and worth any effort.

Bonnie's book has many georgous pictures and ample directions for this technique that goes beyond the norm. In addition to uses in making art quilts, I'll be using the techniques with church banners. I'm seeing endless possibilities with this technique. WELL worth the cost.

These exquisite quilts made of fabric and silk flowers, and embellished with glistening threads and beads, are a delight to the eye, a focal point in decor, and a conversation piece! If you like fabric and flowers, here's the way to combine them, using your sewing skills, deft hands, and an eye for design. The abundant, beautifully photographed quilt designs in the book will certainly get you started, whether to copy one, or to use as inspiration for creating your own designs. The author's experience with teaching classes on this technique comes through in the thorough, yet easy to understand instructions. There are some supplies the author mentions that I had never heard of, so the list of resources, including some web addresses, is helpful. The price of the book seems a little high, but if you make only one of these fabric masterpieces, it will be worth it!

Well, she's done it again. Bonnie McCaffery's new book, Fantasy Floral Quilts is a great follow up to her first book, Fantasy Fabrics. This book has numerous beautiful pictures as examples & clear instructions for a unique technique. For those quilters interested in new ideas this book is a must have for their library.

You know all those silk flowers you couldn't resist in those shops that you dragged your husband and kids to on your last vacaton? Then when you got home they were carefully tucked away until inspiration came to arrange and diplay them in your home. Well, grab your prettiest ones and those relagated to the bottom of the drawer and open to any page of Bonnie McCaffery's latest book, "Fantasy Floral Quilts". That's just what I did. Fun ideas came tumbling at me faster than I could dissect those delphiniums and run to the nearest fabric store for a selection of tulle to compliment those lillies languishing in my growing cache of faux blossoms. You won't believe how many kinds of new flowers you can invent with your newly educated eye and what you have on hand or what you can find in craft shops. Then all the ways you can use your innovations with Ms McCaffery's help. This book stands alone as one aspect of modern quilt "technology". You should see this book for yourself, it's a new look on the quilt horizon that you won't want to miss.

You never knew how EASY a technique could be, and what a
beautiful piece you could create! Bonnie McCaffery's book
gives you step-by-step instructions, VERY clearly written,
to guide just about anyone to completion of a wall hanging
she can be justifiably proud of! At the Mid-Appalachian
Quilters workshop, I saw folks who were somewhat tentative
and a bit scared at first create the MOST beautiful works
you can imagine. . . and, you can too!

This book is for the lampwork artist who is looking beyond dots and flowers. The step by step photo illustrations and helpful hints make this a wonderful tool for one seeking to add to their lampwork techniques. I learned about tools and uses of enamels and metals. Very informative. I would recommend this tome wholeheartedly.

This is an amazing book, very informative for someone like me who is new to the lampworking craft. I have not advanced to the mixed gases as of yet, but this book gives the information I would need. I love this book.

This book is packed with useful info. The pics are really clear and easy to follow. It also has lots of interesting projects like making glass flowers and pendants which I found really interesting and useful. A useful addition to my library.

This is the best bead book I have ever purchased. The photos and technique are clear, innovative and brilliant. Ms. Warhaftig must be extremely smart as well as crafty. If you buy one bead book this year, this should be the one. They should call her Jedi Warhaftig.

Glass Bead Workshop by Jeri Warhaftig

Just when you thought you had aquired all the tools and goodies you would ever need again in your lampwork adventures (yeah... right... LOL) Jeri Warhaftig has authored a new lampworking book that is guaranteed to challenge you to see the world of lampwork in a new light.

This full color book is 144 pages packed with information! It dives headfirst into advanced techniques and concepts, just giving the faintest nod to basic info. Definitely a text designed with the more seasoned lampworker in mind, and it doesn't disappoint.

Advanced techniques are taught using step-by-step photos, thorough explanation, and very creative projects. Each project touches on a variety of materials, tools, and techniques which include: dichroic glass, copper and silver inclusions, enamels, cubic zirconia use, multi-stage bead assembly, fuming, etching, pressing, coldworking, hollow mandrels, disk forming, flower sculpting, vessels, and much more. The tips and appendices of the book condense a lot of great experience into an easy to access and utilize format.

Artist galleries that are included at the end of each chapter, full of inspiring examples of mixing the skills you learn with imagination and creating new, exciting pieces.

If you are looking for some fresh, new ideas and skills to spark your imagination and challenge you, this is the book for you. Tons of experience for the lampworker at the bargin price of $24.95!

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