Arts and Crafts Books

I can't say enough great things about this book. It's full of interesting projects to try, and the design of the book itself is great, light and airy, despite being packed with useful information.

You'll need some software to try the projects in it, an image editor of some kind and a printer. But that's all you need for most of the projects described. Janet Ashford has really creative ideas for transforming every day objects like metal tins and boxes, using computer designs.

I can just about guarantee, if you're artistic at all and you buy this book, you'll not only enjoy it, but you'll wind up designing some really amazing things as a result!

Being an arts and crafts designer from way back, I have always wanted to own this book. I couldn't find it on the shelves a couple of years ago and proposed to write such a book when I found myself inventing paper crafts for PrintMaster, a card design program produced by the Learning Company.

But Janet Ashford beat me to it. And she has the know-how it would have taken me years to acquire. This is a magnificent tome, one that inspires as well as informs the crafts addict. Her expanations are sophisticated but clear to anyone who has passed beyond the basics. Lots of the projects are very artful and have the look of "handmade" without being too cutsy or too advertisingly slick.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves crafts and has access to a computer with the big three type programs: layout, photo adjusting, and drawing. If you are new to computers, an accompanying book or class will set you up for this one.

The potential of the computer in craft has been seriously damaged by the excitement computers have generated. A parallel can be found when the Russian novelist Tolstoy was given a dictaphone to help speed up his writing. After a few weeks he threw it out the window. His neighbor asked if it didn't work. Tolstoy's reply was "It worked fine, but I got so excited using it I couldn't write." For almost two decades a generation of designers have succumbed to the excitement and hype of the computer without significantly adding any real content or substance to their work under the digitized banner. It is time for that to change, and Janet Ashford is a winning harbinger of that change.

It doesn't help matters that most design software seems to be written by the left-brain dominant spouses of craft practitioners...well intentioned souls with no sense of the real kinesthetics of working color, form, texture.

Janet Ashford has navigated through the difficult middle course between technology and entrancement. She draws! She creates custom palettes in her application software! She doesn't hit you over the head or talk down to the reader. Perhaps her experience of designing for and with her daughter has given her the wonderful tone of teaching someone she likes, who is lacking in knowledge but not in ability. That is a prized gift in any teacher, and Ashford has it mastered.

She has maintained her enthusiasm, her innocent pleasure in sharing the joys of color and pattern, line, light and form. She is conscientious in gathering really useful resources together into a book that can pay off in serious fun the first weekend you get to use it, without resorting to false expectations. Buy the book. Use the example. You, and your craft, will be enriched without hype or over-simplification. Serious artists and craftspeople do not expect the tool to do the real work of creation for them. This book is written for the serious artists and craftspeople at any stage of their careers...from about 9 years old on up.

This is a good reference for general information about using a computer to enhance or create art. The author mainly uses Adobe products, such as Photoshop and Illustrator for editing images and graphics. Before you will be able to create these projects, you have to be familiar with your software AND have software to create some of the effect (image editor, paint and graphics program). If you are looking for a book that specifically tells you how to do these things, that will not be found here. You have to be "computer-literate" and software-literate to get the most from this book.

There is a lot of good information provided and several projects are shown using illustrations and photographs, not in a step-by-step format.

Ashford knows the art of computer craftmaking and provides the reader with very good starting points for crafts that intertwine computer and manual art. Regarding hardware/software she clearly favors Mac/Adobe, so her recommendations reflect this. In spite of this slant, she gives some helpful overviews of the technological side of various formats, graphic standards, etc.
Want to intermingle computer graphics with your arts and crafts? Here's a good starting point.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked the projects on beading around freeform crystals and seaglass. The beaded eyeglass and small bottles were also great. There are a few other quirky beaded items, but the rest of the book is useless. I should say I am an advanced beader, so the many projects on beading around a simple bezel don't interest me. So, if you're a mid to advanced beader, there isn't that much new.

I was very pleased to find this book! Basic instructions for right angle weave that are easy to follow, Ladder Stitch, Even Number Flat Peyote, Vertical Netting (or Lattice Weave,) Back Stitching and Couching.
Good Chapter for Straps, Necklaces and Fringe WITH PICTURE INSTRUCTIONS. Lots of ideas for odd ball beads and not beads that you can use in your beadwork.

It has a Wonderful Chapter (4) on Beading cabochons with some fresh Unique ideas for beaded straps and the stones. One is done with a Amethyst crystal wedge. Very clear instructions. She has some pictures of beaded brooches made with doughnuts and disks embellished with with beads that start in the center and work their way to the edges that I find inspiring. SHe even beaded a Magnifying Glass Necklace!

I found this book by accident while searching for beadwork books on Amazon.com and I'm soooooo glad I did! It includes many techniques for incorporating a variety of things into your beadwork and rather than offering only one design solution it gives lots of options. For example, I especially appreciated the inclusion of techniques for incorporating cabochons and larger found objects such as rocks and slabs without using the technique of gluing the object to a backing and couching around it but rather using beadwork exclusively to capture the object. Lots of eye-candy and interesting suggestions. This turned out to be a better all-around book of techniques than I expected it to be and I know I will refer to it often. It does have lots of projects in it if you want to just follow along and more or less copy them, but it also gives different techniques for straps, focals, etc. so you can mix and match them. I wish more beading books were like this one -- it really helps to expand a beader's design options!

This book is a keeper. The projects are delightful and instructions are clear. With Carole's pointers in mind, there are so many places to look other than bead shops for findings and inspiration. In addition, the book describes new ways of using old stitches that leave the reader with ideas of her own to pursue. Included are pictures of what other bead artists have done using the instructions from this book as a springboard for their ideas. "Beaded Jewelry with Found Objects" is a treasure for anyone who loves beading, and just looking through it is fun. Warning: looking through this book will leave you twitching to start a new beady project ... okay, okay, it'll leave you twitching to start A LOT of new beady projects.

I passed by this book a few times but I needed a bead book fix so I ordered and I'm happy I did. The designs are imaginative and there is a wealth of techniques to try. They are explained well with excellent diagrams. Lots of eye candy to boot.

I really like this book. Info and visuals to help the beginner and other levels of painters. I'll keep my copy.

She has many techniques that Donna Dewberry does not cover in the books of hers that I own. Some beautiful strokes using other brushes. I really like the tole painting look that this book demonstrates.

This book is just wonderful for round and flat brush stroke designs. It is also very well written and illustrated. For a beginner it is just great to see results almost instantaneously achieved. A Great work of art!!

I just received my book, and was absolutely thrilled with it. Maureen explains the use of different brush sizes, along with the most common brush mistakes made, and then, shows us how to correct them. Her step-by-step illustrations and instructions are very easy to follow. A must have for just about anyone who paints. Great pictures and patterns. From now on, anytime I paint, this book will be next to me.

This book has more information on brushstrokes and liner details than the last four acrylic painting books I've read put together.

I live in a very small apartment so I can't collect books, but this is one I will keep. Easy to follow directions and nice projects. Detailed information on how to make projects that are more complicated like dying fabrics. I received the book and made two projects over the weekend and have plans for a couple of more. This book is inspiring, well written, and COLORFUL! A must have, you won't be disappointed.

This is a wonderful book! Kristin Nicholas has taken embroidery to a new level with her colors and designs. Her instructions and diagrams are well displayed for even the novice at embroidery. I have been sewing for years and I can't wait to get started. Not your gramma's embroidery for sure. Love this book!

I must have 7 bookshelves of sewing/stitchery/needlework books and from among those this book rates an A+++. I *love* the "hand" of wool and she offers many ideas, photos, and clear, inspirational guidelines.

I stitch alone, I stitch in several styles, and I often stitch with a 13 year old granddaughter and we both found several ideas we plan to adapt and/or copy. By next Christmas we'll probably have created over 80% of our gifts, all from this book.

The author's writing is gracious and clear and leads me back to reading her words again and again. There's more to this than just "directions" but the directions are terrific as well.....even a 13 year old can attest to that.

HIGHLY recommended!

Embroidery projects usually focus on clothing, but they can be used to personalize a home, too - as embroiderer Kristin Nicholas demonstrates in COLORFUL STITCHERY: 65 HOT EMBROIDERY PROJECTS TO PERSONALIZE YOUR HOME. From dragonflies on pillows to lap blankets, egg cozies, and more, these colorful embroidery projects lend to gift-giving as much as home embellishment. Each comes with a full-page picture and easy details on fabric choice, notions and stitches.

The projects are so well explained in word and picture...hand drawn by he auhor artist: indeed the whole book is a work of art in itself. Every page a gem of color and inspiration and just plain fun! See page 172 for a fabulous project for oneself or a birthday party activity. This book is like a smile: everyone should have one......Claudia Birkeland

We have been so excited with the continued success of this, our first book. Worldwide sales of this title have now exceeded 50,000 which we think makes it the best selling book on glass painting. Don't miss our other books and our new book, The Complete Guide to Stamping is published in March 2004. If you have access to broadband internet, you can see our regular TV show, Alan & Barry's Craft Choice and a host of other shows on www.createandcraft.tv. We can also be seen regularly on HGTV in the United States.

Whew! I'm a busy gal, so if I take a minute to write a review, trust me it is a great book! I usually do stained glass, but sometimes life is too busy for that- it is very time consuming. If you crave simple, yet, beautiful art projects in glass, this is the book for you! From etching beautiful holiday glasses, to painting "modern-art" type vases. The details are excellent. You will know the right paint to buy for the project you are working on. No guesswork. Even the least crafty would be amazed at the results you can obtain with this delightful book. There are enough projects to keep you busy for at least a year if you do projects on the weekends.

Since I am a beginner to glass painting and have one book on the subject I was looking for something more comprehensive that covered other techniques. After reading the review and previewing from amazon's "look inside", I had to buy the book. "The Complete Guide to Glass Painting, is just what it says, it is a good start for beginners and and provides lots of projects, techniques and motifts for the more advanced glass painter. There are so many techniques I never though of that was not covered in my one glass book. When the book first arrived in the mail, I glanced through it quickly; now I am reading the book word for word so as not to miss a great tip. Each page is well designed and layed out for easy reading and understanding with visual direction. You can't go wrong. For those who have more knowedge, this book has 400 motifs to use or combine to create fantastic glass paintings and projects that spark ideas. If you must have a glass painting book, this will be the only one you will need. Allan and Barry, thanks for sharing your 20 years of experience, this is a great book. If the authors ever collaborated to produce anther book; I will be looking out for more of them.

If you just are getting one book about glass painting to try the hobby out then this is a good choice. It has a good overview of the materials available, step by step instructions for different techniques and templates to trace over (glass is perfect for tracing ;-) so you can get started on some small projects. The color pictures are plentiful and pretty, and the price is not too high as one might expect with color pics. Even if you are just into crafts and later find that glass painting isn't your thing the templates and pics can carry over into other crafts.

This is a good book if you know you want to try glass painting out.

The techniques presented in this book is good enough for a beginner like me to get started. However, the projects given in this book was not enough to motivate me to try them. I've found that the book was not organised enough for a beginner to go through the projects and progress from there.

Having said all this though, I still think that the book is a good reference to have and coupled with other books like Glass Painting (The Art of Crafts series) by Naazish Chouglay, you could learn more and appreciate the art as well as the techniques behind glass painting.

Although Patti Culea's books on doll making tend to be reptitious in some respects, it's nice to know that you don't have to buy all of them - or if you do, you don't have to pull all of them off your shelf at once in order to make your own art doll. All are excellent, including this one. Have fun!

I love all her books, very well illustrated and Amazon is fast at getting my orders to me. Thank you. Great information on clothing for doll making!

This book is marvelous! Couldn't put it down until I read it from cover to cover. Has great instructions and illustrations to get the creative juices flowing. Highly recommend.

Patti has done it again! She has inspired me to improve embellishments in all my work.
This is yet another fine book by a fine artist, Patti Medaris Culea.
Thank you for your contributions to the art world!

This is a must get book! I am a beginner doll maker and you should see my first doll. I got so motivated,I want to make more .What a inspiring book and buying it from Amazon was the lowest price. I saved $10 from Amazon rather then getting it from other sites. Sherry Collier

This book is wonderful if you are going to get a tattoo of a certain Kanji it has tons to choose from. I use this book almost everyday.. this is by far one of my best purchases.

What a great book! The presentation of multiple styles definitely caught my eye as I fanned through the book the first time; I was hooked! The introduction is very well written, and each page thereafter imparts a wealth of information that is simply a joy to read.

I love "power" words - single words that encompass my thoughts and feelings - and kanji characters are a beautiful way to express them. I found 'Designing with Kanji' in my effort to design my next tattoo. When I did not find exactly what I was looking for in the book, I contacted Leza and she promptly responded with the characters I needed. Great book - great woman!

I have been an admirer for Oriental Culture, and willing to understand Chinesse and Japanese writing. This book is an excellent source which explains a lot of Kanji symbols, and has several notes about interesting facts about it. I recommend it to all people looking to introduce themselves into this enigmatic and wonderful language.
Antonio Sobalvarro

Easy to read, follow, and use right away. Shows formal, modern, flowing, and stylish character sets. Describes the root, meaning, and nature of common Japanese words and phrases. The calligraphy is excellent. I only wish it was longer and more encompassing. Among other things I use this book as a supplement to Write Your Name in Kanji text by Nobuo Sato to write the characters more elegantly.

Lawrence Kane
Author of Surviving Armed Assaults, The Way of Kata, and Martial Arts Instruction

We had recently seen "The Last Samuri" so I was in the frame of mind to learn more about Japanese history and culture. I found this book on the Breakfast table one recent morning. The introduction and explanation of Kanji was clear and concise. This book provided a great beginning to the subject of how a culture influenced a language and how a language influenced a culture. I couldn't put it down for an hour or so. I'll refer to it often.

I bought this book when I was about 11 years old. I am now 20, and still use it. All the base folds are relevant for alot of the more advanced models that I fold. I will never get rid of this book, and it should be in every origami lover's library!

This is one of the best beginners books there is. Models are grouped into chapters covering the different origami models with a range of easy pieces which will give the beginner plenty of practice with basic folds and techniques. The finished results are attractive and in some cases downright exciting - the Steve Biddle Father Christmas is one of my favourite models. I also like the Kawahata pteranodon.

The book progresses towards more advanced work which is nevertheless produced in the characteristic clear style of the books by Steve and Megumi Biddle. They use standard diagrammatic language so that once you have learned from this book you will be able to pick up most other origami books and work from them.

In addition, once you have made all the models in the book you will be an intermediate level folder and ready for more advanced challenges!

I recommend this book which will make a great gift, but be sure to provide some paper with it as it does not include a pack of origami paper the way some beginners books do.

Very good diagrams. Projects range from very easy to more advanced, following a logical progression.
Appears to be out of print.
For beginners, I recommend Hediaki Sakata's _Origami_.(Please note that Amazon has an incorrect subtitle on Sakata's book).

I bought this book to broaden the range of things that I could fold (knowing just 2 or 3 origami before reading this). It has exceeded my expectations. Not only did I quickly learn new things that I could fold, I also learned a broad range of fundamental patterns for origami, plus I found detailed instructions on complex models.

There are a variety of simple hat, box, flower, and animal models that you learn from the very start, but the patterns range up to much more complex models, like a wonderful Santa Claus origami that I've folded several times to add to Christmas presents. That one still takes me about half an hour to fold, but I'm working on it. This book covers many origami that can be made from a fairly broad set of basic folds, so you can go a long way with just this book.

The instructions are generally very clear with words and pictures for everything you need to do. The models do build on one another, however, and later in the book there are often back-references to previous pieces (which may themselves refer to earlier pieces). You should not expect to jump immediately to the most complex origami (unless you have significant prior experience, I guess).

I was prepared to buy a couple of books, if necessary, to learn a variety of interesting things to fold, but having purchased this one, I have not felt the need to buy another so far. I highly recommend this book.

This is the perfect starting origami book it has wonderful digrams and most the models are pretty simple even the dragon shown on the cover is pretty simple, although there are a few harder models. The one downside to this book is there aren't very many origanal models although the ones that do exist are very cool. people just starting origami haven't seen that many models so what i just said isn't a problem for them. I highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn the art of origami

this was a great book but i bought it new form amazon and there was writing on the sides and cover.

This book is written with a sense of humor. It has lots of ideas, tips, recipes, and facts; it even has poetry. There are no patterns but plenty of ideas and pictures (to copy). This book is a delight!

I love this guy,I've been watching his website for years. Search under
Extreme Pumpkins.Not for the mainsteam friendly smiling pumpkin carver.
The book has great pictures and instructions. You get to use POWER TOOLS!
I recommend it as a great book for yourself and to give to any friends you have with a strange sense of humor! Warning your neighbors may think you've gotten a little too far out there!!!

I love this book! Not only are the pumpkin carving ideas amazing, but the guy has great suggestions with a good sense of humor. My only regret was that I ordered it late in October and I didn't get the book in time to pursue some of the projects for Halloween night. But it sure made for a great table book and conversation piece at my little Halloween get together. Next year we'll be ready to take some of these on! The photos are wonderful and we all cracked up, deciding which pumkin extravaganza was our favorite. So if you're seriously into having some Halloween creativity and fun, get this little book.
FUNNY!

This book is entertaining, hilarious, and is guaranteed to equally disturb your neighbors and make you a legend among the neighborhood kids come Halloween. Easy instructions to make one of the many bizzare pumpkins illustrated or to "take creative wing" and scare the bejeebers out of the neighbors! Put the fun back into Halloween-this book will show you how!!!

Recieved item on time, right when we were told it would arrive. Book in very good condition.

Tim Rasinski has successfully married theory and practice with this easy read, and included forms, resources and practical ideas that can be integrated into the classroom immediately. We purchased them for several teachers in the district so that they can get the strategies to students without delay. Strongly recommend this resource to others!

I ordered two copies. They arrived quickly and in great shape. Thank you.

This book is an excellent resource if you are teaching reading at any level. It is researched based and provides concrete, practical teaching tips.

Very practical for teachers but at the same time is research-based.