Arts and Crafts Books

It is astonishing every potter should know it
It say most news that other book don't write in a way simple and undersatndable even for the novice.
I find that is complement is another book on the glaze spectrum written by robin HopperThe Ceramic Spectrum: A Simplified Approach to Glaze and Color Development.

This is the best book to start with and never part with if you are a clay artist.

Everything you ever wanted to know - and more - about clays and glazes. If you just want a quick introduction to the topic, you should skip this book. If you want a well-written, very thorough, and very clear explanation of basic ceramic principles, this is it. If you want to go even further, delving into the intricate complexities of specific clay and glaze formulations, that's all here too.

Very good book that's being used for text in my husband's ceramics class. A good book for anyone having questions about pottery, clay ans glaze

this book is quite informative of clays, glazes, colorants, temperatures and many little details that a ceramicists needs in order to experiment and produce different effects with various materials. this books is very helpful and easy to read..

It's beautiful and teaches kids (and parents) how to appreciate art in a simple way. Lifelong lesson that demystifies art. Love it. It engaged my son since he was 3 and he's 4 and still loves it.

The story and illustrations are top-notch. This book is an excellent tool for children learning to appreciate art and artists. Every child should own a copy of this book!

Buyer beware -- these note cards fold to 3"x5".

My 4 year old granddaughter loves the book. I enjoyed seeing many famous works of art converted to elephant-views of the world -- a refreshing reframing of the familiar. All ages can benefit from this.

This is a review for the note cards. They are beautiful. The whimsical images lifted from the book are printed on decent/usable cardstock, and are definitely fine but the envelopes are much, much higher quality than you normally see in a product like this. The box itself is wonderful and will be something you keep long after the cards are all gone.

This book had a lot of really fun art ideas that my boys loved. It is very hands on, and you can mix in science with your art. My history buff loved the art history, and this book inspired much online investigation and a planned trip to our local art museum. It is a great way to introduce your child to real art- but is also fun and "crafty." My high-energy boys loved this book, and I can not recommend it enough.

I buy these books because my grandkids love them too. They always have age appropriate topica and seem to keep pace with their interests as they grow. They are challenged and they learn as they work through the books. Mom & Dad love them too.

This was a huge hit with my two daughters, ages 6 and 8. They passed many hours going through every project/exercise in the book. Later they devised ways to create their own projects based on ideas form the book. We also discovered which crafts the kids wanted to follow up on, we have ordered materials for metal foil embossing, etc. based on our experiences with this introductory book. I recommend this book highly, your kids WILL enjoy it!

I bought this book for my nephew, who is 10 years old. He opened his present and started looking through it right away, ignoring his other presents waiting to be opened. There is a nice selection of different activities in this book. I would recommend it for older children as it includes activities that require lots of cutting and pasting, and the tempura painting could be messy with younger children.

Crafty people will like this book, and all of klutz other books. This one has lots of fun things to do, and will keep you busy for a long time. You get to play with stickers, do sunburn art, paint with eggs (this sounds strange, but it works!!), and tons of other stuff. It's a cool book.

Not my type of card making. Some good ideas, but probably for the card maker who has been doing it for a while.

This is truly a marvelous book! The techniques included to make greeting cards in a bundle encourage creativity, are very artistic, and encourage originality in design. It is the kind of book any artist interested in greeting card design would like to have in his/her library for reference and inspirational purposes.

I love this book. It's very inspirational. Like most people, I work on my cards etc. one at a time but am tantilized to learn about making them in batches when necessary. You need to actually train yourself to let-yourself-go and still produce something exciting. The teaching in this book is great for beginners, yet still an invitation to challenge for the more experienced! An added bonus is Judi's wonderful storytelling!

I really enjoyed this book. It is well written, with clear instructions and great examples. This is the kind of book that you will go back to again and again. It also inspires you get out your stamping stuff and start making batches of cards. I highly recommend this book.

This book is great for making you think about your creative process in a whole new way. I'm sure many of you, like me, make your cards one at a time, with one recipient in mind and by the time you've got out the right papers, stamps, inks, tools, and embellishments, it takes well over an hour or two per card (or maybe I'm just a perfectionist)!
Anyway, Judi Kauffman sweeps that mindset aside and says, "Just do it!" She uses a lot of different materials (cork, punches, clay, found objects, embossing/diecutting machines), but what I found most useful were her layout ideas in the front of the book--12 to 15 of them, all based on design principles that many of us might not have been trained in.
I know I have often sat pondering how to come up with a pleasing arrangement of elements on my cards and having a batch of standard designs to refer to will simplify the guesswork and speed up the process.
I also appreciate that she provides the manufacturer's names of the products she uses. I, for one, want to know why artists prefer special brands and in most cases in the book we learn why (e.g., use round sponges for daubing on soft colors of ink b/c they don't have the harsh edges that other square/triangular sponges do).
Overall, though Judi's style of cardmaking might not be your cup of tea (it wasn't mine in most cases), her freeflow methods and suggestions provide many a springboard for creative inspiration and guidance. This is a keeper for your creative library.

The cover was great but the other patterns inside I don't like as well and will probably not use.

Good and informative book for everyone who like Paperpiecing
A lot of new inspiration and easy to work with

Carol Doak's Simply Sensational 9-Patch Stars: Mix and Match Units to Create a Galaxy of Paper-Pieced Stars

This is the best thing I have seen on paper piecing. Carol is the expert.

Until now I had never attempted paper piecing, but with this book it was so easy. Tips, CD, pictures, the designs, were out of this world. Love all the possibilities using just a simple square then combining them into a 9 patch block. Thanks Carol

We ordered this for my wife who is all wrapped up in quilting. This is one of several of Carol Doak's books, and it is especially interesting bececause it reports that C. Doaks has and sells a special paper for paper piecing, which save the whole house from being covered by very tiny pieces of floating paper. All of C Doak's books have many, many patterns of various styles and colors from which to choose. She is very impressive!

This is a very colorful book with a wide verity of designs to choose from. I would not recomend it for the beginning sticher or anyone who wants quick simple projects, for everyone else this book is worth the price

The projects are so beautiful, you won't want to stop until you find a place for every project. I found that the charts were easy to follow, and I didn't get "bored" in the middle. I highly recommend for anyone wanting a lot of color and variety.

Despite decades of designing my own needlework patterns, I found Kooler's delightful horses irresistible; and after three years of adapting them into a queen-size bedspread, I still haven't tired of them, but my book's taken a beating! Though intricate enough to satisfy a veteran needleworker, the easy-to-follow charts put these superb designs within reach of newcomers to the craft. Even those of you who don't embroider will enjoy perusing this beautiful collection.

I bought this book over four years ago and have enjoyed it every since. Each of the twelve carousel horses can either be used as a "month" decoration or a "holiday" decoration. What I like the most about this collection is that it shows alternative ways to use small portions of the designs to create new and beautiful gifts. For example, I used a small floral from the "June Bride" carousel horse design to create name place cards for my own wedding. It was beautiful! Opportunities abound in this book!

This is a beautiful book of wonderful carousel horses. the group to which I belong has a tie in to carousel horses and I purchased this book, in fact I purchased two. Twelve ladies each took part in a project to create a quilt which showcased Donna Kooler's horses. The quilt was then raffled off with the proceeds going to breast cancer research. The pictures in the book do not do justice to how beautiful the finished products are--but they come close. I'm already being asked about next year's project!

Bought this for my borther in law and he liked it alot, its a book he wanted to get and now owns it. He does wood carvings of birds and this is a very detailed good book for beginners and pros alike!

I have an extensive library of carving books to include the two classics "Raptors" and "Owls" by Floyd Scholz. Lori Corbett's book has earned a place among my finest carving books. It is well conceived, well organized and clearly written. Steps in carving are logical and easy to follow; yet, not trite. The writing is crisp and interesting. While there are many, many books on carving Lori's sets a high standard for others to strive. In all aspects this book excels to include pictures, illustrations, diagrams, and both carving and painting instructions. I recommend that if a carver can only afford one book of instruction and inspiration, then purchase Lori's "Carving Award Winning Songbirds" -- and at half the price of most other books! In the near future, I shall attempt to learn whether Lori can instruct as well as she can write. My thanks for a marvelous book. Mel Donaho, long time carver and instructor

I found the instructions to be clear and well written. The photography is outstanding. One of the best books I own.

The book gives a refreshing look at newer techniques with allot of good reference material.

Simply the most comprehensive manual on bird carving that I own.

Most books suffer some kind of short-coming. Muehlmatt's book is good, but lacks painting information. Hillman's are totally worthless..

But this book covers everything....painting, habitat, anatomy...everything.

If you are new to bird carving...buy this book FIRST! If you are a seasoned carver, buy it because you will learn something from it.

This book is an excellent tool for learning how to create original designs. It leads the reader through the knotwork process step-by-step instead of giving a collection of knotwork designs for the reader to copy. I was most impressed by one of the final sections, which describes and illustrates how to embellish your knotwork designs with zoomorphics, or animal shapes integrated into the design.

CELTIC KNOTWORK DESIGNS by Sheila Sturrock is a nifty little book. As complex as the Celtic knots appear, it all comes down to this, they can be reduced to curved and straight lines, the most important combination being the "small hearts". Sturrock says there are four basic hearts and she provides examples of each displayed against a grid. Almost anyone can create the grid as it consists of lines of dots applied with a ruler. These dots are then used as the basis for organizing the hearts, parts of hearts and straight lines that makeup the most complex design. The only other thing you need to study are the anima elements in the zoomorphic designs that also are based on hearts, parts of hearts and lines.

One needs the following for making Celtic knotwork: the materials listed by Sturrock, patience, imagination. Not everyone may be a gifted needleworker, but those willing to work at it will be able to master this straightforward art. I am using this book to instruct young girls.

If you want to learn to draw Celtic knotwork, you need this book. It explains in detail and excellently detailed color diagrams how to plot the points for many different kinds of knotwork. From simple two-strand braids all the way up to interwoven animals, it is simply gorgeous and comeletely easy to understand. I can barely draw a straight line, yet I can use this book to create intricate designs for t-shirts, jewelry, embroidery and more. I've even had a couple friends who are tattoo artists borrow it to improve their techniques.

After wrestling with the venerable George Bain, I turned to this book to get a handle on Celtic knotwork. Sheila Sturrock breaks down the framework of knots into simple, basic shapes, allowing the reader to start making decorative knots within minutes of picking up the book. It proved to be a good starting point for me.

This book is for people who would like to be able to design Celtic knotwork for quilling, parchment craft, woodcarving, painting, counted cross-stitch, or needlepoint (to name a few examples). It allows you to design beautiful frames, invitations, carved boxes, greeting cards, pillows--let your imagination run wild! I used this book to design watercolor frames.

The author divided up her chapters according to the knotwork design's basic construction unit, e.g. small loops, hearts, fish, corner motifs, etc. There is also a chapter on "Creating Your Own Designs" and one on "Using Knotwork Designs in Other Crafts."

All of the illustrated patterns are based on angles of 45, 90, and 180 degrees and are plotted on a dotted grid, which makes them fairly easy to resize and replicate on graph paper. All you need in addition to the graph paper is a pencil and the ability to find a quiet spot and concentrate on your design.

The many colored illustrations are beautiful, and the knotwork diagrams are easy to follow if you give them the attention they deserve! The author has also written a handbook on Celtic knotwork, and one entitled "Celtic Spirals and Other Designs."

The knowledge the authors have on Christmas collectibles is massive. They are historical,and humorous. I bought the first book when I started collecting pixies and learned so much more from them about trim, authenticity and why people started decorating the way they did from the early 1900's through the 60's. This book is lovely, but their other book is better. I hope they write a third.

This is a such a fun little book! Warm holiday memories, lots of humor and beautiful photography. I thoroughly enjoyed every page! The best gift book you will ever find for a vintage/antique ornament collector.

Charming and nostalgic, giving us a glimpse into the history of holiday adornment. A great stocking stuffer!

Debbie Elliott

Even if you're not particularly sentimental about Christmas, the images and recollections of the authors are a delightful experience. The photos and graphics are charming and magical, obviously done by people who truely love the Christmas season. Anyone can appreciate the vintage flavor of this little gem.

This book brings back so many great memories of Christmas and decorating the tree. It was so much fun reading and looking through every page for ornaments that we might have had on our trees over the years and seeing the many different kinds of ornaments. It is a book that I will spend much time reading and viewing for many, many years.

I LOVE this book! I haven't found a better kids' craft/idea book than this. Very cute ideas, the instructions are very easy-to-follow (nice illustrations that children can understand and views of the "finished product" to motivate kids), and I love that most of the projects only require items that I already have in the house. My three year old daughter has loved everything we've made from the book and it always keeps us busy when things start to get dull.

This book is FABULOUS!!! All the crafts I have used from this book have been excitedly anticipated and completed by my students from the very young to six years old. It is brightly illustrated and filled with a trove of ideas.

"I'm soooo BOOOOOORRRRED!"

You'll never hear this again from the kids in your circle. If you are Mom, Big Sis, Babysitter or Favorite Auntie, you need this book in your arsenal of tools to keep kids (and you) enthralled with many and varied activities to pass the time happily and productively!

There's something here for the holidays, different media, clear, detailed instructions, illustrations, a color wheel and an index!

THIS BOOK IS GREAT! Turn free time into happy time -- I guarantee you'll find tons of stuff that you and your kids will love to make and keep as treasured keepsakes. The best part is that wonderful feeling of pride and accomplishment that even very young children can have from completing a project.

Very highly recommended!

Exactly what the editorial review and all the reviewers said, bottom line: this book is absolutely amazing. I get most of my material from dollar store or everyday home item. Pictures are vivid and clear even my kids understand what is going on (3 and 4 years old). I'm a very neat, tidy person and these ideas are not messy at all. My kids can do most of these activities

I love this book! I am not a crafty person at all but my kids like to do it. There are so many easy crafts with things you should have around the house. Plus most of them don't make a huge mess!