Arts and Crafts Books

A friend got this for my daughter and I, and a lot of the projects in it are really suited better for parents with younger children, that being said, we loved it.
My daughter is almost 13 years old, and while a lot of the projects were a lot easier then she likes, they gave her ideas for doing similar things with a bit more complexity. The cardboard castle is a favorite, and she's got big plans for building her brother a dice tower now.
The other thing the book had that we both liked was a lot of information about how things are recycled, and a timeline of disposable manufacturing, so we both learned from it. It's good without being overly preachy, and since it's recycled crafts, the crafts are very inexpensive to make.

I purchased this book as a gift for a school located in another state. I have no idea how good it is. However, I don't believe the school would have put it on their wish list if they didn't think it wasn't good. I purchase a lot of books from Amazon.com for this school.

An excellent book to help parents teach their children the importance of recycling while having fun as a family doing the crafts!
Potecting Mother Earth is a fantastic way of spending quaility family time together!

Laura Martin's Recycled Crafts Box is a compilation of forty ecologically-friendly projects and activities that can be done cheaply from old things, from crafting sock puppets and cardboard castles to rag coasters and colorful picnic plate flowers. A delightful resource for rainy-day fun, artistic stimulation, and stimulating quality time to be shared with young ones. Also a highly recommended creative diversion, especially as an alternative to the ever-present press of television and other passive media.

Simple patterns from the 1920's revived for today's quilter. Projects can be completed by children and adults together. A good family project.

Ms. Filo's book is informative and fun to read. Anyone who is "into" quilting knows of the creator, Ruby Short McKim. This book is geared to the novice as well as the expert. Her adaptations of the patterns make them applicable in a variety of ways besides the traditional baby quilt. The story of RSM is fascinating reading and leaves one wanting more information about this early pioneer in quilt syndication. Ms. Filo appears to be following the path of success from her new-found mentor. I hope Ms. Filo will continue to adapt the patterns of RSM, both the easy ones that can be used with children and the more difficult ones that stimulate the more experienced quilter. This is a rich American legacy that should be shared with this generation.

If you are interested in redwork, or embroidery, this book is well recommended. It is full of history of Ruby Short McKim, and includes the evolution of the patterns on the 75th anniversary of the publishing of this book. It has a nice ring binder so that you can open it up fully without breaking the binding. Lots of ideas.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! Unfortunately, I bought it because I thought the designs were copies of Ruby McKim's. I was very surprised to read that the author had "re-drafted" the designs and made "slight changes" to them (page 47). So be warned! If you are a quilter interested in making an exact reproduction of Ruby McKim's quilt, you are going to have to research the designs yourself.

This is a great santa collection, the charts are in full color, very easy to read.

You should to have it!

This is, so far, the best collection of Santas and Father Christmases I have yet encountered. The charts are color coded, and there are a great variety of designs. This is perfect for someone who knows a collector of all that is Father Christmas! I have even kept several to display myself.

Great book for all the cross-stisches crazy, like me. Sorry for my englis

This is one of my favorite cross-stitch books. I have already stitched 3 of the Santas from it and hope to eventually stitch them all. The photography is excellent and the charts are very well done. Along with each photo is some history about the various renderings of Santa. It is a great book for stitchers and Santa collectors alike!!!

This book is simply great. I bought several of Jean Potter's other books so when I found her name on line, I decided to buy this one. It is everything I thougt it would be and MORE! I love art, but never thought the two mixed. This is a book for every kid, teacher and parent!

I had never really thought how beautiful and mysterious and colorful and delightful science could be. This book inspires me, a person who has never really liked science all that much. Now I do! And I will pass that on to my kids when we do the Chromatography Art Experiment and separate colors on absorbant paper. Can't wait!

Like all of Mary Ann Kohl's books, this one is easily readable, with 1 activity listed per page, including pictures of the activity. It provides a reminder that science doesn't only happen at the science table! I often make my student interns choose an activity from this book (or MathArts)as the activities are open ended, process-oriented, and explained step by step. A great resource.

What a wonderful and unique approach to science education! This book is jammed full of one-page "art experiments." The key is to use art projects to learn some science principles. Among many of the ideas to learn are dissolving, symmetry, reflecting light, gravity and friction. The only drawback is that the book could benefit from an introduction on the inquiry-based approach to learning...From The Science Spiders(TM) Newsletter.

I own several books that deal with Heritage page design etc. This is definately one of the best. I looked at libraries and bookstores before purchasing this. It is the first one I bought in this category and still the one I go back to most often out of about 15 I own. Highly recommended.

I just got this book and I spent an entire evening going over every page. It inspries you to not just put pictures on a page, but tell a story behind them. She urges you to write about the sad times as well as the good ones. The page she did about being another Laura's namesake has inspired me to do one about the Aunt I am named for, and another one about my Grandmother's beautful blue eyes. Collect the stories, get the pictures and this book.. then enjoy creating a legacy that can be enjoyed by those who come after us.

I bought this book because of the wide variety of scrapbook techinques especially dealing with antiquing and aging scrapbook pages. I was surprised by the number of good ideas on how to scrapbook my grandparents.

This is a very nicely put together book. The layouts are interesting and the ideas for scrapbooking your families history through photos and memorabilia are easy to manage. The author is knowledgable and you can really make some lovely looking pages with her suggestions and ideas. Not the best book on this subject, but certainly worth the price!

Janet Shipley Hawks' SCULPTED THREADS: ARTFUL BROOCHES, EARRINGS, AND MORE tells how to sew multiple layers of thread to create fine blends of color and depth in some 13 projects. A home sewing machine and a variety of threads are all that's needed to create works of art in a range of useful forms: earrings, brooches, bowls, bags and more. Outstanding for any needlework crafter seeking something different. Not suitable for library lending but perfect for gift-giving is the 'Little Box' series of boxed instructions ($19.95 each). Crafters and needlework enthusiasts receive clear directions on portable project cards perfect for slipping into a bag for on-the-go project ideas. BRACELETS AND EARRINGS covers some twenty bracelets, many with matching earrings, which display different styles and contemporary, easy projects.

This is a whole new area of creativity for me. The book is beautiful to browse through. I'm finding that I can easily start and finish a project with no confusion and feel proud of what I've done! I am sure that after completing a few more described pieces, I'll even be ready to branch out on my own. Fun!!

What a creative, fun and easy use for all the beautiful threads available for home artists! This book is well written with detailed and easy to follow instructions. If you are one of those who need to see the pictures to figure it out, Sculpted Threads has full color photos at each step in the sewing process. The project gallery of photos will draw you in with the vivid colors of the thread art pieces and sparkling accent beads.

I've already tried two of the jewelry projects and both came out looking just as they should in less than an afternoon. I can't wait to dig deeper and begin working on an art bowl made completely of threads.

Creating purses and bowls with "just thread"? WOW! This book shows you just how do to that plus other things such as earrings, brooches and embellishments.

If you do machine embroidery or quilting, you will have some idea of how this works. Stabilizers, thread and free motion machine feet are all something you are already familiar with. Ms. Hawks takes you through the steps in easy to understand language and with plenty of photos to guide you along.

You begin with step-by-step instructions on making a brooch. Zigzaging your way across the stabilizer, flipping the piece over and doing it again and again and again until you get enough layers of thread that you see no light coming through, you now have your first square of the brooch done. See how simple that was?

The other sections of the book describe jewelry findings and shows photos of what these are or how to use beads or cording to enhance your projects. With over 60 pages of projects and the instructions to go with them, this book will keep you busy for many, many days to come.

This is the ultimate hybrid of reference book and page-turner, thanks to Harry Helms' superb writing style. Prose is liquid, even in the sections that have a lot of reference information. Absolutely recommended.

This is the ultimate hybrid of reference book and page-turner, thanks to Harry Helms' superb writing style. Prose is liquid, even in the sections that have a lot of reference information. Absolutely recommended.

I picked up the first edition of this book when I first became interested in shortwave radio about five years ago. Even now I still love going back to it. Harry Helms writes in such a clear and readable style, it's easy to find yourself breezing through chapter after chapter. Harry presents just enough technical information to give you a good understanding of the principles, without putting you to sleep with lots of equations and theory. This book is a great resource for those casually interested in short wave as a hobby and are looking for a book that will just "tell it like it is"...in a no-nonsense fashion. If you're interested in ham radio at all...I can also highly recommend All About Ham Radio by the same author...written in the same informal and easily readable style. Thanks for getting me on my way Harry!

As a newcomer to Shortwave listening, I found that Harry Helms' "Shortwave Listening Guidebook" has been the perfect introduction. It covers the technical aspects (such as the different parts of a shortwave receiver and how to use them, radio wave propagation, and antennas) in enough (but not too much) detail to be of use to the casual listener. There's an overview of the various shortwave bands, as well as what you may find between the bands. The many aspects of shortwave listening are covered, from listening to major broadcasters such as the BBC to such specialities as trying to hear distant stations, "pirate" broadcasters, and so on.

All in all, armed with both this book and "Passport to Worldband Radio", anyone should be able to enjoy shortwave listening.

If you are a serious silk painter, this is the book for you. Beginners need to start with the first Susan Moyer book which contains a plethora of info for those just starting. If you silk paint as a hobby or just for fun, this is it! Suusan Moyer obviously loves silk as much as you do!

This book contains a lot of basic, hands-on info on equipment and practical aspects of silk painting technique. What I have noticed most, is that everytime I go back to this book as my skill and experience increase, I grasp and learn more. Things I didn't pick up at all on from my earlier readings suddenly become real and make sense. This book concentrates heavily on wax, gutta and screen printing techniques. Roketsu-zome and alcohol techniques are covered in a very step-by-step, practical way. There is a lot of surface design, as well as garment design info. If you are interested in block printing, bleach discharge, or shibori, you would do better to choose another title. Complex Cloth by Dunneworld is another fabulous textile book that covers almost every technique. Highly recommend!

I hope this book will be back in print. It is beautifully illustrated and shows more than the standard silk painting techniques. The author introduces us, step-by-step, to various Asian techniques, which are really interesting. This book is written for beginning and advanced silk painters, so she also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of various dyes, waxes and resists, how to use them on various silks, and which tools (both Western and Asian) work best -- accompanied by lots of photographs so that you know what she is talking about.
It's a book worth having.

This is Moyer's second book. You need to understand her first book well before getting this one. But then DEFINITELY get it. Several other silk painting authors have followed a good first book with terrible 2nd and 3rd ones. That is certainly not true of Moyer. This book is every bit as excellent as her wonderful first book.

I have many coffee table books which all have merit but when I got Silver From Fetish to Fashion I was completely amazed, not only for the spectacular photography but for the layout and intelligent grouping of the items. Anyone interested in Silver, Fashion and beyond to simply the Beautiful should have this book.

Many museums and high-class travel agencies have specialty tours that emphasize particular themes and often cost thousands of dollars. Now, for less than $100, one can learn about silver and fashion while vicariously touring the entire globe. The personal vignettes, the gorgeous imagery and the addition of clear and attractive maps make the reader feel as if he or she is traveling with the Nadlers and seeing the world of fashion and silver through their eyes. Since their taste is impeccable and their international perspective well-informed, penetrating and full of humor and adventure, this is a tour and a tour-de-force not to be missed!

I live in Ottawa, Canada and last Septmber attended an illustrated lecture by Daniel Nadler on Silver: from Fetish to Fashion. It was so humorous, educational and interesting that I immediately bought his book. First, I approached if from the point of view of a fashion and jewelry-obsessed woman stuck in a mid-size Canadian city without access to great stores that can be found in some North American cities. I was amazed at how much I learnt about, not only fashion but geography, history, trade, ethnography, and most importantly the art of jewelry design. I highly recommend this book to fashionistas, artists, art students, jewelry designers and to anyone who would like to lose themselves in the world of wearable art. The Nadlers tell tales about their incredible collection with great wit and panache. Every chapter is full of well researched information. The photography of objects and women by both Nadlers is superlative. I have traveled through some of the regions but it was like seeing these places again through fresh eyes.

What a well organized and beautifully illustrated book! The Nadlers have transformed their passion for silver into an arresting journey around the globe. Every chapter provides an interesting orientation. Beautiful photographs and appropriate maps guide the reader through the historical and cultural context of a myriad of fine examples of precious silver collected in each country. With over 400 pages of high quality and beautifully bound text, a wealth of information and visual beauty await the discerning reader and connoisseur.

This is a great book! The photographs are clear (no annoying fade outs so you can't see the image) and there are many detail photos. The directions are well written and easy to follow. What I like best about this book, is how modern the projects actually are. I could easily picture finding the jewelry in this book at an upscale boutique or gallery. What's even better, the designs aren't trendy, which means you'll get a lot more wear from a piece and not feel its outdated a season later. I highly recommend this book!

This jewelry design book, Simply Modern Jewelry, by Danielle Fox, who is the Editor of Stringing Magazine, delivers just what the title implies it will deliver: a collection of stunning, cleanly designed jewelry projects which you will thoroughly enjoy making!
Each project is totally lovely to look at. There is a lot of variety as well. Yet there is even more than this to Simply Modern Jewelry.
The author writes in an easygoing, understandable manner, and comes up with great ways of teaching her projects. They each invariably have a wonderful appeal to the reader, as they are all pretty and "finished" looking. There is a good reason for this. It is one of her intentions to teach how to make jewelry which looks professionally made. She recalls in the introduction to the book that she once bought a special piece of jewelry for a special occasion. It looked so complicated to make! But it wasn't, she now knows, and she demonstrates how to create your own fabulous pieces right here in her book!
There are six sections to this book. The first is a section packed full of explanations of how to shop for beads, what tools and techniques to use, and how to understand the level of expertise you will use for each of the upcoming projects. I really loved the photos of the beads chosen as examples in this section, as I am a bead collector and they were lovely! The section is very clearly written as well, and a good kick off to getting the reader involved and ready to learn.

The following sections are all encompass different styles of making super pretty jewelry. The first is called "Find your Inspiration". This is something I believe is essential for beaders to grasp in order to truly be successful at creating good designs, so I was delighted to see such a great explanation of how become inspired by even the most everyday things around you, such as a pretty piece of wrapping paper which appeals to you, or a recent purchase of a dress, which is so lovely to you it seems to call out to you for special adornment.

The section called "Mix It Up" is very well done and inventive. I like unusual designs which use all sorts of combinations of things. This chapter has many projects which are great fun and are very surprising, like "Snap Fizz Pop", which makes use of soda pop bottle cap beads in a most entertaining manner. You could easily buy the book for this design alone! It's great! But wait! There's more!
The author has a wonderful flair for symmetry, as she shows in the following section called "Play with Symmetry". Once again she demonstrates that jewelry design should be fun as you learn to create beautiful, lasting pieces which you will enjoy for years to come. She doesn't miss a beat intriguing you with balance, color and drama in these projects. There is a great use of different forms of metal in this chapter. I really liked "Brass Menagerie"!
"Experiment with Sizing" and "Easy Does It" are the last two sections of this fine design book. The first one mentioned involves employing unusual lengths for design impact, and the second and final section has some sweet, quick projects so that all of us who feel like making a fast flowery ring (I am a sucker for flowers and rings!)or knotting up a cool cord necklace in a few minutes can satify that urge to create, and come up with some swift style.

If you want to learn how to shop for beads, what to look for in different components used in making jewelry, how to buy your tools and what to do technique-wise...if you wish to learn more about the principles of design, how to use color, and ways of obtaining inspiration from the things which surround you in your daily life, I recommend this book. If you want to make some perfectly lovely jewelry, I recommend this book. It has it all going on. There is a huge range in style and mood. There is much lovely color juxtaposition offered, as well. I think the author really outdid herself in that area!
The interesting thing is that I would bet if you looked through this book you would choose a design and say, "Ooooh! That is so ME!" I know that was one of my responses, frequently. And yet I am not you and you are not me! It is this fine teacher, Ms. Fox, who is imparting her enthusiasm and her knowledge who is making us feel this way.
That is what a good designer and teacher can elicit from her readers: a desire to learn to bead, and bead well, simply because the projects are so lovely, clear, interesting and unique. I recommend this book for all levels of beaders.

At this point I am wondering why I ever bought jewelry when I can make these fabulous designs at home. The easy to follow instructions are a huge help. Thanks, Danielle, for a great book. I will be making some of your creations for my daughters' and nieces' birthday and Christmas gifts.

This is a great book with beautiful jewelry. Danielle has done an excellent job of combining exquisite taste with modern flare. For someone who likes to make jewelry but lacks "vision" this is a great guide. And I'm not just saying this because she's my sister!