Crafts Books

Diferente, hermoso, con un tono narrativo que no es el típico de los libros para chicos. Cuanto más se lo leo a mi hijo de dos años, más me gusta, más posibilidades de narrarlo descubro desde su economía de palabras y la expresividad de sus dibujos. Con frases cortas y texto breve, es perfecto para los más chicos.

This little pig is great! What a fun story to read with your little ones!

Great Book!!!!
As a parent that reads ALOT to her two kids, I need books that will entertain me as well as them- and this is one of those books! The story is funny and the illustrations are wonderful!

This book is an excellent addition to any child's library. The board book edition holds up better to little ones who still chew on their books.

This book makes me chuckle when I'm reading it to my daughter. She's not sure why I think the illustration on the sand castle page with "she got pretty good" is so hilarious--- but it'll slay you if you're a grown-up. These books are really really witty. you hear this a lot- but they're great for kids AND grown-ups!

I had read another book on making lampwork beads which left me wanting so much more. I decided to purchase Passing the Flame and wish I would have purchased it first. Cornia's step by step instructions are what I needed as a beginner. I read her instructions, try making the bead and if I fail read the instructions again. This is a must have book for any lampwork bead creator, especially if you are a beginner. She "talks" to you and makes everything very understandable. I can't thank her enough for her instructions and tips.

Es un libro completo, excelente para los que comenzamos en este bello hobby, los paso a paso, asi como las demas explicaciones son tan graficas que se entienden facilmente aun estando en otro idioma, lo recomiendo ampliamente, ahora será más facil para mi realizar el curso de lampworking, gracias.

I had heard that this book was the "bible" of glass bead making and so I had to buy it even though it was quite expensive.
I must admit I was a little disapointed by it. I found the content all a bit jumbled and hard to follow. There is no doubt that this book is packed with amazing and useful info, but it's a bit hard to access because of the layout.

I like clear pics, not too much text to wade through and I'd always rather see big, clear images of a process than a full on written description - most creative people are visual learners, so loads of text really isn't much use.

Perhaps I wouldn't have minded if it was a bit cheaper. I'm still glad to bought it and I do wade through it sometimes and find out really useful stuff, but I just feel that it could have been so much better.

I love this book. I use it all the time when making beads. The techniques are understandable. Corina's sense of humor shines through and makes me laugh! Thanks!

Is the most comprehensive and beautiful book on lampworking out there. You can follow the prokjects and techniques and the pictures are just brilliant!

Love Living With Limoges complete marks section, complete descriptions and complete price guide. Wonderful photographs of antique pieces of Limoges. Love this book but I prefer Debby DuBay's Antique Limoges at Home - my book of choice.

Living With Limoges is beautiful and I love this book. The pieces are outstanding, the descriptions complete and text is informing and intertaining. Highly recommend Living With Limoges!

I'm very excited about finding DuBay's book through her web site limogesantiques.com - her books are wonderful. I have inhereited many pieces of Limoges and her books helped me identify the factory, the marks, and to date each piece. I highly recommend LIVING WITH LIMOGES it is the best book on the market - except for DuBay's ANTIQUE LIMOGES AT HOME and COllecting Hand Painted Limoges Porcelain Boxes to Vases.

Living With Limoges is just wonderful. Fantastic photos of the most beautiful pieces of antique Limoges I have ever seen. I could not find this book at my local book stores, shopped the net and found www limogesantiques com and www collectinglimoges com and found Debby DuBay's fantastic reference books on Limoges. It had all of the marks and I found the back stamp I was looking for. This book is a must.

I have all of the books on Limoges but I love Living With Limoges! As a college professor I really enjoy the way author Debby DuBay relates to the reader, her enthusiasm, and subject knowledge. HIGHLY RECOMMEND Debby DuBay's trilogy on "collecting Limoges" and a visit to www.limogesantiques.com

I am so glad I purchased this book. It was very informative on tools, materials and the how to's for designs and projects. It is a great book for me, a beginner.

I bought this book when it was published, and three years later, I still think it is probably the best book on beginning wire work out there. It has very clear, step by step instruction on the basic wire work techniques and some alternative methods of forming. The only mystery for me is how she manages to flush cut good jump rings from 14 gauge wire. When using 14 gauge wire or even 16 gauge, I always saw cut my jump rings. The result is much better -- at least for me.

I'm just starting with wire work and found this book to be very helpful. Good pictures and instructions. I've been very pleased with this book and have made several of the projects.

I have checked this out from the library so many times and finally just decided to buy it. This book goes into more detail than all the others I have read about wire and bead jewelry. It is obvious she puts a lot of care and effort into her craft and shows you how to do the same. Even something as simple as making a spiral is refined in way to make a tighter nicer looking spiral (in my opinion). I refer to this book often.

This was an interesting book, but I am a true novice, and don't feel ready to take on making some of the items shown. It did give me good ideas however, and I doubt if anyone who is interested in wire working would regret this purchase.

I've been knitting forever, and have lots of books and magazines on the subject. This book is now my ultimate resource for clear instructions and tips for nearly every step of a project. There is no wasted space; every single topic is concise and logical. The question-and-answer format was a little annoying at first, but there's a good index in the back. BUY THIS BOOK before stocking up on more expensive, larger books that may not have the clear answers that this one does.

As I am teaching myself to knit and crochet, many questions keep popping up during my projects. Though I have purchased a multitude of books, I find that only this book has the answers to the perhaps "offbeat" or unusual questions that I generate.

Have yarn but am not great at remembering all of the different special stitches. This will be my reference as I start small projects. Need to get back in the groove. Great, clear reading and good illustrations.

I believe I am a fairly experienced knitter, and I have this book with me at all times!! It is the only "knitting bible" for me. If you have any questions, the answer is in this book. I have had it for over a year now, and just bought a copy for my friend that is starting to learn how to knit.
I had a question about buttonholes, wanting to create my own for a cardigan (the pattern called for crochet edging which I have no clue how to do) and not only did I find a wonderful type for my sweater, there were also other types of knitted buttonholes, with complete instructions and pictures!!
I HIGHLY recommend this book for all levels!!

I admit that I carry this book in my knitting bag, and use it often, but I find it very frustrating to do so. I'm surprised at how highly it is rated by so many knitters. I bought it to be a reference quide that would be informative and thorough--more than a glossary, but still small enough to be carried in my knitting bag. It is thorough, informative, and compact, but as a reference guide it is lacking. For me, as a reference guide, the question and answer format is clumsy and gets in the way of finding information. That's not a big deal and I would overlook that if the index was robust and enabled me to look things up quickly, but that's the frustrating thing about this book. I'm not a novice, but I'm not always sure exactly what an abbreviation means or maybe I need to brush up on a technique I haven't used in 6 months or I wonder if there is a better way to do something. So I go to the index with a keyword in mind, but too often, it's not there; I have to think about what broader topic would include the information I'm looking for and work backwards. Given the way the information is organized, that isn't always easy and I've found myself skimming chapter after chapter to find something that should be an easy thing to look up.

As I said, I wanted more than just a glossary and when I do find what I am looking for I appreciate the detailed instructions and clear illustrations. I'm impressed with the amount of info in such a small book and there are lots of answers here. The problem is that most of the answers will only be found if you sit down and read the book chapter by chapter. If you have a specific question in mind, it will be hit or miss trying to find the answer. I realize that this book can't be all things to all people, but I have to think that because it is small, at least one of the intentions is that it be a portable reference guide. If that's true, then the content needs to be a lot more accessible. If the index was beefed up, I would recommend this book with 4 stars and feel that it's worthy of taking up space in my crammed knitting bag.

For my daughter's first birthday, I wrote and illustrated a story for her about the day she was born. I'm no artist, mind you, but she loves it. (If you want to, I believe you can use the computer to make very simple sticker-like illustrations instead of drawing.) It was especially meaningful to her when her baby sister was born this last year. I am buying a new one for the little sister as well. I think it's a terrific idea for making a personalized keepsake FOR your child or grandchild.

The only drawback, you do have to be a little creative regarding the words per page limit.

This is such a great item and worth every penny. We'd love to do these every year and get duplicate copies for our families. This is a great way to capture the different stages of creativity in your children - and rewarding to them when they see their story "published" in a real book. Highly recommended for all ages!

I bought this book for my grandughter that is 10 years old and loves to write stores. It was a wise pick for me , as it is right at her age level. Easy to understand , Easy to follow directions . For any child that loves to write stores, or to encourage a child to write it is a great book.

Got this for my 6-yr old daughter's birthday. It was easy for us to do together. The great fun was getting the completed, hard-bound book back in the mail! She was so proud to be an author! She even took it to school to show her class. It's a great gift & a great keepsake.

We bought the first of these for our son when he was 3 1/2 and helped him create his first book. He loved it and would read it to us daily. He's five now and has 'created' 5 additional books (this time without our help). He loves this and has decided that he's going to become a writer when he grows up (after he becomes a pilot). As a result of creating the ILLUSTORY books, he's started keeping a journal (which we thought was a big endeavor for a 5 year old- but he's managing to write in it every day about the perils of kindergarten, of course!) Kudos to the makers of this product for keeping children educationally entertained!!

Like other positive reviewers, I love that following this book, I can make a sock of any size using any weight yarn and that I can use a stitch from another source and interchange heels and toes from different sock patterns.

I share none of the others' complaints. Though I'm a novice sock knitter, the directions are easy for me to follow, with one big exception. I describe my problem in the paragraphs that follow, hoping to elicit advice from other readers. Nevertheless, I want to emphasize that in spite of this difficulty, I am impressed by the clarity and versatility of this highly informative book.

Shurch is unclear on where a heel flap begins on a toe-up sock. On page 59, she says knit "to desired length of foot minus heel measurement. See charts on pages 13-14." On page 13, an illustration indicates that the measurement goes up the back of the foot, a heel flap for a top-down sock. Schurch does not state whether this length is the same when the heel flap covers the bottom of the heel for a toe-up sock.

I tried her advice on page 11, "the heel flap is worked from the middle of the arch," and my sock was too short. Then, I referred to page 41, and knit "until sock reach[ed] anklebone." My sock was too long. Subtracting the excess length, I succeeded on my third try.

Using this book, I would not knit a toe-up sock for someone else, at least not until experience tells me whether the heel flap is the same length on the bottom of the foot as it is on the back of the foot.

This book is great. There are lots of patterns for socks and good instructions and pictures.

I was very pleased with this book, it was exactly what I wanted and I received it is a very short time, actually sooner than I had expected.

I have many general reference books on knitting with chapters devoted to socks and a few specialty books on socks but this was worth every dime to me. If you have never knit a sock you'll be walked through the process but there are graduated patterns and different methods of knitting socks. You can be creative by plugging in patterns that are difficult or simple and size them for whoever you want to knit them for. It does require some concentration at first but the more I use it the more I love it. The sock photography is very inspiring.

This book is alot better than most of the books I have on knitting socks. The patterns are interesting, the yarn choices are vared and I like the instructions MUCH better than any of the Vogue books. I haven't had time to knit any of the patterns yet, but do have 2-4 marked out to make. I'd recommend this book for someone who has a good idea of how to knit socks.

I recently bought the Ashely book of knots because I thought it would tell me how to tie every knot on the planet. I found it a bit confusing because it did not use colors to illustrate the knot ties. It was hard to follow most of the knot patterns. Also it did not have climbing knots used by most rescue people. I found a great site that does animation and colors: http://www.animatedknots.com/doublefishermansrescue/index.php . Perhaps if the book came with a DVD it would be better. I know it is an old book...but come on...we have new technology now!

If you need to learn knots, or just enjoy knot tying as a hobby, this book is essential for everyone.

this is a classic, the definitive resource on all manner of knots, easy to follow and full of "old world" charm

This book is everything I hoped for! I previously purchased Graumont & Hensel's Encyclopedia of Knots, but as I did more research kept hearing about Ashley. I finally got it and it does have material about most every knot known. I would recommend it as an anchor for anyone who does fancy work, research, or uses rope on a daily basis. There are other web sites and books that have better details for tying the knots, but nobody has all of them in one place like Ashley. I would have liked to have purchased the first ed., but did not have the money and this edition does have corrections or clarifications. Anybody who buys it should be well pleased with their purchase.

Firstly, I want to chide all those whose lame counting of the book's contents parrots publisher information, such as "The result of Mr. Ashley's research was a significant collection of 7,000 drawings of 3,900 knots" -- this is nonsense: Ashley numbers every **illustration**, culminating with "#3854"; and among these there are both a great many duplicates (a quick look in the Index will show many occurrences for "Two Half Hitches", "Clove Hitch", & "Constrictor", e.g.), and there are many illustrated items that most folks won't regard as "knots". A more realistic figure for hitches, e.g., is around 100-200, and likewise for loopknots & bends.

People who are fascinated by knots refer to this book as "the bible", and often refer to particular knots by some Ashley illustration number -- which is a good step towards removing the typical ambiguity of knot names!

More than most knots books, Ashley gives historical and practical information about his subject; and, also more than most, his information is more reliable. I.p., this book is VASTLY superior to the seemingly competing knots tome, _Encyclopedia of Knots & Fancy Ropework_, which seems to be mostly a product of silly imagination by authors unconcerned with reality or good sense (to put it mildly!).

But Ashley wrote in a time preceding modern synthetic fibres such as nylon, polypropylene, and polyester (to say nothing of HMPE, aramids, composites, and coextruded fibres), and his inventory of knots reflects this -- perhaps most especially regarding anglers knots. Someone interested in learning about arborists' climbing/friction hitches or rockclimbers belay and anchor rigging or fishing knotting/rigging will find little or no help here.

This books rocks my socks. I'm a novice cross stitcher and this book has some fun, basic designs you can make right away. It also has a great resource guide and other ideas to further you on your cross stitching career once you've got the basics. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to pick up cross stitching or those who are sick of stitching cutesy bunnies and flowers and such and are looking for something new and fun.

This is such a fun concept. Cross stitching seems inherently to be such a lady-like hobby, but these patterns are anything but lady-like. The book is very easy to understand, too; I hadn't cross stitched in about 10 years, but that was no problem.

Subversive Cross Stitch makes a good gift for the cross-stitch enthusiast with a quirky sense of humor. The book includes patterns for cross-stitch projects with a twist, as well a helpful guide to making your own projects.

A word of caution, however, this book may not be appropriate for young viewers as it does contain some profanity. Otherwise, it's rollicking good fun!

If you're easily offended, surrounded by people who are, or simply lack a sense of humor entirely, this is simply not the book for you. Clear, informative instructions and patterns make this a great book for a beginner, while the freedom to change the charts as you please will make the adept smile. Then there's the content: Oh lord, how I have suffered through the ghastly aisles of Precious Moments and sappy angels and babies! Finally a book for those of us who need a little salt with our otherwise wholesome obsession with stitchery. And it's so cute, sitting there on your table, and your mother-in-law will pick it up, and wonder, and then read, and then howl (perhaps in delight?)...

(New Hallmark slogan)
"If it's good enough to send to Ann Coulter, that's good enough for me!"
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/1127071coulter1.html
(the police report mentions this book, because some fool sent a card to her!)
(on pages 3 & 4)

The projects in this book look professional but are made with grocery store items! Very doable. The photos are well done, descriptive, leave no questions as to how to do something. Sometimes we just sit down and read it like a coffee table book. Each cupcake is ultra creative and inspiring.

I just got home from a little vacation and found this book waiting for me. I went through it and I can't wait to try it. It shows you step by step how to do everything. I have a lot of baking and cooking books but this one has me the most intrigued. Some books have these great photos but have you on your own as far as replicating them, but that is not the issue with this book. They even tell you how to make your frosting bag and tip out of a zip lock bag and scotch tape! There are so many different designs in this book and it tells you everything you need to make awesome little cakes and the best part for me is that they don't use fondant! They make great use of different candies to make the flattened colorful pieces and none of that tasteless fondant that so many books rely on now. These are truly creative ideas and come with step by step instructions and templates. I can't wait to try them out!

This book has some unusual and fun decorating ideas for cupakes with no special equipment needed.

I bought this book because I saw the writer on the TODAY SHOW. The ideas to decorate cupcakes are the best. I bought it for my grandson and his Mom to use over the summer rainy days, along with lots of decorations to compliment their creations. My daughter absolutely loved this book! I highly recommend it to anyone who loves to create in the kitchen!!

Easy to follow and wonderful results. Such cute ideas to turn cupcakes into little cakes of art.