Crafts Books

Over the years I have written countless thank you, congratulatory, encouraging and sympathy notes for my loved ones. So many of my friends and family told me how much my words touched them and that I should consider writing greeting cards. The idea appealed to me but I didn't know where to begin. While at Barnes and Noble I came across the book: Write Well and Sell Greeting Cards by Sandra M. Louden. That little book answered my every question and in an easy step by fashion took me from how to conceive of a greeting card idea to how to get it sold. The book even included names and address of various greeting card companies. I can't begin to tell you how much this book has helped me. If you want to avoid making time-consuming mistakes and be successful at writing greeting cards I strongly suggest that you buy Sandra M. Louden's book: Write Well and Sell Greeting Cards.

Sandra M. Louden offers a wealth of real life expertize and advice on how to not only "think" about the freelance business of writing greeting cards but also how to actually "do" it! It's an easily-readable "soup to nuts" guide that even explains how to set up a filing system in your home. (Over a weekend, I read the book, collected the supplies, put them all in a banker's box and was ready to go!) The author avails herself to Internet access for follow-up communication and offers a "verse critiquing" service. A fun and inspiring book to get you started!

This book covers every imaginable topic a prospective greeting card writer needs to know. Once you pick it up, you will read it cover-to-cover, and will be inspired to get started in the business. I first read the book this past July and immediately began to follow Sandra's plan for success. In less than six months, I have sold over ten verses to three different companies and feel confident that this is only the beginning. I am also amazed at how accessible Sandra is to her readers. Via e-mail, she has guided me, inspired me, and motivated me. Whenever I feel that there couldn't possibly be any more ideas out there that haven't already been done, I go back to the "We Write!" section and do the exercises again. Some of my successful verse is the direct result of her suggestions, such as the clever "Initials" exercise. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever thought about writing greeting cards. Like any writing genre, Sandra tells us there is rejection, but that perseverance can and does pay off. I'm making money while having fun - it just doesn't get any better than that!

There are two things that make this book exceptional. One is that if you know nothing about greeting card writing it covers a lot of territory. The exercises are designed to put you in the frame of mind you will need to be a greeting card writer. And two, the follow up that Mrs. Miller-Louden provides. It's one thing to read a book and have questions, it's another to be offered communication with the author through email and snail mail. And have quick responses to your inquiries. She also has a message board where others can talk to one another about this new career. She is definitely a teacher that cares about her students walking away understanding the material and being able to apply it. (Granted: if you are looking for a literary masterpiece, can't help you. If your looking for a laymans book to get you going on a possible career in greeting cards, then this primer is for you!)

At http://www.greetingcardwriting.com/orderinginfo.htm you can buy this book for $16 (NEW!) instead of forty.

I haven't read this book yet, so don't take my review as being meaningful. I'm just here with information.

Excellent topic and book. Covers the material very well. I was very suprised by the depth in the material.

I thought this book was just great...to sum it up. It was new and exciting. I've been to a few of the locations listed in this book and the pictures are exactly like I remember them. I actually got a chance to check out the dvd included and was amazed by the layout and objects that were listed on it. I have been a Bond fan since I was a kid and i have to say this is a must have for any Bond fan especially one that is living in Florida or interested in the movie series or locations.

WHAT A WONDERFUL BOOK AND BONUS CD.IF YOU PLAN TO GO TO THE FLORIDA KEYS AND ARE A JAMES BOND FAN THIS BOOK IS A MUST.I HIGHLY RECCOMEND IT.

This book is a must for any James Bond fan! It's also a great guide for anyone visiting the Florida Keys. This book is full of interesting facts, places to visit & things to do in Key West. We visited the Keys last year, but will have to go again, this time with our trusty 007 Exotic Location Book...it should be fun seeking out the locations where many famous James Bond scenes were filmed from "Licence To Kill." This book also has a fantastic Price Guide for hundreds of 007 Autographs, Posters, Props, Costumes & Collectibles. Imagine your surprise when you start looking up the price on some of your old 007 toys, old beer cans, records, etc., and find that some are worth literally hundreds of dollars!!! This book is a great buy that comes with a bonus DVD exclusively for the James Bond fan. Mr. Arnold's book is a fun, easy read, with great pictures and descriptions of both the locations and in the price guide section. Like I said, every single James Bond fan WORLDWIDE should have this book in their library of 007 collectibles!

Jim Arnold has expanded his "License To Kill: Exotic Vacation Key West" to a 160-page book format in trade softcover, a significant expansion from the soft wraps handbook he created in 2004.

Arnold, a Tampa-area Florida resident, knows Key West well and frequently travels there for their famous annual fests and celebrations. Some background and Key West history and travelogue is included before he plunges into film locations from the underrated License To Kill (1989 starring Timothy Dalton as James Bond and Carey Lowell as Pam Bouvier).

James Bond aficionados have good fortune, as there are hundreds of exterior locations still recognizable from the films worldwide. A Star Wars fan cannot board the bridge of the Millennium Falcon, but Bondians have places to go on every continent except Antarctica. Almost the first hour of License To Kill was shot around Key West, and more than a dozen James Bond locations are on Arnold's quick pick map of the big island, with all of them a short walking distance from the famous Mallory Square. Or take Arnold's advice to rent a comfortable golf cart in town and see another dozen or so locations he points out further a field on the Key.

Key West is one of the best Bond sites overall and has a large number of Bond movie and other film locations, which Arnold describes. License To Kill trivia and about 60 additional film locations are included from Miami and Key West to around Florida, making this book a good reference for a movie fan to use and enjoy on a trip to the Sunshine State.

Arnold added a photo and text directory guide to more than 200 James Bond collectibles, many of them in stock at his Reel Art props store. Arnold is a big fan of the series who replicates and duplicates many of the screen used items from 007's most famous adventures, and he has included a pictorial guide to his pieces along with many of the toys, games and nostalgia from the 60's onwards that will bring back "happy Bonding" for baby boomers on up.

New for this release, a bonus DVD was added, which includes an hour of footage from 2003's SpyFest convention in L.A., some of the Bond Collectors' Weekends and other fan events, and of course, footage from Arnold's personal tribute trips to see the Key West and Miami-area Bond sights.

This is one of the first ever books devoted to Bond movie locations and hopefully more will be on the way soon for fans to enjoy. - - Matt Sherman, BCW Productions

Updated and modern look of the stitches make them look fun to try. Clear and full of gorgeously colored illustrations. Actual examples of finished garments and accessories at the end of the book made me want to start on a project right away.

It would be great if the author could include a note on how many stitches it uses per repeat for the pattern. It's a great little book, though, one I keep picking up for inspiration.

I highly recommend due to the beautiful array of crochet borders. Borders can be used on many crochet;knit and other crafts. A must for your collection. I would purchase it again!
J Porter, Jefferson, GA

I loved this book. Beautifully illustrated, has detailed instructions, and even has a basic skills instruction section in the back. It showed how to do beaded crochet trims, textured trims, fringes, and motifs. Also in the back, it showed how to do textured crochet, crochet in the round, working spike stitches and more. It is an excellent book for anyone who crochets because everyone needs to trim something at one point or another when creating a crochet project.

I love crochet books! But I was getting a little disappointed with what was out there. The same old same old. However, 150 Crochet Trims really delivers and then some. There are trims, braids, motifs, plus projects to put your new skills to work. I enjoyed the beaded, sequined and dangly-bits that can be crocheted with a minimum of time and effort but looking like what you'd see on a designer's drawing board. I highly recommend this book for you needlework reference library.

150 Crochet Trims by Susan Smith is a wonderful and helpful collection of trims and edgings and motifs. I recommend it to anyone who is wanting to add a beautiful touch to any outfit. I was glad to find a recent book with so many trim ideas. This book has also been very inspirational in giving me ideas of some new edgings that I had not thought of.

I bought this book a couple years ago. Used the Temari ball as a pattern to make ornaments. Made a basket, some cranes and now I am working on the Peacock.

All I had to do was take one crane to church and boom I had orders. I've sold enough cranes to pay for the book a dozen times.

And if you want to know if the book is clear enough for kids. I showed it to a lady at church. Her 9 year old daughter borrowed the book, made a baby swan and took first place in a regional art contest.

One of my favorite things to do is to keep a bowl of prefolded peices handy. I play with them like Legos and when my friends come over their kids spend hours "buidling" with them.

My only regret is that the author has not released even more books.

I bought this book for my 14 year old son who has done origami for the past three years, he found the instructions very clear, and was delighted with both the variety of shapes that were given, and how easy it was to modify the shapes to create different designs.

I first saw a swan in a japanese restaurant and was interested in learning where they got it from. The owner of the restaurant said he had made it himself and reccomended this book to me to learn for myself.
This book has really good explanations and step by step instructions to start with. the diagrams are very useful and the initial pages teach us how to fold the paper and all that.
it does get difficult to make the more complicated objects like the swan which requires about 600 pieces...it is better to start of with something small...
also it is pretty time consuming,,and as they say in the beginning of the book it is really nice for someone to have espescially if he is recovering from an illness...
i wud absolutely reccomend this book...

I first saw completed 3D origami projects of the dancing crane and peacock done by an older Japanese gentleman, who had lots more origami years under his belt than I, and said, "WOW".

He handed me his 3D origami book to look at and within a few moments I realized that I could do any one of the projects shown too.

The instructions are very easy to follow. You might find it more difficult to find the exact paper you want.

You are folding the same size paper into triangles for projects then assembling them into rows to create your 3D project.

Be patient, some of the larger projects require hundreds of triangles. The good-luck hyotan (gourd) takes 762. Looks great when complete in gold or silver foil. I used gift wrap and cut it to the appropriate size because this required so many triangles.

In the end, you'll be very pleased with a completed project and your friends will be amazed.

This book is nothing like other origami books. My friends even offered to pay for one of the swans I made from this book. Of course, it's alot more work than ordinary origami foldings (like cranes, and other single paper folded origami) but it's worth the work. Once you finish making one of those swans, you'll be looking at it and go "wow...did I make that??" You'll draw alot of attention and be very popular!
Finished origami looks very sophisticated, yet it's very easy to make (just need little patience).
Buy this book, you won't regret and it's worth every penny.

Beautiful designs, can't wait to try them out. anything by Carol Doak is cool and easy to follow.

The book contains very clear paper piecing instructions and beautfil blocks. I love to sit and look at the book as well as make the blocks into quilts.

Carol Doak's outstanding 40 Bright & Bold Paperpieced Blocks provides twelve inch designs in block style to be used as quilt foundations and inspirations. Eight projects cover wall to bed quilts, small and large. Blocks are gorgeous and provide fine examples of color-coordinated piecing.

The patterns and information in this book are easy to follow. Since these blocks are made up of only 4 "quadrants", the teens in my 4-H sewing club were successful and enthusiastic about trying this "new" quilting method. It makes it a great book for those of us new to paper piecing!

Just flipping through this colorful book will make you yearn to start gathering fabric and start sewing. Each block is shown individually in vibrant color and arranged in "mini quilt" that shows how the block looks arranged in a grouping of 4 joined blocks. The facing page gives you the foundation layout for the block. Of course, copying the layout page also gives you a place to use crayons to play with color before committing to a fabric selection. Each block includes a cutting list with sizes and dimensions clearly outlined. The book starts with advice about selecting colors and gives illustrated step by step instructions on how to paper-piece. The book ends with photos of 8 completed quilts with fabric and cutting charts. Whether you need patterns or inspiration this book will motivate you!!

This product helped my grand daughter who was having math difficulty better understand math concepts. She was having fun at the same time.

I'm a private math tutor and am using this book as a Friday reward for two sixth grade girls who are studying algebra one with me. It is challenging in some interesting ways. It is full of story problems to be unraveled, about two kids who are detectives. I had given it to my daughter, who was the first year teacher and she said her kids loved it more than any other part of math. They can be solved alone or in groups. I really recommend this book.

This is a book your kids will enjoy, as far as you would ever expect your kids to enjoy a math workbook. The puzzles do build up a bit of suspense, and I like the problem solving approach. Recommended!

Nice and challenging. My kids are happy with it. I give them one challenge from this book on the drive to school every morning and give them 10-15 mins to complete. It's nice to have books like this. They're only 8&9 but they cover most of it.

I used a couple of these mysteries in my 5th grade classroom. The students enjoyed them because it was different then the way they usually practiced problem solving. The only downside to this book is that I think it is more challenging than the ages suggested. There were only a few stories that were appropriate for my 5th graders and those were still very challenging for them. I wouldn't reccommend this book to someone with a general ed. 4th grade classroom but it is perfect for junior high (6th, 7th, 8th) students!

The 99 Ways Series are such crafty treasures! I love my copies and people love to receive them as gifts!!
Compai - you girls are destined for greatness! Love it!

I live in Switzerland, I'm beyond middle age, and have a collection of scarves from grandmothers, great aunts, travels and many many gifts. I found not only wonderful ways to turn old, funky, well worn favorites into new uses, but also, got inspired to create other new things. My favorites are the necklaces, headdresses, and the caftan type ones. Thanks again Compai

From the beautifully brilliant and inventive authors of 99 Ways to Cut, Trim and Tie Your T Shirt Into Something Special and 99 Ways to Cut, Sew and Deck Out Your Denim comes the amazingly fun book to help you recucle your (OR your Mom's, Aunt's or Grandma's) scarves into something amazingly young hip and awe-inspiring.

There is really something for everyone here. My favorites are the poof-sleeve T, the ruffle-sleeve sweater and a gorgeous poncho! There are wonderful curtains, bags, neck ties, hair wraps, etc.

This is brilliant and worth your money and time!

I'm not a real crafty person, so in order for a do-it-yourself guide to work for me, it has to be pretty easy to understand. 99 Way to Cut, Sew, Tie & Rock Your Scarf fit that bill. With its illustrated patterns, step by step instructions and projects spanning from simple to more extensive, this book is great for the novice as well as the more experienced crafter.

If you are interested in turning your long forgotten scarves into unique accessories, you will want this book.

i like it!
it amazes me how these divas will take nothing and turn it into something FLYY!

i wonder what more do they have up their sleeves that i've never pondered about!

What I love the most about Jeff Wilhelm's reading strategy books is that I always come away with ideas I can use the next day in the classroom. This book has ideas you can use in the classroom on EVERY page. Teachers, myself included, don't have all the time in the world and can't read all the articles and books on new research that we wish we could. But make the time to read this one. It is worth every minute!

This book arrived in excellent condition. It arrived much better than I thought it would. Thank you so much.

I have not found a better book to help students really get into literure and LOVE IT!!!

It is exciting, informative, and has great ideas for teaching literature!

Wilhelm's book, Action Strategies for Deepening Comprehension is one of the most valuable teaching resources I own. I've had phenomenal success with the hotseating and tableaux activities, only two of the terrific resources in this great book. Kids of all ages love hotseating in particular because it's so much fun. In a nutshell: one kid gets in front of the room (I drape a piece of red fabric across the stool) and "becomes" the character. He/She may have a "helper" of their choosing by their side. The rest of the class are "reporters" who ask the character any question they choose. The student in the hotseat may confer with his "helper" in order to answer as the character would...and therein lies the beauty of this. As the questions and answers unfold, everybody is thinking and when an answer doesn't ring true, the majority
will know it and question it.

We've done this with multiple characters as well as the "author." The questions are nearly always completely authentic; as kids, most would feel stupid speculating about motive, etc., and asking questions, but as
"reporters" it feels completely natural. I love to see the light bulbs go in everybody's head when new ideas--synthesis!--occurs.

One of my best hot-seating moments was after reading "The Gift of the Magi," a difficult work for my 8th graders. We'd hotseated the two main characters as well as O. Henry, and it was the question to O. Henry that did it. A girl who had a real problem with making inferences asked him why he'd written the lines about Della being afraid that her new short hair made her look like a Coney Island chorus girl. My student, Tony, clearly had paid no attention whatsoever to that description--in fact I was surprised that anyone had-- and he really had to think. Finally, he answered, saying, "I wanted Della to be a little bit afraid that maybe she didn't look like a (and he stressed thsi)nice girl."

The book also offers a number of other "action" activities that you can use. For my money, these are terrific
for any age! I encourage you to check this out. I also had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Wilhelm present his research and findings on his new book, Going with the Flow, and I was wowed to hear him in person as well.

I took a workshop with Wilhelm this summer. He demonstrated these techniques and I quickly bought the book.
This book has revolutionized my teaching and I am going back to school this year incredibly excited about using it in my classroom. I teach kids that struggle and this is going to be great for them.

Wilhelm is a dynamic speaker. If you can, snag him for your school's professional development or run to any workshop he is giving.

Enjoy!

This is one of my favorite books by John and I would highly recommend it to any intermediate to advanced folder. Like most of his books, it gives you some fairly simple models to start out on (grass, tree) and then move to some more intermediate ones (various African birds, snake, crocodile, etc.) Getting into the more difficult animals you have things like a hippo, gorilla, chimp, aardvark, etc. Next you will tackle models like the elephant, rhino, gazelle, plain giraffe and lion. Finally when you are ready to tackle the hardest models, you have his "multi-colored" animals which make full use of both side of traditional origami paper, the striped zebra and the spotted giraffe. You can see John's developing skill as one of the premier origami authors in this book. The diagrams are all wonderfully done and easy to follow for any experienced folder, and the models themselves are all quite detailed, even some of the easier ones are beautifully representative of the real animal. John clearly puts effort into making a number of these models capable of standing up and often having 3 dimensional aspects such as the lion and hippo in this book which have large bulky heads similar to the live counterpart. If you love animals and love origami, this is definitely not a book to miss!

This was my first "intermediate" origami book. I really enjoyed the fact that the models are spread out over several different levels of difficulty. You can start out with the simpler animals and gradually advance to the more complex, ending with the hardest model in the book, a striped Zebra. It took me 4-5 hours to complete the zebra, but I am so proud of it! For anyone who has experience folding, this is a great book!

For all you John Montroll fans out there, buy this book. For everyone else, buy this book also! It is one of the best books for animals, with a wide variety of difficulty levels. From simple 'grass' to complex striped zebras, this book has it all. I enjoyed making some of the more unique models, like the bee-eater and rhinoceros. Another nice thing about this book in particular is that the models are much different than what are in many other books. Because the theme is Africa, a lot of the animals in this book I have never seen made in another book. (Some however, have been made elsewhere, and quite honestly, better, such as the elephant and gorilla).
The Bottom Line:
If you like Montroll, animals, or semi-complex models, buy this book. If you are a beginner, there may be better choices, likewise, if you are an expert, there isn't a lot to whet your appetite. For everyone else, a great book for your collection.

This is my most favoured book in Origami. I have done all the models from the zebra, giraffe, elephant. All models are par excelance. Montroll is my best folder. I think folders who like folding animals should try Racoon from Inside our Origami book by Montroll.

This is a great book for experienced folders. This one along with North American Animals makes a great pair. One thing I find missing in most reviews is the contents is so here it is. There are 24 models in African Animals in Origami and they are Grass, Tree, Sacred Ibis, Crowned Crane, Flamingo, Crocodile, Hippopotamus, Snake, Chameleon, Bee-Eater, Hoopoe, Hornbill, Gorilla, Chimpanzee, African Elephant, Ostrich, Vulture, Aardvark, Rhinoceros, Gazelle, Lion, Zebra, Giraffe, and Spotted Giraffe. Happy Folding.

For agates, this is THE book. A definite must have for rockhounders who are interested in better understanding agates.

Great buy!! I love this book. It is wonderful reference w/excellent photos.
Looking for a great price and found it.

This book offers detailed information on agates. what they are, how they are formed and where they are found. What I found most intriguing were the terrific photographs of agates throughout the entire book. I use agates in my jewelry design but was not completely aware of the multitudes of colors and gems that fall under the umbrella name 'Agate'
Very well worth the dollars spent for this book.

Agate has been found on every continent, but there are few illustrative references on the market devoted to agates alone. AGATES: TREASURES OF THE EARTH will interest both high school and public library holdings seeking books on geology and gemstones, providing a reference to their formation, geology, and identification alike. Color photos throughout pack a history that is a top pick for any gemstone collector and for libraries catering to them.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

The combination of Roger Pabian with Brian Jackson, Peter Tandy & John Cromartie present a well written book on some of the most beautiful, popular with collectors and sometimes scarce agates of the world. The first forty pages alone give the novice collector, lapidary, rock-hound, or just someone who has picked up a pretty banded rock on vacation an idea of how agates were formed, the why of the different patterns, and the names and terms needed to intelligently discuss agates. The pictures are out standing and many. The descriptions informative and to the point. The references in the back of the book present a good jumping off place to pursue further knowledge of specific types of agates. In my opinion this book was a thoroughly enjoyable and informative read, even though some of the newer types of agates were not presented.