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Here’s some amazing titles that just came out that are perfect for anyone who loves to craft!
My daughter has been working on her drawing and this lovely, full-color book is perfect for her — nicely bound and printed on matte paper for drawing and coloring — features engaging lessons by offering simple approaches to drawing cute animals, favorite foods, and more. It’s beautifully designed with easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions to draw and letter all sorts of things.
After a few days of her drawing in her book, she proudly showed me several of her drawings from the book. It’s helped her learn to draw many of her favorite things, and how drawing is based on simple shapes. More importantly, it’s helped my daughter gain some much-needed self-confidence while having fun and learning along the way. Suffice to say, this is a wonderful gift for any young (or older!) person.
The problem I face, like a lot of us crafters, is I really don’t have time to crochet a big project, like, a whole baby blanket. Yet, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to relax and make something for the little ones in my life. So this is the perfect solution! It’s a book-like boxed set of cute animals, with everything included, to make two of the twelve projects within. The book slips out of the box and can be referenced separately, which is what I’m doing, now that I have little puppy and sloth ready for Christmas. Note that the book includes lots of step-by-step photos, yet the projects and “crochet code” instructions are problem best for intermediate or advanced crocheters.
Years ago, I read a sci-fi book where a famous work of art (involved in a heist) was made with living plants and mosses and such. I always wondered if something like that could be done in real life. Apparently, it can! This delightfully conceived and photographed book includes 15 well-designed wreaths, many including next-level living plants and mosses of all kinds. It’s kind of genius, and easily adaptable to all sorts of designs using the secrets revealed within. Plus, if I wanted something easier, the plants could be replaced with faux plants, instead. Gorgeous photographs throughout, clever layouts, and simple-to-follow instructions make this one of the most surprising and delightful crafting books of the year!
Wow, this is one of the most interesting papercraft books I’ve ever seen! The process is not exactly top-secret, but it is not something I’d have been able to figure out on my own in a million years. Yet this beautiful book makes it look easy with step-by-step instructions to create a wide variety of patterns, palettes, and designs. In simple terms, the process uses thickened water that you place pain on top, add designs and patterns to it, then dip the paint into the water(!). It’s a magical and fun creative process that my whole family is engaging with, as we make our own paper treasures — and memories.
This beautiful book, both well-designed and well-written, offers contemporary techniques to paint with new techniques to capture the looks we all love today. Maybe it was just my teacher, but when I was first taught to paint with watercolors, there were washes, which we used for backgrounds and skies, and everything else was painted much as we’d paint with acrylics or oils, with a little incidental blending.
Nowadays, every (super) popular watercolor design is painted much like a wash, with more purposeful blending, gradients, and rainbow-style effects. I tried to emulate that, recently, to scan and use in digital designs, but I couldn’t get the greenery and florals like how I’d seen them elsewhere. Yet this book explains all the secrets, in easy-to-follow ways. For me, I found the book enlightening and more than a little mind-blowing. It looks so lovely yet so simple. For instance, I stared open-mouthed, amazed, at the beautiful steps of a double-page spread, showing how to paint a beech leaf for longer than I’ll admit here. It’s a gorgeous book offering (literally) wonderful instructions to capture greenery of all types, with descriptions that could easily be applied to countless other types of watercolor painting. For me, it’s a revelation.
You know, I’ve looked and looked for compelling embroidery designs to create, ones that I’d like to display (including for my girls), but couldn’t really find anything I felt, you know, compelled to make. I wondered if I could just create my own designs, somehow, in some way, in some universe, somewhere. I thought I was just being self-indulgent because what a fantasy, right? And then I found this and I am so thrilled. It not only walks me, step by — amazing yet easy to follow — step to create these portraits. It also explains how to create my own design on paper, transfer it to fabric and hoop, and plan out the colors, and carry it through. And the results — wow! The subtleties of colors, like in the eyes, are more than I thought I was capable of. If you admire women like Frida Kahlo, RBG, Eleanor Roosevelt, Maya Angelou, or Michelle Obama, and want to learn how to create your own embroidered portraiture,
Although I had some floral design classes when I was younger, my daughter is a natural at floral designer who hasn’t been formally trained — mostly learning on the job, at a grocery store near headquarters. The corporate people *love* her designs so, until recently, she was doing very well. But now, a new manager doesn’t like her work, even though it’s clear he knows little to nothing about floral design. So this book is what I’m sending her to help. It features insightful tips and techniques she may not know yet (they are certainly new to me). Plus, the book offers inspiration to maintain her enthusiasm alongside actual skill-building to match.
My favorite project, among the 42 included here (all of which can apply to innumerable designs of her own), is the Spiral Sequence bouquet, which shows how to make a lovely rose and carnation bouquet, that stands on its own in a cooler, awaiting the bride — no more smashed bouquets! The book is hardbound with beautiful, step-by-step photos that illustrate the techniques, not just the arrangements themselves, which is extremely helpful. I think this beautiful book is just what any florist needs to grow their skills and impress their clientele (and bosses!).
“Unicorn SPiT” is the memorable name of a new type of glaze that can be used as a wood stain, colorful glaze, or paint on virtually any surface. This guide, written by the inventor, explains how to use it in place of a wide variety of traditional media, with an overall design sense that leans into lovely and colorful rainbow-style gradients. If you’re interested in using this product, this guide is a must-have. The book is well-written and nicely printed and bound, with engaging text and helpful tips, and lavish photos throughout for an incredibly wide range of projects.
This amazing and wonderful book — and I use those words literally — describes brief explanations and photos of hundreds of artistic experiences and artworks that can be visited and viewed on every inhabited continent. The book spans the globe, with engaging text descriptions and instructions, lovely photos, and a suitcase full of enthusiasm. The photos are lovely and eye-opening. This is a delightful book to page through, and I must say, its a godsend to art-loving travelers, professional photographers, and instagram-ers alike. Wondering where to take your next award-winning photo shoot? Wonder no more! This book is your new bible!