Materials and basic techniques are clearly illustrated, step-by-step, to make learning crochet simple. Twenty-one unique and charming projects are stunningly photographed and meticulously charted, with thoroughly explained instructions to guide even a novice. For those whose skills go beyond the basics, advance techniques and projects will challenge and inspire. The pattern gallery provides complete instructions on how to read patterns and features 164 charts for traditional as well as brand new crochet patterns. A source list, cross-referenced index, and bibliography round out a volume you'll refer to again and again.

    Decorating ideas such as making a story blanket or family memory wreath get everyone involved. Includes easy-to-follow instructions for charming gifts such as handcrafted snow globes, aromatherapy candles, and beaded watchbands. Plus oodles of tasty treats for entertaining at home or giving as gifts. Also includes helpful tips and favorite recipes from devoted Gooseberry Patch readers.

    You'll find basic techniques for sculpting 10 easy shapes that can be used to create dozens of different creatures, plus details for faces, eyes, noses, ears, mouths, hands, paws and feet.You'll learn how to shape 30 detailed and colorful fantasy characters in all, including:Dragons and sea serpentsGoblins and fairiesPigs and rabbitsBirds and horsesGhosts, snakes, teddy bears and more!Bring your imagination to life today!

    Automata and Mechanical Toys is a book for anyone drawn to simple, entertaining mechanics. The book features 21 leading makers, each with a distinctive style. With 160 color photos and 100 delightful examples of the craft, the book is a feast for collectors and enthusiasts. A substantial section of the book is devoted to making automata mechanisms, ideal for novices or those wishing to learn new techniques. Illustrated, step-by-step instructions explain how to make a bearings box, which separately houses all the main mechanisms used in automata. The box can then be converted to any mechanism you choose. Rodney Peppé is a winner of the British Toymakers’ Guild Toy of the Year Award; he has had exhibitions of his work at the Victoria & Albert Museum of Childhood. He is also the author of Rodney Peppé’s Moving Toys.

    Let author J. Marsha Micher show you all the secrets everything you need to know about creating your own designs. Inside you'll learn how to transfer the original designs given, from flowers and animals to the alphabet and beyond - with techniques such as silk ribbon embroidery, punch needle, tambour work, beading, and cross-stitch. Included are a review of crazy quilting basics, embroidery stitches, and surface design techniques covered in her previous books."

    Shaped-resist dyeing techniques have been done for centuries in every corner of the world. Yet more than half of the known techniques-in which cloth is in some way tied, clamped, folded, or held back during dyeing, to keep some areas from taking color - originated in Japan.Shibori can be used not only to create patterns on cloth but to turn fabric from a two-dimensional into a three-dimensional object. The word is used here to refer to any process that leaves a "memory on cloth" -a permanent record, whether of patterning or texture, of the particular forms of resist done. In addition to traditional methods it encompasses high-tech processes like heat-set on polyester (made famous by Issey Miyake's revolutionary pleated clothing), melt-off on metallic fabric, the fulling and felting that make it possible to turn all-natural fabrics into three-dimensional shapes, weaving resist (in which, for instance, a warp thread can be pulled to gather the cloth to resist dye), and devoree, in which just one part of a mixed fabric is dissolved with chemicals.Author Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada has been teaching shibori around the world for nearly thirty years, and helped to establish the World Shibori Network and the International Shibori Symposium. She coauthored in 1983 the authoritative Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped-Resist Dyeing, which in turn inspired many artists to add shibori processes to their repertoire.The range of vibrant modern art covered in Memory on Cloth is remarkable, and includes work by artists from Africa, South America, Europe, India, Japan, China, Korea, the United States, and Australia in more than 325 stunning photos and illustrations. It encompasses fabric design, wearable art and fashion, and textile art or various sculptural forms. The work of more than seventy innovative designers including Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Jurgen Lehl, Jun'ichi Arai, Helene Soubeyran, Genevieve Dion, Asha Sarabhai, Junco Sato Pollack, Ana Lisa Hedstrom, Marian Clayden, and Carter Smith is presented, and each artist shares details on the processes that they themselves have created, making this an invaluable reference for artists in every field. A number of innovative artists who combine shibori techniques with knitting, weaving, or quilting are also included, suggesting new ways to combine innovation with more traditional forms. A final section on modern techniques gives extremely detailed information, including dye recipes, on various high-tech processes and the particular methods that individual artists use to achieve certain effects.As informative as it is inspirational, Memory on Cloth will take its place alongside Wada's earlier work, Shibori, as a definitive text that will help keep shaped-resist dyeing processes a vibrant and important form of modern art.Features* More than 325 stunning photos and illustrations * Encompasses fabric design, wearable art and fashion, and textile art or various sculptural forms * Covers more than seventy innovative designers * Includes works by artists from Africa, South America, Europe, India, Japan, China, Korea, the United States, and Australia * Each artist shares details on the processes that they themselves have createdPraise for Shibori (co-authored by Yoshiko Wada):"In this age of hyperbole there is great risk in declaring a singular event. Nonetheless one has occurred with the long anticipated publication of Shibori: The Inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing. Word of this book has long circulated in the inner and outer sanctums of the textile world with excitement and expectation building. This combination of bilingual, scholarly, creative and resourceful authors has brought us a classic volume . . . A masterful blend of historical material that puts Japanese textiles in context, clearly described and illustrated techniques along with information and illustrations of contemporary work from Japan and the West make this book an essential acquisition for anyone who proclaims a serious interest in textile dyeing, design, or historic textiles." ?Glen Kaufman, in Surface Design Journal"Well researched, well written, well organized and well illustrated." ?Crafts Magazine

    Stevens presents a range of beautiful landscape views for readers to create. With general templates, close-up detailed color templates of landscape focus points, color keys, step-by-step stitching instructions, and easy-to-follow photos of various stages, each project in this guide provides everything embroiderers need to replicate stunning views of nature with simply silk thread and cloth.

    It includes a ready-to-use pattern pack - a full-size pattern for every quilt in the book - and size charts giving yardage for any size quilt.

    

    Graded according to difficulty, the projects range from a simple cube, tetrahedron and octahedron to a challenging rhombic dodecahedron, sunken icosahedron, and an antidiamond with pentagonal base.

    Turn everyday materials into amazing art projects - garbage bags become delicate flowers, cornhusks become rustic dolls, old egg cartons become treasure trunks. I Can Make That! features materials lists, step-by-step colour photographs and a picture of the finished project to guide and inspire.I Can Make That! consolidates the top five of the original I Can Make… into one book from this Parents' Choice Award-winning series . From costumes to puppets, nature crafts to toys and games, I Can Make That! is brimming with simple, economical ideas that are great for both home and the classroom. The materials are readily available and safe to use - and all activities are terrific recycling ideas!

    This compilation consists of 4 volumes that are popular with colorists of all ages: Geometrical Design Coloring Book, Visual Illusions Coloring Book, Optical Illusions Coloring Book, and Dazzling Designs Coloring Book.

    This practical guide ― the only book that teaches the basic Italic hand (also known as Chancery Cursive) in ten easy steps ― offers comprehensive instructions for beginners.Two expert calligraphers show how to get started, with definitions of terms and suggestions for assembling materials, choosing a good writing surface, lighting the work space, posture, placement of the paper, setting up the page, and assembling the pen. After demonstrating how to make the basic calligraphic strokes, they give specific instructions for forming letters, numbers, and punctuation. Readers will also find detailed discussions of spacing and connecting letters; forming words and sentences; drawing "swash" capitals; changing nibs; using color; making corrections; and waterproofing their work. Students will also discover an exciting variety of applications for their new skills, including addressing envelopes, making invitations, creating personalized stationery, and transcribing special texts or poems. Additional helpful features include a section of questions and answers and an appendix covering pens, inks, paper, light boxes, and other useful tools for using the basic Italic hand to create elegant works of calligraphic art.

    A nostalgic trip through the holidays from the start of the Christmas season all the way through New Year's Day Chock-full of tasty, tried & true recipes like Christmas morning muffins, glazed raspberry-orange turkey and hugs & chips cheesecake, Jolly Holidays Cookbook is also brimming with fun and festive crafts, glorious gift mixes, simple treats to make & give, cheery tips and heartfelt memories of holidays past.

    Includes gift tags with each recipe. Just cut the tags out, personalize and attach to the jars. Recipes include Cowboy Cookies, S'mores Squares, Funnel Cakes, Dirt Cups and Puppy Chow. 5 1/4 x 8 1/4", 128 pgs

    Then along came Vinnie, who's made it his mission in life to demystify periods for women (and men!) the world over. With space to chart a year's worth of periods, the journal will help you create a detailed account of your natural cycle, as well as cheer you up with hot tips on cramp cures, hilarious quotes from fellow menstruators, and more. The snazzy vinyl tampon case is perfect for toting and protecting period paraphernalia in your purse or backpack. Take it from Vinnie: Don't dread your monthly cycle, celebrate it! Compare notes with your pals, impress your gynecologist, and most important of all-know your flow!

    From Little Bo Peep with lamb in hand to beatniks and pirates, from monsters and witches to clowns and animals, this veritable "carnival" of costumes visually captures All Hallows' Eve like no other book before.In her celebration of Halloween revelry, photographer Phyllis Galembo never settles for the ordinary; here instead are evocative scenes of dressed-to-scare young trick-or-treaters "modeling" their disguises, of undead spirits haunting their surroundings, and of costumes spanning over a century that take on an eerie new creepiness thanks to special lighting effects. Accompanying the costume shots is a history of this always-popular holiday and an essay placing the work in the wider context of fashion and costume. Of interest to enthusiasts, designers, and students alike, this devilishly diverting book is the perfect gift for all Halloween aficionados.

    There are patterns to suit every skill level and projects range from a firescreen to a bell pull.

    male. In the 1950s his girls magazines sold by the millions, before becoming icons of pulp and trash culture. These skillfully illustrated girls with their curvaceous forms and inviting lingerie soon overlook America's national dessert, in terms of popularity, and even developed considerable potential as a cultural export during the 1940s. "Never show everything," was always the motto.

    Each mix fits into a quart jar. The book even includes tags complete with recipient directions with each recipe. Just cut it out, personalize and attach to the jar. Fun to make and affordable, gifts in a jar make great gifts for neighbors, teachers and friends!

    Authors Jane Cassini and Ann Brownfield celebrate their love of collecting by taking you through antique markets, thrift stores, and even the family attic in search of unusual objects and appealing adornments. They then put these pieces to work as stunning details for special events, decorative displays, keepsakes, and as personal touches to gift wrappings.-- Encourages reusing old family pieces in new ways-- Inspires creativity in making your home reflect more of your personality-- An ideal gift for anyone who loves pretty handmade accessories, feminine fabrics, and nostalgic style