Whether you’re a writer, a scrapbooker, a political activist, or a postcard collector, let book artist Esther K. Smith be your guide as you discover your inner bookbinder. Using foolproof illustrations and step-by-step instructions, Smith reveals her time-tested techniques in a fun, easy-to-understand way.

    These pages will guide you through the basic principles of illustration by concentrating on easy-to-learn shapes that build into complex drawings. With the step-by-step guidelines provided, anything can become easy to draw. This book contains a series of fun, hands-on exercises that will help you see line, shape, space and other elements in everyday objects and turn them into detailed works of art in just a few simple steps. The exercises in this book will help train your brain so you can visualize ordinary objects in a different manner, allowing you to see through the eyes of an artist. From photorealistic faces to holiday themes and tattoo drawings, How to Draw Cool Stuff makes drawing easier than you would think and more fun than you ever imagined! Now is the time to learn how to draw the subjects and scenes you've always dreamt of drawing. How to Draw Cool Stuff is suitable for artists of any age benefiting everyone from teachers and students to self-learners and hobbyists. How to Draw Cool Stuff will help you realize your artistic potential and expose you to the pure joy of drawing!

    It's Simple. It's pure Cathy. And it's still totally cool. Cathy Zielske, creative director for Simple Scrapbooks magazine, is back with the sequel to her best-selling book, Clean&Simple Scrapbooking. In her new book, she revisits the core tenets of the hobby: telling good stories, making well-designed pages, letting go of unrealistic expectations, and remembering to have a really good time while you're at it. She reminds us that scrapbooking isn't an obligation, but an opportunity to capture the bits and pieces that make up our lives. From scrapbooking about her intense love of paper towels to her obsession with heavily-tattooed rock stars, Cathy throws open the window on her life and shares how she chooses to record it. You'll laugh, connect, and be inspired to record your own life with pictures, paper, adhesive and above all, authenticity.

    Using purchased metal stamps and sterling silver blanks, you can personalize your metal jewelry designs with words, textures, and creative designs. Lisa Niven Kelly, creator of the online Beaducation workshops and website, specializes in the technique and has been teaching stamping for more than six years to enthusiastic students. Although stamping is a simple technique, the right tools and skills will help you create professional and exciting results.Stamped Metal Jewelry teaches multiple metal stamping and texturing techniques, and the projects incorporate wirework and metalsmithing to create fabulous necklaces, beads, charms, bracelets, cuffs, and earrings. The book opens with an extensive section on stamping, wirework, and metalsmithing tools and techniques. With these skills, you can begin the inspiring jewelry designs with confidence.Nineteen projects cover a variety of techniques and designs such as creating charms, incorporating stamped links into beaded projects, making stamped links from flat wire and wire-wrapping them together, stamping on blanks and layering them, riveting, texturing metal, oxidizing, and more. In addition to Lisa's projects, the book features contributions by nationally known guest artists Tracy Stanley, Kriss Silva, Lisa Claxton, Kate Richbourg, Janice Berkebile, and Connie Fox.

    Plant Craft features projects inspired by the natural world and made out of live plants, cut flowers, foraged branches, and more. You’ll learn how to create a colorful floral mural, an elegant table centerpiece, a serene underwater sculpture, a whimsical mobile, and more. The step-by-step instructions are clear, easy to follow, and fully illustrated with color photographs, and the projects vary in difficulty. Given the right care, they all have the potential to grace a home for a long time.

    This collection of drawings and painted canvases from dozens of contributors features thousands of tangle patterns and doodle designs to inspire you to doodle anything and everything.Create a mythical, doodled beast or abstract work of art. Draw an inspirational tangled card for a friend or add doodled intrigue to your art journal with patterned shapes. "Zen Doodle" provides you with the first steps toward creating unique tangled art, including traditional tiles, letterforms, Zendalas, landscapes, four-tile ensembles, paper quilts and more!Inside you'll find: More than 100 pieces of Zen doodled art from 42 artists.Step-by-step instruction to help you begin your own Zen doodles.Four chapters of doodle inspiration: Abstracts, Shapes & Objects, Animals & Beasts, and Friendship & Love.Isn't it time you take your tangles to the next level?

    When you learn how to read patterns you will open up an entire new world of possibilities for the craft of crochet. In her new book, Learn to Read Crochet Patterns, Charts, and Graphs; Expand Your Crochet Skills by Learning the Basics of Patterns, Dorothy Wilks teaches you how to read crochet patterns. With her many years of experience and expertise in the art of crochet Dorothy guides you through learning to read written crochet patterns, crochet charts, and crochet graphs. In this definitive book you will learn: • Structure of a written pattern • Written pattern abbreviations • How to read a written pattern • Structure of crochet charts and graphs • Crochet chart symbols • How to read and crochet charts and graphs • Working with flat crochet and in the round • How to translate a pattern into a finished work of crochet This book is geared for crocheters of all skill levels from very beginners to more advanced artists. If you’re just starting out and want to use patterns to expand your skills, or if you’ve been crocheting for a while but just never could get the hang of reading and understanding patterns, then this book is for you. Don’t miss out on this valuable resource for your crochet library. Borrow this Great Book TODAY!! Download this Bestselling Book Now!! Tags: Crochet Crocheter, Knit, Patterns, Charts, Graphs, Yarn, Guide

    Each one of the 100 recipes specifies the type and quantity of plants needed; clearly numbered instructions detail each step; and 400 photographs show how to place every stem. Traditional pots and plant containers are used, but so are less conventional vehicles and methods, like shutters and planting under glass. A basic how-to chapter provides planting techniques, a tools and materials list, sourcing and plant care information, and expert advice.

    I do want to warn you that these patterns are not written in a conventional manner. I wanted to make them simple enough for beginners to be able to read and to follow. To make things even easier every pattern includes a step by step video tutorial.

    This book shows you how to take everyday materials from around the house, flea markets, thrift stores, and hardware stores and turn them into clever and eye-catching hand-made books.

    But, you think, Learning to paint must be hard and frustrating. Not with Cathy Johnson as your teacher! Here, she makes learning to paint in watercolor fun--even easy!With Painting Watercolors, you'll learn to paint by picking up a brush and painting--not by reading about a bunch of confusing theories.Cathy tells you everything you need to begin--including:- Which tools and materials you should buy to get off to a good, affordable start - When, what, even where to paint - Explanations of watercolor terms (such as washes and puddles) - Easy and useful painting tricks--such as glazing and drybrush.Exercises help you loosen up and learn the ins and outs of putting paint on paper. Easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions show you how to paint water, believable skies, a variety of trees in different seasons and other popular elements. Plus, a dozen demonstrations show you how paintings come together, from initial sketch to final brushstrokes.With Cathy's help, you can start painting right away!

    Author Helen Joseph-Armstrong incorporates three draping techniques—manipulating dart excess, adding fullness, and contour draping—in design projects featured throughout the text. Projects begin with a draping plan and fashion drawing to identify its creative elements, and determine the draping technique required. The author describes the drape of the basic dress and its relationship to every garment in a clothing collection, emphasizing the drape of foundation garments as a base to building more complex design.

    As a result, one of the most effective ways to transform any room is by changing its color. Which colors to use is the challenge.The Color Scheme Bible is a practical, yet inspiring reference for those who want to take advantage of different colors without clashing. It contains 150 color scheme ideas for home decorators and interior designers.The book explains how to choose colors that will complement each other for a subdued effect, and which colors and combinations will energize the room.Topics covered include:How color creates ambiance and atmosphere Using color to give a small room the illusion of space and depth How to create the feeling of warmth and light with color Distinctive color schemes inspired by nature, art, travel and even a favorite possession. The book also includes a variety of color combination palettes that can be used with different materials for refreshingly original color schemes.The Color Scheme Bible is an essential handbook for home decorators and interior designers.

    In Style Stitches, Butler presents an array of new bag designs for her fans across the globe. The book offers 12 basic patterns with enough variations to achieve 26 unique looks. Ranging from chic clutches and delicate wristlets to pretty hobo bags and handy coin purses, with instructions for altering dimensions, straps, and embellishments to get the desired look, each project incorporates Butler's fresh, modern style and attention to detail. With illustrated step-by-step directions, a comprehensive techniques section, and a bound-in pocket filled with the patterns themselves, Style Stitches is an essential and fashionable addition to every sewer's library.

    In clear, straightforward terms, Maggie Righettie shares her knitting know-how and good fashion sense so that, no matter what your knitting level, you can overcome the fear of failure, avoid costly mistakes, adapt already-existing patterns, and plan and create sweaters that really fit and look terrific-sweaters that will be worn for many years to come. Topics and techniques include:-Understanding the nature of yarn and pattern stitches-Choosing the most flattering color and design for the wearer-Taking accurate body measurements-Estimating the amount of yarn you'll need-How to tell whether or not a sweater will look good on you-before you start to knit-How to alter printed patterns so they really fit-How to understand the mathematics of gauge and pattern design-Plus start-to-finish instructions for thirteen classic sweatersEach technique is illustrated with clear diagrams, sketches, or photographs. Complete with conversion charts and a personal-measurements record-keeping section, Sweater Design in Plain English takes the guesswork out of every creative knitting effort.