You’ll learn several approaches for getting started, and you’ll also discover how to shape comfortable toes, create heels that fit, and ensure stretchy cuffs that can be counted on to keep your socks up. Druchunas’s useful tips and tricks include working confidently with double-pointed needles, knitting socks on one or two circular needles, and even knitting two socks at the same time. Once you’ve mastered these basic techniques, you can adapt them to create your own custom sock designs.

    From facial expressions to creative coloring, this book contains all the know-how you need to create anthropomorphic cat, dog, horse, rodent and bird characters.Step by step, you'll learn how to:- Draw species-appropriate tails, eyes, wings and other fun details - Give your characters clothes, poses and personalities - Create the perfect backgrounds for your furry antics--with two start-to-finish demonstrations showing howPacked with tons of inspiration--from teeny-bopper bunnies and yorky glamour queens to Ninja squirrels and lion kings--Draw Furries will help you create a world of crazy, cool characters just waiting to burst out of your imagination.

    The essential guide to beads and beading techniquesIllustrated techniques for beading on and off the loom, threading, stringing and fringingCombines beading with knitting, crochet, embroidery and wirework for unique resultsIncludes 30 "Bead Something Now" projects, from striking jewelry to stunning accessoriesFeatures useful guidance on taking each technique further to extend your skills

    King of the whittlers.' Sunday Telegraph Barn The Spoon, as he’s affectionately known is a rare master craftsman in the art of spoon carving. In this book he generously shares his extraordinary skill, gentle philosophy and his life’s work – designing and carving beautiful spoons that are both a joy to use and hold.The simple, ordinary spoon is part of our everyday lives, intimately entwined with the acts of eating and socialising, from stirring our first cup of coffee to scraping the last bit of pudding from the bowl. And who doesn't like to spoon in bed? Barn’s spoons will take you on a journey into the new wood culture, from understanding the relationship between wood, the raw material and its majestic origins in our trees and woodland, to the workshop and the axe block, and into your own kitchen. Barn will show you how to use the axe and knife, from how they should feel in your hand to honing the perfect edge when carving your own spoons. Featuring sixteen unique designs in the four main categories of spoon – eating, serving, cooking and measuring spoons, Barn takes you through the nuances of their making, how each design is informed by its function at the table or in the kitchen, and the key skills you will learn – such as creating octagonal handles, manipulating grain patterns and mastering bent branches. Beautiful photography will inspire and act as a blue-print to help perfect your technique.

    Nothing is impossible when one digs deep,and looks at students through a new lens.

    Fortunately, Simple Soldering proves that does not need to be the case. This handy how-to guide is complete in its exploration of the craft of creating soldered metal jewelry, including tools, techniques, and 20 beautiful projects that beginners and enthusiasts can make at home.Author and teacher Kate Richbourg demystifies basic soldering for any home crafter, showing how to create sophisticated, polished, and professional-looking jewelry pieces through simple soldering techniques. First, she instructs how to set up a jewelry workspace that fits the confines of your budget and living space. Detailed step-by-step instructions walk you through the basic tools and materials you need, plus how to use them. A sample chapter gives a host of introductory exercises that teach solid skills, allowing you to test these techniques on a small scale. Finally, you'll discover 20 finished projects that include earrings, pendants, rings, bracelets, and clasps that may also include bead or wire embellishment.Kate also demonstrates how to combine and layer techniques to gorgeous effect. She also examines common mistakes, shows how to correct or adapt them, and gives advice on when it’s time to start over. Most of all, having taught thousands of classes on soldering, Kate has a "you can do it!" attitude that shines through to help even the most reluctant jewelry maker fire up the torch with ease.Paired with an instructional DVD, Kate’s expert teaching skills will help projects come alive, right in your own studio.With Simple Soldering, the art of metal working one-of-a-kind jewelry is now at your fingertips.

    Watercolor Painting For Dummies shows you the fun and easy way to create breathtaking paintings so beautiful you won't believe you made them yourself. This friendly, guide gives you hands-on instruction and easy-to-follow, step-by-step exercises to help you master the basics. Filled with full-color projects and sample paintings, it shows you how to work with color and texture, practice composition, and make smooth changes. You'll find out how to select the best tools, materials, and supplies, practice basic brush strokes, and use the three best common techniques: flat wash, graded wash, and rough texture. Discover how to:Select the right brushes, pigments, and paper Mix colors and work with white Create backgrounds and foregrounds Transfer your drawings to watercolor Avoid common watercolor mistakes Experiment with texture using salt, sponges, plastic wrap, and more Find your way around the color wheel Practice the principles of design Plan compositions using thumbnails Work with one-point, two-point, and three-point perspective Paint fabrics, shiny surfaces, and organic textures Paint landscapes, seascapes, animals and more Complete with strategies for improving your painting immediately and marketing and selling your work, Watercolor Painting For Dummies, is the resource you need to make your creative dreams come true.

    With specific how-to techniques and creative prompts on using an artist's sketchbook in a new way, these pages provide a gentle push to help you discover and integrate your creative passions through sketchbooks, workspaces, and mixed media. Through beautiful full-color imagery, you’ll learn in each chapter how your collections, scraps, ideas, and doodles can lead directly to, and fuel ideas for, creating individual works of art.Using her own materials and methods as a source of motivation, Sarah Ahearn Bellemare provides an inside look at her personal creative processes, sharing her use of her favorite resources alongside tips and tricks for making art – all the while encouraging you to explore, play, and make mistakes as part of the journey. At the end of each chapter, Sarah takes you to visit the studios and sketchbooks of some of her fellow artists – including Shanna Murray, Christine Chitnis, Stephanie Levy, and others – for behind-the-scenes glances into their creative work.Become inspired to build upon your own artistic style and discover the beauty in everyday life with Painted Pages!

    In this follow-up to Alabama Stitch Book and Alabama Studio Style, author Natalie Chanin presents all of the stenciling, hand-stitching, and bead¬ing techniques her company uses to create the award-winning Alabama Chanin line of organic cotton clothing, plus more than 50 variations that lead to infinite design possibilities. Included in this encyclopedic compilation of Alabama Chanin skill and style are patterns and instructions for dresses, skirts, tops, a wrap, a poncho, a bolero, fingerless gloves, and a hat. Each piece is featured in both its basic form and with varying embellishment combinations. By mixing, matching, and layering, a stunning, unique, and versatile wardrobe can be built. Praise for Alabama Studio Sewing + Design: “Transform organic or recycled materials into clothing or home décor items with haute homespun flair.” —Better Homes and Gardens Quilts and More magazine “Natalie is beautifully simple, yet elegant, just like her clothing. Her signature look is intricate stitching, beading and applique on basic organic cotton jersey which together make a show stopping casual look." —SF Unzipped "I'm a longtime fan of Natalie's clothing designs . . . Her sewing patterns do not disappoint. These are the same dresses, tops, skirts, and accessories that carry four-figure price tags and are coveted by ec-groovy lady rock stars. The same ones. But in her books, Natalie teaches you how to make them yourself . . . Natalie's pieces are so simple to sew together . . . They go together in a single evening, and when you pull them on they don't just make you look better than you did in whatever you were wearing before, they make you feel better." —Heather Ross, HeatherRoss.Squarespace.com "The photographs in this volume are exceptional . . . I think if quilters get this book for both technique and inspiration, it will be more than worth the money." —Meg Cox, quilter and author of The Book of New Family Traditions “I just love that Natalie has the guts to share the tricks of her trade. The reason I say guts is that you would think that sharing how your garments are made might hurt your business—but in Natalie's case it's proved to be actually quite the opposite . . . The interest in her couture line grew once she started to write books." —Cathy Callahan, Cathy of California blogger and author of Vintage Craft Workshop

    It's used widely among artists of many types with both fine and bold lines, creating different variations. Botanical Line Drawing teaches you how to start with the simplest doodles, building into more elaborate, delicate illustrations. This book focuses on the extremely popular subject matter of the natural world and includes flowers, leaves, succulents, houseplants, trees, branches, mushrooms, and more. These simple line drawings will allow you to branch out and have fun with your own personal style, as well as inspire you to add flourishes to other projects.

    Many of the difficulties however, are not in the classroom... In The (Un)official Teacher's Manual, Omar Akbar offers direct, humorous and accessible advice on how to deal with the daily issues faced by a teacher- none of which involve teaching! Includes guidance on: lesson observations, emails, promotions, avoiding meaningless extra work, meetings, parents, maintaining a work-life balance, dealing with workplace bullying, and much more. While Omar pulls no punches on the reality of working in a school, a positive streak is maintained throughout. A must read for any teacher or potential teacher. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Contents: Introduction: Why This Book Was Written 1. How to Get the Most from Observations, Learning Walks, and Book Scrutinies 2. The Don’ts of the School Email System 3. How to Get Promoted and Other Things to Consider 4. How and When to Say No and Yes 5. The Dos and Don’ts of Meetings 6. How to Get Parents on Your Side 7. Guidance for Trainee Teachers 8. Ensuring a Life-Work Balance 9. Bullying: the Problem and the Solution 10. How to Get the Teaching Job You Want 11. Maintaining Good Relationships 12. Why It’s All Worth It

    The projects produce high-impact quilts made with simple cutting and construction, therefore no fussy cutting or Y-seams are required.

    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.

    You'll develop the skills you need to express yourself and explore your favorite mediums. Step-by-step demos show you how to:Capture and manipulate light in your workExperiment with new and unusual painting surfacesBreak the "rules" of color composition that inhibit your creativityCreate your own dynamic designs for paintings with more impactAdd layers of meaning to your work with the symbolism inherent in both man-made objects and natural elementsImbue your work with a touch of fantasy and recapture the magic you remember from childhoodMove beyond traditional 2-dimensional painting into 3-D reconstructionAnd much, much more!Once you've built up such a repertoire of skills, you'll be able to turn any idea into finished art by applying the techniques that best accommodate your inspiration. You'll also learn how to tap the deepest recesses of your creative wellspring by taking risks, getting personal and making meaningful statements with your work.No matter what your medium, no matter what your level of skill, Celebrate Your Creative Self can help make your artistic dreams a reality!

    The author instructs in coil, slab, mold, and pinch techniques to produce pots, bowls, vases, tiles, and other decorative pieces. She also advises on acquiring basic tools, mixing and preparing clay, and using coloring agents. Newcomers to pottery crafting will especially appreciate her tips for making projects easier to accomplish, such as use of a hairdryer at regular intervals for drying out too-wet clay, and easy methods for keeping clay soft and pliable. Step-by-step color photos with detailed captions guide handcrafters through each project from start to finish. Many photos are of the cutaway type to show correct hand positions for controlling the clay, both inside and outside the form. Here's the book that takes the mystery out of handbuilding in clay, demonstrating each step in the pottery-making process. More than 400 color photos.