Building one will appeal to bakers, builders, and beginners of all kinds, from: the serious or aspiring baker who wants the best low-cost bread oven, togardeners who want a centerpiece for a beautiful outdoor kitchen, tooutdoor chefs, tocreative people interested in low-cost materials and simple technology, toteachers who want a multi-faceted, experiential project for students of all ages (the book has been successful with everyone from third-graders to adults)."Build Your Own Earth Oven" is fully illustrated with step-by-step directions, including how to tend the fire, and how to make perfect sourdough hearth loaves in the artisan tradition. The average do-it-yourselfer with a few tools and a scrap pile can build an oven for free, or close to it. Otherwise, $30 should cover all your materials--less than the price of a fancy "baking stone." Good building soil is often right in your back yard, under your feet. Build the simplest oven in a day! With a bit more time and imagination, you can make a permanent foundation and a fire-breathing dragon-oven or any other shape you can dream up.Earth ovens are familiar to many that have seen a southwestern "horno" or a European "bee-hive" oven. The idea (pioneered by Egyptian bakers in the second millennium bc!) is simplicity itself: fill the oven with wood, light a fire, and let it burn down to ashes. The dense, 3- to 12-inch-thick earthen walls hold and store the heat of the fire, the baker sweeps the floor clean, and the hot oven walls radiate steady, intense heat for hours.Home bakers who can't afford a fancy, steam-injected bread oven will be delighted to find that a simple earth oven can produce loaves to equal the fanciest "artisan" bakery. It also makes delicious roast meats, cakes, pies, pizzas, and other creations. Pizza cooks to perfection in three minutes or less. Vegetables, herbs, and potatoes drizzled with olive oil roast up in minutes for a simple, elegant, and delicious meal. Efficient cooks will find the residual heat useful for slow-baked dishes, and even for drying surplus produce, or incubating homemade yogurt.

    This spiral-bound book lays flat for easy reference and features full-color photographs of 16 sample skirts, with illustrated step-by-step instructions for completing each one. Encouraging you to experiment with bold patterns and unique fabrics, Francesca DenHartog and Carole Ann Camp provide simple guidelines for translating body measurements into panel dimensions. Create a custom-tailored wardrobe that fits perfectly and showcases your unique and personal style.

    A designer from the region, Alice Starmore explores the history and techniques of the art and provides instructions for over 15 of her own knitwear designs. 100 color photos.

    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.

    Unique statements, passionate emotions and favorite interests can all be expressed in these miniature works of art that are always traded, never sold."Artist Trading Cards Workshop" will not only teach you how to create your own cards, combining one or more of the 25+ techniques demonstrated in step-by-step photos, it will also share the ins and outs of trading, finding and organizing card swaps and how to trade with others across the miles or even the continents.Discover ways to create colorful collage backgrounds, make cards from fabric, incorporate painting, stamping, phone book pages, tissue paper, string, stencils and much moreall is revealed in step-by-step photos, but that's not all. You'll also: Learn the ins and outs of tradingwhere to look, what to swap.Find creative ways to store the cards you'll soon be collecting.Be inspired by the cards from 60 talented contributors and over 200 beautiful cards.Become a part of the world-wide phenomenon that starts with "Artist Trading Cards Workshop," and share a piece of yourself today! Create. Collect. Swap."

    From quick “try it” ideas using shapes and patterns to doodled portraits and contour drawings, these step-by-step projects are wild creative fun. The featured artists include Cori Dantini, who provides a “Recipe for a Face”; Flora Chang with innovative watercolor designs; and Teesha Moore who offers ideas for adding personality to doodled characters.

    The Book A lively how to and why to sew tutorial that marries attitude and instruction while teaching everything you need to know:How to find the right machine, and become one with itEssential skills, from winding a bobbin to sewing a dart to customizing a patternPreparing a workspaceThe Ten Fabric CommandmentsLaying out and cutting patternsWith step-by-step instructions and full-color photographs and illustrations throughoutThe ProjectsCuddle-Up CardiganTender is the NightieFoxy BoxersCanine Couture CoatCape ModPower TieTokyo Tie BagLucky Scrap ScarfNaughty Secretary SkirtFouncy Tank TopKnockout KnickersAnd more!The Patterns Includes ten original patterns—an $80.00 retail value—rated from One Spool (easy) to Three Spools (advanced Beginner) and designed to build skills.

    You begin with the essential knit and purl stitches and advance to bobbles, cables, lace, and fancy color work. With fun, innovative patterns from top knitting designer Sharon Turner, you'll be creating masterpieces in no time!Concise two-page lessons show you all the steps to a skill and are ideal for quick review* Each skill or techniqueis defined and described * Detailed color photos demonstrate each step* Step-by-step instructions accompany each photo* Helpful tips provide additional guidance

    This book was inspired by the wisdom of Mary Brooks Picken, a pioneer in the domestic arts and international authority on dressmaking and fashion. Mary s sole purpose, which resonated so deeply with Amy, was to educate women, encourage their entrepreneurial spirit, and elevate the value of their work. Mary's name may not be familiar to you now, but in these pages you will be charmed by her vision and inspired by her blueprint for living a simple, fulfilling life. In Vintage Notions, Amy Barickman joins creative forces with a previous era to preserve Mary s work and showcase it alongside her own extensive collection of vintage textiles, needlework, illustrations, and memorabilia, for a new generation of sewing and crafting sisters. The book features: *Inspirational essays and projects for each month of the year *Seasonal recipes and decorating ideas *Four storage pockets one for each season *Twelve Magic Patterns easy-to-make, chic sewing projects *Vintage timeless advice on health, character, beauty, style, fashion, parenting, communication, friendship, spirituality, community

    The Weaver's Idea Book presents a wide variety of patterns for the simple rigid-heddle loom, accompanied by harness drafts for multishaft looms. The techniques include leno, Brooks bouquet, soumak, and embroidery on fabric. Each chapter contains weaving patterns along with swatches illustrating the techniques, accompanied by step-by-step photography.The book is arranged by structure or type of weave, from variations on plain weave to doubleweave. With traditional patterns from around the world, bands, and fabrics woven on two double heddles, The Weaver's Idea Book brings together a variety of ways to create exquisite cloth. Weaving tips and tricks help weavers at all levels achieve their textile dreams. In addition to pattern drafts, Jane offers project ideas that guide the reader through creating functional woven projects, from wearables to home decor.Weaving, especially on rigid-heddle looms, is enjoying a resurgence, and contemporary weavers are in need of a book to bridge the divide between basic books and complex text designed for advanced weavers with sophisticated tools. Celebrating the immense potential for creativity possible with the simplest of tools, The Weaver's Idea Book opens new avenues for exploration on both the rigid-heddle and multishaft looms.

    This book contains techniques for creating the tiles such as painting and glazing, stamping, and, embedding items like beads and buttons.

    Covering a wide variety of knitting techniques such as felting, intarsia, Fair Isle, lacework, and cables, the unique examples in this resource include buckles and bolts to close an intricately cabled belt, a chain handle to finish a felted bag, and grommets to complete a half-felted handbag. This collection of modern, stylish patterns will inspire beginning and intermediate knitters with its uncommon techniques and materials, dressing up quick and easy projects with head-turning flair.

    Needlework encyclopedia gives all there is to know about your favorite hobby.

    It is also an exploration of how mending can be a gently healing practice in our daily lives and a small act of rebellion in a world where many things are discarded without thought.Mending Life encourages us to cherish our things by repairing them rather than discarding them. It also encourages us to change our consumption habits so that with small mends here and there, we extend the life of our garments and other household items. This handbook is for beginners but also offers more advanced techniques to those with some experience in mending. You'll learn basic techniques such as patching, but will have options to take it a step further with decorative sashiko stitching; you'll also learn how to darn socks and mend sweaters, as well as things like a tear in a bedsheet or down jacket. And along the way, the authors share heartfelt stories about the powerful act of mending, which strengthens not only the object we are repairing, but ourselves as well. Vibrant, full-color illustrations are woven throughout the handbook. Mending Life is a timeless, practical guide to cherishing and caring for our belongings.

    From Japan to Israel to Chile to Texas, each artist brings a wicked sense of fun to the 25 cute, weird, edgy, or artful creations offered here: a cupcake pincushion; delicate snow bunnies; a peculiar robot; and many more quirky creatures. Cheeky photos, easy instructions, and ready-to-use pattern sheets make it a cinch to whip up these irresistible gifts. Best of all, a folder at back holds the patterns while spiral binding makes for craft-friendly use.