Artist's Journal Workshop: Creating Your Life in Words and Pictures


Cathy Johnson - 2011
    Artist's Journal Workshop provides all the guidance, structure and inspiration you need to create a meaningful art-journaling practice. Starting with the question, What do you want from your journal? you'll build a sound journaling concept that will serve your unique creative needs and give you the freedom to practice, play and develop as an artist. Featuring rich visual examples on every page, you'll receive continual guidance and inspiration from:- 27 international artists who share pages and advice from their own art journals - More than 25 hands-on exercises to help you personalize your journal while developing new ideas and techniques - Journal pages featuring travel sketching, nature studies and celebrations of daily life - Prompts for visually commemorating life events and milestones - Support for working through creative doubts and blocks - A range of artistic styles and perspectives to study and admire - Instruction for trying your hand at new methods and materialsThis is the perfect opportunity for you to begin realizing your artistic potential--one page at a time. Begin the journey today!

Knit the Sky: Cultivate Your Creativity with a Playful Way of Knitting


Lea Redmond - 2015
    Challenging herself to capture the changing colors of the sky in her knitting, Redmond loaded up her yarn basket with shades of blue, gray, and white and set out to knit a strip reflecting each day's shades. In 365 days, she imagines having a one-year weather report in the shape of a scarf. This is just one of 30 adventurous knitting challenges she shares with readers in this whimsical, inspiring collection. These are knitting projects like no other, as the goal is not just to have a finished project but to have a one-of-a-kind piece that tells a story about the knitter's life experience. Some of the projects invite the knitter to engage with others: friends knitting two scarves at once on the same needles, or a grandmother sharing a "basket of berries" with her grandchildren through matching basketweave-patterned hats. Others encourage contemplation: a knit 1, breathe 1 meditation stitch; creating an heirloom scarf for a yet-to-be descendent; or using a map to a favorite place as the basis for a pattern stitch. Accompanied by basic instructions for all the needed stitches, techniques, and patterns, Knit the Sky is a complete creativity starter kit for any knitter looking for a fresh approach to the craft.

Furniture Makeovers: Simple Techniques for Transforming Furniture with Paint, Stains, Paper, Stencils, and More


Barbara Blair - 2013
    You'll never look at a hand-me-down dresser the same way again! The book offers 26 easy-to-follow techniques that can be applied to all different types of pieces, from bookshelves to desks: painting, applying gold leaf, wallpapering, distressing, dip dyeing, and more. In addition to the core techniques, author and Knack Studios founder Barb Blair shares 30 beautiful before-and-after makeovers from her studio and outlines how to achieve each look. With helpful step-by-step photographs, a visual glossary explaining all the tools and materials needed, and a lovely contemporary aesthetic, Furniture Makeovers is a treasure trove of ideas and instruction for the home decorator.

Uncommon Crochet: Twenty-Five Projects Made from Natural Yarns and Alternative Fibers


Julie Armstrong Holetz - 2008
    In Uncommon Crochet, designer Julie Armstrong Holetz applies new ideas and unconventional materials--like wire, raffia, jute, sisal, recycled belts, fabric strips, and felted beads--to twenty-five patterns for bins, baskets, totes, handbags, clutches, jewelry, and more. Step-by-step instructions, detailed how-to photographs, and essential advice about creativity, design, and experi-mentation encourage you to play with fiber, add funky embellishments, and use your creative spirit to customize any pattern--even the ones in this book! From practical containers like Red's Goodie Basket (a stylish home for your WIP--works in progress) and Vintage Satchel (a sturdy retro messenger bag) to just plain fun projects like Petite Fleur Vases (tiny bud vases that hold water) and Sushi (crocheted California rolls, anyone?), Uncommon Crochet offers fresh twists on old-school techniques that turn simple projects into gift-worthy creations.

Craftfulness: Mend Yourself by Making Things


Rosemary Davidson - 2019
    Whether you knit, crochet, sculpt, weave, quilt, tat, draw, or bind books—working toward small, attainable goals gives us a sense of purpose, accomplishment, and control that is proven to positively impact our mental health and happiness.Davidson and Tahsin illuminate how craft practice re-introduces balance into our lives and our habits by cultivating creativity, carving space for ourselves, promoting focus, creating a safe space for failure, and ultimately, how to make peace with imperfection.Like Matthew B. Crawford’s Shop Class as Soul Craft, Ken Robinson’s Out of Our Minds, or Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow, Craftfulness helps us to see our world in a new way, offering opportunities to disconnect from the world, and pay attention to ourselves.

Light on Yoga


B.K.S. Iyengar - 1966
    With more than 600 photographs depicting all the postures and breathing exercises, it remains the fullest, most practical, and most profusely illustrated guide by the world's foremost yoga teacher. Light on Yoga is a comprehensive and definitive source-book for the initiated, as well as the best introduction for the novice who seeks the healthful benefits of Yoga for mind, body, and soul.

Complete Crochet Course: The Ultimate Reference Guide


Shannon Mullett-Bowlsby - 2018
    . . . Truly, the Mullett-Bowlsbys have meticulously thought through the crocheter’s world.  —Booklist (Starred review)  From renowned crochet designer Shannon Mullett-Bowlsby comes the ultimate reference manual for the absolute beginner. Filled with step-by-step photography throughout for an easy-to-follow and fully visual experience, this unparalleled guide teaches you how to crochet from the very first stitch—and will keep you crocheting as you gain experience! The Complete Crochet Course explains all the tools, materials, and techniques you need, from choosing a hook and yarn to seaming, working in the round, handling specialty stitches, and adding details. Ten patterns are perfectly designed for novices eager to complete their first projects, while intermediates can enjoy mastering even more advanced skills.

Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines: Patterns, Stories, Pictures, True Confessions, Tricky Bits, Whole New Worlds, and Familiar Ones, Too


Kay Gardiner - 2008
    Building on the success of their website and blog, authors Gardiner and Shayne wind their way through patterns for adults, children and homes.

Artists' Journals and Sketchbooks: Exploring and Creating Personal Pages


Lynne Perrella - 2004
    This book is for all these people—it's an engaging and intimate glimpse into the personal pages of a wide variety of select artists and journal keepers whose works not only provide visual delight and inspiration but evidence the intensity and devotion that such personal journals invite.

Heal Your Mind


Mona Lisa Schulz - 2016
    How do we keep our wits about us, our mood stable, and our memory intact when our brains and bodies are bombarded with information and influences from every side? This one-of-a-kind resource combines cutting-edge science with compassion and wisdom to offer answers we can really use.Heal Your Mind continues the three-pronged healing approach that Dr. Mona Lisa Schulz and Louise Hay pioneered together in All Is Well: Heal Your Body with Medicine, Affirmations, and Intuition. Here, it’s applied to aspects of the mind ranging from depression, anxiety, and addiction to memory, learning, and even mystical states. You’ll learn what’s going on in your brain and body when: You feel sad, angry, or panicked An addictive substance or behavior has hold of you You have trouble focusing, reading, or remembering A past trauma is clouding your mind in the present An emotional state is a clue to a physical ailment And more And in each chapter, you’ll get a “virtual healing experience” through case studies in the All Is Well Clinic, where Dr. Mona Lisa uses medical intuition to pinpoint issues in a wide range of prototypical client histories and she and Louise offer solutions and affirmations to help restore well-being.Today, the “pill-for-every-ill” approach is so prevalent that we may think our minds and bodies need an endless array of expensive, ever-changing pharmaceutical interventions. In truth, medicines are just one approach to healing the mind; nutritional supplements give us another important way to support mind-body health; and affirmations, as well as various forms of therapy, can restore us to balance by changing the way we think. Heal Your Mind puts all these tools at your disposal to help you choose your own path toward wholeness.

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times


Katherine May - 2020
    These periods of dislocation can be lonely and unexpected. For May, her husband fell ill, her son stopped attending school, and her own medical issues led her to leave a demanding job. Wintering explores how she not only endured this painful time, but embraced the singular opportunities it offered.A moving personal narrative shot through with lessons from literature, mythology, and the natural world, May’s story offers instruction on the transformative power of rest and retreat. Illumination emerges from many sources: solstice celebrations and dormice hibernation, C.S. Lewis and Sylvia Plath, swimming in icy waters and sailing arctic seas.Ultimately Wintering invites us to change how we relate to our own fallow times. May models an active acceptance of sadness and finds nourishment in deep retreat, joy in the hushed beauty of winter, and encouragement in understanding life as cyclical, not linear. A secular mystic, May forms a guiding philosophy for transforming the hardships that arise before the ushering in of a new season.

Little Felted Animals Create 16 Irresistible Creatures with Simple Needle-felting Techniques by Horvath, Marie-Noelle ( Author ) ON Sep-04-2008, Paperback


Marie-Noelle Horvath - 2008
    With bright photographs and clear diagrams.

Making Handmade Books: 100+ Bindings, Structures Forms


Alisa Golden - 2011
    Thanks to the 100 ideas in this volume, the craft is now available to everyone. In as little as an afternoon, beginners will be on their way to folding, gluing, and sewing handmade books in a variety of shapes and styles, from rolled scrolls to Jacobs ladders, folded flexagons to case bindings. Complete with photographs of the authors own master books and statements by more than 40 established book artists, this collection is sure to inspire. Culled from the authors best-selling books Creating Handmade Books, Unique Handmade Books, and Expressive Handmade Books, these projects will fuel bookbinding adventures for years to come.

How to Be Here: A Guide to Creating a Life Worth Living


Rob Bell - 2016
    Whether it’s writing the next great American novel, starting a business, or joining a band, Rob Bell wants to help us make those dreams become reality. Our path is ours and ours alone to pursue, he reminds us, and in doing so, we derive great joy because we are living our passions.How to Be Here lays out concrete steps we can use to define and follow our dreams, interweaving engaging stories, lessons from biblical figures, insights gleaned from Rob’s personal experience, and practical advice. Rob gives you the support and insight you need to silence your critics, move from idea to action, take the first step, find joy in the work, persevere through hard times, and surrender to the outcome.Like Stephen Pressfield’s classic The War of Art, How to Be Here will inspire readers to seek the lives they were created to lead.

Anticraft: Knitting Beading & Stitching for the Slightly Sinister


Renee Rigdon - 2007
    Whatever.If you would describe your favorite crafts as supercute" - no, let us rephrase: If the idea of handcrafting the most nauseatingly adorable plush bunny you've ever seen sets your heart atwitter - feel free to stop reading. We'll understand. Really.If you're still reading, you may be cynical and fed up with syrupy crafts as we are. (Huzzah!) For you and your likeminded AntiCraftspeople, we have hand-selected twenty-five projects from the most talented crafters you'll never find in the mainstream (whatever that even means). Behold:Creations your goody-goody little sister will roll her eyes at, including snake-motif thigh-highs and a duct-tape corset.Tips and sidebars to celebrate (with as much enthusiasm as any of us can muster) your delightfully dark nature, including suggested mood-enhancers (soundtracks, movies, etc.) for making each and every item.Basic techniques for knitting, crochet and jewelry-making virgins - complete with step-by-step photos to save you from the embarrassment of asking that annoyingly perky coworker for help.Join us in the AntiCraft movement - where self-expression, no matter how socially unacceptable, is given a scalpel and room to operate."