Heirloom Wood: A Modern Guide to Carving Spoons, Bowls, Boards, and other Homewares


Max Bainbridge - 2017
    Combining traditional techniques with contemporary design, Max Bainbridge teaches you how to identify wood types, source timber, and set up a basic toolbox, then offers step-by-step carving and cutting techniques for making your own pieces. With little experience and very few tools, you’ll learn to create hand-carved bowls, cutting boards, spoons, knives, and spatulas, perfect for adding a touch of the handmade to your home. With further advice on finishing your projects—how to sand, ebonize, scorch, and texture the surfaces, as well as wax and oil your new, beloved kitchen creations—each of your handcrafted projects will be imbued with a tangible history visible through the maker’s mark. With beautiful photography and clear how-to instruction, Heirloom Wood gives you everything you need to create timeless kitchen keepsakes to be passed down from generation to generation.

Printing by Hand: A Modern Guide to Printing with Handmade Stamps, Stencils, and Silk Screens


Lena Corwin - 2008
    The quirks are what show the maker’s intimate involvement in the process, and it’s that unique quality that first attracted textile designer and illustrator Lena Corwin to hand-printing. Even though decorative prints are more in vogue than ever, there was until now no up-to-date hand-printing guide—no single source explaining the tools and materials that are used today, or reflecting a contemporary aesthetic. Corwin has given us that guide. Using step-by-step instructions and up-close photos, Corwin teaches crafters everything they need to know to master stamping, stenciling, and screen printing, from making their own printing devices to trouble-shooting when plans go awry. Her inimitable collection of projects ranges from stamped stationery and simple-to-sew pouches, to stenciled tote bags and furniture, to screen-printed bed linens and upholstery fabric. There’s even a silk-screened dog bed. The author has created original artwork for each project (full-size patterns are included in an envelope at the back of the book), so that every crafter can achieve the same beautiful results. Or maybe not quite the same. Remember: It’s the subtle differences that make hand-printing so special and alluring.

Gentle Art of Quiltmaking


Jane Brocket - 2010
    There's a Russian Shawl Quilt, inspired by traditional motifs of Russian folk art, a Floral Frocks Quilt inspired by summer dresses, flower gardens and herbaceous borders and a Suits and Ties Quilt reusing sober woollen suiting contrasting with extravagant silk ties designed in an Irish Chain.Finally, a practical section covers all the knowledge you’ll need – from chainpiecing, hand-quilting and sandwiching to binding, storage and caring for your quilt. Armed with the design tools, you can embark on your quilting journey and begin creating your own personal masterpiece.

Journal Me Organized: The Complete Guide to Practical and Creative Planning


Rebecca Spooner - 2018
    . . . Highly recommended.” —Library Journal (Starred review) Need to get organized? Blogging star Rebecca Spooner shows you how to create a great journal that will put your life in order.   Whether you’re rearranging your laundry room, planning the week’s menus, outlining your dream vacation, or training for your first 5K, Journal Me Organized provides all the information you need to eliminate mental clutter, focus on goals, and enjoy a creative outlet. Author Rebecca Spooner covers everything, from choosing a notebook and the basics of cross-referencing to the intricacies of different types of journaling, planning, goal setting, and time management. The fun truly begins with Spooner’s inspirational pages, clever ideas, and easy-to-follow instructions. She provides tutorials, sample lettering to trace, and templates that range from minimalist daily spreads to exuberant designs that capture the joy of holidays, birthdays, and personal milestones.

Origami Boxes


Tomoko Fuse - 1975
    Instructs in the folding of paper into such three-dimensional forms as square, triangular, and hexagonal boxes and their lids.

The Beauty of Zentangle: Wonderful Examples from Top Tangle Artists Around the World


Suzanne McNeill - 2013
    Created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, the Zentangle method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. The Beauty of Zentangle celebrates this simple but elegant new craft with hundreds of sensational one-of-a-kind designs from around the world.Selected by the editors of Design Originals, the #1 publisher of Zentangle art, this amazing collection of Zentangle-inspired masterpieces encompasses a wide range of styles. Stunning works are included from breakthrough artists and CZTs like Suzanne McNeill, Cindy Shepard, Marie Browning, Sandy Steen Bartholomew, and many more. Their inventive tangles are at the forefront of a new wave of creative expression and personal freedom.

Crafting a Meaningful Home: 27 DIY Projects to Tell Stories, Hold Memories, and Celebrate Family Heritage


Meg Mateo Ilasco - 2010
    In Crafting a Meaningful Home, Meg Mateo Ilasco shares 27 projects that tell personal stories and celebrate heritage, all easily created on a budget. Learn how to decoupage a plate with photos of a best friend; silkscreen upholstery with folk motifs; artfully display love notes; sew a teepee from a vintage quilt top; or create family silhouettes for a festive banner. Contributed by a hip cast of well known designers from across the country, the projects are, at once, nostalgic, sentimental, and modern. Clear instruc­tions are easy to follow, even for beginning crafters.Praise for Crafting a Meaningful Home:"[Crafting a Meaningful Home] can serve two purposes on your gift giving list. If you have time, make one of the projects from the book. If not, give the book itself. It's beautifully photographed and written, and the projects are incredible." --PopSugar Rush TV

Super Crafty: Over 75 Amazing How-To Projects


Susan Beal - 2005
    With its sleek design and edgy tone, Super Crafty is the ultimate hipster’s craft guide, with a wide array of accessible projects suitable for all skill levels. The book offers dozens of projects for the home (Easy Etched Glass), wardrobe (One-Afternoon Skirt), body (Flirty Floral Pasties), family pet (Greta’s Tail Warmer), and more. Organized by genre, each chapter uses a rating system to indicate difficulty, cost of materials, and age-appropriateness. "101" sections offer basic instruction in sewing, working with vinyl, jewelry making, and other crafts. A resource guide helps locate supplies, tools, and further inspiration. The authors also contribute thoughtful pieces on the underlying aspects of craft, from activism to therapy, as well as lighthearted vignettes on crafting disasters and favorite art supplies.

Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction


Jeff VanderMeer - 2013
    Employing an accessible, example-rich approach, Wonderbook energizes and motivates while also providing practical, nuts-and-bolts information needed to improve as a writer. Aimed at aspiring and intermediate-level writers, Wonderbook includes helpful sidebars and essays from some of the biggest names in fantasy today, such as George R. R. Martin, Lev Grossman, Neil Gaiman, Michael Moorcock, Catherynne M. Valente, and Karen Joy Fowler, to name a few.Praise for Wonderbook: “Jammed with storytelling wisdom.” —Fast Company’s Co.Create blog“This is the kind of book you leave sitting out for all to see . . . and the kind of book you will find yourself picking up again and again.” —Kirkus Reviews online“If you’re looking for a handy guide to not just crafting imaginative fiction like sci-fi, fantasy, and horror, but to writing in general, be sure to pick up a copy of Steampunk Bible author Jeff Vandermeer’s lovingly compiled Wonderbook."  —Flavorwire“Jeff Vandermeer and Jeremy Zerfoss have created a kaleidoscopically rich and beautiful book about fiction writing.”  —Star Tribune“Because it is so layered and filled with text, tips, and links to online extras, this book can be read again and again by both those who want to learn the craft of writing and those interested in the process of others.” —Library Journal

Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor


Lynda Barry - 2014
    I had no idea that nearly 40 years later, I would not only still be using it as the most reliable route to the thing I've come to call my work, but I'd also be showing others how to use it too, as a place to practice a physical activity — in this case writing and drawing by hand — with a certain state of mind.This practice can result in what I've come to consider a wonderful side effect: a visual or written image we can call 'a work of art,' although a work of art is not what I'm after when I'm practicing this activity.What am I after? I'm after what Marilyn Frasca called "being present and seeing what's there."This book is a collection of bits and pieces from the many notebooks I kept during my first three years of trying to figure out how to teach this practice to my students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison."

Creative Time and Space: Making Room for Making Art


Ricë Freeman-Zachery - 2009
    Whether you're looking to clear more space in your head for creative thinking, or to make the most of the time you do manage to sneak into your studio, the help you need is all right here.Discover ways to keep the creative part of your brain engaged even during activities such as shopping or doing "business work" on the computer.Learn how to budget your time by spending less of it surfing the internet and more time sketching out your next creative project.Pull yourself out of a creative rut with ideas from reorganizing your studio to remembering that mistakes can be fun to forcing yourself to try a new color palette.Obtain an insider look into the studios of several successful artists and get a glimpse of where they get to go to work every day and the rituals they use to get the juices flowing.Try out jump-starting exercises for your brain and unleash an entirely new creative direction.Creative Time and Space is just the friendly push you need to work more of what you love (making art) into your life and to love whatever space you create it in.

The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity


Julia Cameron - 1992
    An international bestseller, millions of readers have found it to be an invaluable guide to living the artist’s life. Still as vital today—or perhaps even more so—than it was when it was first published one decade ago, it is a powerfully provocative and inspiring work. In a new introduction to the book, Julia Cameron reflects upon the impact of The Artist’s Way and describes the work she has done during the last decade and the new insights into the creative process that she has gained. Updated and expanded, this anniversary edition reframes The Artist’s Way for a new century.

Visual Chronicles: The No-Fear Guide to Creating Art Journals, Creative Manifestos & Altered Books


Karen Dinino - 2006
    'Visual Chronicles' provides a no-fear guide to expressing one's deepest self with art & words.

Sharpie Art Workshop: Techniques and Ideas for Transforming Your World


Timothy Goodman - 2015
    The most comprehensive, step-by-step, hands-on creative workbook for creating art with Sharpie markers.

20 Ways to Draw a Tulip and 44 Other Fabulous Flowers: A Sketchbook for Artists, Designers, and Doodlers


Lisa Congdon - 2013
    Each of the 20 interpretations provides a different, interesting approach to drawing a single item, providing loads of inspiration for your own drawing. Presented in the author’s uniquely creative style, this engaging and motivational practice book provides a new take on the world of sketching, doodling, and designing.Get out your favorite drawing tool, and remember, there are not just 20 Ways to Draw a Tulip!