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.

    As a finishing touch for all your handmade garments or a great pick-me-up for a vintage find, these lovely blooms are the perfect way to use up scraps of yarn or try out interesting new yarns.Breeze through this gorgeous collection featuring a colorful palette of simple spiraling roses, saucer-sized poppies, delicate lilacs, an assortment of vegetables, and more. All are shown full-size and in scale and is complete with stitched leaves and embroidered stems. Each flower pattern has full instructions, yarn requirements, and a suggested skill level. An additional section serves as a refresher course with basic techniques and provides inspiration for embellishing your finished flowers with beads, buttons, and sequins. You can also learn how to use the flowers in a range of fun projects, from customizing clothing and accessories, to decorating gift-wrapped packages.This book will inspire all knitters and crocheters to pick up their needles and start creating their own beautiful blooms.

    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.

    Hoopla rebels against the quaint and familiar embroidery motifs of flowers and swashes, and focuses instead on innovative stitch artists who specialize in unusual, guerrilla-style patterns such as a mythical jackalope and needlepoint nipple doilies; it demonstrates that modern embroidery artists are as sharp as the needles with which they work.Hoopla includes twenty-eight innovative embroidery patterns and profiles of contemporary embroidery artists, including Jenny Hart, author of Sublime Stitching; Rosa Martyn of the UK-based Craftivism Collective; Ray Materson, an ex-con who learned to stitch in prison; Sherry Lynn Wood of the Tattooed Baby Doll Project, which collaborated with female tattoo artists across the United States; Penny Nickels and Johnny Murder, the self-proclaimed Bonnie and Clyde of embroidery; and Alexandra Walters, a military wife who replicates military portraits and weapons in her stitching.Full-color throughout and bursting with history, technique, and sass, Hoopla will teach readers how to stitch a ransom note pillow, mean and dainty knuckle-tattoo church gloves; and create their own innovative embroidery projects. If you like anarchistic DIY craft and the idea of deviating from the rules, Hoopla will inspire you to wield a needle with flair!With a foreword by Betsy Greer.

    Learn the basics of this simple and beautiful craft with valuable information on basic stitches, tools needed, and even how to make your own looms. Split by loom type—circular, rectangular, and even found objects—24 lush, bohemian, and uniquely modern projects for the home and to wear draw deeply on the nostalgic quality of vintage textiles. In addition to the how-to, this is the ultimate resource for finding your own creativity and style through this medium, from learning which materials to use for different effects to discovering how to use color to create vintage-inspired projects with a modern twist.

    For these projects, Lisa Occhipinti rescues and repurposes orphaned and outdated books from flea markets and library sales and turns them into new art objects and practical items for the home. Her creations range from artfully constructed mobiles, wreaths, and vases, to functional items like shelves, storage boxes, and even a Kindle "keeper" for those who want to replicate the sensation of holding a "real" book while reading from an e-reader. Projects utilize every imaginable part of a book--from hardback cover to individual pages--and are a DIY celebration of a new way to view a book's potential.

    In Heather Ross Prints, a book-and-DVD package, Ross shares reproducible artwork for more than 50 of her most popular prints. She provides step-by-step instructions for 20 craft projects using the prints on the DVD—everything from sea turtle stationery to a shower curtain covered with swirling mermaids. Crafters can use the artwork on the DVD as they wish, printing on fabric, paper, or whatever surface they choose. Plus, Ross teaches her process for designing fabric using Photoshop—a boon to anyone who has ever dreamed of following in her footsteps.

    Play it sweet in a Fembot babydoll nightie or sex it up in Hootchie Kootchie pasties. When you're feeling frisky, knit up the Baby Blue-Ball Gag or play dress-up in the naughty nurse cap or the felted Red Riding Hood cape. New and experienced knitters alike will find inventive and easy-to-follow patterns. And since the garments aren't exactly full-coverage, they don't take much time to complete. With inspiration from retro icons like surfer Gidget, Mrs. Robinson, and cavegirl Raquel Welch, Nikol Lohr pushes the boundaries of the traditional "wifely" crafts into the age of Sex and the City and cuddle parties. Part how-to guide, part peep show, Naughty Needles is a brash, tongue-in-cheek take on an age-old art. From the demure to the bizarre, with a splash of fetish thrown in, these are the projects that will make you smile--and make your partner growwwwl.

    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.

    And who better to teach us how to DIY our lives than the über-crafty editors of BUST, the quirky, raw, and real magazine “for women who have something to get off their chests”? In The BUST DIY Guide to Life, magazine founders Debbie Stoller (of Stitch ’n Bitch fame) and Laurie Henzel have culled more than 250 of the best DIY and craft projects from its 15-year history. Organized by category—beauty and health, fashion, food and entertaining, career, finance, travel, and sex—and written in BUST’s trademark brazen and witty style, this quintessential DIY encyclopedia from the quintessential DIY magazine is eclectic, empowering, hilarious, and downright practical, truly capturing the spirit of women today.Praise for the BUST DIY Guide to Life:“This lifestyle manual will come in handy when you need anything from a headache remedy to a dirt-cheap wedding.” —Entertainment Weekly“Has tips on beauty, fashion, and finance, too, all with attitude. But our dog-eared pages? Decorating, all the way.” -- Los Angeles Times“It’s a rare do-it-yourself book that combines instructions for both homemade pot holders and Tantric sex. But The Bust DIY Guide to Life isn’t your typical how-to manual. The book, by Bust magazine cofounders Laurie Henzel and Debbie Stoller, is an irreverent yet informative guide to much of what life throws your way—removing laundry stains, lubricating a bicycle chain, even planning a wedding on the cheap.” —Akron Beacon Journal "Looking for one source to provide answers on how to do practical things? This is it! A friendly compendium that shows you (with many pictures and diagrams) how to replace a broken zipper, make soap, turn your bell bottoms into straight-leg jeans, how to buy an old house, how to buy a vintage car, how to skateboard and lots more." —The Fresno Bee

    challenges designed to really get you to think about your life, your art, yourself. In this book, the authors showcase some of the best challenges from their site along with over 25 new challenges to get your creative juices flowing. And the layouts inspired by the Dares, created by the authors and their amazing contributing artists, are the perfect jumpstart to get you thinking about your scrapbooking in a whole new way.

    The motifs and patterns are spare and graphic, yet softened with organic shapes and imagery drawn from nature. The result is embroidery that evokes a personal feel and conjures a sense of nostalgia. The task of picking just the right palette for an embroidery project can be overwhelming to beginners and experienced stitchers alike. But when you take away that challenge, a whole world of texture and style becomes available. Here Japanese designer Yumiko Higuchi presents embroidery motifs to be stitched using just one or two colors--creating patterns and designs that are more evocative for their form than for a play of colors. Each embroidery design is paired with a simple craft project, transforming the stitched fabric into a functional object, including pouches, pillows, aprons, and more. With beautiful photographs, clear step-by-step instructions, and detailed diagrams, Zakka Embroidery will be an inspiring guide for those new to embroidery and a delightful experience for those experienced with needle and thread.

    It might be a tiny rainforest, with lush foliage and bright tropical flowers. Or a desert, with strange succulents planted among colorful stones. Or a Victorian fernery. Or a minimalist composition with a single, perfect plant.Or it might not contain any plants at all. It might be made with crystals, feathers, bones, seashells, bits of wood, porcelain trinkets—anything that catches your fancy and helps create a mood or look. Whatever they contain, terrariums are the ultimate in modern, affordable, easy-care décor.Terrarium Craft features fifty original designs that you can re-create or use as inspiration for your own design. Each entry comes with clear step-by-step directions on how to assemble and care for your terrarium. You’ll also find helpful information about selecting a container, using appropriate materials, choosing the right plants, and maintaining your terrarium. (Hint: It’s easy! In fact, many terrariums are self-sustaining, requiring no maintenance whatsoever!)

    The stitch patterns and clear instructions make it easy for even procrastinators and the less-than-diligent to create a ruffled cravat, a drawstring bag, a tank top, cozy scarves, arm and leg warmers, lace wristlets, fingerless gloves, a mohair pillow, and even a sweater for a baby. Several projects do not require any new yarn at all—instead projects such as the Felted Striped Tote or the Labyrinth Circle Rug are designed using up a skein's worth of leftovers from other projects. A guide to terms and techniques, a resource directory, and a bibliography are also included.

    This work features 21 projects - including quilts, pillows, and soft ornaments - that draw their inspiration from the seasons and offer a fresh, modern take on folk art.