In this inspiring guide, Lexie Barnes shows you how to create handmade bags that provide customized functionality while showcasing your own personal style. With step-by-step instructions for 18 pattern-free projects that include drawstring sacks, handbags, and messenger bags, Barnes encourages you to experiment with bold fabrics, hand-picked materials, and purpose-tailored dimensions to create fashionably unique bags that are suitable for your individual needs.

    Knit colorful hats, gloves, and sweaters in the Shetland tradition.

    This large format, full-color, inspirational book is about how artists use their collections to make artwork. The gallery-style format allows readers to see what artists collect, and the resulting spectacular artwork they make from it. The book will feature the collections and the artwork of thirty-five major mixed-media artists. The artwork will include journals, assemblages, altered books, as well as jewelry pieces, and detailed descriptions of the materials and techniques used, plus tips and insights into using unusual materials and collections. Mixed-media artists are naturally collectors. They are fascinated by the stuff of life, and they are always looking for the right elements to add to their collages and journals. This book offers a juicy combination -- sort of a walk through an artist-filled flea market, and a gallery of the pieces created using these collections with tips and insights on collecting and creating, and how they go hand in hand.Features a lineup of 35 contributing artists including: Lynn Whipple Graceann Warn Gail Rieke Beryl Taylor Keith LoBue Michael DeMeng Nina Bagley Susan Lenart-Kazmer and more Art Making, Collections, and Obsessions features a beautiful collection of inspirational artwork. You'll enjoy artist's tips, creative ideas, and advice on working with unusual materials for collage.

    From an Ombre Painted Canvas and Ribbon Chandelier to Chalkboard Frames and Sequin Curtains, this guide shows you how to create the fabulous room decor crafts that you've spotted in magazines and online on your Tumblr dashboard. With just a few simple tools and Smith's guidance, you'll turn your bedroom into a super cool space your friends will envy. Every page also includes step-by-step photographs that guide you through the process, so you'll never have to worry about how your projects will come out.Filled with easy-to-follow instructions for 50 imaginative ideas, DIY Bedroom Decor helps you transform your current space into the bedroom of your dreams!

    This step-by-step book is divided into six chapters, each with seven daily exercises.  The Zentangle method was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas as a way to practice focus and meditation through drawing by using repetitive lines, marks, circles, and shapes. Each mark is called a "tangle," and you combine various tangles into patterns to create "tiles," or small square drawings. Each of the six chapters explores a different aspect of Zentangle:Basics and EnhancementsTangles and Value PatternsGeometric and Organic PatternsUnderstanding and Using ColorDefining and Using StyleCreating the Rest of Your Zentangle JourneyEach exercise includes new tangles to draw in sketchbooks or on Tiepolo (an Italian-made paper), teaches daily tile design, offers tips on related art principles, and contains an inspirational "ZIA" (Zentangle Inspired Art) project on a tile that incorporates patterns, art principals, and new techniques.   Drawing Zentangles is a relaxing and replenishing diversion that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and skill levels. In addition to its soothing benefits, a Zentangle practice can also help with self-image, phobias, addictions, pain management, conflict resolution, and coping with grief. Step away from the daily hustle and untangle with a Zentangle.

    Freehand breaks down basic drawing techniques into bite-sized chunks, and reveals their practical application in dazzling examples by today's coolest artists. Over 200 innovative works of art demonstrate all the fundamentals—line, tone, composition, texture, and more—and are presented alongside friendly text explaining the simple techniques used to achieve each stylish effect. The final section of the book offers aspiring artists essential reference materials to hone their drafting skills and practice what they've learned. Petite in size but comprehensive in scope, this hip handbook will teach artists of all skill levels how to find their personal drawing style and start making amazing sketches.

    Learn how to trust your instincts so you can work more intuitively, and develop a new appreciation for the therapy of sewing without a plan.

    Crochet books were largely useless because it is difficult to teach a visual art through words—until now. Crochet for Beginners is full of color photos and diagrams that make it easy not only to learn beginning crocket stitches but really begin to put them into use, making more and more complicated projects, all the way up to crochet afghans. If you already know how to do basic crochet stitches and are looking for crocheting books that can help you take your projects to the next level, this book is also perfect for your needs. This books is very specific about not only how to start crocheting, but how to improve your skills with a range of techniques and crochet patterns that train you to make just about anything you want, quickly and easily. All you have to do is look at the pictures and diagrams and you will be able to make any of the 21 crochet patterns included in the book. This book teaches you to complete every single one of our patterns, even the most advanced ones, in less than three days. To speed up the process, the book also includes a full list of Glossary terms, to explain that crochet terminology that patterns and other crocheters use. There are even ten fast-track tips to get you crocheting fast and a FAQ to answer any questions you might have about crocheting, crochet stiches, what hooks to purchase, etc. You will be a master of crocheting in no time! Here are just some of the benefits provided by Crochet for Beginners: • Learn whether or not crocheting is harder than knitting • 21 different crochet projects, teaching you the skills to crochet just about anything • How to easily start crocheting and build your skills • How to join crochet pieces • And many more! Learning how to crochet is not a difficult or protracted process when you have the right tools. That is what Crochet for Beginners provides, a step-by-step, picture and diagram tutorial for simple and highly advanced projects. Scroll up and get your copy today! Check Out What Others Are Saying... "One thing I really love about the book is the abundance of clear, beautiful photos. They feature colorful crochet stitches done, has got to be one of my most favorite books. Why? Because you don't just read it cover to cover and walk away from it. It is useful, it is a resource, and I find myself referring to it time and time again. You see, I am a crocheter, but I don't crochet constantly so I forget stitches. A to Z Crochet is a great tool to remind me how to do a certain stitch. The pictures are helpful and show progressive steps. If there is more than one way to do something, you can bet it is explained.. I really appreciate these pics!I now have enough stitches to keep me crocheting into the next millennium. Easy instructions and great pictures...makes it hard to do anything other than crochet. For the price, this book is an absolutely incredible value. I expect to use this book as a reference for a long time to come." - Michelle Smith "I've always wanted to learn how to crochet, this book makes it so easy! The diagrams of the patterns were really helpful to me (it doesn't matter how many times someone explains something in words, I'm a visual learner!).

    A collection of gorgeous knitwear designs for infants and toddlers - from sweaters and jackets to blankets, booties, and hats.

    ""Learning to Weave" is a four-shaft weaving course which makes learning to weave, with or without a teacher, easy and fun."

    Handbook for experienced climbers covers all the physical and psychological aspects of climbing training.

    This richly illustrated and expert study follows the artist from the early gloom-laden paintings in which he captured the misery of peasants and workers in his homeland, through his bright and colorful Parisian period, to the work of his final years, spent under a southern sun in Arles.

    Immersing you in the natural world, this book seeks to inspire creativity by connecting you to your organic roots.In addition to offering a wide variety of suggestions for using nature as supplies for art, this book also introduces the concepts of awareness and perception that are foundational to the creative process. Readers will refine drawing skills, as well as increase their appreciation for the visual arts and the natural landscape.Some of the projects and skills covered include the following:Making paper and wild inkWorking with soapstone, clay, wood, and rawhidePrintmaking and stencilingNatural pigments and dyesCamouflage and body paintingNature journalingLearn to find satisfaction in the natural process of transformation.

    Readers will love the opportunity to practice the creative art of hand-lettering in a way that inspires them and helps them relax.As an example of what’s inside, Workshop 1 encourages readers to renew & recharge by writing, “It’s me time,” with the easiest technique for a scripted, calligraphy look. Workshop 2 builds on the theme as readers use their skills from Workshop 1 to write, “Practice makes progress,” and add a new skill of drawing laurels and wreaths that take their calligraphy to the next level. With each workshop, readers are inspired with a brief introduction reminding them to relax and cultivate joy, then learn step by step how to letter each word of an example lettered design and draw embellishments. With plenty of practice space and a page to draw their own final design, this interactive workbook meets readers’ every need. High-quality, thick watercolor paper with perforated edging allows readers to tear out their finished hand-lettered art to display. This book goes beyond basic hand-lettering books to calm and relax, and goes beyond adult coloring books to teach a usable creative skill. It’s the perfect gift for yourself or friends and family who love crafts and coloring.

    In Venetian glassmaking, slender rods of molten glass are shaped, then cut to reveal amazingly detailed patterns: flowers, geometric shapes, dancing colors. These slices are called millefiori, “thousand flowers,” because they form a carpet of flowers when placed side by side. Now celebrity author Donna Kato shows crafters exactly how to re-create these intricate, fascinating designs in polymer clay. The Art of Polymer Clay Millefiori Techniques reveals the entire process: how to work with the polymer clay, the basics of planning and creating a cane, and using color effectively. Dozens of canes, from simple to simply stunning, are included, and everything is clearly explained and illustrated with full-color photos, the Donna Kato way. Throughout the book, examples of stunning work by such millefiori artists as Kathy Amt, Pier Voulkos, and Kathleen Dustin provide inspiration. There must be a thousand ways to make beautiful millefiori . . . explore them all in The Art of Polymer Clay Millefiori Techniques.