aulsmith reviews craft books

One of my goals for non-fiction on this site is to encourage the review of books you use rather than read. For me, that would be my craft books.

Here are the ones I reviewed today:

Elizabeth Ashurst's Golden Hands Collage
Carol Belanger Grafton's Traditional Patchwork Patterns
Susan McBaine's Miniature Needlepoint Rugs for Dollhouses

Oh, neat idea! And I'll be interested in the craft books. I have aspirations to quilting, and a bunch of books, though never enough time.

Fanastic idea. I am new to crafts but I already have a few books that I will review soon. I decided that I would add a craft book to my 50 Book Challenge list once I had done at least a third of the projects in a book.

I can do this. Cookbooks, antiques, crafts, gardening and occult. All I needed was a push and great examples. You're the best, aulsmith!

I love Craft books, too. I am into paper crafts and rubber stamping, making greeting cards, etc. I am also always up for a craft that I can do with the 3 year old girl and 5 year old boy I hang out with on some days. I'm their Great Aunt and I want to deserve the title.

You are Starred!

I haven't picked up any of my craft projects (or the books) for a long time. Maybe your thread will inspire me!

I am an absolute beginner at crafts (despite my age). becuase of this the books I am currently using are beginner's books.

My first review is for Felties: How to Make 18 cute and Fuzzy Friends by Nelly Pailloux.

Jennifer L. Atkinson's Collage Art: A Step-By-Step Guide & Showcase - borrowed from the library.

Edited to fiddle w/ the touchstones. Didn't help.

Collage Art by Jennifer L. Atkinson

*touchstone fairy*

Thanks :)

Great used bookstore find!

Make Your Own Dollhouses and Dollhouse Miniatures

My wife make miniatures. She does flower beds and aquariums. She has a nice kiln and makes her own ponds surrounded with flowers. I'll get some pictures.

Ooh, craft photos would be lovely!

As long as I don't have to post pictures, feel free. Photography isn't one of the areas I've gotten into.

I've been thinking about miniature sculpture gardens recently. I take apart dead electronics and use the parts for doll houses and jewelry, but I've got so much stuff that looks like modern sculpture that my dolls are protesting that no more art will fit in their houses.

Teddy Bear Studio All I wanted to do was recreate the stuffed elephant my aunt gave me for my new nephew. It looks pretty simple except the head. Side-by-side with my teddy I could see that a stuffed animal head is pretty standard except for the ears and nose. So if I just had a teddy bear pattern ... Nothing in Simplicity or McCalls. Dover Press to the rescue, except now it all looks more complicated than I thought. Well, my nephew is only one and I didn't get my elephant until I was 8, so I've got time.

Wirework Ugh. I hate books like this, though I'm glad I have a library that can waste their money on them instead of having to buy them myself.

Well that evoked a memory, of 30+ years ago, making a teddy bear by placing the fabric over an existing teddy bear and tracing the seam lines... The nuts and bolts for joints sound pretty cool.

A useful review of Wirework, not that it's something I plan to try, but if I did, this is exactly the sort of thing I'd want to know about an instruction book.

Thanks for sharing the review on Wirework. I don't like when the instructions leave parts out, assuming everyone just knows. Oh, but the ring on the cover is gorgeous!

16: Did tracing the seam lines work? That's what my sister suggested, but the head just looks so complicated ...

18: It was maybe not the most competently constructed bear ever, and as I recall it was a simple thing, with relatively few and large pieces, but in the end it did look approximately like the original.