Sweet Treats in Cross-Stitch: 53 Delightful Projects to Embroider ( Made in France )

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Strawberry shortcakes, plump macarons, toffee apples, and ice-cream sundaes--these mouthwatering motifs in delicious colors will inspire crafters to create beautiful gifts and accessories for the home
The 53 projects collected here include placemats, napkins, bibs, bags, aprons, cushions, and tea towels, but once one has mastered the simple cross-stitch, the possibilities are endless. Motifs are embroidered on impossibly chic French homewares in colors and styles that are appealing to make for and with children, each project is illustrated with a full-page photograph and grid, and the motifs can be used to transform and embellish an endless array of homewares and accessories.

Convertible Crochet: Customizable Designs for Stylish Garments

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Convertible Crochet "is a brand new way to think about crochet fashion, exploded lace motifs, and flattering silhouettes. Award-winning designer Doris Chan helps you get more out of crochet with these endlessly adaptable patterns and techniques that can work with a variety of different looks, personal styles, and body shapes. You'll learn to personalize these designs by easily making alterations, adding removable elements, or simply styling the piece in an ingenious new way. Make it once. Wear it again and again.

Paper Blooms: 25 Extraordinary Flowers to Make for Weddings, Celebrations & More

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The thought of paper flowers may conjure images of previous times when young women made them from sheets in the teacher's facial tissues box. Rudell, whose work has been featured at Tiffany's and the New York Botanical Garden, as well as in Elle Decor, Brides, and Good Housekeeping, has assembled a garden's worth of blooms made of tissue, rice paper, vellum, and handmade paper. The tools (multi-blade scissors, needle-nose pliers, wire cutters, and glue guns, pens, and tubes) are described in depth before each suggested project, ranging from simple to complex. Color photos of the multiple steps in each project guide the way down the garden path to mums, marigolds, and poinsettias. This is a realistic and aesthetically pleasing guide for groups attempting marriage decor en masse or for the individual attempting posy place cards for 10 or a special 3-D birthday greeting to drop in a friend's mail slot. Helpful templates included.Publishers Weekly (04/29/2013)

Embroidery Pour Le Jardinier: 100 French Designs for the Gardener

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Embroidery pour le Jardinier presents more than one hundred designs to add charm to things you use in the garden and twenty-one needlework steps teaching how to do this. In no time you'll be hand-stitching cherry motifs to seed bags, butterflies to tool kits, and scarecrows and pumpkins to your gloves and smocks. The designs featured inside will allow you to personalize your gardening accessories and create lovely embroidered gifts for your friends.

Paper Pups: 35 Dogs to Copy, Cut & Fold

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Hayakawa ("Kirigami Menagerie") has been an origami enthusiast since childhood, and his second book focuses on dogs made out of folded card stock. The introduction explains the basics of cutting and folding; specific directions, as well as illustrations of key steps and a full-color photograph of the finished piece, are included with the information on creating each dog. Rather than starting with a full sheet of origami or office paper, Hayakawa recommends photocopying the reproducible template for the dog of your choice onto card stock, then following the cutting and folding directions for the specific animal. It's a little confusing, but the results are surprisingly realistic. VERDICT This collection isn't for beginners, but origami enthusiasts can amaze their friends with their ability to create everything from a mutt to a poodle. Copyright 2013 Library Journal.

Printing on Fabric: Techniques with Screens, Stencils, Inks, and Dyes

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Artist, designer, and teacher Swearington provides a basics-and-beyond introduction to screen-printing and fabric-dyeing tools and techniques in this how-to guide. After an introduction to the basics, the author walks beginners through the steps of printing fabric using screens and stencils, then proceeds with more advanced techniques, such as using multiple screens and repeating patterns. Helpful tips are interspersed throughout the guide, and a selection of projects highlighting the qualities of hand-printed fabrics rounds out the book. VERDICT Swearington's enthusiasm for her topic shines through, and she makes every step of the process look like a lot of fun. Copyright 2013 Library Journal, Library Journal (05/01/2013).

Crafting Calm: Projects and Practices for Creativity and Contemplation

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Shannon ("Prayers for Healing"), a San Francisco-based interfaith minister, finds spiritual calm through creating, and this collection of stories, journal prompts, inspirational quotes, and craft projects is designed to help others find their own inner peace. The author's focus is on the Christian faith, but she includes anecdotes from crafters from other faith traditions, including Judaism and paganism. The projects are fairly simple, and all focus on bringing spirituality, prayer, or meditation into the mix. Sometimes this works, such as the personal prayer flag; other times, it's a little forced, like the "sacred bath salts." Library Journal (04/01/2013):