Bibliocraft: The Modern Crafter's Guide to Using Library Resources to Jumpstart Creative Projects

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Pigza, a rare-books librarian at the New York Public Library, connects her two passions--libraries and crafting--in this collection of book-inspired craft projects. Each project uses books and library collections (often vintage) as a jumping-off point, turning things as commonplace as marbled endpapers into a pretty sewn pouch or drawing inspiration from children's book illustrations for a fanciful child's dress. Photographs of the primary sources that provided ideas for the projects are incorporated, allowing crafters to see the "ancestry" of each item. Pigza has assembled quite the cast of crafting luminaries, such as Gretchen Hirsch ("Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing"),

Arts & Crafts of the Islamic Lands: Principles, Materials, Practice

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Created by tutors from The Prince's School of Traditional Arts in London, this book focuses on the creation of traditional Islamic art forms. The materials, methods, and tools are analytically approached in this publication, which is more a pattern book than a historical review. The work opens with a discussion of the importance of geometry, and then details the creation of pigments, gesso, brushes, and paper. It demonstrates the application of gilding, along with the creation of works of calligraphy, carving, painting, parquetry, ceramic, mosaic, and glass. Images of the steps for everything from creating a squirrel-hair brush to applying and burnishing gold leaf emphasize the focus on craft. Overall, this is a practical, modern, how-to volume, chock-full of photos. It is an excellent resource for art students and those interested in learning how to select the necessary tools and how to create traditional Islamic art

Wise Craft: Turning Thrift Store Finds, Fabric Scraps, and Natural Objects Into Stuff You Love

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Stocker, author of the popular Wise Craft blog, specializes in easy-to-make crafts using repurposed materials. This collection features 60 new projects employing a variety of techniques, from hand quilting and weaving to papercraft and collage, intended to bring new life to worn-out objects. Library Journal (03/01/2014)

Teach Yourself Henna Tattoo: Making Mehndi Art with Easy-To-Follow Instructions, Patterns, and Projects

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Color your world with the fabulous art of henna tattoo.Mehndi, also known as henna tattoo, is a traditional Middle Eastern art used to adorn the body for weddings and other special celebrations. Today, readers everywhere can join in the beauty and fun of mendhi with this simple book of patterns and instructions for the body and even home decor objects!

Knit Your Own Zoo: Easy-To-Follow Patterns for 24 Animals

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Muir and Osborne (Knit Your Own Dog, Knit Your Own Cat) have once again assembled a collection of irresistible knitted animals. This book does exactly what it says it does, offering patterns for a veritable menagerie of miniature creatures. Patterns detail familiar animals such as the elephant and crocodile, as well as such less familiar animals as the anteater or meerkat. With the clever use of pipe cleaners, these animals can stand, sit, sprawl, or, in the case of the Fruit Bat, hang from the rafters. Fun details include fringe of all types, from lion manes to orangutan fur, and color work that replicates zebra stripes, leopard spots, and even mandrill coloring, among others. Two mother-and-child duos are especially darling: a seal and pup, and a kangaroo with removable joey. Patterns require focus but are, as described in the book's subtitle, easy to follow. Devotees of knitted creatures will find a lot to love in this collection. Publishers Weekly (01/20/2014)

Paper to Petal: 75 Whimsical Paper Flowers to Craft by Hand

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Make playful party decorations, luscious bouquets, and sophisticated floral centerpieces with inexpensive tissue and crepe paper. "Paper to Petal" walks you through the easy basics of transforming simple materials into a vibrant display of fanciful handmade blooms suitable for every occasion.

Amish Quilts: Crafting an American Icon

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Just as people who buy the New Yorker for its cartoons feel they've gotten their money's worth without reading beyond the punch lines, readers may take this up for the pictures alone: they are sumptuous. Photos of the bedcovers are complemented by pictures of modern art works that share aesthetics with the popular Amish quilts, known for their boldness, simplicity, and precision. Smucker (co-author, Amish Abstractions), a fifth-generation Mennonite quilter, is also a bold and precise historian. She tells stories not only of quilt history but also of social history, debunking myths (Amish women have not, for example, been quilting forever) and almost naming names (pickers stole quilts while their makers were at church). Smucker organizes her well-fabricated work into three nearly chronological parts: histories, the Amish style within American style; the popularity in the later-20th century of the Amish quilt as art; and Amish and "English" quilt businesses that spread abroad. She writes appealingly and clearly, always defining quilt jargon and explaining cultural mores as she tells "of the seemingly humble Amish quilts and the people who have loved them." Publishers Weekly (11/04/2013)

Seaside Quilts: Quilting & Sewing Projects for Beach-Inspired Decor

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Landlubbers and beachcombers alike will find something sewable in this book dedicated to the seaside. Porter (co-author, Patchwork Pantry) and Hansen (Angle Antics) begin with colors inspired by sunsets and sand, boats and surfboards, beach glass and glass floats. They have devised projects from large quilts to small hot pads, each sounding a beach note, echoed by quilting patterns bearing appropriate names like "Ocean Waves, " "Nautilus, " and "Summer Winds." Among the most comely quilts is "Irish Chain" in blue and white; vintage tablecloths fill the centers of picnic blankets. The authors offer variations on a theme; for example, the "Beach Glass" quilting pattern shrinks from a bedcover to a wall hanging to placemats (although orange in the color choices seems odd for beach glass). The decorative projects include a skeletal fish fashioned from driftwood and a tray coiled from scraps. The authors' headnotes are more pedestrian than poetic in style, but their designs splash ("Under the Sea"). At the end, they include patterns for appliqued designs as well as instructions for appliqueing and mitering. Publishers Weekly (12/02/2013)

Simple Flower Arranging

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Sixty stylish arrangements - from bouquets to small vases to table centerpieces - in a glorious host of shapes and colors.

Creating Lifelike Figures in Polymer Clay: Tools & Techniques for Sculpting Realistic Figures

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Thorough instructions supported by more than 400 step-by-step color photos and 200 detailed drawings cover the entire process of sculpting realistic figures, from selecting clay and gathering essential tools to the basics of modeling the human figure, to incorporating poses, facial expressions, ethnic and gender subtleties, costumes, and painted finishing touches.