Reviews (1)

Fantastic and very inspiring!
I just received this book yesterday, and I am so pleased! I paint murals for part of my living too, and I thought this book might provide more ideas.Well, Ms. Whitaker's ideas are so inspirational, and I loved her artwork as well.Although I have already painted a number of murals for children's rooms, this book contained some great tips and techniques that I have not tried.All in all, it was well worth the money to me. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Children's rooms    3. Decorating    4. Decorating - Painting/Wallpapering    5. Design - Decorative    6. Home Improvement / Construction    7. Mural painting and decoration    8. Painting    9. Painting In Specific Media    10. Remodeling & Renovation - Children's Rooms    11. Technique    12. Home furnishing & decoration   

Reviews (7)

Good Book for Beginners
The emphasis of this book is surface decoration techniques in general.Most of the ceramics techniques in this book you will already know something about if you have had a good ceramics class.If the topics listed are new to you, then this book is a great introduction.If you've already been exposed to them, then this book does not take you farther.
LOVE this beautiful and informative book.
I would love to take one of her college courses because Lynn Peters presents material clearly, concisely, and makes it seem like fun! The photographs are beautiful and very inspiring. The first time through I just looked at the pictures and captions. The second time through I read the lessons with pictures step-by-step. Third time, I read every word, and I know I'll refer to it again and again. I appreciated her simple, straightforward style of writing, and how she didn't bog down on details that don't make a lot of difference. If she wrote about it, it is useful info.

Best resource for learning low-fire clay decoration
This is absolutely the best resource for learning low-fire clay decoration. The book is in full-color & is packed beautiful example pieces. The author covers everything you need to know in an easy tounderstand manner. Surface decoration techniques include slips, terrasigillata, underglazes, glazes, maiolica, china paints, decals, &lusters. Formulas for some of these are included by volume &percentage. Seven step-by-step projects that demonstrate use of slips,sgraffito, cutouts, decals, underglazes & maiolica help you to applywhat you have learned. A glossary, cone-firing range chart, & resourcelist are a great bonus. Numerous examples of each style are given inindividual galleries throughout the book.I found them all an inspiration.Captions for each piece give information on the artist, clay type,technique & cone. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Crafts & Hobbies    2. Crafts / Hobbies    3. Decorating    4. Glazes    5. Glazing (Ceramics)    6. Hobbies/Crafts    7. Pottery & Ceramics    8. Art techniques & materials    9. BG-JUVENILE PROP - BG-JUVY YOUNG FICTIO    10. Ceramics    11. Crafts & Hobbies / Pottery & Ceramics    12. Decorative finishes & surfaces   

Reviews (1)

I Can't Wait "Til Christmas...
I can't wait until Christmas because Danny Seo's book has given me many new ideas as to how to give and/or wrap gifts that are pretty, fun, and environmentally friendly.
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Subjects:  1. Crafts & Hobbies    2. Crafts / Hobbies    3. Decorating    4. Environmentalism    5. General    6. Handicraft    7. Hobbies/Crafts    8. Paper Crafts    9. Recycling (Waste, etc.)    10. Crafts & Hobbies / General    11. Handicrafts   

Subjects:  1. Crafts & Hobbies    2. Crafts / Hobbies    3. Decorating    4. Greeting cards    5. Hobbies/Crafts    6. Paper Crafts    7. Papercrafts   

Reviews (2)

LOVE THIS BOOK
Very glad I purchased this book ... filled with great ideas.Very well photographed projects.Just an overall pretty book as well.

The phographs are nice
But there just really isn't any substance to this book.The projects are very simplistic, so in that regard I suppose this might be a nice project book for a beginning collage/assemblage enthusiast, but if you have any experience, this book isn't for you.It does have some nice photographs of vintage ephemera, which I plan to cut out of the book and use in my projects, but for me, that is about all this book is good for. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Arts And Crafts    2. Assemblage (Art)    3. Box making    4. Crafts & Hobbies    5. Crafts / Hobbies    6. Decorating    7. General    8. Hobbies/Crafts    9. Ornamental boxes    10. Scrapbooks, Memory Books    11. Souvenirs (Keepsakes)    12. BG-ANIMALS/NATURE - BG-NATURE    13. Crafts & Hobbies / General    14. Handicrafts    15. Paper crafts   

Subjects:  1. Beadwork    2. Crafts & Hobbies    3. Crafts / Hobbies    4. Decorating    5. Hobbies/Crafts    6. Jewelry    7. Jewelry Arts And Crafts    8. Jewelry making    9. Crafts & Hobbies / Jewelry    10. Handicrafts    11. Jewellery & jewellery-making   

Reviews (1)

Ancient History
This book has a beautiful cover.With that said, this book is a history of screen printing.Written in 1958, it doesn't even come close to being up to date.No new revisions.Not worth your time unless your a screen printing historian. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art & Art Instruction    2. Crafts & Hobbies    3. Decorating    4. Design - Decorative    5. General    6. Hobbies/Crafts    7. Serigraphy    8. Silk screen printing    9. Techniques - Printmaking    10. Art techniques & materials    11. Crafts & Hobbies / General    12. Planographic processes (eg lithography, screen printing, stencilling)   

Reviews (6)

Nightmare on Christmas
Read the review carefully -- I didn't and I'm sorry.The Publisher's Weekly review called their designs "gaudy" and boy are they right.Who in the world would have a Christmas tree in their house with a full sized mannequin stuffed into the tree dressed to look like Joan Crawford or Marilyn Monroe?And get this -- in the Joan Crawford tree, they have swan ornaments which -- everyone will know when they see them -- represent Ms. Crawford's transformation from ugly duckling to swan.Or how about the Lucille Ball tree -- disembodied hands holding brushes sticking out of the branches.I won't even get into the Cher tree, because it scared me.These people need to be visted by the ghosts of Christmas and have their heads straightened out. Please don't judge Los Angeles by these people -- I've lived here all my life and have never seen anything like this.This is a true nightmare before Christmas!

If you love Christmas decs, you'll enjoy this book!
Amazing decorated trees with different themes. Very American and very O.T.T but great for putting you in the mood for Christmas. Wonderful photographs!

Christmas Style - Recommended Highly
I love my new Christmas Style book, it's a beautifully shown and explained how-to book.
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Subjects:  1. Christmas decorations    2. Crafts & Hobbies    3. Crafts / Hobbies    4. Decorating    5. Hobbies/Crafts    6. Interior decoration    7. Reference    8. Seasonal    9. United States    10. Crafts & Hobbies / Seasonal   

Reviews (8)

A unique and wonderfully inspiring book
Two reasons to write this review.One is to counteract, or attempt to balance, the negativity of some of the other reader's reviews.The other is to bring to notice this exceptional book.The ideas that atmosphere, air and geographic location can influence color are not novel thoughts - Dutch master painters and the Provence of Van Gogh come to mind.But to apply such theories to the architectural and interior use of color has not been explored by enough people.Donald Kaufman was first an artist - this obviously influences his perception and methods of working with paint. The book is fascinating for the way it balances ethereal ideas with practical suggestions.The power and influence of localized light is described with excellent prose as well as lovingly selected photographs.Alongside such beauty are supremely helpful suggestions for using color and light in your own environment or in the spaces you are creating for others to enjoy.I have all three of Donald Kaufman and Taffy Dahl's books.Now I await a fourth!

The World of Color
This and the two related books (Natural Palettes and the Suzanne Butterfield book on palettes based on D. Kaufman colors)should be read attentively by anyone faced withpainting a room.As beautiful as some of the illustrations are, these are NOT coffee table books to browse through.They are full of practical information for painting rooms, including rooms like mine with dark woodwork, hardwood floors, uneven walls, odd-shaped and leaded glass windows, etc.For example -- balancing cool and warm, contrasting or matching color values, using hue to stand up to strong trim, using flat paint to create a soft, smooth wall surface, what to do with dark rooms (Don't paint them white -- the resulting shadows emphasize that they are dark.), the importance of mixing paint colors without using black pigment and the importance of having the full spectrum of pigments in any paint hue, the effect that the color of light in the room will have on the wall color, and much more.The room descriptions are not prescriptions for what one must do but rather examples of the many different effects that can result using fully-pigmented paint of different value, hue, contrasts, etc. under different light conditions.The Butterfield book is a fairly simple presentation."Natural Palettes" and "Color and Light," particularly the latter book, are sophisticated illustrated explanations of the basic "rules" of light and color through some of the myriad possible results.Read these three books with attention and be rewarded with an appreciation of color and light everywhere(in every house, apartment, store, restaurant, office, etc., on the street, the highway, in the sky, city, country -- you won't be able to help it!)Read these books and you will see, know and care about color and light forever.You'll also have no problem painting your rooms.

Useful and Illuminating
Beautiful book with great practical advice about how to choose colors for your home.I've gone gaga over Donald Kaufman's paints, and, although they are expensive, they are only a fraction of the price of Martha Stewart's line for Schreuder. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Color in interior decoration    2. Decorating    3. Decorating - Painting/Wallpapering    4. Decoration    5. Decoration & Ornament    6. Do-It-Yourself    7. Exterior lighting    8. General    9. Home Improvement / Construction    10. House & Home    11. Interior walls    12. Lighting, Architectural and de    13. Lighting, Architectural and decorative    14. Home furnishing & decoration    15. House & Home / Decorating   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (2)

so disappointing
i agree with the last post before mine... this book was terrible..a book about recipes...costumes....decorations and so on REQUIRES pictures..... awful book.....simply awful

Do not buy this book
I ordered this book along with The Big Book of Halloween Fun (Paperback), both authored by Susie Johns.Both were tremendous disappointments.This book lacks in imagination and more important for Halloween ideas . . . PHOTOS!As filler the author slips in childish Halloween jokes and offers very little in the way of Halloween decorating.I would not buy this book again.
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Subjects:  1. Cooking    2. Crafts & Hobbies    3. Crafts / Hobbies    4. Decorating    5. Hobbies/Crafts    6. Holiday - General    7. Seasonal    8. Cooking/Holiday - General    9. Crafts & Hobbies / Seasonal    10. Crafts & Hobbies/Decorating    11. Customs & folklore    12. Halloween    13. Halloween cookery    14. Halloween costumes    15. Halloween decorations    16. Holiday/Halloween    17. House & Home/Decorating - General    18. Parties   

Reviews (19)

THE Halloween book to buy!
It doesn't matter if you are a home haunter like me, someone who loves Halloween, orjust like to have THE best Halloween party in town, this is the book! It has so much fun info in it, recipes, costume ideas, decor and invite ideas... EVERYTHING! Buy one for yourself and one for your crazy friend!

MAYBE THE BEST BOOK ON HALLOWEEN!
There's only one thing that keeps "A Halloween How-To" from being the perfect Halloween book and that is that there are no color photographs.That one little drawback aside, this is maybe the best book on Halloween I've ever seen and I've reviewed a LOT of them.Unlike some of the more cutesy-crafty books on the market, this book is more designed for the real Halloween aficionado.This is the person whose more interested in scaring the pants off trick or treaters rather than winning an award from the neighborhood garden committee.
Good reference for a grown-up Halloween celebration
Last fall, I checked this book out of the library looking for ideas for our annual Halloween bash and to decorate our yard.The book not only has a great wealth of ideas and tips, but also historical and sociological information on the holiday. This is one of the few books that I have found more geared towards adults wishing to celebrate the holiday. Most of what is out there leans towards the juvenile side of Halloween festivites. Read more

Subjects:  1. Crafts & Hobbies    2. Crafts / Hobbies    3. Decorating    4. Entertaining    5. Halloween    6. Halloween costumes    7. Halloween decorations    8. Hobbies/Crafts    9. Holiday decorations    10. Holidays (non religious)    11. Seasonal    12. Customs   

Reviews (5)

Great instructional book
If you want some trompe l'oeil tips along with photographs of finished work, this is a great book.Step by step instruction of many illusions.

uninspiring
The book lacks both technical details and inspirations. Contains several basic boreing projects so meticulously drawn line after line as for to be copied. The "trompe l'oeil" title is too ambitious either. Sorry to admit but very like other books offered.
Good book but more out there
Good book but I have found a good site that offers free online tutorials for Trompe L'oeil at http://www.creativeevolution.net/school/howto.php ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Crafts / Hobbies    2. Decorating    3. Decorating - General    4. Decorating - Painting/Wallpapering    5. House & Home    6. Painting   

Reviews (4)

Senior Citizen Style
I too believe that the instructions are vague but the pictures are nice.One star for effort and one for the pictures.I also think that all the designs are for old ladies.Yuck, wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.Well, unless I didn't like them.

Not what I had hoped for
The photos, illustrations, and layout are beautiful, and at first flip through I found several pieces that I wanted to make, but when I began working on them I found the directions to be incredibly vague. This is not a good book for a beginner to learn from. I am generally very good at learning new skills from books, but the information just isn't there. I found I had to refer to other publications to figure out techniques and then guess at how to make the pieces shown here.

DISAPPOINTED
I recieved the book yesterday. Alot of the designs and projects are relatively simple to make. I find that the same designs are repeated throughout the book. As with lariats, chokers, and simple strung neclaces. The instructions are vague, and many times are left up to the student to figure out. There are diagrams, but no threadpath to find out where to start or end. In many cases there is NO threadpath at all. There are better designs and instructions in bead magazines.
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Subjects:  1. Beadwork    2. Crafts & Hobbies    3. Crafts / Hobbies    4. Decorating    5. Hobbies/Crafts    6. Jewelry    7. Jewelry Arts And Crafts    8. Jewelry making    9. Crafts & Hobbies / Jewelry   

Reviews (7)

One of the best instruction books out there
Sue Walters has done a wonderful job sharing her love and talent for pyrography. She has taken detail in technique for both the beginning woodburner and the advanced.
Well done illustrations
This book has nicely executed illustrations and very good instructions on how to convert the drawings to your particular craft field, such as woodburning, stenciling , stained glass, etc. I found the book very helpful. My only disappointment was that the wildlife designs are only North Americanand include a lot of birds and game animals (deer, mountain goats, elk). If you are looking for "lodge-style" designs, this book will be perfect for you.If you're looking for abroad variety of wildlife, you may want to look elsewhere.

Awesome Wildlife Patterns!
Wow!!! This book is loaded with an excellent selection of North American Wildlife patterns. From chipmunks to wolves, sparrows to peregrine ...deer, cougar, fox, raccoon...& the list goes on. Just a marvelous assortment of wildlife studies and a great reference book! I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a vast array of wildlife patterns.
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Subjects:  1. Crafts & Hobbies    2. Crafts / Hobbies    3. Decorating    4. Hobbies/Crafts    5. Woodwork - General    6. Woodwork Arts And Crafts    7. Woodworking    8. Crafts & Hobbies / General    9. Handicrafts   

Reviews (1)

Love it...buy it now
This is by far one of the best Amy Barickman books.It is loaded with images and paper samples for anyone that loves to work with images.It is also quite generous with instructions on how to make various projects.My very favorite so far.Thanks Amy. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Arts And Crafts    2. Crafts & Hobbies    3. Crafts / Hobbies    4. Decorating    5. Fashion    6. Handicraft    7. Hobbies/Crafts    8. Iron-on transfers    9. Transfer-printing   

Reviews (4)

Needed more pictures
Although the idea for this book is very good . Instead of staying on the subject and trying to explain to a novice what all this is about it goes on to other things like novelty edges etc which is not the reason I bought the book for. And they don't as usually make good use of the available pages for instance there are great big pictures of the finished project and tiny ones for the steps and very few for these. And then a whole page of a picture of materials which is completely useless like page 22, 86, 84, 72, 66 and of course page 58 which appears twice in this book. Such a waste of pages and photographs.

Great book!
Excellent book for sewers to have for reference - even if you are not into embellishment.There are many great ideas and techniques.A very good explanation of mitering corners.Easy directions with great pictures.

Very Good for Embellishment Work for Pillows
This book is really what you need ifyou enjoy, as I do, making pillows really special.There are techniques for rope cording, fabric cording, tassels in pillows with corded trim, box pillows, yarn fringe, etc.I only gave it 4 stars because I wish there were more pictures with descriptions, as being a relative novice, I needed more explanation.However, you can get the hang of itpretty well with the pictures that are supplied.This is a great reference book for your sewing library. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Borders, Ornamental (Decorativ    2. Borders, Ornamental (Decorative arts)    3. Crafts & Hobbies    4. Crafts / Hobbies    5. Cushions    6. Decorating    7. Hobbies/Crafts    8. Seams (Sewing)    9. Sewing    10. Crafts & Hobbies / Sewing    11. Needlework & fabric crafts   

Reviews (2)

Excellent for those who actually own and live ina cottage
This book far surpassed all expectations and is a book I am using a great deal.We live in a cottage in the Sierras that was built in the 1800's and what the book has helped me with, is better understanding how to make every room usable and how important wise and imaginative one has to be when designing storage in a small room, which is what older cottages are all about. For those who like the expensive, yet rustic look.
Because I so enjoyed the Better Homes & Gardens book "Cottage Style", this book by Ellen M. Plante sounded like an excellent addition to my personal library.However, her book was a disappointment to me.While I would be happy to stay at most of the featured vacation homes for a week or so if the owners invited me for a visit, very few of the pictures reflect the look of relaxed, romantic comfort that I associate with cottage style. She does feature a few interiors with the feel of Scandnavian country that I really liked, but none of the rest had much appeal for me.A fine book for people actually planning to build/remodel a vacation home, but not for those of us who buy decorating books just because we enjoy the pictures and like to dream. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cottages    2. Crafts & Hobbies    3. Decorating    4. Decorating - General    5. Decoration and ornament, Rusti    6. Decoration and ornament, Rustic    7. Hobbies/Crafts    8. Home Improvement / Construction    9. United States    10. Vacation homes    11. Crafts & Hobbies / Decorating    12. HOME REFERENCE - Decorating TRD HC   

Reviews (1)

Key word: INSPIRATION! ...with a dash of sass and wit!
Margot Potter's second craft and jewelry book, THE IMPATIENT BEADER GETS INSPIRED!, is an appealingly written, informative collection of ideas and techniques designed to encourage the inner artist in all of us to wake up, look about at the world and create! As a jewelry designer,I was enthralled by every page of this book. More than once I found myself interested in the more crafty projects, which are not within my specific arena. THAT IS HOW GOOD MARGOT POTTER IS! She makes you want to do things you don't normally do. She is so vibrant and encouraging! Additionally, her projects are inventive and original, yet not so very difficult that you couldn't try something you have always wished to take a shot at (like soldering, or polymer clay). She works with fabric, feathers, polymer clay, wall paper, vintage magazines, grommets, Mod Podge, traditional jewelry findings and you name it!!! You have to read it to believe it, and I guarantee you, you will love it!
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Subjects:  1. Beads & Beading    2. Beadwork    3. Crafts & Hobbies    4. Crafts / Hobbies    5. Decorating    6. Hobbies/Crafts    7. Jewelry    8. Jewelry Arts And Crafts    9. Jewelry making    10. Handicrafts    11. Jewellery & jewellery-making   

Reviews (5)

great product -really helps in planning!
Home Quick Planner:
Snapshot Design
The product usage was very simple. The two problems I had were: with even using clean hands or tweezers to place furniture shapes, "stick residue" rubbed off on some of the shapes. This force me to use double tape to hold in place. The table and cabinet sizes are limited. I ended up creating the size needed by using two or more of different sizes that were available.Would I purchase this item again? Probably only if the price went down because of what you get.

A great item--but Amazon shouldn't have had a "goes with..."
This is a wonderful item.It has "clingy", reusable stickers so that you can reuse them over and over--like the old "Colorforms" we had as kids.They are also quite detailed, so that although they are only in black and white, they are fun to look at.You have so many options, and the scaled paper is roughly 16" X 22", and treated so that the "stickers" stay on well, but can be taken off just as easily.And both sides are that way.Not sure if you can actually do one side, and, without removing the stickers, flip it over and do the second side.Haven't tried it, I guess.We purchased this as part of our homeschool curriculum for our 16 year old.
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Subjects:  1. Crafts & Hobbies    2. Decorating    3. Decorating - General    4. Design & Construction    5. Home Improvement / Construction    6. Interior Design - General   

Reviews (3)

avery helpful guide
I bought this book and found it very useful. the photos are beautiful and
Creative Floral Arrangements
The Book arrived in a timely fashion.The photograply was beautiful.However, I found it to be a coffee-table book rather than a text book which I needed.

Creative Floral Arranging
I loved the books big, colorful illustrations. The instructions were step by step and easy to follow. The materials list for each project made it easy to get organized for the project before I started. I also found thefloral arranging tips very useful. I worked at a floral shop for a briefperiod of time and found the instructions easier to follow than my trainer!A good book for people who love to make crafts for their homes, friends orfamilies. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Crafts & Hobbies    2. Crafts / Hobbies    3. Decorating    4. Flower Arranging    5. Flower arrangement    6. Hobbies/Crafts    7. Floral crafts