Crafts Hobbies Books

This book was unusual as an artbook. It takes me beyond the "hobby" status many art book seems to have. Proffessional and inspiring!

If you want information as an artist intending to try encaustic painting
then this is a good book--it covers everything to get started painting with
encaustic. Also some information on the ancient Fayum encaustic portraits,
Jasper Johns use of encaustic (an interview with him) and examples of the encaustic
work of certain other contemporary artists using encaustic techniques and some
using other wax techniques not strictly encasutic

I am new this this medium. When I ordered this book I could not put it down. I read it in one night. It is packed with a lot of information. I keep refering back it.

I found this to be a clear and well presented book overall, enough so I found I didn't want to start this technique until I did some major re-arrangement of my studio space. Given that I haven't tried working through the tutorials, so really can't comment about them.

Some seem annoyed at the art and artists presented - get over it. Art is about process, not product, learn about and experience what others have done then do your own thing. If you live somewhere with good art museums then seek out work by others that is in the genre that suits your tastes.

I'll keep this book as reference when I do start my experiments with wax - so far it's the best I've seen in print.

WOW! This is a book that must be the encaustic paint maker's bible.
Joanne Mattera has produced a book of reference for those artists wanting to explore the ancient art of encaustic painting. Her use of easy to relate reference material like the formulae of encaustic medium to the day to day collection of tools used to produced the art work, makes a newbie to this technique feel secure.
She covers the important issues of studio safety to the equipment. The questions and answers found on the working reference pages are very helpful and guide the reader towards the subject matter covered chapter by chapter.
She shares encaustic paintings from a huge range of contributing artists and this allows the reader to see the wide range of applications that encaustic painting adds to the visual arts. Joanne's vast painting experience shows through as she shares both her experiments along the encaustic journey to her leaving the door open for the new artist to "try new things for themselves."
For the artist trying encaustic painting for the very first time to the experienced encaustic painter, this book offers information for all.

I used this book constantly for the first few years I knit as I learned to seam and finish my garments. I still use it and it is one of the best and most loved books in my knitting library. Very handy and helpful.

This is a very good book to have if you are like me new to knitting.This book will help you to put the finishing techniques to your knitted garments perfectly. You should get this book,I did.

Gave to my daughter for Christmas and she said it was just what she needed.

So far, I have only perused this book, but I can see that it is one of those essential items for your knitting library. I have several knitted articles that I've left unfinished as I waited for this book to arrive, so I can finish them professionally. I have no doubt this book will be a useful resource.

This is a great book for knitters who are trying to improve their skills. I bought it because my finishing skills need to be improved. However, the finishing techniques are not as detailed as I would have liked.
But this book is much more than a finishing book. It is an excellent instruction book for at least intermediate knitters or perhaps someone who just wants to have their projects look a bit more professional.
I have used it again and again. Different ways to increase and decrease are well explained.
I can't give it five stars because the book doesn't really do what it says it does. But I would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to improve their knitting.

Wonderful. Easy to use, great educational aid in learning the musculature of the dog and a general overview of the dogs physical attributes. Reccomend for any student or interested dog owner to help learn how the dogs body works.

This was a good book, I think a little to expensive for what you get. Should cost about $20-$25.00. Dont think it is worth $35.00

It is a good book, especially if you like to color.....but that is the only great thing about it. It lacks important detail, thus it is a coloring book only!

I am extremely happy with the purchase of this particular book. As a student of Animal Bowen Therapy, I require information that is explanatory and easy to understand. This book is all of that and more. The pictures are simple and it is very easy to see the different aspects of the anatomy of a dog.
I received the book in wonderful timing and as always, found the transaction to be easy and non fuss. I will continue to shop for my books this way as it is 9 times out of 10 the cheapest and best way to do it.
Virginia Ede
Australia

Beautiful pictures with clear information. This book is required for the Comparative Anatomy class that I am taking. I would highly recomend this book for any vet tech students suffering from information overload. Great help in understanding the basics.

There are several patterns in this book that I want to make. I made the short version of the cover mitts in the recommended yarn, and they came out very well. They are a cute and fun hand garment! I love the layered gloves, and that will be my next project from this book, but I have already gotten the yarn for the mittens with button on separate cuffs, and the ones made from Lopi. All in all, a great little book for quick projects that include traditional and contemporary.

This is really a very beautiful book. The pages are matte, and thick, the cover is gorgeous, the designs are wonderful and her descriptions of the items and the names she has given each pair of gloves are inspirational. I love to see a designers thought-processes and she explains in detail how she thought up each pair and the symbolic meanings behind the types of knitting she has done on them. Yes, the writing is in about a 9 pt font, but it is nothing that is unreadable. Directions are explained in detail for each pair of mittens and fingerless gloves and I am ecstatic that I bought this book. I sense a winter full of beautiful gloves coming my way....

From wrist warmers to gauntlets to opera gloves, mittens & gloves - it's in here! Old-fashioned charm, as well as up-dated versions for the younger crowd of knitters! If you love knitting mittens & gloves, this would be the book to choose for your inspirations! There are many ideas to choose from, that you can tailor to suit your own tastes or needs.

What a wonderful book! Each design is unique & gorgeous, while also being completely accessible & wearable. There is plenty of room for yarn subtitutions as well. The only problem with this book is deciding which project to start with, and sticking with it without casting on several more!

I bought the book because of Grumperina's comments and am glad I did. I have finished one pair of gloves for my Mum and will CO for the next pair this weekend. There is something interesting for everyone whatever your style is. The patterns are very creative but practical at the same time. But yes the print could be a bit larger for those darker nights to come .......

Wow ! What a fabulous book. Very well written, with easy to follow instructions. The art inside these covers is just so inspiring,
as a Jewelry Designer I found this book gave me a whole new outlook at Altered Art Jewelry.
I would highly recommend this book to all.

What a most wonderful book. Most artists struggle with sharing techniques with others. Here Janette Schuster and friends share full details on a number of magical projects that are so clear and concise, even someone who feels like they have two left hands, will feel that they can create and be happy with the results.

I have a few books on polymer clay but this book teaches everything from simple beads to how to make figures. I wish this was the first book I bought . Very inspiring

This book is an excellent reference for the beginner in polymer modeling. Just keep it at hand, you'll find in it all the help you'll need!

highly recommended. For every beginner this is a very good choice, it covers ALL of the basics.

The book is wonderful for a beginner. It tells you the tools you need, talks about how to make beads, miniture furniture and many other projects. It is a very basic book that hits on pretty much everything to help you make beads.

This book has more information in it than any book I've found so far on Polymer Clay.

There is enough information on the basics to get a beginner started. How to handle clay, storage, baking, and differences in products.

There is such a variety of techniques and projects that you're sure to find some you're not interested in as well as a LOT that you love.

Most of the other books I've found on Polymer clay specialize on specific uses. This one shows the range of things that are possible, and how to do them.

This will get a beginner started and give you ideas to get started in your own direction.

I absolutely love this book...I am a glass fuser, and have done mostly tack fused and full fused pieces as shown in most books on the subjects geared towards beginners. However, this book introduced me to ideas that I'd never even considered...I LOVE the examples, and as a former metalcaster, was fascinated with the idea that I could CAST glass and make objects more like what you might see from true glass artists.

A beautiful book...even as a coffee table book. Well worth the money...just feels like a quality book.

This is an excellent 'How to' Book! Having used only off the shelf molds before, this book really opened my eyes when it came to mold making - something I haven't tackled before. In Philippa Beveridge's book, Warm Glass - there are step by step colour photographs on how to make different types of molds, use inclusions, and kiln casting to name just a few. A great reference book for those fusing glass. Firing temperatures are shown in both fahrenheit and celsius. Lavishly illustrated, this is a book for both the beginner and the glass artist who wants to expand their ideas.

I'm having a terrible time with the project described on page 126....Bowl with Inclusions.

I'm using FloatGlass 82 (3mm) by Armstrong Glass Company in a Skutt HotStartPro Kiln.

Page 126 indicates that the temperature is to rise from 590 to 790 degrees centigrade in one minute. I'm unable to have my kiln...or any kiln I'm aware of to make that kind of temperature change that quickly.... If I put the rate of rise at 9999, it still takes over 50 minutes to reach 790 centigrage.

I don't think this is a typo since the graph below the table mirrors the info in the table itself.

The strips of glass in the center of the piece simply melt together and a large halo of air appears at the periphery of the cut-out. I'm relatively new to the world of Warm Glass, but I'm fairly good at following directions. ...this is simply not working out for me.

The piece is really beautiful, and I would like to make it if it is possible.

I bought this book at a bookstore as the photography was nice. Once I got it home and read it closely, I discovered it is mostly focused on float glass and isn't very useful if you want to use Bullseye or Spectrum glasses. I promptly returned it to the bookstore. There are much better beginning books out there.

Absolutely Great! This is the best book I've read on fusing too date and I read alot. Instead of just "what to do", it explains why you are doing it. It has a wonderful history of glass and an excellent explanation on the nature of glass. It covers the full range of information for working with warm glass, from straight fusing to making your own molds for casting.

The book not only tells you the best types of bows to design, based on the wood you are using but also gives suggestions at alternative methods for achieving the same result. The authors do not assume that their way is the only way and include tips and ideas from others that they have obtained over the years. This book will certainly get you busy quickly, in your workshop. They also dispell many of the 'sacred cows' in traditional bow making such as the types of wood that are 'the best' and the "best designs". This is a brave move considering that many of these myths have been around for decades but given their experience and years of bow building, there is no doubt that they are speaking with authority and telling you what you should know instead of what they want you to know.

Great book at a great price. You won't regret it and you'll want the next book as you will read through this one in record time.

Actually this is the third set of these books I have bought... I keep giving mine to others who are interested in bow making. This volume in particular is excellent for someone starting out.

A great intro to making wooden bows. Covers all the basics, wood, design, cutting, tillering. I found the section on bow design particularly interesting. Intuition is totally wrong about what gives the most arrow speed. A great book.

This volume is very explicative and not lost any details of his points. All the volumes makes a great help, and even a single powerfull source of information, to anyone who want to make the finest traditional bows, i recomend !

OK, so I'm itching to get into building my own bows. Step 1, head down to the local bookstore and get this book--I mean, do any kind of search on the subject, and it's the first thing you always find. And now, I've read it. And you know what? I'm even more confused than i was when i started.

Where should i even begin to complain about this $23 I will never get back? Well, let's start at jump street...The first and most glaring problem is, this is NOT an instructional book for the aspiring traditional bowyer, as I thought it might be--and as the back cover led me to believe. Rather, it is more of a sourcebook for those who already have a pretty strong working understanding of how to build bows. This is the book you ought to buy if you've already got a handful of bows under your belt; bows of different types and styles. I could imagine some bearded old Jim Bridger type sitting in his den, reading and re-reading it, with a hundred different bookmarks in it, and about 10 sentences highlighted on every page.

But if you are trying to learn how to build your own bow, and you don't know too much about it--by all means, DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND LOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE. This book uses shop talk about every other sentence, and from page 1, nobody ever bothers to actually define what all this shop-talk actually means. You kind of have to just try and infer from the context very crucial central concepts--like which side of the bow is the back, and which is the belly...or what string follow is, or about a million other things. Case in point, there is a section in the chapter on bow construction (chapter 1) where the author describes a "standard wood bending test." He explains how to put a standardized staff of wood in this little device to test its flexibility characteristics--they even show a picture of the little device (which you are to build yourself for this purpose)--but he NEVER ACTUALLY EXPLAINS HOW to build the device. G

All I'm left with, after reading this junk, is the hope that someday, after i read a few better books on the subject, and build a dozen or so bows of my own--well someday this book may be handy. As for now, if the power goes out and i need something to burn for heat, this is it. I just sit and scratch my head as i leaf through the pages, thinking, Oh that might make sense, if i knew what this word meant. Or, wow, I know what tillering is. I wish this damn piece of crap called THE BOWYER'S BIBLE actually detailed the process, such that i might actually be able to follow some step by step instructions on how to do so!

I just wonder who edited this book? How does a professional editor not realize that this book creates more questions than it provides answers?

Yikes.

Anyway, not to keep Amazon from getting any new business--if you know how to build a bow, and you want to see some interesting pictures of like 50 different kinds of Northwest Indian patterns you can paint onto your work--or if you feel like looking at pictures of bows some guy made out of junk wood, or reeds, or broken arrows, well this is the book for you!

As for me, the search continues.

I love this book. I have designed and knit four sweaters for myself using the basic patterns here. I have a 'nonstandard' figure, and the charts of sizes let me modify a pattern so that the sleeves are long enough, the bust is big enough and the shoulder seams don't drip down my upper arms!
I also love the flexibility of gauges so that I'm not tied to one type of yarn. I seem to never like the type of yarn featured in a commercial pattern. So the pattern I like is written for worsted and I want to knit it in aran weight - no problem- determine your gauge and follow the chart.
Great book for a serious sweater knitter, beginner or experienced.

If you want to make your own sweater design, this book provides great charts and references on how to go beyond the stockinette stitch. Pictures of the sweaters also complement the instructions. You can make sweaters for everyone - babies, children, men, and women. Instructions are included on how to measure gauge, calculating yarn, sweater measurements, etc. Six different types of sweaters are included - drop shoulder, modified drop shoulder, set-in sleeve, saddle shoulder, raglan and seamless yoke. Personal touches are also included such as different neck finishes. I am a beginning knitter but I know this is one book that I can use as I expand my skills. Also, adjusting body or sleeve length, adding stitch or color patterns, and adjusting for different gauges are included. A great basic reference!

I agree with the other reviewers that the actual patterns in the book are unattractive. I have a wonderful, very old book of knitting stitch designs for added interest to a garment, which I use frequently. This book gives me the missing piece, which is how to calculate the amount of yarn I'll need for a project--not easy information to get hold of. Since it provides information for a basic knit sweater with standard neckline, shoulder style, and overall length information, it's easy to calculate yarn requirements for whatever changes you want to make to the basic design. The lie-flat book design and included marker are extremely helpful.

I have been taking beyond the basic knitting classes and was advised to buy this book....I am ready to start and the instructions are clear and I am very happy that I purchased this book.

This book is for advanced knitters. I have knitted lots of items, but I found this book much too confusing for me. Too much referring back, to the print, while making the sweater. I probably will never use this book

This is a fantastic product. My boys at 6yrs and 8yrs both love this.We take it to the park and picnics etc. Overall great fun for any age. I would highly recommend it.

I'm waiting til summer to try this out with my grandson, but it looks awesome.. i can't wait!!!

My husband, I and our 7 year-old love this bubble book and wand. There is a recipe in the book for the bubble liquid and it works great. The wand is easy to use, and is easy enough that my daughter can make HUGE bubbles. This is my new "birthday gift" for kids. A great outdoor activity for the whole family! (Hint: Buy an extra wand...it's worth it!) The Amazon.com price for the book was the best I had found in April '08 when I bought it.

Brings back many fond memories of when I was a child. I had this same book and kit. I spent many many many hours blowing bubbles and entertaining the younger children in the neighborhood. Same great quality and easy to read book that teaches techniques and facts. The best bubble making formula has changed though, so don't go buy the ingredients until you read the new formula.

We have had a lot of fun with this product. The recipe for the bubble solution is easy and can be stored for weeks and it only takes a little practice to get the hang of making the big bubbles. Granted, I haven't had luck with making the 10 ft. bubbles they mention in the book, but you can get some really big ones! Keep in mind that humid weather is essential for these bubbles, if it's too dry it gets frustrating. We have had ours for a couple years and it still works great (just rinse the solution out of the wand when you're done) so I've started buying them as gifts. We love it!