Pretty Little Felts features a wide range of pretty and functional projects from useful items, like a colourfully embellished needle book and zippered pouch, to a number of whimsical and playful offerings, like tiny flowers with crochet-edged petals and paper dolls. Easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions accompany the 24 projects, and crafters of all skill levels will appreciate the comprehensive getting started guide and bonus gallery of 25 project variations. Crafters who enjoy simple sewing and mixed-media art will appreciate the combination of both aspects in these fancy little felt projects.
 

With "Pretty Little Things", you will find collage projects that exhibit a playful air and a sense of magic. Sally Jean Alexander's signature style brings new life to antique papers, vintage photographs, found projects, scavenged text, and more. Now, you can capture the same sense of wonder that makes her work so special. You will learn techniques for using vintage ephemera soldered within glass to create finished works that tell a romantic or whimsical story. Sally Jean's friendly instruction and magical style make this charming book a crafter's fairy tale.

Today's paper art magazines showcase intricate layered pieces yet give little instruction on how to instil meaning into personal projects. "Layers" teaches paper crafters the skills they need to express themselves using paper, embellishment, colour and texture. Expert designer, Shari Carroll, provides simple step-by-step directions for the latest paper techniques, including distressing, sewing, transfers, stamping with wax, and much more. Readers receive a variety of ideas ranging from a wall hanging scrapbook page and an art journal to a collage book and CD book cover. Also included in the book are stunning inspirational examples of Carroll's own collage work and suggestions for customizing projects

Working under the mandate "Get up and make some art!," "Kaleidoscope" features interactive and energising creativity prompts, projects, and inspiring ideas contributed by publishers and subscribers of well-known art zines. Readers will find inspiring articles, as well as cut-and-fold boxes, personality tests, doodle exercises, paper dolls, and more, so that they learn to try new things and approach art from a fresh perspective.

For the first time, readers will be able to witness the entire journey/transformation of common discarded materials into shrine-like assemblage art - from the yard sale where an item was found, to witnessing the author's design thought process (which objects currently in the studio could work together?) to painting the final touches. Tales of legends and myths that would normally read as "textbook" come alive with Michael's warm and humorous style. Readers will feel "taken by the hand" through the creation of the projects, and will feel like they are truly spending personal time with the artist. This book is appropriate for the collage artist who has never before tried their hand at assemblage, but it's also for artists of any skill-level who want to own a beautiful and inspiring book that entertains as well as it instructs.

The funky, colourful projects in "Collage Unleashed" encourage readers to turn off their inner critics and tap into a childlike sense of wonder and imagination. With projects from art books and fabric journals to mixed-media paintings this book: showcases three of the most popular trends in paper crafting - collage, altered fabric and journaling; features a wide range of techniques for crafters at every level, including crayon transfers, funky embroidery, freestyle hand lettering and creative bookbinding; and, combines paper, fabric, beads, dyes, paints and more in unexpected ways. Everyone from collage artists and book-making enthusiasts to paper crafters will want to out this title at the top of their personal wish list.

Two very important things make this book stand out from the crowd of other collage, mixed-media and assemblage titles: the projects (full of oddities and the unexpected) and the techniques - several of which have never been published before. A common element of Jane Wynn's style is to find an object, break it and put it together again (sometimes more than once), and she loves using anthropomorphic associations to tell stories in her projects. Step-by-step, readers will learn her unique method and her sought-after techniques. Along with surface alterations (faux-aging, patinas and the use of unusual household products), "Altered Curiosities" teaches metal etching with rubber stamps, simple wiring to create dramatic lighting, instruction for altering simple toy figures (making two-headed animals, for instance) and more.

The jewellery techniques introduced include the basics of wirework and soldering, but go beyond the typical jewellery book to include mixed-media applications such as sewing, plaster work and the altering of found objects. Pieces include brooches, pendants, necklaces, earrings, bracelets and belts. In making their own inspired pieces, the reader will be introduced to the possibilities of bringing small objects, whether from nature, one's travels or the comfort of home, into their wearable pieces. A simple, organic approach will provide the reader with not only practical jewellery-making techniques, but a thought-provoking, visual experience as well.

Metal is the newest big trend, and crafters are hungry for ideas for using it in everything from jewellery and home decor to scrap booking and mixed media art. In Metal Craft Discovery Workshop, the authors show easy ways to manipulate, emboss, twist and join metal without using complex soldering or traditional metal-smithing methods. They provide: 20 unique projects - including a bottle cap bracelet, magnetic photo card, tin can doll and mixed-metal clock; An extensive techniques section that teaches etching, hole punching, image transferring, and metal aging; Creative approaches for using copper, tin, brass, aluminum, found objects and recycled metals; A special gallery section featuring even more inspirational work.

Authors Carol Wingert and Tena Sprenger explore a variety of relationships through distinctive projects. Their art is on the leading edge of memory arts, and the book projects, layouts and keepsakes featured will appeal to the memory artist whether she considers herself a scrap booker, a memory artist or an altered artist. As in "Artful Memories", the techniques taught with each project will be very much part of the appeal of the book. Not only will readers see their terrific ideas, they'll be able to re-create the projects themselves using the step-by-step photography. The 30 projects feature relationships and connections that readers can easily transfer to their own relationships. The book is divided into three chapters: "Here and Now", "Forever Remembered" and "Express Yourself". Readers will see how to chronicle their day-to-day lives and the lives of their loved ones, both in the present and the past. In addition, Carol and Tena and their contributors will include their thoughts and motivations behind the projects, which for readers is also very appealing.

For many scrap bookers, there are "shoulds" that they feel they need to keep in mind each time they create: each page should have a title, photo and journaling; each page should be about a person or at least a pet; each page should be symmetrical. In this book, author Crystal Jeffrey Rieger teaches readers that the only "should" in scrap booking is that it should be fun. She encourages readers to cast aside the ingrained "rules" of scrap booking and free themselves to create the layouts that are unique to them. Thirty creative jumpstarts are set forth accompanied by sample layouts that illustrate to readers how they can break these rules and create scrapbook pages that they want to make.

The reader will 'grow their creative wings' by joining the author on a creative journey through seven stages of Taking Flight, from learning to find the sacred in the ordinary, to listening to the whispers of their subconscious minds, to facing their innermost fears. Along the way, the reader's creative process will be deeply inspired by thoughtful prompts, meaningful quotes, probing questions to ask themselves, the author's own vivid artwork, and that of seven talented contributing artists working in a variety of mediums. And the reader will learn, step-by-step, 28 of the author's and the contributors' favourite mixed-media techniques and how to apply them to their own artwork.