Your Favorite Craft/Art Books: Part Three

As I mentioned in a previous post, I had asked the question, “What is your favorite art/craft book?”  There were lots of great suggestions and I thought I’d compile them into one big list (in several parts) in case you’re a book junkie like I am!

The Art Journal Workshop by Traci Bunkers 

“Step by step, the reader is brought to art journaling in a method that makes even a novice want to pick up a paint brush and begin making art that expresses your soul.” – Diana Gonzalez, Brooklyn Crafting Examiner

Another of Traci’s books that was recommended is Print & Stamp Lab.

Artist and popular workshop instructor Traci Bunkers can turn just about anything into an interesting stamp, printing block, or tool. In this book, she shows readers how to see overlooked, everyday objects in a new way, and how to “MacGyver” them into easy to use printing blocks and tools. 

Mixed Media Explorations by Beryl Taylor

With a sense of humor and creative abandon, renowned mixed-media artist Beryl Taylor shows you how surprisingly easy it is to turn fabric, stitch, and embellishment into artistic treasures to keep and share. Using her own art as examples, Beryl gives step-by-step instructions for making projects like greeting cards, wall hangings, and books using the latest mixed-media techniques, all the while encouraging readers to follow their own instincts and experiment.

Paper Quilts by Sandra Lounsbury Foose 

Fascinating us with their playful complexity and geometric precision, patchwork quilts have an appeal that has endured for centuries. Offering a new look at this age-old craft, Paper Quilts brings the beauty of traditional American patchwork to papercutters, with patterns and beloved quilt block designs adapted for paper cards, gift tags, ornaments, boxes, and garlands.

Paper Quilting by Bridget Hoff

“This breathtaking collection takes quilting to a new level—and a new range of possibilties.”—Vogue Patterns.

The New Creative Artist by Nita Leland

Choose to be creative! Artist and teacher Nita Leland believes that creativity lives in everyone, from the novice artist to the professional. Develop and strengthen your natural curiosity, flexibility, independence and playfulness, and become the artist you want to be. Inside this updated and expanded edition of Nita’s bestselling The Creative Artist are over 110 fun activities to exercise your creative muscles.

Nita Leland is also the co-author of recommended book, Creative Collage Techniques.  Her co-author is Virginia Williams.

Collage is a fine art combination of paper and shape, color and texture, imagination and vision. This book can help you bring all of these together in one beautiful creation. Here you’ll see magnificent collages by leading artists who show you—in step-by-step demonstrations—how to begin, how to design, how to apply collage techniques in exciting ways.

Doodle Stitching by Aimee Ray

“Doodle Stitching is a truly cute book…full of practical and whimsical projects that are neither boring or stodgy…. The projects section of Doodle Stitching shows how to make so many ordinary items special, such as pillow cases, skirts, shoes, shirts, scarves, boxer shorts and napkins. For those that like to take their creativity and sewing skills that little bit further, there are small projects to make and embroider,… This is a good book for beginner embroiderers that would like a fun place to start, for more experienced embroiderers that might have become a bit jaded with more traditional patterns and could do with some light inspiration, and for anyone that likes to look at well-designed craft books full of cute projects.”–Whipup.net

Creative Wildfire by L.K. Ludwig

Art journaling is a vital activity for artists who need a place to experiment, draw, paint, document ideas, and continue an interior dialog. This lush, visual book is a must-have volume for both beginning and experienced art journalers. Each chapter presents crucial, basic information for how to get started, and is layered with in-depth sidebars and activities covering advanced techniques, approaches to working, as well as interviews with well-known journaling artists. The book comes with a beautiful blank journal in a take-along size (made from paper upcycled from the printing process), ready to catch your daily inspirations.

Another L.K. Ludwig book that was mentioned is True Vision.

True Visions is focused on ways to bring authenticity and meaning into one’s art journaling. The book will examine themes and topics common to all while offering activities and exercises to create rich meaningful content. Each chapter will highlight familiar subject areas such as life events, spirituality, childhood, and even an artist’s favorite writings. Within each topic, readers are given guided activities and exercises for developing content, provided one or two artistic techniques, and are shown inspiring examples of work by a variety of talented art journal artists.

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards

Translated into more than seventeen languages, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is the world’s most widely used instructional drawing book. Whether you are drawing as a professional artist, as an artist in training, or as a hobby, this book will give you greater confidence in your ability and deepen your artistic perception, as well as foster a new appreciation of the world around you.

We DARE You by Kristina Contes, Meghan Dymock, Nisa Fiin, and Genevieve Simmonds

Scrapbookers are always looking for ways to push their art, and participating in challenges is one great way to do that. The most popular and inspiring challenges are the “dares” that the authors of this book post on their blog and on Two Peas in a Bucket. These dares explore more than just trendy new materials, they get to the heart of the participants with challenges that really make them think–about what makes them happy or proud or filled with regret. 

A Compendium of Curiosities by Tim Holtz

“The first 4 pages lists tools of the trade and what they are used for. Next is a section Tim refers to as “artful thoughts”. Basically, this is a section that gets your creative juices flowing. Use your imagination to add unexpected items to your projects such as spinners, plates, gears, clasps, link chains, foliage and much more. Ample samples are provided to get you started. Next comes 36 wonderful pages of technical 1 page tutorials. This is fantastic for a newbie scrapbooker and more! He ends with the 7 pages of sample work. This ranges from tags to frames to book covers to jewelry. You have unlimited possibilities! Overall, in my opinion, really good book for the beginner.” – Toni Marie Tutera

And Tim’s second book, Compendium of Curiosities II was also named as a favorite.

“I own both books. The first and second book. I am a huge Tim Holtz Fan. The First book has more How To instructions and projects. If you are on a budget and can only get one book, you should get the FIRST book. The second book is so similar to the first book. If I didn’t look at the cover and know that it is a new book, I would think that it is an extension chapter of the first book. The projects are very similar to the first book but no How tos or less of it.” – reviewer on Amazon

Kaleidoscope: Ideas and Projects to Spark Your Creativity by Suzanne Simanaitis

Between the beautiful pages of Kaleidoscope, you’ll tap into the joy of drawing, be encouraged to create art in bed, create your own folded-paper shrine, discover the liberation of stream-writing, practice idea brainstorming, make your own duct-tape purse, learn to quiet the negative voice in your head, dream up your own creative studio space and much, much more.

Paper Metal Stitch by Maggie Grey

This timely project guide concentrates on two of the key materials being newly incorporated into textiles and fiber arts—paper and metal. Both media are covered in separate sections that describe the unique properties of each, as well as textural methods, adding color, and embellishing with stitches. Paper can be molded, formed, cut, torn, embossed, and stitched; metal adds a new gleam; and additional dimensions of the material are explored with soft sheet metals, meshes, wires, and coils. Concepts build through each section, starting with elemental embroidery and basic, texture-building steps, and moving to exciting finishing ideas for combining and mixing techniques for original and innovative results.

Embroidered Books by Isobel Hall

“Her instructions are very minimal so this is not a book for the beginning book maker or textile artist.” – Amazon Review

Look for part number four (the final installment) next week!  Find part one here and part two here.

If you have read any of the books in today’s post, please leave a comment letting us know your opinion on the book!

Thanks for stopping by!