Crafts

These three titles have lots of ideas for making lovely jewelry pieces. Aristides, a London fashion jewelry designer, provides the greatest selection of materials, including beads of semiprecious stones, pearls, glass, and other materials. Her well-illustrated introductory section on bead types and jewelry components is excellent.

The books by Aimone (The Beaded Home) and Blessing and Hogsett (Stringing Style) concentrate on two of these types, charms and crystals. Aimone's charms are extremely creative, some involving found objects fashioned into charms for the project. Blessing and Hogsett's projects include beadwork stitching and interesting crystal lore. The projects in all three books are sophisticated and certain to appeal to users of public library craft collections.

These colorful wooden houses provide decorative garden accents as well as homes for a variety of cavity-nesting birds. Banks, an architect and commercial birdhouse builder, uses a basic box design that is varied with the addition of easily obtained wood elements. The key is in his creative designs—contemporary and brightly painted. In addition to step-by-step instructions, he includes tips for mounting and locating houses for different species of birds. An excellent book; highly recommended for public libraries.

Many people have jewelry pieces that function as sort of personal talismans for good luck or psychological well-being. Over time, a body of folk tradition has grown about the healing properties of gemstones apart from their natural beauty. Baskett (Dazzling Bead & Wire Crafts) summarizes this lore in her "Healing Properties of Stones" chapter. The jewelry projects by several designers incorporate these stones, but except for some using metal good luck charms, these are ordinary, attractive beaded jewelry pieces. The magic may be in the wearing. A good choice for collections needing more beading material.

This is part of a series that includes Browning's Paper Crafts Workshop: Traditional Card Techniques. This book covers collage, quilling, paper tole, and other techniques for making cards and decorative items. The step-by-step projects are attractive, featuring Browning's usual attention to detail. For larger collections.

This is the first edition in English of Chen's compilation of projects that expand the techniques in her earlier books, Chinese Knotting: Creative Designs That Are Easy and Fun! and Fun with Chinese Knotting: Making Your Own Accessories and Accents. Chinese knotting, a familiar element of Chinese costume and accessories, is similar to macramé in construction. Traditional basic knots are expanded into more complex forms through very detailed diagrams and instructions. Libraries owning Chen's earlier books will want this one for its unique coverage.

This survey of folk and ethnic uses of three needlework techniques features illustrated examples mainly from the 19th and 20th centuries. While the breadth of coverage is remarkable, the text's lack of depth limits the book's utility as a resource. Also, there is a redundancy of text and illustrations among the sections. The authors would have done better to cut back on the number of images and concentrate on coordinating the text with those that remained. Still, a visually impressive book that is best suited for specialized folk art collections.

Polymer clay is a versatile medium with unlimited possibilities for fanciful beads. Diffendaffer specializes in unusual shapes and textures that are hand-formed, lathe-turned, or molded. His well-illustrated projects for a variety of beads will appeal to both beginners and experienced beadmakers. This is a good selection on a popular topic for public libraries.

These little quilts, measuring less than 36" × 36," are actually fabric collages with added beads, buttons, and a variety of found objects illustrating single themes. Fingal (Creative Quilting: The Journal Quilt Project) and other artists offer step-by-step instructions and photos of the finished pieces. As with other collage projects, this one allows users to substitute similar embellishments to complete their own quilts. A good, colorful selection for public libraries.

The Zulu people of South Africa have a tradition of beadwork dating back to the 11th century. Expert beader Fitzgerald (Netted Beadwork) analyzed traditional and contemporary pieces and found that Zulu beadwork uses weaving techniques different from European-style beading. She diagrams these beading stitches for her original projects based on Zulu pieces. The projects are mostly uncomplicated bracelets drawn from elements of larger pieces. This is an excellent book on a little-known topic; suitable for public and academic libraries.

Studio glass artists and hobbyists find that melting crushed glass in a kiln rather than heating it over an open fire is a practical option for making raw glass. Kiln-formed glass is molded, not blown, providing the opportunity for finished pieces of many shapes and colors. Glass artist Griffith provides the fundamentals of firing and finishing along with projects of graduated difficulty for novice and experienced crafters. A good selection on an uncommon topic for public libraries.

This book's chief value lies in the highly detailed and well-illustrated instructions for making washi, a beautiful and highly desirable Japanese handmade paper. The various types of washi are made from plant fibers in a labor-intensive process similar to other forms of papermaking. The supple washi can then be used for the origami and decorative objects found in the projects. A lovely book for paper crafters; recommended for public libraries.

Cut-paper ornaments are popular in many countries, particularly China (where they originated), Latin America, and Europe. The complex lacy designs require patience and a steady hand to complete. This is an eclectic selection of full-size patterns with minimal instructions for experienced cutout crafters who must decide for themselves which tools to use and in what order to do the cutting. However, the finished wall and window decorations are worth the effort. Suitable for general crafts collections.

This is LEGO for older modelers, not young children. The authors, former employees of the LEGO factory in Denmark, devised these projects for machines that use non-LEGO components and throw things—both against the rules established by LEGO for their kits. The step-by-step instructions are entirely diagrammatic and feature very little text. This is a fun book for LEGO enthusiasts who have outgrown the standard kits and should be popular in young adult and general crafts collections.