Tom Wolfe's cane carving books have been popular with readers. in this new one, Tom starts with a sapling straight from the hillside and takes the carver through each step to create a charming cane. He begins with prepping the sapling, helps the reader think through the design of the spirit that will emerge, and explains the various carving techniques that are needed to do the work. Finally he shows the painting and finishing steps, including ways to conceal unexpected problems. Each step is clearly photographed in color, with a concise, easy-to-understand explanation of what is happening and how to do it. This is a clear and informative guide and will be valued by carvers of every skill level.

The ultimate collector's resource, including hundreds of pieces by both well- and lesser-known designers from around the world. From armchairs and chaises longues to cabinets and nightstands, the period between the late 1930s and early 1970s was one of the most productive, inventive and exciting eras for objects and furniture in the home. Post-war optimism combined with new manufacturing methods and material techniques to create an explosion of new design and objects of desire. The appetite for mid-century modern remains as strong as ever, both for classic designs - many still in production since they were launched - and for rare, hard-to- find or out-of-production pieces from lesser-known designers. While numerous books surveying mid-century modern style have appeared over the years, no publication has been specifically conceived for the increasing collector's market in mid-century modern design, focusing on each piece of furniture as an object of formal invention, manufacturing intelligence and material innovation. This definitive book profiles hundreds of pieces in a substantial format perfect for reference in design libraries, studios and the homes of private collectors - or as an object of design in its own right. Each item of furniture is presented in detail, illustrated in colour and profiled via in-depth descriptive texts by Dominic Bradbury. The book's substantial reference section includes essays on materials (eg, plywood) and designer profiles. Work by a host of influential talents is profiled throughout, alongside lesser-known pieces by Piet Hein, Bruno Mathsson, Lina Bo Bardi and Alexander Girard.

Vic Tesolin's Projects from the Minimailist Woodworker teaches the basics of furniture making using step-by-step photos detailing the process of building handsome projects any woodworker will be proud to create. A follow-up to Vic's much-lauded first book, The Minimalist Woodworker, this book is a celebration of the small tool set needed to create beautiful work and and expansion of the techniques and skills learned in that first book. Like a seasoned woodworker lending a helping hand in the workshop, Vic Tesolin, aka "The Minimalist Woodworker," is a master at demystifying the craft of woodworking so that anyone with any skill level can dive in and do good work. With Projects from the Minimalist Woodworker and even a modest toolset, anyone can develop their skill and enjoy unlimited hours in their shop. You'll learn to build a variely to pieces including a handsome dovetailed box, a wall cabinet, a storage chest, and handy shop projects like a handplane and a marking knife.

This unique carving book features five projects that will get your creativity flowing, allowing woodcarvers of all skill levels to make their own personalized and wearable nametags. Using minimal tools and wood, more than 300 color images provide easy, step-by-step instructions for making a variety of designs. Have a friend who's a baseball lover? Make him a baseball nametag. Or use the seasons as a theme with pumpkin and fall leaves carvings. A gallery of completed works will inspire more great ideas. The projects are fun to do and even more fun to give as gifts to family and friends. Carving Caricature Nametags is a book for all carvers to add to their collection.

A master scroll sawyer presents this easy-to-understand step-by-step guide for creating cutout pictures, flat or in relief. Learn how to cut out a pair of wolves under a moonlit, mountainous landscape from a drawing and discover many other traceable cutout options in the Patterns section. With these designs and two or more colors of wood, you can create a work of art to hang up in your home or give as a gift. Intended for advanced scrollers, the reader can find all he or she needs to know about this wonderful craft, including details about taping, cutting, and swapping the cutouts to make the colors stand out. For every project you get two works of art! Color photographs demonstrate the tools needed and illustrate each step, and a section of cutout patterns gives the reader plenty of scroll saw ideas. This revised and expanded second edition contains 16 new patterns.

This book offers an essential reference for anyone interested in contemporary European jewellery design. Through guided conversations with the major designers of today, Roberta Bernabei reveals the creative, conceptual and technical working practices that underpin the aesthetic of each practitioner's work. In addition, the dialogues shed new light on these jewellers' inspiration and their ideas about functionality and the human body. Each interview is supported by photographs and a detailed bibliography and appendix which locates the jewellers' work in galleries, museums as well as online. Major jewellery artists present include: Giampaolo Babetto, Gijs Bakker, Otto Kunzli, Ruudt Peters, Mario Pinton and Tone Vigeland, alongside members of the emergent generation: Ted Noten, Annamaria Zanella and Christoph Zellweger. This book, which opens the door to contemporary jewellery practice, will be welcomed by all students, lecturers and practitioners.

The pulse of today's jewelry art is captured in 400 beautiful color photos demonstrating today's top levels of mastery. Created by more than 70 contemporary international jewelry artists, these pieces of body-adorning sculpture-rings, collars, brooches, headpieces, and other adornments-are varied, surprising, and as multifaceted as today's art world. The makers' own explanations of the methods and inspirations that guide their work offer further ideas. Everyone who works in the jewelry field or who enjoys admiring or wearing jewelry will find this an invaluable reference and a sourcebook for future creativity.

Explore the life and art of legendary Navajo silversmith Fred Peshlakai, and see how his masterful art began and evolved. Beginning with the history of the Navajo people, it follows world events impacting the American Southwest and the Navajo culture precipitating in the development of their unique expressions of art rendered with silver and stone. Nineteenth-century evolution of the art form is reviewed, shining a particular light on certain ambiguities regarding important interrelationships between its most famous figures. Fred Peshlakai hailed from one of the most recognized artistic bloodlines of his noble people. This book is the beginning catalogue of his beautiful silver artwork with hundreds of images and their individual technical and artistic expressions discussed. No longer mythical, Fred Peshlakai is shown to be one of the most, if not the most, influential Navajo artisan to impact the creation of Navajo Silver Art and his art the world-class art treasures that they truly are.

Gourds offer great surfaces to decorate, and this step-by-step book reveals the design boost you can give your gourd projects by using crayons as an economical source of wax. With over 340 detailed photos, in her popular how-to style Miriam Joy explains the inexpensive materials needed and the basic steps of the low-cost, high-impact wax design technique. Next are step-by-step instructions for four examples of creative wax-technique designs on gourds, plus four stunning rim treatments. By using these as your starting point, you can create unlimited gourd artworks of your own-all featuring low-cost, high-impact wax design technique. Projects range from the "Midnight Fern" gourd with a crocheted beaded ruffle, to the colorful "Flowers in the Jungle" gourd with a simple shell rim, to the "Blue Horizons" gourd featuring a unique coiled Arrowhead Points rim. Plus, using wax, learn how to make faux stones to decorate any project.

The various worldwide uses of glass beads, from antiquity to the modern time, are presented in this new book, along with the fascinating evolution of the beadmaking industry. From roots in Asian and African glassmaking, the European beadmaking industry is shown to have developed in response to political and economic factors of international trade and keen businessmen who saw potential profits, 475 color photographs, illustrate the different styles uses, and patterns of glass beads that originated from or influenced the European industry. Phoenician, Celtic, Viking, Venetian, African, Bavarian, Bohemian, Dutch, French, and Russian styles that were made for symbolic, fashion, magic, and controversial uses are shown. Even today's foiled, flower, mosaic, pearl, bronze, and fancy beads are discussed and shown. As beads play an important role in ornamentation today, this book will be of interest to a wide circle of creative people. The price guide reveals the current collector's market for popular bead types.

With detailed instructions, templates, and colorful photography, this book shows how to craft fifty-five paper jewelry projects. Colorful and graphic designs range from necklaces, brooches, earrings, and bracelets to hair accessories. Learn how to find inspiration in a wide variety of recycled papers. Projects re-use maps, stationery, comic books, cardboard, magazines, and even candy wrappers. The various projects appeal to a wide variety of aesthetics, from the more traditional and refined to the more contemporary and flamboyant. There are also projects for a wide range of skill levels, making this an inspiring and practical book for everyone from beginners to established jewelry artists.

A complete guide to identifying, buying, using and caring for a dazzling array of jewels. A complete reference for goldsmiths, collectors, and jewellery makers, this beautiful book is a comprehensive guide to identifying, buying, using and caring for a dazzling array of jewels and gems. The book includes practical advice on how to assess the quality, rarity, grade, durability, and cut of precious and semi-precious stones, and allows you to discover the origins of gemstones and understand the process of selecting the raw material. Learn how gems are calibrated, using the industry standard measurements of carats and points, and how they can be treated to improve both colour and clarity - a handy glossary contains all of the key terminology you need to know. Thanks to colourful illustrations and photographs, you can identify which gemstones are suitable for jewellery-making, from amethysts and diamonds to tourmaline and quartz, and learn how they can be used in different designs and settings.

Learn how to curate, create, and gift one-of-a-kind napkin ring sets made from vintage brooches and costume jewelry, preferably from your very own jewelry box. TV personality Lisa Guerrero shares the story of how she created this original craft to honor her family's heritage and upcycle treasures found in her community. She shows how to "frame" these art pieces with the right napkins and tie the collection together with china so that the table sparkles in the candlelight. The photographs will inspire you to shop your closet and develop your own design aesthetic. You'll learn not only how to elegantly present these projects as gifts, but also how to pass this craft technique along to others in your life. It's the perfect family projectfor to share with the next generation.

This book brings together cutting-edge research from leading international scholars to explore the geographies of making and craft. It traces the geographies of making practices from the body, to the workshop and studio, to the wider socio-cultural, economic, political, institutional and historical contexts. In doing so it considers how these geographies of making are in and of themselves part of the making of geographies. As such, contributions examine how making bodies and their intersections with matter come to shape subjects, create communities, evolve knowledge and make worlds. This book offers a forum to consider future directions for the field of geographies of making, craft and creativity. It will be of great interest to creative and cultural geographers, as well as those studying the arts, culture and sociology.

In the collector's world, plastics are exploding! From household items to beautiful jewelry the infinite variety of designs and the rainbow of colors has captured the contemporary fancy. Once looked down upon as a "cheap" alternative, now it is being seen for what it really is, a medium that gives limitless possibilities for the designer's creativity. In this new book Jan Lindenberger turns her attention to the wonderful world of plastic jewelry. An easy to use handbook and price guide, it is designed to be taken into the field. It will be an invaluable aid at flea markets, yard sales, co-ops, and antique stores. Use it to evaluate new treasures and their values. Over 440 color photographs will guide the way, and prices will help you discover the best deals.

This book introduces the reader to 32 self-taught artists in the Southeastern United States. Some have already come to the attention of collectors and scholars. Many others have been unrecognized outside of their immediate neighborhoods. What they all have in common is an unquenchable desire to make art. Often defying the expectations of family and friends, they have pursued this inspiration. In many cases, these artists began to create in response to a personal crisis. Others harbored an interest in art for many years but only had the time to create following retirement. Most were initially unaware of the academic art world, either because they were unable to afford an art education or because their families considered such an aspiration impractical. These stories of perseverance, struggle and triumph illustrate the strength of the creative impulse, which is a part of us all.

Maximizing reader insights into the principles of designing furniture as wooden structures, this book discusses issues related to the history of furniture structures, their classification and characteristics, ergonomic approaches to anthropometric requirements and safety of use. It presents key methods and highlights common errors in designing the characteristics of the materials, components, joints and structures, as well as looking at the challenges regarding developing associated design documentation. Including analysis of how designers may go about calculating the stiffness and endurance of parts, joints and whole structures, the book analyzes questions regarding the loss of furniture stability and the resulting threats to health of the user, putting forward a concept of furniture design as an engineering processes. Creating an attractive, functional, ergonomic and safe piece of furniture is not only the fruit of the work of individual architects and artists, but requires an effort of many people working in interdisciplinary teams, this book is designed to add important knowledge to the literature for engineer approaches in furniture design.

Fast, fresh and fun shrink plastic jewellery! Best-selling craft author Kathy Sheldon teaches you to draw, colour, stamp and even print designs and photos onto the plastic, cut or punch it into various shapes and then shrink it in an oven, toaster oven, or with a heat gun. You can add some basic findings, such as jump rings or ear wires, to make your own stylish jewellery. Sixteen leading jewellery designers and crafters present instructions for more than 30 gorgeous and inspiring projects - from fantastic necklaces and bracelets to stylish brooches and rings - so you can take shrink plastic to a whole new level! It comes with bonus doodles from Aimee Ray and 15 pages filled with graphics to trace or print right onto your shrink plastic!

Tom Heller and Ron Clarkson share their techniques and expertise with the reader, going step by step through the process of making a carved Queen Anne foot stool. While complete instructions are given, the emphasis is on the beautiful carving that added such elegance to period furniture. The readers will learn which carving tools to use and how to apply them to this project. They will be able to follow the measured drawings of the project, and will be aided by the full-sized detailed drawings and the ample photography. Tom and Ron have covered every aspect so the readers can execute their own "works of art." From cutting out the stock to applying the finish, no process has been left out. After finishing the project, the reader will be able to apply the knowledge gained here to other furniture. A gallery in the back shows some of those applications. This is truly a book to be owned and enjoyed by anyone who enjoys working with wood and creating beautiful pieces of furniture.

Bursting with innovative inspiration, Creative Lettering Masterclass will have you illustrating beautiful letters, words and phrases in no time at all! Created in collaboration with professional hand-letterers, this instructional guide includes hand-lettering alphabets, exercises, and fun projects for beginners and experienced letterers alike.

The 64-page instructional book introduces you to all the hand-lettering essentials, including tools, techniques and terminology. Master a range of medieval, vintage and retro alphabets and discover fun lettering projects with step-by-step instructions and practice grids, as well as handy insider tips and tricks. Then, take your lettering to the next level with advanced design and composition ideas!

What's Included:

• 64-page instructional book
• 32-page sketchpad
• 6 dual-tipped lettering pens
• mechanical pencil
• eraser shield
• eraser

Create bright and cheerful designs for the holidays, using a box of crayons and a few simple tools! With step-by-step instructions and over 400 images, you can turn inexpensive and everyday items into family treasures. Start with the basics using simple shapes, freehand designs, leaves, and flowers. Decorate tile magnets, ornaments, and other mediums. Find out how to use wax with paper, wood, glass, metals, boxes, eggs, and felt. Discover twice-melted wax and add color to your designs. Learn the methods to use color washes, base coating, and floating color to create a stunning, eye-catching project. From colorful Christmas ornaments, jewelry, and snowflakes to Easter eggs, necklaces, and pumpkins, Miriam Joy will show you how to add a little color to a basket sitting in the corner, make a wonderful Christmas heirloom out of an antique sled, and turn that old saw into a harvest piece to set above the fireplace.

If you love silver jewelry but don't have the time or patience to learn traditional silver-smithing techniques, then the exciting medium of silver clay will open up a whole new range of possibilities to your jewelry making. Boasting all the same properties as modeling clay, it is 99.9% pure silver--meaning that you can make high-quality jewelry using the easiest of techniques. Revised and reformatted Silver Clay Workshop is perfect for anyone taking their first steps with this rewarding craft. 22 projects that show perfectly the versatility of silver clay. Shape, roll, cut, mold and indent your way through them, learning the techniques as you go. From pendants and bracelets to rings and statement beads, there will be something for everyone.

Making beautiful porcelain bead jewelry has never been simpler. Using over 100 color photos and straightforward instructions, readers are guided through all the steps necessary to create magnificent layered beads, beads with inclusions, millefiori beads, bead necklaces, earrings, and buttons. Techniques are provided for mixing colored porcelain slips, handcrafting beads and buttons, glazing and firing the completed projects, smoothing fired items with a rock tumbler, and assembling fired pieces into eye-catching jewelry. A useful list of necessary equipment and suppliers is also provided. This book is an essential reference and inspiration for all who work with clay.

This rich treasury of Art Nouveau designs will inspire and enrich your decorative arts projects. The images were originally presented in the 1890s for use in home interiors, ceramics, textiles, stationary, stained glass, and ironwork. Now, even easier to use, they are in both print and digital forms, referenced by page numbers. 775 graphics, 500 in color, are at your fingertips. Specifically created more than a century ago to appeal to an emerging aesthetic called Art Nouveau, or New Art (derived from La Maison de l'Art Nouveau, a gallery for interior design that opened in Paris in 1896), this style became an international fad by the early 20th-century. Art Nouveau is characterized by organic foliate forms, sinuous lines, and non-geometric, whiplash curves that are highly appealing again today. With this wealth of beautiful designs, you can add an authentic antique touch to today's graphics with modern technology.

From drawing the initial sketches of a design to etching your initials into the handle, Steigerwald and Fronteddu expertly demonstrate how to build a fixed-blade, full tang knife with detailed, step-by-step instructions and illustrations. These widely used knives are robust implements and are relatively easy to create, making this form an ideal choice for the beginning knife maker. No previous knifemaking knowledge is necessary, and the list of required tools is short: files, sandpaper, a drill, and elbow grease. All knives shown are variants of the same basic construction, but you will find many different styles of bolsters and handles, as well as advice on selecting the right steel according to the demands of a particular blade s components. Having a small, handy knife at your side, designed and made by your own hands, will surely bring you more satisfaction than a store-bought, mass-produced pocket knife."