Metalsmith Society's Guide to Jewellery Making is the ultimate handbook to get you started on your jewellery-making journey. Corkie Bolton, jeweller extraordinaire and founder of Metalsmith Society, has compiled the ultimate compendium on the craft for beginners. You'll get a deep dive into indispensable tools and materials needed to create a well-rounded workspace. Corkie also answers every question you might have about essential yet tricky-to-master techniques such as sawing, stamping and annealing. What's more, through ten beginner-friendly projects, you'll put your budding skills to the test and light the spark of inspiration for designing your own pieces. Necklace lovers will learn stone setting and making clasps with the Thick Bezel Pendant and Simple Chain Necklace, while ring projects like the Interlocking Ring and Hidden Detail Ring will have you practicing polishing and embellishing your creations. Embark on your rewarding jewellery-making career with confidence. With this comprehensive book at your bench, you will have everything you need to get started and keep going!

Robert Crumb first began drawing record covers in 1968 when Janis Joplin, a fellow Haight Ashbury denizen, asked him to provide a cover for her album Cheap Thrills. It was an invitation the budding artist couldn't resist, especially since he had been fascinated with record covers-particularly for the legendary jazz, country, and old-time blues music of the 1920s and 1930s-since he was a teen. This early collaboration proved so successful that Crumb went on to draw hundreds of record covers for both new artists and largely forgotten masters. So remarkable were Crumb's artistic interpretations of these old 78 rpm singles that the art itself proved influential in their rediscovery in the 1960s and 1970s. Including such classics as Truckin' My Blues Away, Harmonica Blues, and Please Warm My Weiner, Crumb's opus also features more recent covers done for CDs. R. Crumb: The Complete Record Cover Collection is a must-have for any lover of graphics and old-time music.

In Build Better Boxes, Matt Kenney distills and shares what he's learned in 20 years of box making using step-by-step photos that walk you through the process of creating 10 beautiful designs from scratch. You'll begin with a few simple, but elegant painted boxes that introduce fundamental concepts like cutting miter joints and fitting a lid. Then you'll progress through several stunning projects that include tea cabinets and jewelry boxes-designs that show just how much you can do with a box. Along the way, you'll learn smart techniques for joinery like rabbets and dovetails, how to create box sides with grain that flows seamlessly around all four corners, to make your own veneers, and to apply finishes like milk paint and shellac. Throughout all of the projects, Kenney emphasizes good design and demonstrates several unique design elements that he's developed, like pulls wrapped in thread, fabric lined bottoms, and grouping individual boxes to create a single piece of furniture. Build Better Boxes, is more than a set of instructions for 10 boxes: In the course of building these designs, you will gain a thorough understanding of key woodworking and design concepts-like wood movement, grain selection, and proportions-that will help you design and make your own boxes.

The perfect gift for fans of classic novels, crafting and puns. ‘There is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my glue gun.’ This crafting celebration of literary classics will transport you and your scissors far from your kitchen table: allow your Mod Podge to smooth your way into the Gilded Age with ‘The Decoupage of Innocence’, or your craft knife to help you conceal an illicit eBook with ‘Lady Chatterley’s Kindle Cover’. Or simply create the perfect picnic accessory, to be enjoyed alongside some ginger beer with ‘Five Go to Smuggler’s Cake Topper’. From a shelf made of books to paper flowers, Christmas wreaths to table decorations, A Loom of One’s Own is a pun-filled celebration of crafting and writing that will appeal to book lovers or anyone who owns a glue gun.

A practical book on the techniques, methods and design of basketry for basketmakers of all abilities. The authors provide an inventory of materials and specialist tools; many design possibilities; practical advice on starting a basket; and a variety of different weaves.

Ruined cities overgrown by jungle. Towns buried beneath the ground. Statues lying half- hidden in the sand. Why do civilisations collapse? Why are towns abandoned? And how do once mighty cities come to be forgotten about? From the pyramids of Egypt to the ruins at Angkor in Cambodia and on to the mysteries of the Easter Island moai statues, Abandoned Civilisations is a brilliant pictorial work examining lost worlds. What emerges is a picture of how vast societies can rise, thrive and then collapse. We admire how whole cities develop, but equally fascinating is what happens when their moment has passed. From the 9th century temples at Khajuraho in India which were lost in the date palm trees until stumbled across by European engineers in the 19th century to Mayan pyramids in the Guatemalan jungle to Roman cities semi-buried - but consequently preserved - in the North African desert, the book explores why societies fall and what, once abandoned, they leave behind to history. With 150 striking colour photographs exploring 100 worlds, Abandoned Civilisations is a fascinating visual history of the mysteries of lost societies.

The fourth book in the fabulous festive beading series brings even more seasonal beaded projects to decorate your home. There are thirteen chapters of seasonal designs with hundreds of photographs and fully illustrated step-by-step instructions for every project. Designs in the book includes the beaded Candy Canes and Snowdrop Bauble that are perfect for beginners, through to the more complex Peacock Bauble and Sugar Plum Fairy which will appeal to the more experienced beader.

This is a detailed study of the illustrations to Amir Khusrau's Khamsah, in which twenty discourses are followed by a brief parable, and four romances. Amir Khusrau (1253-1325) lived the greater part of adventurous life in Delhi; he composed in Persian, and also in Hindi. From the point of view of manuscript illustration, his most important work is his Khamsah (Quintet'). Khusrau's position as a link between cultures of Persia and India means that the early illustrated copies of the Khamsah have a particular interest. The first extant exemplar is from the Persian area in the late 14th century, but a case can be made that work was probably illustrated earlier in India.

When the stresses of modern life get too much, what could be better than gathering a few simple tools, heading into the woods and literally whittling away a few hours? The gentle art of whittling is a relaxing and absorbing hobby that can be enjoyed almost anywhere from round the campfire to in a cozy armchair at home. All you need is a good pocket knife, a piece of wood and your imagination. Projects can range from the delightfully simple to impressively intricate--it's up to you. Woodland Whittling guides you through the basics explaining what equipment you need, how to hold the knife, and what timber to use. The projects are then all described in detail with clear step-by-step photographs. Projects include: letter opener, thumb stick, ring tree and egg cup.

Woodturners learn how to cut and combine pieces of wood to produce multicolored geometric designs in turned bowls and vases in this highly illustrated book. Techniques are provided to achieve the accuracy required in segmented work, and professional tips reveal how to create preliminary blueprints. Step-by-step instructions and hundreds of color photographs explain how to accomplish the often-complicated tasks involved with sphere turning, building a porthole-style ring, and inserting diamonds and round designs.

A complete step-by-step guide to essential woodwork techniques, from choosing and cutting timber to planning, measuring, marking, cutting, shaping and joining. Essential troubleshooting tips are supplied throughout. Learn how to control power tools with accuracy, and select and use the 10 essential hand tools that will give your work a beautiful, hand-finished quality. Choose from a selection of projects - simple furniture and decorative items complete with cutting lists and full instructions - to practise the techniques. Be inspired by a gallery of finished examples from professional woodworkers to take your woodwork further. You will also find a wood identifier section that describes the key characteristics of different types of timber and suggests how to use them. Dip into this brilliant resource to build new skills, repair existing items and create fantastic projects.

Superbly illustrated with more than 150 specially commissioned colour photographs, this book beautifully demonstrates the dazzling strengths of Morocco's crafts - a centuries-long tradition which intermingles influences from both Black Africa and Islam, and from the spectacular cultural alliance of the Moors and the Spaniards. This pioneering account, based on the author's own first-hand research, examines vibrantly coloured textiles, jewelry, leather, wood and metalwork and an enormous variety of pottery and ceramics. Complete with guidance for collectors and a uniquely revealing analysis of the belief systems, festivals and ceremonies to which the arts relate, this book by the leading scholar in the field will be invaluable to collectors, designers and all those looking for original decorative ideas.

Drawing can improve your mood, release endorphins and make you happy – but for many, the fear of the blank page, combined with a lack of confidence and know-how, can be daunting.

In her new book, Molly Egan encourages you to sketch like no one is watching! Once you stop caring what people think – just like when you were a child – your creativity will flow. Filled with drawing prompts and tutorials, Molly will help you to unleash your creativity and embrace your own unique style. Build your skills by revisiting the basics, such as shape, perspective and pattern, then learn how to draw from photographs and from real life, sketching people, nature, buildings, landscapes and more.

Small enough to put in your bag, yet big enough to make impactful art, this fun title will reignite your passion for being creative.

Accompanying an exhibition at the Wallace Collection, Inspiring Walt Disney explores the influences of the art and architecture of France on Walt Disney and his studio artists, highlighting in particular the Disney classics of hand-drawn animation, Cinderella (1950) and Beauty and the Beast (1991). Pairing preparatory material from these films - including concept art for talking furniture and fairy-tale castles - with masterpieces from the eighteenth century reveals hidden sources of inspiration and allows us to appreciate the extraordinary talents behind Disney animated films and French decorative arts. Just as the dynamic, twisting movements of the Rococo sought to breathe life into what was essentially inanimate - silver, porcelain, furniture - so too did Disney animators seek to create the illusion of movement, action and emotion. Illustrated with innovative works by artists such as Mary Blair, Hans Bacher and Peter J. Hall, and the animated and anthropomorphic furniture, Sevres porcelain and gilt bronze of rococo designers, the catalogue explores the shared creative roots of these two seemingly disparate artistic realms and looks to revitalise the feelings of excitement, awe and marvel, which both eighteenth-century craftsmen and Disney animators sought to spark in their audiences.

Temples have been places of worship, a focus for spirituality and a place for communities to gather since the earliest days of human civilisation. The first temples date back to ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, deriving from the cult of deities and residing places for gods and immortals. Today, temple buildings remain lively focal points for the Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain and Sikh religions. Organised by continent, Amazing Temples of the World offers the reader an intimate portrait of some spectacular and unusual places of worship dating from the fourth millennium BCE to the present. Ornate or spartan, immense or intimate, from the Middle East to California, this book features such impressive places of worship as the Mahabodi Temple, India, built in the location where Buddha is thought to have achieved enlightenment; the fifth century BCE Temple of Confucius in Qufu, China, the largest Confucian temple in the world; Abu Simbel, in southern Egypt, the great carved monument to the Pharaoh Ramses II; the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab, the spiritual home of the world's 25 million Sikhs; and the Shri Swaminarayan Temple in Neasden, London, the biggest Hindu temple outside India. Illustrated with more than 180 photographs, Amazing Temples of the World includes more than 150 places of worship, from Ancient Greece and Rome, through traditional synagogues to modern Buddhist, Taoist and Sikh temples.

Ardmore ceramics are found in major collections in several European countries, the United States and South Africa and have been given as state gifts to, among others, Bill Clinton, Jacques Chirac, Queen Elizabeth II and Empress Michiko of JapanGiraffe stretch out their necks and bat-eared foxes curl their tails to make handles for jugs, vases and tureens. Inquisitive monkeys peer over the edge of a planter, teasing the leopards below them. Magical creatures wear cloaks of flowers, spots and stripes; a turbanned Zulu figure sits astride a hippo Colorful, imaginative, vibrant, delicate and dramatic these are just some of the hallmarks of the artworks that have garnered international accolades for Ardmore Ceramic Art in rural KwaZulu-Natal. It is here, in South Africa s most successful ceramics studio set in the verdant Midlands, that exquisitely handcrafted and highly detailed figurative works and functional ware are created by more than fifty artists who draw on Zulu traditions and folklore, history, the natural world, and their own lives for inspiration.In turn, it is the lives of the sculptors and painters of Ardmore that fire the vision of the woman behind it all: Fee Halsted is an artist whose love of teaching and determination to fight poverty and AIDS have set others on the path of creative self-discovery and ultimately worldwide acclaim."Ardmore We Are Because of Others" tells the extraordinary story of this famous studio from its humble beginnings in a poverty-stricken corner of South Africa to its fame as a producer of exceptional and irresistible objets d art prized by collectors, galleries and museums throughout the world. It is also the story of the indomitable Fee Halsted who is the driving force behind the enterprise, and the artists whose inventive spirit and fearless creativity are at the heart of Ardmore."

This beautiful book showcases artwork produced by people across the globe from their bedrooms and kitchens as part of online art classes during lockdown in 2020, during 65 unique classes, with over 20,000 registrations. Humans have an innate attraction to order and symmetry. We can all relate to patterns, tracing them in our movements, habits, and rituals and the natural world around us. These patterns are all interconnected and manifest everywhere in seen and unseen realms. Working with these forms offers a tangible connection with a Divine source, and the gradual process of building them is an elevating and profound experience.

The first volume in this series "Getting Started in Woodworking: Skill Building Projects that Teach the Basics" proved that a book specifically designed to address the needs of beginning woodworkers has broad appeal. The second and third books in the series focus on shop development, while this fourth book continues the use of projects as a means to learn and practice skills. Studies have shown that beginners need two things to continue their interest in woodworking: early success and increasing confidence. This book, like its predecessors is designed to do exactly that: give the reader projects they'll be proud to own and the means to accomplish them successfully. The projects range from a computer cart (to store a CPU) to small trestle table and a bed. All of them have been chosen for maximum impact and doability for a novice. Making the simple desk which might retail at $1600 for less than 1/8 of the cost provides strong incentive to attempt construction. And this book provides all the instruction, support, and tips to help any serious beginner achieve their goal.
Projects Included
Desk Organizer
Blanket Box
Storage Bench
Breakfast Table
Sofa table
Bookcase
Simple bed
Desk

In the past, studies of the history of bookbinding were mainly concerned with the exterior decoration. This book focuses attention primarily on the physical aspects of the binding and its construction principles. It is an expanded version of a series of lectures delivered by the author while Visiting Professor at the University of Amsterdam in 1987, supplemented with the results of ten years of intensive research in major libraries on the Continent, the United Kingdom and the USA. It surveys the evolution of binding structures from the introduction of the codex two thousand years ago to the close of the Middle Ages. Part I reviews the scanty physical evidence from the Mediterranean heritage, the early Coptic, Islamic and Ethiopian binding structures and their interrelation with those of the Byzantine realm. Part II is devoted to a detailed analysis of Western binding techniques, distinguishing the carolingian, romanesque and gothic wooden-board bindings as the main typological entities; their structure and function is compared with those of contemporary limp bindings. The book is illustrated with over 200 drawings and photographs and contains a comprehensive bibliography.

There's more to being Irish than kissing a Blarney Stone

Few places on earth match Ireland's romantic attraction and historical legacy. Every year, millions of visitors flock to the ancient sites and burgeoning cities of this enchanted island to immerse themselves in its rich literary, musical, and political heritage.

"The Everything Irish History & Heritage Book" introduces readers to the people, places, and events that have shaped the past and given rise to the unique culture of the Irish people. From the Iron Age to the economic renaissance, this comprehensive account familiarizes readers with Ireland's history and acquaints them with the climate, food, language, and sports that make it truly unique.

Features exhaustive coverage of:

• Celtic mythology and ancient folklore
• The Irish literary tradition--from "The Book of Kells" to "Ulysses"
• The potato famine and the Great Hunger
• The Irish in America and the immigration experience
• The Troubles and the road to peace
• Religion and family life

Packed with historical information and cultural insights, "The Everything Irish History & Heritage Book" is a must-read for anyone interested in the magic and mystery of the Emerald Isle.

The first edition of this title by Judy Gale Roberts popularized the art of Intarsia making picture mosaics in wood using different types of wood and wood grains. This book will teach you the secrets of making exciting wooden inlay projects. Using popular woodworking equipment and different varieties of common woods, you can create these beautiful projects on your own in your home workshop. Learn how fun, easy and creative making wooden inlays can be. Use this book to start creating timeless heirlooms your family will treasure for years to come

The wealth of surface pattern and three-dimensional ornamentation in the many objects that enrich our lives is testament to the inventiveness of designers and craftspeople around the globe and throughout history. This richly illustrated, easy-to-navigate sourcebook presents more than 1,000 historic and contemporary examples of pattern and ornamentation from around the world, each one succinctly identified and explained. Arranged thematically, it is unique among pattern books, as it includes examples not only of surface pattern but also of three-dimensional ornamentation and embellishment. Two-dimensional pattern is ubiquitous, no matter what the age of an object or where it was created. From Japanese kimono and William Morris fabrics to Chinese porcelain and contemporary furniture, such works reveal humanity's unceasing desire to combine pattern with design. Just as prevalent are examples of three-dimensional embellishments that go far beyond the requirements of their practical use: an acrylic handbag has a carved motif of insects and wildflowers, a cobalt-blue pottery ewer has a dragon's-head spout and an early 19th-century fruit plate is shaped like a seashell. Designers working today are as fascinated and inspired by pattern and ornament as they have always been. This expertly compiled selection will appeal to designers, artists, illustrators and other creatives from all disciplines as well as anyone interested in visual and material culture. With 1146 illustrations in colour