These elegant cards--conceived by the biggest names in crafting, such as Lynn Whipple, Claudine Hellmuth, Terry Taylor, and Akiko Sugiyama--use many of the popular "altered book" techniques, and the results are exquisite. In the same amount of time as it would take you to scan the racks for something mass-produced and impersonal, you can create these superbly designed, individualized 3-D and pop-up cards; photocopied, collaged, stenciled, and stamped ones; papers that have been stitched, embossed, woven, and cut; and projects incorporating fabulous folds and fasteners. There are even ideas about coordinating accompanying envelopes. And all the cards include many imaginative variations that will prompt crafters to explore the techniques in greater depth.

Big names in the craft field have offered up their creative secrets for this collection of 60 new and highly creative approaches to card making. Full-page, full-colour photographs of each project offer inspiration while instructions are simple and clear.

Celebrating the seasons provides a wonderful opportunity to embrace creativity together as a family. It’s also a fun way to decorate for, prepare for, and learn about the holidays we celebrate. In The Artful Year, you’ll find a year’s worth of art activities, crafts, recipes, and more to help make each season special. These artful explorations are more than just craft projects—they are ways for your family to create memories and mementos and develop creatively, all while exploring nature, new ideas, and traditions. The book includes: • Arts and crafts, using the materials, colors, and themes of the season • Ideas and decorations for celebrating the holidays together • Favorite seasonal recipes that are fun for children to help make (and eat!) • Suggested reading lists of children’s picture books about the seasons and holidays The 175+ activities in this book are perfect for children ages one to eight, and for creating traditions that appeal to all ages.

Bringing professional-looking cards into the realm of do-it-yourself home crafting, this reference teaches the processes for embellishing fabric, pressing flowers, handstitching easy designs, and using paper napkins to create stunning card art. Encapsulating the unique joy of mini cards, this book—buttressed by dozens of color photographs—weaves a number of crafting techniques that will appeal to card makers, art enthusiasts, and general crafters alike. It also imparts useful knowledge on embroidery, monoprints, vintage images, and how to use rice paper and emboss stamped images.

It’s Christmastime, and the precocious Flavia de Luce-an eleven-year-old sleuth with a passion for chemistry and a penchant for crime-solving-is tucked away in her laboratory, whipping up a concoction to ensnare Saint Nick. But she is soon distracted when a film crew arrives at Buckshaw, the de Luces’ decaying English estate, to shoot a movie starring the famed Phyllis Wyvern. Amid a raging blizzard, the entire village of Bishop’s Lacey gathers at Buckshaw to watch Wyvern perform, yet nobody is prepared for the evening’s shocking conclusion: a body found, past midnight, strangled to death with a length of film. But who among the assembled guests would stage such a chilling scene? As the storm worsens and the list of suspects grows, Flavia must use every ounce of sly wit at her disposal to ferret out a killer hidden in plain sight. From the Hardcover edition.

New York Times Bestseller Christopher Marley's art expresses his passionate engagement with the beautiful forms of nature. Beginning with insects and moving on to aquatic life, reptiles, birds, plants, and minerals, Marley has used his skills as a designer, conservator, taxidermist, and environmentally responsible collector to make images and mosaics that produce strong, positive emotional responses in viewers. Marley has a brilliant eye for color and pattern in different natural objects, and he expertly captures the deep relationships among them. Biophilia (literally, "love of living things") is a must-have for nature lovers, designers, artists, craftspeople, and anyone looking for visual inspiration in the arts.

A "font" of information on lettering styles! The Art of Whimsical Lettering is an artful instruction book on creating stylized fonts and expressive artwork with personal handwriting skills. Author Joanne Sharpe shows you how to create exuberant and personalized writing styles for your artworkâ€"whether it be a journal, canvas art, or other projects that use text. After an overview of Joanne's favorite tools and surfaces, take a peek into Joanne's personal lettering journal to discover how you too can collect inspiration, hone your lettering skills, and tap into your natural creativity. Joanne then demonstrates twenty art techniques for creating a variety of lettering styles using many different tools. She provides you with fifteen basic alphabets, ranging from simple pen-and-ink renditions to increasingly elaborated texts that reference calligraphy, vintage fonts, and doodle art, among other styles. Joanne also teaches you how to turn prosaic lettering into page art itself, merging text into illustration, or ornamenting words with decorative drawings.