Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts: An A-to-Z Guide with Detailed Instructions and Endless Inspiration

Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts: An A-to-Z Guide with Detailed Instructions and Endless Inspiration
by Martha Stewart Living Magazine

Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts: An A-to-Z Guide with Detailed Instructions and Endless Inspiration
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Book Summary Information

Author: Martha Stewart Living Magazine
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-03-31
ISBN: 0307450570
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Potter Craft

Book Reviews of Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts: An A-to-Z Guide with Detailed Instructions and Endless Inspiration

Book Review: Beautiful and inspiring but not all-inclusive
Summary: 4 Stars

This book is a compilation that includes more than 200 craft projects from Martha Stewart Living. If you read the magazine, a lot of these projects will look familiar. As someone who isn't organized enough and does not have the space to keep all the back issues of the magazine, having all of these craft ideas in one place is extremely convenient.

The book is absolutely beautiful, loaded with page after page of full color photographs and detailed instruction. The quality of the paper, cover, and binding are high, and I wouldn't hesitate to showcase this book on my coffee table. This is also a lovely gift that can be given with confidence.

While there are so many great crafts included I do have a few favorites from the magazine that were left out, which is unfortunate. I'll be clipping these from the magazines and storing them in or with the book. One omission I was particularly disappointed about was the lack of Christmas ornaments (with the exception of one - the Snowflake Ornament). Leaves me to wonder if they are planning another book devoted specifically to this topic - I hope so. There is no time of year I am more in the mood to craft. There also isn't much in the way of other holiday-specific crafts. But, alas, despite the omissions the book is chock full of fantastic ideas that will provide plenty of inspiration.

A wide range of difficulty levels is included, so that whether you are a novice crafter or veteran you are sure to find plenty of projects to suit your needs. Particularly helpful is an appendix of tools for crafting, showing full color photos and descriptions of every crafting tool you could need for the projects included in the book. Very helpful if you've never used something before and want to know what to look for. Also included are many useful templates.

The types of crafts included are:
Albums, Scrapbooks, and Memory Boxes
Beading
Block Printing
Botanical Pressing
Botanical Printing
Calligraphy
Candlemaking
Clay
Decoupage
Etching Glass
Fabric Flowers
Gilding
Glittering
Jewelry Making
Marbleizing
Matting and Framing
Mosaics
Nature Crafts
Origami and Paper Folding
Painting China and Glass
Paper Cutting and Punching
Paper Flowers and Birds
Photo Crafts
Pom Pom Animals
Quilling
Rope Crafts
Rubber Stamping
Silkscreening
Soap Making
Tin Punching
Wirework
Wreaths

Had this book included holiday ornaments and other holiday-specific crafts I would have given it a 5 star rating. Everything else about the book is superb. Hopefully a companion book will be released devoted to holiday crafts. Still, I do not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone even remotely interested in crafting.

Summary of Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts: An A-to-Z Guide with Detailed Instructions and Endless Inspiration

Book Description
For nearly 20 years, home crafters have turned to the pages of Martha Stewart Living for all kinds of crafts projects, each presented in the magazine?s inimitable style. Now, the best of those projects, including step-by-step instructions and full-color photographs, have been collected into a single encyclopedia.

Organized by topic from A to Z, Martha Stewart?s Encyclopedia of Crafts contains complete instructions and brief histories for more than 30 techniques, detailed descriptions of the necessary tools and materials, and easy-to-copy templates. Martha and her team of crafts editors guide readers through each subject, from botanical pressing and decoupage to rubber stamping and wreaths, with characteristic clarity and unparalleled attention to detail.

Crafters of all skill and experience levels will appreciate the many variations presented for each technique. For example, candlemaking presents a comprehensive array of poured, rolled, and cutout candles, including instructions for making your own one-of-a-kind rubber candle molds, floating candles, sand candles, and more. Each craft in the book takes on charming new dimensions with innovations that could come only from the team behind Martha Stewart Living.

In addition, each entry in Martha Stewart?s Encyclopedia of Crafts is chock-full of tips and advice. Handy glossaries in the entries--such as a comprehensive gem glossary, a glitter glossary, and a color glossary for making tinted wax--are valuable references that crafters will refer to again and again. What?s more, the Tools and Materials section outlines the best essential supplies that every crafter needs to have on hand, and the Sources pages clue readers in to the vendors and suppliers that the magazine?s crafts editors rely on most.

Filled with solid technical know-how, and presented with gorgeous color photographs, this handy guide can be read page by page and kept as a lasting reference by crafters and artisans alike.

Sample Project from Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts: Bottle Cap Frames

Metal bottle caps can frame small black-and-white pictures for novel thumbtacks or magnets. Clear resin is poured into the caps to seal the photos and give them an appealing glossy finish. Twist-off caps are better than conventional ones because they don?t bend when they?re removed. For appropriately small images, try cutting details from large photos. Or, if your software has a contact sheet mode, use it to reduce pictures drastically.

Project Supplies

  • ink jet paper

  • 1-inch (2.5cm) circular craft punch

  • white craft glue

  • metal twist-off bottle caps

  • clear casting resin

  • bonding cement

  • small magnets or thumbtacks

How-To

Using the craft punch, cut out pictures. Using white craft glue, attach 1 picture to the inside of each bottle cap. Let it dry. Cover a work surface to protect it from spills, and lay caps on top of it. Following manufacturer?s instructions for clear casting resin, fill each bottle cap to the rim. Let them dry overnight. Using bonding cement, attach magnets or thumbtacks to the backs of the bottle caps. Let them dry overnight before using.

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