Best Furniture Design
Discover the joys of upholstery and bring new life to your worn-out furniture. *Starred Review* It stands to reason that a big, heavily illustrated book of instructions on how to upholster furniture should be as attractive as the finished projects it presents. Amanda Brown from Spruce has been our resident upholstery expert for a while and we were thrilled when she told us she was working on a book. That gorgeous book, Spruce: A Step-by-Step Guide to Upholstery and Design , officially launched yesterday and is chock-full of beautiful (and helpful) upholstery instructions, illustrated by more than 900 step-by-step photographs. Upholstery has always been daunting to me, but Amanda is an excellent teacher and everything she’s shared in this book will help you master the techniques and skills you need to reupholster any piece of furniture to suit your own taste and style.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Reasons I prefer this book above the rest: The author covers enough different styles of furniture so that you can tackle anything - and shows you how to determine which instructions would be best in her book for different pieces of furniture. The author combines more modern techniques (using foam and pneumatic stapler) with techniques that will help your piece of furniture stand the test of time. The only reason you wouldn't need to buy this book is if you lived in Austin, TX and could take a class from her personally."
"Very handy and provides good information."
"I am a "do-it-yourself" person and really appreciate the different projects in your book."
"That said, I have perused the book (kindle version) and been very impressed with the whole format: instructions, photography, and projects are well presented and detailed."
"This book is excellent."
"Excellent instructions for any furniture project."
"I've been taking an upholstery class with a really great 'old school' instructor teaching exacting and thorough processes."
"LOVE LOVE LOVE this book!"
Showing today's woodworkers precisely how the Greenes achieved their unique designs, ""In the Style of Greene & Greene"" also includes valuable advice on incorporating Arts & Crafts elements into new designs. ""With attention to detail and beautiful craftsmanship, the complex but lovely projects pay homage to the Greene & Greene style."".
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"However, Peart's first book and now this one have opened my eyes to techniques and methods that have made my work MUCH MORE professional and, in some cases, saved time."
"This book shows you the "better way" for many elements such as an arched drawer pull, proud finger joints, rectangular ebony plugs, the "waterfall" leg, etc."
"I've read it twice, at least, and will no doubt refer to it many times while I build all the furniture for our house."
"My husband, who is a skilled woodworker and carpenter, has long been a fan of Darrell Peart and took a class from him earlier this year."
"This is a good book on how to make some of the details of the Greene & Greene style and I have used several of the methods to complete some of these details."
"Having this book and his newer one is invaluable if you're interested in learning some of Greene and Greene's details."
"Awesome for those who want to learn about the Greene and Greene style of woodworking."
"I would probably give any book on Greene and Greene a 4 and I was especially pleased with this one."
However, this is not the complete set of basic tools a woodworker has to have, but the set that he absolutely must have in any situation. In "The Ultimate Woodworking Guide and Projects for Beginners!” you will learn everything every beginner needs to know, from setting up a workshop, scrutinizing wood, the basic safety rules of woodworking, and putting your knowledge into practice.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book would be a good guide for him as a beginner on this craft, as this book discussed the basic tools to use for in woodworking and the appropriate clothing and safety equipment as well as organizing and upkeeping your tools."
"I like the assignments which arr mentioned so that we can simultaneously make things reading from the book."
"Before reading this book, I thought wood was wood."
"good book to refresh me on stuff i learned when i was young."
"I am going to start my woodworking tasks (for my own house) and I like this book because: -it give me some knowledge on how to differentiate type of wood and how I am going to check it. -safety remind for my woodworking tasks. -completely listed the basic tools required for my woodworking tasks and how you can save your money at the same time. Nice and enjoy to read this book and thanks."
"With woodworking, you can make our home beautiful with your own hands, that's the advantage with it."
"Basically this book is very beneficial for me in doing minor improvements of crooked chairs or even art project of my kid from school, I was able to learn its basics and of course the materials I needed to start some minor woodworks in our home."
"I now feel as though I could "talk shop" with others about wood and woodworking."
Best Wood Toys
Professional designer and woodworker Jim Makowicki's 22-project collection reflects uncanny historical detail and technical accuracy. Jim Makowicki's wooden toys show an attention to detail and sophistication of design that set them apart from the usual run-of-the-mill toy projects. Whether you're making a toy to entertain a child or grace a desk, this book will teach you how to create toys that your family will cherish for generations.|. Jim Makowicki's wooden toys show an attention to detail and sophistication of design that set them apart from the usual run-of-the-mill toy projects. Whether you're making a toy to entertain a child or grace a desk, this book will teach you how to create toys that your family will cherish for generations.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I can't say enough good things about this book."
"This book and lots of projects for children's toys!"
"Nice Book...Now I need to get busy and make grandkids some toys."
"Good book for following the patterns of making heirloom toys."
"I did not find the fact that not all plans were full-sized a problem This is common and the %enlargement (if needed) is given The instructions were clear. Makowicki is concerned with toy safety, e.g., the crane uses a magnet to lift barrels, not a hook, and he specifies child-safe finishes - references in appendix. (If you aren't going to produce for sale, in many cases you can use a band saw with a narrow blade or a scroll saw and sand smooth, instead of making the jig.)."
"If you are new to wood working these instructions will be good to use the rest of your woodworking journey!"
Best Decorative Graphic Design
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"In addition to being full of creative ways to design your tree like a pro, The Art of the Tree is full of ideas and organizational tips, including wonderful checklists to keep you organized and take the stress out and put the fun in."
"Christmas tree themes? I didn’t but Cassie does."
"This is a great book for those who have no idea where to start when it comes to decorating their Christmas tree."
"From choosing themes and color schemes to organizing materials and everything in between, The Art of the Tree delivers everything the that it promises."
"Cassie has not only written a helpful book but has been such a blessing to me when I lived in TN."
"I honestly had never thought about decorating my Christmas tree as an art, and I'm an artist!"
"Each chapter has tips for each part of your tree."
"I can't wait to use some of the very practical tips to bring a touch of style to our favorite family ornaments."
Best Graphic Design of Books
Well, maybe you’re Writing and Publishing for the first time, or maybe you’ve done the hard part and you need to know how to get your Masterpiece out there and into the hands of a real audience? Where to find your first willing customers who'll kick-off your sales The importance of Reviews and how to get genuine customers to write them Using the right Keyword tactics to get your book onto Page 1 in Amazon's Category Search How to price, track, and promote your book, and when to write the next one Brand New Chapters on Kindle Unlimited, Countdown Deals, and Pre-Order, the powerful new Amazon Marketing Programs. Rick Smith is an independent Author and Publisher on Amazon, with multiple Top-Ten books in their categories, and numerous Best Seller badges. Rick Smith is an International Marketing Consultant and Self-Published Independent Author.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Createspace is also owned by Amazon and produces paperback books by “print on demand” technology. He gives advice running the gamut from picking a chair in which to write all the way to preparation of your cover and manuscript and uploading it. He goes over the usual material on optimizing your key words, title, covers, and book description. For instance, he covers how to format and upload your book to Createspace (and Kindle too) in immense detail, and this is right after telling you how you might come up with a topic and set yourself up to write. And, he lists some neat tools for writing which most do not mention such as a program called “Evernote.”. So far I have not seen a book on self-publishing through Amazon which is as complete and useful as a permanent reference as well as an introduction to the entire process from wish to royalty."
"If you want to be an author and get your book out there in the world, I highly suggest you BUY THIS BOOK! Createspace and Kindle Self-Publishing Masterclass is a book I will keep in my library and everytime I write a book, I will go through it again and follow it completely."
"I have purchased and read four of the books in Rick's Self-Publishing Masterclass series, and reread them each time I'm preparing to publish and launch another book."
"Though I've been lucky enough to have had some success with a small publishing house, this book really explained the world of online book marketing in such a manner that I feel self-publishing may well be worth doing."
"Rick Smith's book educated and guided me through the self-publishing route to the point where I was comfortable with my decision to go with Createspace and Kindle."
"If you want the blueprint for success in publishing your book as an ebook on KDP or paperback on CreateSpace, then you need to read the advice presented in CreateSpace & Kindle Self-Publishing Masterclass."
Best Textile & Costume
From basics to expert, it's two books in one, an efficient sewing machine guide and in-depth reference book that can stay with you for years to come. Both home machines and industrial machines are covered with sections dedicated to modern machines and vintage machines. From straight stitch machines to electronic machines over 100 of the most popular home and industrial machines are featured with insights on capabilities for each type of machine.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book covers a lot, before this book we had to use 4 books to get the same information and the other books were expensive. If you want a more basic book the same author also has another book called the Sewing Machine Quick Guide that we have also been using for our basic sewing class. The beginning chapters of both books are similar but the Master Guide has advanced chapters and goes into greater detail, also Quick Guide does not cover industrial machines. The book covers both modern and vintage machines, the other books we found are outdated. The chapters on quilting machines and embroidery machines are a good introduction to these types of machines and give the fundamentals and cover some of the more popular models."
"The most popular sewing machine then was the 15-91 which she bought as soon as sewing machines could be manufactured after WWII."
"This book is very helpful in giving some ideas about what kind of sewing machine to buy."
"But now that's a matter of making space and time for it, verses matter of intimidation (which understanding just how the stuff works has eliminated)."
"I dont know anything about sewing machines and the subject is not well known and not written a lot."
"Gives great information on adjustments you can make yourself instead of taking in for repairs."
"I was considering buying a Singer 404...I read the review of this machine in the book, and bought the machine THE NEXT DAY."
"After not sewing for over 20 years, I've started again after purchasing a vintage Singer Machine model 66-k."