The Crafter's Guide to Patterns, by Jessica Swift. Review.

The Crafter’s Guide to Patterns

Create your own hand-printed designs

By Jessica Swift

Search Press  2015

Paperback £12.99

ISBN 978 1 78221 219-5

Star rating: *****

This crafter-focussed book is a superb intro to the magical world of surface pattern design. Creating decorative prints is a burgeoning area for the hobbyist and pro alike, due to technological advances – the internet for sourcing design inspiration, computers for a technical assist, and the possibility of affordable small-quantity print-runs from print bureaus. Jessica Swift’s book is an easy-access lightning guide for the uninitiated or technically timid. It teaches the fundamentals of pattern design, then spotlights crafty applications – such as stamping, screen printing, stencilling, and cyanotyping (a photographic printing process). There is a handy look-in on digitizing designs, but this is not the main emphasis of the book.

Jessica Swift aims to train the reader to see the world through the eyes of a pattern designer. In the book’s intro, she says -  of the important concept of the pattern tile -, “Once you learn and understand how patterns are constructed, I’m willing to bet you ‘ll try to deconstruct every pattern you see in the world from now on.” I can vouch for this!  Being a pattern repeat detective can provide puzzles to solve while queuing or in waiting rooms. 

The book is in lavish full-colour photography. A delightful feature is interviews with “name” designers from around the world, such as Heather Moore (Skinny LaMinx). Discover what makes them tick!

The book is divided into three sections – Planning Patterns (pattern design bootcamp), Using Patterns (various applications – with tips), and Resources (20 copyright-free motifs with QR codes, printing and image resources, useful websites, plus an index). There is surface- and technique - specific advice aplenty.

Think of Jessica Swift’s book as a portal to the wonderful world of pattern design. It is ideal for gifting.

The Art of Papercutting, by Jessica Palmer. Review.

The Art of Papercutting

By Jessica Palmer

Search Press 2015

Paperback, £14.99 UK,$21.95 US

ISBN 978 1 78221 066 5

Star rating: ****

It’s January – time to take up a craft, or fine-tune your skills.  Jessica Palmer’s The Art of Papercutting is an excellent mix of the practical and the inspirational, which delivers on its inviting cover line, “Learn how to see the world with a papercutter’s eyes.” 

Jessica Palmer is a successful artist who illustrates in paper. Papercutting is her medium, and her book generously shares her technical and inspirational secrets. This is not a project book – although there are 12 templates back-of-book. It is a how-to book – thinking in positive/negative, the importance of pattern, connecting links, sourcing designs, plus many invaluable tips (for example: if cutting text, a photocopy is easier to cut than an actual book page).

The book is a gallery of inspiration, featuring the fantastic, Beardsley-like intricate arabesque designs of the author. The author's wearable paperart collars are very special indeed.

Even if you are into digital papercrafting, there is much to be gained from this book. Just as abstract artists can do representational drawing, learning about papercutting by hand can up your digital design skills. Learning about how to generate papercut designs is a shared skill.

Wall Art, by Clare Youngs. Review.

Wall Art

35 Fresh and Striking Projects to Decorate your Walls

By Clare Youngs

Cico Books 2015

Paperback £12.95

ISBN 978 1 782492474

Star rating: ****

To a crafter, a bare wall is a blank canvas. Prolific author and craft all-rounder Clare Youngs is here to take up the challenge. Her new title is a fun collection of mixed-media home dec ... Wall Art. (Yes, papercrafts are featured.) Clare Youngs is not averse to a bit of D-I-Y lite – cue hammer and nails. In fact, this imaginative low-cost collection of projects put me in mind of vintage TV show Changing Rooms (in a good way).

The subject of the book being wall art, super-sized pics feature large. Front-of-book, there are how-tos for enlarging templates from small sketch to ginormous.

The Threads and Stitches section contains many appealing projects. There are patchwork pics probably inspired by Albers squares and an Aztec-style wall hanging (stencilled onto a textured jute rug). I wasn’t so sold on the Wonderful Weavings (cue pompom trim)- they do remind me of a Brownies project (sorry – there is enough truly wonderful stuff in the book to make up for them).  Example: the Retro Chair Embroidery.  Pic of chair, chair outline stitched in black, with a colourful bullion stitch (highly-textured loopy knot) cushion. Thumbs up to the Cute Kitty appliqué – patches zigzagged in place with a sewing machine.

The co-oridinating group of stencilled and stamped Cactus Pot Print is charming. 

The papercraft section is called Cuts and Folds. “Star project” is the papercut shadow box, illuminated with LED fairy lights. This layered papercut night scene is notihing short of spectacular and is very do-able. 

There’s lots of good stuff in the Big and Bold section. The Floral Dress is a jumbo paint + collage piece. Very effective, and cost – next to nothing. I saw something vaguely similar at an art exhibition with an astronomical price tag. In the Shapes and Colors section, the Magnetic Puzzle Board is a genius idea. Concept: bigged-up Tangram shapes on a magnetic paint ground. (Tangrams are geometric shapes which can be rearranged to make images.)

On my blog, I have been championing the popular Scandi-craft of Himmeli, and Clare Youngs has cottoned on to its attraction, too. Here you will find a drinking straw himmeli wreath and a washi-tape Leaping Hare (the cover pic), which is a Himmeli-inspired design.

The Living Wall is a winning idea – a mini-sized vertical garden- on trend. The plants protrude through a mesh grid. The Silver Spot Bike – a bike silhouette in adhesive dots would work a treat in an entry hall.

The illustrated step-by-steps are very clear and to the point. There are reduced-size templates back-of-book.

The projects in the book are budget-friendly and most don’t make huge demands on your time - so this title would make a fun gift for students or those moving into first homes.

Celtic Calligraphy, by Kerry Richardson. Review.

Celtic Calligraphy

Calligraphy, Knotwork and Illumination

By Kerry Richardson

Search Press 2014

Hard-cover, spiral-bound; UK £12.99, US/CAN $24.95

ISBN 978-1-78221-001-6

Star rating: *****

Link to Amazon 

A  frosty January is the ideal time to take on a new craft. Celtic Calligraphy is a thrifty candidate, since little more is needed than paper, pencil, and a selection of calligraphy felt-tips.  But it is the fascinating nature of the craft that is the main attraction.

I was charmed by Kerry Richardson’s Celtic Calligraphy book – it is like an evening class – or a wonderful workshop weekend. Clearly a labour of love, this book packs lots and lots of attractively-presented info within its 96 pages. The author’s voice is friendly and conversational. She is sharing the secrets of her beloved artform.

Not only (knot only!) do you learn how to write the beautiful Celtic Uncial letterforms, controlling the pen to create thick-and-thin lines, but you also learn how to draw continous braidwork borders, and decorative floral motifs - and put them all together to make an illuminated artwork: words and pictures.

This book is extremely user-friendly. The calligraphy is taught using felt-tips – so there is no pen-dipping beginner’s anxiety to tackle. The alphabet is taught pen-stroke by pen-stroke, with the usual numbered arrows.  A foolproof method (practice makes perfect). The Knotwork section is fascinating. It de-mystifies how to create complex-looking braided borders (easy when you know how).  There’s a section devoted to Knotwork Corners – a chance to go wild with ornate embellishments. The section on Colouring Knotwork is a revelation – you’ll learn tricks of the trade for turning 2D designs 3D (of special note – the Colouring with Feathering pages).  

When it comes to the illumination, those of us who cannot draw are often timid about creating decorative embellishments. Here, you will find step-by-step pics  showing how to draw a variety of floral embellishments: Bluebell, Sweet Violet, Wild Rose, Daffodil, plus fruit and foliage (oak and acorn, always a favourite).

The fantastical aspect of Celtic Calligraphy is a distinctive feature. At the back of the book you will find hybrid floral motifs – flowers with knotwork stems (love the Dandelion), and zoomorphic letterforms.

There are a couple of step-by-step projects at the back of the book to tie it all the acquired skills together, but the book’s strength is teaching the new skills (Celtic calligraphy, knotwork, and illumination) clearly, conscisely, and attractively. The spiral-bound format makes it very handy to keep a page open as you are learning.  A very giftable title (maybe to yourself).