Craft Focus - December/January 2024/2025 (Issue 106)

79 BOOKS RSN STITCH BANK: 200 ESSENTIAL EMBROIDERY STITCHES By The Royal School of Needlework £30 9781800922860 Search Press Embroidery is a living art. The aim of the RSN Stitch Bank is to ensure that hand embroidery isn’t just kept alive, but flourishes into the future. The 200 stitches in this book are a mix of practical and purely decorative, carefully selected to provide a broad and varied basis for any embroiderer. This book aims to empower every embroiderer to create contemporary works informed and supported by centuries of experience. We say: This sumptuous book also showcases historical pieces from the RSN’s unparalleled Collection and Archive, with stunning photography and expert insight, bringing the skills, work and experience of the past to life. Embroidery SLÖJD - THE SWEDISH ART OF WOOD AND TEXTILE HANDICRAFTS By Kerstin Neumüller £15.99 9781849949569 Batsford Slöjd is Swedish for handicrafts. But it’s so much more than making things with your hands. In Sweden, slöjd is a compulsory subject taught to all schoolchildren, but it’s also a concept that extends beyond the classroom as a mentality for life. Slöjd fosters the mindset that you can use what you have at hand to make what you need or mend the things around you, building confidence and increasing resilience to encourage you to seek new solutions for any problem you might encounter in life. In her new book, Kerstin Neumüller introduces the concept of slöjd through 18 wood and textile projects. We say: The projects rarely require any big purchases or unusual tools, and readers will be guided with clear step-bystep instructions, pictures and illustrations. Handicrafts THE ROMANTASY COLOURING BOOK £8.99 9781837996049 Summersdale The Romantasy Colouring Book provides the perfect opportunity for you to unleash your passion for romance and fantasy as you embark on your own artistic adventure. As you colour, you’ll also read quotes to set your heart ablaze from the greatest and most loved romantasy novels. Whether you’re a fan of an enemies-to-lovers story or a complicated love triangle, there’s something for all romantasy readers in this exhilarating journey of creativity and colour. We say: We thoroughly enjoyed colouring in these gorgeous scenes of love and romance. Colouring Watercolour 3-COLOUR WATERCOLOUR By Katie Putt £12.99 9781800922648 Search Press Artist Katie Putt guides you through simple stepby-step instructions for 30 mini-masterpieces. Each of the 10 chapters in this book is based around a different threecolour palette, from jewel brights to Scandi calm. You’ll need just three ‘pure’ paint colours to make a start. From these, you will learn how to mix a surprising range of different colours - every hue you’ll need to complete the three easy-to-follow watercolour projects in each chapter, which range from animals, flowers and plants to baked goods and more. By working with three-colour palettes, you’ll get to know each different colour of paint intimately. You’ll gain an understanding of how different colours interact when mixed or layered, and you’ll become a pro when it comes to the different characteristics of dark and light washes. By the time you’ve completed the projects in this book, you’ll have a sixth sense for colour. We say: This is the perfect book for beginners as well as more developed artists who want to play around with more limited colour designs to truly gain an understanding of their paints.

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTA0NTE=