The Michaels Book of Arts & Crafts

by Dawn Cusick (Editor), Megan Kirby

From Michaels--America's largest specialty retailer of arts and crafts merchandise and the place to get supplies for painting, floral and home décor, needlework, scrapbooking, and more--comes an extraordinarily big, beautiful, and encyclopedic collection of techniques and 175 projects. Whatever a crafter's pleasure, it is in here, from beading and woodworking to glass and fabric crafts. The 30 subject areas are divided into 9 chapters that all feature a basic instructions section packed with plentiful color pictures and designer tips; 5 to 10 projects; and a two-page spread of gallery photos of additional projects for inspiration. What's included in this unequalled treasure trove?

* Beading: wire and bead jewelry, wire crafting, and decorative beading
* Clay: polymer and bread dough
* Painting: stenciling, faux finishing, and gold leafing. With the gilding techniques, even the simplest box can look like an heirloom.
* Paper: memory books and cards, decoupage, rubber stamping
* Floral crafts: dried flowers, silk flower arranging, potpourris and sachets. A rose floral silk pillow brings springtime indoors year-round.
* Glass: glass painting and etching. The lovely flasks with stars, leaves, and swirls would make a beautiful display.
* Home decorating: candlemaking and decorating (including gel) and soapmaking
* Wood: wood finishing and burning, plus clockmaking
* Fabric: painting on fabric, tie die, and sun painting
An appendix covers basic materials and techniques, including typing the perfect bow, lettering, and basic mat cutting.

Whether you want more projects using your favorite craft, or are interested in learning a new one, this volume is a must-have.

Genres: Crafts, Reference, Nonfiction

512 pages, Hardcover

First published September 28, 2003

About the author

Dawn Cusick is blessed with many talents. She combined her writing and artistic skills and spent nearly twenty years working an in-house author and editor for a craft book publisher, producing titles such as Tabletop Fountains, The Michaels' Book of Arts and Crafts, and multiple editions of Quilt National. Her fascination with science and nature has now led her to create children's science books.

In between books, Dawn teaches biology at a community college in western North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, two sons, and not nearly enough cats.

Reviews

[Pamela(AllHoney) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books gives you many ideas for arts and crafts. I enjoyed it and got a few ideas for future endeavors. It was a library book and I will admit I probably wouldn't have purchased it myself. Maybe if I were more of a creative person I would have found more value in it. But sadly I am not. Still I have high hopes in getting more crafty in the future.

[Lacey · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay...not much at all for jewelry and the few pages and jewelry they had was nice but not much on showing or telling how to do them.

[Patti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot wait to start making some of these projects.

[Melinda · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little too overwhelming for me. Maybe I will like it once I have more crafting experience under my belt.