Mixed Mania: Recipes for Delicious Mixed Media Creations

by Debbi Crane, Cheryl Prater

Featuring a wide range of mixed media projects, this outrageously fun craft primer takes a decidedly unstuffy approach to an immense range of art methods. Projects--including art quilts, painting, collage, bookbinding, assemblage, doll making, decoupage, and image transfers--are divided into three main Artistic Appetizers, Creative Main Courses, and Sweet Treats and Special Occasions, with each addressing a different level of time invested and difficulty. Whimsically laid out like recipes, each project includes detailed ingredients (materials), instructions (what to mix and add), and tasting tips (how it should look).

Genres: Crafts, Art, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2008

Reviews

[liberal sprinkles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Debbi Crane and Cheryl Prater cooked up a fun and interesting cookbook of mixed-media recipes. While I didn't find all the projects visually appealing (for instance I found the doll made from salvaged junk truly ugly), they are very varied and unusual, not what you'd see in most mixed-media books. There are a lot of ideas for weird and maybe wonderful stuff you can create. The techniques and media the book covers are also wide-ranging enough to interest both beginners and more seasoned crafters I think.

The projects are divided into 3 sections:

+ Artistic Appetizers - quick and easy projects like doodling, patterned paper, paper dolls and mixed-media backgrounds.
+ Main Courses - more complex projects including mixed-media dolls, art quilt with transferred image, fabric journal (with instructions for sewing the binding) and dimensional collages.
+ Sweet Treats and Special Occasions - ideas for unique handcrafted items like a board game,

There are also the Pantry (an introduction on tools and materials and what you can use as substitutes), Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (a gallery of apron art from various female artists - symbolic of the fact that women are not longer tied to society's apron strings and can now make art) and tit bits of advice, inspirations and real recipes sprinkled throughout the book.

[Pixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This book was written by 2 people. one of whom sews. I don't sew, so half of the projects aren't of use to me. But they may be just the thing for someone else, so I'm not downgrading the stars. The projects and pages were fun to look at, and I appreciated the how-tos. Some interesting quotes about creativity, too.

[Johnina Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my style of art

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A colorful, chatty craft book that was a lot of fun to flip through. Unfortunately, a lot of the projects were not my taste (Reliquary Girls, Quilted Clutch) or way beyond my skill level (Art Quilt, Fabric Journal). Crane and Prater invite readers to be a part of their own long-distance collaboration and offer excellent definitions and substitutions. They also serve up terrific ideas for doing something creative everyday. All in all, I enjoyed paging through, but Mixed Mania is a book for someone above "beginner" level.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love this book! In fact.. I renewed it 2 times and still have it (past due for 4 days now) I just can't quite give it up it is so good! I think I am going to have to purchase myself a copy! Yes.. It is that good and more than this ~ it is Fun!!!

[Debra Lowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some creative techniques from various mixed media artists here. Some of it was simply not my style or type of art, but the presentation was great.