The Book Review Corner Blog

Cross-Stitch and Punchneedle Kits That I Made As Gifts For Family - Christmas 2009

2010-01-05T05:48:00.004-05:00

I just love surprising family members with handmade gifts for Christmas and did so again this year. And, of course, almost all of the gifts were some of my cross-stitch and punchneedle shadow boxes that I've blogged about previously. I just had such a wonderful time finishing all the punchneedle and cross-stitch kits that I had bought in the Spring.

Several of my family members love birds and gardening and several are into primitive crafts and primitive decor. Luckily I was able to find some punchneedle kits and cross-stitch kits that fit the bill. And, of course, I enlisted the help of my younger brother and his astonishing workshop to help me build my shadowboxes.

In a previous post on my Linda's Blog I had mentioned that I had a lot of problems with the first cross-stitch I attempted to do and named it the "cross-stitch from hell!" My sister loves cardinals and the Adirondacks and I had found the cross-stitch kit shown above which was "Christmas In The Adirondacks" from Dimensions The Gold Collection and thought she might love it.

It was the first cross-stitch I had tried in at least twenty years and probably should have started with something a little less difficult. I have to admit I found it difficult to keep track of where I was stitching on the the blank fabric versus the chart. The pattern includes a chart that has color coded symbols that refer back to the respective keys.

The kit included the pattern, cotton thread, and 18 count white Aida. It also called for all the white sections to just be the 18 count white Aida linen cloth but I opted to use white DMC floss and cross -stitch these areas as well.

The "Christmas In The Adirondacks" pattern uses full cross-stitch, half cross-stitch, and outline stitching for emphasis and depth and this detailing really makes the picture stand out. Instead of framing my cross-stitch in a standard picture frame I opted to create a sponged painted wood shadowbox. Despite the problems I encountered I absolutely LOVE how it turned out and hope you would agree. My sister LOVED it.

If you would like to buy the "Christmas In The Adirondacks" pattern and kit please CLICK HERE or on the picture above.

The second cross-stitch kit I attempted was a Dimensions Colorful Rooster #7195 kit that included the cotton thread, the design printed in full color on a 14 mesh canvas, and instructions. I found the pre-printed canvas mush easier to maneuver and understand. The instructions also included a diagram with symbols that referred back to a thread key.

The instructions called for a different design to the purple background, but I changed it to be the cross pattern shown in the picture below. As with other Dimensions patterns the "Colorful Rooster" cross-stitch used overlay stitches and outline stitches for emphasis which I think really makes the rooster stand out. The pattern also called for a matted picture frame but I opted instead for a sponge painted wood shadowbox.

If you would like to buy the Dimensions Colorful Rooster #7195 pattern and kit please CLICK HERE or the picture above.

I also found a wonderful "Black Hen" punchneedle embroidery kit to create a 3 3/8" x 3 3/8" punchneedle rooster that I loved. My rooster was created based upon a "Black Hen" pattern kit by Rachael T. Pellam of Rachael's of Greenfield that I added a black, burgundy, gray, and white sponge painted wood shadowbox frame to. This pattern included detailed instructions and tips for punchneedle as well as an iron-on transfer sheet that you had to iron on to the foundation cloth which was included in the kit. It also included a piece of paper with the DMC floss numbers printed on it and each of the floss strands grouped by color tied to a punched out square next to it's respective DMC floss number. It did not include a diagram with the detailed numbers on it but included a listing on the back of the pattern indicating which DMC floss numbers were to be used and where.

I also found a wonderful "Apple Tree" primitive punchneedle embroidery kit to create a 3" x 4" punchneedle primitive apple tree with crow that I loved. My apple tree was created based upon a "Apple Tree" pattern kit by Rachael T. Pellam of Rachael's of Greenfield that I added a dark green, gray and white sponge painted wood shadowbox frame to. This pattern included detailed instructions and tips for punchneedle as well as an iron-on transfer sheet that you had to iron on to the foundation cloth which was included in the kit. It also included a piece of paper with the DMC floss numbers printed on it and each of the floss strands grouped by color tied to a punched out square next to it's respective DMC floss number. It did not include a diagram with the detailed numbers on it but included a listing on the back of the pattern indicating which DMC floss numbers were to be used and where.

If you would like to buy the "Black Hen" pattern kit by Rachael T. Pellam of Rachael's of Greenfield pattern and kit please CLICK HERE or on the picture above.

I also found a wonderful "Apple Tree" primitive punchneedle embroidery kit to create a 3" x 4" punchneedle primitive apple tree with crow that I loved. My apple tree was created based upon a "Apple Tree" pattern kit by Rachael T. Pellam of Rachael's of Greenfield that I added a dark green, gray and white sponge painted wood shadowbox frame to. This pattern included detailed instructions and tips for punchneedle as well as an iron-on transfer sheet that you had to iron on to the foundation cloth which was included in the kit. It also included a piece of paper with the DMC floss numbers printed on it and each of the floss strands grouped by color tied to a punched out square next to it's respective DMC floss number. It did not include a diagram with the detailed numbers on it but included a listing on the back of the pattern indicating which DMC floss numbers were to be used and where.

If you would like to purchase the "Apple Tree" pattern kit by Rachael T. Pellam of Rachael's of Greenfield please CLICK HERE or click on the picture above.

Another one of the bird punchneedle kits that I bought was one of a cardinal in a group of birch trees. I knew my sister would LOVE this too. The punchneedle kit was Dimensions Bird In Birch Trees Kit #73433 was easy to follow and had diagrams and numbered key codes for the DMC floss. The kit included reverse pre-printed fabric, DMC floss, and pattern with instructions as well as punch needle tips. The design was printed on the reverse side of the fabric and you work on the reverse side when punching to create the image on the front side.

The pattern and kit was for creating a framed picture with the fabric serving as the picture mat. I decided to make mine as little sponge painted shadow box that could be placed just about anywhere. I wanted the colors of the sponge painted shadowbox to compliment the colors of the birch trees and love how it all turned out. My sister LOVED it, too.

If you would like to buy the Dimensions Bird In Birch Trees Kit #73433 pattern and kit please CLICK HERE or click on the picture above.

I had so much fun creating my punchneedle and cross-stitch shadowboxes that I want to make some more. The problem is I've been giving them as gifts for a couple of years now. Maybe it's time for a change. Oh, but I just love doing punchneedle. Maybe one more year will be okay..........

"Santa Ornaments" Mary Engelbreit #85310 Plaid From Bucilla

2010-01-04T06:26:00.001-05:00

Besides all the punchneedle and cross-stitch shadowbox presents I created for Christmas 2009 I decided to create some wool felt ornaments and bought several wool felt kits to do so.

One of the wool felt ornaments kits I bought was "Santa Ornaments" Mary Engelbreit #85310 Plaid From Bucilla. The "Santa Ornaments kit contained pre-printed felt, cotton floss, needles, beads abd embellishments, and instructions to make six hand felted Santa ornaments.

What I loved about the pre-printed felt pieces was that each was sequentially numbered and this number was stamped on the felt pieces where it was to be sewn. So you could easily follow from the sequentially numbered pattern piece to the stamped felt piece it was to be sewn to and to the instructions.

The instructions were multi-lingual and were easy to follow. They also contained pictorial diagrams for creating the various stitched that were to be used to create the ornaments. The ornaments were completely handsewn.

Here's my results:

I decided to keep one set of the three Santa's and give the other set to my daughter-in-law for her Christmas tree.

If you would like to buy the "Santa Ornaments" Mary Engelbreit #85310 Plaid From Bucilla please CLICK HERE or click on any one of the pictures above.

I Really Wanted To Try Needle Felting and Penny Rug Felting - I Loved It!

2010-01-02T06:12:00.010-05:00

I decided last year that I wanted to try needle felting and penny rug felting with wool felt as it seemed like everyone was having so much fun with it this year. I don't mean wet needle felting where you are actually creating a needle felted object from the wet felt. I'm just not that adventuresome!

Penny rug felting involves using pieces of wool felt hand-sewn in a decorative pattern using a blanket stitch or other embroidered stitch to create a miniature rug that is hung as a decoration or used as a tablecloth.

Needle felting is similar to penny rug felting only it also includes using roving that is punched into the wool felt to create part of the decoration. Decorative pieces created of this nature are usually primitive in design and created for a primitive decor.

Here you take a piece of wool felt and place it over a needle felt mat. Then you take a bunch of the roving and using the needle felt tool you keep punching the roving into the wool felt piece until you get the desired effect that you want.

Wool penny rugs started out as coin shaped decorations stitched together from scraps of fabric. According to Wikipedia.com: In the 1800s, starting around the time of the Civil War, thrifty homemakers would use scraps of wool or felted wool from old clothing, blankets and hats to create designs for mats or rugs. Using coins as templates, they created circles and each piece was then stitched in blanket stitch fashion. (Thus, the name "penny" rug). Sometimes, the mats or rugs were backed with old burlap bags or feed sacks. Sometimes a penny was stitched inside the mat to make it lie flat.

Penny rugs and needle felted wool decorations are very popular with the "primitive" home decorating community. They are no longer rugs for the floors but have developed into all sorts of decorations for ones home.

I started with three wool felt kits where one was a penny rug type decoration that needed to have some sheep and tree decorations needle felted. The other two kits were more like wool felt embroidery kits to create primitive wool decorations which could be hung on a wall or placed on a table top.

All three of the patterns were designs from Lakeview Primitives.

The first was the "Wish Upon A Star" pattern by Lakeview Primitives (www.lakeviewprimitives.com) and the store I bought it from had already put the pattern together with the wool pieces, with the DMC floss, and with the buttons. The pattern was very easy to follow and included some tips for felting wool as well as instructions for creating blanket and straight decorative stitches. Here's the result:

I decided to add a cardboard layer in between the front embroidered wool piece and the back wool piece so I could hang it on the wall and created a little DMC Embroidery hook to do so. It will be hanging in my house during the winter season.

The second pattern was "Puppy Paws" by Lakeview Primitives (www.lakeviewprimitives.com) and the store I bought it from had already put the pattern together with the wool pieces, with the DMC floss, and with the buttons. The pattern was very easy to follow and included some tips for felting wool. Here's the result:

I also added a cardboard piece in between the embroidered front wool piece and the back wool piece to stiffen it as I intended for this to reside on the top of a pellet stove when not in use.

The 3rd pattern was one that required needle felting gray and burgundy roving into the wool felt and necessitated using needle felting needles and other needle felting tools. It took me a long time to find the needle felting needles and tools, but I was finally able to do so at a local Michael's store.

The third pattern was "Piece on Earth" by Lakeview Primitives (www.lakeviewprimitives.com) and the store I bought it from had already put the pattern together with the wool pieces, with the DMC floss, and with the two sizes of gold bells. The pattern was very easy to follow and included some tips for felting wool and using needle felt tools. Here's the result:

Again, I added a cardboard piece in between the embroidered and needle felted front piece and back wool piece as I intended for this to hang on one of my walls during the holiday season.

As with my punch needle creations I really enjoyed the wool felt and needle felting projects. So, of course, I bought a couple more. Those are on the back burner for when I can find some spare time. Maybe the next time I'll get adventurous and try wet needle felting! Yeah! Like that's gonna happen anytime soon!

Depending upon your project, if you are going to try needle felting on wool felt for decorating then you will need either a needle felt tool with a single needle or multiple needles like one of those shown below:

You'll also need replacement needles and a needle felting mat like one of those shown below:

Sometimes all of the tools can be bought in kits like those shown below:

Punchneedle Fun With Dimensions Holiday Friends Ornaments Kit #73244 and Dimensions Santa's Presents Kit #73410

2010-01-01T05:37:00.010-05:00

I just love BRIGHT, COLORFUL creations like the punchneedle cubes that I made in the picture above. I made them this spring and summer with the hopes of giving them away as Christmas presents this year.

However, as with everything I make, I fell in love with them and my selfish side took over and decided not to give all of them away. Maybe I'll hold on to them for a little while and them give them away next year. Who knows?

I didn't keep all of them. I did give the blue Santa in the left top cube and the turquoise blue Santa in the middle cube on the bottom row away. My twin grandsons will get to enjoy them now. Actually, it's my daughter-in-law who will really enjoy them. She just loves handmade crafts.

Four of the punchneedle cubes were made based upon a Dimensions Holiday Friends Ornaments Kit #73244 and the blue Santa with the presents was made based upon a Dimensions Santa's Presents Kit #73410 kit.

Dimensions Holiday Friends Ornaments Kit #73244 was easy to follow and had diagrams and numbered key codes for the DMC floss. The kit included reverse pre-printed fabric, DMC floss, and pattern with instructions as well as punch needle tips. The design was printed on the reverse side of the fabric and you work on the reverse side when punching to create the image on the front side.

The pattern and kit was for creating four ornaments stuffed and with felt backing that would hang by a silver wire. I decided to make mine as little sponge painted shadow boxes that could be placed just about anywhere.Here's the results:

If your would like to purchase the Dimensions Holiday Friends Ornaments Kit #73244 please click the link or any one of the pictures above.

Dimensions Santa's Presents Kit #73410 was easy to follow and had diagrams and numbered key codes for the DMC floss. The kit included reverse pre-printed fabric, DMC floss, and pattern with instructions as well as punch needle tips. The design was printed on the reverse side of the fabric and you work on the reverse side when punching to create the image on the front side.

The pattern and kit was for creating a 6" x 6" framed picture with the fabric serving as the picture mat. I decided to make mine as little sponge painted shadow box that could be placed just about anywhere.

If you would like to purchase the Dimensions Santa's Presents Kit #73410 please click the link or on the picture above.

I hope you like my BRIGHT, COLORFUL punchneedle cubes.

Last Year's Punchneedle Kits and Subsequent Gifts

2009-12-31T06:29:00.028-05:00

I just love trying all sorts of different crafts and decided that I wanted to try punchneedle last year. So, when I was shopping at a colonial store in Sturbridge I decided to buy a few punchneedle kits.

If you don't know what punchneedle is it is basically the weaving of DMC embroidery floss onto a reverse pre-printed even-weave type fabric to create a specific picture. You are basically punching the reverse pre-printed side of the fabric to follow the design and are creating the punch-needle effect on the wrong side of the fabric (i.e. the non pre-printed side).

At first punchneedle seems a little intimidating, but once you understand how to thread the needle, how to position the needle tip, how to set the depth to set the needle, and how to continuously punch in a straight line using very tiny spacing it's easy to do. Plus, if you don't like how the stitching turns out you can just rip it out and start again. What tends to be more irritating and annoying is separating the long floss threads and trying to keep the long floss threads from knotting.

Well, I have to tell you that I absolutely love punchneedle. You can complete most of the punchneedle kits in a day or so and I was easily able to take my kit and embroidery hoop with me where ever I went so I could work on it in my spare time. Like I have any of that! LOL

I used a Cameo ultra punchneedle tool kit (like the one pictured to the left) and finished my first few punchneedle kits rather quickly. So, I decided to buy more kits for some of the handmade Christmas presents I was giving to my Mother, Sister, and Sister-In-Law last year.

As I was working on my punchneedle kits I was thinking about how I wanted to finish my pictures as I had planned on giving most of them away as Christmas gifts.

Did I want to use picture frames and a mat, cloth, or wood? Did I want them hung on a wall like a picture or create a stand alone box?

I decided to create wood frames for my punchneedle pictures that were capable of standing alone on a bookshelf. That way you wouldn't have to worry about hanging something on a wall and it could even be taken to work to decorate an office cubicle. So, I enlisted the help of my younger brother and his amazing workshop to build my wood borders and to finish my punchneedle pictures.

The first frame took us a little longer than all the rest to work out all the kinks, but we got it down and completing the rest was relatively easy as we decided to wrap the punchneedle to size around a 1/4" wood square and then create a border around that. We also decided to use a box inset to create a framed affect. The borders were painted and then I added heavy fabric wallpaper to finish the backs.

Here are the results of my punchneedle efforts and the shadowbox frames we created:

This is a punchneedle pattern by Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle & Thread Designs called "#PN111 The Homestead" that I added a burgundy colored wood frame to. The pattern and instructions were easy to follow and the diagram was well laid out and easy to read. The pattern included the pre-printed weavers cloth. With punchneedle you work on the reverse side of the fabric when punching to create the image on the front side. DMC floss had to be purchased separately.

This is a punchneedle pattern by Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle & Thread Designs called "#PN112 Redbud Lane" that I added a colonial blue colored wood frame to. The pattern and instructions were easy to follow and the diagram was well laid out and easy to read. The pattern included the pre-printed weavers cloth. With punchneedle you work on the reverse side of the fabric when punching to create the image on the front side. DMC floss had to be purchased separately.

This is a punchneedle pattern by Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle & Thread Designs called "#PN117 Garden Sampler" that I added a teal green colored wood frame to and lace trim edging. The pattern and instructions were easy to follow and the diagram was well laid out and easy to read. The pattern included the pre-printed weavers cloth. With punchneedle you work on the reverse side of the fabric when punching to create the image on the front side. DMC floss had to be purchased separately.

This is the same punchneedle pattern by Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle & Thread Designs as above, but I changed some of the DMC colors and added a colonial burgundy colored wood frame to it. The pattern and instructions were easy to follow and the diagram was well laid out and easy to read. The pattern included the pre-printed weavers cloth. With punchneedle you work on the reverse side of the fabric when punching to create the image on the front side. DMC floss had to be purchased separately.

This is a punchneedle pattern by Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle & Thread Designs called "#PN126 Snowflake" that I added a burgundy colored wood frame to. The pattern and instructions were easy to follow and the diagram was well laid out and easy to read. The pattern included the pre-printed weavers cloth. With punchneedle you work on the reverse side of the fabric when punching to create the image on the front side. DMC floss had to be purchased separately.

This is a punchneedle pattern kit by Linda Coleman of Jeremiah Junction called "Punchneedle Kit Salt Box House" that I altered to make the punchneedle picture square so I could add a colonial blue colored wood frame to. The pattern and kit creates the scrolled top and bottom and is pictured in a 5x7 wood frame with the linen cloth serving as the mat.

The pattern and instructions were easy to follow and the diagram was well laid out and easy to read. The pattern included the pre-printed weavers cloth. With punchneedle you work on the reverse side of the fabric when punching to create the image on the front side. DMC floss had to be purchased separately.

What I also really liked about the Jeremiah Junction pattern was that it not only included a diagram with the colored DMC floss numbers but included a picture colored with the DMC floss colors and a table that included a small square of the DMC floss color and it's respective DMC, ANC, or JPC floss number. The kit included the pattern, DMC embroidery floss, and pre-printed cloth.

This is a punchneedle pattern kit by Linda Coleman of Jeremiah Junction called "Punchneedle Kit Summer Flower Basket" that I altered to make the punchneedle picture square so I could add a colonial green colored wood frame to. In the pattern and kit the top left and right hand corners are slanted and it is pictured in a 5x7 wood frame with the linen cloth serving as the mat.

The pattern and instructions were easy to follow and the diagram was well laid out and easy to read. The pattern included the pre-printed weavers cloth. With punchneedle you work on the reverse side of the fabric when punching to create the image on the front side. DMC floss had to be purchased separately.

What I also really liked about the Jeremiah Junction pattern was that it not only included a diagram with the colored DMC floss numbers but included a picture colored with the DMC floss colors and a table that included a small square of the DMC floss color and it's respective DMC, ANC, or JPC floss number. The kit included the pattern, DMC embroidery floss, and pre-printed cloth.

This is a punchneedle pattern kit by Linda Coleman of Jeremiah Junction called "Punchneedle Kit Flower Basket" that I altered to make the punchneedle picture square so I could add a colonial green colored wood frame to. The pattern and kit creates the curved scrolled top and is pictured in a 5x7 wood frame with the linen cloth serving as the mat.

The pattern and instructions were easy to follow and the diagram was well laid out and easy to read. The pattern included the pre-printed weavers cloth. With punchneedle you work on the reverse side of the fabric when punching to create the image on the front side. DMC floss had to be purchased separately.

What I also really liked about the Jeremiah Junction pattern was that it not only included a diagram with the colored DMC floss numbers but included a picture colored with the DMC floss colors and a table that included a small square of the DMC floss color and it's respective DMC, ANC, or JPC floss number. The kit included the pattern, DMC embroidery floss, and pre-printed cloth.

This is a punchneedle pattern by Linda Coleman of Jeremiah Junction called "Punchneedle Kit Flower Checker Planter." The kit was for creating a framed picture with the fabric serving as the picture mat but I had decided to create shadowboxes for all my punchneedle projects.

This punchneedle design was the most challenging to create the frame for as we were dealing with a circle. So, we decided to add a colonial blue colored wood mat with a circle cut-out for the punchneedle picture and colonial blue colored square wood frame. I also decided to change the colors of the flowers to more closely match the decor of my home.

The pattern and instructions were easy to follow and the diagram was well laid out and easy to read. The kit included reverse pre-printed fabric, DMC floss, and pattern with instructions. The design was printed on the reverse side of the fabric and you work on the reverse side when punching to create the image on the front side. DMC floss had to be purchased separatel

What I also really liked about the Jeremiah Junction pattern was that it not only included a diagram with the colored DMC floss numbers but included a picture colored with the DMC floss colors and a table that included a small square of the DMC floss color and it's respective DMC, ANC, or JPC floss number.

If you would like to buy the Linda Coleman of Jeremiah Junction called "Punchneedle Kit Flower Checker Planter" kit just click on the picture below:

This is a Midnight Snowman Punchneedle Kit-3 Inch X4 Inch pattern kit by Rachael T. Pellam of Rachael's of Greefield that I added a burgundy colored wood frame to. This pattern included detailed instructions and tips for punchneedle as well as an iron-on transfer sheet that you had to iron on to the reverse side of the foundation cloth which was included in the kit. With punchneedle you work on the reverse side of the fabric when punching to create the image on the front side.

It also included a piece of paper with the DMC floss numbers printed on it and each of the floss strands grouped by clolor tied to a punched out square next to it's respective DMC floss number. It did not include a diagram with the detailed numbers on it but included a listing on the back of the pattern indicating which DMC floss numbers were to be used and where.

If you would like to buy the Midnight Snowman Punchneedle Kit-3 Inch X4 Inch kit just click on the picture below:

I have to admit I'm really hooked on punchneedle and have bought a few more kits. Just don't tell my husband or my brother. I think they'd both throttle me!

My Victorian Village Created From The Dimensions The Gold Collection Kit #8785 Christmas Village Ornaments Kit

2009-12-29T09:34:00.001-05:00

During the last few months I have been happily creating some of the items from punch-needle, cross-stitch, and needle felting kits I had purchased during the spring. All of the kits were purchased with the thought of giving the finished projects as Christmas gifts this year or next.

Of course, like everything I create I tend to fall in love with the finished products. Some more so than others. Some so much so that I selfishly decide to keep them for myself and my home decor.

Well, I have to tell you that I absolutely fell in love with my Victorian cross-stitch village. Now I know that wasn't the intent, but I couldn't help myself with my Victorian houses. If it's Victorian it's right up my alley. Ya think!!!! LOL LOL

My Victorian house village was created based upon a Dimensions cross-stitch Gold Collection kit called "Kit #8575 Christmas Village Ornaments." It was supposed to be a series of Victorian house ornaments with a cross-stitch front and felt cloth back outlined with a braided gold band.

However, I didn't make my Victorian village as cloth ornaments. Instead, I enlisted the help of my younger brother to create wood shadowboxes that I painted with a blue/white/green sponge affect.

My Victorian village includes the following:

A fabulous blue house....

A traditional Victorian pink lady......

A bakery.....

A church.....

Rudolph's tree farm....

and, Kringle's toy store.

I enjoyed the Victorian designs in this kit and found the kit easy to understand for the most part. I loved the three dimensional aspect of the designs where thread was layered on top of the cross stitch to outline and emphasize. That made the houses, scenery, and people really stand out. I did run out of several of the floss threads required to create the sky, but was able to match it to floss I already had on hand. The only negative to the kit was that they should have included more of the fabric as I found when the fabric was cut into six rectangles that there wasn't enough slack for it to easily fit into my embroidery hoop.

I love how they turned out in their shadowboxes and love that I can arrange them any way I want. I can arrange them all in a row, group them, even stack them if I want to. Right now I have them in two groups of three houses each in my sun room.

My husband gave me a suggestion of adding hinges to the groups of three so they can be easily arranged and then stored away. I like that idea and will probably add tiny hinges to them before we put them away for the holiday season.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my Victorian village and hope you can see why I loved them so much.

If you would like to make the Christmas Village cross-stitch ornaments kit yourself just CLICK HERE or click on the image below.

E-Books For Small Business Crafters On The Web From Linda Walsh Originals

2009-08-31T06:40:00.000-04:00

Well, Linda Walsh Originals now has a grand total of ten e-books for Linda Walsh Originals. They cover a wide variety of subjects all intent on helping small business crafters on the net.

After we revised out original 4 Linda's How-Do-I Series? of e-books I decided to add to the collection. So, e-books # 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 were created. I hope you enjoy our series of e-books and hope they help you with your small business.

If you'd like more information on our e-books please click on the article links below:

NEW E-Book #9 - Linda’s What Are E… Series? Helpful Tips for Crafters With Websites and Blogs E-Book #9 All About E-Patterns and E-Products

Learn about our “What Are E…?” series, learn what e-products are, learn what e-patterns are, learn what e-articles, e-projects, and e how-to’s are, learn what e-books and e-pamphlets are, learn what e-tutorials and e-pictorials are, and learn what podcasts are. You’ll also learn a little bit about using Microsoft Publisher to create e-products learn about our e-patterns, learn why a small business designer would want to sell e-patterns, and learn about our e-pattern website and instant e-patterns. Plus, you’ll learn about how and where to sell e-patterns, learn how to create a clickable e-product ad for the sidebar of your blog or website, learn how to add an e-pattern ad and PayPal BUY NOW button to the sidebar of your blog, learn how to reduce the file size of your e-patterns, learn about creating an e-catalog, learn how to set-up a free .PDF file, and read about “Designing An E-Pattern and The Price of Gas!” Plus, you’ll learn about the “Everything E-Directory – The One Source For Everything E For Crafters Needs.”

NEW E-Book #8 - Linda’s How-Do-I Series? Helpful Tips for Crafters With Websites and Blogs - E-Book #8 All About Social Networking, Forums, and Group

Learn about forums and online communities, learn about some of the NING communities and Etsy groups we joined, find out if you are a blog hopper, learn about the various blogging communities, learn about some of the different blogging directories, find out whether blogrolls are important, learn about Google alerts, and learn about out “Top Blogs By Crafters” toplist. You’ll also find out about the writing websites that are available, find out about all the free craft articles and projects websites, find out about all the free online newsletter, magazine, e-zine & traditional paid magazine content driven websites out there, and find out about all the free crafting content that is available and how you can contribute. You’ll also discover whether a team blog is for you, learn about Facebook.com and some of the fun things to do with Facebook.com, find out if you’ll get dooced, learn about Twitter.com and Twitter widgets, and learn about YouTube.com and whether you should become a vlogger.

NEW E-Book #7 - Linda’s How-Do-I Series? Helpful Tips for Crafters With Websites and Blogs – E-Book #7 All About Blogs – Part 2

In Part 2 you'll learn all the blogging terms and definitions, learn how to take a screenshot of your website or blog, learn why your sidebar is at the bottom of your blog, learn how to widen your blog, learn how to add wallpaper to your blog, learn how to create drop down menus for your blogs sidebar, and see if you need a blogiday. You’ll also find out if you’re a multi-blogger, learn about podcasting and whether you should jump on the podcasting bandwagon, find out about all the free crafting podcasts online, and determine is you are a blog hopper. Plus, you’ll learn why a blog is not your Grandfather’s newsletter, learn about web blog blidgets, learn whether you should become a vlogger, whether you've become blistless, and why blogrolls are important. You’ll learn whether you’ll get dooced, and whether you should join a team blog. Plus, you’ll learn why videos are a great addition to a blogs sidebar, learn how the Twitter widget is the coolest thing for your blog, and learn how following on Facebook’s networked blogs helps all of us.

NEW E-Book #6 - Linda’s How-Do-I Series? Helpful Tips for Crafters With Websites and Blogs – E-Book #6 All About Blogs – Part 1

In Part 1 you'll learn why you should have a blog for your craft business, learn what to write in a blog, how many blogs there are now, learn about eliminating your newsletter in favor of your blog, learn how to provide subscribers for your blog, learn what the #1 mistake is of crafters with blogs, learn whether blogs are really helpful, and learn about blogs and their features. You’ll also learn about some of the old and new features of the “Cadillac” of blog service providers, learn how commenting on blogs can be helpful to your small business website, learn who your audience is and what you should tell them, and learn why you might want to create generic posts. Plus, you’ll learn why you would want to bleg your readers, learn how to incorporate “keywords” into your blog, learn why labels are important, learn all about pinging, and find out about all those blogging communities. Plus, you’ll learn about a million different blogging directories, learn about using Google reader, learn about Google alerts, learn about Google blog search, learn about backing up your blogs, learn whether you should add blogvert and blogvertsing to your blog, and learn if you’re blogstipated. Finally, you’ll learn if you have blogophobia, learn about Twitter widgets, learn about the Feedblitz multiple blog subscription widget, learn about having some fun with your blog, learn about blogs as heirlooms and family fun, and read about our Top Blogs By Crafters toplist and why you should join.

NEW E-Book #5 - Linda’s How-Do-I Series? Helpful Tips for Crafters With Websites and Blogs E-Book #5

Learn many of the things you should consider when setting up a small business crafts website, such as what to name a website and how to define your niche. You’ll also learn about getting started and where to begin, learn about using Microsoft Publisher, learn about creating an e-catalog, learn about the browser distortion between Internet Explorer and Firefox, learn about splash pages and why they are bad for business, learn about topsite gateway pages and why they are bad for customers, learn about graphics and graphic websites, learn what blinkies are, learn about using an online photo album as a portfolio, and learn about setting up an internet morning routine.

Linda's How-Do-I Series? Helpful Tips for Crafters With Websites and Blogs - Revised E-Book #4

Learn how to add a banner rotation to your website or blog, learn how to build a simple table, learn how to add images to a simple table, learn how to center those images within a table and make those images clickable, learn how to add padding, spacing, and borders to images within a table, learn how to add clickable text links to a table, learn how to all wallpaper or images to the background of a table, and learn how to handle different size banners within a table.

Linda's How-Do-I Series? Helpful Tips for Crafters With Websites and Blogs - Revised E-Book #3

Learn about coding for promotion, copyright, and bio signatures, coding for clickable links to another section of a page, how to take a screenshot of your website or blog, what a plugboard is, learn how to make your plugboard bigger, learn why plugboards red x’s are bad for business, how to add wallpaper to your blog, how to widen your blog, why you would want to create generic blog posts, how to create clickable e-product links, learn how to create drop down menus for your website or blog sidebar, learn what to do about the size of your e-patterns, learn how to set-up a free .PDF file, and learn about some of the best photo hosting websites out there for crafters.

Linda's How-Do-I Series? Helpful Tips for Crafters With Websites and Blogs - Revised E-Book #2

Learn some of the common HTML and CSS tags and attributes, learn how to center banners, button, text or pictures, learn how to add scrolling banners, learn how to add vertical advertising banners, learn how to add horizontal advertising banners, learn how to add colored borders to your banners, learn how to change the background colors between the borders of your banners, learn how to space banners of different sizes, learn how to make your banners clickable back to your website or blog, learn how to build rows of clickable banners, and learn how to add color to the borders and background of rows of clickable banners.

Linda's How-Do-I Series?Helpful Tips for Crafters With Websites and Blogs - Revised E-Book #1

Learn how to set up an email and forum signature, add text links and clickable link lists, change your font type, change your font size, change your font color, learn how to create an email link, learn how to use margins, learn how to use padding, learn how to create borders, draw a line, underline, skip a line, create a paragraph, add color to your border and text, change the background area within your borders, and create a simple banner out of html code. You’ll also learn what the names and #’s are for the 16 CSS colors, what the various size standard advertising banners are, what the difference is between the different picture file types, what the standard video formats are, and what the standard shortcut computer keys are.

Linda's How-Do-I Series? How To Create A Print Pattern and E-Pattern Revised E-Book

Learn how to create a print pattern and an e-pattern.

We hope you are enjoying our Linda's How-Do-I Series? of e-books.

Linda's How-Do-I Series? of E-Books Has Been Revised

2009-08-26T06:22:00.000-04:00

I'm always happy when I finally manager to sneak some time aside and accomplish something that's been on my to do list for ages. This time I was able to revise my originals Linda-How-Do-I Series? E-Books #1 - #4. However, not only did I revise my Linda-How-Do-I Series? E-Books #1, #2, #3, and #4, but I was able to add a few new articles. I know you're going to like them.

Several years ago our blog readers asked if we would be converting our Linda's How-Do-I Series? Helpful Tips For Crafters With Websites and Blogs to .PDF versions and we decided to not only convert them into .PDF format for you, but to make them available as "Instant Download E-Books" as well and did so in February of 2007.

Well, over the past few years some of the HTML coding has become more standardized and some of the original HTML coding wasn't appearing in some of the browsers as it should have. So, we decided it was time to revise our e-books. In doing this we also went back and corrected all of our original blogs posts that may have been having a browser distortion problem as well. Not only have we corrected for the browser distortion, but we've added to the e-books as well.

Just like before, some of the articles contained within the e-books are the exact contents of some of the articles in our blog except they do not contain the 3 ***'s that were necessary for the HTML code to be displayed on our blog. That's a wonderful advantage and incentive for buying the .PDF "Instant Download E-Book" version.

So, you can copy/paste the code from the e-books and just add your own information. There are no 3 ***'s in the HTML coding that you need to remove here. So, you can save the .PDF instant download e-books to your computer and when you need them you just open them up in Adobe Acrobat and copy/paste the code you want and change whatever information you need to change for your website or blog.

How GREAT is that?

So, what's in each of the revised e-books? Well, here's what's contained in each of the revised e-books #1, #2, #3, and #4:

Linda's How-Do-I Series? E-Book #1 (LINDASHDISEP1) - Revised 8/16/09

Learn how to set up an email and forum signature, add text links and clickable link lists, change your font type, change your font size, change your font color, learn how to create an email link, learn how to use margins, learn how to use padding, learn how to create borders, draw a line, underline, skip a line, create a paragraph, add color to your border and text, change the background area within your borders, and create a simple banner out of html code. You’ll also learn what the names and #’s are for the 16 CSS colors, what the various size standard advertising banners are, what the difference is between the different picture file types, what the standard video formats are, and what the standard shortcut computer keys are.

Linda Walsh Originals E-Books
Linda's How-Do-I Series? E-Book #1 - Revised August 16, 2009
Buy Instant E-Book NOW

Linda's How-Do-I Series? E-Book #2 (LINDASHDISEP2) - Revised 8/16/09

Learn some of the common HTML and CSS tags and attributes, learn how to center banners, button, text or pictures, learn how to add scrolling banners, learn how to add vertical advertising banners, learn how to add horizontal advertising banners, learn how to add colored borders to your banners, learn how to change the background colors between the borders of your banners, learn how to space banners of different sizes, learn how to make your banners clickable back to your website or blog, learn how to build rows of clickable banners, and learn how to add color to the borders and background of rows of clickable banners.

Linda Walsh Originals E-Books
Linda's How-Do-I Series? E-Book #2 - Revised August 16, 2009
Buy Instant E-Book NOW

Linda's How-Do-I Series? E-Book #3 (LINDASHDISEP3) - Revised August 16, 2009

Learn about coding for promotion, copyright, and bio signatures, coding for clickable links to another section of a page, how to take a screenshot of your website or blog, what a plugboard is, learn how to make your plugboard bigger, learn why plugboards red x’s are bad for business, how to add wallpaper to your blog, how to widen your blog, why you would want to create generic blog posts, how to create clickable e-product links, learn how to create drop down menus for your website or blog sidebar, learn what to do about the size of your e-patterns, learn how to set-up a free .PDF file, and learn about some of the best photo hosting websites out there for crafters.

Linda Walsh Originals E-Books
Linda's How-Do-I Series? E-Book #3 - Revised August 16, 2009
Buy Instant E-Book NOW

Linda's How-Do-I Series? E-Book #4 (LINDASHDISEP4) - Revised August 16, 2009

Learn how to add a banner rotation to your website or blog, learn how to build a simple table, learn how to add images to a simple table, learn how to center those images within a table and make those images clickable, learn how to add padding, spacing, and borders to images within a table, learn how to add clickable text links to a table, learn how to all wallpaper or images to the background of a table, and learn how to handle different size banners within a table.

Linda Walsh Originals E-Books
Linda's How-Do-I Series? E-Book #4 - Revised August 16, 2009
Buy Instant E-Book NOW

We hope you enjoy our revised Linda's How-Do-I Series? Helpful Tips for Crafters With Websites and Blogs E-Books #1, #2, #3, and #4 and our new articles.

The Everything E-Directory Is A Great Place To List and Advertise Your E-Product, Websites, and Blogs

2009-06-17T08:39:00.001-04:00

Whether you’re looking for E-Patterns, E-Books, E-Tutorials, E-Pictorials, E-Classes, E-Printables, Graphics, Video’s, Podcasts, Blogs, E-Zines, E-Tailers, E-Stores, E-Directories, E-Communities, Handmade Crafts Websites, Crafts Suppliers, Crafting Plugboards, Website Hosting, Picture Hosting, Crafting Topsites, Crafting Twitters and FACEBOOK Crafters, E-Products Classifieds, E-Products Specials, Free Craft E-Products and more we are your one source for EVERYTHING E for your crafting needs.

The Everything E-Directory is a wonderful directory for listing and advertising your website, blog, and/or e-products. Come and see for yourself all the advantages and freebies.

Plus, the Everything E-Directory is running a contest and grand opening special for listing and advertising in June 2009. The contest and grand opening special are just too good to pass up and are only running until the end of June. So, don't miss your opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a wonderful arts & crafts related e-directory.

Kindle Is Taking Over

2009-06-16T10:53:00.001-04:00

About a year ago I read a Newsweek article about Jeff Bezo's new Amazon Kindle device and I was intrigued. I wondered how this would work for craft books?

You see, I LOVE to read and I LOVE books, especially hardcover books and e-books. And, I love to create and craft. Plus, as you know from my "The Book Review Corner" blog I especially LOVE craft books.

So, last year I thought I'd see how many craft related e-books there were for Kindle and even created a separate Kindle Products section for my Linda's Crafts Bookstore for it. Unfortunately, at that time they didn't have a lot of "arts & crafts" e-books as of yet, but I was hoping that would change. Well, change it did. In fact, the popularity of Kindle has just about EXPLODED.

If you're a reader of my "The Book Review Corner" blog you know that I love to read. But, as an aging baby-boomer I always look at the print size of a book before buying it. If the print is too small, no matter what the book is, I won't buy it. It's just too hard to read for my aging, tired eyes. So, I was thrilled to read that one of the nice features about Kindle was that you could change the font size no matter what the book. Now - that's a TERRIFIC feature.

Plus, another nice feature is that when you buy a Kindle book your Kindle reader downloads the book and stores it in your Kindle library. Another TERRIFIC feature.

In fact, in a year's time Amazon had improved the Kindle so much that it's almost hard to resist. And, they are going to allow Kindle Products to be read by other readers. Plus, you know that a product is doing well when a major competitor decides to enter the field and Google has announced that they are going to enter the e-book business.

If you'd like to know more about what Kindle is Wikipedia.com has a wonderful page on it HERE. Or, read about some of the Kindle: Amazon's 6" Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation) features HERE. There is a new Kindle DX: Amazon's 9.7" Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation) and you can read about some of its' features HERE.

I do not have a Kindle reader as of yet, but it's definitely on my wish list. I really wonder if reading "arts & crafts" books on the size of a hand held device will really be practical. I think it will work for novels, manuals, etc. but, I'm not sure it would work for e-patterns and patterns.

However, I do want to find out and when I finally buy one and download some of the arts & crafts books I like that are available I'll let you know what I think. If you have a Kindle reader and have downloaded some arts & crafts related books I'd love to know what you think.

As mentioned above, Kindle has exploded on the scene. As a result there are many, many more arts & crafts related e-books available for the Kindle now. In fact, we've just added 255 Kindle products to our Linda's Crafts Bookstore.

If you'd like to see what is available in the arts & crafts related area please CLICK HERE for the Kindle Products section for my Linda's Crafts Bookstore.

I've Already Started Buying Books For 2009!

2009-03-04T08:45:00.001-05:00

It might be hard to believe but I've already started buying doll making and craft books already.

Now you might wonder why on earth would I do that since I have a TON of doll and craft books that I still haven't reviewed. The answer is simple - I just LOVE doll making and craft books.

And, there are so many wonderful, wonderful books out there that inspire me. My creative juices seem to have a way with ruling my world and determining what I'm going to do. In fact, they probably have control over me.

When I add a new book to one of my bookstores I find myself saying, "WOW! That's a great book! or I'd LOVE to try that!" My problem is that I just can't make everything I would like to. I simply do not have the time.

I might know that, but try telling that to my creative juices. They think I have plenty of time and as a result they decided I should buy the following books:

500 Handmade Dolls: Modern Explorations of the Human Form
By Lark Books

Art Faces in Clay: Dolls, Altered Art and More!
By Maureen Carlson, Suzanne McNeill

Art Doll Adventures: Exploring Projects and Processes through Cultural Traditions
By Lisa Li Hertzi

Cloth Doll Artistry: Design and Costuming Techniques for Flat and Fully Sculpted Figures
By Barbara Willis

Creative Ways with Fibre & Stitch
By Sue Bleiweiss, Terri Stegmiller

The Artful Storybook: Mixed-Media Artists Create Handmade Tales
By Terry Taylor

I added all of the above to the Books Linda Bought in 2009 category of both my Linda's Bookstore for Books About Dolls, Doll Making, Doll Collecting, Doll History, and More and Linda's Bookstore for Books Abouts Crafts and Crafting.

I bought more books! Don't blame me! Blame my creative juices!

Tell Everyone You're A FAN of Our Bookstores

2009-02-20T09:01:00.000-05:00

You're going to think I'm crazy, but I've been playing again. This time it's on Facebook.com.

I learned of Facebook.com several years ago from my granddaughter when she was in college. It seems it was the website for all the college kids to have to introduce themselves, get to know their roommates and other students at the college, etc. At that time it was really just for college kids.

Well, that was then and now is now. Facebook.com has suddenly grown into a behemoth of a website that everyone and anyone needs to have a page one. It seems like it is THE PLACE NOW to get your name and/or business out there. So, since a few of my Internet friends were all joining and setting up their pages I decided to join in.

Well, I have to tell you that I like certain parts of Facebook and there are parts I don't like. There's a LOT there, but I found that it wasn't that easy initially to maneuver your way around especially from your personal page to your fan pages, which is where you would set-up a page for your business. For some reason they like to keep the two separate.

I did love the fact that they had networked blogs. I could add all my blogs and have all those blogs be followed by all my friends if they wanted to. Plus, I could see all the blogs my friends were following and add them to my list if I wanted to. In addition, if your blog has enough followers then every time you post something to your blog the RSS feed is automatically added to your profile wall.

So, I set-up a Linda Walsh page. If you'd like to visit my public profile page please CLICK HERE. If you want to see my detailed page you'll have to become a member of Facebook.com and then request to become a friend of mine.

If you do decide to become a member of Facebook.com and a friend of mine please visit my profile page, then click on my "INFO" tab, then scroll down to Pages and click view all. Then just click on my Linda Walsh Originals page to become a fan of my Linda Walsh Originals page on Facebook. Just CLICK HERE and then click "Become A Fan" in the top right hand corner box.

I set-up fan pages for my Linda Walsh Originals website, my Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns website, my Linda Walsh Originals Dolls website, my Gray Is Beautiful Gallery, my Linda's Bookstore on Dolls and Doll Making, my Linda's Bookstore on Crafts and Craft Making, and my Top Blogs By Crafters toplist. You'll find them all listed under the "View All" section of the Pages part of my INFO tab.

CLICK HERE for my Linda Walsh Originals page at Facebook.

CLICK HERE for my Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns page at Facebook.

CLICK HERE for my Linda Walsh Originals Dolls - Handmade Dolls & Crafts page at Facebook.

CLICK HERE for my Gray Is Beautiful Gallery page on Facebook.

CLICK HERE for my Top Blogs By Crafters page at Facebook.

CLICK HERE for my Linda Bookstore For Books on Dolls and Doll Making page at Facebook.

CLICK HERE for my Linda's Bookstore For Books on Crafts and Craft Making page on Facebook.

I hope you decide to become a member and become a FAN of my pages. See you on Facebook.com.

My List of Doll and Crafts Books That I Bought in 2008

2009-02-04T09:15:00.000-05:00

Amazon.com Widgets

As I was sitting here looking at my list of books that I had bought in 2008 I thought to myself, "Boy, what happened! I didn't really buy that many books in 2008!"

And, this really surprised me as I LOVE books and book shopping.

Had I planned to buy more in 2008 and just didn't have the time? For the life of me I just couldn't remember.

Where had the time flown? And, what had I been doing?

You know that you're getting older when time flies by so quickly and, then, you can't remember what you had been doing!

So, I decided that this would not be happening in 2009. I was going to enjoy myself more in 2009 and go book and bookstore shopping more often.

After all, what's the point of buying all these books if I'm not going to have time to read them or, better yet, try making some of the dolls and crafts.

NOTE TO LINDA for 2009- SPEND MORE TIME SEWING, CRAFTING, and BOOKSTORE SHOPPING!

Before I forget - here's the list of book I actually did buy in 2008.

DOLLS and DOLL MAKING BOOKS:

1)Fleecie Dolls by Fiona Goble
2) Stray Sock Sewing by Daniel - North Light Books
3) Cloth Dolls For Textile Artists by Ray Slater
4) Making Flower Children by Sybille Adolphi
5) More Magic Wool by Angelica Wolk-Gerche
6) Wool Pets by Laurie Sharp
7) Felt Wee Folk by Salley Mavor
8) The Cute Book by Aranzi Aronzo
9) Fun Dolls - Let's Make Cute Stuff by Aranzi Aronzo
10) Sock and Glove - Creating Charming Softy Friends from Cast-off Socks and Gloves by Miyako Kanamori
12) Twenty Little Amish Quilts With Full-Size Templates by Gwen Marston, Illustrated by Pat Holly
13) A Three Dimensional Victorian Dollhouse - Designed by Willabel L. Tong

CRAFTS AND CRAFT MAKING BOOKS:

1) Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush
2) Wild Women Stitched Art Brooches by Sarah Lawrence
3) Needle Felting by Hand or Machine by Linda Turner Griepentrog and Pauline Wilde Richards
4) Fast Fun & Easy Needlefelting by Lynne Farris
5) Warm Fuzzies by Betz White
6) A Passion For Punchneedle Edited by Linda Repasky
7) Punchneedle Embroideryby Barbara Kemp & Margaret Shaw
8) The Lost Art of Towel Origami by Alison Jenkins
9) Making Great Gingerbread Houses by Aaron Morgan and Paige Gilchrist

HISTORY BOOKS:

1) The History of The Snowman by Bob Ecksten

SEWING BOOKS:

1) Bend The Rules Sewing by Amy Karol

CHILDREN'S BOOKS I LOVE:

1) The Annotated Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

And, just in case I don't remember this come the end of the year - I added them to the Books Linda Bought in 2008 category of both my Linda's Bookstore for Books About Dolls, Doll Making, Doll Collecting, Doll History, and More and Linda's Bookstore for Books Abouts Crafts and Crafting.

But, I really hope I remember. Better yet - I hope to review them all for you over the next few months.

Happy Holidays To All!

2008-12-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

To all the readers of my "The Book Review Corner " blog I would like to say:

Have a Wonderful Holiday Season!
Happy Holidays To All!

My Linda's How-Do-I Series? How To Create A Print Pattern and E-Pattern E-Book Has Been REVISED

2008-12-02T08:02:00.001-05:00

I've Revised My Linda's How-Do-I Series? How To Create A Print Pattern and E-Pattern E-Book
It seems amazing to me that the original free version of my Linda's How-Do-I Series? How to Design a Print Pattern and E-Pattern E-Book has been downloaded 7,441 times. That's right - 7,441 times. That's A LOT of pattern designers out there.

Now you might think that this would be bad news and that as a pattern designer I would be threatened by this as I gave away trade secrets to the competition. Actually, I'm thrilled.

Thrilled because there are so many individuals out there who want to design their own patterns and thrilled because this means the interest in sewing, creating, and selling of e-products on the Internet is growing. More growth means more business for all of us. Especially if it means more growth for e-patterns, which are still in their infancy on the Internet.

So, I decided that I should REVISE and UPDATE my original e-book and I'm happy to report that it is finished and has been added to my Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns website under How-To E-Books and is now bigger and better than ever.

So, did I give away even more trade secrets? Guilty as charged.

Is more competition bad news? Absolutely not! I couldn't be happier, especially if it translates into more business for e-patterns on the Internet.

You know my crafting community motto - what helps one of us helps all of us.

If you'd like to buy the REVISED VERSION of my Linda's How-Do-I Series? How To Create A Print Pattern and E-Pattern please just CLICK HERE or click on the picture above.

I hope you enjoy the REVISED VERSION of my Linda's How-Do-I Series? How To Create A Print Pattern and E-Pattern E-Book and hope it motivates you to create your own e-patterns.

Copyright © 2008 All Rights Reserved—Written By Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns (www.lindawalshoriginalsepatterns.com) and Linda’s Blog (www.lindawalshoriginals.blogspot.com). Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer.

FREE E-Book Linda's How-Do-I Series? How To Create Fast and Easy Cloth, Paper and E-Printable Ornaments by Linda Walsh

2008-11-24T08:08:00.000-05:00

I am very partial to handmade gifts, especially those that have been made by my family and friends. Given that I’m in the Grandmother phase of my life right now I’m especially partial to handmade gifts from my grandchildren. Whether it is a card or an ornament I love them and cherish them all. In fact, nothing pleases me more than receiving a handmade card or gift from my family and friends at the holidays.

With these economic times when money is scarce for so many people my thoughts turn to the different times in my life when money was scarce for me and the handmade gifts that I created and gave at the holidays.

If you are a reader of my Linda's Blog (http://lindawalshoriginals.blogspot.com) you know that I come from a family of crafters and that when I was growing up at the holidays we always had a Christmas crafting project to do.

One year it was a church scene created out of Styrofoam that my Dad and I created. My Dad painstakingly cut the Styrofoam to form a cone steeple and painstakingly cut the windows so they were a half circle at the top and had window panes. We added colored plastic to the inside of the windows and used a lighted angel inside the church so the colored glass would shine through. Then we added candle carolers, candle trees, and snowflake sprinkled felt for snow for the outside of the church. We used this scene as one of our Christmas displays until the foam finally fell apart. I loved that scene and especially loved working with my Dad on it.

Another year I decided to knit large stockings for everyone in the family. I knit their names in the top and each had their own special knit decoration on it. The stockings were knit with red, green, and white yarn and were about 24” long. We used those, too, until they finally fell apart.

Another year when I was in my twenties I decided to make all the gifts for my family and friends as money was tight that year. So, I decided to make handmade Christmas ornaments for my friends with their names embroidered on them and other handmade gifts for my family. Some members of my family got dolls (of course) and some got quilts, etc. My friends each got several ornaments of different types with their names on them. Some were trees, candy canes, snowmen, stockings, etc.

When my twin granddaughters were young they made their Grandfather and I handmade paper ornaments with their mother. They cut the ornaments out of construction paper and glued glitter all over the front of them. Then they added our names and their names to the back of the ornaments. A hole was created in the top of each and a piece of yarn was used as a hanger. They are some of my favorite ornaments and we still put them on our Christmas tree every year.

In fact, our Christmas tree is only decorated with handmade ornaments. You’ll find ornaments my grandchildren made or ones I've made over the years (and there are many of those) on our tree. Some are made of paper, some are cloth, and some are floral decorations I've made.

Others might be beaded ornaments my Mother and I made one year or wooden clothespin reindeer that I made 30+ years ago. I even have foam toy soldiers that I made from a kit over 35 years ago. Plus, I have wooden ornaments that I painted from a kit I bought close to 30 years ago.

You might also find beaded ornaments a friend of mine made, terracotta floral and terracotta cloth ornaments I made, porcelain Santa heads my sister made, a knitted wreath from my Grandmother, or a felt cardinal made by a friend that sits on a branch with an old fashion silver hair clip. There might be silver icicles or wooden dolls.

You just never know what you may find. What you can count on is that each and every ornament is remembered and loved and painstaking preserved so that we have it for the next holiday season.

So, I thought I would share some easy and fast cloth, paper, and E-Printable ornament ideas with you. Maybe they will entice you to make your own handmade ornaments this year that you’ll cherish and painstakingly preserve for years and years to come.

The same basic outline was used for most of the ornaments whether you are making them out of construction paper, coloring them on heavier stock paper, printing them out on heavy card stock for E-Printables, or making them out of cloth. They can be as easy to make as you want or some of the cloth ones can be more elaborate just by adding beads or other decorations. That, of course, is up to you. We’re providing instructions for the basics. The rest is up to you and your creativity.

Adult supervision is required if you are making these ornaments with young children as some of the ornaments require the use of scissors, Elmer’s glue, hot glue, small decorations, and needle & thread.

Our E-Book is broken down into 4 sections as follows:

Section #1—Instructions and Supplies Needed.

Section #2—BASIC SHAPES and DETAILS for construction paper cut-out ornaments or for coloring ornaments on heavier stock paper.

Section #3—COLORED E-PRINTABLES for creating e-printable ornaments on heavy card stock.

Section #4—E-PATTERN PIECES for felt cloth ornaments that you can decorate as elaborately or as simply as you want.

Please follow the instructions within each of the sections as to how to make the construction paper ornaments, colored ornaments on heavier stock paper, colored e-printables, and felt cloth ornaments.

I hope you enjoy our "How To Create Fast and Easy Cloth, Paper, and E-Printable Ornaments" FREE E-Book. Happy holidays.

Copyright © 2008 All Rights Reserved—Written By Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns (www.lindawalshoriginalsepatterns.com) and Linda’s Blog (www.lindawalshoriginals.blogspot.com). Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer.

How To Host A Folksy, Friends & Family Bridal Shower FREE E-Book by Linda Walsh

2008-09-13T11:23:00.000-04:00

Believe it or not, but Fall has become the season for weddings versus the Spring and with weddings comes bridal showers.

For anyone who has even contemplated hosting a bridal shower the idea of hosting a bridal shower may seem overwhelming and daunting at best. That's why so many nowadays are held out at restaurants with a professional handling all the arrangements.

However, with a little planning and organization hosting a bridal shower can end up being fun for the whole family, for all the participants and a wonderful event for all to remember. And, it doesn't have to be held out at a fancy, expensive restaurant.

In a previous post on my Linda's Blog I alluded to the fact that my sister and sisters-in-law and I had hosted a bridal shower for our oldest niece several years ago.

Instead of a bridal shower out at a restaurant we decided on a more traditional, small, folksy, family & friends bridal shower - like we used to remember going to when we were growing up. We decided that, "Hey, we can do this if we all work together! It'll be fun!" We decided that we would cook all the food and make all the decorations, prizes, centerpieces, and bridal shower favors. Small, folksy and intimate like bridal showers and baby showers, for that matter, used to be.

Since I was in charge of the bridal shower and had taken pictures and kept all the documentation and preparation notes on the bridal shower I decided that I should put that to good use and post about this on my Linda's Blog. It's been in my to do pile for quite awhile as I have been meaning to post about it for quite some time.

Well, this morning I decided to create the blog post and in doing so realized that my post was getting rather lengthy. Since it was so long and detailed I thought it might be better served if it was in a .PDF file.

So, I created a Linda's How-Do-I FREE e-book for everyone entitled "How To Host A Folksy, Family & Friends Bridal Shower?" I've added it to the FREE E-Products page of my Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns website. If you'd like to download my FREE Linda's How-Do-I Series? "How To Host A Folksy, Family & Friends Bridal Shower?" E-Book please CLICK HERE or click on the picture above.

I hope you enjoy my free e-book and would love to hear if it inspired you to try hosting a folksy, family & friends bridal shower yourself.

Copyright © 2008 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals, Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer. http://lindawalshoriginals.com

Linda's Review of "My Favorite Felt Sweets" by Joie, Inc.

2008-09-10T08:50:00.000-04:00

I have been eying some needle felting and felt craft books for a few months now and have taken a particular interest in the little felt cupcakes that a lot of crafter's have been making as centerpieces for their children's birthday parties.

They just looked so real and yet so inviting. I decided I wanted to learn how to make some. In fact, I wanted to make a whole 3-tier level centerpiece of nothing but felt cupcakes.

Well, low and behold, last week I got an email from Tomoe Sumi of Kodansha America, LLC asking me if I'd like to review "My Favorite Felt Sweets" by Joie, Inc. translated by Yoko Ishiguro.

Well, we talking about a Japanese felt crafting book containing pictures and instructions for making 106 of the cutest felt food items around. And, we are not just talking about cupcakes. We're talking about all sorts of sweets.

My imagination was getting the better of me. Either that or I was really hungry when I decided to answer Tomoe Sumi and tell him I'd be delighted to review "My Favorite Felt Sweets" book.

The book came the other day and I have to tell you that I've been hungry ever since. You just have to see the pictures of these 106 sweet, delectable treats to understand why my mouth is watering.

Forget the real food. Give me the mouth watering non-caloric felt desserts any day.

I keep envisioning a whole table filled with nothing but 3-tier china plates containing felt petit fours, cakes, donuts, and even chocolates. Oh, my! How beautiful and colorful would that picture be!

Couldn't you just imagine giving a friend the perfect diet gift. A box of chocolates filled with nothing but tiny felt chocolates. How marvelous would that be. Not caloric and a gift to last a lifetime.

"My Favorite Sweets" is 97 pages long. The first 32 pages are filled with the most mouth watering pictures of 106 different felt edibles you'd ever want to see. The remaining 65 pages are filled with drawn pictorial instructions for making the edibles plus FULL size pattern piece sheets.

They also provide instructions for transferring the patterns, cutting the felt, preparing embroidery floss, how-to's for the various sewing & embroidery stitches, and hints for stuffing and/or cutting foam.

Both the drawn pictorial instructions and the pattern sheets are very easy to follow. My only complaint with the book would be that I think some of the drawn pictorial instructions and pattern piece sheets would have been better suited had they been spaced out a little more and away from the binding of the book. This would have made them easier to read and made photo coping of some of the pattern piece sheets a lot easier. I just hate to destroy the binding of a book just to photocopy some of the pages.

However, the beautiful photographs, the inclusion of 106 marvelous felt sweet projects, and clear instructions more than offset any negatives I may have.

I'm sitting here thinking of all the delectable sweets I'm going to make. Definitely the sponge cake, all the petit fours, the heart shaped tart, mixed beery pie, chocolate vanilla cookies, pinwheels, pancake sandwiches, chocolate gift basket cake, and Christmas cookies.

Plus, the box of chocolates! Oh, my!

I'm having visions of the most colorful holiday dessert table filled with nothing but mouth watering felt desserts and envisioning every one's face upon seeing them.

Oh, my! This is going to be FUN!

I can hardly wait!

I have added "My Favorite Felt Sweets" to my Linda's Crafts Bookstore under Needle Felting and Felt, and Linda's Books Reviewed. If you would like to purchase "My Favorite Felt Sweets" please CLICK HERE or on the picture above.

Linda's Review of Rainbow Sheep by Kim Chatel

2008-09-09T08:47:00.000-04:00

I received an email a couple of weeks ago from Kim Chatel telling me that she's an author of children's books and that she had a new book called "Rainbow Sheep" that was released in May. It was a children's story illustrated with needle-felted fiber art and also contained 2 simple felt crafts for kids.

Kim asked if I would be interested in reviewing it. A children's story with needle felt crafts for kids!

Hmmm.... It didn't take me long to consider Kim's request. Of course I would review it. I was intrigued by the needle felt illustrations and the projects for the kids.

Kim not only send me the book, but sent me one of her wonderful needle felted sheep. It's the cutest blue needle felted sheep and is currently sitting on the top of my computer monitor.

Well, I have to tell you that I just loved Kim's "Rainbow Sheep" book. It is a wonderful story that is warm, enchanting, and lovingly illustrated with the fiber art.

It's the story of a shepherdess named Genevieve who has a very vivid imagination. She encounters a sad rainbow cloud and does everything she can to make him happy. Finally, she does make the cloud happy and when he starts to cry happy tears his colors return. In the middle of this the sheep are caught in the colorful rain drops and forever transformed into rainbow colored sheep.

Kim's book contains 12 wonderful fiber art illustrations. My favorite by far is the mermaid and whale. It is just adorable. It is followed by the jousting seahorses.

In the back of Kim's book there is a short section explaining what needle felting is with a picture of a felting needle and two easy to do felted craft projects for kids: felted soap and needle felted sheep. The former requires no adult supervision. The latter requires adult supervision and is only recommended for children 8 years and older. Both sets of instructions are very easy to follow.

I have added Rainbow Sheep to my Linda's Doll Bookstore under Needle Felted and Felt, and Linda's Books Reviewed. If you would like to purchase "Rainbow Sheep" please CLICK HERE or click on the picture above.

Kim is an accomplished photographer and fiber artist, as well as gifted writer of children's stories. Her website http://www.kimchatel.com is geared towards children and filled with an array of pages for kids to learn about her books, fiber art, her photographs, etc. It is well worth the visit.

More Books Linda Bought in 2008!

2008-09-02T08:48:00.000-04:00

Amazon.com Widgets

You know me. I just love to read and second to my love of dolls is my love of books.

So, I decided that it was time for me to spend some of the gift certificates I received during the course of the year and get a few more books. Now I know you think that I don't need any more crafts books or doll making books. Well, you'd be wrong. You see there are just SO MANY crafts books out there and so many wonderful crafts to try. I want to try all of them. My problem is a lack of time to do everything I want and try every craft I want.

Plus, having to live with 1,796 "dollies" who think they are human. Talk about time consuming! Well, that's another story........

In any event, here's a list of the books that I bought in July with my gift certificates:

DOLLS and DOLL MAKING BOOKS:

1) Making Flower Children by Sybille Adolphi
2) More Magic Wool by Angelica Wolk-Gerche
3) Wool Pets by Laurie Sharp
4) Felt Wee Folk by Salley Mavor

CRAFTS AND CRAFT MAKING BOOKS:

1) Needle Felting by Hand or Machine by Linda Turner Griepentrog and Pauline Wilde Richards
2) Fast Fun & Easy Needlefelting by Lynne Farris
3) Warm Fuzzies by Betz White
4) A Passion For Punchneedle Edited by Linda Repasky
5) Punchneedle Embroideryby Barbara Kemp & Margaret Shaw

I'm going to be reviewing each of these in later posts, but thought you might like to know what I bought recently. I added them to my Linda's Crafts Bookstore and Linda's Doll Bookstore under the category entitled "Books Linda Bought - 2008." Happy reading!

FREE Pumpkin Ornaments E-Pattern From Linda Walsh

2008-08-07T08:31:00.000-04:00

Punkin Ornaments Are We! A Trio Of Ornaments
Copyright © 2008 - All Rights Reserved - Linda Walsh Originals - Designs By Linda Walsh

CLICK HERE to Download the LW161 Punkin Ornaments Are We! A Trio Of Ornaments FREE E-Pattern
2" Pumpkin Ornaments
Pattern Classification - Beginner
Punkin ornaments are a fun group of "crazy guys" to make for the Fall. They are 2" cloth pumpkin ornaments with embroidered faces who just like to hang out just about anywhere. Hang'em up! Stick'em in a bowl of potpourri! Line them up on a shelf or even add them to a fall wreath. I hang some of mine from the door knobs in my kitchen and line others up in a long bowl surrounded by miniature cinnamon pumpkins.

They may be similar in size, but their diversity of color and position of their embroidered faces make them unique. It's okay to be similar and part of a trio, but they each have there own personality which is reflected in their color and their face. The punkins are happy about that.

Please respect Linda's Terms of Use: All patterns and designs Copyright © 2004-2008 Linda Walsh Originals-Designs by Linda Walsh. All rights reserved, including downloading, mass producing, photocopying, enlargements, reductions, E-Patterns and all other forms of reproduction, website sharing, Email, or any other means of redistribution. Commercial selling or reselling of this pattern by any means, including eBay or any other website by permission only. Products made from Linda Walsh Originals patterns are intended for personal use for fun or small scale personal and business profit as long as you credit us with the design. Large scale commercial use (i.e. mass production) of products made from these patterns (both regular and E-patterns) including wholesale distribution, catalog sales, and all other forms of large scale commercial production are by permission only. Items made from these patterns are intended for decoration only and are not intended for use by children.

Copyright © 2008 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh of Linda Walsh Originals, Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns and Linda's Blog. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer. http://lindawalshoriginals.com

Linda's Review of Artful Paper Dolls - New Ways To Play With Traditional Form by Terry Taylor

2008-06-07T09:05:00.000-04:00

As a very young girl I can remember playing with my very first paper doll - Betsy McCall. I would cut Betsy and her clothes out of the magazine ever so carefully. Of course, being a young girl my first attempts at cutting every so carefully didn't go as smooth as I had planned and my mother or grandmother would try to correct for my errors.

I didn't like the paper doll tabs and didn't always utilize them. I quickly learned, however, that the clothes would not stay on the paper doll without them.

I must have a thing for tabs and markers as I also didn't like the triangle placement tabs in sewing patterns when I first started to sew. I would cut them off as well until I learned that for clothing they served a very useful purpose.

Since I had a passion for Victorian dolls from a very young age I loved playing with my Victorian paper dolls. I could sit for hours on end just putting this outfit on or that outfit. When I was finished playing with my paper dolls I would put them back in a cardboard cigar box that my grandfather had given to me for storing them.

Back them I would never have foreseen the enormous explosion in the paper industry that has occurred over the last decade. Nor could I have foreseen that paper dolls would become and art form in its' own right. Who would have know that altered art and mixed media creations would rule the art world in the 21st century.

One of the books I bought last year was "Artful Paper Dolls - New Ways To Play With a Traditional Form" by Terry Taylor. Even at first glance I was immediately taken by the visually stunning paper creations of some 22 well known designers.

On every page was yet another beautiful paper doll creation that I wanted to try. Of course, there isn't any kind of doll, paper included, that I haven't wanted to try and make. My problem is always one of time. There are just not enough hours in the day, nor days in the year for me to try everything.

Artful Paper Dolls is not just a compendium of project after project, it also includes a little bit of history on various paper dolls and paper doll artists. So, it's a perfect book for me as it offers a little bit of history as well as project after project after project.

It is divided into four chapters: Figuring It Out, Playing Dress Up, Playing House, and Learning From Books. Each chapter has a multitude of sections and a multitude of paper doll creations to try. I, of course, loved them all but was especially taken with the Disjointed Figure, Elisabeth's Doppelganger (which is a life-size paper doll), My Memory Doll, Secret Messenger Doll, the section on playing dress up, Old Woman In Purple, Stitched Paper Dolls, Sunday Best Dress, and Paper Doll Magnets.

I also enjoyed the chapter on "Who Is Betsy McCall" and "Tom Tierney's World Of Paper Dolls."

If you love paper dolls, mixed media art, and altered art images then you will love "Artful Paper Dolls." Several of the corners of the pages in my book have been turned over as a reminder to me that I want to try that project. I know that I shouldn't do that to the pages of my books, but sometimes childhood habits are hard to break. You could also say that sometimes childhood loves last forever. For me a love of paper dolls certainly has. Now where are my scissors?

If you'd like to buy Artful Paper Dolls from my Linda's Doll Bookstore please CLICK HERE or click on the picture above.

Linda's Review of Cloth Dolls From Ancient To Modern by Linda Edward

2008-06-01T08:09:00.000-04:00

If you are a reader of my Linda's Blog then you know that I just love dolls and books about dolls, especially cloth dolls.

One of the books that I bought last year was Cloth Dolls From Ancient To Modern by Linda Edward. It is a collectors guide of cloth dolls and their values and I was especially interested in it because it contained cloth dolls, which up to this point in time were often overlooked by the doll collecting society as a whole.

I never understood this as I always thought that the category of dolls would include dolls with cloth heads as well as dolls with wood, china, bisque, clay, or cernit heads. Fortunately cloth dolls are gaining in popularity amongst collectors and especially amongst the ever growing segment of people who love "primitives." Unfortunately, cloth doesn't always survive well over time so there are not a lot of examples of really ancient dolls made solely of cloth around.

Cloth Dolls From Ancient To Modern starts with a small chapter about cloth dolls of long ago. Unfortunately, not a lot survived.

Chapter 2 contains homemade rag dolls of the 19Th and 20Th century and has several pages of wonderful pictures of dolls and a brief history of cloth dolls during that period along with mention of the 1st doll patterns. Looking at the pictures of the dolls I couldn't help but wonder who the creator was, who the recipient was, and why the doll was made.

Chapter 3 covers the cottage industry dolls of the 19Th and 20Th century. What captured my attention was a line from the 1st paragraph that stated, "In the world of cloth dolls it is very interesting to note that most of these companies were started and run by women." My guess would be that a LOT of these women were mothers who had started out just sewing dolls for their children.

In Chapter 3 you will find information and pictures of Izannah F. Walker who started making dolls around 1840, Roxanna E. Cole, Moravian Rag Dolls, Martha L. Wellington, Presbyterian Rag Dolls , Columbian Rag Dolls, Mother's Congress Dolls, The Alabama Indestructible Doll, Kathe Kruse, Martha Jenks Chase, Missionary Rag Babies, Philadelphia Rag Babies, Anne Maxwell, Gertrude F. Robinson, Wold War I Paris, Tynietoy, Kamkins, and Regional Dress Doll.

Chapter 4 covers big business rag dolls in the 19Th and 20Th century. These are large scale factories and whole sellers including: Montanari, George Hawkins, Carl Weigand, Worsted Dolls, Steiff Dolls, Babyland Rag Dolls, Bruckner Dolls, Dean's Rag Book Co., Krueger Dolls, Jane Gray Co., Farnell-Alpha Toys, American Art Dolls, and one of my favorite sections - Raggedy Ann and Andy.

It also includes Chad Valley Dolls, Bing Art Dolls, Lenci, Messina-Vat, Madame Alexander, Norah Wellings, Liberty of London, Nelke Dolls, Georgene Novelties/Madame Hendron, Averill Manufacturing Co., Mollye Goldman, Poupees Raynal, Venus, Gre-Poir, The Blossom Doll Co., Ideal Novelty and Toy Co., and Hallmark Dolls.

Chapter 5 is a lovely chapter devoted to dolls by the yard - cut and sew dolls. It includes E.S. Peck, Arnold Printworks, Cocheco Manufacturing Company, Gutsell Dolls, Art Fabric Mills, Horsman, Dean's Rag Book Co., Saalfield Publishing Co., and The Toy Works.

Chapter 6 is devoted to 20Th century advertising and personality dolls. These include The Chase Bag Co. whose 1st advertising doll was "The Jolly Green Giant", Miscellaneous Advertising Dolls, Personality Dolls, and Knickerbocker dolls like "The Campbell's Soup Kid."

Chapter 7 is devoted to doll artists of the 20Th century such as, Grace Dayton, Celia and Charoty Smith, Dorothy Heizer, Frances and Bernard Ravca, Dewees Cochran, Annalee Mobilitee Dolls, WPA Dolls, Dianne Dengel, R. John Wright, Xavier Roberts, and Current cloth Doll Artists - of which there are many pictures.

If you are a lover of cloth dolls in particular or "primitive dolls" then Cloth Dolls From Ancient To Modern is a fascinating read and a must have for the serious cloth doll collector. I especially loved the section on Raggedy Ann and Andy as it contained several pages of information on the history of these dolls that I was not aware of before.

If you would like to purchase this book from my Linda's Doll Bookstore please CLICK HERE or click on the picture of the book above.

What About This Amazon Kindle?

2008-05-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

I LOVE to read and I LOVE books, especially hardcover books. Plus, as you know from my "The Book Review Corner" blog I especially LOVE craft books. So, when I read a Newsweek article about Jeff Bezo's new Amazon Kindle device I was intrigued. How would this work for craft books?

If you haven't heard about Amazon's Kindle you soon will. According to Amazon.com Kindle's description is as follows:

Amazon Kindle (http://amazon.com/kindle) is a revolutionary portable reader that wirelessly downloads books, newspapers, magazines and blogs to a crisp, high-resolution electronic paper display that looks and reads like real paper, even in bright sunlight.

Kindle customers, no matter where they are in the U.S., can wirelessly shop the Kindle Store and download new content — all without a PC or a WiFi hot spot. Amazon pays for Kindle’s wireless connectivity so there are no monthly wireless bills and no service commitments for customers. The Kindle Store contains over 90,000 books that can be purchased and delivered wirelessly to Kindle, each in less than a minute. Customers can choose from hundreds of top newspapers, magazines and blogs and have their subscriptions auto-delivered wirelessly. All New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases are $9.99, unless marked otherwise.

At 10.3 ounces, Kindle is lighter and thinner than a paperback book, carries two hundred books, and includes built-in access to The New Oxford American Dictionary and wireless access to the Earth’s biggest encyclopedia, Wikipedia.org.

Sounds intriguing - doesn't it?

If you're a reader of my "The Book Review Corner" blog you know that I love to read. But, as an aging baby-boomer I always look at the print size of a book before buying it. If the print is too small, no matter what the book is, I won't buy it. It's just too hard to read for my aging, tired eyes. So, I was thrilled to read that one of the nice features about Kindle was that you could change the font size no matter what the book. Now - that's a TERRIFIC feature.

Plus, another nice feature is that when you buy a Kindle book your Kindle reader downloads the book and stores it in your Kindle library. Another TERRIFIC feature.

So, I decided to take a look at what the Amazon Kindle store has to offer for crafts books and create a separate Kindle Products section for my Linda's Crafts Bookstore . Unfortunately, they don't have a lot of "arts & crafts" books as of yet, but I'm hoping that will change. I added some of the ones that they do have that I thought you might like. I'll keep looking and adding as they keep adding to the Kindle collection.

I do not have a Kindle reader as of yet, but it's on my wish list. I really wonder if reading "arts & crafts" books on the size of a hand held device will really be practical. I think it will work for novels, etc. But, instruction books and manuals, like most crafting books are? Hmmmm?

I do want to find out and when I finally buy one and download some of the arts & crafts books I like that are available, or some of the other books that I like, I'll let you know what I think.

It will be interesting to see if the idea of Kindle takes off. One thing that I know right now is that Kindle can never replace or replicate the joy of "bookstore" shopping that I have with my Mom and which I've posted about many, many times.

If you have a Kindle reader and have downloaded some books I'd love to know what you think. If you don't have a Kindle reader and would like to buy one, please CLICK on the link below:

Kindle

Darcy Ashton's Wonderful Quilting Books

2008-05-14T09:02:00.000-04:00

A little while ago I received and email from Darcy Ashton of Ashton Publications telling me about some of her quilting books. So, I thought I'd take a look.

Well, I have to tell you that if you are an animal lover and also like to applique quilt then Darcy Ashton's quilt books and applique patterns look like they might be a lot of fun to try.

In fact, I was intrigued by the "Darling Little Dogs" quilting book as I have a Cairn Terrier who rules our house.

While the "Darling Little Dogs" doesn't have a Cairn Terrier applique it does have a West Highland Terrier, which is a cousin to the Cairn Terrier. The two breeds look so much alike except for color that I could use the West Highland Terrier applique on a quilt for my little guy. I'd just make him salt and pepper in color. Hmmm... Sounds like I have a Christmas present in mind - doesn't it?

I am definitely going to have to buy this book. When I do I'll post a full review of it so you'll all know what I thought of the book. And, if I decide to make a Christmas present for someone then I'll post a picture of it as well.

One of the other books in her collection that intrigued me was "Beautiful Big Dogs - 35 Different Large Breed Dogs."

You see, my brother has been a lover of BIG BREED dogs his whole entire life and bought an English Mastiff several years ago. His name is "Ben" and he is the sweetest, lovable, BIG teddy bear of a dog that you'd ever want to meet. He weighs in at about 175 pounds, but is as gentle as they come.

Darcy "Beautiful Big Dogs - 35 Different Large Breed Dogs" has a Mastiff applique that I could use for another quilt. Hmmm..... sounds like another Christmas present, doesn't it?

I guess I'll be buying two of Darcy's books. When I do I'll post a full review of it so you'll all know what I thought of the book. And, if I decide to make a Christmas present for my brother then I'll post a picture of it as well.

Here's a list of Darcy's books and their descriptions, either from Amazon.com or from the Ashton Publications website.

Beautiful Big Dogs - 35 Different Large Breed Dogs

The product description according to Amazon.com is as follows: This pattern book includes 35 different large breed dog patterns for applique as well as complete instructions for seven quilts and a pillow sham. Breeds include: Airedale, American Staffordshire Terrier, Australian Cattle Dog, Basset Hound, Bernese Mountain Dog, Bloodhound, Border Collie, Boxer, Briard, Bull Terrier, Canaan Dog, Chow Chow, Collie, Dalmatian, Doberman Pincher, English Bulldog, Fox Hound , German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Great Dane, Great Pyrenees, Greyhound, Husky, Irish Setter, Labrador Retriever, Mastiff, Portuguese Water Dog, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Rottweiler, Saint Bernard, Saluki, Scottish Deerhound, Sharpei, Standard Poodle, and the Weimaraner.

Darling Little Dogs

The product description according to Ashton Publications is as follows: 35 different patterns for small dog breeds. Each breed was researched and carefully drawn to capture the "personality" of the animal while still keeping the applique pattern as simple and elegant as possible. Choose your favorite applique method and sew them from just one piece of fabric or several. There are 8 different quilts and projects in this book including "Darling Little Dogs" - 70" x 92", "Lady Dogs" - 56" x 68", and "Snips, Snails, and Puppydog Tails" - 59" square. This book includes many different technique suggestions for hand and machine applique. It also has embroidery diagrams, numerous examples for creating the eyes, tips for your custom labels, and instructions for Prairie Points.

Darling Little Dogs - Breed List: American Eskimo Dog (Eskie), Basenji, Beagle, Bedlington Terrier, Bison Frise, Boston Terrier, Brussels Griffon, Bull Terrier (miniature), Chihuahua, Cocker Spaniel, Dachshund, English Toy Spaniel, French Bulldog (Frenchie, Jack Russell Terrier, Lhasa Apso, Maltese, Miniature Pincher (Min Pin, Papillon, Pekingese, Pomeranian, Pug, Rat Terrier, Schnauzer, Scottish Terrier (Scottie Dog, Shetland Sheepdog (Sheltie, Shih Tzu, Skye Terrier, Toy Poodle, Toy Fox Terrier (smooth), Welsh Corgi (Cardigan or Pembroke), Welsh Terrier, West Highland White Terrier (Westie), Whippet, Wirehaired Fox Terrier, and Yorkshire Terrier (Yorkie).

Claire's Cats - Volume 1

The product description according to Ashton Publications is as follows: 35 different one-piece cat patterns to choose from are included in this book as well as numerous mice, butterflies and other small creatures. This book is named after my daughter Claire. She gave me inspiration for these kitties and even named each cat. There are 9 different quilts and projects in this book including "Claire's Cats" - 100" x 76", "Christopher's Mouse Quilt" - 29" x 34", and "Frisky Kitty Baby Quilt" - 35" square. This book includes tips and suggestions for hand and machine applique. It also has embroidery diagrams, and detailed instructions for creating eyes.

Claire's Cats - Volume 2

The product description according to Amazon.com is as follows: This book is similar to the classic "Claire's Cats" applique book, but with many more options and quilts. Volume 2 contains 35 new one piece cat patterns with options for sewing the cats from more than one color of fabric. It also has patterns included for collars and bows that are unique to each of the 35 different cats. Dress them up or leave them plain, the choice is yours.

Aquatic Creatures - Fish, Frogs, Turtles and Toads

The product description according to Ashton Publications is as follows: Fish, Frog, Turtles, and Toads. More than 100 different patterns are included in this book. Choose your favorite applique method and sew them from just one piece of fabric or several. The best part is that you can make them as easy or as hard as you wish. There are 11 different quilts and projects in this book including "I Have a Turtle in My Pond" - 58" x 67", "Froggy Scrap Patch" - 65" x 75", "Aquatic Creatures" - 67" x 85", and "Turtles and Toads" - 63" square. This book includes many different technique suggestions for hand and machine applique as well as the use of crayons, stitchery, and beading. It also has embroidery diagrams, numerous examples for creating the eyes, tips for your custom labels, and instructions for Prairie Points.

Butterfly Dance

The product description according to Ashton Publications is as follows: Butterfly Dance is a beautiful book which contains more than 40 different butterfly and moth patterns, two paper cut patterns, and a page of caterpillars. These patterns are large and easy to sew from just one big piece of fabric, or make them from several different fabrics. The choice is yours to make them as easy or as hard as you wish. Five different applique techniques are described in the book as well as 11 different quilts and projects including "Butterfly Dance", "Moonlit Moths", "Pretty in Pink", "Antique Beauties", and "Metamorphosis".

Grandma's Bunnies

The product description according to Ashton Publications is as follows: 30 different rabbit patterns with an old-fashioned flair are included in this book plus numerous veggies. This was my first book. It was inspired by a stack of antique quilt blocks from the 1930's that I inherited from my Grandmother. While Grandma's quilt had the same bunny in each block, I choose to make mine all different. Bunnies" - 86" x 98", "Veggie Table Runner" and "Veggie Pot Holders." This book includes embroidery diagrams, directions for creating the eyes, and tips for your custom labels.

From all the descriptions it looks like Darcy's quilting books and patterns have a lot to offer you. So, if you're an animal lover and quilter be sure to check them out.