Use Baskets to Decorate Your Home Bleached blond, naturally tawny, and dyed or painted lovely warm shades, baskets are one of the easiest and most effective ways of adding the country touch – the texture and weave providing a naturalness to your surroundings. For centuries, basket making has been a traditional craft, using local materials […]
Decorate Your Walls with Stenciling Stenciling is designed for you home decorators who want to Decorate Your Walls with Stenciling and create original schemes without taking the risks that accompany mural painting. With stencils, you can have some idea of how the design will look and can even experiment with different colorways before you
Get Confidence With Using Color Words by Penny Swift & Pictures by Janek Szymanowski © We show you how to get confidence with using color. Color is an enormously powerful medium and a major consideration in modern home decorating. It is also an emotive and intensely personal subject – especially when it comes to
Studies of Nature and Landscapes by Mariota Percival “I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars.” Walt Whitman Mariota’s heart lies in life studies of nature and landscapes in their changing light. From the intricate detail of the tiniest forms of life to the expanse of the Universe. Mariota’s Life
Unique Cards and Book Illustrations by Mariota Percival Talented artist Mariota Percival specializes in unique beautiful cards and book illustrations. She has illustrated three children’s story books and provided a number of illustrations for Shuter & Shooter Publishers school books. They include a range of styles and paint media (ink pen, pencil crayons, acrylic and watercolour
Decorate With Painted Tin Cans Don’t throw those old tin cans away, recycle them and make painted tin cans and use them to decorate with. Handy containers in which you can store items such as kitchen utensils, make-up brushes, or pencils can be decorated to match your kitchen china, soft furnishings or wallpaper. Instead
Hand-crafted Tapestry & Crochet Rugs In front of a Blazing fire or beside a bed, a richly colored, hand-made crochet rugs add an aura of comfort and luxury. It is a welcoming sight in a hallway, where it softens the look of practical flooring or in a small landing or narrow corridor where it
Hand Painting Things Hand painting things is a wonderful way of adding individual and coordinating touches to your home decorations without spending a great deal of time or money. You don’t have to be very artistic – a playful, naive image casually applied is frequently the most attractive and successful at creating a rustic
How to do Crockery Mosaics NB. A word of caution before you start, broken crockery pieces can be as sharp as glass so take care to wear protective gear when doing this project. Crockery Mosaics is the ancient art of creating patterns and images from thousands of tiny fragments. Traditionally, special, uniform little pieces
Stencil Flowerpots – How To Make One Plain terracotta pots have a charm of their own but stenciled, each pot becomes an original item. Choose a new terracotta pot with smooth sides that has been water treated giving an unblemished, clean and even surface. There is a wide range of paint sample pots and
How To Make Your Own Painted Tulip Napkins Painting motifs on to fabric, then working simple embroidery stitches over them is a pretty way of making your table napkins totally original. Use this tulip motif or choose a favorite flower and paint it on a plain napkin, adding embroidery stitches to highlight or define
Floors, Furniture and Fabric Stencil Magic Stencil decoration on surfaces other than walls has a long history, and painted furniture, floors and even ceiling beams have brought color to traditional homes for centuries. Stencil Furniture Although you might never decorate a valuable or antique piece of furniture, you can use stenciling on everyday
How To Stencil – Get Started This is how to stencil the easy way. For your first attempt at stenciling, choose a project that is small and unlikely to cause grief if it doesn’t turn out well, but will be attractive enough to show off if it does; a little tray would be an
How To Decorate With BOLD Color Unless you are naturally daring with colors and willing to try decorating with bold color, it’s tempting to play safe by using white and pale tints as the basis of your home decorations. Such pastel and neutral shades are certainly comfortable to live with but, without some bright
Decorating With Paint Effects Most colorful paint effects, like sponging, dragging, ragging, stippling and color washing, have that marvelous hand-made quality which is ideal for the traditional country look. Their broken color gives a painted surface a unique richness and texture, which you can use to make a place or an object your
Easy Christmas Wrap ups Christmas wrap ups. If you have more dash than cash this Christmas try wrapping up your gifts in these stunning covers. They look as if they cost a million dollars but they can be made on a budget using discarded shoe boxes, plain packing paper and scraps from your sewing
Trimming Your Christmas Tree Have you grown up with the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree with all the decorations you have collected over the years? Or loading the branches with as many sparkly baubles and as much tinsel as possible? If so you will find it exciting to begin afresh with a brand new
Christmas Craft Ideas for Décor There is something magical about bringing greenery into the home for Christmas: the smell of pine needles on the tree, the glossiness of rich, dark evergreens, like holly and ivy, and the vibrancy of scarlet holly berries. In the bleak, greyness of winter, these Christmas craft ideas are symbols
Mural Art – Bringing Art Home Story by Penny Swift & Pictures by Janek Szymanowski © Mural art and the living use of color have been decorative features of architecture for many centuries, projecting both cultural traditions and man’s yearning for fantasy. The History of Wall Paintings Wall paintings and various types of mural
How to Paint With Watercolor The step-by-steps on this page show the typical stages in the development of a watercolor landscape. For the landscape shown here the artist used a17- by 22-inch sheet of French hand-made, cold-pressed, 300-pound watercolor paper which, because of its thickness, required no stretching. To introduce a variety of brushstrokes, he
Color and Design Understanding color White light is made up of light of different colors. Anyone who has seen a rainbow has seen white light divided into its component colors, the colors of the spectrum. See the color wheel below. The red petals of a rose look red to us because they absorb all wavelengths
A Selection of the Best Decoupage Books Available Decoupage – A Practical Guide to the Art of Decorating Surfaces with Paper Cutouts “Perfect for beginners as well as experienced decoupeurs.”—Victorian Home and Gardens Aptly called “painting with scissors,” the art of decoupage (embellishing surfaces with decorative paper cutouts) is one that requires no formal
A Selection of the Best Mobiles Art Books Available Making Mobiles When observing an especially beautiful mobile, beginning artists often think, Wow, I want to make mobiles like THAT! If you have stood under a mobile by Alexander Calder and entertained such thoughts, this book will help you make one like that. This guide
A Selection of the Best Beadwork Books Available Getting Started Stringing Beads The art of crafting beautiful string and bead creations is explained in this step-by-step guide for novice beaders. Twenty-five quick and simple projects will help build foundational technical skills and result in exciting bead creations such as charm bracelets and chandelier earrings.
A Selection of the Best Batik Books Available Creative Batik This colorful, practical guide explores many different waxing and dyeing techniques, explaining how to create beautiful flowers, trees, birds, animals, landscapes, and abstract designs. Fabric Surface Design Sensational sewing projects demand fabulous fabrics! Fiber artist Cheryl Rezendes shows you how to create an
A Selection of the Best Fabric Painting Books Available Fabric Painting with Donna Dewberry: 40 Stylish Projects for Your Home & Wardrobe Readers will love discovering dozens of exciting and colourful new ideas for painting on anything in their wardrobe or home that is made out of fabric. Donna’s designs add elegance and boldness
A Selection of the Best Oil Painting Books Available The Complete Oil Painter: The Essential Reference for Beginners to Professionals Oils are perhaps the most versatile of all paint mediums. Yet for many artists oil painting is either shrouded in mystique or considered very difficult. Filled with clear, step-by-step instructions and surefire strategies, The
A Selection of the Best Sketching Books Available Sketching: Techniques and Tips for Successful Sketching An essential little book – perfect for the pocket or art bag – covering all practical aspects of sketching and drawing. Sketching is a skill that every artist needs to master and this handy book shows you how in a
A Selection of the Best Quilting Books Available The Quilting Bible This is the one Quilting Books reference every quilter needs. Its 352 pages and 1,000 photographs cover every aspect of machine quilting. Sections include quilt basics, block-pieced quilts, appliqué quilts, special piecing methods, embellishing quilts, and a sampler quilt with related projects. Quilters from
A Selection of the Best Tie-Dyeing Books Available Contemporary dye-craft Tie-Dyeing fabric to create interesting patterns and colors is an ancient craft, practiced throughout the world for centuries, and enjoying a resurgence in recent years. With this title dye specialist Melanie Brummer unlocks the infinite possibilities of dyed cloth for the everyday person, using simple
A Selection of the Best Glassblowing Books Available The Methods Of Glassblowing Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. Glassblowing
A Selection of the Best Mosaic Books Available Mosaic Book Crafts: Twenty Designs for the Modern Home A master of mosaics presents 20 stylish new projects for the contemporary home. Garden Mosaics Project Mosaic Book: Stylish ideas for decorating your outside space with over 400 stunning photographs and 25 step-by-step projects Adding a mosaic
