Crafts and Decorative arts

Women are the future of American business. According to a recent Nielsen report, women will control two-thirds of American consumer wealth in less than a decade. And yet almost all business and success literature is still written for men--dispensing advice that doesn't take into account women's unique strengths or address the demands of family life on mothers.

A beautifully illustrated collection of fascinating, surprising, and funny facts about extinct animals.

Read & Co. presents this new edition of Werner's Nomenclature of Colours. First published in 1814, this small volume comprises a collection of 110 swatches displaying nature's colour palette together with their poetical descriptions.

This long-awaited book will be a valuable tool for collectors, dealers, and researchers of modern Italian glass. Most comprehensive volumes are written in Italian, and none includes a value guide. This one, in English, includes information and photographs that will make this book a standard reference on the subject.

Collectible porcelain Christmas plates have been made in Denmark by Bing & Grondahl since 1895 and by Royal Copenhagen since 1908. These and their many other popular commemorative series, including Mothers' Day, Jubilee, and Childrens' Day plates, have been cherished by generations of people all over the world.

This wonderful new resource, featuring more than 525 color photos of over 1,500 dolls, traces the history of commercially made miniature and dollhouse-size dolls – families, household help, community professionals, nationally costumed, and storybook characters.

Master furniture craftsman Craig Vandall Stevens takes you from novice to advanced woodworker with this illustrated guide to marquetry, a technique where different colors of wood veneers are carefully cut to fit precisely together, forming a single sheet of veneer. Explore your creative potential and learn the essential elements of marquetry: ...

For the first time, a book has been written that explains all the tools and techniques necessary for successfully building models with brass. The detailed text is illustrated with over 320 color photos.

Sarah Coventry became a household word by selling beautiful, inexpensive, costume jewelry direct to the consumer and remained in fashion for more than 60 years. This in-depth look at the history of their designs contains more than 1,000 color images and engaging text.

The history of quilts, their makers, and usage is an important part of our country's heritage presented here in full detail through 330 vintage photographs. Books on quilt history have, to date, included only a few photos of quilts. This in-depth collection, most of which has never been seen before, date from 1855 to 1955.

Learn how to make two types of Japanese knives: a tanto (dagger) and a hocho (chef's knife) following traditional techniques. With step-by-step images and clear instructions, this how-to guide covers acquiring iron ore, building and using a bloomery furnace, forging the blades, fitting the blades with handles, and sharpening the blades with water stones.

This do-it-yourself book for stylish handbags features 25 projects with more than 500 illustrations. Sewers of all skill levels will gather the information they need to create many kinds of bags, from casual to romantic, as well as ideas for jazzing up your old bags. Handbag styles include clutches, totes, makeup cases, and a roll-up pencil case.

From basic leatherworking techniques to the professional-level tips you need to make your project its best, this how-to book will walk you through the steps to produce two top-quality welted sheath designs: a welted sheath with attached belt loop, and one with belt clip and protective strap.

With 142 photos and these short, step-by-step lessons from a master Chinese calligrapher, you can enjoy the basics of the beautiful characters of Chinese. Begin by learning the history and traditions of this art form, and the techniques of using the "four treasures": the brush and other basic tools. Learn the correct body position, and how to hold the brush.

With easy-to-follow guidance and more than 175 photos, this book helps mosaic artists meet the challenge of creating 3-D substrates. It explains various approaches to issues ranging from reaching the needed levels of density and strength to applying tesserae to coils, twists, and spheres.

Nearly 500 photos of artwork with personal insights from 78 of today's most noteworthy artists show the tremendously broad range of possibilities that working in three dimensions can offer. In conjunction with the other two books in this acclaimed series, it invites readers to re-examine fiber art through a multifaceted contemporary lens.

There is much discussion among artisans when it comes to improving the cutting behavior of tools quickly and permanently, but the debate is settled here, where expert engineers and master craftsmen prove the benefits of sharpening blades and tools using methods based on time-tested Japanese water stone grinding techniques.