Lifestyle and Hobbies

Seeing fluorescent minerals up close for the first time is an exciting experience. The colors are so pure and the glow is so seemingly unnatural, that it is hard to believe they are natural rocks. Hundreds of glowing minerals are shown, including Aragonite, Celestine, Feldspar, Microcline, Picropharmacolite, Quartz, Spinel, Smithsonite, plus many more.

Hollywood movie monsters are enduring pop culture standards. Kids and adults around the world recognize Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolf Man, and the Mummy. Although monsters are Aurora’s most famous products, the company created model kits of all varieties, including historic sailing ships, sports cars, moon rockets, military and commercial aircraft, TV stars, comic book heroes, wildlife scenes, ...

This engaging book details the wide variety of model kits produced by Revell, Inc. of Venice, California, from the 1950s through the 1970s. Over 545 color photographs display many of the much sought after kits, ranging from automobiles and ships to aircraft and spaceships.

The mechanical wristwatch is a cherished treasure. This newly revised book is designed for the collector, with a historical survey, a description of how mechanical wristwatches work, and a glossary. Updated prices for various watches are included, along with a chapter on fakes, knock-offs, and hybrids.

Over 50 color photos, 80 patterns and mechanical drawings, with clear, concise, step-by-step instructions, reveal all the reader must know to successfully create twelve original whirligig projects made from wood and/or metal, including imaginative, original designs that all will enjoy. Each project has been designed, built, and tested by the author to ensure success.

Bamboo, bemoaned by many as a runaway weed, is treasured in many cultures around the world for its strength, durability, and versatility. This book illustrates ways in which any person capable of using a saw, rasp, screwdriver, and chisel can set about to create beautiful furnishings and useful accessories for the home.

When observing an especially beautiful mobile, beginning artists often think, “Wow, I want to make one 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 provides practical and encouraging step-by-step instructions for making horizontally balanced mobiles.

Mid-1930s clothing for men, women, and children are presented in 300 color photographs from the Sears catalogs. See the popular styles of dresses, suits, coats, and sleepwear; as well as hats, shoes, and undergarments. Printed and solid fabrics are shown with customary accessories and in the latest styles available.

Since its beginning in Chicago in the 1940s, Monogram's plastic model kits for cars, ships, aircraft, and spacecraft have captured the imaginations of hobbyists everywhere. The thousands of models Monogram made from 1945 to 1986 are described in detail, shown in over 300 beautiful color photos, and given their collector's value.

This retrospective brings insight into hundreds of stunning rock posters by Jim Phillips made over 40 years, from 1965 to 2005, and counting. Phillips tells his life story and how the posters record an evolution of Rock Age music. Containing iconic images that advertise concerts featuring both emerging and established musicians, this collection will delight and astound you.

Mid-1930s clothing for men, women, and children are presented in 300 color photographs from the Sears catalogs. See the popular styles of dresses, suits, coats, and sleepwear; as well as hats, shoes, and undergarments. Printed and solid fabrics are shown with customary accessories and in the latest styles available.

Finally, a comprehensive guide to constructing of beautiful wood strip rowing crafts. This style of construction is renowned for producing sophisticated hull shapes. Construction techniques can be mastered by the hobby builder. Over 835 clear color photos and detailed text take the reader through every step required to create two different, elegant boats for both sport fishing and sculling.

Sterling Silver jewelry and tableware that was sold at the Jensen store in New York City included designs by American craftsmen, especially William De Matteo and Alphonse La Paglia, in the late 1940s. This is the story of these two silversmiths work and its impact on fancy goods of the mid-20th century period.

This guide is a dazzling showcase of this uniquely American art form. The pages are filled with tips, techniques, and insights that both educate and demonstrate the steps to creating authentic and beautiful scrimshaw. An examination of ivory includes a wide range of alternative natural and man-made ivory substitutes, including bone, horn, and nuts.

This comprehensive and detailed reference guide to Rolex sports model watches is an indispensable asset to watch collectors and dealers. The only work of its kind, it covers the history of the Submariner, Sea-Dweller, Explorer, GMT-Master, Turn-O-Graph, Milgauss, and Cosmograph watches, from 1952 to 1990.

Learn the proper techniques in creating and applying a tattoo stencil through an illustrated step-by-step guide. A gallery of original illustrations created by the authors for their clients, displays the new direction of skin art from an artist's perspective.

This is the first comprehensive book written on the uses of InLace resin inlay for gourd artists and wood turners. Chapters present carving techniques in gourds, mixing resin, insetting, sanding, and polishing. Step-by-step directions that can be applied to any gourd and five projects from contributing artists are include, as well as three original designs for the crafter's use.

Ride back in time on the colorful New York City subway line of the 1970s to 1990s; the graffiti years, when subway cars became rolling metal canvases for some of the most notorious and influential graffiti “writers” of all time.

This exquisite volume presents the best vintage exotic skin handbags by the most renowned designers of the past century and a half. Intended particularly for fashionable women, design students, collectors, dealers, and clothing historians, it outlines the fascinating history of alligator and crocodile handbags, the ultimate status symbol since the 19th century.

In this book Ernst G. Siebeneicher-Hellwig and Jürgen Rosinski show the simplest and least expensive ways to construct a simple forge, make all necessary tools yourself, forge a stub tang blade from an old automobile coil spring, and make a complete knife. Their practical guide demonstrates the most important theoretical basics and shows how simple it can be to experience bladesmithing.