I’ve always been into arts and crafts, but I didn’t get seriously into it until I was pregnant and was left in an apartment with nothing to do and big ol craft closet just waiting to be torn apart. That’s around the time that I purchased my very first crafting book, Big Ass Book of Crafts by Mark Montano. After I realized all of the wonderful things I can do, my imagination went crazy.
Being a devout follower of A Beautiful Mess, I saw that Elsie and Emma, who run the site, have come out with a new book.
This got me thinking about all the other cool arts and crafts book that are out there, that I have just totally missed the boat on. Here are some of my favorites.
Mason Jar Crafts from Lauren Elise Donaldson – The only thing that I love more than finding a good book is finding a wonderful blog that is attached to it. Luckily, Lauren has come through with two blogs that are equally amazing. She has Lauren Elise Crafted, where she shares her crafts and love for design and styling. Her other blog, Cottage Journal, is more writings and photography about her home life.
State of Craft by Victoria Woodcock – This book is handled by Cicada Publishing, a publishing company that handles art, design and craft books. They also published the book You’re Awesome: 21 Crafts to Make You Happy by Abbey Hendrickson, which looks like an awesome read.
The last two books are from the Design*Sponge 2011 gift guide. Obviously, I’m a little behind in this craft book craze.
Paper + Craft by Minhee and Truman Cho – Minhee and Truman Cho are the creative minds behind Paper+Cup, and also co-wrote this awesome craft book. They are a stationary and design studio that was based in New York, but they recently moved to Paris and share all their inspiration in their online sketchbook. If you haven’t checked them out yet, you definitely should.
Print Workshop by Christine Schmidt – Christine Schmidt also runs Yellow Owl Workshop, her brand that sells eco-friendly handmade goods, including greeting cards and stamps. She also offers a kit for carving your own stamps and she sells stamp sets that say “from the garden,” which I’m pretty sure I need. I think this site might get me in some trouble.
So, I’m feeling pretty good about this list of books. I would buy each and every one of these books, and chances are, I probably will sometime in the near future. If you know of any cool craft books that you feel need some attention, share them in the comments and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #craftbooks.