Encyclopedic!

I guess I don't ever often think of all the various crafts I've dabbled in - and I do love my crafting...it's a nice relief from my day job, and it provides a creative way to customize my home and gifts for others. I recently received this book:

It's an extremely solid and heavy tome, beautifully produced and just over 400 pages in length. While it covers 32 different types of crafts, this particular volume does not touch on any of the needle-arts, nor does it touch on various other crafts including stained glass, weaving, or pottery amongst others. Here's a snapshot of the table of contents (sorry, my scanner has taken to being temperamental so I had to try to make do with my camera).

Surprisingly (to me, anyhow) I've actually experimented with a bunch of these craft techniques - though I can't say that I've ever had a resource for all of them in once place. Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts is a photo-rich resource for ideas on various crafts if you're looking to do a little organizing, decorating or embellishing, or if you are looking for possible handmade gift ideas. Each section includes basic information about supplies required and several projects along with basic instructions and plenty of photos.

At the end of the book is a list (complete with photos) of commonly called for tools and materials, each with a brief description of what they are used for. This section is followed with a couple pages on seven must-learn basic techniques including: box wrapping, tying a bow, using a bone folder, making a deckle edge, using a screw punch, brushing on glue and cutting with a craft knife. The book is finished with several pages of templates (each referenced back to the project and page number in the book that they are used on) as well as some recommended sources for craft supplies.

While this book is not quite all-inclusive by way of all the crafts out there, it is very well put together. It brought back fond memories while I browsed the contents, and certainly has given me ideas for plenty of things to try out in the future. If I could just find the time ;)