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Review – MiniEco

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MiniEco: A Craft Book by Kate Lilley is so much fun! Kate's blog, also named MiniEco, is consistently filled with fantastic craft projects and ideas and the aesthetic is so bright and colorful. The book is no different, the projects are extremely fun and varied. I love how many different types of crafts this book encompasses, some are more simple little ideas while others are more in depth with patterns. Each project's skill level is rated with stars to show the difficulty. The fuse bead projects in this book are what made me go and buy a huge tub of them, I really ... Read More

Darby Smart Alcohol Ink Coasters

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I reviewed the December Darby Smart To DIY For box and loved it. I've been lucky enough to be sent several others (that I still need to do!) When I got my February box, I forgot about all my other projects and just had to try it out! It was a coaster set using alcohol inks designed by Rachel from 52 Weeks Project. I had never used alcohol inks before but they were a lot of fun, though I have pink fingers today. I think this would be fun with older kids, but I knew Evie was too young, so I waited until she was asleep. Darby Smart always impresses me with the ... Read More

Book Review – Modern Baby Crochet

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I came across Stacey Trock's book Modern Baby Crochet: Patterns for Decorating, Playing, and Snuggling right after Mira was born and I was immediately interested in checking it out. So I was thrilled when I had the opportunity to review it. Stacey is the designer behind Fresh Stitches, so while I was familiar with her amigarumi animals, I was really excited to see her take on baby crochet items. I was looking for patterns for baby items for Mira and I felt like I kept coming across the same things, Stacey's book offers a lot of fresh new alternatives. While the book ... Read More

Book Review – Hand Embroidered Haven

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I received a copy of The Hand Embroidered Haven by Megan Frock to review, and I fell in love. One of the first things I look at in any craft book is the tutorial section. I want to see how they've illustrated how to do stitches or any other special skills necessary. To me, this is one of the most important parts of a craft book, great patterns and designs mean nothing if you can't teach the reader how to do them. Megan Frock's basic stitches and techniques section is spot on, it is illustrated really well and is very clear and concise. The book covers hand ... Read More

Review – Craft-a-Day

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Quirk Books is a publishing company that prides themselves on giving more unique books a chance. (They have a book on crafting with cat hair!) I loved their book Pom-Poms! 25 Awesomely Fluffy Projects so I was excited to get the opportunity to review another title, Craft-a-Day: 365 Simple Handmade Projects by Sarah Goldschadt. This book features 365 different projects, each small enough that you could easily make it in a day. Each week is given a theme and there are a series of crafts in that theme. I love this because it makes this the perfect book to do with ... Read More

Review – S is for Stitch

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S is for Stitch review at Hugs are Fun

I was really excited to review S is for Stitch by Kristyne Czepuryk. I love monograms, so the idea of a whole book of alphabet embroidery patterns definitely appealed to me, and it didn't disappoint. The patterns in this book are adorable and a great collection to make some beautiful keepsake pieces! The book has a fantastic collection of information about getting started with embroidery. The photos and information are great and will make any beginner feel comfortable jumping into embroidery. It's very detailed and there are a lot of good tips, even if you're a more ... Read More

Review – My Crochet Doll

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I was really excited to review My Crochet Doll by Isabelle Kessedjian, the adorable cover was enough to catch my eye. This book serves one purpose, to give you a fantastic doll pattern and then all the tools you need to personalize her and make her your own. In the introduction Isabelle talks about her childhood and the quest to find the doll that was especially for her. This book provides everyone with the opportunity to do that, and does a great job of it too. The book feels so personal, I can tell that Isabelle put a lot of herself into making it. The beginning ... Read More

Christmas Update and Book Review List

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I've been a slacker lately. Well, with the blog at least. On the non-internet side if things, I've been extremely busy. I'm almost done with all the Christmas gifts I wanted to make (plus I keep adding more projects to the mix!) Also, Evie was sick last week and now that she's finally on the mend, Mira seems to have gotten it. Never a dull moment around here... After Christmas there will be a whole slew of blog posts showing off all the different presents and projects we've been working on over here, but there's still a week before that happens! So in the mean time ... Read More