OMG! We are in an Actual Book

So, spoiler alert in the title there. This month the newest addition to the Mollie Makes book library is published and we were invited to create two exclusive projects to be featured. Alongside, some of our industry buddies we have two projects featured in Mollie Makes - How to Sew.  Goals right there people, goals!

Let's meet: Zeena Shah

Well hello there everyone, we have a treat in store for you today with our Let's meet feature.  We have been catching up with the very lovely Zeena Shah at events and markets for a while now and finally managed to pin her down for a chat.  She is one busy woman and so we are super happy she gave us a little insight into what she is up to and loving at the moment. So, over to Zeena ...

Makers Month: Rag Rug letters with Ragged Life

Continuing with our Makers Month, we have a you tube treat for you today by the lovely Elsie from Ragged Life. We have known Elsie for a while and have had the pleasure of taking one of her classes, which was very fun indeed.  She made this tutorial to help promote her book, more on that later and so we thought we would share it with you for that Friday feeling!

Review: Upcycle by Rebecca Proctor

We love a good craft book here at Live it. Love it. Make it. HQ, and this month we were given Upcycle by Rebecca Proctor to review prior to it's release on the 10th August (so not long to wait!) and so we shall tell you what we thought!

The book itself is a firm hardback with matt thick pages, which is always a great thing as far as we are concerned.  It would look great on a coffee table aswell as for making all the projects!

The projects are new and different to alot of other books and it has an emphasis on up-cycling for the home using things that you may already have or can find very simply.  Including projects for shelving, chairs and lamps.  This Copper-pipe clothing rail is right off the pages of a New York apartment magazine spread.  Makes you want to go out and buy copper-pipe right!?

All of the projects have how-to pages after the beautiful pictures of what you can make - my only worry would be could you make it look as good as they do? ha ha.  Simple steps with photographs and drawings take you through each project clearly.

The great thing about the book is that there are some industrial pieces and more homely pieces to make.  From the difficult through to the quiet simple to do.  This means that there really is a project for everyone, no one should feel that they are not able to get one of them done.

This simple pallet shelf is a great example of this and so on trend at the moment - it also helps that H has been wanting these Nesting dolls for like, ever and so it just makes the project extra cute.

These crate stools are super easy and make a boring dull crate look so lovely for maybe an outdoor party!  You could add different coloured rope and spray paint the crates perhaps?

You may recognise this last project from the current Mollie Makes (Issue 56), It's so cute and has all the templates and takes you through all of the steps to make this cushion.  Breaking it down makes these things more simple and less scary to do, which always helps.

All in all, we loved the Upcycle book, some of the unusual projects would be more at home in perhaps an office space, but that's the beauty of the book, it suits all styles somewhere in the pages.  As we mentioned the feel and the look of the book really is beautiful and so it would make a great gift to get someone's inspiration going.  With H's new place, we think she may be tackling a few new projects soon.

We have just shown a few of the projects we like here, if you have the book, what's your favourite?  and if you have tackled that star cushion let us know in the comments below how you found making it.

H & Sammy

Bloglovin / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest / Google+ / Instagram

Our top ten Craft books + blog birthday giveaway (CLOSED)

A double whammy of awesome for you today, We have curated our Top 10 Craft Books and because we are lovely and it is our blogs 4th birthday (where has the time gone) we are giving you the chance to win the lot! Stick around until the end for your chance to win and in the meantime, lets get into the Top 10.

We have a mix of slightly older titles and new ones too, one of which has only been out for a week! But it is that good we couldn't not include it in our ten.

We have two books in the top ten from the Queen of crafting magazines Mollie Makes (you know how much we love the team at Mollie) the first is Making it! The book you need if you are embarking on a career in the craft industry. Packed with great tips and seriously useful information for anyone looking to make it big in the world of crafts.

This is the super newbie we were talking about and it is also the second from the Mollie Makes team. We knew as soon as we saw it, it was going to be a winner for us.so much so that Sammy pre-ordered two copies knowing that it would be featuring in this top ten. Sammy love's the Paper book-zine that the Mollie team had published a few times in the past and she had a feeling that this was going to be all that and more. It did not disappoint. It is packed full of awesome projects using paper of all kinds. Sammy is going to love working her way through the projects in this one. 

We reviewed Craft, Show and Sell on the blog last year and it has been a go to tea-break read ever since. With it's beautiful images and useful storage and selling tips it is a great read for all kinds of crafters. 

The second book from the lovely Kate (the Makery) We have a full review of this coming soon, but spoiler, We love it. We loved the first offering from the Makery which we reviewed back in 2013 but we think we might love this one even more. We suppose because we are sewest at heart, the projects in this book are some of our favourite's.

The beautiful Makers Spaces by Emily Quinton is a must for any Top 10, crafty or otherwise. If you love interiors this book is an equally joyous read. Pages filled with gorgeous photography of makers homes from all over the world, 'Home Goals' on every page! 

We were lucky enough to be chosen to be Cut Out and Keep Superstars earlier in the year and you may have seen our review of the book that takes you on a tour around the USA with different crafty projects along the way.  We love the quirky projects in this book and Cut Out and Keep in general really, they rock!

Hoarders like us will LOVE Pretty Organised. You can tell, we hope, that we really only end up recommending books we love, because we reviewed Jane's book back in March. We loved it then and we still love it now, with loads of creative tips and again, beautiful photography, this book is a must for crafters and hoarders alike. 

1980's Bumper activity book was a book Sammy received as a birthday gift a while ago and enjoyed it so much she has since re-purchased it as gifts for so many of her friends! It's jammed with fun projects and activities that will have you reminiscing about your mis-spent youth for weeks! (even if you were born in the 90's)

One of our favourite people on the internet is the lovely Katie Allen and her book Just Sew Stories was always going to be in our top 10. Packed with achievable, cool, trendy projects. All of which you would actually want in your home/wardrobe and that you would be proud to give as a gift. 

Another of our fave people is Tilly (and the Buttons) Walnes. We kind of knew, didn't we, if you had been reading her blog for a while (like we had) when we saw her on the first season of the Sewing Bee that a book was on the cards. Her sweet personality and enviable style shines from the pages. Each project is wearable, would fit in anyone's wardrobe and as it is with her blog, her tips and techniques are great for beginners and more experienced sewers.

Now for the fun part! For your chance to win all ten of these amazing crafty books, all you have to do is comment on this post below telling us your favourite craft book that is NOT on our list. Don't forget to include an email address, twitter or Instagram account so we can contact you if you win.  

(CLOSED)

The Giveaway is open until Midnight (UK BST) on Friday the 3rd of July and the winners will be announced and contacted shortly after this.

H & Sammy

T&C's:

Your name will only be counted once, but please do feel free to comment as much as you like.

You don't need a gmail account to comment. Just go to the drop down box below the comment section and you can post as your name or anonymous (just remember to put your contact details in the comment box).

Only replies on the blog to this post will count.

The winners name will be chosen at random.

All ten books will be posted to the recipient after the closing date.

The competition is open to everyone, in the UK and Worldwide! yey. 

Disclaimer: These books have all been purchased by ourselves, with the exclusion of the Cut Out and Keep book, which was sent to us for consideration. We fell in love with it and had a spare copy which we have chosen to give away as part of this competition.


Bloglovin / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest / Google+ / Instagram

Cut Out & Keep Crafty Superstar + book review

We have something a little different for you this Monday.  We have been working in collaboration with the US website Cut out & Keep and will be their Crafty Superstar for this week.  This basically means we have a tutorial a day going up on the site for the next 7 days! exciting.  We can't wait to see what the Cut out & Keep readers think!

and talking about Cut out & Keep, they also have a book out this week, Around the USA in 50 Craft Projects.  We were lucky enough to be sent a copy and so we could have a little look-see before it came out.

There is a great Index section which pulls out all the areas of the USA and where the projects are from.  Obviously for us UK folk it is all very different to some of the projects we would get here, but that's what makes it fun, right!

The paper used for the book is like alot of the craft books around, that nice thick matt paper, which unfortunately seems to have dulled some of the pictures, but I love the feel of this paper, so that's a good start.  

The projects are quirky and fun and are all quite simple to make, which is always nice.  They go from food recipes, to craft items and present ideas.  Mostly they have these round pictures that take you through the steps which is a nice touch.

The whole book is quite thick and has so many different projects that there is bound to be something for everyone.  I really like the shopping list style tags for each project, it's the simple ideas that make books different.

A few of my favourite projects are the Cowboy hat bowls for Mexican food, Neon sign chalkboard and movie night ideas to name but a few.  I think some of the projects would definitely work better for the USA audience, but really that is the where these guys are from, so that's not a bad thing.

It's a really fun book and so great for a present idea for some very different projects which are simple to do.  Plus if your having a party, some of those recipes are just that little bit different from the norm and so would make for great party pieces.

Don't forget to check out the Cut Out & Keep website this week too for our Crafty Superstar projects.

H

Bloglovin / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest / Google+ / Instagram

Makers Month Giveaway! (CLOSED)

Hey all, by now all the excitement of our Makers Month has been and gone :(  But we have been able to feature some amazing British Designer/Makers and some other cool brands along the way. We thought, what better way to round off the month than with a Giveaway. You could win all of this...

The Learn to Sew with Lauren Book - from our post on the 3rd September

 Charlotte Skirt Pattern from By Hand London - from our post on the 19th September

Fat Quarters from Dashwood Studios (Cable Cozy tutorial)

 and Liberty (Elbow Patches tutorial)

 Cloud Brooch by TigerLilly Quinn

All you need to do is tell us your favourite British Designer/Maker in the comments below and all this could be yours!

Don't forget to leave your email address in the comment and we can contact you if you are our winner!

Competition closes at midnight (UK time) on Friday 10th October and is open Internationally, so everyone can benefit from our best of British selection.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

Lots of Love
H and Sammy xxx

 Live, Love, Make, Like, Share, Follow, Tweet, Pin, Add, Enjoy. 

Bloglovin / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest / Google+ / Instagram

Makers Month: Learn to Sew with Lauren

If you remember back to the first season of The Sewing Bee you will have fond memories of runner-up and our favourite finalist Lauren. As well as running her gorgeous shop Guthri & Ghani in Birmingham she has gone and joined the world of crafting gurus and written a book. So you can imagine when we were asked to review 'Learn to Sew with Lauren' we jumped at the chance.

Sammy: The images are lovely, I thought it was a shame we didn't see more of Lauren as the book goes on but the photographs are beautifully styled. I also loved the illustrations in the tutorials as it takes you through the steps of each project. 

H: I love the full sized patterns, nothing more frustrating than having to go and get patterns scaled up at the copy shop before you start a project. The basic tutorials at the front of the book help you to learn how to use them and has some great tips for using regular dress patterns too.

Sammy: The amount of books that don't give detailed instructions of what you will need to create their projects always surprises me, so I was happy to see that Lauren's gave great details of how much fabric to buy as well as all the notions needed for each project and tips for which techniques would be best to practice before hand. Genius!

H: There is a nice mix of household and clothes projects, so gives a good variety of things to make for yourself or to give as gifts.

Sammy: I enjoyed the 'Other Variation Ideas' at the end of each project giving you inspiration to make the projects over and over.

H: There are some good techniques at the front of the book, then onto some lovely projects.  It is nice that it gives you a great starting point with simpler projects and then moving onto ones that get more challenging as the book goes on.

H: I also loved the 'tips for practising' that Sammy mentioned, I thought it was a great way to encourage people to try out the techniques you need to perfect before diving straight into the main project. I often think that that is where people who are new to sewing fall down and get frustrated because they try to attempt projects before practising the techniques needed.

Sammy: I loved that the projects, even the simple ones, used techniques that are practical and could be used to further your sewing education. The shapes and styles are classic so will stand the test of time.

Over all we really enjoyed Lauren's take on learning to sew, her projects are classic but with the lovely 'Lauren' twist that we got a glimpse of on the Sewing Bee. We both found the book quite wordy. It is a sit down and plan book, rather than a flick though and pick a project book. That is what we both liked about it though. A lot of sewing books skip past the technique and never refer back to them, Lauren encourages you to practice the basic steps you will need before diving right in.  The styling and layout of the book is attractive, the patterns are great quality and stored neatly in plastic folders in the front and back of the book.

Over all if you are looking to pick up something for a Sewing Bee fan or are a sewing newbie yourself, Lauren's book is a perfect choice.

You can get a real incite into what it was like for Lauren writing the book on her blog over at the Guthrie and Ghani site. And if you are in the area on Saturday and fancy picking up a signed copy head over to Lauren's site to find out more about her launch party at her shop Guthrie and Ghani.

Have you bought Lauren's book? What do you think of it? Let us know in the comments below.

H and Sammy xxx

 Live, Love, Make, Like, Share, Follow, Tweet, Pin, Add, Enjoy. 

Bloglovin / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest / Google+ 

Book Review: Fun with fabric by Jane Foster

Wow-we just take a look at this book!  It's so pretty!

I got this book way back when for my birthday and I have been meaning to write a review for soooo long for you guys.  It was definitely on my wish list of books to own and I really really like it and so that's always nice.

Firstly, it came with a great printed Tea towel, which you can of course use for it's natural purpose or there are plenty of tutorials inside for you to use the fabric for.  So either way, you are onto a winner.

The book cover itself is really thick card and has lovely quality paper for its pages and I love the fact that it is square instead of the usual shape book.  That sounds crazy I suspect, but I do like a good bit of unusual design.

Throughout the book, Jane talks about her love of Vintage and Retro which is right up my street.

There are plenty of Tutorials throughout the book, with hand drawn step-by-steps and beautifully shot pictures.  The tutorials are fun and original and a few of my favourites include the Wall tidy and Seat Covers.

The book is split into two parts, the first part gives you tutorials on using vintage and retro fabric and then part two gives you ideas on printing your own fabric and what to use it for.

Throughout the book, Jane also talks about what fabrics and designs she likes and how to source vintage fabric for your own projects.

I love that the tutorials start with 'here's how' which shows you in the second part how to print your own fabric and then what to do with it once printed. We all must know by now I love printing and so this is all so right up my street it's untrue.

Right at the back you have the templates for the projects in the book, should you need them of course.  It's always good for you to be able to use some of the images you see in the book, especially if you are not so great at drawing yourself.

So all in all, I think this is a lovely book to get you started on a few projects and just stare at the beautiful pages.  It has great design and a lovely feel to it and was a great present to receive - thanks Stef.

Jane also just recently managed to win the Established Business Award at the Mollie Makes Handmade awards - so well done Jane!

Do you have this book, what did you think?  Any books we should check out?  We always love to know what you are reading or what you like.

H

 Live, Love, Make, Like, Share, Follow, Tweet, Pin, Add, Enjoy. 

Bloglovin / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest / Google+