Lark Crafts

Wow —- “creatively enrich your life . . .”  That is one pretty tall order, but I truly believe it is not empty hype. As announced here, Journal Your Way is Lark’s new-in-paper edition of a previous volume in the Live & Learn series.

This new publication by Gwen Diehn shows how to design and construct a blank book that will fulfill your personal vision of a handmade journal, and in so doing, will inspire you to fill those pages with honest and intimate thoughts, warm memories, meaningful memorabilia, funny sketches, doodles, and creative drawings. In this way, journaling becomes a personal adventure that you can’t wait to begin and continue.

 

 

And while I’m talking about the adventure of journaling, let me offer to expand the experience—at a cost you’re going to like. Lark is presenting the chance to win not one, but THREE books that will enhance your journaling insight and bookmaking abilities.

In addition to Journal Your Way, one lucky reader will also win a copy of The Complete Decorated Journal (also by Gwen Diehn) and Journal It! by Jenny Doh. That’s one winner; three books—a trifecta!

 

 

 

 

Here’s how to enter for a chance to win all three books: leave a one-sentence journal entry in the comments to this blog post. For instance, my comment might be something like, “Today I wrote a terrific blog article on the Lark Crafts website that I hope will generate a high number of responses.” Leave your comment/entry by 11:59 EST on Sunday, September 22nd. One winner will be selected at random from among all eligible entries and contacted Monday, September 23rd.

The lucky winner of the three journaling books, selected by random drawing, is Meredith Helgeson. Congratulations, Meredith!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Complete Decorated Journal is an outstanding source for ideas and techniques to produce bindings and layouts as well as unique-looking pages, while Journal It! includes a number of mixed-media embellishments for creating your journal. Together, along with Journal Your Way, these three volumes present a master class about creative bookmaking and self-expression through journaling.

Good luck and happy journaling!

Have you ever wondered about contemporary jewelry? What is it? How did it come into existence? How did it evolve across the globe? What ideas does it explore now? What directions might it take in the future? Turn to Contemporary Jewelry in Perspective to examine these issues and to admire hundreds of photos of striking jewelry made anywhere from 1900 to just last year.

 

A must-read for jewelers, collectors, teachers and students, the book is divided into three sections. Part 1 scrutinizes the places you might encounter contemporary jewelry—on the page, perhaps, or at the jeweler’s bench, or displayed in various environments, or worn on the body.

Numerous short essays in this section delve deep. There are different types of pages, for example. The contents of a printed book is almost certainly determined by an authority of some sort, and the reader receives the information in a linear order determined by the author and the graphic designer; the web page, on the other hand, can be a more democratic forum that the user navigates in a non-linear fashion; and then there’s the magazine—how is its page different from one in a book? Display, meanwhile, can be as varied as the museum plinth, the glass-topped horizontal showcase of the jewelry shop, or a shelf. Is the jewelry presented as an anthropological artifact, or as an art object? The body is a living display for jewelry; are there places on it we might consider “wrong” for wearing jewelry? How about jewelry as performance? And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! The photos in this section showcase groundbreaking work!

 

Artists have been making contemporary jewelry for some 70 years. Part 2 relates this history in various parts of the globe, and discusses how differences in culture, society, and an area’s own history can impact the character of contemporary jewelry. It starts with a section on early twentieth-century art jewelry, then separate chapters cover Europe, North America, Latin America, Australasia, East Asia and Southern Africa to the present.

 

The essays in Part 3 introduce some broad contemporary issues for jewelers, as evidenced by their titles:

• The Jewel Game: Gems, Fascination and the Neuroscience of Visual Attention
• The Cultural Meanings of Jewelry
• The Accessorized Ape
• Body Modification from Punks to Body Hackers: About Piercings and Tattoos in Postmodern Societies
• A Touchy Affair: On Contemporary and Commercial Jewelry
• Now and Then: Thinking about the Contemporary in Art and Jewelry
• Jewelry in the Expanded Field: Between Applied Social Art and Critical Design
  
• Thinking Process: On Contemporary Jewelry and the Relational Turn
• The Political Challenge to Contemporary Jewelry
• DIY in Theory and Practice

 

 Contemporary Jewelry in Perspective was edited by Damian Skinner and produced in association with Art Jewelry Forum, a non-profit organization that advocates for  contemporary art jewelry through education, discourse, appreciation and support for the field. The contributing writers are Helen Carnac, Liesbeth den Besten, Chang Dong-kwang, Julie Ewington, Elizabeth Fischer, Mònica Gaspar, Elyse Zorn Karlin, Kelly Hays L’Ecuyer, Benjamin Lignel, Philippe Liotard, Kevin Murray, Marcia Pointon, Suzanne Ramljak, Sarah Rhodes, Valeria Vallarta Siemelink, Damian Skinner, Barbara Smith, Barbara Maria Stafford, and Namita Wiggers.

Hi, friends. Exciting news: for all of you working on crochet projects for the coming cooler months, head over to BarnesandNoble.com for a free project from Rachael Oglesby‘s Crochet Boutique. Follow the link below and discover why the Bonnie Beret just might become your favorite fall accessory. Here are some hints: it’s super cozy, super stylish, and wearable for everyday. Oh, right: it’s also totally beginner friendly!

Follow the link to download this free project: Bonnie Beret

Last week, we gave you a little peek inside Carina Envoldsen-Harris’s book, Stitched Blooms, to be released in early October. Many of you told us you can’t wait to see more!

 

We think you’ll be thrilled to learn that beginning September 16, we’re kicking off a Stitched Blooms blog tour! Twenty talented, crafty bloggers will feature Stitched Blooms on their websites, offering more previews of the book, giveaways of project PDFs, and chances to win free prizes. You’ll even be treated to an interview with Carina!

 

 

 

Starting September 16, join in the fun and check out the blogs below! And don’t forget to pre-order your copy of Stitched Blooms at BN.com today.

 

Sept. 16th – Amanda Carestio, Lark Crafts

Sept. 16th – Shannon Cook, Luv in the Mommyhood

Sept. 17th – Lynne, Lily’s Quilts

Sept. 17th – Sara Lawson, Sew Sweetness

Sept. 18th – Alicia Rosello, DMC blog

Sept. 19th – Jessica Crapo, Running with Scissors

Sept. 19th – Diane Gilleland, Crafty Pod

Sept. 20th – Mollie Johanson, Wild Olive 

Sept. 21st – Aina Crescimbeni, Casa Andersen

Sept. 21st  - Beth Wilson, Sew Mama Sew

Sept. 22nd  - Amy Proff Lyons, APL Creations

Sept. 23rd  - Jo Stafferton & Floresita, Feeling Stitchy

Sept. 23rd – Rachel Hobson, Average Jane Crafter

Sept. 24th – John Adams, Quilt Dad

Sept. 24th – Aimee Ray, Little Dear Tracks

Sept. 25th – Jenny Doh, Crescendoh

Sept. 25th – Nicole Vos van Avezathe, Follow the White Bunny

Sept. 26th – Hanna Andersson, iHanna

Sept. 26th – Abby Glassenberg, While She Naps

Sept. 27th – Susie Stubbs, Flower Press