Book Review: Me A Compendium by Wee Society

An adorable journal that is meant for creative little minds. This book was a perfect gift for my son. He is super creative and artistic and he really enjoyed the drawings in this fun book. My son really enjoyed the removable cover that had hidden things to write about. I would highly recommend this book for children because it encourages them to fill in the pictures using their imagination.

G ~ Rating Fun For All Ages
FTC ~ I received this book from Blogging for books. I received no compensation for this honest review.

Amazon

Me A Compendium by Wee Society

"Inventive, hilarious and joyously colorful, this fill-in journal was designed to help kids capture nearly everything that’s uniquely rad about them. With design-savvy, yet completely kid-friendly illustrations, they’re asked to draw or write about a bunch of interesting things — like what their hair looks like, what their band name would be, what they’d bring to outer space, and how they feel about lightning, lizards and pickles. There may or may not be a place for super-secret stuff inside the book jacket. Whether kids complete their entire compendium on a rainy day, or finish it over a year, it’ll become a treasure to look back on and smile".

Book Review: OWLS OUR MOST CHARMING BIRD by Matt Sewell

This book is a beautifully illustrated mini guide to owls. Every two pages features a funny little fact section while the second page has an illustrated picture of the owl mentioned. My favorite in this adorable little book was the burrowing owl of the America’s. The illustration of this bird is hilariously fitting to its bio. I enjoyed this adorable book. I think it would make a great coffee table book or a nice gift for an owl lover.

G – Rating, fun for all ages

FTC – This book was sent to me by Blogging for Books for review.
Amazon: OWLS OUR MOST CHARMING BIRD by Matt Sewell

Book Review: ADVENTURE TIME CRAFTS by Cartoon Network

This craft book is by far the cutest kids craft book I have ever read. My children are big fans of Adventure Time on Cartoon Network and they squealed with delight when they saw all of the fun crafts to do. This crafty book has everything from adorable finger puppets all the way to a Princess Bubblegum themed sweater. These adorable little crafts are sure to entertain your little craft fanatics for days. 

A M A Z O N ~  Adventure Time Crafts: Flippin' Adorable Stuff to Make From the Land of Ooo
G-Rating fun for the whole family
FTC- I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review, I received no compensation for this review.

More Info and Author Bio
~L I Z Z I E~

Mailbox Monday: Georgia Bragg

How They Croaked by Georgia Bragg
"Over the course of history men and women have lived and died. In fact, getting sick and dying can be a big, ugly mess-especially before the modern medical care that we all enjoy today. How They Croaked relays all the gory details of how nineteen world figures gave up the ghost. For example:

It is believed that Henry VIII's remains exploded within his coffin while lying in state.
Doctors "treated" George Washington by draining almost 80 ounces of blood before he finally kicked the bucket.
Right before Beethoven wrote his last notes, doctors drilled a hole in his stomach without any pain medication.
Readers will be interested well past the final curtain, and feel lucky to live in a world with painkillers, X-rays, soap, and 911".

Adventure Time Crafts: Flippin' Adorable Stuff to Make from the Land of Ooo by Cartoon Network
"Adventure Time is more than just a cartoon and video game sensation-it's also a crafts phenomenon, which this first official project book brings home for creative, totally obsessed fans.

Fans of Cartoon Network's #1 show are gonna go nuts for these DIY projects featuring the strange, yet lovable characters of Adventure Time as you've never seen them before-stitched, stuffed, bedazzled, and even crocheted. For the first time, this licensed book brings together 20 projects to make at home, including Finn's iconic hat as well as jewelry, toys, home decor, costumes, and accessories. The projects are beginner-friendly, with a few challenges thrown in, and the book is chock-full of favorite characters and inside jokes from the show that fans will love. Algebraic"! 

~Lizzie~

Book Review: LITTLE BOOK OF BOOK MAKING by Charlotte Rivers

This is a cool little book it is a creative trigger for artists alike. From the anatomy of a book with folded and sewn bindings all the way to artists in Egypt, Brazil, Canada and even in my neck of the woods artist Monica Holtsclaw in Beaverton Oregon. This book is filled with artistic examples of page and covering treatments, which featured another local artist Scantron Press in Portland Oregon.  Experimental packaging art from Lime Rot in Seattle Washington and Hinged Strung Stitched in Portland Oregon.  I was told a long time ago once that Portland and Seattle are home to some of the most creative artists in the country making the two cities a hub for artistic minds. Now I can really see it thanks to this lovely little book. 

Not just a gallery of beautiful works of books this book also will teach you how to make your own books from the beginning. With sections covering tools, materials, how to make an instant, accordion, flag, dragon, carousel, secret message books and it does not stop there it goes on to cover a pamphlet, long, Japanese stab, Coptic, French link stitch, case binding, suminaga’s shi paper marbling, paste papers, frottage, natural plant dyeing, book cloth, woven covers, fabric covers, and pillow books. With a wealth of information this book will give any aspiring artist the knowledge to reach all of their creative dreams.

4/5 Loved this book with its beautifully crafted books that are art pieces all so unique. My favorites were all the ones that used maps in the bindings and also the intricate colorful ladder stitch, and last but not least a set of books shaped like pie slices. Every one of the featured books was beautiful making it hard to narrow down a favorite. I would highly recommend this book to all creative gurus because knowledge can be an inspiration.

• FTC ~ this novel was sent to me by the publisher: Blogging for Books for review. I received no compensation for this review.  
• G-Rating
• Amazon: LITTLE BOOK OF BOOK MAKING by Charlotte Rivers

~Lizzie~

Book Review: URBAN WATERCOLOR SKETCHING by Felix Scheinberger

What an awesome little book on my favorite two subjects sketching and watercolors. I found many useful tips in this book but I really enjoyed the history of paint. It was incredible to read about where all of the beautiful colors came from and where they come from now. I was really surprised that to make purple in ancient times it was made from “the secretions of a small sea snail” and to make “3.5 ounces of dye 100,000 snails sacrificed their lives”. This purple was also the same dye the Romans used to dye their togas. Even more interesting was the color green. Green used to be made with toxic “metal oxide such as copper oxide dissolved in arsenic”, which meant that if a artist happened to lick or chew his paintbrush it would have cost them their lives. Shocking I know but I guess that is why green is always associated with poison. My favorite little fact in this whole book was that Napoleon Bonaparte’s choice of wallpaper killed him in the end because it was green; all of the wallpaper was “treated with a dye that contained arsenic”. The history of paint really surprised me I had no clue that there was so much history there and that in modern times we really take for granted the beautiful selections of paints that we have available to us today.

5/5 This is a really neat book. It is really pleasing to the eye with all the unusual ink and watercolor artwork. I liked the art because it was different and it kind of reminded me of one of my own styles that I like to use. I also discovered that this book gave me a confidence boost and I realize now that it is okay to have an unusual style because it is mine and I should just let go more and let the paint do what it does. I would highly recommend this book to watercolor artist because it made me want to be my unusual self because being different has it advantages when it comes to art.

G-rating for all readers alike

FTC-this novel was sent to me by Blogging for Books for review. I received no compensation for this review.

Amazon ~ Urban Watercolor Sketching: A Guide to Drawing, Painting, and Storytelling in Color by Felix Scheinberger
For more on this book:
Urban Watercolor Sketching Press Release, More Info, Author Bio~Lizzie~

Book Review: THE NEW COLORED PENCIL by Kristy Ann Kutch

What a wealth of colored pencil knowledge. This small book is more like a college art class just on colored pencils. As many of you know colored pencils and watercolor pencils are my favorite art medium. I have struggled with the more technical aspects of using colored pencils and I think this book really will help me in the future. After reading this book I discovered that I have been using the wrong kind of paper all this time and had no idea that my choice of paper affected my pieces so much. With in this book there are numerous colored pencil tips that really will help me and I cannot wait to try them all.

Here are some of the key tips that I found really useful. For my style I need to use Bristol board because it works the best for artists who layer their pieces. I would love to try using colored paper because then the background is the paper and I always struggle with how to make a decent background. I think it would also be helpful if I keep a log of the colors I use because then I will be able to easily go right back to what I started with. I am astonished I never thought of doing that until it was mentioned in this book. I would love to try the “grid method” because this book gave detailed directions on how to do a grid for making a photo into a colored pencil work. I also found that I really could benefit from investing in a battery-operated eraser which I had no idea existed until this book. I found the section on how to create delicate lines impressions very helpful because I would like to try it and had no clue how to go about it until now. By far one of the most helpful sections I found was on watercolor paper. Hot press paper verses cold press paper and it actually showed how the paper affects the watercolor pencils with pictures and all. Since I mentioned that I struggle with how to create backgrounds the section on creating muted foliage backgrounds was a real eye opener on how easy it can be to create a natural backdrop. Last but not least I really liked that at the end of the book it had a complete index of color pencil brands with a full color chart of their pencils. This would be immensely helpful if I was in the market for a new pack of pencils. It really gives you an idea of what you get for your money and can give you a jump off point of which brand would best suite your style and taste.

5/5 this book is a quick read, informative, and a perfect addition to any color pencil artist’s reference library. Small as this book was it really was a wealth of knowledge that I hope to apply to my future projects.

G~Rating for art reference.
FTC~ I received this free novel from Blogging for Books for review, I received no compensation for this review.
Amazon: THE NEW COLORED PENCIL by Kristy Ann Kutch
~Lizzie~