This is cool, as part of the new Repro Depot stuff for Chronicle Books they are releasing two different surface pattern books with a CD containing patterns you can use to make your own stationery, crafts and anything you can think of. They have Folk and Flora, both with a foreword from Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge. The collection also includes stationary, notecards and a journal.

Yay, Amy Karol's second book, Bend the Rules with Fabric, is officially out. I have a copy and I really like it.

The book talks about all the things you can do to decorate and personalize fabric for purposes of clothing, accessories and toys. The beginning of the book talks about supplies and techniques, and I was especially pleased to find that none of them require you to buy a huge amount of expensive equipment.

She covers things from dying fabric to printing on fabric using your home computer printer. One of my favorites is using freezer paper to put silk screen like effects on fabric. I like these sheets:

The book is full of simple but stunning ideas for decorating everyday things including undies:

and shoes:

and some simple stitching to make a plain shirt into something that looks very nice indeed:

I've focused on the projects that appeal immediately to me, but the book is full of projects for kids and ones you can do with kids, including transferring drawn images onto clothing and making custom printed dolls.

Amy Karol's blog is Angry Chicken where she documents life and gives instruction all sorts of great projects. Her first book, Bend-the-Rules Sewing, is equally as awesome. I talk about more here.

I'm happy to let you all know that Kristen Rask (she who owns Schmancy and curates the annual Plush You! show) has a new book (it's a kit too) coming out in mid-September called Creature Crochet. To celebrate she is giving away a copy to one lucky reader. I got a look at the copy she brought to the summer UCU but, sadly, wasn't able to rip it own and play with the yarn inside.

To enter simply leave a comment with this post. If you want you can tell us the creature-centric crochet project you've ever taken on, or if you've never crocheted in your life. The Fine Print applies. I'll be closing comments and letting the random number generator choose a winner around 10 am on Wednesday, Sept. 2nd, PST, so you've got a week to enter, good luck!