While a potter shaping clay on the wheel is both the iconic and familiar image we associate with ceramics, the skill is notoriously hard to learn. Using step-by-step photos and illustrations, Rebecca Proctor shows you how to master the potter’s wheel.

With an emphasis on craftsmanship, Throwing Clay demonstrates the specific techniques required to make a range of elegant modern tableware – mugs, jugs and plates as well as vases and more complex forms such as teapots. In addition, Proctor shares her insights on the art and practice of pottery and conducts interviews with other contemporary makers from around the world.

Including a combination of projects and gorgeous inspirational photographs, Throwing Clay is the ultimate guide for complete beginners and advanced ceramicists alike.

Drawing helps you see. The more you draw, the more you look, and the more your world opens up.

Many of us feel we can’t draw even though as children we drew unselfconsciously. Artist Sam Marshall believes we are all inherently creative and through her book she invites you into a welcoming workshop where you will develop techniques to help you maintain a regular drawing practice. This is not a ‘how to draw’ book but an encouraging project guide that will support you to sketch and be creative in your own way.

The book starts with a series of warm-up exercises and then leads into a set of challenges divided into chapters that increase in complexity from drawing at home and in green spaces to drawing from paintings. It concludes with a series of more advanced exercises including collage as a means of drawing and working on larger imaginative pieces.

Sam suggests the use of a variety of materials including coloured pencils, felt tips, inks and marker pens. For each exercise she presents her own drawings and observations as well as those from a select group of her students to show that everyone’s mark making is unique.

This is an inspirational guide that will change the way you think and feel about drawing. It will help you to discover the joy of drawing in a sketchbook as a way of looking, reflecting and relaxing.

In this attractive project-led book, artist Becky Paton imparts the secrets she has learned about making mosaics across two decades. Through these step-by-step projects – including mirrors, coasters, wreaths and disco balls – you too can master the art of mosaic design, working with ceramic and glass tiles, fossils, glitter and other materials, and setting pieces using grout, concrete and resin. An advanced section on portraiture then helps you to perfect eyes, mouths and skin tones, and special advice is given on working with schools and communities.

Whether you aspire to a large wall-mounted piece or just fancy adding a few sparkly highlights to your garden, this is the perfect guide to all things mosaic!

Being a green potter is not an easy feat. Historically, a lot more attention is given to the finished pieces coming out of the kiln rather than to the damages made throughout the designing and making processes. However, as we progress into the twenty first century, and our awareness of our impact on the environment increases, caring for our planet in the studio has never been more important.

In this book, Kevin Millward explores how potters and ceramicists can be more responsible in sourcing and using the planet’s finite resources. With tips for the whole making process such as firing, choosing fuels, extracting clays and raw materials, reclaiming water and glazes, disposing of ceramic materials, packing and shipping, this is a comprehensive guide to producing extraordinary pieces.

By accepting and embracing a green approach in ceramic processes, we are setting out an example for future generations and paving the way for a more creative and respectful industry.

Discover the haunted side of stitching with Meg Black. Bewitch your home with patterns inspired by gothic art, Halloween curiosities, haunted holidays and witchy oddities.

Featuring 25 projects for all abilities, new and seasoned stitchers are welcome here.

– Stitch your own spooky abode, or ghosts and ghouls to adorn your walls.
– Create a garden of carnivorous plants, or a vintage Halloween carnival.
– Bring haunted twists to Halloween and your favorite holidays with a gingerdead house at Creepmas and skeleton bunnies for Easterween.

With everything you need on how to get started – key material lists, easy-to-follow charts and all of Meg’s stitching tricks – this grimoire is your essential stitchcraft companion.

These modern step-by-step projects draw inspiration from the artisans working in traditional block print workshops around Jaipur. From simple motifs to intricate patterns – and from tablecloths and tote bags to air-dry clay and gift wrapping – the instructions can be followed both by beginners and experienced crafters.

Colourful photographic sections are woven into the text, providing details of the authors’ visits to block carvers, printers and dyers in the Jaipuri villages of Sanganer and Bagru, and how what they learn can be applied to your own designs.

You will find out how Indian block printing is more than just an art form. It’s a conscious and creative way of living.

Quilling is the enjoyable art of curling strips of coloured paper and glueing them on-edge to create decorative designs. If you’re new to the craft, these season-themed tutorials will teach you the basics and help you refine your skills. Inspired by nature, wildlife, weather and more, the designs and advice will help you become confident in basic quilling techniques, with each season containing one quick and easy project, two intermediate options, and one longer and more involved piece.

The designs can be applied to cards, gift tags, magnets, hanging decorations, in shadow box frames and more, so gather up your paper strips and glue and use this guide to explore the colourful art of quilling.

Needle felting is an increasingly popular craft because it can be used to create almost anything! This book has everything you need to know to make your very own three-dimensional needle felted sculptures. After learning about the different types of wools, materials and tools needed, discover how to ‘jab’ fibres into basic shapes and build your own armatures from wire. Whilst they make wonderful display pieces, some projects can become wearable as brooches – all of which is explored in the book.

Featuring 10 step-by-step projects to get you started, ranging from toadstools and teacups to puffins and mice, learn how to create your very own sculptures. Wool Sculpting is enriching and aspirational as well as being eminently practical. Get your needle out and start sculpting your own miniature works of art!

This practical guide offers a wide range of skills including monoprinting, block-printing, linoprinting, collagraph, drypoint etching and eco printing. Each printmaking method is explained with clear step-by-step instructions and illustrations and is accompanied by simple projects that are a natural progression from the print techniques learned.

These activities can be carried out at home without the need for costly or complicated tools and equipment, and include ways of using materials that are easily accessible. Using objects such as bottle tops and kitchen utensils, you’ll learn how to create unique designs suitable for printing onto gift tags, fabric and more. The book is suitable for beginners and will also inspire and renew the interest of the more experienced printmaker in these versatile artforms and the multitude of applications that they can be used for.