(Part 2) Top products from r/crafts

You can find books and videos on working with wire to make fancy links or simple jump rings to make a variety of different kinds of chains. There are also books on wire wrapping to make settings for stones and bands for rings, etc.

I don't have my jewelry books handy at the moment, but I recall this one being a good book for beginners - and you can get a used copy on Amazon right now for around three bucks plus shipping. This book is a really good one on chain making. It's apparently out of print but still available new through Amazon affiliates for less than half its original price. I don't own this book, but it looks like it has a few different interesting techniques for wire working.

I'd HIGHLY recommend practicing with plated or filled/layered wires to begin, because of the expense. I picked up a roll of bare aluminum wire at Home Depot really cheaply a few years ago, to try new techniques. If I remember correctly it was used for electrical fences, which is why it was uninsulated. I've also used heavy copper wire to make stuff, after stripping off the insulation.

When you buy wire, the smaller the gauge number the fatter the wire. Really thin wire is often too flimsy for jewelry - unless you're doing something special, and really heavy wire is usually too clunky - though if it's fat enough you can file and hammer it to get some interesting textures.

Ultimately it would be really good to learn to solder with a torch, to close up all of the links in your chains and join pieces together, etc., but leaving links unsoldered when you're first starting out is usually OK, as long as they don't snag on stuff.

Good luck.

This is a really cute idea. Have you thought about self-publishing?

In January I self-published a picture book through Amazon's CreateSpace.

Pros:

• Because I was able to do everything myself (copy writing, illustrations, book layout, cover design, etc.), my total cost of production for the entire project was little more than the $10 I spent on clay to make the gnomes.
  
• The book is available for sale on Amazon and prints on demand.
  
• I set the price of the book myself and collect monthly royalties for each unit that sells.
  
• I can order copies of the book at cost and take a hundred of them to a craft fair to sell in person, or put them on consignment at a local gallery, or offer them at wholesale to an independent book seller, or basically do whatever I want. I'm the boss of my book.
  
  Cons:
  
  
• I didn't have a team of editors with years of experience in the publishing industry to advise me on the project or suggest revisions.
  
• If I want the book to sell, I have to market it myself.
  
• The book is available in paperback only.
  
• I have heard some authors express grievances with Amazon's "expanded distribution" sellers (do your research on this subject if you publish through CreateSpace), so I opted out of this channel.
  
  For me, self-publishing was the way to go because my only real goal was to create a book. I had an idea, thought it would be really fun to try, and seeing the project through to completion was a rewarding experience in itself.
  
  If your goal is to sell thousands of copies and outsource production of your monsters to China, you'll probably want to align yourself with an agent and/or publisher.
  
  If your goal is to put something out into the world because creating it makes you happy and it has the potential to bring happiness to others, then don't wait for a publisher to validate your awesome idea. Assess how much of it you can do on your own, and if there are aspects you may need help with (graphic design, copyediting, etc.), enlist the help of friends, or network with friends of friends, and see if you can't collaborate.
  
  Good luck!

These are a great start for learning the techniques and process. I finished them a while back and was able to puzzle out what stitches are best. You only really need to know how to straight stitch, whip stitch, and satin stitch. French knots are helpful. Get a chopstick for stuffing and you are good!

I’m currently working on this kit and when done, am planning on making my own patterns. The kits have very sturdy patterns and very easy to do. They only take a few hours if you are a moderate to good hand sewer.

There were two Klutz books back in the day for polymer clay, and each came with 8 half-bars of Sculpey III (a low-quality polymer clay); they wouldn't have the clay still included though if purchased at amazon, eBay, etc.
https://www.amazon.com/Incredible-Clay-Book-Klutz-Press/dp/1878257730
https://www.amazon.com/Create-Anything-Clay-Sherri-Haab/dp/1570543275
Those were very simple books oriented toward kids, and almost entirely small sculpted items in the second book (the first book had more techniques), but I see there's at least one newer Klutz polymer clay book (not by the same author/s though) on making sculpted "charms":
https://www.amazon.com/Klutz-Make-Clay-Charms-Craft/dp/0545498562

There are better books for those things though, even for simple sculpts (including "charms") like these for example:
https://www.amazon.com/Clay-Play-JEWELRY-Terry-Taylor/dp/0486799441
https://www.amazon.com/Polymer-Clay-Cookbook-Tiny-Jewelry/dp/0823024849

But there's also loads of FREE info, tutorials, etc, online at YouTube and at places like my website for making things like that, and many other things with polymer clay.

Oh, you could make mini-quilts, zipper pouches, coin purses, wallets, quilted hot pads/trivets.

The Instagram photos are my account and what I've made. I've even made dolls out of scraps and found yarn (again, from thrift stores). The dolls were my own design but there are tons of other creators on IG that make WAY better dolls than I do. I follow some of them, so check them out if you want.

Back in 2008 I bought this book and I regret getting rid of it. It was so much fun making these things, and it was super easy to do. Just buy colorful thread!

Hope this gives you some ideas. :-)

To add to this, you could probably get her into paper quilling pretty easily. It's easy and fun. Get a beginner's quilling book and a quill tool to get her started

Thank you! The blue base is upholstery suede and the thread is doubled up gold rayon. I recommend using thinner base and thicker thread, tbh. There’s quite a few patterns available online but I find this book to be most valuable because it shows the underlying grid and recommended stitch order. I then fused a thin interfacing onto the back juuuuust in case there’s a thread break so it wouldn’t unravel.

I love paper flowers. Have you seen this book?

Paper to Petal: 75 Whimsical Paper Flowers to Craft by Hand by Rebecca Thuss

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385345054/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Fte8Cb8VH5H5K

Or this one

The Exquisite Book of Paper Flowers: A Guide to Making Unbelievably Realistic Paper Blooms by Lucia Cetti
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1617691003/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_lue8CbSBMRXBK

I bought this book back in highschool when I was really into making hemp necklaces. It has a lot of cool knots that I haven't ever seen anywhere else. If I remember right, the directions were pretty easy to follow too.

I took a course on foil imaging in college. It’s one of my favorite art media’s ever!

http://www.theiowafoilprinter.com
We used these kinds presses to get the foil to stick to our base (we’d use any kind of polymer base. My favorite was elmer’s glue and normal printer ink)

I’ll add additional links on it and reading material on it.

(Book in foil imaging)
https://www.amazon.com/Foil-Imaging-New-Art-Form/dp/0965162079

https://now.uiowa.edu/2014/04/learn-foil-imaging-technique-created-ui-summer-workshop

https://www.behance.net/gallery/12736173/Foil-Imaging-(A-New-Art-Form)

For a friend's baby's birthday, I presented a copy of The Owl and the Pussycat and I made this toy to go along with. Thanks for the help on my original post asking for advice! I went with a teensy little satin stitch for the beak and just three stitches next to each other for the cat's eyes.

Lessons learned for if I do it again:

• The Joann Fabrics near me has basically no wool felt, and the nicer looking shiny embroidery floss is kind of awful and hard to work with
  
• For previous felt embroidery projects I just freehand cut things, and transferred patterns by drawing little dots on the fabric. This time I traced the pattern on to wax paper and ironed it on and OMG so much easier.
  
• How to start embroidery threads without a knot is invaluable information I wish I'd had years ago!
  
• somehow I had never discovered stem stitch before and I kind of love it.
  
  The only big unanswered question is how I should actually have handled tying off the knots when sewing the sides together. It's kinda haphazard as is and probably not terribly durable but my google-fu failed me in trying to find a better solution.
  
  Edit: also if I were doing it again I'd obtain a squeaky or a rattle to put inside, or maybe put a layer of crinkly plastic.

Do you like the idea of a suitcase? Because you could still make a book/suitcase with pics and everything, put those few books in there and put this in there too:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lovers-Journal-Diary-Notebook-Organizer/dp/1441304827. you can write the list in there and she can make notes or use it as her book journal :)

This is a Twinkie Chan pattern from this book. Chan Book

There is a similiar bacon and eggs pillow pattern on Ravelry. Pillow

I am making a pillow next since I already have the yarn and know the techniques. I actually think the pillow will get more use than the scarf.

This is the kit I bought!