Craft Corps: Celebrating the Creative Community One Story at a Time

By Vickie Howell

A celebration of the great—and growing—crafting community by everyone’s favorite crafty grrrl: the fabulous VICKIE HOWELL

 

Bestselling author and stitchery dynamo Vickie Howell puts down her needles to pay tribute to her fellow crafters! Her extraordinary new collection features interviews with 30 successful professional craftspeople as well as profiles of a diverse group of approximately 60 amateurs. And every interview includes a photo of the subject, plus a peek at their work or their studio.

This project—a true labor of love—also documents how social networking sites, groups like Stitch ’n’ Bitch, and alternative sales outlets such as Etsy have helped create a close community of crafters passionate about their work and each other.

 

Includes interviews with such influential crafters, designers, and business people as:

Renowned quilter Denyse Schmidt

The Crafty Chica, Kathy Cano-Murillo

Artist and designer Mary Engelbreit

Emmy-nominated host of Creative Juice, Cathie Filian

Indie craft documentarian Faythe Levine

Scrapbooking legend Sandi Genovese

Project Runway winner and fabric designer Jay McCarroll

TV Host and author Mark Montano

Craft pioneer Carol Duvall

Famed fabric designer Amy Butler

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lark Books
• Release date: May 7, 2013
• ISBN: 9781454703228

Reviews for Craft Corps

[zquilts_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Most crafter's know who Vickie Howell is. You can find the Vickie Howell's Craft Corp on Face Book and on Vickie's website.I have a lot of books stacked here waiting for reviews - craft, art and historical fiction so I am going to try and get some of the reviews finished before I have to stick my toes back in the water at work next week. I really have to admit that when I saw this book my initial reaction was rather ambivalent. It did not seem like a book that was going to capture my imagination. Once again, I was surprised at myself because I did, and am, indeed, enjoying this book quite a bit. Thirty of the top crafters of today's burgeoning crafting movement are highlighted in depth through an interview with Vickie Howell - lots of questions and answers. Interspersed throughout the book though are also small blurbs about crafters just like you and I - these are all about a half page each. I have never been much for reading how other people create - I have to admit to being somewhat of a loner and I like to try tings out myself and see if I sink or swim before I go to an expert for help. Sort of like reading instructions - they are there to pull out when all else fails right? This book though makes it fun to learn about the experts work first before jumping in head first.The famous names that Vickie interviews include people like Amy Butler, Ed Roth, Claudine Hellmuth, Alex Anderson, Traci Bautista, my own hero Mary Englebreit, Denyse Schmidt - well, you get the idea... the cream de la cream of the crafting community - but covering a multitude of craft areas. That's the cool thing. This is not a book about knitters, or jewelry makers or clothes makers or art journalers - it is about about all of it - the entire raft movemement in in today's fast moving world.Despite my initial reservations I was pulled into the book and found myself thoroughly enjoying the questions and answers that Vickie asked this group of the movers and shakers in the word of crafts and crafting. I actually did find it interesting to know what made some of these creative folks tick. What their first memories of crafting are, were they supported in the endeavors by their families?, important moments in their careers? All more interesting than I had thought it would be. The book is chock full of fabulous ideas, unique and talented personalities that you can't help but learn something from as well as great photos and notable information about unique crafters who you may just want to keep an eye on. Lot's of blogs with eye candy to browse though along with a page of interesting community resources to check out and enjoy and a page of book club questions as well"Craft Corps", published by Lark Books is a store house of great information, inspiration and interesting facts. If your interested in what makes well known, successful crafters tick, or if you are just a lover of well done craft and art work - this book is a good one to consider adding to your collection! Well done!