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

Vickie Howell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 4, 2010

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

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Vickie Howell is a designer, writer and a voice for this generation's craft movement. She founded successful chapters of the irreverent but socially conscious knitting group Stitch 'n' Bitch. Vickie was the host of DIY's Knitty Gritty and has written three books: New Knits on the Block; Not Another Teen Knitting Book 9781402720659; Knit Aid 9781402746819 and Pop Goes Crochet! 9781600594663.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Lark Books; 1 edition (May 4, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1600594689
• ISBN-13: 978-1600594687
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,088,292 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Vickie Howell is a mother, self-taught designer, writer, spokesperson, viral marketing consultant and DIY Lifestyles expert with a focus on the Needle Arts and environmentally conscious crafting.

Vickie is most well-known as the Host and Creative Consultant of 8 seasons of DIY Network & HGTV's show, Knitty Gritty. She was also the co-host of DIY's Stylelicious, Lifetime Television's web series, CRAFTED, and several craft-based TV specials.

Vickie has been featured internationally in numerous televisions shows, radio broadcasts and publications including: NBC's The Today Show, BBC Radio Scotland, E! Entertainment's Singled Out, and Real Simple Magazine.

Vickie's designs and projects have been included in over 100 publications worldwide including her celebrity column for Knit.1 Magazine, the Eco-Craft column she wrote for 3 years for Kiwi Magazine, the 2009 Lands' End FeelGood Campaign (of which she was the spokesperson for), her blog column Craft Apparent for PBS Parents and weekly articles for iLovetoCreate.com. She's also Caron's Celebrity Spokesperson.

Vickie is the best-selling author of several craft books: the 2005 Craft Trends Award Finalist, New Knits on the Block: A Guide to Knitting What Kids Really Want (Oct. '05), Not Another Teen Knitting Book (June '06), Knit Aid: A Learn It, Fix It, Finish It Guide for the Stitcher on the Go (May '08), Pop Goes Crochet (May '09) and, AwareKnits: Knit & Crochet Projects for the Eco-Conscious Stitcher (Oct. '09), co-written with activist, Adrienne Armstrong.


The book behind Vickie's community-driven project, Craft Corps hits shelves in May '10. Until then, she's encouraging artists, crafters and creative types of all kinds to join "The Corps" by telling their stories through profiles on the Craft Corps website: http://www.craftcorps.org

All of Vickie's creative endeavors along with her husband Dave Campbell's movie news site, Smells Like Screen Spirit, are housed under their company Craft.Rock.Love Media, LLC. For more information on Vickie and all of her projects, go to: http://www.vickiehowell.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There's a Craft Corps in all of us., June 3, 2010

By 

Tina M. Lindquist (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Craft Corps: Celebrating the Creative Community One Story at a Time (Paperback)

The interviews in this book are all very inspirational. The individual biographies ring true for all crafters I know. We have all been affected by craft and design at different times in our lives. We have all made pictures with beans and paste in kindergarten, some of us made numerous crafts in girl scouts, been taught by our mothers and fathers (woodworking is a craft too!), created in wood or metal shop in high school, continued crafting at various times in our lives. Reading these craftographies takes me back to my childhood where memories live of glue, wood and beans. I highly recommend this book for anyone who crafts but more so for anyone thinking of taking on a crafty life:P

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating read!, February 21, 2011

By 

Designs by KN (CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Craft Corps: Celebrating the Creative Community One Story at a Time (Paperback)

From a quick glance at the cover, title page and photos, it looked interesting because it was full (really full) of true stories about other crafters' lives and how they got their start in business. It's a fascinating read, giving anyone who enjoys creative pursuits a sense of belonging to a welcoming community with a rich history that embraces a whole spectrum of crafty expression and innovation. What's even better is it led me to the Craft Corps site, where visitors are invited to share their own stories and become a member of the Craft Corps. Once I started the book, I couldn't put it down until I'd read it from cover to cover--it's that interesting!

5.0 out of 5 stars Find your inspiration in Craft Corps, September 14, 2011

By 

Ellen P. Lafleche-christian (Vermont, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Craft Corps: Celebrating the Creative Community One Story at a Time (Paperback)

Craft Corps is a book that will let you learn about over sixty different celebrity crafters and designers. You'll learn about who they are, why they craft, what they like, what challenges them and what recommendations and suggestions they have to offer you.

Each chapter is set up like an interview with a different crafter. The interview includes a photograph and how the author knows them or their work. The author goes through a variety of questions that really let you understand who the crafter or designer is and how they came to be who they are. There are also beautiful color photographs of pieces that they've created and a photograph of their craft room along with information about their favorite craft items, etc. You'll also have a link to go to in order to see more of what each person creates.

My favorite part of this book is that scattered throughout the interviews with famous crafters and designers are *Words to Craft By* which are little introductions to a variety of every day crafters and their blogs. You'll learn about who they are, their favorite crafts, where they live and what their blog link is so you can go connect with them and learn more.

I have had so much fun with this book. It's the perfect way to get inspiration or to spend a couple hours on a rainy afternoon. The way the interviews are written really lets you get to know the crafters. Including the links to sites and blogs means that I can connect with the people I feel can offer me more inspiration. Listing their favorite crafts means that I can search out people who enjoy the same types of crafts that I do. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there are a variety of male crafters included in the book as well. This is a great way to spend the afternoon!