5 comments about Finishing the Figure: Doll Costuming, Embellishments, Accessories.

1. I just picked this book up in a local bookstore and immediately got the itch to pick up some clay. I did not have time to read much, the photographs were what enthralled me. Oroyan picked some fine dolls to illustrate her book and it offers a wealth of imagination to the doll artist. The detail in some of the cosuming is fabulous and the characters of some of the dolls unforgetable!



2. Susan Oroyan has done an excellent work. I bought both of her books "Designing the Doll" and "Finishing the Figure" If you own one of the books, you have to own the other one, they go together. The books have a great deal of information and details on doll making. The book is good for beginners or professional doll makers.You will love it.



3. Heavily illustrated with excellent diagrams and color photos, this book is not only for anyone learning the art of art-doll making but will also appeal to anyone who enjoys seeing what the creative, human imagination can devise. Just a joy to read from cover to cover and the beautiful photos will provide inspiration for many different types of artist.
   Susanna Oroyan gives us the best contemporary information available from the art doll world while also providing the historical bones of costume design.



4. This was the 4th book in series of high quality and comprehensive books about doll making. I finally got around to buying the last one. I highly recommend getting these books before there are no more. The other three are Fantastic Figures, Anatomy of a Doll and Designing the Doll. Susanna was a great doll artist and long time member of NIADA. She was active with her local UFDC and other doll activities. She was a successful teacher and a supporter of promoting all things creative with doll art. She encouraged and gave inspiration to all learning to make original dolls and those that are successful doll artists. She was a prolific contributor to articles in many doll magazines. She was proficient in a variety of media, including polymer clay, paperclay, and cloth. This particular book features many well known doll artists work along with her own. This book has a large variety of styles and techniques depicted. Many of the doll artists were happy to support and show their work in her books because they also believed in promoting original doll art and also recognized the fact that many doll artists can use the same type of technique but each doll will be different in some way. Most doll artists share the fundamental belief that creativity in the hands is the window to the soul, mind and imagination. No two are alike! Mine will be different then yours! If you have never seen a doll challenge, do a search on line, you will be amazed. They may feature one or two doll patterns, a set of rules and parameters, but look at how many different and wonderful creative interpretations are produced! Susanna has done the doll artist world a great favor by publishing so may techniques and styles in her books. Making these public they helped discourage any one artist claiming a certain technique all to them selves or hopefully trying to patent a technique. Her books have wonderful details, tips, examples and fantastic photos. Very high quality, a joy to have and worthy to be in any collector or doll artist's library. This book has a nice index of the artists featured in it along with a contact list. These are "forever keep books"! You will not be disappointed. I was ecstatic reading mine and I very much enjoyed viewing my "Doll Buddies" work! Susanna was a top notch award winning artist, her book "Anatomy of the Doll" was honored by the Scientific American magazine as "Best Technical Book for Youth" in 1997. She also received the award for "Best Dollmaker" of the year for teaching and publication from the National Association of Cloth Doll Makers in 1995. Susanna will be ever so missed and we were all sad to see cancer take such a wonderful person from our doll world. Her legacy of creativity and inspiration will continue to encourage us all. Susanna Oroyan 1942 - 2007.



5. Finishing the Figure: Doll Costuming, Embellishments, Accessories Book in good shape. Smooth transaction!

5 comments about Making Toys That Teach: With Step-by-Step Instructions and Plans.

1. This is just the book I was hoping to find. The projects are fun to make and fun to play with. I was especially hoping to find plans for some unit building blocks for my grandkids for Christmas, and I just finished making the set from this book. I couldn't keep my wife away from them; she kept playing with them before they were finished! The plans are very detailed and easy to understand. The equipment needed is usually pretty basic, and there's a list of all the tools needed for each project. I'm anxious to get to work on some more of the toys. I don't hesitate to fully recommend this book.



2. This is a great book- Great projects, clear instructions. I really like the learning through play secion which explains why these are great learning toys and the growth opportunity they present.
   
   I think what would have really made this book is a section on tools. Showing the different tool, explaining their individual uses what sets them apart....for example how a table saw is diffferent from a band saw etc. Which is the most versatile saw for a beginner getting into toy making
   
   If you are a woodworking beginner I recommend you begin with The Kids' Building Workshop : 15 Woodworking Projects for Kids and Parents to Build Together
   by Craig Robertson, Barbara Robertson



3. An excellent book with projects that are above the elementary level. Toys that provide continual challenge as the child develops. I have built the block set, a long-time favorite of my grandchildren despite their many "modern" electronic toys, and the train.
   
   Caution: Be sure to double-check the dimensional drawings. There are several errors in the train drawings.



4. Neufeld presents a set of children's toys of extremely high quality that are fun to build. And, my grandkids play with them for hours. I believe the book describes how to make heirlooms. I highly recommend this for any woodworker.



5. This Book is a great guide to making children's toys. The toys are simple and elegant. Great illustrations and directions.

5 comments about Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe 1982-1994.

1. For those of us that collect this is an excellent reference guide. It details weapons, vehicles and just about anything you can think of. The only thing I was expecting was to have pictures of the figures/vehicles..carded. And thats one thing that would have made this book perfect, that aside its a great book and I am glad I picked it up. The pictures included are crisp, clear and the information on them is detailed. Enjoy...



2. My husband and I enjoyed this guide and found it very useful for our collection. Great pictures with accessories. Just seemed very complete for the collector. Well done in my opinion and would recommend.



3. As an avid childhood collector of GI Joe 3 3/4 figures and vehicles, I can certainly say that this guide seems extremely accurate. Although most of my collection sadly did not survive my childhood, this book certainly brings back some memories. It also helps to appraise some the pieces that did survive. I'm only depressed now that I didn't take better care of my original collection as it would have been worth a lot. As a GI Joe geek, it was interesting to see Larry Hama's (the original author of the Joe's Filecards) comments and thoughts on the characters. As a kid, I can certainly say I never gave the ideas behind the characters much thought. I also didn't understand half the things written on the filecards as they had more military jargon than a Tom Clancy novel. It does contain numerous references to the GI Joe cartoons and comics to help illustrate complete character biographies - which is interesting only if you were (or are) well-versed in the comics, the cartoons, and the toys. Overall, this is a great resource for serious collectors and devoted GI Joe disciples, but it's probably a bit too technical for casual fans.



4. My husband has collected GI Joe guys since he was a kid. He bought this book after a GI Joe collector website recommended it and when he's not poring over it, he's raving about it. It's a great book for collectors old and new and features A LOT of detailed images and good information. A must-have for any GI Joe collector.



5. Very detailed and accurate (save for estimated items' worth).
   
   But, the pictures, especially the ones of the vehicles, are dull. Colors, angles and light are just enough to see what's depicted, never delightful.
   
   Looking forward to a new edition with better photos!

5 comments about Family and Friends in Polymer Clay.

1. Whether you are a beginning sculptor, or an experienced doll maker, this book is a good one to have on your reference shelf.
   
   The artist has a playful way of explaining/showing you how to do things, and the step-by-step color photographs are really helpful. She even shows you how to make tools from common everyday things you'll find around the house.
   
   I was impressed by her ability to sculpt perfect caracatures of her friends and family. There was no mistaking who it was when you saw the finished sculpt along side the photo of her person.
   
   Enjoyable book.



2. Polymer clay figures are difficult to make at first, but the book is easy to understand and entertaining to read.The author discusses topics from choosing clays and tools to learning to see the different shapes of faces and body proportions. She includes a variety of facial shapes to practice, with step by step guidance. There is no confusion and loads of clever ideas for caricatures. There is also a chapter on problems and solutions. I am working on caricatures of my family right now, and I don't know of another book that could be as helpful as this one. I am very pleased with it. I have a few others, but this is the one that I recommend to friends, and basically the only one I need.



3. this is a fun project one both young and young at heart will enjoy. Mom if you want a project you and your childern can do together, this is it. What a great feeling when you see the finished friend your child created. They will want to do more and more. It is very additive.



4. I love Maureen as an artist and my rating has nothing to do with her or her book in general. The detail in her artistry is fantastic and her instructions are easy to follow.
   
   I was dissapointed in the condition of this book though from the seller. It was used, but I was surprised at how bad the condition of it really would be. Out of all the used books I've purchased through Amazon, this was the worst...... Again, this has NOTHING to do with the author or her book in general. It is still worth your purchase.



5. I just cannot wait to get a bit of time to be able to really sink my teeth into a project using the lessons in this really good book. Well written with plenty of illustrations and easy to follow instructions.

5 comments about Aranzi Aronzo Fun Dolls (Let's Make Cute Stuff).

1. This is the first Aranzi Aronzo book that I picked up. I chose this over the other books because I liked the wider variety of dolls (snakes, cars, turtles, bears) that they featured. So far though I've only managed to make the bears, dogs and bunnies so it looks like I'll probably be picking up the original "cute dolls" as it seems to have more of the... er... cute dolls. Instructions are incredibly easy to follow. Another reviewer mentioned that the measurements are metric but I honestly haven't even noticed as I haven't had a need to measure anything because of the great pictures/explanations. I like the consistent reminders throughout the book to try new fabrics, to have fun and, of course, to make things cute.



2. I love Aranzi Aronzo books for their super easy instructions and light-hearted tones. So far, this one's my favorite. I actually laughed out loud while flipping through the pages. I have a boy and a girl and there are tons of things in this book that both of them love. The patterns are so easy and there's no need to measure anything. A few of them suggest enlarging them slightly, but they look great as is! I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking to make cute and easy kids' toys.



3. "Fun Dolls" can be thought of as "Cute Dolls" volume 2. "Cute Dolls" provided patterns for making 18 full-sized (8-12 inch) Aranzi Aronzo character dolls (if you aren't familiar with the Aranzi Aronzo characters, check out the Aronzo website, www.aranziaronzo.com - they're sort of like the Sanrio/Hello Kitty characters, only with more personality) and "Fun Dolls" provides more of the same (18 more patterns). However, because most of the more popular and well-known Aronzo characters were dealt with in "Cute Dolls", this time around, the patterns are for some of the lesser characters (and, in some cases, ones that I had never even seen before). That's not to say that they're not cute, they are, but if you're looking for a pattern for making Brown Bunny or Bad Guy, you should buy "Cute Dolls" instead.
   
   As was the case with the other Aronzo craft books, the patterns are easy to follow, the instructions are fully illustrated and there are colour photographs with hilarious captions throughout.
   
   This is the third book in the Aranzi Aronzo "Let's Make Cute Stuff" series. People who enjoy this book should also consider purchasing the other books in this series: "The Cute Book", "Cute Dolls" and "Cute Stuff".



4. I am very pleased with this book. It has a great selection of stuffed toys making it hard to choose the first pattern to start with. The size of the toys are just right. I also love the creative writing that accompanies the directions. All in all a great book!



5. The book really has some easy, cute and super fun ideas for doll making. The only thing is that the seam margin is WAY to small.

5 comments about Automata and Mechanical Toys.

1. This has got to be one of the best books on the subject of automata and mechanical theatre. There are lots of great color pictures and diagrams to build your own automata. Worth the money!



2. Depending on what your interests are, this can be a valuable addition to your library. It is not for collectors, in my opinion, and most of the examples are on the "folk art" side: crude, kitschy, and sometimes even made of junk. There are profiles of a few builders who make complex automata demonstrating fine craftsmanship, such as the wonderful Keith Newstead and John Grayson. I would have preferred to have some detailed explanations of how some of their automata work, though. The REAL strength of this book is if you are beginning to make your own automata and would like to have a "kit" to experiment with. The book contains full sized plans for an experimenter's "kit" which is really nice. I have Robert Addam's "How to Design and Make Automata" and CMT's book, but they both only have crude drawings with no dimensions. I made photocopies of the parts and then used Xylene to transfer directly onto plywood and cut the parts out on a scroll saw, saving a great deal of time and giving me a nice litte platform for experimenting. This alone makes the book a must have for the beginning builder.



3. This is the best book on automata since Flying Pig opened it's doors. Peppe shows how to build your own test board of mechanical movement and provides examples of the best current automata for inspiration. The "test board" is finely crafted, covers a wide range of movements and it's fun to play with too.



4. The book certainly has nice and inspiring pictures of great automata. To a certain extent, some of the concepts of automata are defined. But largely, the chapters are devoted to eccentric and creative automata artists who inspire more by examples than theories.



5. If you like this kind of thing - then you are going to love this book! The range of different toys is amazing and seeing them in a historical perspective is fascinating. It really shows that simple machines can be beautiful and amazing.

5 comments about Greenberg's Guides Lionel Trains Pocket Price Guide 2008 (Greenberg's Pocket Price Guide Lionel Trains).

1. Greenberg's Guides Lionel Trains Pocket Price Guide 2008 (Greenberg's Pocket Price Guide Lionel Trains)
   
   This is the ultimate guide for pricing Lionel trains.



2. When it comes to concise and easy to use price guides to Lionel Trains I have always found Greenberg's Guides to be invaluable. It breaks the catalogue numbers down into eras or distinct ranges of years of production and lists price ranges based on condition in a very orderly fashion. If you sell or buy on eBay this is a valuable tool. Greenberg's Lionel Trains Guides and publications are all first rate and come highly recommended.



3. The item was a gift and the receiver found it very useful for his train collection.



4. Very happy with the quick delivery, I paid for that! But disappointed in the binding of the guide. The first 57 pages were cut that you could not read the entire page. Prices were cut or model numbers.



5. An excellent publication. I've used this book over the years and always get the latest update for the information it contains.

5 comments about Creative Cloth Doll Making: New Approaches for Using Fibers, Beads, Dyes, and Other Exciting Techniques.

1. This is a great book, for the experienced doll maker, and the new beginner. The instrutions, with illustrations are clear and concise. Very easy to follow, very simple to use, and most of all fun. With a gallery of recognized colth doll makers, show casing what they have done with these patterns!
   
   A perfect starter book, this one should be on any soft cloth doll makers shelf.



2. Purchased this paperback and absolutely had to order ALL of the books of Ms. Medaris Culea. Wonderfully illustrated, easy to follow instructions with patterns provided, I'd say the beginner to expert dollmaker would find something of interest. Can't wait to hit the fabric store and find some fun remnants!



3. This is the second Culea book I've purchased, and I got this one primarily because I really like her first one. I'm new to doll making so I find the patterns and suggestions very helpful to get the creative juices flowing. This book also has a doll pattern as well as instructions for creative embellishments. One caveat: While this book is great for me as a beginning doll "artist", I don't think it's for a beginning sewer since the instructions tend to give you a broad outline of each process (not detailed steps.) On the plus side, the book has lots of illustrations to help you understand the instructions. It's also filled with photos of Culea's pattern interpreted by many "guest" artists. For me, this is definitely one of the more fun doll books in print right now.



4. Creative Cloth Doll Making: New Approaches for Using Fibers, Beads, Dyes, and Other Exciting Techniques
   
   As a accompaniment to my Creative Cloth Doll Faces book, this book is a necessity to help me create beautiful dolls! I am excited and thrilled to have this book and learn about all the wonderful tips and tricks that can be used to create and embellish my dolls and make each doll unique - with her own personality!



5. I have collected all of Patti Culea's books on doll making, and had the recent pleasure of taking one of her classes. Patti makes doll making fun and exciting, as she teaches many different techniques. I felt like I was taking craft classes as well as a doll class. Her books are easily understood even by the beginner doll maker, but with enough variety that the seasoned crafter would not be bored. You can't go wrong with buying any of Patti's wonderful books. I am anxiously waiting for her newest book to be released in January 2009.

4 comments about Making Heirloom Toys.

1. The book provides scale drawings of several projects. But in order to use them you first have to photocopy the plans at the appropriate (and provided) zoom level. This was difficult, especially since the paper size needed to be larger than standard copier sizes. In order to save pages, it seemed as if many steps were eliminated from the cutting and assembly instructions.

   I made the dump truck and airplane for my 2yr old nephew. They're his favorite toys and he plays with them all the time.




2. I used this book to make a little dump truck, a jet plane, and a tugboat, soon to be given to my grandson. I did not find the fact that not all plans were full-sized a problem This is common and the %enlargement (if needed) is given The instructions were clear. (However, if you are making the little truck, check the width of 2" hinges available before gluing down the hinge block!) The designs are classic, and range from simple (the ones I made) to complex (the truck on the cover is said to take 40 hours.) There are a couple of educational toys included.

   Many of the toys' parts are made out of fine woods, but you can substitute available wood in most cases. Makowicki is concerned with toy safety, e.g., the crane uses a magnet to lift barrels, not a hook, and he specifies child-safe finishes - references in appendix. He also gives many ideas for jigs for cutting angles on the table saw. (If you aren't going to produce for sale, in many cases you can use a band saw with a narrow blade or a scroll saw and sand smooth, instead of making the jig.)

   I made the toys while taking a shop course, so I learned the safe way to operate power tools at the same time.

   I also purchased Tarjany's "30 Toy Vehicles Made from Wood". It has cruder designs, but look there for semis, flatbeds, bulldozers, etc. (I made the long-hood semi with a gravel trailer.) His airplanes suffer by comparison with Makowicki's.

   I am going to purchase Makowicki's "Marvelous Transforming Toys" next.




3. This book has very creative and quality toys to build. It has excellent plans, instructions, drawings and full color pictures. I recommend it highly. I have built the truck fleet and they are the talk of our family and friends.



4. Brought for my father who is retired and lies to make wooden things for grandkids. He reported he loved the book and got some really good ideas.

5 comments about World of Knitted Toys.

1. As a doll and critter knitter from way back, I have a shelf full of knitted toy and doll books and loose patterns, but this one tops them all! What a great collection of well illustrated, patterns, clear and easy to follow. For those of us addicted to 4 dpn knitting in the round, most of the head-body and leg and arm directions are easily adapted to that method as. Patterns call for double knit yarn but also work well with sport weight yarn. I've learned a few new and very useful tricks as well. Somewhat experienced beginners should have no trouble turning out critters they'll be proud of, and the rest of us will knit critters we never expected to. I've only made 4 so far, but am well on my way to at least a year of knitting fun with this book.



2. There are already 20+ reviews for this book, so what can I add? As an Australian, I often rate "animal knowledge" by whether you really know what a kangaroo, wombat or platypus looks like. So what are Dalmeny's like? The platypus' bill is too small, the wombat looks more like a stunted grizzly bear and the kangaroo's head is too big - but overall not bad. I would make them for an Aussie child. So the animals themselves are pretty good.
   
   Other information of interest-
   - this book was first published in the UK so needle sizes are given in metric, european and US (unlike many US books) and tension squares are specified as x-stitches over y-rows using z-needles.
   - basic techniques, making up and decorative touches are provided but only over 4 pages - more space for content...
   - a useful difficulty guide - Dalmeny specifies difficulty (easy to challenging) with a quick index at the beginning dividing the patterns up but - the lovely part - when a difficulty is given with the pattern we are told WHY eg Grizzly Bear - challenging - "The pieces aren't complicated but the adult bear is quite a big project - a real armful for a small child! If you haven't got much time, try knitting the cub, which is rated as straightforward, instead."
   - some variations of patterns are suggested to make them more interesting for the experienced knitter eg "invent your own snake patterns with cable stitch or perhaps Fair Isle designs in subtle greens and browns."
   - patterns suit the beginner (a snake!) to the more experienced (a snake using fair isle).



3. I love knitting. I've been an avid knitter for 25 years. And I found this book to be delightfully creative. The layout is wonderful. There are pictures of each project at completion, which is something I look for in knitting books. I like to have that visual in mind as I knit. There are ratings for each project ranging from easy to straightforward (involving a bit more complexity) to challenging. The ratings also include helpful information such as age appropriateness of the finished project.
   
   I did find that piecing together the items was a bit awkward at times. I think that, using some different stitches, the pieces could be shaped so that there is not so much sewing at the end. However, this has no bearing on the appearance of the completed project.
   
   I've used this book quite a bit for making gifts, and the recipients are always thrilled.



4. This is a great book with easy to understand directions and fun projects. I have a lot of books. Some good. Some bad. This book is very good. I recommend you buy it.



5. This item was exactly as advertised. Shipment was quick and I am very satisfied.