My Review of "Chalk on the Wild Side" by Lorie King Kaehler

Chalk on the Wild Side by Lorie King Kaehler is a great book for anyone looking for chalk bubbles, chalk spray paint, and chalk recipes to create fun and inexpensive kid orientated activities.  My kids love to draw with chalk.  I even painted our refrigerator with chalkboard paint so they would have a large area to express themselves each day (instead of my walls).

One of my kids had an allergy to store bought chalk and I had to spend hours searching the Internet to find a recipe for homemade chalk, I wish this book had been available then.  I love that Chalk on the Wild Side  offers several recipes for different types of chalk. Additionally, this book takes chalk art from the traditional chalkboard drawings into a bunch of other fun ways to use chalk and create some fun art.




The table of contents is as such:

Introduction

• Tools & Materials
• Drawing Techniques
• Projects:
• Chalk & Paper
• Chalk & Pavement
• Homemade Sidewalk Chalk

The drawing techniques section introduces the reader how to use chalk for drawing techniques like linear strokes, smudging, blending and more.  This book is a great primer to introduce kids to various drawing and color blending techniques in a fun and non stressful atmosphere (one of my kids finds her art class to be very stressful, so this helps).  The author goes through how paper texture can affect how the chalk looks and blends.  There are a lot of really great ideas incorporated into this book.  The photographer Donna Starry did a beautiful job with her photos.  The photos really give the reader a great sense of how to follow the directions and the fun activities that these projects really are.

My favorite project is the chalk volcano project, it is getting warm out here in California and this provides a fun way to spend time outdoors and bring a little science into our activities. 

The recipes are made with easy to find materials such as:

• Cornstarch or flour
• food coloring
• soap
• plaster of Paris (this should only be used under adult supervision)
• vinegar, baking soda, salt, etc.
• Antacid Tablets, etc,
• essential oils, unsweetened drink mixes, cinnamon etc.
• candy or soap molds
• and other easy to find items.

The book also offers fun recipes for glow in dark chalk, fizzing chalk, and scented chalk.  The activities are written so easily, that family can spend quality time making the chalk and doing the projects with out the stress of hard to find items.  Anything I did not have on hand, I easily found at my local dollar store.  If you have kids and they love chalk and wanted to expand their activities, then this book is worth looking at.

Parchment and Old Lace by Laura Childs | Book Review

Parchment and Old Lace is another addition from Laura Childs that combines scrapbooking, crafting and a murder to solve.  This is an enjoyable read that draws the reader in with the colorful characters and fun crafting tips.

Laura Childs does such a wonderful job of making her characters likeable. I love the fun and independent nature of the main character, Carmella Bertrand.  Carmella owns and runs the "Memory Mine" scrapbooking store.  Memory Mine is described so realistically,  from the types of materials offered to clients in the store to the various classes offered by Carmella and her assistant Gabby.

I was so caught up in the story line, from the murder of Isabelle, to Carmellas'  often dangerous investigation of the various suspects in the book.  I had a hard time putting the book down to go to work. The author just kept me guessing as to who the true murderer could be.

I also enjoyed the fact that the author included so many useful crafting tips in this book.  My favorite tip is the use of a concept board in chapter 10.  The concept board is often used to help people plan their scrapbook pages, art projects, wedding decor, and so much more.  It can be applied to so many things.   I have always enjoyed using concept boards and found the inclusion of such a great source to have been a wonderful tip to offer readers in her book.  She gives the reader enough information in the story to afford the reader suffcient knowledge to be able to apply the use of a concept board to their own projects.

I love reading myteries and feel that this is such a fun read.  It was a great way for me to relax while drinking my tea.  I can't wait for her next book.

Note: I received my advance review copy (without corrections) for my honest review.  However I am huge fan of Laura Childs books (I own a lot of them), so I would have purchased this book anyway.  Thank you to Nancy Nally for the advance copy so I could get a jump on my reading.

20 Ways to Draw a Mustache by Cara Bean | Book Review

20 Ways to Draw a Mustache and 44 Other Funny Faces and Features: A Sketchbook for Artists, Designers, and Doodlers is a great source book for anyone who needs a reference book for drawing characters, illustrations, cartoons, doodles, and card making.   I have my own collection of this series of book because of their great content.  Each book is its own treasure trove of ideas.  This book is not limited to just drawings of mustaches but also shows how to draw eyes, facial expressions, facial hair, hair and more.  The selection is vast and the drawings are easy enough for the reader to copy or just be inspired to create their own version.

20 Ways to Draw a Mustache Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• Mustaches
• Lips
• Eyes
• Monsters
• Ears
• Noses
• Eyeglasses
• Bean Characters
• Beards
• Braids
• Curly Hairstyles
• Straight Hairstyles
• Mohawks
• Star Characters
• Ponytails
• Hats
• Helmets
• Block Characters
• Feet
• Mask
• Mullets
• Eyebrows
• Teardrop faces
• Collars
• Leaf Characters
• Hands
• Skulls
• Smiles
• Frowns
• Bottoms
• Cupcake characters
• Legs
• Arms
• Doodle Faces
• People Taking
• Walkers Walking
• Sittings Sitting
• Hairlines
• Different Ages
• Circle Characters
• Emotions
• Monkey Faces
• Cat Faces
• Dog Faces
• Heart Characters

As you can see, there is a vast amount of drawings included in 20 Ways to Draw a Mustache . Each page has simple straight forward sketches that help one get a good idea of the elements of each drawing while at the same time inspiring one to be creative with their own version.  One way to utilize the book is to just use the basic shape of a drawing as a base idea to create your own inspired drawing.  I use this book as a resource when I am sculpting my paper clay creatures.  The eyes, noses, ears, hands and feet sections are particularly helpful for me.  Additionally, this book is so straightforward that it can be used by readers of any age.

If you want to check out one of the projects from the book, just go the Craftside Blog to view a free project.

Review of The Skinny Gut Diet by Brenda Watson

The Skinny Gut Diet: Balance Your Digestive System for Permanent Weight Loss by Brenda Watson (from the PBS "Brenda Watson's Heart of Perfect Health PBS Special)  includes a 14-day Start-Up Food Plan and over 75 Recipes to get the reader started on her recommended gut cleaning diet.  The diet plan is fairly restrictive and may be challenging to follow, especially if you like to eat a lot of carbs.  The majority of the recipes, in this book, are for smoothies, which I found to be really easy to follow and convenient. The meal recipes are a little more challenging to make.  However, if you use the provided shopping list and follow the recipes, then it should not be too difficult.

The focus on the book is to improve the reader's gut health more than to lose weight.  For those who are or have suffered from digestive issues, you are probably already on a restricted diet anyway and may not be able to follow some of the suggestions in this book.  She recommends taking supplements, which you need to be wary of it you are on a restricted diet and taking medication.  The author is very thoughtful of her readers and does stress to check with your physician to make sure that this diet meets his or her approval.

If you are not on a doctor approved diet, then this book might be of help to you.   The author starts the book off with a discussion of how sugar is bad for your gut and how it directly affects the health of the gut.  She also reviews how important bacteria is for improved gut health and how that affects the body.

Here is a look at the "Table of Contents" for the book and a brief description of each:

Chapter 1 - A Remarkable Discovery - Guess who's coming to dinner.
                   This chapter goes over the importance of gut microbes and all the other interesting things that can be found in the gut area. 

Chapter 2 - Gut Bacteria - The Surprising Weight-loss Solution.
                   Good Bacteria = Fewer Calories
                   This chapter discusses what gut bacteria is made up of and how it leads to a lean gut or obese gut type.

Chapter 3 - Where did it go wrong.
                    This chapter goes over gut bacterial balance, how it is established and how it affected by what you eat.

Chapter 4 - The Proper Care and Feeding of your own gut bacteria.
                    This is a short chapter that goes into the performance of Probiotics and Prebiotics .

Chapter 5 - Your Gut Connection to Obesity and other common conditions.
                    This chapter is the cause and affect section.  You can see how IBS or Acid Reflux is directly related to the gut health.

Chapter 6 - The Gut-Brain Connection.
                    This chapter goes over the gut-brain connection and how what you eat affects how you feel, think, and more. The information in this chapter is really interesting.

Chapter 7 - The Skinny of Food.
                    If you think you are eating healthy, then think again.  She goes into the hidden sugars in refined food.  How some fruits and vegetables are better than others.  How important fiber is and different ways to add it to your diet in a healthy way.  The importance of staying hydrated and how you should drink a lot of water.

Chapter 8 - Teaspoon Tracker
                    This chapter gives you some tools to be able to more realistically track the amount of sugar you have in your diet and how to avoid it.

Chapter 9 - The Get Lean Phase
                    The author breaks down her recommended diet into two phases:
                     1) Get Lean 
                      2) Stay Lean 
                     This section is where she goes into more detail on the foods, fats, fermented foods, fruits, vegetables, proteins, etc. that are best suited for each phase.

Chapter 10 - Power Tools
                     This sections has recipes and snack ideas.

Chapter 11 - Skinny Gut Supplements
                     This section is on supplements that are good for the body.

Chapter 12 - The Stay Lean Phase
                      This is another really short chapter that just gives you the formula for staying lean and finding the right sugar balance for your body.

Chapter 13 - Food and Recipes to Get You Started
                     This chapter provides the reader with a two-week meal plan, healthy recipes (like turkey sausage patties, mini spinach omelets, Chicken salad and so many more), and some desert recipes as well.

Chapter 14 - Rescue Kit for Success
                     This is a very helpful chapter that shares with the reader ideas on how to eat out, dinner party tactics, Carb substitutes, Grocery shopping strategy, shopping list, and so much more. 

This is overall a very helpful book for anyone who is concerned with their gut health.  It is also helpful, if you are trying to minimize the amount of sugar you are exposed to in your diet.  The book is written in such a way that the reader can quickly read through the more technical stuff and jump to the recipes.  I really liked the recipe area, although, I should mention that there are no photos of the various dishes or anything else in this book.  It is truly focused on giving the reader as much information as possible to be successful on this diet.

Note: Thank you to the author and blogging for books for providing me a review copy of this book.

The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet by Margaret Hubert | Book Review

If you have every wanted to add to your crochet stitch knowledge base then this book is for you.  

The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet: *All You Need to Know to Crochet *The Essential Reference for Novice and Expert Crocheters *Comprehensive Guide ... *Packed with Hundreds of Tips and Ideas  by Margaret Hubert is an excellent visual reference book of stitches for the not only the beginner but for the more advance individual who wants to add new stitches and techniques to their repertoire.

This is not a typical step-by-step how to book.  The author does include some step-by-step instructions for the more basic stitches.  However, I think that it is the vast selection of stitches that Margaret has chosen to include that make this such a fabulous book to add to my personal library.  The book is more technique driven than a traditional book.  I love that.  The book also offers some very informative tips and ideas to help the reader. 

The collection of stitches in this book are beautifully photographed so that the reader gets a clear idea of how the stitch should look with a photo of a swatch made up with that stitch.   I also enjoyed the challenge of learning some of the more complicated stitches and am looking forward to designing some holiday projects using those stitches.  

Note: this is not a sponsored post.  I enjoy reading craft book and sharing them with others.

Sew Dolled Up by Boutique Sha | Book Review

Sew Dolled Up: Make Felt Dolls and Their Fun, Fashionable Wardrobes with Fabric Scraps and Easy Hand Sewingis a wonderful way to develop sewing skills for beginner to advanced sewers.


My daughter is in love with this book. She learned the basics of sewing a few years ago and enjoys making little quick and easy projects with scraps of fabric and trim the we keep in our craft stash. As she loves fashion she can experiment with fabric choices as she creates the cute outfits from the patterns in Sew Dolled Up. She is especially enjoying making all the little purses and accessories. The outfits also lend themselves to embellishment. She can practice her embroidery, beading and paint on the garments to further customize them. So if you have a doll (or make one from the book) and like sewing doll cloths I bet you will enjoy making the outfits in this book sized to your doll.

Comment: The video above is created to give the viewer a similar experience to being at the bookstore and flipping through the pages of the book.

If you want to check out one of the projects from the book, just go the Craftside Blog at:

http://bit.ly/1DhPyX8