Book Review – Making Art From Maps

Making Art From Maps by Jill K. Berry $14.99

I love this BOOK! The only problem is I don’t have any maps, not even old ones. I think we have Google maps to blame for that. I am looking forward to grabbing some maps from garage sales and making something fun. I once made a bag like this one Playing Cards Purse using pages from an old atlas. This would have been around 20 years ago. I guess that makes me pretty cool doesn’t it ! You have to check out this book and be sure to add it to your Crafting Bookshelf.

Making Art From Maps : From origami to paper cutting and decoupage, love of paper crafting has soared, and with it the variety of paper types used by artists. Among these are maps – an apt choice for any crafter: they’re easy to find, often free, meant to be folded, and their colorful surfaces add an allure of travel to every project.Making Art from Maps is equal parts inspiration and fun. Jill K. Berry, author of Map Art Lab returns, bringing her expertise in maps and her wide-ranging skills as an artist with her.
With her cartographic connections, she takes you on a gallery tour, introducing you to the work of some of the most exciting artists creating with maps today. Designer interviews are accompanied by 25 accessible how-to projects of her own design that teach many of the techniques used by the gallery artists.

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The other day I saw a post from Pinterest about trends for summer and it said one of them was “cultivating whimsy.”

Well, I don’t know where Pinterest has been all this time, but we’ve been cultivating whimsy here at Craft Gossip for a long time. I love sharing projects that are a little different, things that make you smile when you see them, and will make you smile when you knit them and wear them or use them.

Such it is with the Tutti Frutti tee knitting pattern from Bea Creative Knits.

This cute little baby tee is worked top down in the round with contiguous shoulder construction to shape the sleeve caps. There are short rows for the neckline and folded hems with picot edging at the hemline, neckline and edges of the sleeves.

All of this would be great on its own, but then there’s the addition of a super cute fruit icon, which is added with duplicate stitch. There are a lot of options, including strawberry, banana, orange, cherries, watermelon, lemon, blueberries, kiwi, peach, dragon fruit, apple and pear, so it’s likely you can add on your favorite fruit.

It is offered in eight sizes, to fit a bust measurement ranging from 28-30 inches (71-76 cm) to 56-58 inches (142-147 cm). The design is meant to be worn with around 6.3 inches/16 cm of negative ease, but you can choose the fit you prefer. There’s also optional bust and waist shaping included in the pattern if you want to make it even curvier.

This is considered an advanced beginner or intermediate project because of all the skills involved, but it’s sure to be a lot of fun even if some of these techniques are new to you.

Grab a copy of the pattern for yourself form Bea Creative Knits on Etsy.

[Photo: Bea Creative Knits]

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Have you read?