Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Steampunkery!

Today's mail brought Christi Friesen's latest polymer clay project book: Steampunkery.

When I pre-ordered this book, I paid no attention to the fact that it was more expensive than her previous books, so I was pleasantly surprised when instead of the 50 page booklet I was used to, this was a nice thick 100 page volume. Twice the steampunkery I had expected!

Christi makes good use of these extra pages. Not only are there lots of projects, but many of them are a little more complicated and involved than the ones in previous books. And there's quite a bit more eye candy, including stunning works from guest artists.

One thing that I love about these books is that Christi not only guides you through specific projects, but she always adds new skills to your repertoire, which you can then apply to completely different projects. At a glance, this book introduces various ways to patina metal, and how to use texture sheets with polymer clay.

My favorite project is probably the Pocket Protector Gargoyle. I'd like to make one for Chris to go in a vest pocket when we steampunk it up.

And of course, since this is a Christi Friesen book, it's filled with whimsical little steampunk touches, like fake advertisements and newspaper articles. I'm certainly looking forward to sitting down and reading it at length, to make sure I don't miss any of the humorous anecdotes and informative sidebars.

9 comments:

  1. That sounds like a really neat book. :)

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  2. ooooh, new skills for the mistress! can't wait to see what you 'magine up!

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  3. That book sounds great! I'm going to have to check it out.

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  4. Meri, all of Christi's books are great, you should check them out. Her first one was all about dragons!

    Julie, have you ever seen any of my polymer work? I don't put it on Etsy.

    Christina, I definitely recommend it!

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  5. I have the dragon one and actually had a class with her at the Tucson show this year. She is uber, uber cool and so awesome about giving great directions. I will definatley have to get this one.

    Jolene

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  6. Jolene, which class did you take? I took her dragonfly class, and loved it! Unfortunately, all of her classes this coming year are during my Best Bead Show work hours :(

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  7. Oh, I can't wait to see what you make from the book, and then what you make with the skills you learn!

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  8. As soon as I make anything, I'll post it here :)

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  9. Ooo, a book on dragons? I'll definitely have to check that one out!

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