The Complete Guide to Decorative Stamping: Decorate Your Home Simply (Watson-Guptill Crafts)

Shows how to make rubber stamp designs and projects, including bed linens, pillows, papier-mache bowls, clay pots, and frames

Beyond very solid groundwork on all kinds of stamping basics as well as more advanced techniques such as masking, embossing, creating depth and shadows, and producing dimensional effects, this wonderful book offers plenty of smart advice on making color choices, working with patterned repeats, stamping on a variety of different surfaces, combining stamping with other crafts, and assessing a room to overcome what may be the hardest part of all--figuring out where to begin. Walls, floors, furniture, linens, pillows, and accessories take on unique looks, more interesting than most wallpapers or purchased fabrics, and certainly much more exciting than solid-color surfaces. If you're new to stamping, start with something small like a mirror frame, mini-chest, place mat, or flowerpot. But even the more ambitious projects--tables, curtains, bureaus, embossed velvet, entire walls--are made approachable in this very appealing presentation. --Amy Handy