Doodletopia Manga

 

I recently reviewed Christopher Hart’s Doodletopia Cartoons and loved it so I was excited to see Doodletopia Manga. I am not disappointed. “ From dressing up super-cute chibis to designing your own manga mazes to completing manga scenes and creating manga inspired crafts like bookmarks, stationery, and more, the opportunities for creative expression are endless.”

This book is filled with cute manga characters, cute animals and scenes. There are step-by-step instructions that are easy to follow. There are sections to suggest ways to finish your drawings by adding scenes to make them into a story and more interesting.  I’m not sure I would consider the bonus section to really be “crafts and cut-outs” as it is just book marks that you can draw on and cut out but they are cute and a way to practice, and also some stationary pages to finish.  There is also a practice page included in the back to doodle on. He has includes pages to practice finishing scenes and such.

I plan on keeping this in my collection for future use. I think it would be good for anyone who may be interested in the manga characters and drawing cartoon figures. It would be great for older kids to get started with drawing also.

I received this book at no charge from www.bloggingforbooks.com in exchange for an honest review. You can purchase a copy here.

Oil Painting Essentials

Oil Painting Essentials: Mastering portraits, figures, still lifes, landscapes , and interiors by Gregg Kreutz  shows “how a multi-genre approach can dramatically improve your painting skills. Arranged by category, each chapter covers both the essentials specific to that subject matter and those that apply to all genres.”

This is a beautifully done book. And as the description says it covers several genres of oil painting so that no matter your specialty or preference it is likely covered. This book isn’t for the beginner oil painter. I’m not the artist in our family. My daughter loves art of all kinds so I passed this book to her and let her look at it. She expressed it was way over her current abilities. He gives step by step techniques for different approaches. I would say that if you are a well honed artist looking to improve your skills this would be a good resource. Again, it isn’t for the beginning artist in my opinion.

The book itself is filled with gorgeous pictures of oil paintings. It is chocked full of useful information to help improve your skills. I would recommend it to an experienced artist looking to improve. Whether you love portraits, landscapes, still life, etc. you can benefit. It kind of reminds me of a text book when reading through it with very comprehensive information. It may be overwhelming to the beginner.

I received this book at no charge from www.bloggingforbooks.com in exchange for an honest review. You can purchase a copy of this book here.

Simply Calligraphy: A Beginner's Guide to Elegant Lettering

 

Judy Detrick’s book Simply Calligraphy: A Beginner’s Guide to Elegant lettering is just as it says a beginners guide to calligraphy. “This little guide to hand lettering proves that calligraphy is as easy as picking up pen and paper.” The books starts with giving you an idea as to what tools you need to start. The information is very basic and it is kind of left up to you to research exactly what works best for you. The rest of the book is instructions that start with basic lines and curves to form the letters. It begins with the easiest lower case and progressively leads up to the hardest uppercase letters.

I would say this book is very good if you have never been introduced to calligraphy. It is very basic in my opinion and easy to understand. It should give you a foundation to start with. I wouldn’t think it would be beneficial for intermediate or beyond. It doesn’t get into the fancier or more artsy calligraphy. It does include swirls and such at the end that you can add to what you learn.  I have some knowledge of calligraphy but it has been years since I did it. It is going to be fun to practice and see if I can pick it back up. It would have been nice if maybe some practice sheets would have been included in the book so one could start right away. I suppose you could start on plain paper but I remember having practice paper that helped you get the right angle and slope to the lettering, not just lines.

I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get started with calligraphy but not for anyone who already has knowledge of calligraphy. I do wish it had included a few more examples or exercises for some more advanced writing.  I received this book at no charge from www.bloggingforbooks.com in exchange for an honest review.  You can purchase a copy for yourself here.

Little One, God Made You Special

Little one, God Made you Special written by Amy Warren Hilliker and illustrated by Polona Lovsin is a cute little board book that will make any toddler understand that God made them special. The book is very durable for little hands and I absolutely love the illustrations. The animals all look so sweet and cuddly it makes you want to smile. “God made you special, little one. There’s no one like you – no, not one!”

Perfect little book to teach your baby and toddler just how special they are. My little one loves to read it together over and over.  I received this book at no charge from www.booklookbloggers.com in exchange for an honest review.

Understanding Exposure

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson 4^th edition “has taught generations of photographers how to shoot the images they want by demystifying the complex concepts of exposure in photography.” Bryan Peterson explains how to move from using your camera in fully automatic mode to fully manual mode to get the most from your camera.

In this book you will learn fundamentals of light, exposure, shutter speeds, apertures and all written in easy to understand methods. He uses many of his own photos as examples and his instructions are very clear. I own an earlier edition of this same book and was curious to see how if any had this edition. The biggest difference in my opinion are the photographs he uses. The methods and explanations are basically the same so either edition is nice to have.  I didn’t really notice any big changes.

If you are wanted to get the most out of your DSLR and are a beginner I would highly recommend this book. I have read a lot of photography manuals and Bryan Peterson is by far the easiest for me to understand and I have learned so much from all of his books. I would suggest beginning with this one and then moving on to others that he has available.

In this book you will learn how to adjust your camera to make your shutter speed and apertures to work together in order to get the effects you want. You will be able to become more creative. Learn how to adjust you aperture to blur your background or adjust your shutter speed to show movement in your pictures.  Your photography will definitely improve if you use his techniques. I love his analogy on how to get correct exposure using the “Sky Brothers” and their cousin “Mr. Green Jeans”

He also gives you tips and techniques to adjust your settings in tricky lighting situations such as night time cityscapes and high contrast situations. He talks some on using flashes and filters and what you can do to get the most out of them.

I believe novice photographers will get the most from this book but just about anyone can learn something from it from the extreme beginner to the expert.  The book is full of beautiful photography, the paper quality and print are exceptional and will lend itself to being read again and again. I often find myself needing a refresher and I’ll pick it up and read through it again and again.

I highly recommend anything by Bryan Peterson but I have to say Understanding Exposure has probably helped me the most. I received this book from www.bloggingforbooks.com in exchange for an honest review. You can purchase a copy here.

Wonders of Creation

 

Wonders of Creation: Illustrations to Color and Inspire by Cindy Wilde and Pimlada Phuapradit, over 90 pages of detailed line art designed for you to “sit back, relax, and experience amazing flora and fauna from around the globe.”  When reading the description for this particular coloring book I assumed that it was more of a spiritual or Christian themed coloring book. But upon receiving it it really doesn’t convey any Christian inspirations throughout although it does depict animals and plant life created by God. The only real mention of anything remotely Christian is in the beginning introduction that mentions God’s creation. Other than that there isn’t any scriptures or any inspirational quotes.

That being said the book is lovely. It kind of reminds me of books such as Millie Marotta’s Tropical Wonderland or others that are similar except this one is slightly more whimsical and not very tiny details. So if you really like those books but are intimidated by the tiny details then this may be more your speed. It’s slightly more whimsical and not as realistic as others, it’s almost cartoonish. The lines are thicker and the spaces are more open and wider. The pages are double sided again like many of my other reviews I wouldn’t recommend markers because of bleed through. I used cheaper Crayola pencils on this one and it took the color very well. The pages are thick cardstock and have a very smooth feel to them. The pencils went on smooth and very bright. It probably is one of my favorites in this respect.

I think this would be a good book for those who have issues with sight and have problems seeing tiny lines.  The lines in this one are very bold and easy to color in. It would probably also be good for those who have issues being able to stay in the lines on more detailed works. The beauty of it these attributes of this book doesn’t change the aesthetics or make it less appealing at least not to me.  I’m very glad to have this in my coloring book library and would recommend it to anyone who likes to color. Especially those who want something a little easier to work in. I do believe the description should be changed if it hasn’t been already. I don’t believe it is very accurate in leading you to believe this is an “inspiration” type coloring book that typically would have scripture or inspirational quotes.

I received this book from www.booklookbloggers.com at no charge in exchange for an honest review.  

Wonderland

Wonderland by Amily Shen an adult coloring book that is based on Alice in Wonderland. Amily Shen is Taiwanese  illustrator who has really outdone herself with this book. I really like this coloring book. An excerpt from the book: Do you know Alice’s story? Do you draw pictures in your head while reading” Strange conversations with a strange cast… has the story been transformed? If you too jumped down the rabbit hole, who would you meet? What colors would you encounter? Take up your colored pencils, and together let’s make a book. Read with your colored pencils and give Alice a new adventure.

This coloring book is a coloring book and story combined. Left to color by your imagination. I wouldn’t say it is what we typically see Alice depicted as. It isn’t the traditional looking or Disney looking Alice in Wonderland. I really like that aspect of the book.  It is broken into 9 chapters In chapter 3 there is an activity that helps make the book interactive. I’ll leave that for you to discover. Don’t worry the answer key is in the back. There are so many different aspects to this book. It isn’t your ordinary adult coloring book.

The book itself has a very nice dust cover that can be colored. The actual book has very interesting cover but I’m not sure it would lend itself to coloring with just any media. Maybe markers but I haven’t tried them. I think it is way too slick for pencils.  The pages are all double sided and printed on very thick pages. There is a slight tooth to the pages. I would be afraid to use markers for fear of bleed through and I wouldn’t want to damage the reverse side page. I will stick to pencils with this one. There are several types of drawings some more detailed than others and some being double page spreads. The pages have lots of details without being extremely tedious to finish. There is a little bit of everything in this book: mandala style pictures, animals, flowers, buildings, etc.  The pictures are quite whimsical and fun. It is going to be a fun book for me to color.

This will make a great addition to your adult coloring book collection especially if you love Alice in Wonderland. I received this book from www.bloggingforbooks.com at no charge in exchange for an honest review. I love this book and you can purchase your very own copy here.

The illustrated Compendium of Amazing Animal Facts

I didn’t really know what to expect when I ordered “The Illustrated Compendium of Amazing Animal Facts” by Maja Safstrom. I can honestly say I love this little book.  It is a small book much smaller than I expected. I haven’t measured it to get exact measurements but I would guess it is 5x7. It is a hardback book with black and white line drawings throughout.

The illustrations are kind of childlike drawings but still very appealing. There is approximately 100 animal and facts about them in this book. My teenage daughter came in and picked it up and said: “I really like this.” I was shocked. The facts are just cute little things such as “If a snail doesn’t like the weather it can go into its shell and hibernate until it gets better.” For up to three years.  Who knew?

I know adult coloring is very popular right now. This book isn’t intended for that purpose but I can see potential colorist wanting to color it.

I plan on using it in homeschooling just for some fun ideas during animal and unit studies. I don’t believe the facts are going to be life changing knowledge but who knows zoology might be in someone’s future. It makes a cute conversation piece. The book price of $14.99 might be a little pricey but if you can get it at a discounted price it is worth it.

I had reservations before ordering wondering if I would like it or not, or if it would be a waste of my time.  I am so glad I ordered! I received this book at no charge in exchange for an honest review.  You can purchase a copy for yourself here.

 

Country Cooking from a Redneck Kitchen

 

Country Cooking from a Redneck Kitchen by Francine Bryson and Ann Vokwein is my kind of cookbook. It is full country cooking and being from the south we love country cooking here. Many of the recipes I am familiar with but there are some that are new to me and I can’t wait to try them out.

Some of the categories are: Redneck Whatnots (dips and salads mostly), Yardbird (for all of you who don’t have a clue that’s chicken), Enough to feed a crowd (living in the Bible Belt we have a lot of after church dinners), Sides, ‘taters & ‘Maters among others.  There are 234 pages of recipes but I didn’t count the number of actual recipes. The food is beautifully photographed although not all recipes have a photo.

I love cornbread salad and the recipe in this book looks wonderful. There are so many recipes I could never list them all but a few that I can’t wait to try: Bacon and Cheese Stuffed Burgers,  Blue Cheese Spicy BBQ Burgers, Chicken Casserole, and surely can’t forget the desserts Brown Sugar Pie, and Oreo Brownies. I’m personally not a big fan of fried green tomatoes but there is a recipe in it for them and if you are looking for something to do with those green tomatoes fresh out of the garden many people love them.

If you are looking for a vegetarian cookbook you may want to stay away from this one. And I would say that if you are looking for low-fat this one isn’t for you. But if you are looking for some good southern comfort food grab it quickly. I wouldn’t suggest eating out of it every day but some indulgence is good for the soul. I believe this is one of my new favorite cookbooks and I will be using it frequently.

I received this cookbook at no charge from www.bloggingforbooks.com in exchange for an honest review. You can purchase a copy of it here..

Pressing Pause: 100 Quiet Moments for Moms to meet with Jesus

 

Pressing Pause: 100 Quiet Moments for Moms to meet with Jesus by Karen Ehman and Ruth Schwenk is a devotional for mothers who need some encouragement and quiet time with God. “Pressing Pause offers you a calm way to start your day, to refresh yourself in Jesus and drink deeply of His presence so that you are ready to pour out love, time, and energy into the people who matter most to you.” Karen Ehman is a Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker and Ruth Schwenk is a pastor’s wife and mother.

This book has a beautifully done hardback cover. The devotions are short enough for the busy mom but contain enough encouragement to help you through your day.  There are 100 devotions that include a bible verse, the devotion and a prayer. At the end of each devotion there is a question section to help you think about the devotion and then each devotion has a few lines to write notes. The bible verses are from different bible versions . I noticed NLT, HCSB,  and ESV the others aren’t labeled.

I love the messages throughout the book the only thing I wish were different some of the note sections only include a small area to journal in. I wish there was at least a half page or an entire page to jot down thoughts.

If you are a busy mom looking for a few minutes to spend with God to renew your spirit each day I would recommend this one.  I received this book at no charge from www.booklookbloggers.com in exchange for an honest review