Meet the Authors

Hazel Lale

Hazel is an artist who is attracted to themes which allow her to break free of outlines with energy and capture her imagination. She travels widely and has exhibited in major galleries, including London's Mall Galleries, Alexandra Palace and elsewhere.

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Jera Brandvig

Jera Brandvig worked in the biotech industry before becoming a best-selling quilting author and fabric designer. Jera lives in the Ballard neighbourhood of Seattle with her husband and two boys.

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Sarah Ditchfield

Sarah Ditchfield's candle-making journey started after her husband bought her a candle-making kit one Christmas. She developed her skills and began to experiment with different types of waxes, containers and moulds. Sarah sold many of her initial creations to independent shops, hotels and restaurants. In 2012, Sarah launched her company, Candle by Events, which runs candle-making workshops for adults as well as birthday parties for children. Her company also runs team building candle-making workshops for multinational corporations, plus family fun days, hen parties and activities for schools and clubs. Sarah loves sharing her passion for candle-making with others, and hopes you enjoy making the projects in this book. Sarah lives in Marlow, Buckinghamshire with her husband Philip, her two children Louise and Christopher and Welsh Springer Spaniel, Amber.

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Jessica Palmer

Jessica Palmer gave up a TV production career to rekindle her first love of art, gaining an MA in Illustration at Kingston University at the age of 49. Her work appears on a variety of book and album covers and in book designs and websites. She is much in demand for her illustrations and recently created the herb and vegetable drawings for Bistronomy - Recipes from the Best New Paris Bistros by Jane Sigal (Rizzoli, New York). For more about Jessica's illustration work, go to www.jessicapalmerart.com. Jessica is widely known as a papercut, collage and paper sculpture artist, making pieces for private commission as well as installations and exhibitions in the UK and USA. She is now a visiting artist in galleries and museums in London, Bath and Bristol, including the V & A and the National Portrait Gallery.

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Trixie von Purl

Trixie von Purl is a grande dame from Bath, who lives in a formidable Georgian residence on the sweeping Royal Crescent. Her home is decorated in flawless Regency style, inspired by the enchanting novels of Jane Austen. The hub of the local social scene, she loves to entertain and her wit is razor-sharp. Like Austen’s heroine Emma Woodhouse her mantra is: “I always deserve the best treatment because I never put up with any other”. She does have a softer side too, though, and loves knitting Austen-inspired dolls with her friends—the perfect time for a good gossip.

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Jessica Alexandrakis

Jessica Alexandrakis learned to quilt while living in Hokkaido, Japan in 2002. She loves collecting fabric, piecing scrap quilts, and quilting in public. Jessica is the author of Quilting on the Go! (Search Press, April 2013). She lives outside of New York City and blogs at Lifeunderquilts.blogspot.com.

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Marisa Edghill

Marisa Edghill grew up in a house filled with glitter, pretty paper, and an inherent love of craft. Which is to say, her love of all things handmade started early! Self-taught, Marisa shares her love of washi tape and other crafty adventures online at omiyageblogs.ca. Marisa is a featured artist in the forthcoming book Pinterest Perfect!www.omiyageblogs.ca

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Aimee Harman

Aimee is a self-taught mosaicist who became obsessed with making mosaics in 1998. In 1999 she approached her local council to offer to mosaic a roundabout for free in Peacehaven, where she lives (images can be seen on her website at www.mosaicmadromans.com), and as a result of the publicity, a steward from the train took the newspaper article to the project manager. Before she knew it, she had been offered the job of restoring all the mosaics by the late Marjorie Knowles on The British Pullman Venice-Simplon Orient Express (the company has since changed hands and is now known as Belmond). Aimee still has the contract to restore and maintain the twelve mosaic floors each year with her colleague, Alex Bennison. Since this amazing opportunity she has received various commissions from the private and public sector, including designing and making eight mosaics for the sister train to the British-Pullman, The Belmond Northern Belle, based in Crewe. Three floors have been completed so far. Aimee attends Art in Action every summer at Waterperry in Oxford, teaching 3-5-year-olds to mosaic. She also teaches in schools around the country, arriving dressed as Minerva, the Roman goddess of Wisdom, Art and War, to inspire creativity in children – thus they remember Roman history through a real mosaic they have made and will keep for their lifetime. Aimee also runs her own web-based company, from which she produces and sells mosaic kits for children to English Heritage. If her new book has enticed you to try your hand at mosaics, you can also attend her one-day workshops, themed on the projects in the book, throughout this year. Contact her via www.mosaicmadromans.com

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Debbie Shore

Debbie Shore started her career as a children's television presenter and since then has appeared regularly on television both as an actress and selling products on a shopping channel. Debbie has also hosted live fashion shows with a major fashion store, produces her own range of instructional DVDs and writes for several popular sewing magazines. Two of her previous Search Press sewing titles, Making Cushion Covers and Half Yard Heaven, have been huge hits. Debbie lives in Lincolnshire.

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Fiona Pullen

Fiona Pullen is the founder of The Sewing Directory, the popular and successful site for finding local and online sewing suppliers, sewing courses and sewing groups. This site includes projects, interviews, how to guides, reviews and fortnightly competitions, aiming to offer something for everyone. She now has a community of over 30,000 people all interacting on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest along with The Sewing Directory’s own blog. Fiona studied law at Cardiff university and has a passionate interest in social media, and helping others achieve their aims and goals.You will also find endless hints and tips from Fiona on how to create your own dream business on http://www.craftacreativebusiness.co.uk/

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Sachiyo Ishii

Sachiyo Ishii was a money broker in Wall Street and London, but discovered the joy of handcraft after her second son was born, and was very much influenced by the Steiner education system. She has been involved in many different creative activities, and her Waldorf-inspired dolls and knitted toys are well known and loved by many. Her work has appeared in knitting and parenting magazines. She lives and works freelance in West Sussex, England.

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The Woolly Felters

Roz Dace and Judy Balchin are crafty sisters who love to felt. Their frist book together, How to Make Little Needle-Felted Teddy Bears, will be published by Search Press in October 2014.

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Yvette Stanton

Yvette Stanton is the publisher and designer behind Vetty Creations. She has a passion for whitework embroidery, and a passion for sharing it with others. Yvette has written several books on whitework, one of them with her twin sister, Prue Scott. She also has written two highly acclaimed stitch dictionaries, one of which focuses on left-handed embroidery. Yvette is an accredited tutor with the Embroiderers Guild of NSW, and teaches embroidery classes, specialising in whitework at shops and guild groups around Australia. Visit Yvette's blog at http://vettycreations.com.au/white-threads/

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Val Pierce

Val Pierce's passion for knitting began at the age of five. Later in life she began home knitting for yarn manufacturers, and since then she has made a huge range of items, from evening dresses to teddy bears. She later began designing items of her own, and before long Val's designs were appearing regularly in national knitting and crochet magazines. She also teaches knitting, as well as a range of other needlecrafts, to both adults and children. Val lives and works in Shropshire.

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Janet Whittle

Janet Whittle is a professional artist and qualified teacher who specialises in flowers and landscapes in watercolour and pastel. She exhibits regularly at the Westminster Galleries in London, and has also shown her work at the prestigious Mall Galleries and other international venues. Greeting cards bearing her work are widely available in Europe and the US and her prints are sold throughout the world. Janet Whittle has received awards from the major UK art groups, including the Society of Botanical Artists' Founder President's Honour in 1999, and the St. Cuthberts Mill Award for a picture of outstanding quality in 2001. Also in that year she won The Society of Flower Painters' Award for Excellence for their Jersey Exhibition.

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Marrianne Mercer

Marrianne (Maz) Mercer studied at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University to gain a degree in Graphic Design and Advertising in 2005. From there she moved back to Kent to start her career as a graphic designer. She now works as a designer for a book publisher and enjoys making handmade beaded jewellery at weekends.

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Hazel Everett

Hazel Everett first became interested in embroidery whilst still at school, and her teacher suggested she might pursue a career in embroidery. Hazel went on to be an Apprentice at the Royal School of Needlework (RSN), and although she enjoyed learning about many different types of embroidery, she became most fascinated by goldwork. As an Apprentice she had the honour of embroidering a commission for the RSN workroom - a new pulpit fall in real, 18-carat Japanese gold thread. As her career developed, fate played a part and she was offered a number of commissions involving goldwork, including a mitre for Cardinal Hume. Since then Hazel has taught Goldwork Embroidery all over the UK and has worked on numerous commissions.

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Hashim Akib

Hashim Akib was encouraged to paint as a child. He attended art college and has worked as an illustrator for newspapers and design firms. In 2009 he won the SAA Artist of the Year competition.

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Ann Cox

First and foremost, Ann Cox is a silk ribbon embroidery designer who runs her own company selling silk ribbons and kits. She teaches at colleges of further education, takes classes in her own studio and gives talks to clubs and guilds. She is also a professional cake decorator, a very keen gardener and is interested in many other crafts, especially those relating to flowers. Ann lives with her husband, Ashley, in a small village near Southampton in Hampshire.

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Sue Stratford

Sue Stratford owns and runs The Knitting Hut, a yarn and needle supplier, and she finds the yarns she stocks there and her customers a constant source of inspiration. She teaches knitting and crochet workshops as well as offering advice to customers, and loves sharing her skills with others. She always has countless knitting projects on the go.

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Di Van Niekerk

Di Van Niekerk began with needlecraft at a very young age and has always been fascinated by colour and texture. She makes her own range of silk and organza ribbons and exports worldwide. Her business Crafts Unlimited was founded in 1988 and has grown from strength to strength. She is regularly invited to teach at needlecraft conventions overseas and her books have been translated into many languages. Crafters all over the world can visit her interactive website www.dicraft.co.za.

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Jean Haines

Well known for her enthusiasm and passion for art, Jean Haines covers a wide range of subjects in a loose and interpretive style. In the 1990s she studied Chinese Brushwork in Hong Kong, which she now incorporates in her expressive watercolours. Light, colour and sections left to the viewers' imagination play a vital role in her paintings. In 1997 Jean moved to Dubai where she held workshops and courses and participated in many prestigious events at major galleries.

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Susie Johns

Susie Johns is an experienced crafter, specialising in knitting, papercrafts and embroidery. She contributes regularly to a number of craft magazines and is the author of a range of books. She also teaches craft workshops.

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Frances McNaughton

Frances McNaughton demonstrates sugar fairies and making sugarcraft flowers the soft way, and provides workshops to branches of the British Sugarcraft Guild, National Sugarart Association and other sugarcraft clubs.

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Terry Harrison

Terry Harrison became interested in art early on, attending Art School at the age of sixteen. His studies led to a career in graphics, then he became an illustrator, developing his own painting style and perfecting his techniques during evenings and weekends. Demand grew for his paintings and he soon gave up his 'day job' to paint full time. Now he is kept constantly busy with a full schedule of exhibitions, private commissions, demonstrations and painting holidays. His fine art prints are sold in shops and galleries everywhere. Terry is an energetic and prolific painter and his regular re-bookings for demonstrations reflect an enthusiastic response to his educational and entertaining style.

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Gill Stratton

Gill Stratton has always loved hats, a passion passed down from her Mum and Gran, who took any opportunity to wear a hat! Gill attended night classes at the London School of Fashion at night classes to learn how to make hats. She then went on to work for Mille-Fleurs, a bespoke millinery workshop in Otford, Kent, where she continues to make occasion hats and fascinators. Gill has also started her own company, Elizabeth Rees Millinery, making bespoke children's hats. As a mother of three, she saw a gap in the market for hats that are unique and desirable. She also found that allowing her children to choose the design and fabric was the only way to get them to wear sun hats.

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Bobby Britnell

She is a member of the Embroiderers Guild and of the Textile Study Group, a national teaching and exhibiting group. Her work is exhibited and held in private collections worldwide.

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Dave White

After 30 years of being in finance, Dave White discovered he could paint, and recognising that we all have creative gifts inside us, bursting to get out, he embarked on a new road of painting people's animals and teaching students how to do it. He exhibits annually at Crufts Dog Show and the New Forest Show, and has done numerous commissions all over the world. Living in the New Forest in England allows an up-close encounter with a variety of animals, including horses and dogs.

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Madeleine Millington

Madeleine Millington is best known for her work with recycled, dyed blankets. Her main signature has been a bright, bold use of colour and there is often a touch of humour in her ideas. Her inspiration comes from Medieval and Elizabethan periods, which are both rich and exciting in embroidery, as well as Folk Art with its bold and simple shapes. Madeleine enjoys classical music, gardening and going to the theatre, and she teaches regularly for both the Embroiderer's and the Quilters' Guild. She has also had articles published in numerous embroidery, patchwork and quilting magazines and is the designer behind the successful kit range 'Blankits'. You can find more information about Madeleine and her work on her website, www.madeleinemillington.com.

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Arne & Carlos

Arne Nerjordet and Carlos Zachrison, Norwegian and Swedish respectively, established their design company ARNE & CARLOS in 2002. Drawing on traditional Scandinavian influences and the natural environment, they create original and striking knitwear, and work with such prestigious fashion designers as Comme des Garçons. Arne and Carlos’ creative base is their eclectic farm in Norway, where they absorb the rich tradition of Scandinavian arts and crafts while exploring their own knitwear inspirations. www.arne-carlos.com

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Wendy Tait

Wendy Tait lives in Derbyshire and studied at the Joseph Wright School of Art. She produces designs for publication as greetings cards and has also written articles and illustrations for specialist art magazines.She has recently completed a commission from the Jersey Government to produce a series of flower paintings for postage stamps.

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