This book had a lot of neat ideas. Many of them possibly looked better in the pages of books than they would in real life, at least if you're trying to avoid the Grandma look in your home decor, but I did finally settle on a cute daffodil border pattern that was fast and easy to embroider on a towel. It now looks very nice in the guest bathroom. The great thing about cross-stitch is that it could not be simpler to learn, yet in this age of non-crafty people, if you sit and do it for any length of time, people will flock around you saying, "How did you do that? I could never do anything like that!" And it gives you an excuse to sit and watch tv without feeling guilty for accomplishing nothing. If you have more time than I do, and probably also more patience, there are a lot of fairly lengthy projects in here that would look extremely cool when finished. Think of the Christmas present possibilities. Or you could sell them on Etsy. In any case, this book may come in handy. ( )

I am a sucker for Art Nouveau and this book encapsulates several of the design ideas that make this such a great period. I'm hoping to make more than one of these pieces but which one to choose next!

Each piece is accompanied by a smaller piece in the same flavour to give you more ideas about how to use the iconography, fun and beautiful.

mucha champagne lady picture; celebration card; seguy sunflower table mat and coaster; de morgan bolster cushion and rug; klimt spiraling mirror frame and pot lids; art nouveau flowers; tiffany work box, pincushion and landscape picture; crane's flower ladies; voysey landscape clock, snowdrop pillow band and cushion; machintosh rose cushion, rose lady picture, rose clock, art is the flower picture; white rose and red rose picture, trinket pot lids; small motifs for design ideas; decorative borders; techniques ( )