* Helen M. Stevens' Masterclass Embroidery Series books have sold over 50,000 copies to date* Beautiful illustrations and gorgeous projects will inspire novice and advanced embroiderersDrawing inspiration from different cultures and countries, Helen M. Stevens presents a collection of simply stunning embroidery projects that celebrate the beauty of nature around the world. From the polar caps to the tropics, through flora, fauna, birds, and insects, this guide shows readers how to translate images in nature into finished projects, and inspires them to blend traditional and modern techniques--such as using real gold and silver, and incorporating materials gathered from nature--for surprisingly lifelike results.

Celebrates the diverse beauty of nature from around the globe.

This is the fifth title in "The Masterclass Embroidery Series" showing how to create stunning embroideries designed by internatio- nally acclaimed textile artist Helen M. Stevens.Helen explores a range of beautiful garden settings, from the intimate and personal cottage garden, to the stately splendour of the formal country park, using pure silk embroidery threads to achieve astonishingly realistic effects.Each of the five chapters builds toward an in-depth masterclass project including landscape templates and close-up detailed colour templates of garden wildlife, as well as colour keys and step-by-step stitching instructions.Easy-to-follow colour photographs illustrate the working stages of each masterclass embroidery, ensuring that perfect results can be achieved when recreating the picturesque designs.

From ancient times, embroidery and other textile arts have been associated with myths and legends, fables and fairy tales, high drama and folklore, from Ancient Greece to modern Europe. This book explores the use of embroidery in such rituals. The Myth and Magic of Embroidery contains embroidered pictures inspired by nature, including plant life, animals, landscapes and sacred places from many origins such as Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Old English. Each chapter contains an adaptation of a legend or fable with illustrations taken from the author's own workbook. The book includes detailed working methods and new design techniques, such as the transformation of traditional ethnic stitches and the translation of designs from ceramics and architecture into motifs for embroidery, enabling the reader to create stunning embroidery pieces of their own.

Drawing inspiration from over 1200 years of history, this book provides a collection of 75 embroideries alongside sketches from the author's workbook. It includes full instructions for all techniques and stitches.

In this bestselling autobiography, completed shortly before his death in 1984, Ansel Adams looks back at his legendary six-decade career as a conservationist, teacher, musician, and, above all, photographer. Written with characteristic warmth, vigor, and wit, this fascinating account brings to life the infectious enthusiasms, fervent battles, and bountiful friendships of a truly American original.

Embroidery artist Helen M. Stevens lives and works in the heart of the Suffolk countryside, which inspires her embroideries of wild animals, birds and flowers. This book reproduces in colour a collection of 75 examples of her work, and also contains a discussion of the techniques used.