Gettin' Made: Craft Book Giveaway Bonanza!

I had the chance to check out two new craft book titles from Chronicle Books this weekend, and I'm excited to share them with you!

After the jump, read about Amy Butler's Style Stitches and Creative, Inc. – and enter to win one of 5 free books from Chronicle Books!

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Amy Butler's Style Stitches is one of the prettiest sewing books I've seen in a while. It's chock full of fabulous page design and stunning photography, not to mention it contains detailed directions and 12 complete sewing patterns to help you create 26 different handbags!

The Perfectly Pleated Clutch bag on page 65 is one of my favorites in the book. Directions are included to create three different sizes of this bag. Couple that with the zillions of potential fabric combinations you could come up with and you could sew up this clutch over and over without ever creating the same bag twice.

I really appreciate the detailed step-by-step illustrated instructions in this book. It really guides you through the process, with clear instructions on how to alter dimesions, straps and embellishments to create variations on the basic patterns. Having the printed out, actual size patterns included in a pouch in the back of the book is super handy as well!

On the next page, get your creative business in check with Creative, Inc.

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If you've got an indie arts or crafts business, and especially if you're just getting started as a creative freelancer of any sort, you may want to pick up a copy of Creative, Inc. The subtitle of the book is “The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business”, and it really delivers!

Creative, Inc. is broken up into 8 chapters, covering topics like “Setting Up Shop” for folks just getting started, and “Getting the Word Out” for those that are a little more established and looking for help building their business. Each chapter talks frankly about how complicated running your own business can be, while offering up real world profiles of creatives that are succeeding, along with their insights as to what has worked for their respective businesses.

I'm currently 65 pages into Creative, Inc., and think the section on “Making it Official” on page 44 would be really helpful to lots of indie artists and crafters. While laws vary everywhere, that section gives you a general idea of what sorts of official paperwork needs to be filed for a business to be considered an actual on-the-books business.

And now, without further ado, thanks to Chronicle Books we have a big fatty giveaway this week! Four winners will be chosen at random to win one free book each. Comment on this blog post and you could win one of the following: Amy Butler's Style Stitches, Paper+Craft: 25 Charming Gifts, Accents and Accessories to Make from Paper, Every Day's a Holiday: Year-Round Crafting with Kids, or Silhouette Art: Papers, Instructions, and Patterns for Making Modern Heirlooms!

Leave a comment on this blog post by midnight on Friday, October 29 and you'll be automatically entered to win! We love discussions, so comment as many times as you like – but note that only one entry per person will be counted. The winner will be picked by www.random.org and will be notified by email. If you've won a Gettin' Made giveaway in the last 30 days, you'll be ineligible to win so others have a chance at awesomeness. Good luck everyone!

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