Crafty Chica's Art de la Soul: Glittery Ideas to Liven Up Your Life

by Kathy Cano-Murillo, John Samora, Patrick Murillo (Illustrator)

Crafters everywhere can tap
into their creative spirits with
this idea-packed, beautifully
illustrated book No one knows better than crafty chica extraordinaire Kathy Cano Murillo the satisfaction that comes with creating one-of-a-kind items. In Crafty Chica's Art de la Soul , she offers thirty original projects ranging from colorful jewelry and elegant candles to hip Mexican coffee coasters. Along with full-color photographs, step-by-step instructions, and a handy resource guide are Murillo's fun and inspiring tips for connecting with your culture, tapping into your creative spirit, and finding new ways to spice up your love life, glam up your garden, redecorate your kitchen, and much more. With Kathy Cano Murillo's guidance and glittery ideas, crafty chicas of every age and skill level will be well on their way to developing their own personal sense of style while living artful lives.

Genres: Nonfiction, Crafts, Art

208 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2006

About the author

Kathy Cano-Murillo is an artist, author, TV personality, and founder of CraftyChica®. She is a former syndicated newspaper columnist and now a full-time creativepreneur and has authored a dozen books, including two novels and the best seller – Forever Frida. CraftyChica designs have been sold on HSN, at Barnes & Noble, Michaels, and hundreds of retailers across the country. Kathy’s mission is to promote positivity via creativity! Features include Forbes, The New York Times, HGTV, CNN, Buzzfeed+ more. She is a third-gen Mexican-American and lives in Phoenix, AZ.

Reviews

[Melki]

This is quite possibly the most entertaining craft book I've ever encountered! Oh, there are the usual how-to's for all sorts of delightfully funky items, but Kathy Cano Murillo has personality out the wazoo. Sprinkled throughout the book are hilarious tales of crafting mishaps - (spray painting shoes is not a good idea), and wacky occurrences like when the author dropped her true love's favorite headband in an unflushed toilet, or the time she wandered into a hobby shop, only to be informed by the obnoxious employee that, "This is not a craft store." (Kathy has the last laugh by pretending she came in to buy an expensive model car kit . . . which she then purchased. Guess she showed him!)

The projects are colorful, and Latin-flavored - some are Dia de Los Muertos inspired. There's a little of everything here, from jewelry to home decor. I fell in love with a small painted chest of drawers. For the feet, Kathy filled shot glasses with beads, and glued them to the base. AWESOME!

Even if you never plan to make any of the goodies featured in this book, you'll have a terrific time perusing the pages, chuckling over Kathy's comments, and getting inspired.

[Nikki in Niagara]

I've had this book since it came out in 2006 and I loved it at the time as I was just getting into altered arts and this was the first thing I'd really read that didn't cover the typical (at that time) vintage children with words like hope, peace, love. This book is filled with altered art projects that are decidedly Mexican, Latino and Catholic with bright colours and bold images. For today's reader the book is good for beginners who have never altered anything before. You will get all sorts of ideas with instructions here. The book is not just full of projects but has diary entries (stories) written from the author's personal experience. An uplifting, creative read. I'm at the point that the book is no longer very useful for me so am passing it on now after this re-read.

[Ligaya]

I am all for empowering people to be creative and "liven up" their lives but the voice of my freshman year teacher in art school keeps ringing in my ears, talking about the importance of good craft. Without it, you have quilts that quickly fall apart, decoupaged boxes that delaminate, decals that wash off, painted shoes that flake, scrapbooks that look more "scrap" than "book." It was really difficult for me to get through this, looking at all the photos of finished projects that could have been so much more successful? visually pleasing? if only the designer had taken just a bit more care with assembly. Mosaic Address Sign, page 124, why oh why are the glass gems uneven along the edges? One spends a lot of time on these crafts, it would be nice if they would hold up...

[Araminta Matthews]

Now this is an EXCELLENT, themed craft book with a smattering of memoir rolled in. I flagged a bunch of crafts for me and my Spanish students to do. LOVE the idea of a Family Tree in a recipe box with family members like Pokémon or Baseball cards--I will have my students make up little family cards and write Spanish "stats" for each member they include. LOVE this.

[Wendi WDM]

I love this book! If books could be desserts, this book would be a yummy fried ice cream with a cherry on top.

I love this book so much that I often check it out from the library just so i can flip through the book and look at the pictures.

The project ideas are wonderful as well. A little South West/Mexican flavor, lots of beauty. And the projects don't look Martha Stewart hard, but something that anyone could do.

The book flows, has lovely pictures accompanying every projects, gives great directions on how to make things.

I have to actually buy this book for myself someday.

[Kim]

Love this book and am putting it on my wish list to own. The author's anecdotes are fun, witty and sometimes downright hysterical! My favorite story was of her trip to a hobby store after brunch with her crafting buddies and a new project in mind. Did I mention her craft ideas are fresh and delightful! Even if you don't like the religious icon/crafts you can imagine them with other artwork or themes. Every time I pick the book up I am finding something I missed the during the previous read!

[Krissi]

Kathy seamlessly blends very amusing stories (more like confessions, if truth be told - like the spray-painted-shoes debacle) with uniquely "Crafty Chica" easy-to-follow craft tutorials that will inspire you to keep creating.

[Zgardenldy]

Cute book -- lot's of Craft ideas. I really like the one on using slide mounts to put around mini lights to make luminary strands. The idea about using an enamel liner from a washing machine on a stand was also a rocking idea about reusing things.

[Relyn]

I never reviewed this one either. MAN!

[Ana "Noni" Parra]

The ideas really liven up your life. I helps bring out the creativity in you even when you think you can't craft.

[Lizzyh]

This book was great! There are so many great projects in this book with Mexican inspiration. I've done many of the wonderful projects out of this book and have received many compliments.

[Dee]

She is so creative & talented. This book is an asset to any crafter's library.

[C]

This wasn't really my style, but I liked the layout and funky projects.

[Ann]

This book was so good! I love the crafty ideas and especially love the pictures! Crafts were easy to make because the instructions were thorough and easy to follow.

[patty]

Art projects and musings loaded with chica color and inspiration!