May: Craft Finds II
Craft Finds II
Spring is a season of energy, growth, and blooming, a moment where we gently emerge from our cocoon and feel the pull to create. This month’s curation is an ode to CRAFT.
An invitation to make, to touch, to explore, to play. To follow curiosity with your hands and let it lead the way.
This selection celebrates unexpected ways of sharing knowledge, where learning becomes sensory, intuitive, and alive. You’ll find illustrated instructions on painting, embroidery, knitting, and other creative practices that open up space for experimentation and discovery. Go get inspired… and go make something.
Famille 2000, bricolage
A large-format book that brings together a wide range of art and craft activities to draw inspiration from. What stands out right away is the visual approach, desaturated illustrations paired with crisp photography. The balance between the two makes the content feel clear, approachable, and inspiring. The way techniques are explained feels inviting, making you want to try things out without overthinking. There are also playful pages at the beginning that introduce tools in a creative way, which sets a nice tone for the rest of the book. The content is organized into chapters, each marked by bold color combinations and large page-filling numbers, alongside original illustrations.
Mon tricot Special
A gift from a dear friend and truly a hidden gem. I’m especially drawn to the use of rounded Arial typefaces throughout the book. Paired with a variety of other typefaces, each page almost feels like it has its own identity. Every section brings a slightly different tone, which keeps the experience unique. The colour palette is one of my favourite parts: red, blue, and brown against an off-white background, printed on a subtly lustred paper. The photography is equally striking, alternating between colour and black and white in a very considered way. Finally, the layouts stand out with their use of photography and typography bloc, often taking up entire pages and creating strong visual moments throughout almost like a knit itself.
Making Wire Jewelry
I didn’t select this one for the cover :P, but for the photography and the interior layouts. I love how the jewellery is styled and propped — it really supports the idea of making and crafting the pieces. The instructional pages are very effective and clear, but what stands out most is how the grid is pushed to its maximum potential. There’s a strong sense of structure, yet still a lot of visual energy in the way everything is composed.
Ateliers
Another kind of bible of art and craft, Ateliers brings together around 500 pages of different projects to explore and complete. Each project has its own aesthetic, reflecting the spirit of a specific atelier, while still being anchored by a consistent structure — a recurring cartouche system and a stable typographic grid that runs throughout the book. What makes this book particularly engaging is the illustration of the activities. They bring a sense of clarity and playfulness to each project, making the process feel accessible and visually rich.
Tricot, Sélection crochet d’art
Another knitting guide, but I’m especially drawn to the photography in this one. The blacks are softened, and the off-white presence gives everything a calm, almost soothing quality, enhanced by subtle pastel tones. The images are truly stunning and carry a poetic sensibility. This contrasts with the instruction manual itself, which is very strict and black-and-white in its approach. That tension between the poetic photography and the functional, structured guide creates a really interesting and unexpected result.
L’art du Bouquet
A classic art and craft theme for spring is definitely the art of making flower bouquets. This small guide is especially beautiful in its simplicity. What stands out most is the balance throughout the book — the thoughtful use of white space and the way text and illustrations are composed together. What really holds everything together is the illustration style, with its subtle grainy texture and carefully chosen colours. It gives the whole book a cohesive, tactile feel that makes it very satisfying to look through.
Tout le crochet
Yes, another one about knitting — this is actually the year I started trying to knit, so maybe that’s why I was drawn to so many of these books, or simply because I love the craft behind them. What I enjoy most is the balance between imagery, composition, how-to elements, and illustration. Especially in this one, the photography set against coloured backgrounds is just so beautiful. The typography is quite simple, almost boring, it really lets the photography take the lead. I also love the cover. And the placement of the price on the “O” is just perfect.
How to paint Beautiful Landscape and Seascape
To finish this curation, a poetic book on how to paint landscapes and I’m really glad I discovered it as an invitation to try making them myself. The illustrations are beautiful and peaceful, carrying a quiet sense of atmosphere throughout. The guide itself is unusual in its structure: a large-format book with short explanations placed at the bottom of the pages, introduced by big drop caps, almost like a Disney storytale book. In the center of the book, there are full-page illustrations presented in a gold frame, it's just epic. The instructions are communicated mainly through step-by-step illustrations, and that feels like exactly what is needed — nothing more, nothing less.
