Today's Bloom: The Exquisite Book of Paper Flowers

Though it's a rainy Tuesday here in New York, a little burst of spring has arrived, with Livia Cetti's The Exquisite Book of Paper Flowers: A Guide to Making Unbelievably Realistic Paper Blooms, in stores today!

The country’s premiere paper-flower artist, author Livia Cetti is known for her high-style, gorgeous tissue and crepe-paper flowers—which are often mistaken for real flowers.

In The Exquisite Book of Paper Flowers, for the first time Cetti shares her techniques for hand crafting popular blooms, including peonies, poppies, roses, and hibiscus, and for combining them to create garlands, centerpieces, wreaths, corsages, and boutonnieres.

Whether your goal is to decorate for a spring wedding or shower, celebrate a birthday or graduation, or just add a bit of color to your home, you'll find endless inspiration in the pages of this step-by-step guide.

View our image gallery for more stunning photos from this book, plus a cherry blossom tutorial from a recent issue of InStyle! We know what we'll be doing on this rainy afternoon....

Spring Refresh with CLOTH by Cassandra Ellis!

There's something wonderful about changing our homes to reflect the change in seasons. When cold winter winds begin to blow in, we nuzzle in to wooly accessories; spring's arrival speaks of light cotton pieces; and linen's cool touch and open weave makes it ideal for the summer months.

For those of us who mark the passing of time in precious pieces and scraps of fabric, Cloth: 30+ Projects to Sew from Linen, Cotton, Silk, Wool, and Hide by Cassandra Ellis is just the inspiration we need for swapping out those woolens for a little spring refresh!

For a chance to win a copy of the book, as well as a bundle of five silk fat quarters, head on over to Spoonflower to enter! And of course, check out the CLOTH gallery for more décor inspiration, and make sure you get your hands on a copy of this beautiful book, available now everywhere books are sold.

Spring Has Sprung: Handmade for the Garden Has Arrived!

Despite what the weather report says, Spring has sprung here at STC Craft with the arrival of Handmade for the Garden by Susan Guagliumi! Get your green thumbs ready to tackle over 75 projects sure to get you (and your garden!) in a spring state of mind, ranging from planters and embellished pots to trellises, mosaic walls, and more.

For those of you who have been hungrily browsing seed catalogs all winter (or those of us who are starting small with a windowbox of herbs), one quick peek at this gallery will be sure to get you ready to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty!

Handmade for the Garden is available today everywhere books are sold.

Get Inspired This Spring with 20+ Projects from BiblioCraft

We're so excited to introduce BiblioCraft: A Modern Crafter's Guide to Using Library Resoures to Jumpstart Creative Projects, from New York Public Library rare book librarian Jessica Pigza, on sale starting March 18.

Featuring over 20 projects inspired by the library, as well as information on how to use library resources as tools to aid your design process, BiblioCraft also boasts a contributor list of creative superstars, including STC Craft authors Natalie Chanin, Gretchen Hirsch, Heather Ross, and Liesl Gibson!

Here's the artwork from a 1922 edition of Heidi that inspireds Heather Ross's Kitten Pocket Dress --and Kittens.

And here's the dress with kittens.

And click here to see a gallery of more "before and after" images from BiblioCraft.

View Jessica's busy tour schedule, kicking off with her launch party at Brooklyn Craft Company in Greenpoint this week!