I am Di McDonald

Mixed Media Explorations: Blending Paper, Fabric and Embellishment to Create Inspired Designs

by: Beryl Taylor

Amazon Price: $18.47 (as of 12/25/2009)

I own a fairly large number of books on the subjects of mixed media, collage, altered art and fabric embellishment. This is by far my favorite. Beryl's projects are gorgeous. Amazingly, she uses the simplest, least expensive and most readily available materials to create most of these masterpieces, such as brown paper bags, Tyvek envelopes, flower-shaped brads, price tags, etc. If you know someone who's about to get married, the wedding journal is a fabulous project that will blow away every other gift imaginable. If you never pick up a needle, a paintbrush or a tube of glue, this book is worth twice the price for eye candy alone.

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Work Less, Make More: Stop Working So Hard and Create the Life You Really Want!

by: Jennifer White

Amazon Price: $17.95 (as of 12/25/2009)

If you're truly ready to redesign your life from the inside out, transforming your life to let in more happiness, do less work, and make more money, this book is for you! Many of us are more than ready to get off the treadmill and create a life worth living. Not for the casual reader, this book is for those high achievers who are open and willing to be pathfinders and do it all differently. You gotta be ready to shine if you pick up this book! It will become your constant companion. White shows the way with an amazing program that unlocks your potential and allows you to start living life the way you want to--on your own terms. If you want to put passion back into your work and your life, get this book today. As a success coaching columnist, my job is to review self help books for readers. I have read them all--the hype and promises that ultimately fall flat. Not this one! This book is overflowing with exercises that guide you through the process of leaving the herd mentality and creating a terrific new way to master time (not manage it) and create new profit centers that focus on what you do best (White helps you figure that part out). It's a one-of-a-kind tranformational sucess manual you'll wish that everyone could follow, one that you'll pass on to everyone you care about. I wholeheartedly endorse White's program for my coaching clients and I'm having amazing results using it in my own life and business!

Psychic Navigator: Harnessing Your Inner Guidance with CD (Audio)

by: John Holland

Amazon Price: $12.21 (as of 12/25/2009)

As editor of OfSpirit.com Magazine, I've reviewed countless books on psychic development. There are three things I especially like about Psychic Navigator.

ONE, I enjoy the author's writing voice. Holland communicates with his readers like he is chatting with you on the phone. He's straightforward and precise. He doesn't try to write fancy and flowery. So I connected with the book because of the down-to-earth, unintimidating explanations.

TWO, the author teaches you "everything" you need to know to harness your inner-guidance. While it might be surprising to some, Psychic Navigator explains how our psychic strengths can be kicked into gear using specific breathing and meditation techniques. While I've never been that interested in practicing either, Holland inspired me to integrate both in my life. And by adding easy-to-understand chapters on auras, chakras, psychometry and energy scanning, I think every reader will finish reading with a more well-rounded comprehension of how our psychic abilities work and how to use this inborn gift (that we all have) in our lives.

And, finally, THREE, the CD that comes in the back of the book really puts it all together. It allows you to utilize what you've just been taught to really feel like Holland has given you a personal lesson--with his Dorchester, Massachusetts accent and all.

I highly recommend this book.

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Alphabetica: An A-Z Creativity Guide for Collage and Book Artists (Quarry Book)

by: Lynne Perrella

Amazon Price: $14.95 (as of 12/25/2009)

Your Muse will love you for putting Alphabetica on your creative plate! It is a book to be savored slowly, and many times. Featuring a delightful array of works done as part of a collaborative journal project undertaken by fourteen artists, it features page after page of rich color, sweet ideas, and delicious details and tidbits about the project itself, the artists' inspirations for their individual journals and work in each others' journals, and plenty of eye candy to satisfy your artistic sweet tooth.

The fun part is that all the artists have such widely varying styles--I love seeing how they interpreted themes for various letters of the alphabet. Not every artist's style appealed to me but I can appreciate their processes, their techniques, and the way their individual works fit into the whole.

Not a how-to book, but full of ideas. Highly recommended for those who are inspired by the work of others to find new possibilities, direction, and adventure in their own artistic endeavors.

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