Saturday, June 02, 2007

The Cute Book Review by Hello Ashley



Ashley has been one of my favorite customers for a long time now. She knows a lot about toys, enjoys plush and seems to always take advantage of seeing Tim Gunn. One day Ashley emailed me with links to all these plush creations she had been working on from the The Cute Book. As I have mentioned my love for Aranzi Aronzo books many times I thought it would be fun to get another perspective on 'The Cute Book' and Ashley was nice enough to meet the challenge. Thanks Ashley for this awesome review.

I’ve been brainstorming for weeks on how to make my first book review seem as intellectually stimulating as possible. I failed. But, I would love to share my thoughts on “The Cute Book” by Aranzi Aronzo with you.
First, let me say that I’m not a crafter. “The Cute Book” stumbled into my life, probably based on fate. I happened to be in Kinokuniya Bookstore waiting for someone and the cutest little animals jumped off the shelf at me. I picked up the book, which was named “The Cute Book”. I immediately knew it had to be mine. I purchased it without even looking inside because I instinctively knew it was “The One”.
When I took the book home and opened it up, I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t the picture book that I thought it was; it turned out to be a felt plush book for beginners. The book is filled with characters from cats to dogs to bunnies to frogs that have fun stories attached to them. Each character has a simple pattern and materials list, along with a great “how to” pictorial guide.



Personally, I connect mostly with the pandas in the book. They are one of the more simple designs, but can easily be modified to have a lot of sass. I like to change their eye shape, which completely alters their expressions. The pandas are a popular gift when I actually have the heart to give them away.
Overall, I’d have to give “The Cute Book” an 11 out of 10. It’s that good. It inspired a non-crafting fuddy duddy like me to get off my butt and go to the craft store to become active. The designs are simple, but still strong and sassy. I get nothing but compliments on my plush that I’ve created from “The Cute Book”. This book has had more impact on my life than any other book I’ve ever picked up. It inspired me to do something that I had always wanted to do, but was to scared to do so. At $12.95, I consider it to be one of the greatest bargains in the bookstore. So, yes, Hello Ashley highly recommends this book!
xoxo
Hello Ashley
www.ashtraymonument.com (coming soon!)
www.myspace.com/cicconeyouth

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The panda is particularly adorable.