book review // your sharpie style

Do you love Sharpie markers? I mean, I really love any set of markers that comes in a rainbow of colors, but it's hard to resist these. It has nothing to do with my longstanding love of the smell of permanent markers. (I promise I don't have a problem!)

Anyway, I received a copy of Your Sharpie Style to check out, and now I want to draw on everything.



From the cover, I was excited about the 75 projects, as well as eager to see what this would look like. After all, would it just be a book about drawing on things with Sharpies?

The back gives you a good overview of what you'll find in Deborah Green's book, but I get to show you some pages. Yay! Are you ready?




So, the reality is, this really is 140+ pages of drawing on things. Draw on a jar, on a headband, on a pencil case, on wrapping paper, on a tote bag and so on. Would I have thought to do many of these on my own? Definitely not.

But it's also more than all that. What makes this book a good idea is that it's something to get you started. Believe me. After you've worked through the projects and ideas, you'll be ready to make more and more pretty things with your Sharpies.

For example, the geometric design on the jar is something you can use to embellish the headband, and the bird could go on the jar, and that's just a quick swap. Now think of all the different jars and what you could put on them. Or the designs not in the book (think embroidery patterns!) and start adding them to anything you can imagine.



You might not have thought about drawing on your furniture with permanent markers, but isn't this chair so cute? It actually reminds me of something you might find at IKEA.



Some of the projects are shown as a photo of the finished item with instructions. Others are a more condensed version with illustrations of the projects. Usually these are some variation on another project or something that is especially easy to do. I'd love to see more photos, but these get the point across.



One of the most helpful parts of the book is section on supplies and techniques. Sharpie makes several types of markers and the author helps you understand which marker to choose and how to get the best results. Since you might not want to freehand the artwork, she also talks about transfer techniques. They're a bit like embroidery transfer, but working on different materials




These flamingo headphones are definitely my style. The instruction page shows how to draw the flamingo, which is a feature on many of the projects. Rather than just giving you a motif to trace, you can learn how to recreate the designs yourself.


See the kitchen item drawings on the left? Some of the projects give you a collection of patterns that you can enlarge. Oh, and the author lets you know how to work with the markers on items on which food would come in contact (or when to avoid that entirely).

I should also point out that these designs could be used for other things and not just decorating with Sharpies.



This set of kitchen items is so cute, and would make an excellent gift. But I like that you could choose to just update or upcycle something you already have or that you find at a thrift store.



And then there's this scarf. It's certainly more than just drawing on things. The author has several projects using this technique, and they are beautiful! You don't look at this and think "permanent markers." For stitchers, I think pairing this with some embroidery would be amazing.



One last favorite project from Your Sharpie Style. But only a tiny peek. This is a whole lot of drawing, but it takes something fairly inexpensive and ordinary and makes it really special.

Are you inspired already?

Find Your Sharpie Style at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or check your local bookseller.