This is an exciting book for the stitcher who wants to develop skills using experimental media. The author shows a wide range of stunning techniques including Gilding, Mica and Metal manipulation. Excellent illustrations show how she develops surface textures and works them into rich surfaces using both hand and machine embroidery. The emphasis is on shine and shimmer, which is achieved by mixing a wide variety of metallics and fabric. There are eleven projects, fully captioned to set you off experimenting. A truly inspirational book for any stitcher who wants to expand their range of effects.-megonline.co.uk Sarah Lawrence's untimely death came just prior to the publication of her latest book. It is an amalgamation of demonstrations she did at various shows that many of us crowded round to take a look at, with examples of some of the beautiful work she produced. The book itself is like a series of short workshops, simple and effective techniques brought to you without any fuss or messing around. Each one is explained in simple terms and with illustrative photographs, and all provide a surface technique that can be used as a basis for stitch. I thought that a piece of advice she gave in the introduction 'Be inquisitive about the media that you use and be disciplined in the usage' was very sage, and the book is approached from this viewpoint. It saves time and hopefully saves you producing disappointing work by getting to the crux of what you can achieve with various materials, such as metal, mica, paints and sprays. Sarah's descriptions show how you can use them for bright and visually arresting pieces of work. A lot of the materials will probably be found in your supplies already and there are new approaches to materials you might not have used for a while. There are examples of finished work at the end of the book to show you how you can take the techniques further. They are not projects in the sense that they give you step by step instructions; rather they refer you back to the techniques earlier in the book and show you what you can do when you put them all together. Sarah Lawrence's passing is a great loss to the industry, but her book is a fitting legacy of her work and through it she will continue to inspire us for a long time to come. - Workshop on the Web

Sarah spent some ten years teaching art and textiles in secondary schools in Yorkshire, before leaving to start her family. Sarah studied for the City & Guilds in Creative Embroidery, gaining distinctions for both Parts I and II. Sarah has continued to develop her own work, exhibiting widely giving talks, demonstrations and workshops, undertaking commissions and organising exhibitions. Recently Sarah has undertaken a post-graduate course to support all the work she has done over the last ten years with elderly and disadvantaged young people. Sarah works as a freelance textile artist and tutor. She exhibits her work widely, having taken part in over 40 group exhibitions since 1991, as well as several solo exhibitions. Sarah runs many courses on felting, embroidery, beading and surface construction etc. for a diverse range of groups. Details of which can be found on her website www.sarah-lawrence.com In addition, Sarah owns and runs craftynotions.com and lives in Newark.