Following the runaway success of Sew! Cath Kidston has turned her unique designer's eye to Stitch! Reinventing the arts of needlepoint & cross stitch for today's crafter Cath has injected her own distinctive style of cheery heartwarming homemaking prints into these traditional crafts. Her blossom rose floral design worked in needlepoint creates the most fabulous clutch bag
- not a million miles away from those seen on the Fendi catwalk this season
- whilst her seventiesinspired pop flowers print makes a funky needlepoint cushion that wouldn't look out of place in any teenager's bedroom. There are plenty of quick accessible & highly achievable projects throughout the book
- Cath's popular quartet of fruit motifs including the delectable cherries & apples lend themselves brilliantly to making small cross stitched patches or badges that can adorn anything from a satchel pocket to a parka sleeve. In many projects to complement the stitched pieces Cath has injected one of her trademark prints
- for example her polka dot & floral reworking of the needlepoint Union Jack is made up into a cushion using her iconic red dot cotton duck fabric for a backing. The beauty of both needlepoint & cross stitch is that they are worked on a canvas made up of a grid of squares so
- just like painting-by-numbers
- it is virtually foolproof & a great result is guaranteed. & as with Sew! this book will include a unique giveaway kit: an exclusive stitching project for a zip-up purse. With over 20 charted designs to make up in either needlepoint or cross stitch & over 40 finished projects that incorporate those designs into a variety of stylish items Stitch! is guaranteed to have Cath fans & crafters everywhere stocking up on tapestry yarns & embroidery silks ready to get stitching.





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Say &8216; Thank You&8217; to a loved one with these beautiful patterned cards from Cath Kidston. Each card has an elegant original Cath Kidston design & will make a great gift to a friend or relative. Pack of 8 cards Cath Kidston is one of the most influential & original design companies to emerge from the UK in recent years & has steadily expanded to become the unique lifestyle brand we know & love today. Cath Kidston was founded in 1993 when designer Cath Kidston opened up a small shop in London&8217;s Holland Park. She began by selling fabrics wallpapers & brightly coloured junk furniture. Soon her shop became a cult success with her clever take on English County house style proving to be a big hit. Soon Cath began to design her own prints & fabrics with one of her first designs being an ironing board cover featuring the iconic Kidston print. From these humble beginnings Cath&8217;s range has developed into ladies fashion & accessories home-wares & the 2008 launch of the kid&8217;s br&. ...

The Thirteenth-Century Cathars slaughtered at Montsegur in 1244 today offer an alternative to mainstream Christianity that for many integrates better both with ancient pagan traditions & with modern new age attitudes than does the church. They are used to focus a sense of local pride & independence in the Languedoc of France & they still offer a symbol of largely non-violent resistance against persecution & near-genocide. While they are the source for substantial studies into reincarnation they also give us extraordinary detail to help us understand mediaeval life & the horror of the inquisition. Their spirituality & what it stood for remain alive in countless exemplary ways & it is easy for the picture to become contradictory contentious & confused. Contributors to THE CATHAR VIEW range from the scholarly to the alternative. Chapters take us from accounts of their predecessors the Bogomils through to a review of recent heretical viewpoints about the holy Grail the basis of the Da Vinci code & the burgeoning legend of Mary Magdalene. There are contributions about Cathar sympathisers such as Otto Rahn who for many is the original for Indiana Jones & a look at some of the occultists who have been intrigued by the Cathar inheritance such as the mysterious Polaires. Also investigated is the landscape of the Languedoc & what it holds for walkers & mystics alike. In sum this is a unique & valuable contribution to the literature about the Cathars or Albigenses sympathetic to its subject & offering new clarity about what really underlay their intriguing beliefs. ...

The English medieval cathedrals are one of the wonders of the world. But who made them & why? This fascinating new history of England's cathedrals explores a previously unconsidered view of these extraordinary creations: as constantly-changing structures created by a rich brew of ancient rituals beliefs personalities & politics
- a living window on to the past. Incorporating the latest historical research Jon Cannon presents a picture of the English cathedrals as above all products of their time not just great architectural monuments. These were buildings brought alive by the messages encoded in their sculpture
- & the miraculous events that were believed to occur within them. Full of personalities ideas stories & novel interpretations here are the cathedrals of England as you may never have considered them before. Handsomely illustrated with specially commissioned photographs & diagrams including thematic chapters on key aspects & separate essays on every medieval cathedral in England this magnificent volume is indispensable to every lover of history & architecture.

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All over Europe from Westminster to Rouen the cathedrals of the Middle Ages still st&. This book explores the world of the medieval master mason. How were these structures built when only primitive machinery was available? Who initiated & designed them? Who built & paid for them? ...

Organised geographically this illustrated guide to the cathedrals & abbeys of England is the definitive reference to over 60 of England's oldest & most beautiful buildings. The guide enables everyone to experince the enduring appeal of these great monuments to the Christian tradition &

Includes:: 6 regional locator maps over 130 specially commissioned colour photographs & a glossary of terms.

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This special Ladybird souvenir edition celebrates the fairy tale transformation of Kate Middleton the classic girl next door into the royal Catherine Duchess of Cambridge. Since her marriage to Prince William the nation has taken Catherine to their hearts & this child-friendly book explores her life in fascinating easy to read detail from her childhood achievements to her engagement & wedding her royal duties & her life with Prince William in Anglesey. ...

Henrys fifth Queen is best known to history as the stupid adolescent who got herself fatally entangled with lovers & ended up on the block. However there was more to her than that. She was a symptom of the power struggle which was going on in the court in 1539-40 between Thomas Cromwell & his conservative rivals among whom the Howard family figured prominently. The Howards were an ambitious clan & Catherines marriage to Henry appeared to signify their triumph. However her weakness ruined them in the short term & undermined Thomas Howard the 3rd Duke of Norfolks power permanently. Catherines advent has to be seen against the background of the failed Cleves marriage & the policy which that represented. Her downfall similarly should be seen in terms of the reformers fighting back against the Howards & bringing down Jane Rochford with her. Politics & sexuality were inextricably mixed especially when the Kings potency was called in question. It is time to have another look at her brief but important reign. ...

A biography of Henry VIII's fifth wife beheaded for playing Henry at his own game
- adultery. At seven o'clock on the morning of
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The image of Catherine of Aragon has always suffered in comparison to the vivacious eroticism of Anne Boleyn. But when Henry VIII married Catherine she was an auburn-haired beauty in her 20s with a passion she had inherited from her parents Isabella & Ferdinand the joint-rulers of Spain who had driven the Moors from their country. This daughter of conquistadors showed the same steel & sense of command when organising the defeat of the Scots at the Battle of Flodden & Henry was to learn to his cost that he had not met a tougher opponent on or off the battlefield when he tried to divorce her. Henry introduced 4 remarkable women into the tumultuous flow of Englands history; Catherine of Aragon & her daughter Bloody Queen Mary; & Anne Boleyn & her daughter the Virgin Queen Elizabeth. From this contest between 2 mothers & 2 daughters was born the religious passion & violence that inflamed England for centuries says David Starkey. Reformation revolution & Tudor history would all have been vastly different without Catherine of Aragon. Giles Tremletts new biography is the first in more than four decades to be dedicated entirely & uniquely to the tenacious woman whose marriage lasted twice as long as those of Henrys five other wives put together. It draws on fresh material from Spain to trace the dramatic events of her life through Catherine of Aragons own eyes. ...