A Year of Creativity is a planner with crafting prompts created by a group of four artists from the Netherlands. Originally published in Dutch in 2018, the English translation was released 23rd July 2019 by Quarry on their Quarto imprint. It's 144 pages and available in paperback format.

This is a beautifully appealing book. The photography is so calm and coordinated and the concept of a craft date, where everyone brings supplies for all the attendees to complete similar projects reminds me a bit of the old time quilting bees which I remember from my childhood. The social aspects of crafting together and the interaction and mutual support are so valuable. Here's a short definition from the introduction:

A Craft Date is a fun date with a handful of creative-types in which you surprise each other with craft and DIY projects and specific materials and make beautiful things together.
At each date, a group of participants come up with a self-made project to be carried out by the other attendees and provide everyone with the necessary materials. These materials are chosen based on the specific taste of each attendee and are packaged up and given like a unique personal gift. With these gifts and the step-by-step instructions of the planners in hand, everyone gets to work



The chapter progression is easy to follow and even includes some recipes scattered throughout the book for snacks to have when people come together for social crafting. The page numbers are listed together in the table of contents for easy access. There is a short tutorial chapter which includes very basic instruction for crochet, some fabric related tutorial information, etc. The majority of the page content is used on the 25 project tutorials. The table of contents color codes the tutorials into short-longer-weekend/coop projects, which is very handy.

The projects themselves are stylish and varied. There's a lot of crochet, but there's also some sewing, papercrafting, DIYing, painting, and more. I really love the idea of getting friends together for social crafting with the freedom of not having to all work on the same type of craft! I knit and sew a great deal for charity (hospital preemie department, refugee camps in other parts of the world, knitting for refugees, etc) and I have often thought whilst sitting with my knitting buddies how great it would be if they could hang out with my sewing buddies. Craft dates are the perfect solution! It's interesting to me also how often solutions to problems which have popped up during one crafting process can be solved with a technique from another type of crafting. I bet having people who are crafters of different sorts could well give synergistic benefits and expand our boundaries.

I received an electronic ARC, so I can't evaluate the finishing on the physical book, but I will say that every other aspect, from typesetting and graphics, to photography, to projects and recipes are very well done and meticulously presented.

I loved the included projects. The photography is beautiful and easy to follow. The translation is seamless and I found no errors in the instructions.

5 stars. Lovely job!

What an interesting book! The general idea is that a group of like-minded people plan regular craft get-togethers. That's not really a new idea, but the authors have taken it up a notch by adding custom-made craft kits for each participant. They suggest that each time, one person is in charge of making kits for all the others, with everything each person will need to complete the craft project. To me, this is one step too far, but it may be right up other people's alley. It would be a great idea for a one-off event, such as a party or baby shower, maybe, but for my tastes, it would be too much overplanning for regular craft meetups. Not only is it a lot of work for someone to make all the kits, it could be a little stifling to control what every group member is going to make. This book *does* have some great project suggestions, though, so I can see using it for ideas, but letting everyone in the group decide on their own particulars. Recommended mainly for the project ideas and inspiration.

A Year of Creativity is a great idea book for anyone looking to change things up! I loved the simple ideas and some a bit more challenging. I am craft challenged and I loved this book. Directions were easy to follow and understand. I will keep one of these on hand for my next house warming party!

A beautiful book with ideas for 'craft dates' with friends. It gives 25 ideas of crafts (think habardashery not paper and paint or cooking) and ways to beautifully present the equipment needed. For the age of instagram crafting this works well. Alas my level of crafting isn't up to this. I can knit and sew competently but the instructions on how to do the crafts are somewhat minimal so this is for dedicated fabric crafters only really.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for this ARC.

A Year of Creativity: A Craft Planner to Meet, Share and Create by Petra Hoeksema, Lidy Nooij, Miriam Catshoek, Bregje Konings


I was given an advanced reader copy of this by Quarry Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.



I love the whole idea behind this book and I loved how it was executed. There is a great variety of projects in different craft types including: crochet, sewing, inspiration boards, recipes, knitting, painting, inspiration books, embroidery, and yarn dyeing.


It goes through how to organize different types of craft dates as well as how to create tool stations for the day's project. It also goes through how to package the completed project.


I want to make several of the projects from this book including Bregje's Apron, Miriam's Crochet Scarf, and Petra's Oilskin Project Bag.


This is a great book for anyone that like to craft in groups and like to have themed projects.

Love the idea of A Year of Creativity. Some of the projects seem a little complex for a beginner. Overall, a good craft guide.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for ARC. All opinions are my own.

This is a craft version of a recipe book, with some beautiful crafts to make and enjoy throughout the year. This would be a perfect gift for the crafty person in your life of any ability. The various crafts are suitable for all ages and abilities and come with clear and concise instructions.

The basis of this book is about friends getting together to have a Craft Date. It has lots of details of how this can be organized. Everything from recipes for food to serve to how to package your craft projects for each person participating that day. The object of this Craft Date is to have everyone working on the same project for that session. There are a total of 25 projects: 12 short projects, 5 cooperative or weekend projects, 8 longer projects. Each project shows all 4 of the author’s versions of it. All of the projects are pretty.

Most of these projects are not for beginners at crafting. You have to be already creatively inclined and know about different types of crafts and technics because things are not explained. First project listed for example is a crochet sleeve for vases, no description of how to do the stitches, just the pattern to follow. Also being that you are using a vase or glass unique to your home it’s going to be different from what the pattern calls for so you need to know how to adjust the pattern to fit your glass. The book doesn’t show in progress pictures as a how-to guide, only the end results. Some material is not even put in with the corresponding project but located in the back of the book. It gets confusing because there is no reason for it not to be together.

I have been involved with monthly craft parties but where everyone has their own project they are working on. To me this works better because everyone has different abilities and are at different skill levels. Then there is the inevitable comparing of projects if everyone is doing the same thing. If you do these craft dates it’s important to have people with your same craft skill level or otherwise it can get competitive and showing up others. The listed projects are such that if you aren’t good at it, it will show very clearly.

I thought this book was just about crafting projects to do, like one a week or something. I didn’t know what it was about until I got into it. If I had known I probably wouldn’t have read it.

I agreed to read this book as an advance copy thru NetGallery. This is my voluntary and honest opinion.

This has some really nice crafts that readers can do in their own 'craft date' or alone. Nicely put together and in contents shows which are short and what may take longer.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, let me gush over the pictures! The book itself is so aesthetic and the palette colours fit so perfectly with the theme. I love how this book was written by 4 friends, and each project seems to have its own intimate owner. The projects are amazing and of varying degrees of difficulty, so there will always be something for everyone in this craft book!

Recommend for those who enjoy crafts, working with yarn, or baking!

A wonderfully inspirational book for creativity, well laid out, bright and appealing, wonderful ideas for the family or alone time crafting. wonderful

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I love the crafts and recipes in this book. The instructions seem to be geared toward serious crafters, so I'm not sure my students would take the time to figure them out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced look at this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to the authors for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm for handwork.

What a great concept: getting together with a group of friends to enjoy crafting, fellowship, and food. A Year of Creativity offers suggestions as to how to host just such a craft party. Complete with project ideas, recipes and tips on how to organize a “craft date”, it offers many ideas and more than enough inspiration. There is a wealth of information as well as patterns for the various projects, but the real star of the book are the beautiful photographs. They definitely complete the book and make it a winner.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

This one was quite a disappointment for me. It looked beautiful (and is) and sounded perfect. I love being creative, and as a mom of five artists and crafters I am always looking for more inspiration for fun crafts for our family to do together. Unfortunately, the title is somewhat misleading. It really should have been something along the lines of "How to Organize Fancy Craft Dates for Your Rich, Uber-Skilled Crafting Friends."

The four authors are friends who live in the Netherlands and have very popular Instagram accounts. They are professional crafters or professional women who craft, and they get together often to have "craft dates" where they work on their stylish craft projects. Various craft companies gave them lots of expensive, beautiful supplies to use (they were all thanked at the end), and all of their craft projects involved coordinating their supplies so they would all match each other and make for great IG posts. All four women are VERY skilled at crocheting, sewing, etc. and the projects expect you to be very skilled too.

Each project involves getting together expensive (generally) craft supplies and then "packaging" them in an elaborate, beautiful way to present it to the group. For instance, you can make these little stamped cloth pyramids filled with aquarium gravel that you use for pattern weights. They are lovely and while I have no need for tiny little pattern weights I can see how they'd be helpful if you did a lot of sewing. You need to buy the materials for them (stamps, coordinating fabrics, waterproof ink, etc.) but then you are supposed to package them for each person's setting. To properly package them, each kit is put into a purchased kraft paper takeout container that is tied with coordinating twine. Then you glue fabric to cardstock to make a little fabric covered card, and then wrap the thread needed in all those colors around a little handmade paper spool shape that you affix to the cloth covered card. Make a handmade tag with each person's name, and then seal the takeout box with black sealing wax that is stamped in a nice design.

These would be really great for very rich, very idle women who do tea and belong to country clubs. They're all beautiful but they're also so over the top. Honestly, I kind of felt like Martha Stewart would be seen as a slacker by these ladies.

This is great crafting inspiration for folks looking for some pretty projects to undertake, but the craft date portion just really turned me off. I love getting together with friends for craft dates but we just grab some supplies, bring some tasty pot luck items and have fun. These projects are beyond my capabilities and also just too perfect and Instagram-worthy for me. That said, it is certainly great crafting eye candy and it's all beautiful. This will be well loved by the authors' fan base, I'm sure. It just wasn't a good fit for me.

My rating system:

1 = hated it
2 = it was okay
3 = liked it
4 = really liked it
5 = love it, plan to purchase, and/or would buy it again if it was lost

I read a temporary digital ARC of the book for the purpose of review.

A Year of Creativity is a great book to add to your crafter’s collection. There are so many ideas for projects and parties. There is something included for different skill levels.

This book was so much better than the cover let me think! I wish so badly that the cover was bright and fresh and as beautiful as the rest of this book was. Not all crafters or crocheters are of a certain age and there is no reason for us not to turn crafting up. Create dates and fun parties and cute new projects mean you won’t be crocheting doilies with Grammy unless that is exactly what you wish to do. So fun and I’m so happy to see this

The book itself is gorgeous. The designer uses great pictures, lovely colors and completed projects y create a feast for the eyes. The authors mainly look at sewing crafts and cooking with a few other media projects mixed so this isn't a book that would help me a lot personally. At first glance, the projects don't have much detail but an appendix keeps the look of the book while giving you more detailed info.

I am not good enough for almost all of the stuff that is explained in this book, but the pictures are worthy the price of the book!

Non sono in grado nemmeno di provare a fare piú della metá dei progetti fai da te spiegati in questo libro, ma le bellissime immagini valgono il prezzo del libro!

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

‘A year of Creativity’ is a great source of ideas for a craft date with friends.
I absolutely love the idea of trying something new,especially when you spend and afternoon with your friends.

Easy to follow instructions and great pictures make this book a perfect gift or a perfect resource for trying a new project.

A Year of Creativity by Petra Hoeksema, Lidy Nooij, Miriam Catshoek, and Bregje Konings is a book of great patterns, instructions, ideas, and photographs for yarn projects. The skill level varies, and as a bonus they include cute ideas for packaging gifts and a recipe to go with some of them. The book has beautiful, full color photos. Fiber artists of any level would love this book.