Book Review
The authors of this book have compiled a vast wealth of knowledge
of scrapbooking techniques, layout ideas and crafts to showcase
your photos in different ways. The opening chapter is called the
Art of Scrapbooking and it is a must read because it is all about
getting started as well as giving you a few more layout ideas and
how to complete them. The authors separate the content of
the rest of the book into monthly installments with seasonal layouts
(i.e. January - Winter and New Year's Eve, February - Valentine's
Day, March - St. Patrick's Day, April - Spring and Easter, May -
Mother's Day and Prom, June - Father's Day and Graduation, July
- Summer and Independence Day, August - Beach and Summer Camp, Grandparent's
Day and Back to School, October - Autumn and Halloween, November
- Thanksgiving, and in December - Christmas and Hanukkah and how
to complete them. Each month is divided into these sections,
Memories to Capture, Album Idea, Design Concept, Technique to Try,
Journaling, Outside the Lines and Photo Tip. In each chapter
there is also cross-referencing of the different ideas and techniques
in the various sections where they are available so they are easy
to access and refer back to.
Some of the portions of this book that I was fascinated with are
the sections on using chalk, making a Father's Day Box including
accordion card, making a Baby album cover, using embroidery and
cross stitch to embellish scrapbook pages, how masks and masking
are used in scrapbook pages, and how to incorporate metal quilting,
oil paints and origami into scrapbooking. Equally interesting are
the sections on paper casting, paper tearing, papercutting, penstitching,
piecing, paper piercing, silhouetting, splicing photos, sponging,
stamping, stenciling, 2-D elements, 3-D elements, tinting, watercolors,
and weaving.
In every chapter there is an additional article called A Word About
... with important topics including: safe homes for photos, getting
started, making the perfect cut, decorative scissors, color terms,
light boxes, heat embossing, making your own paper, corrugating,
alternative pop-ups, mounting memorabilia, using your computer section,
using the end of a roll of film, and changing photographers.
Most of the topics are connected to a layout or craft idea included
in that chapter.
Following the chapters divided into months there is a final chapter
called Not Just Albums. In it there are instructions how to
make greeting cards (i.e. for Birthdays, Holidays and a Get Well
card), Memory Boxes, Bulletin Boards and Posters, Journals, (How
to do) Scrapbooking with Children and Other Ideas. There is
also a glossary covering terms in the book that you may not understand
followed by a resources section at the back so you can know where
the materials in the book were purchased.
I love this book so much I bought one for a fellow scrapbooker.
When you are really interested in something you just can't have
too much information on the subject. This book has so many
ideas and includes so much information on scrapbooking techniques
I think you will always be able to find out how to create what you
want to do. Writers aren't the only ones who get blocked sometimes
so this book is a great resource for layout ideas you can imitate
or be inspired by.
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