Scrapbooking Book Reviews

Book Reviews - by our Smart Scrappers!

Memory Makers Creative Photo Cropping for Scrapbooks: Steps for Turning Your Photos into Works of Art.

From the Editors of Memory Makers Books. Learn steps for turning your photos into works of art. Open up those shoe boxes of photos and discover the joy and excitement of cutting and cropping your pictures. This book will inspire you to move beyond the fear of cutting photos by teaching you how to transform standard, everyday snapshots into unique works of art for your scrapbook pages.

A great beginner's guide to the art of cropping (trimming) your photographs. It is an easy to read book, with great ideas, tips and techniques for getting the most out of your photographs.
As I don't like to cut my photographs, I did find some of the suggestions dated, so have given it a lower rating!

Star Rating 5/10

Debbie

Memory Folding is a book for anyone who wants to add dimension to their scrapbooking pages.

The large double page, full colour format makes it easy to reproduce the illustrated layouts while the instructions are clearly explained both with text and diagrams, making it suitable for both the novice or experienced teabag folder.

Most projects have alternative ideas for each fold and these could easily be adapted for cardmakers.

I particularly liked the 3D Christmas ideas. There are four pages of teabag papers in the centre of the book to enable you to get started right away.

I did tend to find that some of the layouts were a bit too American for my tastes but the ideas were sound. The other drawback was that, as with many American craft publications, if you wanted to reproduce the layouts exactly, the materials used are often hard to get hold of. That said I'm sure that resourceful as we crafters are, we will alwas find a substitute.

On the whole this book is good value for money and has given me further folding ideas and inspired me to think of new ways to use teabag folding. Recommended for anyone who is looking for a different look for their scrapbooking pages but be warned - it is addictive!

Star Rating 7/10

Heather

 

The overall layout of the book was very good!

There are 3 things which I found really useful...

* the Quick Tips found throughout each section
* the Easy Reference Guide at the back (which enables you to find a particular layout quickly - as it provides a photo of each one)
* and the Colours and Emotions section ( I feel that this would help me match colours with what I'm trying to portray and not just match colours with photos!)

The book gives you many different techniques and lays these out in chapters so you do not get confused! I feel this is important to the beginner, as it also gives easy to follow instructions with pictures so that you can see how it should look!
I would say the book is aimed at the beginner and those that have been scrapping for a little longer, although the more experienced scrapper may also gain from owning this book.

If I was to change anything it would be to include a more 'advanced techniques' section. It's certainly value for money especially for those starting out.

I would give it 8/10 being good value for money and a recommended buy for those who wish to learn and try techniques which they can follow with examples given.

Jeannette

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