Fast cards - projects for the beginner or the keen card maker! (Fast Cards: Techniques and Projects for Producing Multiple Cards - Quickly - Sarah Beaman)

Member Name: karlsm93

Product:	Fast Cards: Techniques and Projects for Producing Multiple Cards - Quickly - Sarah Beaman
Date:	19/03/09 (129 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Exceptionally well laid out, easy to read and follow, colour photos

Disadvantages: None

As I have now made mention of numerous times, I like to make cards and scrapbook, when I have spare time. Thus, I have, other the years, picked up some very useful books with ideas for cardmaking projects. This particular book is usually always by my side when I unload all my card making boxes into the living room.

Like many of my other craft related books, I picked this up in TK Maxx for £4.99, although you can purchase if on amazon for £9.98, which is worth it, in my opinion, if you are interested in card making.

This book was written by Sarah Beaman, who offers 'techniques and projects for producing greetings cards - quickly'

The book is divided into three main sections:
Core Techniques
Last minute cards
Batch cards.

In the few pages before the start of the 'core techniques' section, there is information for 'getting started' and details with text and pictures, many useful and essential tools needs to make cards and some of the specific projects in the book. Such tools that the book touches on include: adhesives (spray, glue pen, self adhesive pads, double sides tape), stamps and ink pads, colouring (inks), cutting (self healing cutting mats, steel rul, craft knife and bone folder) and punchers.

This leads nicely into the first of the three main sections, 'Core Techniques'. As the title suggests, this section focuses on basic card making techniques, which are needed to carry out some of the later projects. With step by step colour photograph guides, and simply straightforward text, Beaman explains how to:
Fold a card
Use double sided tape and film (the latter of which I had previously never heard of)
Use adhesives and self adhesive pads
Attach paper fasteners (a.k.a. 'brads' )
Punch out shape
Machine stitch a card (I found this a useful idea)
Spray (using spray adhesive)
Use potato printing
Stencil and stamp

Most of the above techniques are very simplistic, and for most, could be easily worked out, but this section did give me some insight into adapting some basic techniques. For the beginner, the colour photographs are of great benefit and you hardly need to bother reading the surrounding text to get the idea of what to do.

The second main section of the book focuses on 'last minute cards' and Beaman suggests single card projects that can be rustled up quickly for a last minute birthday or other event and many of these try and use items that are readily available in your home, such as kitchen foil, scrap material, seeds, ribbon, string, baking parchment, gift wrap etc. Beaman claims that none of the projects in this section take longer than half an hour to complete, and if you are a keen card maker it should take a lot less. Ideas for 'last minute cards' in this section include:
Using pressed flowers ( a good mothers day project)
Valentine's Day (using a doily)
Christmas card (hand stitching -not as hard as it looks!)
Birthdays - boy/girl/age
Anniversary (this is a lovely project which I have made many times)

Again, this section provides lots of great ideas for both the beginner and the more experienced card maker. For many of the projects, I have adapted the ideas into my own style, but have been grateful for the simply idea to start me off, since I find this the hardest part.

The third and final section concentrates on 'batch cards'. As Beaman notes in the opening to this section, 'there are many occasions on which multiple cards are needed - Christmas cards, birth annoucements or wedding invitations'. This section attempts to make these batch cards easier, and begins with some techniques, such as:
Sepia tinting (mixing instant coffee granules and water for authentic pictures)
Embossed wallpaper (a great idea to give your card an embossed look without all the work)
Faux seal (a quick way avoiding using messy wax)
Decorative stitching

The section then continues with the 'batch' projects. Examples of projects are:
New baby (printing name and date of birth on the computer)
Christmas (using wallpaper)
Halloween party (using clear polythene bags)
Wedding invitation (printing names from the computed and simply attaching ribbon and a small embellishment)
Change of address

Again, I have used most of the above projects for single cards, but recognise that they could easily be used to create a batch since the ideas are generally straightforward, and use have many of the tools required.

At the very end of the book, a few pages are devoted to templates for some of the projects included in the book.

Overall, whether you are a beginner, or a keen cardmaker, this book is a great resource to bring out when you are making cards for various occasions. If you are a beginner, then the book colourfully takes you through tools, techniques and projects to give you a good grounding in this craft and probably get you hooked. If you are a more experienced card maker, this book is still a great buy because like other card making books, the projects spark ideas which can then be adapted to suit your own style and event. This book is very well laid out and a very easy book to simply turn up quickly for an idea.

Summary: A book that should be in every card makers kit.