| Product: |
Memory Maker's Ultimate Guide to Scrapbooking: Everything You Need to Know |
| Date: |
21.07.08 (172 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: useful, practical and inspirational
Disadvantages: none!
The craft of scrapbooking really seems to have taken off in the last few years and as a consequence there are numerous books and magazines to help and guide you to create your perfect scrapbooking memories. Since I took up this hobby I have collected a few books but this Ultimate Guide to Scrapbooking pretty much seems to have everything you need to know covered - hence the title!
Just a quick word to describe what scrapbooking is first. It is a way of displaying and preserving your family history using mainly photographs but other forms of memorabilia as well in decorated albums or scrapbooks. This hobby really took off first in America but has spread over to the UK and is now pretty big business - you only need to walk through Hobbycraft to see how much so. I find scrapbooking very enjoyable and therapeutic and my albums are mainly to create memories for my two daughters as they grow up.
This book, which comes from Memory Makers is full of both practical and inspirational ideas. When I first started scrapbooking I relied on it a lot and even now it's very useful to dip in to for ideas. I like the fact that it is quite small in size which means that it can fit into my craft boxes and the pages are all spiral bound. There are about 230 pges which are split up into seven main chapters.
These seven chapters start with Organisation and Supplies which detail all the basic tools you need to get going. It's surprising the number of tools you could use including craft knives, cutters, die cut machines, punches, different bladed scissors - all of which help you to create interesting shapes and letters. These are all detailed in the book with advice about how to look after them and their storage. You also need lots of consumable supplies as well and the book talks about all the best types to buy and practical ways of storing them.
The second chapter looks at the art of photography and contains a lot of good advice on taking the best photos for your albums as well as restoring older ones. It gives some very interesting suggestions for taking photos from very unusual angles which can definitely provide talking points for your photos. I've really enjoyed experimenting with some of my camera shots as a result of looking at this! Virtually what ever type of photo you want to take this chapter has it covered!
The third chapter is on page design and layout which really is essential reading for any novice scrapbooker! There are lots of tips on planning your page making the best possible use of space, creating colour concepts, assembling layouts and experimenting with textures. I found it very useful to learn about the principles of design which has four rules - unity, balance, rhythm and emphasis. These have really helped me when creating my own pages and although I don't think I always get them just right I have seen an improvement in what I do!
The next very useful chapter is all about techniques and there are many. These include photo cropping, adding textures, distressing, stamping and embossing, stitching to name just a few. Each of these techniques are looked at in turn and it goes through everything you could need to know about 'how to' and 'what not to do'. There are also tons of very useful pictures that show you exactly how you should be doing things so you will know whether you are on the right track. You probably won't use all the techniques and I definitely have my favourites, but just looking at the book again now it's making me think I might try some of the others.
The next chapter is all about journalling which is all about adding words to your pictures. There are some useful ideas here about adding newspaper text, making comic strips or adding thought bubbles. I think this aspect is very personal to the person creating the scrapbook and there are some quirky ideas here. Some of them could make your albums feel a bit oversentimental but I guess that is a matter of taste!
Some people may not want physical albums but be happy to keep their photos on the computer. Another chapter is devoted to the idea of computer scrapbooking and looks at things like on line resources and image editing tools. Although all our photos are digital I still prefer to print them off and create an actual rather than a virtual scrapbook so I don't do too much with this chapter but it's worth knowing about.
The final chapter is all about being portable with your scrapbooking and looks at the social aspect of the hobby. There are even scrapbooking parties where people can buy from some of the craft companies. Although I love to show off my albums, I don't really go in for this side of it but who knows - it may come in useful one day.
Overall though I really have got a lot out of this book and I feel that by using it my albums have improved. The book contains just the right balance between the practical and the inspirational and I love browsing through the pages to gain ideas for myself. The hardback spiral bound book has a RRP of £16.99 but it can be found at the moment on Amazon for only £10.99 which I think is pretty good value especially as it is the sort of book you will keep wanting to come back to.
Summary: Everything you need to know!
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Last comment:
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lel1969 - 23.07.08 This sounds great. I love scrapbooking and this sounds like a really good investment. Lel xx |
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