Getting the Most from Your Scrapbook Tools: Dozens of Innovative Techniques for Creating Dazzling Scrapbook Pages

I purchased this as a gift for my Mom. I did take the opportunity to look through it before I wrapped it and I was very pleased. This isn't a fancy book with impossible techniques. It is a good book for getting fresh ideas for the common tools most of us have, as scrapbookers. I think, after a while, we sometimes run low of fresh ideas and this is a good book to help you start simple to get fresh perspectives.

`Memory Makers' magazine has put together a good book for scrapbooking beginners like myself because it shows the basic tools every scrapbooker needs, and it gives illustrated, step-by-step instructions on how to create over seventy sample pages using the tools. There is also a section on care and storage of your tools. The book itself is divided up into chapters on "Cutting Tools," "40 Shape Cutters, Punches, Die Cuts," "66 Stencils, Templates, Decorative Rulers," "Additional Page Instructions," "Supply List for Pages," and an index. Advanced scrapbookers who already have a hobby room full of tools and paper probably don't need this book, although even an expert can get some cute ideas from the colorful examples that fill almost every page. I was especially motivated by the authors' clever use of parchment, spirographs, and 3-D metal embellishments using a shape template. "Getting the Most from Your Scrapbook Tools" has put me well on the road to creating a memory book for my sister on the theme of our last California vacation. We decided to make gifts for each other this Christmas (because of the recession), and I can't think of anything she'd appreciate more than a book full of happy, personal memories.

I have a hard time being creative and I thought this book was excellent because it showed me to how to use the tools I already have in new ways that I'd never thought of. Scrapbooking is a big investment and if you can find a way to use what you own without having to buy more expensive supplies, then it's a big money saver. I thought this was one of the better books on scrapbooking. Every time the author demonstrated a new way to use a tool, I thought "That's so easy! Why didn't I think of that??" I would definetly recommend this book, especially to someone just getting started and doesn't have a lot of tools.

One of the reasons I enjoy Memory Makers magazine is the same reason I love this book. When they show you anything from a layout to a technique, they always have clear instructions in how to accomplish it. Some of the more popular books, magazines, etc. spend more time in telling which products are used and not how to use the items to create. This book is beautifully photographed and contains updated uses for most tools you may have or intend to buy. All of the instructions are clear and accurate. Granted, I have been scrapping for about a year and some of this may not be as fresh and new to long timers as it is to me. Still, because of the reasons I mentioned, I believe this one deserves the 5 stars for rating. It is obvious that the authors of the articles contained within this book know their stuff.