Customer Reviews

Cover To Cover: Creative Techniques For Making Beautiful Books, Journals & Albums

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It has 170 photos (mostly in color) and easy to follow instructions. Sources, papers, art centers and newsletters are included. Bookbinding is an old art recently revived. Examples in LaPlantz's book are innovative and inspiring, going past traditional methods and shapes. Everything needed for basic bookbinding is affordable and available. Instructions are easy to follow and offer variations, from simple lacing of signatures, to more complex binding techniques. Handmade books are beautiful as gifts, journals, scrapbooks or collections of writing. Such a personal gift is a unique treasure greatly valued. This book is well suited for a beginning level of skill and also encourages more advanced level binding.

Shereen LaPlantz approaches the subject of making books with an artistic awareness. She provides a clear introduction to the parts of a book, materials, tools, and basic techniques. She then provides step-by-step instructions on how to make each type, from the simple pamphlet to the highly unusual bindings. The instructions are easy to follow and are accompanied by clear illustrations.

The most remarkable aspect of this book is its pages filled with beautiful color photographs of books made by the author and several artists. I bought this text because I was interested in making a simple binding for a family history book, but after reading Cover to Cover, I have a new perspective on bookmaking - I now see it as a form of art with a whole range of possibilities. And it's an art which is accessable to all.

This book is 100% just as the title says. I highly recommend this book. Even for a newbie to bookmaking like I am. The pictures and galleries are gorgeous. The ideas and projects were fabulous and the instuctions where easy to understand. I think that I read it "Cover to Cover" about 30 times before I put it down, because each time I went through it I discovered something new I hadn't seen the previous time. This book has gotten me very excited to dive right in and start creating!

I'm an avid collector of texts on making hand made books. This is the best I have seen. Very clear instructions with simple step-by-step diagrams; inspiring illustrations; examples of artists' books that at first glance look impossible to the keen amateur; but then, hey! I can do that too!

Warning: with this text to hand, making books may become addictive...

What I liked best about this book was the variety of projects that are detailed, step by step, with clear, easy to understand instructions. I would higlhy recommend this book to someone just trying book making for the first time.

Lots of wonderful colour photographs and examples of what can be done.

I'm new to book making and read other reviews that convinced me to buy this one - glad I did. It has great instructions, lots of pictures, drawings that illustrate how to do things and such a wide variety of techniques and types of books to make. Filled with great ideas. Highly recommended!

This was the first book on bookbinding that I purchased. Since I have gotten many other books, but this is still my favorite. I have read it from cover to cover (!) and I also look at sections for reference from time to time. If you buy one book on bookbinding, this should be it!

I bought this for both my daughter and me to learn how to make books. My daughter was not very interested in reading a book about bookmaking -- she prefers to embark on her own journeys -- but when she saw a few of the examples, she tore it out of my hands and set to work. She has already made the two simple starter versions, and she is 12. It is great fun to see her puzzling through the instructions and turning out a very nice little book. I am looking forward to making photography books. Actually, I'm looking forward to printing the pages using my Epson Pro 4000 on double sided fine art papers such as Illuminata cotton photo rag 300 gsm double sided paper and having my daughter put the books together.

You can read the other reviews here for the nitty gritty of what is inside this book. I will tell you that I went to my local Jerry's Artarama, where they had a wide assortment of books on bookmaking. I sat down and looked through all of them, and this is the one that impressed me the most as being clear, with simple starter projects and complete equipment lists, as well as a nice, steady progression towards more complicated projects. I even bought it there (sorry, Amazon, but I do like to support my local shops and you get the vast bulk of my book purchases!).

Whether you're a novice book maker or advanced book artist, be prepared to be inspired by the color photos and easy-to-understand projects found within Cover to Cover. I teach bookmaking workshops and recommend this title to all my students. You won't need exotic or hard-to-find materials to complete the wonderful books. My favorite: the book bound with bamboo skewers!

One of the best books to date on book binding and journal construction. Laplantz is a popular instructor who travels extensively teaching workshops across the nation. This book is a compilation of her favorite techniques, beautifully illustrated and packed with photographs of samples done by the author and other artists.

Laplantz'focus on construction techniques offers a thorough investigation of the various binding techniques. This is a good book for beginners or intermediate paper artists.