Customer Reviews

Creating Handmade Books

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Although this book may not be well-suited for the advanced book artist, it's a fabulous find for anyone interested in learning the art of bookmaking. And the directions are clear and concise, allowing the reader to fully comprehend and produce the many wonderful projects that are outlined in this book with ease and amazement.

This is one of those books you are glad you invested in. The book ideas/photos are inspirational, instructions very clear and the reading interesting; just a VERY WELL done book. Good reference book. Good for both beginner and experienced book maker. Includes mini-books.

I would not recommend this book if you are trying to learn how to create your own journals/books. I found this book to be more about the "artist" Alisa Golden and what she has created than about teaching me how to do it. There are examples of books you would never want to create. It does provide some useful instruction, but I thought "Handcrafted Journals, Albums, Scrapbooks, and more" by Marie Browning was much more helpful for what I wanted.

Get ready to get creative when you open this book about making books. Golden's work is absolutely gorgeous and completely accessible through good illustrations and lots of samples.

The author explores simple accordion techniques, ancient palm books, scrolls, pocketed pieces and sewn bindings. She even covers the difficult-to-find Jacob's Ladder book. This is a clever technique that is well worth the effort.

The book is like being part of a study group. Work through at your own pace and enjoy the process.

I knew nothing about creating handmade books until I read this book. It is great. I can't wait to try all the projects. Great pictures. I was a little confused by the written instructions, but could follow the pictures quite easily. If you are a novice like me - this is the book for you! It also has advanced pieces for the rest of you!

Tired of buying a book making book and getting yet another 100 accordian folds and stab bindings? (although it has those too) This book has a very nice variety of styles.

The pictures are very pretty, and it's very interesting to look at but after reading this book several times and studying it, I can't figure out what the instructions are telling me to do. The pictures are not very clear in showing what to do either. I have sewn with patterns, and crocheted with written instructions, so I'm not totally inept, but after reading this book I don't feel I can do anything in it that I couldn't do before reading it. If you decide to buy this book, you need to be very handy at figuring things out just by looking at them. It would help if you are very handy and quick at picking up what someone is telling you. Good luck.

Creating Handmade Books has a wealth of solid information, but its most striking feature lies in the excellent and beautiful examples of artist books. Golden's how-to book is a pleasure to read. The techniques are not only illustrated with first-rate work, but the entire presentation is well-designed and attractive as well.

While the pictures in the book are lovely and plentiful, many of the directions in the book are vague and hard to follow. There are many ambiguities in the 'how-tos' which can be very frustrating when one is trying to construct a book. Sometimes the anecdotes in the book are abruptly ended, and seem to have little relevence to the books themselves.

I liked this book, because it is fun, clear, and well written, and gives easy-to-read instructions on how to do the various projects from five minute booklets to perfectbound epics. It also gives a brief history on the art of bookbinding and ways you might transform your own writings into book form. I highly recommend this book for both beginners and those who are well versed in the art form.