Customer Reviews

Lifelines: Creating Memory Art to Chronicle Your Personal Connections

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like many other Amazon buyers, there are occasions when I purchase a book and wish I'd been able to see it before pressing the Buy Now button. Although sometimes it's the overall quality of the publication, it is more usually because the content doesn't live up to the cover. (And Amazon does often require us to judge a book by its cover)

One this occasion, the beautiful cover doesn't begin to do justice to the fabulous pages inside. In fact I am so pleased with this book that I am at risk of running out of superlatives. I own dozens and dozens of craft books, but this one is sure to take pride of place.

Four things really stand out for me. (1)The range of techniques is varied and extensive (2)The "how to" section on each technique is reasuringly clear and provides both pictures and text (3)The authors provide list of supplies required to achieve each technique AND supplies required to complete the actual project example in the book (4)This publication won't overwhelm the enthusiastic novice or disappoint the experienced memory artist.

The one word of warning is that some of the supply lists are longish.So, those with more stuff than they know what to do with will get to use alot of it. Having said that, the supplies aren't exotic, horribly expensive or hard to find.

Buy and enjoy!

I would definately recommend this one.The projects are GREAT and very easy to recreate or incorporate into your own designs. I like that there is a technique tought from each project instead of just a how to layout type of book. I also love the different "chapters" of the book.Tena and Carol are absolutely amazing as are the other designers that contributed their work.I especially love Steph McAtee and Katherine Brooks!! WOW!!

Another great book from Carol and Tena! Lifelines is packed full of fabulous projects in glorious color. The techniques featured are versatile and can be adapted to any type of art project you are working on and will surely inspire you to create! The instructions are easy to follow and Carol and Tena's personalities come to life on the pages.

I've been looking to break out of my traditional scrapbooking rut, but often feel the "altered look" is a bit too much. And at first, based on the cover, I almost passed this book by. I'm glad I didn't. This book is filled with awesome ideas, great pictures and detailed instructions. A combination most books lack these days. I've looked it over several times and still see new things. I'm inspired so much, that I plan to make all my christmas gifts this year. Highly recommend this book!

How many times have you purchased a book on Amazon and regret that you weren't able to look through it before buying it? It has happened to me more times than I care to admit, but this book by Carol Wingert and Tena Sprenger is a pleasant surprise. The techniques are fun and varied. The instructions are clear, concise and very easy to implement. I was really surprised at all the fun things you can do with everyday products!

Enjoy,
Cris Cunningham

Carol and Tena really put their hearts and souls into this second book. Instead of rehashing anything, they used Lifelines to go deeper and show even more great altered techniques one can use in their art making process.

I really love Tena's mini book called It's a Blog World (pg 28). Most of the journaling for this project was complete because Tena printed her entries straight from her blog and added them to her scrapbook, giving a genuine and real diary-like quality to the project.

Carol's quirky altered torso, (pgs 48-49) where she applied map tissue paper and a skirt of transferred black-and-white images is a totally cool project that showcases how true paper arts is so much more than simple scrapbooks.

I found Lifelines chock-full of great altering techniques that once you learn, you can utilize again and again in your own work. What a lovely book! Thanks Carol and Tena for being so cool and cutting edge.

LIFELINES is packed with concepts for memory art products which honor friends, family and personal interests, and shows how to produce mixed-media collages blending a scrapbook approach with pop art and ephemera effects. Collections strong in crafts projects will find this a very popular lend, appealing to patrons who want to produce high-quality keepsake editions of their memories for families and friends.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I liked the book for the variety of techniques and range of projects included. Better yet, most of them are pretty easy to recreate. The instructions are simple to follow although they sometimes touch on only one part of the projects. For instance, the tutorial for the melted wax technique for the My Babushka box covers only a framed photograph; the inside pages of the How We Became Dog People and Some of the Girls In My Family journals are described in words but it would have been nice to see some photos of them.

Still, there are many ideas in this book for creating mini books, scrapbook pages, gifts and memory boxes for the important connections in your life. The layouts and projects provide lots of inspiration for art in general, and the techniques - including various ways of transferring image, photo tinting, creating textured backgrounds, stamping on metal, etc - can be applied to all sorts of other creative projects.

This book was rather disappointing! There was nothing fresh or exciting in this book. There are many details, techniques and how to, step by step photos. Honestly nothing to spark my imagination or creativity what so ever. It's rather dull and ultimately UNINSPIRING!! Nothing new or fabulous here.....bummer. I'm giving it 2 stars because I do appreciate the detailed instructions and did learn a couple new techniques, and about some various products.