Customer Reviews

Memory Crafting: Beyond the Scrapbook: 130 Projects to Sew, Stitch & Craft

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

 

 

I marvel at people who can look at a shoebox, a stack of postage stamps, a roll of ribbon, a glue stick and see potential. I am not one of those people and that is why Memory Crafting is such a treasure! With this book someone as craft deficient as me can create beautiful boxes, pillows, pin cushions and even music boxes with my own two hands! Judi Kauffman offers inspiring ideas on how to individualize each project, not to mention exceptionally clear instructions, which is important for a total beginner like myself. In addition to the sheer usefulness of this book (now I won't panic when my niece and nephew visit and the rental movies run out!), I'd like to mention its incredible design. Stunning photographs show us the details that lift the projects from the level of mundane craft to homemade art, and the good-sized charts and diagrams are a welcome relief for middle-aged eyes. Buy this book for your friends, for your scout troop, for your church group. I did!

"Memory Crafting'' also could be listed under medical books - it's a wonderful antedote for the many of us who once regularly "made stuff'' for the joy of it, and have found that spare time rare and that drive derailed. Most every page I turned, I kept saying "I have to make THAT,'' " I have to make THAT.'' How wonderful to find a book that reawakens that great feeling. I credit the author/artist for her not only assembling a wide variety of ingenious ideas (I'm starting with the "mosaic'' occasional tables), but also suggesting a list of other ways in which each of the methods used can be applied to create totally different items.

Many "how-to" books for crafters are informative... but not exactly something to leave on the living room coffee table. MEMORY CRAFTING is first and foremost chockablock with interesting ideas... and clear direction on how to execute these ideas at home.

But the icing on the cake is that the book itself is beautiful. Ms. Kauffman clearly set out to make her book as much a work of art as the projects outlined in it.

I was disappointed with this book because I did not get excited about any of the projects. Some projects were O.K., but most of them required me to get back online and order expessive supplies. I don't mind if a few projects require materials that are not easily obtained, but many if not most of the projects in this book required items that would need to be ordered.
I counted about 60 projects,most of the others were variations of the 60 projects.