Customer Reviews

Scrapbook Embellishments (Memory Makers)

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

 

 

At long last somebody has tackled the task of cataloging the plethora of embellishments and page accents into one organized book. This is something that has been needed in the scrapbooking world for quite some time. Memory Makers magazine rallies to our cause (that is, the cause of making sense out of the "scrap market" for us customers) once again with Scrapbook Embellishments (Masters series).

The book is heftier than most of its kind. I soon realized that that's because:
1. The scrapbooking craft has been gaining popularity - and new materials-for quite a few years now
2. The creators of this book care enough to devote entire pages to about two example photos each of scrapbook layouts that feature the embellishments being taught. This is great for readers who don't want to feel overwhelmed by a lot of detail at once. And it also means that there's room to size the photos decently, alongside the captions and helpful text. Result: no eyestrain, good page design.

I particularly like the way SEMS is organized. Instead of trying to treat it chronologically (boring) or overanalyzing the topic, the author(s) have gathered it into five simple categories; Paper (vellum, tags, stickers, you know the drill), Textiles (lace, fabrics, etc), Metal, Baubles (glass, glitter and the like) and Organics (flowers, leaves, shells, etc). Archival issues with each category are discussed briefly. Processes are documented simply alongside the example. Outstanding sample pages from the magazine illustrate each one.

My one concern with SEMS is that like many other books of its type it is doomed to be outdated one day as many newer embellishment trends hit the stores all the time. The good news is that the creators of Memory Makers are cutting edge enough that they've stayed on top of the trends, even anticipated them in my experience. So, this book will remain current for a while yet.

Recommended as a reference book and for great page layout ideas, too. Get it while it's hot!
-Andrea, aka Merribelle

This book is a treasure.
I admit there are a few embellishments covered in its pages that I'll NEVER try.
But there are some wonderful ideas for using embellishments and great how-to's included that really make the scrapbooking experience come to life. This book gave me the ideas and bravery to start using metal and tags, and metal-rimmed tags, and letters in my scrapbooks giving them a great look!

The book provides great ideas for page layouts but is a little dated to today's modern scrapbooking. It provides information on techiniques to use but does not go into a "how to" for completing the techniques. Overall, I have enjoyed using this book as an inspiration for page layouts.

I am not a creative person but since I got this book I have not had any problem. There are so many ideas to choose from. This books shows you the fundamnetals of Embelishments and really make a differance inyour leval of scrapbooking.

I am an avid scrapbooker and I use a lot of embellishments... but I found this book to be dated. There are newer, trendier books out there. My advice is to shop around.

Overall I really like this book and I'm happy I purchased it. It has opened my eyes to the endless possibilities for types of embellishments (particularly materials I can use and keep an eye out for at certain events). Every time I flick through, I find something new I missed before.

I like that there is a variety of scrapbooking styles; they aren't all product heavy nor minimalistic. The embellishment types are collected by material: organics (hemp, flowers, shells, etc.), textiles (fabric, thread, ribbon, etc.), baubles (glass, glitter, beads, rhinestones, etc.), paper and metallics (wire, paper clips, eyelets, brads, etc.). There are some fun ideas for interactive pages as well.

I wish there was a little more explanation on the techniques used to create the embellishments and even product suggestions (I've been scrapping for nearly 7 years - I'm not super-heavy into the culture with magazines, tradeshows and such, though - and just recently found "dimensional glaze" because no one ever listed the product itself).

Some reviewers have said it's a little dated. Eh, maybe, but I didn't really care. Everything comes back in style some time! And if you always keep up with "the latest" your pages will look dated in a few years, too. So I take what I like, make it my own and who cares if it is/was/will be "trendy."

everything was goo, i enjoyed the book it has a lot of pointers for beginers and pros.
it was in great shape for being used and came fast

I just bought this book and I've already put it in a bag to swap at the next scrapbooking crop. It's too cluttered w/uady ovr-the-top layout... and very few instructions for the few ideas I found interesting. Better to buy a few stamping magazines.