Customer Reviews

Scraptastic!: 50 Messy, Sparkly, Touch-Feely, Snazzy Ways to Jazz Up Your Scrapbook Pages

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is my favorite book to date. I have long admired Ashley Calder as I spotted her distinctive style of scrapbooking in the pages of every major scrapbook magazine out there! She was part of the Autumn Leaves design team and ended up in several of their "Designing With" books as well as last year's Designing With Desk Calendar. I am always amazed at how unique her pages are.

This book is definitely for the scrapbooker who wants to do something a little different than her usual page. But I don't believe that traditional scrapbookers will not find this book useful; I think every type of scrapbooker can learn something from the techniques Ashley shares. Ashley's style is definitely freestyle/anything goes and almost always uses multiple photos in each layout. I know how hard it is to find good multiple photo sketches out there... there are some great ideas for how to scrap this way.

Ashley goes over 50 techniques and, while you do not get an in-depth overview of how to do watercolor or gold leaf, you get one example of using each new product with great pictures, tips and product lists.

The subtitle of this book is: 50 Messy, Sparkly, Touchy-Feely, Snazzy Ways to Jazz Up your Scrapbook pages. That's exactly what this is. I highly recommend the book for expanding your idea of scrapbooking.

I agree that this book is "way out there," but I like that. It isn't your ordinary "fifty ways to use patterned paper on a layout" idea book. Instead, Ashley Calder introduces new materials and techniques, and shows you step-by-step how to incorporate them in your scrapbook.

I would not recommend this if you are a die-hard Creative Memories user who never lets anything with even a hint of acid touch her scrapbook's pages. But if you are willing to look outside the box, give it a go. I like Ashley's quirky style, even if I am a more traditional scrapper.

I'm not normally a fan of scrapbooking books - in fact, they usually dissapoint me! But this one is really amazing. I came into scrapbooking from studying collage and other altered arts in school. I love how much this book teaches you, and how REAL the author's pages are! Lovely, lovely book, I'm going to recommend it to all of my scrapbooking friends!

This book is great for different ideas and ways to do things.

I'm always looking for a different funky touch to pull into my pages and make them my own and this book is full of them.

It's also nice that the book not only shows you ideas but lets you know now to execute them unlike a lot of other books.

In a world full of "traditional" scrapbooking how to's, this one is a must have for everyone who considers themselves to be outside the box.

I am a professional collage artist and I own many books on paper and collage and what to do with it. I LOVE this book. I never would have bought it for the "scrapbooking" content, but for the instructions and ideas for dressing up the paper yourself, it is truly a must have item. Great instructions, great photos, all easy to understand and wonderful and easy to do with easy to get art supplies. Messy and beautiful and real - a great step to personal journaling - which is why I purchased it.

Finally there's a scrapbooking book for people who prefer acrylic craft paints to the Making Memories stuff. I can understand that this might not be up the alley of most traditional scrappers and that's fine, there are dozens of books out there to fill that niche. This is something more free spirited and messy. And that's exactly why I like it so much.

If you enjoy the kind of art you see in the Somerset line of magazines, you will probably like what you find in Scraptastic. There is plenty of eye candy, but the best part is that every single layout comes with a photo tutorial showing you exactly how to do the technique. I've bought a lot of mixed media books and never had one that was so full of instruction.

I love to play with new art supplies, and this book offers some actual project ideas that you can use to try out some of these new tools. I never find more than basic instructions on the packages, this book fills the gaps before or after I've gone shopping at the craft store.

It also offers basic instructions and info in using some items you may already have around in ways you might not think of. I've found it very useful for art journaling and love what I've learned. The instruction on stamping and using transparencies alone were worth it for me. If I can upload a picture of my result on the main page, I will! That one result makes the entire book worth the investment for me, but I've used quite a bit in it. A reference for use with those unique art supplies you've never tried but keep looking at on shelf. Well worth the investment.

I have converted to digital scrapbooking a while ago but this book makes me want to go out, get paint and glitter and get messy. Thanks for the inspiration!!

This book was a breath of fresh air for me - I am an artist and art teacher. I yearn to create a scrapboook but hadn't ever seen anything in the scrapping world that inspired me. I do a lot of journaling and wanted something new and different for my scrapbook. When I found this book I said "AT LAST!!!". This author is eclectic, fun and creative and exactly what the scrapbooking world needs to shake things up. Scrapbooking is no longer borning for me!! THANK YOU TO Ashley Calder who is a fanastic author and artist for producing something so funky and fun.

I wish I had looked over the book in a store first before purchasing it. The style of art and the techniques used in this book are not something I would normally be interested in as I find there is way too much happening on the pages. I like a more clean look to my pages, not basic, but not messy as the book is described on the front cover that I apparently disregarded. As the front cover describes, they are very messy. They are messy in appearance and are sure to make a mess while creating the pages.
If you have ever wanted to know what to do with gesso, alcohol inks, water colors, matte gel, frisket film, air-dry clay, and much more, this may be the book for you. While acknowledging this is not at all my style, the directions for use of the products are excellent, which is the only reason I gave it three stars. Had the cover not arrived bent at one end, I would have given it away as a gift to a friend who is into this style of art.