Cynthia Hart's Scrapbook Workshop

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive, user-friendly, and extremely inspiring!
Review: CYNTHIA HART'S SCRAPBOOK WORKSHOP: A Complete Guide to Preserving Memories in Archival, Heirloom-Quality Books (Workman Trade Paperback, $19.95, 1998)

I thought it would be nice to create a scrapbook for my son's first year at school, and so I started scouring the bookshelves for interesting scrapbooking titles. It was VERY hard to find ones that aren't hokey and super-cutsey. CYNTHIA HART'S SCRAPBOOKING WORKSHOP was one of the few books that somewhat appealed to me. You may be familiar with Cynthia Hart's Victorian art calendars. Her designs in this book are quite elaborate and definitely reflect her Victorian tastes, but the book isn't entirely Victorian-styled. There are plenty of contemporary ideas, which I actually didn't care for as much as her vintage-style page layouts.

The book is comprehensive and an excellent source for the novice "scrapbooker." She covers the basics of how to use archival materials, how to restore damaged photos and prevent photos from future deterioration, and she also offers helpful information about tracing your family tree. Then she gets into the heart of how to create a scrapbook: the basic tools needed, planning your pages, incorporating three-dimensional objects, color and design schemes, and detailed instructions for making your own album covers.

The rest of the book is devoted to lush, full-color scrapbook designs. Each design is accompanied by detailed instructions. She covers a wide variety of occasions, including baby, wedding, bar mitzvah, sweet sixteen, 50th wedding anniversary, sports, kids' artwork albums, holidays, travel, and pets. My favorites were the designs in which she worked with old photographs. The "Childhood in Collage" and the "Special Grandmother" layouts are gorgeous.

This book is extremely well thought out. It offers detailed, easy-to-follow instructions for creating a memory album. And it features a wide range of scrapbooking ideas that will inspire readers to do something creative with their shoeboxes full of old photographs.

Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: If you are new to scrapbooking pass this one up
Review: I have always liked scrapbooking, but this book has given my hobbie a whole new perspective. This is the first book I bought on this subject and it made me burst with creativity... I was thrilled to discover all the ideas Cynthia Hart proposes along her orderly advice and guidelines. The book is rich with pictures and examples, and going through it for the first time - without concentrating in the written material - is enough to start with. I was overwhelmed with the richness of the material. In your second reading you can go through the written guidelines.

Rating:
Summary: Not your usual book of layouts!
Review: If you're buying this book for more layout ideas, you might want to look elsewhere. Yes, there are plenty of ideas but the focus here is on the entire album - not the individual pages. Cynthia Hart shows the reader how to actually craft an album - from cover to cover (literally). About 90 pages are devoted to instruction, 90 pages are devoted to designs and about 50 pages are of art and templates (which can be copied for personal use). The scrapbook designs range from the usual wedding scrapbook to a rollerblade scrapbook. There's even a horse show book made in the shape of a horse's head! Supply lists, color photos and instruction are included with each design. While I may never be as creative as Cynthia Hart, I'll view my scrapbooking from a new perspective thanks to her book!

Rating:
Summary: Not your usual book of layouts!
Review: If you're buying this book for more layout ideas, you might want to look elsewhere. Yes, there are plenty of ideas but the focus here is on the entire album - not the individual pages. Cynthia Hart shows the reader how to actually craft an album - from cover to cover (literally). About 90 pages are devoted to instruction, 90 pages are devoted to designs and about 50 pages are of art and templates (which can be copied for personal use). The scrapbook designs range from the usual wedding scrapbook to a rollerblade scrapbook. There's even a horse show book made in the shape of a horse's head! Supply lists, color photos and instruction are included with each design. While I may never be as creative as Cynthia Hart, I'll view my scrapbooking from a new perspective thanks to her book!

Rating:
Summary: If you are new to scrapbooking pass this one up
Review: Sure it has beautiful layouts and if you are not a newbie you might enjoy it. It is way to advanced to start out with.