Sunday 3 November 2013

Book Review: Scissors, Paper, Craft

Today I'm reviewing a yummy craft book - Scissors, Paper, Craft by Christine Leech.


Christine is a very talented lady! She co-authored Everything Alice and Everything Oz and wrote Felt Sew Good, all of which I enjoyed very much so I was really looking forward to seeing her newest book.

Spoiler alert: it's lovely :)

 

Scissors, Paper, Craft includes 30 paper projects. It's part of Quadrille's "Simple Makes" series so, as you might imagine, the focus is on achievable, unintimidating projects. Some of the projects are very quick and simple - perfect for beginners or anyone looking for a quick papercrafting project - and others are a bit more detailed (involving more time) or slightly more complex (involving learning a new skill). 


The book itself is a lovely thing, with nicely styled photos of the finished projects and fun decorative details like bits of coloured tape for the page numbers and these post it notes on the opening pages.

 

The introduction includes information about all the cutting, fixing and measuring skills you'll need to complete the projects in the book as well as information on different paper types and some general tips for working with paper. There's a lot of useful information in this section and all the tips are written in a personal, friendly way, e.g. "A dried-up ballpoint pen works well too - though I always worry that it's going to come back to life and ruin my work".

Each project is illustrated with a photo of the finished design and lots of step by step photos to accompany the instructions. Some of the templates do need enlarging, but most are actual size.


The projects range from mobiles, garlands and wall displays, to gift ideas to ideas for cards and gift wrapping. They also vary in size, from little origami forest animals to large cardboard deer.

 

There are a few trendy touches to the projects (there's a feather mobile, owl gift boxes and notebooks bound with bakers twine) ...

 

... and to the styling (like these neon pink touches) but overall the book feels fresh and modern, in an "I'm going to be making stuff from this book for years" kind of way rather than an "oh, that is so on trend in 2013, this stuff is all over Pinterest at the moment!" kind of way.

 

I love the idea of using leftover wallpaper to make oversized rosettes - they're used as wall decorations in the book but how amazing would these look on top of a large gift?

 

I also completely adore these water lily table centres (with battery-operated tea lights in their centres). I pretty much want to organise a nice party just so I have an excuse to make some of these!

 

There are a lot of projects in this book which I'd love to make. If you fancy giving paper crafting a try, or are looking for some fun new project ideas, I think you'll enjoy this book. 

Scissors, Paper, Craft is published by Quadrille. RRP £12.99. It's available from Amazon UK, The Book Depository and many other bookshops.

[Disclaimer: Quadrille sent me a free review copy of this book. The Amazon & Book depository links in this post are affiliate links]

1 comments:

Manu said...

It looks lovely indeed!