Christmas Crafts, by Catherine Woram. Review.

Christmas Crafts

35 projects for the home and for giving

By Catherine Woram

Cico Books 2014

Paperback, £12.99

ISBN

978-1-78249-175-6

Star rating: **1/2

The clocks go back this weekend – December’s fast approaching. Time to get crafting. Christmas Crafts is a sumptuously photographed, classily-styled collection of trad  festive decs and makes. It looks great. Flip through the pages and you’ll want to make a cup of hot choc and start a hobby session. Full marks for the art direction. Sorry to say, I was underwhelmed by many of the projects. There’s not much new here – and some of the projects are so simple that the presence of accompanying step-by-steps is a bit of a stretch. I guess the book is targeted at the time-poor person new to crafting. 

The book is divided into five chapters:  Decorations, Table Settings; Cards, Giftwrap & Labels, Edible Gifts, and For Children.  What’s here for the papercrafter? Découpage letterforms – mantelpiece graphics attractively covered in checks and polka dots. The effect is pleasing – similar to washi tape. The letterforms are purchased – so the project is a no-brainer – just gluing on paper strips. Strictly for  newbies. Paper pompoms – ginormous tissue paper fluffballs. These are sort of obvious, but nice in that the project bigs up the pompom trend and translates it into paper. There’s also a good tip about cutting the pompom tips into different shapes.  Silver box place holders – purchased boxes.  Not much of a project. Silver crackers, made from paper-covered cardboard rolls. The step-by-steps are helpful for those new to cracker-making (the crackers reappear in gold later in the book). It would have been fun to include instructions for making a tissue-paper cracker hat as a bonus. In the kiddie section, you’ll find paper snowflakes and paper chains. If you don’t know how to make these, you’ve missed childhood. The snowflakes do look attractive arranged in a wreath. The new spin to the paper chains is using decorative edgers and paper punches to cut the strips. Not papercraft, but in the kiddie section:  like the jam jar snow globes – a project that most kids would find engaging.

The Edible Gifts chapter is very inviting. Here you will find do-able ideas – choc truffles masquerading as Christmas puddings, Christmas cookie tree decs (suspended by grograin ribbon loops), mini Christmas cakes, and candied peel. 

A strong point of the book is that it effectively channels current trends – you’ll find lots of festive bling (glitz, crystals, pompoms); pompoms, jumbo typography; home sewing and embroidery. Although not for the experienced crafter, this title might be a good gift for a busy nest-builder seeking  easy-make ideas. 

Note:  I was provided with a review copy of this book.

Toast Rack Card Racks 2014

... and the Toasties are back. Toast Rack Card Racks 2014 version. So simple to make - and very handy during the festive season. Ideal for those who like to browse through the greetings cards. Three colours to choose from: red, green - or blue (for a non-trad look).

Bonus: some co-ordinated greetings cards.

Here are your freebie Toasties:
CardRackSidesBlue2014.pdf 
CardRackSidesGreen2014.pdf 
CardRackSidesRed2014.pdf 

CardRackBodyBlue.pdf 
CardRackBodyGreen.pdf 
CardRackBodyRed.pdf 

CardRackSidesBlue2014.svg
CardRackSidesGreen2014.svg 
CardRackSidesRed2014.svg 

CardRackBodyBlue.svg 
CardRackBodyGreen.svg 
CardRackBodyRed.svg 

 ... and here are the cards:
Season'sGreetingsCardGreen.pdf
Season'sGreetingsCardRed.pdf
GingerbreadHouseCard.pdf

The Toast Rack Card Racks are a cinch to make. Here's how:

Toast Rack Card Racks

There are two files, one for the end pieces, and the other for the slotted rack. Print and cut the pieces. Score the folds with an embossing tool held against a metal ruler. Attach the bottom flaps of the end pieces to the base of the slotted rack. Join the long edge of the rack to the rack base to complete the arching rack. Then attach the side flaps and top tabs of the side pieces. I used double-sided tape, but tacky glue would work fine, too. 

Happy card-browsing!

Send Something Beautiful, by Emily Hogarth. Review.

Send Something Beautiful

By Emily Hogarth

Apple Press 2014

Paperback, £14.99

ISBN 978-1-84543-548-6

Star rating: ****

Thanks for visiting my 200th blogpost. I have a nice treat for you today - Emily Hogarth's new title.

Emily Hogarth is an Edinburgh-based papercut illustrator. Her motto is “making the everyday magical”. This charming new collection of postable projects and stationery items comes up with the goods. (Papercraft Post, indeed!).

In the digital age, communication by snail mail – and stationery in particular – has novelty value. And the 25 postable papercraft projects in this book provide memorable moments of all-singing, all-dancing entertainment for the recipients.  Many of the projects are interactive.

Since papercutting is Emily Hogarth’s forte, the majority of the book’s projects are handcrafted papercut creations –  but there are also simple origami makes (Origami Hearts, a puffy star necklace), and entry-level printmaking – a handcut leaf stamp. Some of my favourite projects include the Parrot invitations with flapping wings, the Flower Twist card (a volvelle of sorts), and the paper leaf garland. The Love Birds pop-up is simple but stunning, a little bit of additional dimensional interest goes a long way.

The “production values” of the book itself are top notch. It is a quality paperback, with a reinforced cover. There’s a beautifully-executed aeogramme-themed graphic design motif. Each project has a beauty shot and step-by-step how-tos with photos. Templates for the project are back-of-book (you will need to enlarge them on a photocopier).

A few small gripes that do little to detract from a delightful book:

•         Apparently this book has crafty contributors, including the wonderful Mr Yen, papercutter extraordinaire. However, the projects are not attributed. I do wish each project had been credited. As an aficionado of papercrafting, I would have liked to have been able to clock the personal styles of the contributing artists.

•         Please show me more – the lead project is a sweet postable cress garden. Brilliant idea – but there should be a pic of the garden in use complete with sprouting cress. Same goes for the ingenious Message Card with cut-out banner slots. A pic of a be-messaged card should have been provided.

This book is very giftable – for beginning to intermediate papercrafters.  I would also recommend  checking out Emily Hogarth’s two other papercraft titles,The Crafter's Guide to Papercutting (a popular classic), and Papercutting for Special Occasions.

Note: I was supplied with review copies of all the featured titles.