I realize that not all of you are scrapbookers, but I know that many of you are. Saturday, May 3rd is National Scrapbooking day, so with that in mind I decided to review some books that have to do with scrapbooking as well as papercrafting. All 4 books are by the very talented Jill Haglund, and are published by Tweety Jill Publications.

The first book is Great Gift Ideas Using Scrapbook Materials - ISBN #1-891898-10-8.
This book features the work of 10 artists in addition to Jill herself. Since we all have leftovers from previous papercrafting projects I felt this book deserved a look. I wasn’t disappointed! The projects include jewelry, clocks, frames, notebooks, journals, boxes, cans and other delightful creations. It was fun and interesting to see what different artists did with the same surfaces. I can’t decide which of the decorated paint cans I like best – or is it the Family Lunch Pail Photo Keeper?

Collage is an extremely popular trend for scrappers and papercrafters, but one that can be intimidating. Vintage Collage for Scrapbooking (ISBN #1-891898-05-01)
takes away the intimidation factor. In this book Jill collaborates with 2 other artists to bring us a book to inspire us to dig out all those sepia toned photos and vintage ephemera we’ve been collecting. No collection? Jill shows us how to use instant coffee and walnut granules to create that vintage look with paper, canvas, fabric, doilies and lace. Although there are few rules in collage, the six steps outlined in this book will take you from nervous beginner to expert in short order. Then watch out – nothing will be safe from your creative hands!

Christmas ornaments, boxes, gift tags, invitations cards and journals are just a few of the projects that Jill and eight of her creative friends show us in Artists Creating With Photos (ISBN# 1-891898-07-08).
I especially liked the way this book has a separate chapter for each of the artists. The photo and a few words from each of them helped me to feel like I knew them personally. This added to my enjoyment as I discovered their art. Amy Wellenstein’s Paper Doll Tag Book took me back to my child hood when I used to wait impatiently for my mother to finish reading her latest issue of McCall’s’ Magazine, so I could cut out the Betsy McCall paper dolls included in that issue.

Shabby Chic is one of my favorite looks – it reminds me of wonderful memories and warm and comforting people, so it is no surprise that I loved Shabby and Beyond Scrapbooking Ideas. (ISBN # 1-891898-09-4).
Again, we enjoy the inspiration of Jill and eight other artists. Scrapbooking on the wall – framing our pages and using them as home décor to be enjoyed every day - is becoming more and more popular. Any of the beautiful pages shown in this book would be a welcome addition to one’s home. The variety of techniques and materials shown in this book will make you itch to get out those photos and document that memory!

All of Jill’s books feature wonderful colored photos of the projects – many of them full page sizes. The instructions are clearly written and there is a resource list in the back of each publication. You may not be able to duplicate the projects exactly – products available on the retail shelves change very quickly. The books are delicious eye candy if nothing else, but I think they will inspire and motivate you to let the dishes or the laundry go and let your inner artist out to play for a while. Life is too short not to!