Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #484885 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Amazon.com Review
Nearly everyone seems to have countless photographs languishing in boxes and drawers or in tired, old photo albums or scrapbooks. The New Photocrafts by Suzanne Tourtillot demonstrates that there are plenty of ways to move beyond using these traditional methods to preserve and enjoy your photos. Forty projects by a team of two dozen talented designers employ photographic prints, photocopies, image transfers onto both fabric and polymer clay, and digital photos, yielding such items as lamp shades, switch plates, frames, pillows, pins, boxes, journals, and tote bags.

Background information is provided on each general technique, along with step- by-step instructions for every project. There's also a brief but useful introduction to taking better photographs. Some directions could have used more careful editing (one project, for example, calls for highlighting textured areas of clay with paint but doesn't describe making the textured surface in the first place; the instructions also neglect to specify that the object must be placed in the oven to bake). Nevertheless, the lessons overall are adequate for creating these mostly interesting and sometimes innovative designs, which range from simple to advanced, in styles from childlike to sophisticated. --Amy Handy

About the Author

Customer Reviews

Surprisingly Good!
This book was so much better than I thought it would be. I expected the usual tacky, cliche photo crafts, but that was not the case. There were quite a few ideas I had not seen before (and I have a LOT of craft books) and lots of other projects that were nicely updated to the tastes of today's more sophisticated crafter. I especially liked the "Vintage Print Quilt" which can easily be done by those of us that don't sew, as it's all zigzag stitching. The author uses a number of different photo materials and methods in her projects -regular photographs and prints, photocopies, image transferring to fabric and polymer clay, digital photographs and hand-colouring photos. I haven't read all the text, so I can't say if it's well written, or not, but many of the projects certainly look interesting. You will not be disappointed.

Not very exciting
While not completely without merits, The New Photo Crafts was a big disappointment from a publisher (Lark Books) whose books are usually exciting and interesting, both visually and instructionally. The book begins with a quick overview of photography methods, types of film & cameras, and an intro-duction to taking a "good" picture. The first chapter is perfunctory and uninspiring, but is okay as a basic (very basic) overview to get the reader started. This book, however, lacks the usual quality, visual and instructional excitement usually found in Lark books. Many of the projects are very shoddily put together: Anniversary Couple Commemorative Portrait is very roughly cut out around the edges as is the diorama photo on page 35. These projects look amateurish and slapped together. The refrigerator photo frame magnets are insultingly basic--just pieces of cut out felt with a photo sandwiched in between and a magnet glued to the back. Any half-way intelligent or talented crafter could come up with that one out on their own. The School Friends Frame was another project that was amateurish, unattractive and completely uninspiring: Photocopied, individual portrait photos of schoolmates, placed around the perimeter of a sheet of white paper with a child's drawing in the center and the whole thing plopped into a clip frame. How exciting is that to "create" to anyone more skilled than a grade schooler? The Fabric Photo Album was a mess. The fabrics and findings appeared slapped together with no thought to composition, color or pleasing arrangement. The first line in the instructions, ironically, says to "Take the time to plan the design." Perhaps the designer of this project should have taken her own advise. The book is not completely without merits, however, and there are some projects that are interesting. The lampshade project is funky and fun, and could be adapted to any size shade and fixture, with endless themes. The Flip Books are a fun project, and the Carmen Miranda doll is a real fun, funky way to use a photograph in an unexpected way. I liked the light switch plate a lot--it has clear instructions, and many possibilities depending on the type of room and photo used. The polymer clay transfers are another great idea. There are quite a few ideas for different handmade cards and folding book-type cards that are nice, too. But overall, in my opinion, this book was not worthy of the Lark name, and I couldn't recommend it to crafters who are more advanced or who are looking for something really original.

Craft book
I bought this book to generate ideas of things to do with my photos. I was underwhelmed with the book.