Description:
The only trouble with this 2- and 3-D crafts program is deciding what to try first. From envelopes to business items to nut cups, the 63 projects here arrive with preloaded templates, themes, and stock images to manipulate creatively. Said nut cups, naturally, will be the finishing touch at a party for which the invitations, garlands, gift-wrap, name tags, tablecloth, place mats, place cards, napkin rings, and centerpiece are Crafts 2 designs. With possibly the most perfectly mapped user interface ever sold, Crafts 2's home page begins with a stylish drawing of a craft store. A display table presents projects such as greeting cards, wearable fun, and package accessories. Two easels offer more crafts, and in the background intriguing alcoves house the Art Gallery, the Creative Workshop, the Arts & More Store, and a "staircase" to the Internet. Each alcove lights up when the cursor moves in. Click on an alcove or project, and the main page for that module appears. These pages use actual drawings, and instead of icons and pull-down menus, text appears when you float the cursor over a command (unless you unselect this help option). All choices--such as the "quit" button showing a figure exiting through a door--are entirely unambiguous. And there's still more guidance: select a project, and instructions formatted for printing pop right up. Crafts 2 is structured to help you orchestrate multifaceted projects. If your duty as cross-stitch club secretary requires sending lively meeting notes, for instance, Crafts 2 will import address files from other programs, maintain the mailing list, tell you when to send notes, keep a file of project themes pertaining to your mailings, and make those memos just darling. In some cases, such as for Brother Francis T-shirts, Crafts 2 enables you to order a product. While paper masks require no more than a color printer, T-shirts, for instance, require special transfer paper and, of course, blank T-shirts. Overall, however, this is a design suite. Many projects here will require a trip to the craft shop, but only one! American Greetings Crafts! 2 cuts out those subsequent trips to the shop--the ones you have to make after messing up. --Edith Sorenson
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