Rating: 
Summary: This book keeps its promise
Review: A look at the title and subtitle of this book tells the intelligent reader exactly what this book is about. This is not a book about writing your memoirs. It is not a course in creative writing. It is an excellent resource for people who make scrapbooks. Joanna Slan gives the reader a starting point, inspiration, and lots of ideas for future journaling. While the "voyeur" in me would love to read the details of her family life, what she puts on her pages isn't all that helpful to me, as my family and situation are different from hers. Her thought-provoking tips and ideas give me the impetus I need to create my own journaling.I highly recommend this book to anyone who creates scrapbooks.
Rating:
Summary: This book keeps its promise
Review: A look at the title and subtitle of this book tells the intelligent reader exactly what this book is about. This is not a book about writing your memoirs. It is not a course in creative writing. It is an excellent resource for people who make scrapbooks. Joanna Slan gives the reader a starting point, inspiration, and lots of ideas for future journaling. While the "voyeur" in me would love to read the details of her family life, what she puts on her pages isn't all that helpful to me, as my family and situation are different from hers. Her thought-provoking tips and ideas give me the impetus I need to create my own journaling. I highly recommend this book to anyone who creates scrapbooks.
Rating:
Summary: Taking Time to Share Your Stories
Review: As a scrapbook professional, I meet many scrapbookers all over the country. One common thread I have found is that we all wish we had more time to do what we love. This lack of adequate time causes us to sometimes not give enough attention to the really important things. Scrapbook Storytelling, by Joanna Slan, offers the tips and techniques to get you started preserving the two most important parts of scrapbooking: Your Photos, and Your Stories. The ideas clearly delineated in this book, allow even those of you with a chronic case of writer's book to be able to start recording more of the story behind the pictures. One of my favorite sections in the book, Preserving Family Values, encourages the reader not to go at scrapbooking from a position of "panic." This overwhelming need to be "caught up" is the persistant driving factor leading scrapbookers to neglect their journaling. Joanna says, "Start from a place of joy. What is important? What would you like to preserve? What seemingly ordinary parts of your life make each day extrodinary and beautiful?" These are the things to scrapbook and to use to tell your family's story. If you are like most scrapbookers and just need a little more encouragment to add to the journaling side of your craft, then don't pass up this book!
Rating:
Summary: Apples to oranges
Review: I often feel like I have a lot to say about my scrapbook pages, but don't know where to start in recording it. The main thing that this book has done is help me to organize my thoughts so that I can more clearly and accurately tell the story. Joanna Campbell Slan gives many tips for recalling memories, finding out information from family members, and using memorabilia in your pages. She not only focuses on using words to tell a story, but on using your pictures, too. While you may not be able to construct a total family or personal narrative by using the suggestions here (that's not what this particular book is about anyway) you will definitely be able create journaling in your pages that will tell the story behind the pictures and carry your legacy to the future!
Rating:
Summary: A good companion for those who get stuck while journaling.
Review: I often feel like I have a lot to say about my scrapbook pages, but don't know where to start in recording it. The main thing that this book has done is help me to organize my thoughts so that I can more clearly and accurately tell the story. Joanna Campbell Slan gives many tips for recalling memories, finding out information from family members, and using memorabilia in your pages. She not only focuses on using words to tell a story, but on using your pictures, too. While you may not be able to construct a total family or personal narrative by using the suggestions here (that's not what this particular book is about anyway) you will definitely be able create journaling in your pages that will tell the story behind the pictures and carry your legacy to the future!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: I purchased this book after many people highly recommended it to me! I have to agree with them!! This is the best money I have spent on scrapbooking!!! I love the ideas she gives to help us remember the stuff we thought we forgot!! I have 20+ years of pics to journal about & her book has made it simple for me to do!!! She also shares tips on how to take notes now! I also love the attitude that there is no rush to finish- enjoy the process!! Which I do because of this book!! I LOVE this book!!!
Rating:
Summary: More than scrapbooking...
Review: I've just completed reading Scrapbook Storytelling and it was wonderful! I am currently writing the history of our family with stories and photos. Before undertaking this project I had the opportunity to look through several books on the subject that would help me with writing, layout and other collateral creative processes. Unfortunately, they all seemed to speak to the young mother and her child's experiences. Scrapbook Storytelling addresses every need-family, children, empty-nesters, young adults. It includes lists of thought-provoking questions and the material is presented in a flowing format that is punctuated by great quotes that ring so true to every scrapbooker's soul. (I am a collector of favorite sayings and quotes and have added many of those in her book to my archives.) My thanks to the author for the perfect tool! More than an instructional book, it is a book written by someone who truly enjoys writing/jounaling and reflecting on life. It is inspirational and my favorite on the subject, by far.
Rating:
Summary: Better than just OK
Review: If I could own only one scrapbook book, it would be this one. Not only does she cover journaling in a through yet easy to understand way, but she also inspires and--heck--she down right sparkles. Her style is really appealing -- there's nothing preachy or school-teacher-y or snotty here, just a wonderful scrapbooker sharing herlove of family stories. By the way, if you ever get the chance to meet her at a crop, you'll see that she's as cool in person as she is in print. I saw her in Phoenix and she was very gracious and approachable.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice basic how-to for new scrapbookers, but dated
Review: Joanna Campbell Slan is apparently one of the most popular scrapbook writers on the market today, and with good reason. She writes clearly and warmly, has a winning style full of humor and a down-to-earth point of view. Her books are informative and knowledgeable; they also fill many gaps in the scrapbooking industry. Scrapbook Storytelling is a great example of the author's early scrapbook offerings. Here, the reader is gently encouraged to take stock of their photos, plan pages and journal with an eye toward one's ultimate purpose - brag book, heritage, wedding, travel, etc? All aspects of the art of using photos and journaling, design and color, accents and gimmicks are explored as a means to tell whatever story you are trying to tell through your album. The author never assumes that you already know about a technique, page style or trick: there's even a major section dedicated to a glossary of common scrapbooking terms. An entire section is devoted to taking better pictures. If I were an absolute beginner to scrapbooking, this book would be a lifesaver in many ways. I had to subtract one star because four years after the first printing, Scrapbook Storytelling is starting to look a bit dated. For instance, Joanna Campbell Slan lists stickers, die cuts and odd bits of memorabilia as the main accents and page decorations to consider in a layout. Since 1999 there have been an explosion of products and new techniques that came too late to make it into this book (for example, quilling, chalking, tags, eyelets...I could go on and on). Then, too, new styles and looks for the patterned papers and colors are currently replacing the ones used by the author. For those scrappaholics who purchase scrapping books to get ideas for their layouts, these will already seem very passé. The other reason I subtracted a star is the glaring lack of information on computer-related techniques, equipment and software. Digital cameras are not even mentioned. Although many scrapbookers get by just fine without ever going near a computer, photo editing programs, computer fonts, home photo printing and even whole page layout software are increasingly important to the scrapbooker and should have more focus in a book like this. I hope there's an updated version in the works, because a good low-pressure, basic scrapbooking guide like this is invaluable to newbies.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle
Rating:
Summary: Nice basic how-to for new scrapbookers, but dated
Review: Joanna Campbell Slan is apparently one of the most popular scrapbook writers on the market today, and with good reason. She writes clearly and warmly, has a winning style full of humor and a down-to-earth point of view. Her books are informative and knowledgeable; they also fill many gaps in the scrapbooking industry. Scrapbook Storytelling is a great example of the author's early scrapbook offerings. Here, the reader is gently encouraged to take stock of their photos, plan pages and journal with an eye toward one's ultimate purpose - brag book, heritage, wedding, travel, etc? All aspects of the art of using photos and journaling, design and color, accents and gimmicks are explored as a means to tell whatever story you are trying to tell through your album. The author never assumes that you already know about a technique, page style or trick: there's even a major section dedicated to a glossary of common scrapbooking terms. An entire section is devoted to taking better pictures. If I were an absolute beginner to scrapbooking, this book would be a lifesaver in many ways. I had to subtract one star because four years after the first printing, Scrapbook Storytelling is starting to look a bit dated. For instance, Joanna Campbell Slan lists stickers, die cuts and odd bits of memorabilia as the main accents and page decorations to consider in a layout. Since 1999 there have been an explosion of products and new techniques that came too late to make it into this book (for example, quilling, chalking, tags, eyelets...I could go on and on). Then, too, new styles and looks for the patterned papers and colors are currently replacing the ones used by the author. For those scrappaholics who purchase scrapping books to get ideas for their layouts, these will already seem very passé. The other reason I subtracted a star is the glaring lack of information on computer-related techniques, equipment and software. Digital cameras are not even mentioned. Although many scrapbookers get by just fine without ever going near a computer, photo editing programs, computer fonts, home photo printing and even whole page layout software are increasingly important to the scrapbooker and should have more focus in a book like this. I hope there's an updated version in the works, because a good low-pressure, basic scrapbooking guide like this is invaluable to newbies.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle
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