Running Press sent me a review copy of a new title called Cut Up This Book: Special Occasions: Step-By-Step Instruction for Festive Decorations, Invitations, and Moreby author Emily Hogarth, and yes, you literally can cut this book up and make all kinds of fun paper-art items like cards, garlands, cup cake toppers, and other adorable decorations. The copyright on this book is May 2013, but I noticed it is already available through Amazon.com. It normally retails for $19 US and $22 Canadian. It has a flexbind cover book, is 144 pages long, and is divided into three sections: Getting Started; Project; and Templates.

In the Getting Started section, it explains about the tools and materials you need to make many of the projects in the book, and it has photograph step out images for the techniques too. My only slight beef about this section (and this could be due to my age) is that some of the text is a little hard to read. It is chock full of information, which means in some cases lots of text on pages, and that text could be larger for some of us over-40 types.

There are 25 projects in the second part of the book, and a good number are clever but also easy to accomplish. For example, there is the “Cake Toppers,” which uses a little paper and tape to make a cute “Congratulations” sign to but on top of a cake, or another favorite of mine are the “Food Flags.” Again, you just cut the paper as described in the step by step instructions (which include step out photographs too), stick it on a toothpick, and you end up with little flags to stick into sandwiches that say “ham” or “chicken.” How easy is that and how practical too?

Finally, you get to actually cut up the book in the third section that has loads of templates and decorative paper. Each page of this section corresponds to projects in section two of the book. There are total of 60 templates, and while you can just cut out what you need directly from the book, the instructions also suggest that you can photocopy or trace images as well. Each template is numbered and includes the project name and page number it goes with also.

Considering all of the templates and papers you get in addition to the projects, I think this is book is a bargain.

Awhile ago, I received a review copy from Sterling Publishing of PUSH Print: 30+ Artists Explore the Boundaries of Printmaking (PUSH Series). In the US, it retails for $19.95, and it is $23.95 in Canada. It is what is considered a “gallery” style book where a collection of artists are featured, both their work and their approach to that work. The curators of PUSH Print are Jamie Berger and Keith Berger, who are both print related artists. Jamie is a designer and art director, and Keith is a pressman. Together, they collected the visual works of the 31 book-artists included in this book and interviewed each about his or her approach to this medium.

As you would expect a book about book-art to be, this is a highly visual text with lots of full color images of the artists’ work. Sidebars around the artwork photographs describe the artwork and has a series of questions and answers. The idea behind using “PUSH” in this series of books is (as the subtitles says) to look at artwork that pushes against traditional boundaries. This includes subject matter and also techniques used to create the art. This means you will find innovative ideas and contemporary themes throughout this book.

I have to admit that while I like the PUSH series, I’m not in love with it. Aesthetically, much of the work is hit and miss for me. Some of it I like, some of it I am so-so with, and some I just do not like at all. However, as I read through PUSH Print: 30+ Artists Explore the Boundaries of Printmaking (PUSH Series) a few artist friends of mine came to mind who I know this book would speak to, so if you are a little more adventurous than I am, I definitely recommend taking a look at this book as well as the others in the PUSH series.

Thanksgiving is not a holiday that gets a lot of crafting goodness, but if you are into paper-arts then there is a reason to make crafts themed around this holiday (other than it is just fun to do!) You can make decorative items for the home, and considering most of us have company, you can decorate your house and show off your crafting skills at the same time.

Over at the Provo Craft site, there are a number of fun and easy projects using paper products and the company’s Circuit cutting machines. For example, pictured above (with permission from the company) is a 3-D Pumpkin Pie Slice. You can find similar free projects here, each of which has tons of how-to images to take you through the steps needed to create them.