[.ca] We Dare You Scrapbook Challenges About Real Life (ISBN 1599630133)

Not your average "Soccer Mom's" scrapbook...:
I had never heard of this website or this book for that matter until I picked it up at Chapters in Ottawa this past weekend off a display wall. Flipping through, I was hooked! So hooked in fact, I couldn't wait to order it online and save 30%- I bought it on the spot. Worth every penny. I love this book because it speaks to me. So much of the scrapbook world seems to revolve around obsessive documentation of children's birthday parties, The First Hockey Meet, The First Time Baby Had A Runny Nose, My First Knitted Afghan, etc etc. While all of that stuff is OK, there is so much more to scrapbooking than turning it into a hobby just for soccer moms. This book is intelligent, varied and interesting. It provides heaps of inspiration to work with the weird little moments that would otherwise be lost forever in a lifetime. (The page that "sold" me was one of the authors looking back and advising her younger self in an old junior high school photograph to Put.Down.The.Spiral.Perm- with the solemn warning that "Your bangs will never be as high as Tiffany's." I nearly died laughing in the store!) The only critique I would have of this book is that like many other books in this genre, it repeats layouts inside sometimes. I can't figure out why authors do this- surely there are enough layouts to illustrate different techniques or subjects at their disposal; and if not, for crying out loud make up a couple extra layouts to avoid repetition- it's going to be a published book for goodness sake! Also, I find some of the navel-gazing with the "me" type of pages a bit rich at times, but hey, that's par for the course in this hobby. I highly, highly recommend this book. It's probably the best title out there right now. Congratulations, girls. When's the sequel coming out?

This book rocked:
For anyone looking to think outside the box and be challenged this book is for you! I love seeing each of the artists takes on the dares and keep picking this book up again and again for inspiration (plus I'm working on each dare starting at dare #1)! I can't say enough about how happy I was with this book and hope they are planning a part 2 (We Double Dare you maybe??)