Ornare
The All Occasion Card Book
By Diny van de Lustgraaf 

     Dutch paper crafts have taken the crafting world by storm, and craft publishers Search Press have been printing English translations of those elusive square instruction books. This is the latest Ornare book, and a larger volume full of patterns and ideas for this popular craft, a revival of the 19th century art of paper piercing. Basic tools include a pricking tool, a mat and several printed cutting sheets of designs. Normally, I would also include a couple of the red metal templates for pricking patterns, but if you have this book you might not even wish to purchase these, as here are lots of useful patterns for pricked borders and motifs.

     Previously, the other books in this series have been rather short on these, so it was with some joy I discovered that templates might not need to be on my Christmas shopping list this year. As well as holiday designs, there are ideas and patterns for births, weddings, parties and birthdays covering floral, nautical, butterfly and fruit, to name a few topics. Instructions are given for each card, as well as a description of the materials needed (not many of these, but glitter glue seems to be featured a lot) and the instructions are simple and brief, as fits such a straightforward and effective craft. I would have liked to have seen more paper images being used than just the sheets Ornare prints as there are so many items that can be recycled, such as old cards and wrapping paper, or even the paper scraps featured in the earlier book The Art of Paper Piercing by Marianne Perlot (also reviewed on this site). But maybe armed with this cornucopia of ideas and those oh-so-useful pricking patterns, crafters will be able to find enough additional resources to put their bits and pieces to use.