There is no shortage of rubber stamps, patterned papers, peeloff stickers and other items with Celtic themes, and this book brings together many ideas for using them.  The chapters show simple but elegant cards made using these and other items, such as dry embossing stencils, paper tole, alcohol inks, metal embossing and more.  The final project uses a pattern found in this book, but for the other cards you will need to obtain the items used.  Much inspiration has been drawn from the Celtic stone carvings and metalworking examples rather than the brilliantly-colored illuminated manuscripts, as the colors are rather subdued, but this shows a less obvious side to the Celts, which is interesting in itself. One thing that impressed me was the initial project, which shows you how to make a card blank out of a sheet of card.  This is an obvious thing for a book on cardmaking to cover, but in my experience they rarely do.  If you are a beginner who wants to progress from buying your blanks to making your own (cheaper and a lot more versatile) then this will be a boon.  This book will also instruct a relative beginner in how to use the various craft items from scratch. It is a good addition to any papercrafter’s library whatever their level.

If you cannot find a good range of cardmaking materials locally try SearchPress.com for a list of suppliers.