The only thing that stopped me from giving this book 5 stars is that the designs in the book are a little dated looking, and the list at the end of the book of what stamps were used and where to buy them was not nearly complete and explicit enough.
My only criticism is that someone obviously goofed in putting the book together, as the first pages of the "Getting Started" and "Special Effects" chapters are reversed. I almost put the book back on the shelf at the store when I saw that, figuring the rest of the book would have problems like that as well. Fortunately, it's the only problem I've encountered... it's just a little disconcerting!