August had me reading this ARC entry

Darcy's Artful Readers Club (ARC) meets later today and this month I'm reviewing

Vintage Collage Works by Maryjo and Sunny Kock

Quarry Books, 2008. Softcover.

ISBN 13: 9781592533909
Publisher: Quarry Books
Publication Date: 2008
Binding: Softcover

It's definitely a softcover book, but it is packed with lots of vintage collages and assemblages.  

There are only three chapters, but don't let that fool you.

And even though the beginning of this book is like many other art books that don't specify the name of the tools, and 

although I had not heard of a few of the tools, I realized I had enough of the essentials, I would have no problem keeping up with the authors of this book.  A few things I had not heard of (under paints, mediums, varnishes) were Oxgall, and (under brushes) Scumbling or Filbert brush and Linear brush.

The first chapter covered vintage papers, which included

old letters and envelopes,

as well as postcards, and how to alter them.

Then there was scrap art, something I had never heard of before.  I read what it was, saw examples, and still had no idea what the authors were talking about.

Of course, wallpaper is something I really enjoy working with, as I do

vintage sheet music.

I have a ton of flash cards, although they are math and music related.  I would never have thought to alter them, though, so that was a fun surprise.

And I have a few old maps, but they may not be vintage.  However, I knew this was the chapter I would find my inspiration in.

I love old boxes, but I can't afford to buy cigar boxes. They are simply out of my price range.  Someone has learned they are used in art projects, so now all the cigar and liquor stores (where they are mostly found in my town) charge anywhere from $5.00 (USD) for cardboard to $15.00-$25.00 (USD) for wooden.  So as much as I would love to alter a box and turn it into a vintage masterpiece, I won't be doing that anytime soon.  At least not until I find less expensive boxes.

The final chapter deals with nature, which includes

more boxes, but this time with variations such as bird themes.

The authors even showed an example in an altered book, and a note card.

All that was left was page after page of lovely clip art the artists included. 
 

I'm sure the observant reader has noticed many of these pieces were used by the authors in their own artwork. 
 Although I really love what the authors shared, I have so much stuff I need to use, I prefer to alter my own ephemera and leave my printer ink for more important uses.
 Another thing I liked about this book was there were two writers/authors, mother and daughter Maryjo and Sunny Kock  All the artwork came from them, something you don't always see in books of this caliber or quality.  Oftentimes, authors ask others to share contribute their art, too, but that was not the case with this book. Reading through the credits (page 142), there are about equal entries from both artists.

Unlike last month, where I could not find anything inspiring to make, this month's ARC entry was sensory overload.

I began by gathering a few bits of ephemera I thought might work well together.

Last month I attempted a tape transfer that was unsuccessful.  I was hoping that would not be the case this month, so I started with the transfers using clear adhesive book covering.

I created a substrate of two pieces of cardboard (8 inches X 10 inches, or 20.32 centimeters X 25.4 centimeters) that I covered with vintage sheet music.  Here I've auditioned a couple of flowers I pressed.  Unfortunately, as much as I'd love to use them, I fear they are the wrong colors.  I also auditioned the clear buttons, but decided even if I colored them, they were not the vintage style I was looking for.

Although I fussy cut both birds from wallpaper samples, I was unhappy that they both faced the same direction.  I had some real decisions to make before I could call this a completed work of art.

Then I remembered the artists showed how to alter vintage postcards.  And although I was not inspired to alter them, I was inspired to use them.

And with that, the piece came together nicely.  Although a name for this piece eludes me, I think it contains a story only the reader can conjure up.

All that's left are a few detail shots.  Tape transfer on flash card, wallpaper bird on matching wallpaper fabric.

Postcard and fussy cut bird.

Another post card and tape transfer.

For the first time, I have to gladly give this book a rating of 5 out of 5 stars.  I was really impressed with the inspiration I got from it.

Next month I'll be reviewing:

Writing HOME by Cindy LaFerle


Thanks to everyone for reading this far.  I know my reviews are often far longer than most, but I probably shouldn't have picked so many photo heavy books to review.  Of course, I always appreciate it when you read through to the end.

Don't forget to visit Darcy for links to the other ARC reviewers.