Customer Reviews

Vintage Greeting Cards with MaryJo McGraw

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased this book for a friend of mine for her birthday...This book is so full of ideas and helpful hints that I was sorely tempted to keep it and bring her flowers instead!!!...If you enjoy great quality pictures, well written instructions and inspiring artsy examples, you want this book in your collection. Trust me, I'm hoping someone gets the 'bright' idea to get me one for MY birthday.

I found this gem of a book in the library and now I am going to buy a copy. Why? because it is so full of ideas I don't want to forget a one! Mary Jo's ideas range from modest to WOW! She uses materials in ways I never would have thought of. Inspriring me to use my own vintage pictures on fresh new ways. I can not wait to try the rubber stamping on copper and the photo transfer onto metal. One of my grandfather's was a tinsmith and I am looking forward to doing a picture of him on that metal. I recomend this book to anyone who is looking for new ways to enjoy card making and scrapbooking.

Mary Jo McGraw always makes a good technique book and this is no exception. There are lots of good techniques for using walnut ink in here. I had always just used it to stain paper by spraying in on with a spray bottle but here she shows other ways to apply it (like using a brush) and get different antique effects. All the techniques are broken down into easy to understand steps, each with a picture showing exactly what to do. In addition to the walnut ink there are techniques using beeswax, stamping on mica, using napkins, alcohol ink, omni gel transfer techniques, etc. She does all these with copies of antique photos and boy they are just so cool and so easy. So many techniques to play with - this book will keep you busy and learning for a long time. I've had it for a few months now and keep picking it up to try new things. An absolute must have if you like that antique look.

I find this book full of ideas for making new things look old. I like to do my art work such as ATCs in Victorian themes and this is so full of techniques that I didn't know. The greeting card ideas are easily reworked to fit anyones personal craft scraps and old photographs or with a family page in a scrapbook section of our ancestors.

This book has excellent ideas for vintage scrapbooking/cards/ etc. Mary Jo is very creative and knows how to use different mediums for great effects. She definitely thinks out of the box. I thought if I saw one more book with bears and soccor balls I'd scream! I love this book!! Thank you Mary Jo!

I love books about crafts, the authors who help all of us by writing them and the reviewers who help us decide what to buy, but i have to say that i totally disagree with the other reviewers of this book. First of all, there is nothing really vintage about ANY of her cards, except that she uses vintage clips and such. I was hoping that the cards would actually look vintage not utterly modern cards with a couple of vintage elements. Vintage art was charming, clean and careful, the opposite of these cards. Mostly they were ugly and dirty looking, i mean physically icky like they were soaked in mud. I did learn a few new techniques, for which i am grateful(one star)And the book is well made by the publisher(hence the other star). However, I also object to books that seem to be printed commercials for certain products without saying so obviously and upfront. I guess that i am saying that i felt sort of deceived as the cards are not vintage looking, which is what i had expected. This is one of the problems with buying books online- you can not see them very well. If i had been able to pick this one up and leaf through it, i NEVER would have bought it.Personally i like cheerful cards, not messy, dark, brown cards which are slightly depressing.

I am very pleased with this purchase. There are many very good ideas in this book.