Greeting Cards Books

This wonderful book by Sue Pickering Rothamel includes hundreds of cards and descriptions of many techniques to inspire your own greeting-card and paper-craft work and play. Because Sue includes cards from designers across the country, you get many different aesthetic and design approaches. It's a really nice resource to turn to when you need a great card idea!

This book is a MUST HAVE in your collection. There are AWESOME examples and many techniques. I LOVE IT!!!!!

I absolutely LOVE this book and it is a welcome addition to my current book collection. These cards are more than just crafts; many are works of art that I wouldn't hesitate to frame and hang in my home. The photography is especially beautiful and the cards and techniques provide great ideas for making my own cards. I can't wait to check out other books by Miss Pickering Rothamel.

It was hard to wait for this book to get published once I learned it was in the works! It was all I hoped for and more! The history is fascinating and the tidbits throughout the book refreshing! There are cards for beginners, someone with only a little time to make cards and someone with alot of time to make cards. Even those who have been making cards a long time will find something new in here. The photos, illustrations and directions are invaluable to a visual learner like me, the only thing better would be an actual cardmaking workshop! The information and inspiration you will get from this book is priceless. You will probably come back and get more for family and friends so you won't have to share yours!

I was given this book as a gift and was very impressed with how easy it was to find and use the information in it! I brought this to class and went through it to help my 6th graders find ideas for cards they were making for a project. I think they spent more time looking through the book than actually working on their cards! The art teacher at our school borrowed this and it took her THREE WEEKS to get it back to me!. She commented that it was so inspiring to her and just beautiful to look at - and she said she learned a few things! This one is a definite must-have!

I live in Washington, and spend more time than my husband would like in "Impress", whose owner penned this book.
It is a great book for style and substance..but most of all, starters. The designs are not too complicated for the early - medium crafter, but will require specific tools.

Ms. Perkins has great creativity (or a fabulous design team), which is evident in this book - but the suggestions also utilize several items exclusive to the "Impress" line of stamps and products. This fact wasn't as helpful to the friend I sent it to in Hawaii. She really loved the designs, but was apprehensive about spending so much on products and shipping from the author's web store.

All in all, I do use this book, and add my own sense of personal style to the building blocks she has laid before us in "Stamping with Style". Worth a look. ~*~

I received this book from Amazon just today and was simply thrilled when I browsed through it. I have been rubber stamping for quite sometime now and have wanted to get books with cards that look "professional" (cards that look more like what you buy from stores than those that look like "kid's art"). I find this book to give me the inspiration I need when I want to make a good quality card for someone special. The cards are simple-to-make yet look elegant. A good buy!

Very classy stamping ideas in an easy to understand format. An appendix provides information on all the stamps used.

I recently started stamping cards and was so happy to have this book as one of the first in my library!! I loved the unique, classy designs - easy and fun to do!! The step by step instructions are great and the color pictures are very helpful. I shop at a local Impress store and love it! Each time I go in I have to control myself - they've got more great ideas in the store!!

It seems to be a great book for beginners with lots of neat card projects. The book is set out by months of the year and cards you could make that month. The card projects aren't as nice as I was hoping, but they definitely have potential and the instructions are clear and concise. There is even a section at the back of the book that lists stamping resources.

I didn't give it that 5th perfect star because I was hoping the card projects in the book would be nicer and more colourful. I also didn't give it the 5th elusive star because alot of the stamps used in the book are now discontinued and very hard to get a hold of.

This book is one of the most historically enlightening books I have ever read that covers 4,500 years of thinking in all circles of life, theological, artistic, and scientific. If I ever read something that originated over two hundred years ago it will be read with a different perspective.
I always wondered about one of Marshall McLuhan's aphorisms: "The missing linking created far more interest than all the chains and explanations of being". This book answered this notion in spades.
If you think the missing link originates in Darwinism, you are in for a surprise.
It's not an easy read, but worth it to the end.

With this book Lovejoy invented the area of study called ' The History of Ideas'. His tracing of a single idea through all its historical transformations gave a new interpretation to the concept of ' idea itself'. Ideas were not 'eternal unchanging concepts' but were evolving forms who took on new meanings in new situations.

I'm not going to review this work as much as recommend it. They simply don't make scholars like Lovejoy anymore. I remember reading this as an undergrad in the 80s (bought to supplement my summer reading) and found it a most refreshing read compared to most of the trendy post-modernist "see-how-clever-I-am" works a la DeMan, Foucault, Derrida and their epigones that were de rigeur at the time. Read this to see how one can be a great thinker and write lucidly all at the same time. Amazing!

No one should read this book (or, for that matter, Tillyard's "The Elizabethan World Picture") without supplementing it with some of the later counterarguments to the "chain of being," or so-called "natural order"--e.g. Persig's dismantling of Platonic dialectic in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and Derrida's deconstructing of Plato's logocentric cosmology in numerous essays. Above all, when reading Chaucer, Spenser, Milton, Dante and, especially, Shakespeare, the reader must resist the temptation to interpret the text through the template. At best, it's no more than an organizing tool or convenient metaphor for the poet, an alloy that can be disposed of once the text is in place, inviting the reader's participation in the life of the language.

It took me 30 years to realize the limitations of Lovejoy's scheme, which can be as deadly to the life of the text as the litmus tests conducted by feminists, Marxists, new historians, and those who "use" literature to practice group identity politics. The dismissal of the character of Falstaff is just one example of what happens when readers bring to literature an agenda other than experiencing the life and play of the language, the sheer pleasure of the text. As for an artist like Shakespeare, to the extent that the scheme outlined by Lovejoy is abstracted from human experience and limited to a "pre-modernist" mentality, it would best be taken with a grain of salt. The Bard's instincts about life, language, and consciousness insure that he can no more be held hostage to a dated, heirarchical scheme than to the flawed character whose articulation he entrusts it to (Ulysses in "Troilus and Cressida").

_The Great Chain of Being: A Study of the History of an Idea_ is a publication of the William James Lectures delivered at Harvard in 1933 by philosopher and historian of ideas Arthur O. Lovejoy, by Harvard University Press. Arthur O. Lovejoy (1873-1962) was a professor of philosophy at Johns Hopkins University who had studied under William James and Josiah Royce. He developed the study of the history of ideas, which study he outlines and explains in the first lecture presented in this volume. The lectures presented here develop the history of an idea ("the great chain of being") which played a central role in the development of Occidental philosophy. Lovejoy explains in his preface to these lectures that the use of the phrase "the great chain of being" to describe the universe was used to refer to three characteristics of the constitution of the world: that these characteristics implied a certain conception of the nature of God, that this conception was conjoined with another to which it was in latent opposition to itself, and that most of the religious thought of the West has thus been at variance with itself. Lovejoy further maintains that the "great chain of being" was used to supply the basis for resolving the problem of evil and showing that the scheme of things was both intelligent and rational. Two further principles play a central role in Lovejoy's explication of the "great chain of being": "the principle of plenitude" and "the principle of continuity". The principle of plenitude may be traced back to Aristotle and simply states that all things that are possible will be, and it lies behind the ontological proof for the existence of God of Saint Anselm. The principle of continuity maintains that the qualitative differences of things must constitute a linear or continuous series. In providing a history of this central concept, Lovejoy traces the development of Western philosophy from the ancient Greeks (Plato and Aristotle), through the medieval period, to the rationalists (Leibniz and Spinoza), through some Eighteenth Century attempts to understand the universe, to the Romantic period (the German romantics and the metaphysical poets), to the modern day (in which the "great chain of being" was overturned and temporality came to play a unique role in the philosophies of individuals such as Bergson, Whitehead, and James). Lovejoy's lectures are very learned and show an incredible depth of philosophical understanding, as he traces the history of this idea. At the end, Lovejoy is to maintain that the idea eventually was overcome because it involved a static picture of the universe, and new philosophical systems (mentioning those of Schelling and Whitehead for example) came to allow for a temporal understanding of the universe and a God that evolves with it. (While his rejection of the notion of the "great chain of being" is perhaps over-hasty, particularly in light of what we now know about the "Big Bang" and the creation of the universe, these lectures nevertheless provide an enlightening tour through the history of ideas.)

Lovejoy begins his lectures by defining what he means by the "history of ideas" (the framework which he will use in his presentation of this particular concept). Lovejoy maintains that the "history of ideas" is both more specific and less restricted than the history of philosophy. Lovejoy suggests that the "history of ideas" is much like analytical chemistry and that "Though it deals in great part with the same material as the other branches of the history of thought and depends greatly upon their prior labors, it divides that material in a special way, brings the parts of it into new groupings and relations, views it from the standpoint of a distinctive purpose." Lovejoy then proceeds to further explicate what he means by the "history of ideas" and the role that the concept of the "great chain of being" plays in that history. In his next lecture, Lovejoy focuses on the genesis of the idea in ancient Greek philosophy. Lovejoy begins by noting that Whitehead regarded Western philosophy as "consist[ing] of a series of footnotes to Plato", and thus he begins by explaining the role of "otherworldiness" in Western philosophy and the philosophy of Plato and the Platonists. Lovejoy mentions Plato's _Dialogues_, Plato's notion of "the Good" and "Absolute Being" (comparing this to the Vedanta), and the NeoPlatonists such as Plotinus. Lovejoy also examines the thought of Aristotle and explains the development of the principles of plenitude and continuity from his philosophy in the _Metaphysics_. Lovejoy also explains the role of "the One" in Plotinus, and then turns his attention to the medieval thought in the subsequent lecture. Here, Lovejoy mentions the writings of the Pseudo-Dionysius, Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas. Lovejoy explains the role of the principle of plenitude in the thought of Saint Thomas (noting the tendency of Thomism towards "illusionism" or otherworldliness, similar to the Vedanta) and the other Schoolmen. Lovejoy also mentions Jewish sources, the philosophy of Robert Fludd, and the role of Christian heresies (Gnosticism and Manicheanism). Lovejoy's next lecture deals with plenitude and the new cosmography. Here, Lovejoy explains the Copernican hypothesis (and how it would lead to subsequent attempts to rectify the notion of the "great chain of being"), the beginnings of modern science in Roger Bacon, and mentions Bruno and Galileo. Lovejoy also mentions the philosophies of Descartes and Pascal and the beginning of the modern era. Lovejoy next turns his attention to the principle of plenitude and the "principle of sufficient reason". The principle of sufficient reason (which was to play a role in both the philosophies of Spinoza and Leibniz) states that everything that happens does so for a definite reason. Lovejoy expounds upon the philosophies of Spinoza (mentioning his pantheism) and Leibniz (mentioning his _Theodicy_ and attempt to solve the problem of evil). The next lecture consists of Lovejoy's reflections on the "great chain of being" in Eighteenth Century thought. Lovejoy explains the subsequent attempts to maintain the concept of the "great chain of being" among the philosophers of the Eighteenth Century, noting attempts to rectify religion with science, the philosophy of optimism (that this is the best of all possible worlds), and the role of Eighteenth Century biology (mentioning the concept of design as seen in the writings of Paley for example and contrasting this to Darwinism). Lovejoy next turns his attention to temporalizing the chain of being. Here, Lovejoy mentions the thinking of Kant, Bergson, and others and their attempts to provide a temporal understanding for this concept. Lovejoy next turns his attention to Romanticism and the priniciple of plenitude. Lovejoy notes the role of this concept in the Romantic poets as well as in the philosophy of German idealism. Finally Lovejoy ends by noting the culmination of this concept and its eventual overcoming by modern philosophers. Lovejoy mentions for example the concept of God (as evolving) as seen by thinkers such as Schelling and Whitehead.

This book provides an excellent introduction to an important concept in the history of ideas in Western thought. Lovejoy was to found this study and his thinking is both profound and unique. Lovejoy's learning is very impressive and his references are sure to provide much source material for further reading in philosophy.

Being a dummy I found this book excellent value and can now go further in my use of iPhoto

Originally I was interested in reading the book in order to show my 70 year old mother a thing or two about using iPhoto. However, after reading it I began to use the product myself and bought my Mother her own copy.

This book is a must read if you want to learn how to get the most out of iPhoto. I found this book to be full of useful information and more importantly, easy to understand and reference. Perhaps more important than the great practical examples demonstrating the product's features, this book reinforces the workflow concept embodied within the product - from capture, image editing and enhancement, to key wording and organization, and finally publishing and sharing you images. In today's digital camera environment, the importance of organizing your images cannot be emphasized enough.

In our famlly, it's my wife who's the iPhoto user. I dabble with it but over the years I've found it -- like other carefully crafted and mystifyingly designed products from my all-time favorite computer company -- to be a tad obscure. This obscurity seems to me to come about as a result of Apple's serious attempt to make these complex programs easier to use and understand but it has always seemed to me that by hiding things like the data storage in iTunes and iPhoto, Apple has traded ease of use for clarity of understanding.

Angelo Micheletti's new iPhoto '09 For Dummies does the bridge work here, making the program's design and structure clear by revealing how to *use* the software in a variety of helpful and common ways. I was able, after reading the first half of the book, to feel like I had a pretty good handle on how iPhoto *thinks* about the workflow involved in gathering, editing, producing and displaying photography. And given my relative lack of serious expertise in the field of photography, I'd say that's a high compliment indeed.

For years I postponed dealing with an ever-growing backlog of unedited digital photos. Not only did the job seem overwhelming, but also computer learning by "exploration" is not my style - too inefficient and too fraught with anxiety.
iPhoto '09 for Dummies to the rescue! Clear explanations allowed me to import and organize pictures from various sources and to make basic edits such as eliminating red eye, cropping, and brightening underexposed shots. I may or may not ever use the advanced editing techniques that the book includes, (although they are interesting and informative just to read), but sharing photos electronically or in print is a "must" and iPhoto '09 addresses these processes with the same admirable clarity.
Recommended highly!

The problem with most computer programs today (particularly those pre-installed on a computer) is that they never seem to come with full manuals anymore. Sure there is online help, but unless you are looking for an answer to a specific question you really don't learn much. To get an understanding of everything that is available within the program, you really need a decent book. This iPhoto for Dummies book fits the bill. I like the way it's organized. Instead of taking you through a laundry list of functionality, it takes you through things in the order you would actually do them (e.g., organize your pics, edit, share, etc.). It does a nice job of explaining all the things you either didn't know existed, or didn't understand. For instance, do you really know how to use those little "histograms" in the Adjust Tool? Neither did I, but I do now. This book has a whole chapter on 'em. In short, this book covers everything. It does it in a well organized manner that makes it easy to find things and understand them. The final chapter on hints, tips, and shortcuts is also very helpful with tips on things such as how to speed up iPhoto start-up time (yes!) and customizing the keyboard shortcuts.

I like crafting very much. Greeting cards hold an especially dear place in my heart and I love to make them constantly. Just about everyone I know has received at least one homemade greeting card from me at one time or another. So yes, I'm always on the lookout for new books on the subject. This one, I have to say, is great!

It has innovative projects rnaging from the colorful, really creative ones to subtler, more elegant ones. There really is one for everyone and the instructions are very clear, detailed and, simple to follow. No crafter, regardless of skill, will have any trouble completing any of these cards.

The authors did a great job of writing this book. Also worthy is the creative use of rather unusual materials (for a card at least). I've been working with paper for a long time now and it still helped move some things inside of me which helped me come up with a whole set of new ideas on how to work and what to do. The pictures are great, you'll enjoy them and they'll inspire you to create some new, totally different projects of your own.

This is one book you'll definitely enjoy.

The first word that came to mind when I saw the projects in Making Greeting Cards with Creative Materials was "artsy". The next word was "collage". I think those two concepts neatly sum up the style and involvement level you can expect from this multimedia craft book.

Author MaryJo McGraw is clearly an experienced artist who has explored many techniques, but whose first love is obviously the paper arts. Although this is a book on greeting cards, there were a lot of projects that would work on a different scale for other purposes, such as embellishing scrapbooks; and many of them could be frame able art in their own right. The designs and color choices reflect rich, muted tones and multilayers of materials such as fibers, charms, gold leaf, wires, inks, watch pebbles, beads, punches, stamped papers and photos. Often the card shapes and closures are not the standard rectangular format. The processes are carefully explained and illustrated as though to first-timers, but the results will make you look like a terribly sophisticated artist.

If you're hoping for ideas that would make for good quantity mailings such as invitations, be aware that most people would probably not have the time or money to make these cards in bulk: these are complex labors of love that are definitely not suited to mass production. Never once did I read a suggestion that the reader purchase ready-made embellishments or stickers, because the emphasis here is on handcrafting rather than time efficiency. For the crafter who has special, personal sentiments to express however, these are the ideal medium for that individual touch to the recipient.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle

This book is an excellent starting place for skill building.

I don't know how the woman does it, but MaryJo McGraw has produced another winner. One might think that by the fourth book, her ideas and designs might be repetitive, but McGraw's latest foray into the seemingly overly crowded subject of "greeting cards" shows that the well is still quite full.

The title says it all and the paper artist/craftsperson who is looking to expand their skill and designs they will be pleased with the concepts that McGraw presents in this well illustrated and clearly written guide. She takes you beyond rubber stamps and beyond cute...many of the designs are just downright art but on a smaller canvas. More than a few of the cards are just...well, they are just too cool for words.

If you want to make cards just out of your rubber stamps, don't buy this book. If you want to expand your creative possibilities and make cards out of some very interesting stuff, then you should buy this book.

If you want to make greeting cards that are "oh, so sweet" don't buy this book. If you want to make greeting cards (or adapt the designs for other paper arts projects) that will knock the socks off the recipient then buy this book right now.

Dear prospective owner,
This book is definitely artsy and collagey as per the other descriptions--in what I would describe as a Stevie Nicks-kind of way. That said, it is very helpful for the beginner cardmaker like me.
My only caution if you're stocking up on how-to books is not to make my mistake and also buy the Everything Crafts Create Your Own Greeting Cards (Ed. Courtney Nolan), because 80% of the material in this book appears there as well. Save your $$ and buy this one--it has full color photos throughout.

Over the years I have written countless thank you, congratulatory, encouraging and sympathy notes for my loved ones. So many of my friends and family told me how much my words touched them and that I should consider writing greeting cards. The idea appealed to me but I didn't know where to begin. While at Barnes and Noble I came across the book: Write Well and Sell Greeting Cards by Sandra M. Louden. That little book answered my every question and in an easy step by fashion took me from how to conceive of a greeting card idea to how to get it sold. The book even included names and address of various greeting card companies. I can't begin to tell you how much this book has helped me. If you want to avoid making time-consuming mistakes and be successful at writing greeting cards I strongly suggest that you buy Sandra M. Louden's book: Write Well and Sell Greeting Cards.

Sandra M. Louden offers a wealth of real life expertize and advice on how to not only "think" about the freelance business of writing greeting cards but also how to actually "do" it! It's an easily-readable "soup to nuts" guide that even explains how to set up a filing system in your home. (Over a weekend, I read the book, collected the supplies, put them all in a banker's box and was ready to go!) The author avails herself to Internet access for follow-up communication and offers a "verse critiquing" service. A fun and inspiring book to get you started!

This book covers every imaginable topic a prospective greeting card writer needs to know. Once you pick it up, you will read it cover-to-cover, and will be inspired to get started in the business. I first read the book this past July and immediately began to follow Sandra's plan for success. In less than six months, I have sold over ten verses to three different companies and feel confident that this is only the beginning. I am also amazed at how accessible Sandra is to her readers. Via e-mail, she has guided me, inspired me, and motivated me. Whenever I feel that there couldn't possibly be any more ideas out there that haven't already been done, I go back to the "We Write!" section and do the exercises again. Some of my successful verse is the direct result of her suggestions, such as the clever "Initials" exercise. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever thought about writing greeting cards. Like any writing genre, Sandra tells us there is rejection, but that perseverance can and does pay off. I'm making money while having fun - it just doesn't get any better than that!

There are two things that make this book exceptional. One is that if you know nothing about greeting card writing it covers a lot of territory. The exercises are designed to put you in the frame of mind you will need to be a greeting card writer. And two, the follow up that Mrs. Miller-Louden provides. It's one thing to read a book and have questions, it's another to be offered communication with the author through email and snail mail. And have quick responses to your inquiries. She also has a message board where others can talk to one another about this new career. She is definitely a teacher that cares about her students walking away understanding the material and being able to apply it. (Granted: if you are looking for a literary masterpiece, can't help you. If your looking for a laymans book to get you going on a possible career in greeting cards, then this primer is for you!)

At http://www.greetingcardwriting.com/orderinginfo.htm you can buy this book for $16 (NEW!) instead of forty.

I haven't read this book yet, so don't take my review as being meaningful. I'm just here with information.

This book has great ideas as well as beautiful illustrations. The directions are easy to follow. Although I wouldn't copy any of her designs they are all easy to get ideas from and very inspirational.

This is my second book from this author and I find myself going back to it frequently while I am making various items. All of the projects on the books seem very doable and she goes over step by step for completing them and offers alternate ideas and pics of the projects. Some jewelry experience would be helpful for the wire wrapping projects in the book.

Great illustrations along with very good directions. The only problem that I can see is that I must
go out and purchase several items (mostly at the hardware store) to properly complete some projects.
Without a doubt, I will purchase other books by "Josie".

Having been a longtime admirer of Josie's work and creativity, the book Bent, Bound and Stitched is a perfect compilation of instructions and ideas to take your skills to the next level. The uses of wire and sewing are inventive without being intimidating; the book is gorgeous and a source of real inspiration! It totally makes you want to "try this at home".

The instructions are very clear and easy to follow, with great photos that demonstrate exactly what is described in the text. What a pleasure to have a book that encourages you to make the projects and teaches new techniques you can apply to your own ideas. It's eye candy with beautiful visuals, and fun to read with Josie's insights and writing style.

A new favorite how-to for your art and craft collection!

If you're looking for something new to add to your collages and artwork then you'll want to check out this book. The author shows you how to take a piece of wire, add a few bends and twists to create wonderful motifs and embellishments that you can use on everything from collages and cards to journal pages and just about anything else you can think of. Clear step-by-step instructions and photographs insure that even if you've never worked with wire before you'll have no trouble creating the projects in this book.

I really liked this book because it gives a card maker different ideas on making cards. I never would have thought of making a card like the ones pictured in this awsome book. It is a must have for the card makers library.

I purchased this book because I was interested in the card (bottom middle) that is featured on the cover. I love all of the designs that are featured and hope to make several of these in the near future. Great book and would recommend it.

I LOVE it! Sometimes I don't have the patience to sit down to full-scale scrapbooking, but want to make something. This lets me apply scrapbooking techniques to card making. The results are fabulous.
Nicholson really shows the techniques in a clear manner with helpful text and photos. Many of the cards use unusual shapes and folds and all look very professional.
I've dabbled a bit with cardmaking in the past, but this moves my efforts up to a whole new level. Thank you, Sue Nicholson, for showing me the way!
She also shows how to make custom envelopes which are quite pretty. Then she shows how to make a presentation box with a drawer that slides out. The box holds elaborate, multi-dimensional cards or small scrapbooks.
The book includes some great tips like re-using leftover bits of photo paper, or making tags.
I recommend this without reservation to both beginning and advanced crafters.

Enjoy creating special keepsake greeting cards for all types of occasions? Learn to use family photos, from current to vintage, and your paper-crafting tools in Simply Sensational Scrapbook Cards.

The card projects are for those of us who like to play with papers, punches, ribbons, glues and embellishments. They celebrate the recipient in such a thoughtful way that they're sure to be treasured.

If you are a beginner, the first sections are a great introduction to cardmaking, and if you are an experienced scrapbooker or cardmaker, you'll probably pick up a technique or two. The card projects are also full of neat techniques and designs. Unlike some cardmaking books, the author discusses her design decisions. She doesn't assume that you will blindly follow her design, and instead encourages you to use your own materials.

There are 10 various card projects included and a few envelopes and a presentation box. The cards range from simple folds to elaborate multi-panel cards and miniature albums. The instructions are step-by-step with lots of photos and extra tips.

For many of the designs, the author shows how it can be adapted to other occasions. An extra section at the end shows ideas to adapt the card projects to scrapbook pages.

There's a lot of ideas and techniques packed into 10+ card-making projects, and any cardmaker will enjoy this book.

Inspiring, attractive and well thought out. This book has lots of ideas and advice that got me up off my chair and moving. Sue has used lots of different photos, not just cute babies and young children, there are places, pets and people of all ages. Hooray!

I found this book fun to read as well as motivating. I loved the journalling advice and the die cutting tip, why didn't I think of that!

I have not been at this long but have already made a 40th birthday card for my brother (using a photo of him as a toddler) and a special card for my daughter that she has proudly on display amongst all her teenage bit and pieces!

This book is a must have for anyone interested in vintage cards and/or scrapbooking. There are many great ideas and suggestions. I'm glad that I purchased it.

I love, love love this book! It came in the mail yesterday and I can hardly wait to start crafting cards, etc with all the wonderful family pictures I have. Inspiration on every page in a format easy to read and use. A nice product guide list finishes off this really one of a kind book. I have no doubt that I will turn to this book often for ideas creative uses for some of my stash of supplies.

I was so happy to get a book that I have no regrets about buying. This book isn't just inspirational eye candy, although it is that too. Unlike so many other collage and craft books, this one includes clear instructions for doing the projects and a good resource list. I bought her other book, Artists Creating with Photos, and it's excellent also.

I love making vintage greeting cards this is the best book I've ever seen. The instructions are simple to understand the ideas are down to earth and made with easy to find embellishments. The designs are classy with simple lines. Every card in this book I want to make and there are so many ideas. I could not be happier with the purchase of this book. I'll be shopping for other titles by this author.

Linda

I first saw Jill's work in SOMERSET STUDIOS and loved her style. This book is along the same lines as her cards in SOMERSET, but my only wish is that Jill Haglund had included just a few more photos of her vintage cards. Still, considering the limited space that Jill had in this book, I think she did a nice job.

PS: (this is an addition, after review was already given:)

.... I have used a few of Jill's ideas from this book, as of September 2007. The cards turned out so nice and the recipient loved receiving the card.

I live in Australia so expected 3 to 4 weeks for delivery of this book, it came in less than 2 weeks so was plesently suprised with it's early arrival and it was well packed. I really enjoy the step by step projects how too's, and tips and tricks with lots of pictures to guide you.

I really enjoy using this book for inspiration and practice. I don't use her ideas for greeting cards, but for small paintings. Most of the paintings can be finished rather quickly. The topics are appealing and I have sold a number of them. I like her 3-in-1 compositions, dividing the paper with masking tape and having related subjects treated differently within each block. It is a practical and user-friendly book, well worth the purchase.

Thank you Jacqueline Penney for making my introduction to watercolor painting fun, informative and very helpful.
The book, Painting Greeting Cards in Watercolor, was a step by step introduction to watercolor painting through the practice of greeting card design. The lessons were fun, quick and very easy to follow, making the student beg to beging the next lesson. After every lesson I felt like I really learned something and was proud of my accomplishment. I'll be honest, as a first time watercolorist I would have given up if this book wasn't easy, fun and easy to understand. Luckily it was a superb introduction and I am very happy.
Thank you again.

I have painted all the pictures in Jacqueline's book. Her detailed instructions make copying her art miniatures easy. Her instructions apply not only to miniatures but also larger sized pictures. I have used several of her designs for greeting cards.

This is an exceptional watercolor book that offers over 35 step-by-step projects in miniature art. It is not just for beginners. It is packed with useful information on how to design a painting, vary a theme to create a series of paintings. By walking you through the various painting techniques, then using them in step-by-step projects, Jaqueline Penny shows you how to how to turn one small painting into variations based on such things as differing the arrangement, color schemes, weather themes, horizontal vs. vertical presentation, etc..

Here are some excerpts from the Table of Contents:
Chapter 3 guides you through 5 projects that vary one scene by changing the sky, color, season, time of day, size and location.

Chapter 5 gives 8 projects that help you become more creative by showing how a subject can be painted different ways--project 18 is how to paint a pear, including how to paint a droplet of water on the pear. Project 19 is painting an apple half. Project 20 Painting Hard Rocks--the author then shows how that same scene can be painted again, but by using different painting techniques, it does not become the same picture, but one with a whole new statement. The next projects are soft rocks, coastal rocks, little rocks. Next, painting two adirondack chairs(facing the viewer), then varying that theme by painting them facing out away from you, and changing the scenery surrounding them.

Penny also teaches how to set up your paper so you can paint several paintings all on the same board, and how to do such things as making a postcard with three related small paintings--one of a landscape, then zeroing in on what's in the landscape and painting a close up of some flowers, or seeing the landscape from a different perspective, or changing the angles of 3 related paintings on a postcard, etc..

I love Chapter 20, because it really shows where creativity and imagination can take you, and it's FUN!! Penny demonstrates how you can allow paints to run together to skies and flowers, then how to make minature paintings for the walls by varying mat colors. She gives you ideas on how to use such things as drips dropping on wet paper to make a colorful flower scene, and how to use that colorful painting along with a colored border cut in various shapes to add interest and make a variety of different greeting cards.

Project 35 is especially exciting for me. It's title is "Pure Fantasy Another Way" It shows you how a wet-on-wet floral painting with a lot of soft edges can be used to create a beautiful fantasy scene with a tiny boy who is about 1/1000th as big as the flower is standing on the stem to gaze at the flower....This idea is then FURTHER EXPANDED by taking that floral idea and changing the boy to a girl, with a different pose and slightly different floral scene, or adding poetry to the scene of zeroing in more to one or two flowers.

This book really demonstrates the multitude of possibilities in painting greeting cards, miniature paintings for the home, post cards, etc. The lessons are not difficult, and are easy enough for beginners, but it is also good for someone who is beyond the beginner stage, as it is also a book about design and creativity.

A Wonderful book, that will help you expand on ideas for watercolors.
If you like the book Work Small, Learn Big, this might be a good companion.