Collage Couture Studio Paper Dolls: Design, Collage, Cut and Play

A great art book for your crafting library

I agree with the review by happycaregiver posted above. I am a huge fan of Julie's work but I think her doll stamps really represent her very best work as compared to the dolls and doll clothes in the book. I'm happy to own this book but I think if I had seen it in the store I might not have ordered it online, I probably would have passed. Its pleasing to look through but as an investment in your creative development, I think there are better books out there for drawing faces with colored pencils (the best I've seen is the book from Suzi Blu). Several of the dress patterns are almost identical to those from Julie's stamps, most look like the kind of clothes my mom put me in back in the 60's as a little kid. There are no sophisticated grown up dolls, or clothes, yet every doll has a narrative with a fairly sophisticated lifestyle. I thought the Eifle Tower theme has been so over-done, so that project is a bit well worn. There is a project with a scene of the sea with some creative techniques, but no doll placed in the scene (ie. Julie's mermaid doll would have been perfect, not sure why this was the case). Julie's mixed media techniques are really good but they haven't evolved since her last book, so not much new to see. She is still using bubble wrap like impressions for the most part. You can see the influence of Prima paper in this work which makes you want to go out and buy sheets of all those floral print themed papers for the dresses with the ruffly folds. There was only really one doll that I thought was really well created, and that is the Francesca doll (try to do a Google image search, she has one eye to the right with her bangs covering the other eye). She appears in a project called "Venetian Ball" and that is a real stunner, really the very best work of Julie's in the book in my opinion - really master class. There is one chapter that I thought made the book quite unique - the chapter that provides ideas for creating places to put your paper dolls. Here you get the chance to see through a little bit of imagination and resourcefulness, you can alter wood boxes, stationary boxes etc. to create a 3-D setting as a presentation piece for your paper doll clothes. The very best representation of this work is her Paper Couture Shoppe. The rest were ho-hum, for me anyways, ie. tags, banners, a vintage suitcase...there was one item that had potential, an armoire,but it looked a bit tacky to me (maybe it was due to lighting, photography errors?). I'm sure Julie fans will take these ideas and run with them and create some really spectacular pieces of art from the inspiration. I just don't think this book is going to get you to a place where you will learn how to create unique clothes and dolls with your own signature look. All of the fashion examples in this book are extremely simple to trace and cut which I think would appeal to a young audience, however the clothes are so old school, I'm not sure young girls or boys today would relate to it (maybe if they saw mommy in photos as a little girl wearing similar clothes they might be more inspired). Anyways, if you know of a young girl who loves to draw and color and is an aspiring artist, I think she might enjoy this book quite a bit, but I'm not sure if this generation of young girls will catch on to the idea of "playing" with paper dolls. Before anyone gets angry with me for my review, I just wanted to say that I'm sure Julie, as many artists do, reserves their best work for sale and does not want to give away their best ideas in their books, or they keep it simple so they can generate a revenue stream from classes where you get treated to the bigger better deal so in no way do I think Julie is not a great artist, I just think the work in this book is lacking, except for a few stand out projects.

I purchased this as a gift for my mom who is an avid scrapbooker and card maker. She absolutely loves it! There are many project ideas in the book! Lots of cute stuff to make! My mom has probably made them all now. The author of the book, Julie Nutting, is a very friendly enthusiastic crafter, too, and great to her fans. My mom has shared some of her own projects with the author, and Ms. Nutting has very graciously replied and been very encouraging. I recommend this book not only because it is fun and has lots of great crafting ideas, but also because the author is someone worth supporting.

What a lovely book. it far exceeded my expectations and how anyone receiving it could possibly return it boggles my mind. Ok I admit it, I am aJulie Nuttinng fan. I have all three die and stamp sets, as well as other girl stamps, tags etc. plus her first book Courture Collage which I really like but this one is a must have for any paper doll doll or Julie Nutting addict. In addition to lots of beautiful dolls to cut out And gorgeous clothes to dress them in, there are blank templets for those of us who love to draw and design. Thanks Amazon and thank you Julie. I love both of you

Content is good.Condition of book: There was a sticky bit of residue 1/4 way through the book - tape and something else. It was disgusting. I gave the entire book a spray of Lysol spray and wiped it down with alcohol wipes. The book also smells musty.I wanted the book but I wanted a BRAND NEW BOOK.

I love this book. As a child my favorite toy was paper dolls. My sister and I would play with them for hours. We would even make our own clothes for them. This book has brought back such great memories. Now as a crafter....I can get to enjoy the best of both worlds. Playing with paper dolls and crafting.I have almost all of Julie Nuttings Prima doll stamps and I enjoy making things for my seven grand-daughters with them. But this book is strictly for me. I get to be a "little child" again. Thank you Julie.

The paper dolls that are included are printed back to back. If you cut out the doll you cut into a page or more of the clothes. Yes, the author says to make color copies. Who wants to do that with the prIce of ink? This is not the traditional paper doll layout. Additionally, most of the book is about collage techniques/backgrounds for the dolls. Description book is very misleading. I thought the collage part was for the doll clothes, not pages of scrapbook type ideas. I am glad I didn’t buy it new and didn’t pay full price.

Lots of designs, ready to use,

Having bought the first book and loved it, I bought this one too. It's very similar to the first but uses dolls rather than adults. I find it charming and am very inspired by the ideas both for the dolls and the background.

Very pleased with this purchase. Full of interest and colour. Great price and just what I want for my latest art project. Thank you very much

Brilliant, different than the first book but a delight if you love dolls, especially paper dolls. Prefer her work without the faces but quirky and interesting none the less.

A lovely book-well priced and delivered within the estimated time period.

As a gift for some one that is artistic this is perfect.