Lil' Vintage Story Books #30

Welcome again to Lil' Vintage Story Books, where we share our favorite vintage children's books!  As I shared last Friday, this will be our last link-up party for a while.  I'm taking a break for the summer!

But I saved an extra-good book for the last week!  This is one of my very favorites, called "Can You Find the Pup?", written by Louise Rowe, and published in 1945 by The Saalfield Publishing Co.  Most books I only post a few pages, but this book is so wonderful, I'm showing you every page!

 Wouldn't you love this wallpaper in your home?

 This is an early "pop-up" book, so the pages are interactive.  On this page, you pull the string and a lamb comes out of the closet.  I just adore these sweet little kids!

 On this page, you pull down the fence to find...

 ...these sweet little bunnies!

 Again, here you pull a string to find this cute kitty cat!

 Another cute kitty, and two surprises- a wagon that pulls out from under the sofa, and...

 ...a tricky table!

 How much would I love that picture hanging on my wall!

 Look what was hiding on that page!

 Love the bunny wallpaper!!!

 Sweet little birds were hiding behind the blinds and in the birdcage!

 But where is that puppy??

 Love, love, love this page!!!  

Of course you couldn't spank such a cute little puppy!

This book presents a good opportunity to answer a question I got recently from Kimla.  She asked about the vintage illustrations in my artwork:  "Do you use original images or copies?  If copies, a certain kind of paper?"

Below are four pieces of art in which I used illustrations from this week's book.  (I told you it was one of my favorites!)

(This last piece is interesting because it was done before I had Avery or was even pregnant.  The two boys represented my two boys at the time, but the little kitty cat must have represented that little twinkle in my eye that turned out to be Avery!)

But anyway, back to Kimla's question.  My answer is that I use both copies and originals in my work.  In the case of the pieces above, I actually used originals.  I was lucky enough to find two copies of this book, so I used one to cut up.  Looking back on it now, I wish I hadn't done that because it's such a wonderful book, but what's done is done now...  

These days though, I don't tend to cut up vintage storybooks for artwork.  I hate to ruin the whole story by taking out a page!  However, I do cut up vintage dictionaries.  A lot of my work uses illustrations from vintage picture dictionaries, and I don't mind cutting them.  I also will use original illustrations from greeting cards.  I know that a lot of people might be appalled that I use originals, but there really is nothing like the brittle old paper, and I like that surface much better in my artwork.  

In cases where I use copies (such as from a storybook or if I know it's an image I'll want to use again), I'm not terribly picky about the paper.  I use whatever is available, although I wouldn't use a glossy style because of the reflection that would come from it.

I hope that answers your question, Kimla!  And I'll answer your other question in a future post!

Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for participating in Lil' Vintage Story Books for the past few months!  I plan to start back up in the fall if my schedule settles down by then,  and I'll continue doing other blog posts during the summer, so don't be a stranger!  

If you'd like to join in, grab a button to the right and link up below!