I received an advanced digital copy of this book from the author, publisher and Netgalley.com. Thanks to all for the opportunity to read and review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Art in a Box has 30 wonderfully creative projects to follow and inspire you to create your own assemblage art. Gorgeous photographs and clear information make this a beautiful reference book for the novice as well as experienced artist.

5 out of 5 stars. Recommended reading.

I have a great fondness for assemblage art, and this book is chock full of inspiration and eye candy! There's just something about an a collaged art box, it speaks to you, tells you a story. This book doesn't give you projects to replicate; instead, you'll find instructions on how to make many of the bare bones components of a box, such as backdrops and structural components, suggested tools and materials, techniques, and a lovely gallery of projects by different artists. Maehrle does show step-by-step instructions for boxes she's made, but it's more for inspiration than to try and recreate her work, as you can't really copy assemblage art. There are loads of photos, tips, and tricks to help an aspiring art box creator get started, but it's also a beautiful book to just sit and look through. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

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Art in a box.. is like salad in a jar pretty. Definitely will make you think of atleast one use for using those cartons from packaging and making al those hoarded cute stuff fashionable. and memorable. cute gift box ideas. snow/rainy day projects. Boxes in boxes is a cool idea too. There was a stamp of a butterfly in a box full of butterfly specimes - good shift to a different medium.

Art in a Box is a technique and process guide to 3-D collage by Marlis Maehrle. Originally published in German in 2018, this English translation is due out 28th Nov 2019 from Schiffer Publishing, it's 176 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

This is a studio procedural/tutorial manual with a lot of interesting insights from a working professional artist on collage and her process for selection of materials through presentation. Since art creation is so precisely an individual process, readers may find little here which can be replicated. In fact the author says herself: "The main point of this book of instructions isn’t to invite you to merely rework any of the projects. Instead, it’s to inspire you to discover personal finds and individual
design themes".

A lot of collage is training the eye to see disparate objects as related or coordinated and curating/presenting/synthesizing them together into (hopefully) an artistic work that doesn't look like random object slung into a box unintentionally. In my case, I'm almost always fighting the drive to try to incorporate more (more MORE) items in a piece. The author has a deft touch with her creations and the pieces she has pictured are very much in the 'less is more' school of aesthetics.

This would make a good choice as a gift for working artists, maker spaces, studio or guild libraries, or just a lovely coffee table book. The photography is lush, clear, and abundant. It is emphatically -not- a crafting book. There aren't really any copy-able items.
Five stars for the above mentioned purposes, 2-3 for crafters looking for projects to reproduce.

Note: The publishing info states that the book is due out 28th Nov, but it appears to currently be available from online retailers; (so this review is being published early).

This is a great collection of techniques, but above all a great form of inspiration. There are some boxes that I am going to make for decoration purposes and others for Christmas gifts.
Really recommended if you like to make crafts, but you are not a beginner because there are no deep instructions, not so much if you get bored easily.

This book is certainly inspirational, albeit not as practical for a non creative like myself. Shadow boxes seem such a fun way to display memories, and this book provides many ideas and options to get you started.

A fun book about creativity with assemblage. While some pieces were more successful than others (in my very subjective view), I found the book as a whole to be very inspirational. I can see it as a fun coffee table book, or a springboard for an art class emphasizing process in 3D art. And it reminded me of my love for Louise Nevelson, always a good thing!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I personally did not find this to be a useful project book. It does give you ideas of how to utilize the spaces within a shadow box but beyond that I would not use the designs. Overall I felt pretty disappointed because I don’t feel it was geared towards what I would all the averag shadow box creator. However I will give the author points for putting thought into design efforts. I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

This is definitely more of an art book than a craft book. I wanted something that would inspire me and show me the different sort of shadow boxes I could make as craft projects. It didn't give me that, but if you're already a fan of shadow boxes as visual art (or a maker of them), then this could be useful as it explains techniques for creating boxes and the display elements inside them. The focus on art over craft (by which I mean craft projects that a person would do for fun at home, rather than a person who practices a professional craft) is clear in the gallery at the end, all of which are the sort of thing you'd see in a gallery rather than things you would generally want to make yourself.

I found the organisation of the book a little strange. It's arranged into type of box (e.g. found/repurposed box, box made of cardboard, box made of wood) – but really, what difference does it make if a box is made of wood or heavy cardboard? What difference does it make if you find a box or make one? I'd have loved it to be arranged by what was inside the box rather than outside it (e.g. collections of natural objects, to commemorate a single event, linked by colour, linked by texture, and so on).

But this is certainly a book for people who already make shadow boxes, probably as art objects to display in a gallery or sell, rather than crafts or sentimental gifts to give away or keep (which is what I'd be doing with them).

Overall, I enjoyed "Art in a Box." Although the initial materials section has an intimidatingly large number of required of materials, each project only needs a subset which is always indicated. Each project also has pictures of the original concept and some even have alternative concepts. The steps also have steps that clear and easy to follow, though I admit I haven't made any shadow boxes by the time of this review. After five chapters of project ideas, the book continues with pictures of more boxes, offering even more inspirations. There were only things that weren't ideal. One, is that there wasn't any aesthetic theory about how to put together good-looking boxes. The other is that some of the image take of two pages, which suggest me to that book is intended to be read as a physical book rather than an ebook.

Disclaimer: I was given an advance reader copy from Schiffer Publishing Ltd. via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had high hopes for this book based on the description but I was disappointed. It does have step by step instructions but I didn't find the projects very inspiring since many of them just looked like some random things were gathered and attached in a box.

I might suggest that someone checks this book out from a library but I wouldn't recommend buying it.

I loved the thought and concept behind these mini collages of ideas and items. I've always been fond of collecting things with no rhyme or reason, but simply because they catch my eye. What a creative way to display some of my favorites!

This book is full of beautiful and unique ways to decorate your spaces with pieces that are special to you in a way that looks more complex than it is to create. It’s full of great photos and ideas.

What a lovely idea of using boxes to display special collection of precious item or nostalgic memories. This book is full of decorating and enhancing ideas for the display items. We all have them, special concert item, old photos, our children's keepsakes all thrown in a draw in a cupboard or the back of the wardrobe. These ideas will bring them out in the open, displayed and shown with pride and creativity, grouped together or individually.
Or just make lovely little picture for display with items of interest, collections or like items.
Los of great ideas and inspirations.

Oh THANK YOU Schiffer Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book! I love it! I have always enjoyed assemblages and am constantly collecting little oddities, memorabilia, and bits of nature and wanting to use unique items as frames. I have a wide variety of things in a very disorganized jumble and have always had a hard time thinking of how to put them together and an even harder time figuring out how to frame them for hanging.
Art in a Box to the rescue. This book is full of wonderful ideas and exquisite photographs. As I look through the pages I keep saying "why didn't I think of that" and "oh, what a great idea". I only wish that I was on days off so that I could dig in and get started right this minute. This is going to be so much fun!
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https://www.schifferbooks.com/art-in-a-box-30-creative-projects-in-mixed-media-assemblage-6741.html
@SchifferPublishing @Schifferbooks

I received this arc from NetGalley for an honest review. This book is a craft book for adults using boxes. There are some interesting ideas that I may play with one of these days, but this is so specific that I would be hard-pressed to purchase for my collection.

This book is gorgeous and so inspiring.

Almost everything shown in this book would be so easy to duplicate, and even a child could create an advanced looking piece of art after looking at this book. Most of these projects could be completed with a dollar-store box and found or reclaimed objects. The book shows many different treatments to make the boxes original, and almost all are very simple and easy to do, yet create remarkable results. I loved all the different options for displaying the objects, as well as some container ideas I had not thought of.

I had been thinking of creating some display boxes for objects I find around my home in the woods, but this book has inspired me far beyond that. I cannot wait to get my hands on some boxes, tissue paper and string, and then hopefully I’ll start churning out some beautiful projects!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Schiffer Publishing for loaning me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I would absolutely buy this book for myself, and anyone interested in mixed-media presentations. This book would also be valuable to teachers and parents looking for projects for their children.

I discovered Art in a Box a couple of months ago on a German website and, I am so happy to find the English translation and have been given an advanced readers copy to write a review. The book is as amazing as I hoped it would be.

The book divided into two parts. Part one describes 30 projects to get started with dioramas in many different ways: creating art in boxes made from scratch, using ready-made boxes of reclaimed materials like old drawers, candy tins, and cigar boxes. The designs are minimalistic but diverse and give an excellent overview of all the techniques and possibilities.

Part two is a gallery with box art from different artists and their biographies.

After reading the book, I couldn't resist myself to dig into my cabinets and find my first box to fill with papers and finds. Luckily, I have a large number of art supplies readily available in my home. If you not as lucky as I am, there's an extensive supply list provided with materials.

Marlis Maehrle wrote a book that's a must-have for anyone interested in mixed media and wants to expand their surface to 3d. I can't wait to get my hand on the hard-copy, this book is a must-have in my art library!

OMG where was this book when I was in school? (Yes that was rhetorical ;p) This was exactly the kind of thing I wanted to do about 30 years ago, but there wasn't the reference type books to help inspire and guide.

Almost everything can be used, from proper drop frames to shoe box lids, from background papers and buttons to feathers and twigs. This book will give you the starter ideas and knowledge skills you need to let your inspiration run riot.

Well worth a purchase for any artist who wants to move off the 2D plane, or the home maker who wants to make that special and personal something for their wall.

Art in a Box
by Marlis Maehrle


Art in a box is a craft guide book for working with shadow boxes. This book showcases ways to display collections, miniatures and mementos.

To get you started, a list is included showing you the tools and materials that you’ll need to make your own shadow boxes. Many examples are provided to show different ways of showcasing a variety of items.

I found this book interesting, because I have a few collections I want to display in shadow boxes. It was a bit disappointing to see everything was homemade papers displays, with only two actual collection items. A few modern art or crafty items would make this book more appealing.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#Netgalley