Monthly Archives: March 2020

Ephemera & Mixed Media

Posted on by
Reply

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! The past two days, I created a few art pieces, made two journal pages and chilled out with shows on the tube. I may have enough ephemera and embellishments to last me several journals at this point but I can’t stop making them!

I used watercolors and watercolor paper for these backgrounds. After the paint dried, I used Tim Holtz Inks to create my image with Clear Stamps. The stamps are from various craft supply companies. There are a few here that I will need to fussy cut but it shouldn’t be a problem. I’m really pleased with how they came out. Do you prepare your Ephemera ahead of time? What are some of the techniques you use? There are so many different ways in creating them.

These two pieces come from a larger Master Board I painted on Saturday using a watercolor paper and acrylic paint I’m keeping the remaining pieces for future projects.

This piece came from a master board I created last week. Some of you might remember that project.

3292020H

Additional pieces I made.

Here are two books that I recently acquired that I’m hoping to get to soon. Can’t wait!

Be sure to check out my friend and fellow blogger’s post about Journaling Life: Anatomy of a Journal Entry!  -Stephanie Hopkins

(Images may be subjected to copyright. All book reviews, interviews, guest posts, art work, photos and promotions are originals. In order to use any text or pictures from Layered Pages, please ask for permission from Stephanie.)

 

Cover Crush: The Girls with No Names by Serena Burdick

Posted on by
Reply

My thoughts on the cover and my overall impression about my first glimpse of the story description: 

The Cover: I believe it was the title that first caught my attention. I really do like the hues, composition and the image that invokes a story of  mystery and the period the story. 

The Premise: I’m fascinated with the gilded age so The Girls with No Names fits the bill. While the premise of the story sounds interesting and atmosphereic, I’m  wondering if this might be too depressing to read at the moment. Having said that, I’ve added this book to my to-read wish-list. -Stephanie 

The Girls with No NamesThe Girls with No Names by Serena Burdick

The Girls with No Names pulls readers into the gilded age of New York City in the 1910s, when suffragettes marched in the street, unions fought for better work conditions—and girls were confined to the House of Mercy for daring to break the rules.

Not far from Luella and Effie Tildon’s large family mansion in Inwood looms the House of Mercy, a work house for wayward girls. The sisters grow up under its shadow with the understanding that even as wealthy young women, their freedoms come with limits. But when the sisters accidentally discover a shocking secret about their father, Luella, the brazen older sister, becomes emboldened to do as she pleases.

But her rebellion comes with consequences, and one morning Luella is mysteriously gone. Effie suspects her father has made good on his threat to send Luella to the House of Mercy and hatches a plan to get herself committed to save her sister. But she made a miscalculation, and with no one to believe her story, Effie’s escape from the House of Mercy seems impossible—unless she can trust an enigmatic girl named Mable. As their fates entwine, Mable and Effie must rely on each other and their tenuous friendship to survive.

The Home for Unwanted Girls meets The Dollhouse in this atmospheric, heartwarming story that explores not only the historical House of Mercy, but the lives—and secrets—of the girls who stayed there.

Cover Crush is a weekly series that originated by Erin at Historical Fiction Reader 

(Images may be subjected to copyright. All book reviews, interviews, guest posts, art work and promotions are originals. In order to use any text or pictures from Layered Pages, please ask for permission from Stephanie.)

Cover Crush banner

Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone

Posted on by
Reply

Art Edition

Today I’m sharing a little about stepping outside of my comfort zone in regards to my Mixed Media Art. My usual styles of creating are using darker hues, vintage grudge, steampunk, doodling, fluid art and abstracts. A few months ago, I made the decision to step out of my zone and explore different ways of creating mixed media art and my journals. The piece below is a prime example of what I’m talking about.

A Sweet Mixed Media Art Page I

I had created these two pages on one example of a background for a friend to see. I had put it aside for a while knowing I would come back to it eventually.

Last week I opened the book to complete these pages without any thought as to where they would take me. As I got to what I thought the final layer would be, I was discontented with it. There wasn’t balance. I was completely unsettled.

I shared photos of the pages to my friend and she told me to keep what I had-in so many words… Normally I would but I just couldn’t let these pages stay as they were. I decided to step away from my work desk and went in the kitchen to fix a glass sparkling water. I stood in the kitchen for a bit and started having a conversation with myself. Yep. I talk to myself.

My thoughts included: Why are you not happy with these pages? What is your problem today? -laughing. What do you want to express? What do you want? Then it hit me. I wanted to go all out and get girly with it. Yes, girly.

A Sweet Mixed Media Art Page

I marched back to my desk, sat down with determination and grabbed a box with embellishments and chose the “Sweet” embellishment to cover up the word, “Love” and proceeded to add a few other mediums-including more doodles. These pages are completely out of my comfort zone but I’m glad I created it and the story it tells is a good lesson learned.

What are ways you step out of your comfort zone when creating art? Or do you ever step out of that zone? How have you grown as an artist?

Stephanie

Sons of Blackbird Mountain (Blackbird Mountain #1) by Joanne Bischof

Posted on by
Reply

I started this story last night and so far so good! -Stephanie

Sons of Blackbird MountainAfter the tragic death of her husband, Aven Norgaard is beckoned to give up her life in Norway to become a housekeeper in the rugged hills of nineteenth-century Appalachia. Upon arrival, she finds herself in the home of her late husband’s cousins—three brothers who make a living by brewing hard cider on their three-hundred-acre farm. Yet even as a stranger in a foreign land, Aven has hope to build a new life in this tight-knit family.

But her unassuming beauty disrupts the bond between the brothers. The youngest two both desire her hand, and Aven is caught in the middle, unsure where—and whether—to offer her affection. While Haakon is bold and passionate, it is Thor who casts the greatest spell upon her. Though Deaf, mute, and dependent on hard drink to cope with his silent pain, Thor possesses a sobering strength.

As autumn ushers in the apple harvest, the rift between Thor and Haakon deepens and Aven faces a choice that risks hearts. Will two brothers’ longing for her quiet spirit tear apart a family? Can she find a tender belonging in this remote, rugged, and unfamiliar place?

A haunting tale of struggle and redemption, Sons of Blackbird Mountain is a portrait of grace in a world where the broken may find new life through the healing mercy of love.

A Weekend of Mix Media Art

Posted on by
Reply

 

The past few months I have been experimenting outside my norm of creating and this weekend I decided to go back to my roots of creating Mixed Media Art. While I enjoy learning new mediums, there are times I need to be surrounded with familiarity.

Mixed MEdia Collage 3-21-20

I created a master board specifically for my mixed media projects this weekend and I am really pleased with how they turned out. I will use these pieces to add to my Altered Art Book Journal and I still have a few left overs to make a few more ephemeras.

Bookplate

Furthermore, I created a mini notebook for my junk journal and hand-stitched the spin and added a couple of embellishments to the notebook. This piece will be tuck into a small pocket to take out and jot down notes and such. The pages are coffee stained and I used scrap pattern paper for the cover. The thread I used was gifted by a friend whom I’ve been encouraging to venture into junk journaling. I knew that this medium of creativity would be something she would be highly interested in because of her love of reading and history.

Two of the background pieces I made will be for later projects and there here is a piece I am hand-stitching. I do have a sewing machine but there are times I want to be in the present with my thoughts while creating and slow stitching is the perfect past time to do so. I will be stitching around the whole paper. The stitch will create a board to compliment the black coloring I will add.

 

The master board was created on a large size watercolor paper. The first step I took was to draw a grid with pencil because I used several colors of paint for the first layer and the grid gave me a sense of placement. Then I took scrap paper and dictionary paper and created a collage. The last step was cutting the board to the sizes I wanted to use for my projects. I used Tim Holtz’s Distress Inks and Tombow Watercolor Markers for my inking and doodling.

ANB11

Left Over Pieces

Be sure to check out Before the Second Sleep’s blog post about new wings and ephemeras.

I hope you all have a creative week ahead and please be safe. -Stephanie

(Images may be subjected to copyright. All book reviews, interviews, guest posts, art work and promotions are originals. In order to use any text or pictures from Layered Pages, please ask for permission from Stephanie.)

Cover Crush: Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

Posted on by
Reply

My thoughts on the cover and my overall impression about my first glimpse of the story description: 

MigrationsMigrations by Charlotte McConaghy

Flatiron Books|Pub Date 04 Aug 2020 

Cover: Sometimes a little is a lot and this cover portrays that in the simplicity of the design yet holds meaning of a story. I love the hues chosen and the flight of birds. with the landscape background blended on the lady, one feels the destination the book description speaks of. 

Premise: I believe this story will appeal to a wide audience and one many might relate to. I look forward to reading this book and thank you to Netgalley for a copy. -Stephanie 

About the Book:

Franny Stone has always been a wanderer. By following the ocean’s tides and the birds that soar above, she can forget the losses that have haunted her life. But when the wild she loves begins to disappear; Franny can no longer wander without a destination. She arrives in remote Greenland with one purpose: to find the world’s last flock of Arctic terns and follow them on their final migration. She convinces Ennis Malone, captain of the Saghani, to take her on-board, winning over his eccentric crew with promises that the birds she is tracking will lead them to fish.

As the Saghani fights its way south, Franny’s new shipmates begin to realize that she is full of dark secrets: night terrors, an unsent pile of letters, and an obsession with pursuing the terns at any cost. When the story of her past begins to unspool, Ennis and his crew must ask themselves what Franny is really running toward—and running from.

Propelled by a narrator as fierce and fragile as the terns she is following, Migrations is both an ode to our threatened world and a breathtaking page-turner about the lengths we will go for the people we love.

The Previous week Cover Crush

Cover Crush is a weekly series that originated by Erin at Historical Fiction Reader 

(Images may be subjected to copyright. All book reviews, interviews, guest posts, art work and promotions are originals. In order to use any text or pictures from Layered Pages, please ask for permission from Stephanie.)

Cover Crush banner

 

Happy Mail Haul

Posted on by
2

I am thrilled to be sharing a happy mail haul with you all! A dear friend and fellow papercrafter of mine sent me goodies to create with! I could barely contain my excitement when her package arrived this past Saturday, knowing it was going to be filled with so many fantastic materials to work with. So much in fact, I starting using them that very day.

Below are pictures of some of the mixed media projects I put together. She sent me some adhesive measuring tape and washi tape that I absolutely adore. Those were the first to be used and then I used a speckled button and a metal vintage style key.

 

I create a lot of tags and ATC’s because you can use them for all sorts of mixed media projects. On another note, I’m a history enthusiast and that includes art history. People say Artists Trading Cards started in the late 20th Century but in fact they go much further back than that. I will be blogging about that one day soon.

One can get really creative without having to break the bank from buying craft and art supplies. Most of the items she sent me are thrifted and from things she had been collecting. The materials I used from my own stash are mostly scraps and cut outs from bigger images. The floral arrangement on the Happy Easter Tag is from a Hallmark card bought at the Dollar Tree.

Be sure to check out my friend’s website HERE! 

I hope everyone is having a safe week! Be well and God bless.

Stephanie

(Images may be subjected to copyright. All book reviews, interviews, guest posts, art work and promotions are originals. In order to use any text or pictures from Layered Pages, please ask for permission from Stephanie.)

The Art of Mixed Media

Posted on by
Reply

 

A Mini Pocket I

Paper Crafting and Mixed Media Art are my two favorite mediums in creating my Art Collages, Bookmarks, Cards, Tags and Journals. More times than not, I am combining both mediums in my art projects. The last few days I’ve been creating mini pockets for journals out of pages from a book and using different craft mediums to complete the pockets. Let’s take a look at the two mediums and their usage. You’ll find they go hand in hand.

Paper Crafting: When it comes to Paper Crafting, I think of scrapbooking, journaling, cardmaking, paper cutting for patterns, decoupage, collaging, creating backgrounds, quilling and the many other craft projects.

Mixed Media: Mixed Media is taking different materials and combining them to create a whole piece-if you will. The medium tells a story and gives the eye many different details to explore.

When you begin using this form of art, you’ll begin to see your surroundings in a new light and discover many ways you can use materials around you.

Stephanie Hopkins

(Images may be subjected to copyright. All book reviews, interviews, guest posts, art work and promotions are originals. In order to use any text or pictures from Layered Pages, please ask for permission from Stephanie.)

Cover Crush: Ikebana Unbound by Amanda Luu

Posted on by
Reply

My thoughts on the cover and my overall impression about my first glimpse of the story description: 

Ikebana UnboundIkebana Unbound

A Modern Approach to the Ancient Japanese Art of Flower Arranging

by Amanda Luu; Ivanka Matsuba

Artisan Books

Crafts & Hobbies

Pub Date 28 Apr 2020

Cover: The image of the flower arrangement on the cover tells a story. That is what captured my attention. This cover is a piece of art in itself. Absolutely beautiful.

Premise: For those who are new to Ikebana, it is the art of Japanese flower arranging. The arrangement if the flowers even the vase is very specific. Flowers hold meanings and Ikebana portrays that in the most beautiful ways! This book shows the readers new ways to tell new stories. I’m adding this book to my wish-list!

I rate the cover five stars!

Stephanie Hopkins

Description

At its heart, the Japanese art of ikebana is about celebrating an intimate connection with nature. To practice ikebana is to find inspiration in the seasons, favor unassuming blooms and branches, seek balance and simplicity, and remain fully present in the moment. It is a beautiful, pure antidote to our age of distraction and excess. Honoring the lineage of ikebana while making the art their own, Amanda Luu and Ivanka Matsuba of Studio Mondine show us new ways to tell stories with flowers. They offer step-by-step instructions for dozens of stunning, seasonal arrangements, while in the process introducing readers to the themes and stylistic signatures of the art. In Studio Mondine’s hands, this centuries-old practice feels undeniably fresh—and readers are given the gift of learning to create unique, meaningful, and authentic arrangements.

The Previous week Cover Crush

Cover Crush is a weekly series that originated by Erin at Historical Fiction Reader 

Cover Crush banner

(Images may be subjected to copyright. All book reviews, interviews, guest posts, art work and promotions are originals. In order to use any text or pictures from Layered Pages, please ask for permission from Stephanie.)

New Beginnings: Spring is Near

Posted on by
Reply

Butterfly II

Happy Wednesday! Today I am sharing a glimpse at a recent page in my smash book. I have always been drawn to butterflies and this coming Spring is inspiring me to create in depths I haven’t reached before. They’ve been bottled up inside me far too long and the Butterfly is about new beginnings. How fitting.

********

Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. -Nathaniel Hawthorne

Novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne was a 19th Century American writer whose literature of the Nation’s Colonial history is well noted. His writings focus is around new England and evokes moral Puritan inspiration.

What stories have you read by Hawthorne?

Stephanie