Author Archives: layeredpages

Saturday Sunday: The Mighty Smash Book

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Often times traditional scrapbooks or journaling entail lots of expensive supplies, planning and aren’t always easily travel friendly. With smash books and glue books, you can just paint, glue, draw, doodle, write on the go and keep all your thoughts and memories with you without all the fuss of supplies. For your books, you can use old books, little notebooks, note pads, mix media pads of any size and so on…. anything you choose. You can even make your own smash book/glue book out of your own pages. It is that simple. You can even glue up-cycle envelopes to your pages to add your notes and thoughts on paper. For travel adhesive I recommend glue sticks. No mess and no fuss. As I say a lot, “The skies the limit.” I also use smash books for my master boards.

I have different sizes of smash books and glue books. Some are not finished; some are complete or some I will just keep adding to. They don’t have to be themed, or they can be. They can be random things you love or random things you don’t like so much. Anything goes. They are so much fun and you’ll enjoy them always. If you don’t have a lot of supplies to scrapbook the traditional way, I highly recommend you use this method. Below is a bigger size book I started in the beginning of February. This particular smash book will stay home.

Supplies you can use you probably already have:

Newspapers

Magazines

Junk Mail

Old Books

Old Wrapping Paper

Note book Paper

Wrapping Tissue Paper

Spiral Notebooks

Card Board from your groceries

Receipts

Your pictures

Pens

Pencils

Your kid’s old paints

Crayons

Postcards

Tickets

Stickers

Mini Watercolors kits for painting are great for travel and you just need one brush and a little water. I have one of those brushes that you can fill with water. So cool!

These are just the start of what you can use…

Don’t think about it, just get started and create. Make it your own. -Stephanie

Cover Crush: Olive the Lionheart by Brad Ricca

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

Although the cover reminds me a bit of a movie poster (maybe it’s the positioning of the fonts?), I still love it and the colors used. If you read the book description below, even the main character is a, “Redhead.” That one got a smile out of me. Now, it would have been hilarious if the character’s name was, “Auburn.”  As in, “Auburn the Lionheart.” Ha! I’m getting a kick out of this week’s cover crush write up! On a sober note, is there not enough contrast in the layout? Hmm…Or maybe the ladies color of dress and travel trunk does the trick? Or is it her looking off to the distance of a new world unknown to her? See how her upper body is slightly turned with her left arm behind her back? Its as if she is unsure she should continue on, knowing the dangers she obviously will be facing. Regardless, the cover definitely has a dramatic effect going on.

I’m curious as to how the author portrays Olive-since this is based on a true story- and if she will be another predictable heroine I often see in stories or how will the author portray the different cultures mentioned. However, the story does draw on Olive’s own letters and secret diaries so there is that. Will this story truly be real life like or will it be sugar coated so not to offend anyone? If you know the history of Africa during that time or of anytime, you’ll understand where I’m coming from.

Also, I’m invested in keeping an eye on how this story influences readers. Having said all this, St. Martin Press is one of my favorite publishers because they tend to publish quality stories. The gist of what I’ve read from the description below is that Olive the Lionheart entails jungles, swamps, cities, deserts, letters, secret diaries, cobras, crocodiles, wise native chiefs, a murderous leopard cult, a haunted forest, and even two adorable lion cubs. Whew, that is a lot to digest. Sign me up! -Stephanie

Olive the LionheartOlive the Lionheart

Lost Love, Imperial Spies, and One Woman’s Journey to the Heart of Africa

by Brad Ricca

St. Martin’s Press

Biographies & Memoirs

Pub Date 11 Aug 2020

Description

In 1910, Olive MacLeod, a thirty-year-old, redheaded Scottish aristocrat, received word that her fiancé, the famous naturalist Boyd Alexander, was missing in Africa.

So she went to find him.

Olive the Lionheart is the thrilling true story of her astonishing journey. In jungles, swamps, cities, and deserts, Olive and her two companions, the Talbots, come face-to-face with cobras and crocodiles, wise native chiefs, a murderous leopard cult, a haunted forest, and even two adorable lion cubs that she adopts as her own. Making her way in a pair of ill-fitting boots, Olive awakens to the many forces around her, from shadowy colonial powers to an invisible Islamic warlord who may hold the key to Boyd’s disappearance. As these secrets begin to unravel, all of Olive’s assumptions prove wrong and she is forced to confront the darkest, most shocking secret of all: why she really came to Africa in the first place.

Drawing on Olive’s own letters and secret diaries, Olive the Lionheart is a love story that defies all boundaries, set against the backdrop of a beautiful, unconquerable Africa.

This book is avaible for request at NetGalley.

Last week’s Cover Crush

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

Other book bloggers who participated in the great cover crushes series. 

Magdalena at A Bookaholic Swede
Colleen at A Literary Vacation
Heather at The Maiden’s Court
Holly at 2 Kids and Tired

(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.)

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Art of The Restful Collage

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Nightly Art III

I added a bottle cap and metal from a tin can for the flower..

There are times my collages aren’t ready to tell their story and they need a rest. I patiently and gently put this piece aside and would often look the design, not knowing what story lay ahead. What is it, I asked myself? What story will be told?

On Saturday February 1st, in the late afternoon, I was looking at a gauzy textile scrap with strings attached to the fabric that had a familiar shape. A kite, I thought. Then the memories came flooding back and I knew what story this collage was to tell.

In the 1980’s-early 90’s, my parents were on staff at Clearwater Baptist Church in Clearwater Florida. My parent’s ministry there was memorable and my mother was the Children’s Director and held many events for the children. There have been many changes to the church over the course of its history and the original building is no longer there. I felt deep sorrow when I heard the Old Building was torn down. Anyhow, my mother would contact the city to use Coachman Park that was near the church down by the water front for events. One of the events was, “Come Fly with Me”. We made our own kites and would fly them down at the park and have picnics.

Those were the best times and I remember the feeling of much joy and carefree. How the air smelled of salt from the ocean, the breeze carrying our kites up and up in the sky, soaring to and from. The sounds of laughter and happy chatter from everyone. The kids running around back and forth to their parents and friends, sharing their adventures. Happy times, indeed.

Kite Textile Collage

This textile collage represents that amazing time in my childhood. All is left for the finishing touches are to sew thread through the buttons and to bond the fabrics together with fabric adhesive and cotton thread. -Stephanie

If I Were You: A Novel by Lynn Austin

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IF I were youIf I Were You: A Novel

by Lynn Austin

Tyndale House Publishers

Tyndale Fiction

Christian,Historical Fiction

Pub Date 02 Jun 2020

#IfIWereYouANovel #NetGalley #layeredpages #novel #historicalfiction

 

I am totally adding this book to my wish-list! I’m in love with the premise and the cover! -Stephanie

Description

From bestselling and eight-time Christy Award–winning author Lynn Austin comes a remarkable novel of sisterhood and self-discovery set against the backdrop of WWII.

1950. In the wake of the war, Audrey Clarkson leaves her manor house in England for a fresh start in America with her young son. As a widowed war bride, Audrey needs the support of her American in-laws, whom she has never met. But she arrives to find that her longtime friend Eve Dawson has been impersonating her for the past four years. Unraveling this deception will force Audrey and Eve’s secrets—and the complicated history of their friendship—to the surface.

1940. Eve and Audrey have been as different as two friends can be since the day they met at Wellingford Hall, where Eve’s mother served as a lady’s maid for Audrey’s mother. As young women, those differences become a polarizing force . . . until a greater threat—Nazi invasion—reunites them. With London facing relentless bombardment, Audrey and Eve join the fight as ambulance drivers, battling constant danger together. An American stationed in England brings dreams of a brighter future for Audrey, and the collapse of the class system gives Eve hope for a future with Audrey’s brother. But in the wake of devastating loss, both women must make life-altering decisions that will set in motion a web of lies and push them both to the breaking point long after the last bomb has fallen.

This sweeping story transports readers to one of the most challenging eras of history to explore the deep, abiding power of faith and friendship to overcome more than we ever thought possible.

 

Simply In The Moment

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Flower by Me

“Where flowers bloom so does hope.” – Lady Bird Johnson

Last night I started a new painting for one of my Smash Books and it occurred to me that I use a lot of blues and greens. Why am I so engaged to these colors, I ask myself? How do I feel when painting with the many shades of these colors?

Blues and greens remind me of the ocean and sky which I’m extremely in awe of both. These colors are calming to me and give me a sense of deep thought and gives depth and meaning in many areas of our lives. These colors surround us and has many powers. I often think about the many colors our maker in heaven has given us and why.

Lately I have been using the many shades of blues and greens in my projects more often, sometimes without realizing it until I take a step back from my art to observe. Most of my art is this way. That is probably why I create smash books and master boards often. You’re simply in the moment. Yet your expressing your inner thoughts without putting much thought into the process. It’s an extraordinary feeling, I think. -Stephanie

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-Art piece created by Stephanie Hopkins

(All book reviews, interviews, guest posts, art work, poems and promotions are originals. In order to use any texts or pictures from Layered Pages, please ask for permission from Stephanie Hopkins, owner of Layered Pages.)

Creative Process

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Last week I did a Master Board Challenge using these 19th Century images with a blend of my own art images. The board came out interesting with my abstract painting and pieces from my other boards. I love the floral papers from this challenge. This particular board wasn’t really organized since I felt I would be cutting it up into another project or two…I love creating old images with the new and exploring with stories those layers tell.

 

For this art project I chose to use the girl on canvas. A friend of mine gave me a couple ideas for the remaining maser board pieces that I will be creating with soon.

 

One major process I learned with this project is that I should have added color to the paste before applying to the canvas. The bricks turned out a little too dark for my taste. Also, this one the first time I experimented with alcohol inks on canvas and adding it to grit-paste.

Girl on CanvasWith the collage part, I started inward and worked outward, using a lot of layers and I wanted to give the illusion of an old building that’s facing was slowing peeling away with time. To put the final touch on this piece, I will be framing the canvas and most likely paint the wood a teal color to lighten it up a bit. We will see.  Please excuse the badly taken photos. I used my phone and it is old. The images are much sharper and clearer in person of course.

 

Overall, I enjoyed the creative process and what this piece represents.

Stephanie

Cover Crush: Last Call on Decatur Street by Iris Martin Cohen

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My thoughts on the cover:

I really like the use of colors in the back ground of this layout. I’m not find of the white font for the lettering but since the background is dark, I guess that had to be chosen. The cover to me speaks of mystery and city life. -Stephanie

Last Call on Decatur StreetAbout the book:

Last Call on Decatur Street

by Iris Martin Cohen

HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada)

Park Row

General Fiction (Adult), Literary Fiction

Pub Date 11 Aug 2020

Description

Set in Pre-Katrina New Orleans, LAST CALL ON DECATUR STREET is an electrifying tale of friendship and betrayal, an exploration of racism and white privilege, and one woman’s journey to find herself in the seedy, glamorous world of burlesque.

Despite vowing to never return to New Orleans when she left for college, Rosemary quickly finds herself back in her hometown—kicked out of school, at odds with her best friend, and desperate to lose herself in a bright, kaleidoscopic nightlife of dive bars and burlesque dancing.

This night, though, is different. An unlikely companion, a secret sorrow, and an unexpected visitor force Rosemary to break free. From the burlesque stage in the French Quarter, strip clubs to strangers’ beds, a secret garden in Jackson Square, and ending at a raucous masquerade party, this night becomes a journey for Rosemary to come to grips with her past, grieve for those she has lost, and maybe, finally, acknowledge that she too deserves redemption.

With superlative emotional and intellectual sensitivity, mordant wit, and pitch-perfect style, Cohen captures the uncertainty and messy edges of early adulthood. A love letter to New Orleans, Last Call on Decatur Street is a story of family and home and the complicated things we inherit from the people and places we love.

Last weeks Cover Crush.

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

Other book bloggers who participated in the great cover crushes series. 

Magdalena at A Bookaholic Swede
Colleen at A Literary Vacation
Heather at The Maiden’s Court
Holly at 2 Kids and Tired

(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.)

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A Doodle Of Calmness

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Doodle master board I EditedGosh, my second blog post. I never do this but wanted to share something. It has been an exhausting work day and I’ve been in a doodling mood so I created a Doodle Master Board. I will use this for various projects. This is not my best work but given how tired I am, it will have to do and it really gave me a sense of calm. I’m going to be slow stitching later on this evening if I can keep my eyes open long enough. Ha!

I don’t know why but I thought of a poem by William Shakespeare, ‘Full Fathom Five’ doodling this. Maybe because it was the thought of sea-change or something like that. Yes, I’m a bit strange. -Stephanie

Full fathom five thy father lies;

Of his bones are coral made;

Those are pearls that were his eyes:

Nothing of him that doth fade,

But doth suffer a sea-change

Into something rich and strange.

Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:

Ding-dong.

Hark! now I hear them—Ding-dong, bell.

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Supplies used: Tim Holtz Distress Crayons, Tombow Acid Free Brush Pens, Sharpie White Poster Paint Marker, Folk Art and Deco Art Acrylic Paint, baby wipes, Stampabilities Brushed Stripe Background Stamp, Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Painters Tape and Canson Illustration Mixed Media Paper. Can’t wait to see what projects I use this piece with. Master Board meas I will be cutting it down to different sizes to meet my needs.

Thoughtful Thursday

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Finding Dora MaarLast week I did a Cover Crush of a book I am very interested in and decided to request it on NetGalley and I got it! A big thank you to the Publishers and NetGalley for giving me a galley copy which I will be diving into soon! I can’t wait!

Here is the link to my short video on paper crafting  at my Layered Pages Facebook Page that I mentioned I would be filming yesterday morning.  I hope you check it out. Last night I was having so much trouble shooting the video with my phone and it kept cutting off but there is enough footage for you to see what I have been creating…my phone is old. I’m going to try to use my daughter’s nice camera next and hopefully I can use a tripod. How is it that kids always have the nicer stuff? Ha! Anyhow, there was so much I wanted to say but didn’t get a chance or show an example project of what I made out of a couple of my master boards. Below is an image of the tag I made and I still had scraps left over! So much fun!

Tag 2

 

 

 

 

Collages & Master Boards

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Last night I was making paper collages aka master boards for my mixed media projects and I was thinking of maybe making a book on my designs. Then I got to thinking that Amazon probably already has tons of books on collage designs. Haha! Sure enough, they do. Though I do think that some other art books I’ve blogged about has this subject. Gah, it’s one of those weeks.

While I have my own technique and style, I thought it would be fun to check out other designs and see what people are up too. So why not blog about them? Maybe they could help inspire someone wanting to get into collage making.

For those of you who are not familiar with master board, it is a term many mixed media artist use that is taking a larger piece and creating a collage-if you will-and cutting it down to different sizes to use in other art projects. At least I think that is what it means? Please correct me if I’m wrong. I only have heard the term recently.

The last few days I have been paper-crafting like crazy because I’ve spent so much time on my slow stitching, quilting and textile pieces, I ran out of paper collages for my journals, pouches, envelops and note cards. I forgot how addicting it can be. I love it! Alas, I need to get back to my quilting. Not complaining.

This evening I will share more of the paper collages I have been making via video on my Facebook Page. I can’t wait to show you those pieces. One of them I made over the weekend and blogged about yesterday, I cut it down to size and used in a really cool collage. It turned out fabulous! Some of the best work I’ve done in a long while. -Stephanie

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If You Can by Hollie ChastainIf You Can Cut, You Can Collage: From Paper Scraps to Works of Art by Hollie Chastain

If You Can Cut, You Can Collage is specially designed for people who feel like they can’t make art. Want to know a secret? You can! You just need a little inspiration, instruction, and confidence.

Collage is a wonderful creative outlet, particularly for people who want to make art, but don’t feel they have the skills or confidence for other endeavors. You can still explore and experiment with color, composition, and various themes and end up with exciting and often unexpected results.

If you Can Cut, You Can Collage takes some of the mystery out of collage through easy illustrated pages that show you the basic techniques of collecting and cutting imagery, composing and adhering compositions, and then provides a wealth of exercises that get readers going on their own creative projects.

We’ll get you started with simple, focused, projects like making a collage with only circles, where you’ll learn important concepts like how to create a focal point, how to use repetition successfully, how to achieve contrast, balance, symmetry, and more. You’ll be incorporating vintage ephemera, typography and lettering, and even urban and found materials in no time!

Paper Collage Chinese StylePaper Collage Chinese Style by Zhu Liqun Paper Arts Museum

This beautifully illustrated guide to Chinese paper collage art demonstrates the techniques and philosophy behind this creative and fun art form.

Paper collage art has a special charm. It can be as exquisite as oil painting or as freehand (xieyi) as ink wash painting. A paper collage art is a perfect mean to express humor and romance, demonstrate subjective perspectives and emotions, record special moments, and depict favorite scenes.

Collage Art teaches you how to pick up some magazines, newspaper, and color paper around you that are no longer needed and put your ideas onto a piece of paper.

You can create some decorations for your desk, bedroom, office, as well as some collage crafts for your friends on festivals and weddings. These collages not only present your unique style but also will also get lots of compliments!

The Collage Ideas BookThe Collage Ideas Book by Alannah Moore

Collage allows your creativity to run riot. It lets you juxtapose disparate elements, styles and media against each other and create something entirely novel, bizarre, arresting, beautiful, ironic or unsettling. Old and new can be fused together; digital and hand-produced can be combined. What you can create with collage knows no bounds.

Expertly curated with an eye to the fresh, the exciting collection of new collage ideas will inspire collage artists at every level, from those dipping a toe in the art form to experts.

Collage Imagery 2: A Collection of Photographic Images for Use in Personal Art by Catherine Anderson looks amazing as well!