“A flower’s appeal is in its contradictions — so delicate in form yet strong in fragrance, so small in size yet big in beauty, so short in life yet long on effect.”– Terri Guillemets
Sunday Reflections
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Ebay Shop Update: Up-cycled Fabrics for Mixed Media Projects
A big part of my mixed media art adventure is to use all sorts of up-cycled fabrics. I have an endless supply of then and you can get a ton of use out of them. How do you use them in your craft? There are a lot of different ways to use fabrics.
Lately, I have been using my fabric squares and scraps for making journals, notebooks, journal and art tags, artist trading cards, bookmarks, altered playing cards, greeting card making, and collage work. These projects are great for any age, even two-year old’s!
Buying fabrics in retail stores are super expensive and many times the fabrics are only available in yards. Plus, one doesn’t always want to use new materials for these sorts of projects I mentioned above. That is why I have put together different size lots of up-cycled fabric cut offs and scraps bundles for sale at my ebay shop. I will do my best to provide a mix of fabric patterns weekly. All my material is in great shape and I make sure there are no stains, holes, or pilling. I do accept all reasonable offers on the price, so be sure to check out my store weekly!
Stephanie
Mixed Media Artist/Craft Supply Seller
Sunday Reflections
“History is a kind of introduction to more interesting people than we can possibly meet in our restricted lives; let us not neglect the opportunity.” – Dexter Perkins
Yesterday morning, I posted a page on Instagram I made in my fall journal. The morning air was cool and crisp and the season brings reflections of times past and the people who lived long ago. To ponder their story as what it may have been like. How did they live? What did they witness? We may not always know who they were but the love and opportunity of using their pictures in our journals keeps their existence intact.
Many family’s belongings are lost or discarded and that is sad to say the least. I consider crafters who save these treasures and use them in their journals and their other creations, that give them a new life, memory keepers. By using their images, we are keeping an essence of them alive through their images.
I do not know the lady’s name in the photo I’m using. I can only imagine what her life must have been like. There is a story there.
Today, as I work in another page, I will use another photo and think of the people in the past and wonder what they would think of us today.
Journaling fills one’s soul with gratitude and healing calmness. It’s an appreciation for the old and the newness of life’s journey.
May your Sunday be filled with contentment and peace.
My wish is for you to be encouraged and inspired. God bless.
Stephanie Hopkins
Layered Finds Shop
The products I create and sell are an extension of my love for arts, mixed media, journal making, crafting and books. They are a reflection of my style and how I create.
All products are homemade or gathered and put together by me. The ephemera packs are great for journals, card making, journal cards, bookmarks and other craft projects. If you are not on Instagram and would like to purchase an item you see, please email me at layeredpages@yahoo.com and I will reserve your item.
My Instagram LINK or copy and paste @stephsatjourney
You can also find me on ebay where I list almost daily. My shop name on ebay is layeredfinds. I will be adding books and other products soon.
Fabric Pack Information: I’ve got an endless supply of textile material from all sorts of upcycled clothes, scarves, and bedsheets. The materials range from cotton, rayon, polyester, silk, and denim.
I’m working towards each week, adding in new patterns. I can cut fabric swatches up to 12″×12″. Those sizes need to be customized, Contact me for more information about that and if you’re on the lookout for anything in particular.
I use the above mentioned fabrics for my various mixed media projects, including journal covers, pockets, tag making, belly bands, card making, bookmark making, collage work, mixed media art, and blanket making!
Products for Sale this Weekend on Instagram and more to be listed today:
Newly listed products on ebay as of yesterday amd a few more products available
*At this time, I’m only shipping in the United States.
Stephanie Hopkins
My wish is for you to be inspired and encouraged.
(Images are subjected to copyright. All book reviews, interviews, guest posts, art work, mixed media projects, crafts and promotions are originals. In order to use any text or pictures from Layered Pages, please ask for permission from Stephanie Hopkins.)
Exploration of Journal Making
A page in my new fall journal I’m currently working in. I’ll show the whole journal once it’s completed. I really enjoyed putting this page together and the bookmark I made for the book. The bookmark is made from an image out of a magazine, scrapbook paper and a piece of left-over fabric.
The journal page is simple with a touch of paper collage, postcard and a authentic 1940s photo of a group of ladies. I’ll add a journal label to the bottom left of the page. The actual page I’m working on is from my 12” x 12” scrap-booking paper stash from the early 2000s and what a great way to use those big sizes of paper! I wonder who those ladies are and what their story is or was.
Journaling fills one’s soul with gratitude and healing calmness. It’s an appreciation for the old and the newness of life’s journey.
Happy crafty Friday!
Stephanie Hopkins
Mixed Media Artist/Abstract Painter/Book Maker/Book Blogger
All Aboard the Tag Train
I jumped on the tag train again yesterday and now the sorting begins! There are 72 tags in this batch of goodness. Thrilled with how these turned out. For those of you who don’t know, I sell mini art journal tags on Instagram and other places. They are turning out to be quite popular! I can’t seem to make them fast enough. Love it!
With this batch of tags, there are hand stitching on a couple that will included in each pack. I’ll begin posting them for sale on Instagram at 5:00 pm US Eastern standard time! Stay tune!
I offer a special deal for those of you who buy from me through Instagram.
Deal: Free gifts with each purchase and you’re automatically qualify for an entry of a giveaway I’ll be holding at the end of each month on Instagram. Please Note: I’ll be only keeping items I post each week on IG for one week only before I list them elsewhere and for a slightly different price.
I’ve decided to go ahead and start listing certain products on etsy coming soon. I was hesitating at first with all the fees but I know that is the price for doing business. So, you’ll find items for sale by me on IG, ebay and etsy.
Follow my hashtag on Instagram for my product images at #stephsshopatlayeredfinds You’ll also receive additional points for my giveaway when using this hashtag when posting pictures of items on Instagram you’ve purchased from me.
These mini tags are sturdy and great for arts and craft projects, gift tags, pen pal mail, and journal projects. On the back of each card is room for writing.
My IG: @stephsartjourney or click on direct link HERE
More about my products coming soon!
Stephanie Hopkins
Sunday Reflections
Sunday is a time when you sit back and reflect on all the blessings that you have received. Smile at all the good things that you are enjoying. – Sera Train
Floral painting in a vase.
I work with wood panels, paper and canvas.
Original Art by Stephanie Hopkins
Mixed Media Artist/Abstract Painter
Cover Crush: The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
About the Cover: I can’t decide what I like more. The cover or the book title. The thought of an Island of missing trees is unique. I like it! As far as the cover goes, it is not extraordinary but it is cute and I like the colors.
About the Book: I must confess that I haven’t read any books by this author before. I plan on researching her work a bit more extensively and have added this book to my wish-list. I have heard that Reese Witherspoon has selected this book for the November Book Club pick.
Stephanie Hopkins
Book Description:
Two teenagers, a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot, meet at a taverna on the island they both call home. The taverna is the only place that Kostas and Defne can meet in secret, hidden beneath the blackened beams from which hang garlands of garlic and chilli peppers, creeping honeysuckle, and in the centre, growing through a cavity in the roof, a fig tree. The fig tree witnesses their hushed, happy meetings; their silent, surreptitious departures. The fig tree is there, too, when war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to ashes and rubble, when the teenagers vanish. Decades later, Kostas returns—a botanist, looking for native species—looking, really, for Defne. The two lovers return to the taverna to take a clipping from the fig tree and smuggle it into their suitcase, bound for London. Years later, the fig tree in the garden is their daughter Ada’s only knowledge of a home she has never visited, as she seeks to untangle years of secrets and silence, and find her place in the world.
A Sudden Light by Garth Stein
I’m in the throes of cleaning out two closets in my bedroom and I discovered stacks of books I’ve forgotten about or rediscovered-if you will. How is that even possible with a book worm? Believe me, it happens. As I started to undergo the stacks of books, I came upon Garth Stein’s novel, A Sudden Light. I had purchased the hardback when it was first published and I cannot recall how it ended up in my closet. For shame! That said, the novel was sitting on a wired shelf, protected by leaves of clothes surrounding the stacks. The closet cleaning quickly became a distant memory, for about ten minutes, as I opened the book to read the description and peeked through the pages. Intrigued with the premise, I chose to start reading this extraordinary story the night of rediscovery and I’m delighted with my decision to do so. I have much to say about this story thus far. -Stephanie Hopkins
About the book:
In the summer of 1990, fourteen-year-old Trevor Riddell gets his first glimpse of Riddell House. Built from the spoils of a massive timber fortune, the legendary family mansion is constructed of giant whole trees and is set on a huge estate overlooking Seattle’s Puget Sound. Trevor’s bankrupt parents have begun a trial separation, and his father, Jones Riddell, has brought Trevor to Riddell House with a goal: to join forces with his sister, Serena, dispatch the ailing and elderly Grandpa Samuel to a nursing home, sell off the house and property for development, divide up the profits, and live happily ever after.
But as Trevor explores the house’s secret stairways and hidden rooms, he discovers a spirit lingering in Riddell House whose agenda is at odds with the family plan. Only Trevor’s willingness to face the dark past of his forefathers will reveal the key to his family’s future.
Cover Crush: Heard It In A Love Song by Tracey Garvis Graves
About the Cover: I discovered this book on Instagram and the title and cover drew me in with fascination. There is a song with that title by The Marshall Tucker Band. Highly recommend listening to it. The song has great lyrics and instrumental poetry…
The book cover showcases wonderful imagery. There are many mixed media artists who take faces and create florals above and around the heads and the affect expands on visual attention. I love the choice of colors as well and when a cover and title sparks this much interest, it makes one even more curious about what is inside.
About the Book: I have a feeling if I read this book, I would be in tears throughout the story. Or maybe I’m clinging to that old feeling for way too long and could handle the premise. Despite my mixed emotions, I’m curious about how this story is told and what the author offers in the conclusion. -Stephanie Hopkins
Side Note: I’m moving my cover crush series to Wednesday’s!
Description:
From Tracey Garvis Graves, the bestselling author of The Girl He Used to Know comes a love song of a story about starting over and second chances in Heard It in a Love Song.
Love doesn’t always wait until you’re ready.
Layla Hilding is thirty-five and recently divorced. Struggling to break free from the past―her glory days as the lead singer in a band and a ten-year marriage to a man who never put her first―Layla’s newly found independence feels a lot like loneliness.
Then there’s Josh, the single dad whose daughter attends the elementary school where Layla teaches music. Recently separated, he’s still processing the end of his twenty-year marriage to his high school sweetheart. He chats with Layla every morning at school and finds himself thinking about her more and more.
Equally cautious and confused about dating in a world that favors apps over meeting organically, Layla and Josh decide to be friends with the potential for something more. Sounds sensible and way too simple―but when two people are on the rebound, is it heartbreak or happiness that’s a love song away?
