Tag Archives: #LayeredPages

The Fight for Freedom

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Founding Fathers ILast Friday my Father brought me a copy of National Geographic, “Founding Fathers” edition. I was quote surprised and overjoyed! I love U.S. History and thought it was cool my Father thought of me when he came across this magazine. At first, I flipped through the pages and liked what I saw. There are several articles and stunning images. There are also three titles history book titles on the back that I want to check out.

Founding fathers IIMy Father pulled at my heart strings with this treasure. Every night since, I read an article and closely examine the images. There are a lot of information I’m learning or had forgotten. A few of the images has inspired me to create art based on our countries history.

Founding Fathers IIIIWhat has always impressed upon me about our Founding Fathers, is that despite the fact they were all different in many ways, they shared a common ideology. A government for the people and by the people.  An idea that no other country had been able to do before. These men came together knowing it was treason to go up against the crown-with courage-fought for the very freedoms we hold dear today.

People today need to know and understand how important our constitution is and how extraordinary the lengths our Founders went to for all of us and future generations to come. -Stephanie Hopkins

Sketching Tips for Beginners

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I sketch my landscapes and buildings before I collage them. It’s not as difficult as one might think. Here is an example. I wanted to sketch a barn that you see often in the south. I chose to do this on a sheet of paper and not on the wood base. I started with the roof line and went from there. After I was finished with the sketch, I cut out the barn then collage with my painted paper. Then from there I added it to my landscape with matte medium.

Tips for Beginners: Be sure to relax your hand and fingers when holding your pencil or charcoal pencil. Start drawing with short lines and expand from there.  I recommend not positioning your fingers too close to the lead tip when sketching. Practice. Practice. Practice. Don’t give up! More crafty tips to come! -Stephanie Hopkins

Related Post: Landscape Collage Art

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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.

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Landscape Collage Art

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A Labor of love

Mixed Media Rural Landscape Collage on Wood

On July 8, I posted about a couple of new art projects I was starting. Today I’m sharing one of the completed pieces and a lighthouse 4×6 canvas board. I used my left-over painted collage papers and text paper from my Rural Landscape Collage on Wood for the Lighthouse scene. I really enjoy collage art and really excited about exploring the different scenes I can create. I’m also challenging myself more on my sketches and drawings for these art projects. In another post coming soon, I will be discussing my process and include tips.

A Lighthouse edited

Lighthouse Collage 4×6 Canvas Board

“The love within them shone as brightly as the lighthouse beam on the darkest, stormiest night. It broke through her confusion and heartache and filled her with a warm glow.”
― Jody Hedlund, Undaunted Hope

As I work with bigger canvas and wood, I will be creating with more details, depth and contrast. -Stephanie Hopkins

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(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.

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Woman of Courage

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A Woman of Courage Edited

Look Twice before you leap. -Charlotte Bronte

Art by Stephanie Hopkins

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(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.)

Layers of Art and Kindness

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A Tag 7-6 EditedMonday afternoon I made two new tags for my junk journal. I try to do some sort of art, or paper-crafting daily.  This time I wasn’t in the mood to work on my other art projects I have started and I wasn’t wanting to start a new art journal page. Just creating something with paper was enough to get my crafting in for the day. Which is a must! It really helps with ones creativity and it’s calming.

A Mixedmedia IAnyhow, I want to show you two other projects I have started. These two projects will take me awhile since I’m limited to the time I have to craft. The picture with the three canvas and embellishments and thread is going to be a lot of fun to see where I go with it. I have a few things in mind for it and I look forward to the challenge of being creative with it. Adding textiles will be part of the making.

 

 

The wood below is part of a landscape I’m working on. It will include houses as well. I will be using my painted papers and acrylic paint for this project. To prep the wood, I used collage and then applied white gesso. I do have most of the painted papers ready to start this project. I even have the patterns of the houses ready. My next step is to sketch the landscape and house to the wood with pencil. From there I will start to collage the images. So excited about this project!

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Would it hurt too much to be kind?  

One other thing and I don’t normally bring up drama I see on social media but this one really stood out to me for a number of reasons. Mostly because I am a paper-crafter and mixed-media artist. I saw a person tweet about a TikTok video of a person re-purposing books for home decor ideas. The person was shaming this person for using the books that way by painting the covers. There were hundreds of people that got on there, ripping the person apart for doing that to the books. The names they were calling that person was beyond awful.

Back in the day, I used to cringe at my art teachers for having us use books and magazines for our art projects. That is the bookworm in me but I did it nonetheless. Usually the books were very old and we used them for collage and mono printing. You would be amazed how many professional artists use pages from books for their art. They collage with them. I do. That is one of the many elements of mixed-media art. Even people who junk journal do that.

About a two decades ago now, I used to work for a bookstore that would trash books that were returned. Even if they were in perfect condition or the fact that even libraries and thrift stores throw out thousands of books a year. At least this way they are being repurposed and saved from the landfills. I use book pages for my mixed media art and for my journals. Mostly I use damaged books and out of date Webster dictionaries and magazines. I feel for the person they were attacking. It’s ridiculous how vicious these people are. So much hate in this world and lately its increased over almost anything. Where does it end? People need to get control of themselves. Be kind!

“Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver.” – Barbara De Angelis

Stephanie Hopkins

Art Supply Haul and New Art Pieces

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A WelcomeI hope everyone had a lovely weekend! Welcome to Layered Pages and thank you for visiting. Layered Pages is were I talk about books, art, history and everything I love.

A few weeks ago, was my birthday and I wasn’t expecting any gifts. Just a lovely dinner with my family. To my surprise they came bearing presents and gift cards! I was able to get a few things on my art supply wish-list, and I saw some cute stickers at the Dollar Tree. I also spotted some great stencils at Tuesday Morning. I ordered the Tim Holtz products on-line. The Stencils from Tuesday Morning were 20% off the yellow sticker price. I believe it came to eleven dollars and some change. My beautiful daughter gifted me the paint set which I absolutely love.

A couple weeks later and the moment I had everything on my desk, I started crafting immediately! Today I’m sharing a few of the art pieces I made. Which one is your favorite?

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A big hug and thank you to my family! I cherish them dearly.

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.)

Happy 4th of July

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USA FLAG

“This flag, which we honor and under which we serve, is the emblem of our unity, our power, our thought and purpose as a nation. It has no other character than that which we give it from generation to generation. The choices are ours. It floats in majestic silence above the hosts that execute those choices, whether in peace or in war. And yet, though silent, it speaks to us — speaks to us of the past, or the men and women who went before us, and of the records they wrote upon it.”-President Woodrow Wilson, 1917

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The essence of America—that which really unites us—is not ethnicity, or nationality, or religion. It is an idea—and what an idea it is: that you can come from humble circumstances and do great things. That it doesn’t matter where you came from, but where you are going.- Condoleezza Rice

Down A Rabbit Hole I Go

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A Novel/History/Art

The last few days has been really interesting and sometimes I think I bite off more than I can chew when it comes to history the details. Thank goodness I take notes and file them away for reference! Let’s begin with this past weekend. One of the books I’m currently reading is, “Temple” by Matthew Reilly and there are a lot of interesting history involved.

Now let’s skip forward to Monday. My particular interest in American History is the 19th Century though often times more than not, it takes me further back. I started to think about the colonies and how they formed. William Penn came to mind for some reason. Those thoughts were a bit scattered and I posted about it on Facebook. I’m conflicted on a few of the content about him and have quite a few questions. Penn was an interesting man and I’m hoping to discover more to have with you all in a future post.

Tuesday as I was thinking about the book, “Temple,” later on that day a YouTube Video came up on my feed titled, “America Unearthed: Ancient Mayans Secrets in Georgia.”Now isn’t that interesting! I watched half of the documentary and hoping to finish the rest soon I highly recommend looking at the video and into the history.

Abstract EditedYesterday I spent the day with work, reading, organizing my craft area-it’s gets messy real fast-and cleaning out some stuff in the basement. I’m been on a cleaning frenzy of late and it has been a real eye opener on fast things get piled up! I hope you all are having a good week and I want to share one more thing before I go. Recently I made an abstract with acrylic paint and I pinned it to a velvet board and placed it in a wood shadow box. It looks great in the shadow box but was unable to get a decent picture of it without the reflection from the glass.

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.)

I’ve Got My Eye On You

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World War II affected every aspect of life worldwide and one couldn’t possibly learn everything there is to know about the war experience. There are so many extraordinary stories out there that Historical Fiction writers have written on the subject.

There are countless stories about women during the war and their involvement.  While I have read a number of those stories, I have to say that I’m a bit burned out on these novels at present. Having said that, I’ve got my eye on, “The Invisible Woman” by Erika Robuck, and hope to discover material I haven’t come across before.

Where is my current interest in the era, you might ask? I’m captivated with the Medieval Strongholds aka Castles in Germany during World War II and the roles they played. Are there any Historical Fiction books that focus on this very topic? If you know of any, please comment below! -Stephanie Hopkins

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The Invisible WomanThe Invisible Woman by Erika Robuck

Berkley Publishing Group

Historical Fiction

Pub Date 09 Feb 2021

Description

“An extraordinary profile of immense courage and daring.”—Chanel Cleeton, New York Times bestselling author of Before We Left Cuba

“If you only read one WWII book this year, make it this one.”—Natasha Lester, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Orphans

In the depths of war, she would defy the odds to help liberate a nation…a gripping historical novel based on the remarkable true story of World War II heroine Virginia Hall, from the bestselling author of Hemingway’s Girl

France, March 1944. Virginia Hall wasn’t like the other young society women back home in Baltimore—she never wanted the debutante ball or silk gloves. Instead, she traded a safe life for adventure in Europe, and when her beloved second home is thrust into the dark days of war, she leaps in headfirst.

Once she’s recruited as an Allied spy, subverting the Nazis becomes her calling. But even the most cunning agent can be bested, and in wartime trusting the wrong person can prove fatal. Virginia is haunted every day by the betrayal that ravaged her first operation, and will do everything in her power to avenge the brave people she lost.

While her future is anything but certain, this time more than ever Virginia knows that failure is not an option. Especially when she discovers what—and whom—she’s truly protecting.

Key To The Past

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A Key Canvas Edited

“The present is the key to the past” ― Charles Lyell

Yesterday afternoon I added the final touches to a canvas piece I’ve been working on this week. It really does feel good to be working with canvas again. For the last few months I’ve been working in my art journals and making embellishments. It’s time to mix it up again.

The abstract painting is on paper that I attached to the canvas with Matte Medium. I love the color paints I chose for this medium and I think the key adds an element of mystery. What door to the past does it open for you?

Have a great weekend! See you Monday. -Stephanie Hopkins

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(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.)