This is the last page in this morning journal I’ll decorate. I wanted it to be extra special. A memory of what I created the most in my childhood. I was always coloring, painting, sketching, doodling landscapes, water and skies whether it be at home, church, school, camp or at friends’ houses. I never thought about it really, I just created them. Maybe it’s being in the constant frame of mind of nature and God’s glorious creation. This page is a dedication to those memories.
The flower stem is from one of my painted papers I love to create and every time I glance at it, the stem reminds me of a zucchini peal. Ha! The ephemera in the pocket to the right side of the spread is for journaling. I like to keep my journaling hidden for the most part.
I really enjoyed working in this journal I made and I cherish writing in the morning time. Every morning is a new day with endless of possibilities. It is also a fresh start. Why not make the most of it?
I made this journal from scraps of paper that I collage onto a bigger piece, from mail packaging, for the cover. The signature is a selection of scrap papers, including vintage papers. I would say that this journal comes very close to be considered a junk journal. It is definitely a mixed media journal of created and found objects.
Do you journal? What do you like most about it and how does it impact your life? These are questions to think about.
I acquired a mini journal from a fellow crafter and I absolutely adore working in it. It is so tiny and at first, I thought it might be a challenge to create it but I find it easier than I thought! It is such a great way to use up your little bits of paper, scrap fabrics, small images and what not.
I created a page inspired by my longing for extended travel. I added a postage stamp from Maryland with a sailing boat image on it at a port and with the word, “Nowhere”. You can find that page on my Instagram account. I think it would be cool to take a trip with nowhere in mind. Just to get on the road and go where the wind takes you. In this case, this trip would be at sea.
I love how my painted papers worked on this spread. I wasn’t sure, at first, if it would be too bulky. It turned out great and I like the blend of mixed media with the vintage image of the lady.
In the below picture, I used the painted face of a girl that my fellow crafter paints and includes in her ephemera packs. I dig the colors she uses because they are in line with my style. This page is dedicated to my passion of mixed media.
These little journals are perfect to travel with wherever you go. They fit perfectly in purses, backpacks, bags and even wallets! Just add few ephemera pieces to a pocket and take a small glue stick or mini paperclips and there you go!
“Writing is a time-honored moment. When the writer breathes life into the characters and gives them a place in the reader’s heart. Characters capture us in their embrace and we take refuge in their lives in a world of uncertainties.” My perspective as a reader.
My niche expands in several areas that influences my overall creativity. They consist of creating art, crafting, sewing, reading, exploring nature, blogging and journaling. Discovering quotes about these endeavors inspire and encourage one to rally on when one is feeling less than inspired for whatever reason. I like writing them and include them in my journals and often times, use quotes from other artists. Besides, they are fun to read, to inspire and you learn so much! Above is one I wrote years ago about the writer breathing life into characters.
Today, I’m sharing quotes from other artists about characters in stories. There are so many and I’ve compiled my top ten favorites. Which one do you favor? – Stephanie Hopkins
“You mean Piglet. The little fellow with the excited ears. That’s Piglet.” ― A.A. Milne, Christopher Robin Gives Pooh a Party
“I think all writers are always collecting characters as we go along. Not just characters of course, we’re collecting EVERYTHING. Bits and pieces of story. An interesting dynamic between people. A theme. A great character back story. A cool occupation. The look of someone’s eyes. A burning ambition. Hundreds of thousands of bits of flotsam and jetsam that we stick in the back of our minds like the shelves full of buttons and ribbons and fabrics and threads and beads in a costumer’s shop.” — Alexandra Sokoloff
“Whether a character is good or evil depends on your perspective.” ― Steve Jones Snr
“You cannot have an effective protagonist who simply responds to events happening around him or her. Your protagonist must act, not just react.” — Rachelle Gardner
“She had a way about her that spoke of homemade bread, and caring for people, and the kind of patience that women have when they help a ewe birth a lamb, or stay up in the night with a baby calf bawling for its momma.” ― James Aura, When Saigon Surrendered: A Kentucky Mystery
“Even if you find the bad guy generally repulsive, you need to be able to put yourself so thoroughly into his shoes while you’re writing him that, just for those moments, you almost believe his slant yourself.” — K.M. Weiland
“Usually, we combine internal and external conflicts for a richer story. That means we have to understand how our characters approach and resolve conflict.” — Jami Gold
“Developing a character with genuine depth requires a focus on not just desire but how the character deals with frustration of her desires, as well as her vulnerabilities, her secrets, and especially her contradictions. This development needs to be forged in scenes, the better to employ your intuition rather than your intellect.” — David Corbett
“How can you take characters out of their elements and still convey who they are and why they are the way they are? Their dialogue, their goals and their motivations move the plot and give us a glimpse. But how can we punch it up and create memorable characters without their usual surroundings? With the things they carry.”— Jessica Topper
“People—and characters—are made up of their past experiences. When crafting a character, one of the most important aspects we consider is her past.”—Skye Fairwin,
There are so many pages you can create with a glue book. The purpose for this medium is to glue things to a base to make a collage. You decide how you want to design your layouts and what book(s) you want to use. It can be a blank book, altered book, notepads, blank art books or anything thing you see fit. There really are no rules to this creative endeavor. It is for your wish alone to come up with your own ideas. That is the wonderful thing about glue books.
I made this glue book, that I altered, using a magazine by cutting it in half through the middle. Then I folded the pages to create a base for my layouts. This book is getting chunky and grungy! Love it! Sometimes, gluing paper to a page is the best medicine. What do you like most about collage work? Have you tried this form of medium before?
Check out my art journey on Instagram and at my Mixed Media Art gallery here at Layered Pages! My wish is for you to be inspired and encouraged.
(Images are 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 Hopkins.)
Today is part four of my mini junk journal series. In this series you will discover ways to use recycled materials to make pretty journals without breaking the bank. It is possible to make pretty journals with junk!
I love taking things you would normally throw out and use them for my crafting projects. It’s a fun, creative, rewarding and a cheap way to craft. Junk Journals are books made through found objects, and recycled materials.
I have an insane amount of scrap paper from various craft projects. I’m constantly trying to use them up until there is nothing left to use instead of throwing them away. Well, I have way too many that are little bits of paper that have been recycled many times over. I collected a pile and say them on my desk to either create one more craft with them, or throw them away. I’ve been wanting to make little dollhouse journals for a very long time and thought the scraps would be perfect for this project! Sure enough, they were and these little journals turned out great!
I can’t not express enough how much these little books were fun and rewarding to make. The biggest challenge, will be to decorate the inside pages. This endeavor is a worthy one and will no doubt, show how creative one can be. I did, however, decorate a page on one of the journals to show you how they can look. Of course, there are thousands of ways to do this.
The trick is to fold the papers in half and join them together as a signature. Once you have done this, then you cut to size and added it to your journal cover. Then take paperclips to hold it together so you may start the binding process. I mostly used staples to bind the spin. Then added trim along the spin to cover the stable. Only two of the spins are bind with thread and are shown om my Instagram.
These little journals would make great gifts and they can be used for various reasons. Part five and the final post of this series will be a journal made out of junk mail, and plastic food wrappers and mail packaging!
Meanwhile, be sure to check out my other blog posts in this series. The direct links are provided below.
Check out my art journey on Instagram and at my Mixed Media Art gallery here at Layered Pages! My wish is for you to be inspired and encouraged.
(Images are 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 Hopkins.)
About the Cover: I never tire of landscapes and I’m drawn to the calm and peaceful feel to this cover. The soft shades of colors and the girl facing the sun setting over the mountains evokes longing or a sense of renewal, and the landscape depicted gives you a sense of contemplation.
About the Book and Genre: I have read quite a few Christian fiction books since my early childhood and enjoyed a few of them despite my feelings towards the genre. I must confess, it is not my go-to read because more times than not, I find them cheesy, with weak dialogue, unrealistic to the human condition and often times, there is false sense of biblical teaching. Despite my misgivings of the genre, I’m curious about this story and what it has to offer to readers. I will be keeping my eye on this book and at some point, I might even give it a read. – Stephanie Hopkins
Description:
Pub Date 05 Oct 2021 by Bethany House
Christian Fiction
Secrets are like pennies. Everybody’s got one, even the poorest among us.
For generations, the Jensens have raised their families in the small Montana town of Moose Creek, where gossip spreads faster than the wind. Yet some secrets need to be told.
When twenty-one-year-old Bea discovers she’s pregnant on the heels of her husband losing his job, she’s forced to admit she needs help and asks her dad for a place to stay. But past resentments keep her from telling him all that’s going on.
Mitch Jensen is thrilled to have a full house again, though he’s unimpressed with Bea’s decisions: dropping out of college, marrying so young–and to an idealistic city kid, of all things. Mitch hopes to convince Bea to return to the path he’s always envisioned for her, but she’s changed since her mom died. And he refuses to admit how much he’s changed, too, especially now that he might be losing his mother as well.
Grandma June is good at spinning stories, but there’s one she’s never told. Now that her mind is starting to fade, her time to tell it is running out. But if she reveals the truth before her memories are gone forever, the Jensen family will never be the same.
I belong to two ATC swap groups and I thought I would share the latest cards I received in the mail. These are such a blast to create and trade with artists around the world. This year, I believe I have already received over sixty cards from artists around the world. At the end of the year, I would like to list and blog about each country they have come from. The talent of both these groups are truly inspiring to one’s craft and collection.
ATC stands for Artist Trading Cards and measure 2.5″ x 3.5″ in size. Back in May, I blogged about this very subject and I have been recording my journey in this endeavor over on my Instagram account.
These two swap groups are open with how you choose to create your cards. I usually create collage as my background and work from there. I have created a few of my floral and landscape paintings for the swaps. These cards are for trading only, and conducted via mail from online groups.
What a wonderful and worthy pastime and community to belong to. Aren’t these cards beautiful?!
Stephanie Hopkins
Check out my art journey on Instagram and at my Mixed Media Art gallery here at Layered Pages! My wish is for you to be inspired and encouraged.
(Images are 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 Hopkins.)
I find joy in saving books from the landfills and giving them a new life. This is an inexpensive and creative way to journal and gives you the opportunity to be mindful of materials we often take for granted.
A few days ago, I made new spread in one of my working journals. This journal is an altered book I’ve created from thrifting damaged books a while back. I love journaling in them, paper-crafting and what-not. Often times, I’ve created collage around passages that stood out to me on the pages.
As I turn each page in my altered book, I read the words coming from the pages and at times, surprisingly, they’ve given me inspiration for what I want to journal about. I’m constantly thinking about things and planning, so keeping a record of my thoughts really helps with organization and from keeping my mind from getting cluttered.
Hidden Pocket
Added Interest
Label Spot for Title
The butterfly postcard you see on the left page is a hidden pocket to stow a tiny leaf of paper that I’ve written my thoughts on.
Collage Journal Cards
A few days before I created this spread, I made journal cards by using collage for my backgrounds and I finally decorated a few of them for this past weekend of journaling. They turned out great and I have added them to this altered book. Later on, perhaps I will show you how I used them.
Be sure to follow out my art journey on Instagram and at my Mixed Media Art Gallery, here at Layered Pages!
My wish is for you to be inspired and encouraged. Stephanie Hopkins
Expected publication: August 17th 2021 by Atria Books
About the book:
At twenty-six, Dahlia Lighthouse has a lot to learn when it comes to the real world. Raised in a secluded island mansion deep in the woods and kept isolated by her true crime-obsessed parents, she has spent the last several years living on her own, but unable to move beyond her past—especially the disappearance of her twin brother Andy when they were sixteen.
With her father’s death, Dahlia returns to the house she has avoided for years. But as the rest of the Lighthouse family arrives for the memorial, a gruesome discovery is made: buried in the reserved plot is another body—Andy’s, his skull split open with an ax.
Each member of the family handles the revelation in unusual ways. Her brother Charlie pours his energy into creating a family memorial museum, highlighting their research into the lives of famous murder victims; her sister Tate forges ahead with her popular dioramas portraying crime scenes; and their mother affects a cheerfully domestic façade, becoming unrecognizable as the woman who performed murder reenactments for her children. As Dahlia grapples with her own grief and horror, she realizes that her eccentric family, and the mansion itself, may hold the answers to what happened to her twin.
My thoughts:
Most true crime novels, that I have read, pretty much delves in every facet of the human experience you can think of and at times, you don’t necessarily want to explore too much. Or do you? The criminal mind is shocking and heinous and does not limit itself to one shape, color or size.
What of the people who are obsessed with those stories? The ones who investigate, write those books or portray them in some form of medium? How do they live their lives? Like in The Family Plot, dioramas portraying crime scenes. Author Megan Collins gives her readers a chilling story of one family’s life centered around their own obsession of true crime. Not only that, but strange events and a horrible and unspeakable crim quickly becomes uncovered at their own door.
The Lighthouse family is certainly strange, twisted and creepy, wrapped up in their own secrets, lies, pain and eccentricity. Their odd behavior and unorthodox ways, has the local town leery of them to say the least!
Dahila Lighthouse seems to be the only one with a touch of reality as she ventures to uncover the crime that is discovered among them. Her siblings and mother are out of touch or basically wanting to stay in their bubble. It is safe there for them, or so they think. Though, who can really fault them? Especially the brothers…Imagine a lie, like a seed, being planted and taking root so deep, that one feels they can never unbury the truth. It is too ugly and disturbing. Imagine having to live with that lie in fear and pain growing up as a kid. No child should ever go through what the Lighthouse brothers did. Or what anyone of them had to for that matter.
I must say that I have never read a story quite like this one and I am absolutely delighted I chose to read this book. The story build-up was strong, great scenes, complex and frightening characters, and a solid plot. Though, I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed with the ending. That said, I highly recommend this book to people who love reading about crime, family secrets and mystery.
Stephanie Hopkins
I obtained a copy from the Publishers through NetGalley for an honest review.
I’m thrilled to be sharing with you all this week’s ICAD’s. The abbreviation ICAD means, “Index Card A Day.” This challenge was created a few years ago by artist Tammy and her challenge has really grown over the years. Below, is her IG account where you can find out more about her and her art.
Day 48
Day 49
Day 50
Day 51
We are getting close to the home stretch of this challenge and I must say I’ve enjoyed it a great deal! I’ve been thinking about how I’m going to store the cards and I usually go with an acid free photo box to store my little creations. Right now, they are sitting in a ceramic basket on my bookshelf. I might keep them there for a while. I love walking by and stopping to take a look at them.
I look forward to sharing the rest of this week’s challenge and the following week with you next Saturday! My wish is for you to be inspired and encouraged. Have a blessed weekend! -Stephanie Hopkins
Check out my art journey on Instagram and at my Mixed Media Art Gallery here at Layered Pages!
Layered Pages 