Even thought its March, I wanted to join in the fun of the 2015 Tim Holtz tags. Never one to just follow the rules, I decided to make two tags for each month–one a traditional Tim tag and one with a circus theme.
To be honest, i planned to actually provide you with a tutorial and supply list, but the world’s worst and longest lasting plague has kept me from accomplishing many of my plans.
So without further delay, here are my tags for March.
With the season of ghosts and goblins fast approaching, I am thrilled to share my tutorial for an altered art Halloween mini album. You can see the entire tutorial with lots of detailed pictures of creative pages on my Robin’s Nest Design Team post.
Altering books is one of my favorite activities. With so many options available from pre-made books found at craft stores to repurposed children’s books to making books from scratch, I find making altered books almost as irresistible as sneaking Reeses’ Peanut Butter Cups out of my kids’ trick or treat bags. Please note that emphasis on almost, because, well, I really like Reeses. Read the rest of this entry
As I wrap up my month as the guest blogger for the amazing company Whisker Graphics, I took advantage of all the stripes, dots and zig zags that their products offer to create a fun mini circus album.
Anyone who visits my blog regularly knows that I love anything with a vintage circus theme, and this mini album is chock full of circusy fun. I made the album for a friend of mine who has been especially kind this last year. She is the mom of a talented youth circus performer and I thought she could add ticket stubs, photos and other mementos of her daughter’s performaces to the mini album.
Rebel that I am, I decided to break away from the crafting styles of late and head in a new–or rather, should I say, an old–direction.
With this altered art project I went back in time and put a little kitsch into the mix by transforming a cardboard book box into a retro pink refrigerator, or as it was called in the olden days, an ice box. Read the rest of this entry
Ahhh Paris…the City of Love. Or so they say. I have to take people’s word on this since my love, The Husband™, has never wooed me with a romantic get-away to France. To be fair, I haven’t wooed him there either, but this is my blog, so it’s all about moi*.
My fifth and final tag of the Valentine series focuses on the City of Love. All of the elements of this tag are either a deep red, purple or silver color. I don’t think this is particularly Parisian, but of course I have no way of verifying that since someone has not taken me there. Just sayin’. Read the rest of this entry
Valentine’s Day is the 14th
Although the techniques I used for this tag were similar to the Heart aMazing Tag, I was much happier with the results. To continue the chocolate box metaphor, I guess this one had the caramel filling. Nom Nom.
When all else fails, Coke is it.
To most closely replicate this tag, you will need some sort of red ring. I am lucky that my vintage stash contains a plethora of red, white and green plastic translucent rings. I have no idea what they were used for or where I got them. I suspect they came from a game, but that’s just a guess. In any case, scrounge around your supplies and see what you discover. If you come up empty, you can always use the plastic top from a Coca-Cola bottle.
Measure the width of the interior of the circle and using a computer and a sans serif font, print out the number 14 onto to tan or ivory paper. Choose a font size that will mostly fill your circle. If you wish, you can print several different sizes to see which one you like best. You can always use the leftover 14s in some other Valentine collage. Center the ring over your chosen number 14 and use a pencil to lightly trace the ring. Then cut out the circle and glue the number to the back or inside of the ring. Read the rest of this entry
Paper Calliope is sweet on you!
Thank you everyone for signing up to follow Paper Calliope. Since the blog is not yet a month old, we are small, but quickly growing. Feel free to send me feedback, ideas, suggestions or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups at any time–it’s another perk of being a founding follower!
The Valentine Card winners of Paper Calliope’s first ever give-away are: Jonathan B, Jen C, Amanda W, Jill C and Wyatt N. Please send your snail mail address to info@PaperCalliope.com, so I can send you your prize. -xoxo-
You Heart aMazing
I’ll be honest, this tag is my least favorite of the five. I like each of the elements on their own, but somehow they just didn’t mesh together well. I guess it is kind of like that big ol’ box of Valentine chocolates. You always end up biting into one that you don’t like. By the time you realize it, you are half way through and then you are left with the quandary of deciding whether to go ahead and finish it or stick it back in the box to disgust some other member of your family.
I’m speaking from experience, as my daughter has been known to do that with just about anything. The other day I found a solitary doughnut left in the box with the topping completely gnawed away. Now that’s an enticing breakfast. Read the rest of this entry
Valentine’s Day is exactly one month away. So today I bring you the second tag in this series. I should mention that all of them use a basic alteration of a technique I learned from Tim Holtz’s 12 tags of Christmas sometimes around 2007 or 2008. Read the rest of this entry
Nothing says Valentine’s Day like chocolate and berries. Okay, flowers and jewelry can also speak the language of love pretty loudly, but those won’t be making an appearance at our house this year. At our house we stick with the less-than-$5-valentine. Thankfully, after all these years I’ve trained The Husband™ not to buy cutesy talking stuffed animals or dancing plastic flowers from the nearest Super America gas station.
Today, I’m going to share with you a non-caloric way to enjoy a delightfully rich Chocolate Berry Valentine treat by showing you how to make the first in a series of five Valentine tags.
