Category Archives: Uncategorized

Mar5

Airplanes are hurling bodies from the sky

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Airplanes are hurling bodies from the sky

My art studio is on the third floor of my house and therefore closest to the roof. Normally, it is an inspirational and peaceful place of creativity. Today–not so much.

Today, I sporadically jolt from my chair when I hear tremendously loud thumps above my head. I’m not talking little thuds made by a squirrel here, people. I’m talking thundering booms caused by something the size of a human body. It’s loud. And it’s terrifying.

I know that if I tell my husband, he will–just like any good Minnesotan–sagely nod his head and explain that it is the ice breaking away from the roof. He will patiently tell me that because today is a balmy 16 degrees, we are finally escaping the three month polar vortex of negative zero temperatures, and so the ice dams on the roof are able to melt and break away. Read the rest of this entry →

Feb25

Create a page with the greatest of ease (not so much)

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Create a page with the greatest of ease (not so much)
Create a page with the greatest of ease (not so much)

Paper Calliope is a blog about crafting. It is unique in that it includes humor. The problem is today I’m not a wee bit funny. I’m coming off two long weeks of being sick. I’m crabby and I don’t walk across the room without lugging a box of tissues.

Since this is not a mommy blog you don’t get to hear why I’m crabby–that while I was sick the Husband™ went to conferences in the tropics and left me to single parent, or that while I was sick The Son™ broke the snowblower in the midst of the year’s worst snowstorm, or that while I was sick the dog upchucked all over the Persian rug or….See?! No mommy blogging here!. Nope, not one bit.

So yeah, I may not be funny, but you can be darn-tootin’ grateful I saved you from all that mommy blogging. Here, have a tissue for those tears of joy.

circ-finished-20140223_191853-web-1 Read the rest of this entry →

Feb20

Making my First Artist Trading Block (ATB)

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Making my First Artist Trading Block (ATB)
Making my First Artist Trading Block (ATB)

In the last few months I’ve been fascinated with the up and coming trend of Artist Trading Blocks (ATBs). Basically, the ATB take the Artist Trading Card (ATC) into three dimensions. While I have always loved seeing the amazing ATCs that my instafriends created, I never jumped on the bandwagon. However, something about the added dimension of the ATB. has made this trend irresistable.

One night during a typical netflix-while-crafting-binge, I watched the 1996 Jane Austen movie Emma, starring Gywneth Paltrow. A delightful quote captured my heart so much so that I was compelled to use it for my first forray into the ATB world.

Read the rest of this entry →

Feb19

And by swimmingly, I meant

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And by swimmingly, I meant
And by swimmingly, I meant

So my last post extolled how wonderfully my lastest project was going. That remains true. In fairness, swimmingly is a relative concept. For what I perceive as going swimmingly, others might consider a nightmare.

Really this all comes down to the fact that I need to title my next book*, “The Anal Artist.” I can’t seem to let anything go that I don’t consider perfect. A smudge of glue, a smear of paint–all must be fixed. Read the rest of this entry →

Feb7

Duct taping the mean girl

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Duct taping the mean girl

Every creator painfully experiences the chasm
between his inner vision and its ultimate expression.
–Isaac Bashevis Singer

 

I came across this quote the other day. Somehow, I thought this only happened to me. There have been so many times when I had a specific idea in mind and the end result was disappointing. Sometimes a project was even an all-out failure.

More often than not, a project turned out “ok”, but a great rift still separated it from my inner vision Read the rest of this entry →

Feb3

Escape to Paris–mixed-media Paris

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Escape to Paris–mixed-media Paris
Escape to Paris–mixed-media Paris

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 →

Jan30

Sadly, I have no problem whatsoever finding a logical explanation for this

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Sadly, I have no problem whatsoever finding a logical explanation for this

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Don’t worry. I’m still going to share my mixed media panic attack story with you. The last thing I want to do is add more anxiety to your life by creating undue anticipation. However, this simply could not wait.

That is a problem because I am trying to find the right balance between topics. Paper Calliope is mainly about the art of mixed media, altered art and paper crafting. However, at last count, there were one million and forty-seven crafting blogs. Trust me on this. I know. I counted.* We don’t need one million and forty-eight.

That’s why I want to bring a fresh approach by recognizing how both the act of creating and the beauty of finished art brings calm, joy and inspiration to our anxiety-ridden lives. As actress Stella Adler said, “Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.” Read the rest of this entry →

Jan20

And the winners are:

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And the winners are:

 

Paper Calliope is sweet on you!

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-

Jan18

Valentine’s tags are like a box of chocolates—sometimes you wrinkle your nose and just keep chewing

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Valentine’s tags are like a box of chocolates—sometimes you wrinkle your nose and just keep chewing
2014-01-12-01-tag-4-a-web-1.jpg

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 →

Jan14

Today’s snow would be much prettier if there were not three more months of winter coming

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Today’s snow would be much prettier if there were not three more months of winter coming

20140114_095654-ed-web-1

I can’t resist adding this picture that I took outside our house this morning. We got several inches of snow and it was quite lovely. However, I’m not a fan of January since I always find it disheartening to face another three months of winter. At least the snow didn’t fall off the ornament, land between my jacket and my neck and then travel a slow, cold and torturous (but not tortuous–google it people) path down my bare skin before getting absorbed by my unmentionables. Read the rest of this entry →