Feb12

I apologize for my absence. I have been hit hart by the flu bug. I knew it was bad when in my delusions I started creating haikus about the state of my illness. Want to hear one? No? You are wise, but you are also my captive audience (don’t you dare click that mouse!) so you get to hear one anyway.

The Stomach Bug Haiku

Violent ill erupts

Shiver under blanket mounds

Death would be welcome.

Don’t worry, since I am a former English major, I am not deluding myself–I know it is horrible. But it’s about all the blogging I can yet manage, so hopefully the horribleness of it will provide some entertainment value.

The good news i that I am back in the studio a little bit and will soon be able to show you the project that has consumed the last two weeks. I’m happy with the results, but I also learned that bigger projects make it diffidult to have consistent blog updates. Either i have to start working a lot faster, or I will have to have a stash of pre-prepared smaller projects set aside for emergency publication.

I’m going back to my mound of blankets. I will see you on the other side of this bug. Make sure you decontaminate your monitor before hopping to the next blog–I don’t want to be responsible for some virus spreading. (The illness hasn’t affected my puns, they are always this ~~bad~~ awesome).

Feb7

Duct taping the mean girl

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Betsy Skagen

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

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Betsy Skagen

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

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Betsy Skagen

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

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 →

Jan27

Crafting is exactly like Breaking Bad

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Betsy Skagen

Crafting is exactly like Breaking Bad

Help! I couldn’t update my blog because my pc was tombed beneath layers of polyurethane. Luckily, since the only way my life parallels Walter White’s is that my son is a teenager, I’m not engaged in any nefarious meth-related violence. No, I’m not wrapping bodies up in poly and finding the nearest 55 gallon drum–although admittedly if certain family members had kept pushing my buttons yesterday, it might have become a tempting option.

Read the rest of this entry →

Jan23

Valentine’s Day is the 14th

Posted on January 23, 2014 by Betsy Skagen

Valentine’s Day is the 14th

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 →

Jan20

And the winners are:

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Betsy Skagen

And the winners are:

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

Posted on January 18, 2014 by Betsy Skagen

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

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

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Betsy Skagen

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

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 →

The Stomach Bug Haiku

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

Win a free Valentine–Life just doesn’t get much better than that

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