Tag Archives: Altered art

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 →

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
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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

Enter mixed media heaven with this Valentine

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Enter mixed media heaven with this Valentine

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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 →

Jan10

Ahoy there–how to make this nautical explosion box

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Ahoy there–how to make this nautical explosion box

Nautical Explosion Box created by Paper Calliope

Nautical Explosion Box Level of Difficulty: Advanced
 

I have to admit, this is one of my favorite projects. It’s also one of the most time consuming. For starters, while I love, love, love the outcome of this project, it’s not for beginners or for someone short on patience. In fact, there are a lot of much easier explosion boxes out on the web that are quite nice. If you want something easier, just Google “explosion box tutorial.” Read the rest of this entry →

Jan6

I am a greeting card hypocrite

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I am a greeting card hypocrite
I am a greeting card hypocrite

So you think someone who painstakingly handcrafts cards for a hobby would have the best holiday cards. Nope.

Last year I managed to send out one of those picture postcards of my kids in their Thanksgiving finery doing circus tricks. This year? Nada. I have not made cards, I have not ordered photo greeting cards, I have not run out to Target and bought 75% off Christmas cards. Nothing.

It’s one thing to not send a humble/show-off card/autobiography to all your friends, college roommates from a previous life, and second cousins thrice removed. It’s an entirely different matter when you postally neglect elderly relatives who have faithfully sent you Christmas and birthday cards your entire life. People! The guilt is eating me alive! Read the rest of this entry →

Jan3

End of Era

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End of Era

archivers_logo

Archivers–Not pms*–has made me bitchy

This morning Archiver’s announced it was closing all of its doors. Forever.

Archiver’s and I started scrapbooking around the same time. In the same city. I’m not sure who was first. But we were catching a wave that had already gained momentum.

Now it is time to switch metaphors. Why? Because although Archiver’s and I both have our headquarters in the Land of 10,000 (wavy) Lakes, it is winter here 90 PERCENT OF THE TIME. It is pretty darn hard to catch a wave when all the water is trapped under two feet of ice.

Anyway–continuing my metaphor switch from warm waters to winter wonderland–there was soon an avalanche of people who were interested in capturing life’s memorable events with photos, cardstock and embellishments.

Really? Soap-on-a-Rope and scrapbooking?

For many, the art of scrapbooking in those early years entailed putting eight, nine or 107 photos on a page and adding a couple of stickers. Usually the stickers reminded me of Precious Moments figurines. Guess what–I never liked Precious Moments figurines. (Disclaimer–In case you are one of my very first blog readers and you like Precious Moments, I’m actually lying. I have Precious Moments figurines in every room in my house. I love them so much I even have Precious Moments Soap-On-A-Rope hanging in my bathroom.**) Read the rest of this entry →