Tag Archives: Scrapbooking

Come visit the North Pole in this altered album

Come visit the North Pole in this altered album

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At this time of year there’s no place on earth busier than the North Pole. Santa’s elves are frenetic–making toys, grooming reindeer and loading the sleigh. However, those elves are so thoughtful that they still left room in this altered album for your photographs and journal entries.

I am thrilled to be invited back for a second year as Gyspy Soul Laser Cuts guest designer. My projects will be featured at Gyspy Soul Laser Cuts each Wednesday in November. I hope you visit there and see my projects. I will be especially grateful if you leave some love.

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Pretty, pretty Prima—with sprinkles on top

Pretty, pretty Prima—with sprinkles on top
Pretty, pretty Prima—with sprinkles on top

 

 

Prima Marketing is having a design team call. A long-time fan of theirs, I simply could not resist giving it a try. But the best part???? The best part is how much fun I had creating these projects with Prima products!

 

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Making an altered art circus mini album

Making an altered art circus mini album

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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.

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Beach beautiful is wild

Beach beautiful is wild
Beach beautiful is wild
Bonus: Learn a fabulously frugal trick for using 
spray inks when you don’t have masks or stencils! 

 

Without going into the gory details, last summer was a tough time for our family. Truth be told, all of 2013 pretty much sucked. A short respite from the dismal came when we visited a small zoo south of Milwaukee. Normally, a zoo isn’t all that exciting to me, but this one turned out to be pretty fun–probably more so because it was such a relief from the worries. It was literally a stone’s throw from Lake Michigan, so it wasn’t long before we headed down to the beach to watch my son climb rocks and my daughter do handstands in the sand.

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There’s a legit reason for the gigantic egg hatching in my art studio

There’s a legit reason for the gigantic egg hatching in my art studio

 

You've got egg on your blog.

You’ve got egg on your blog.

Since this blog is so new, and lovely readers like you keep gushing flowing trickling in, I have been trying to make certain everyone understands Paper Calliope is different from other craft sites out in blogland. This isn’t some schmarmy marketing ploy. I’m just trying to save everyone from disappointment down the road.

In case you haven’t been paying attention, Paper Calliope features crafting with a sassy twist. Oh yeah, it has a lot about anxiety too, because anxiety is near and not-so-dear to 97 percent* of the sensitive souls a.k.a. artists in the world.

I liken my blog to being the lovechild of Jenny Lawson, Martha Stewart and Oprah Winfrey.** I mean, if Jenny Lawson can top the NY Times Bestseller List, there must be a whole lot of people who relate to her unusual sense of humor. Read the rest of this entry

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

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

Some things are worth repeating

Some things are worth repeating
Some things are worth repeating

A long, long time ago, when this blog was brand spanking new (last month), I switched hosting services. I just now discovered that something went awry and the pictures to an early post disappeared. What’s worse, I’m not able to edit the post that was created on the other hosting service.

Since I only had about five readers the first time this was posted (and one of them was my fictional test character), I figure there is no harm in reposting it. If you saw the post the first time around you can compare the experience to re-watching your all-time favorite movie. Because some things are worth repeating.

Honestly, I’m not that arrogant about my work. From my experience, it is pretty near impossible to be cocky and anxious as the same time. However, I do hope you like these pages and inspires you to repurpose unusual materials for scrapbook pages.  Read the rest of this entry

An ode to vomit and other disgusting bodily functions–and yes, this still is a paper crafting blog

An ode to vomit and other disgusting bodily functions–and yes, this still is a paper crafting blog

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).

Escape to Paris–mixed-media Paris

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

Valentine’s Day is the 14th

Valentine’s Day is the 14th
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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.

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