Balzer Designs

Prima Promo

I wanted to share a fun promo that Prima is running...

FREE STUDS!

We know that times are tough and every dollar counts. So, to thank you for spending your hard earned dollars on Prima products, we are going to send you a free gift.

Just send us an original receipt for $25 (or more) plus the upc barcodes from your Prima purchases. Include a self-addressed envelope (we'll pay for the postage to get your prize to you) and we will send you a package of our Say It In Studs frame pictured on the left ($3.00 retail value).

Please include your e-mail address so that we can let you know of upcoming specials like this in the future.

The fine print:

• Your receipt needs to be dated anytime between March 15th and April 15th, 2009.
• Product as pictured while supplies last.
• Prima reserves the right to substitute an item of equal value.
• All receipts and UPC bar codes must be original - no mechanical copies permitted.
• Prima is not responsible for missing/undelivered entries 
• There is no limit to the number of times you can participate!
• Please allow 3-4 weeks processing time.

Send your receipts and UPC bar codes to:

Prima Marketing, Inc
Attn: Customer Service
5564 Edison Ave
Chino, CA 91710

And here is my most recent layout for Prima...



I really love this layout.  It's a bit different for me, but so much fun!  And it's a great way to use up leftover pieces of flowers, rhinestones, felt, etc.  The dimension on the layout is really cool too because the flowers are a bit fluffy and I've rolled some of the paper scraps into beads and those felt gates are super thick.

Thanks for stopping by!

Right at Home...I *heart* paint

It's no secret that I love and adore paint.  However, I really found myself unable to stay away from the brushes when I put together my layouts for Right At Home Scrapbooking this month.  So, without further ado...

This layout tackles several of my recent obsessions all at once: paint, grids, multiple photos, and scallops!

I love the way the background looks (it's a printed transparency over glitter paper).  It has a lot of depth without being too distracting.

Is that a two-page layout down there?!  Yes, yes it is.

These photos were just too cool to crop, so I kept 'em 4x6 and made a two-pager.  Used up lots of scraps on this one too!

This one was an experiment that worked out really well!  (Don't you love that?)  Check out the flowers...

Here's a close up...

They are super dimensional and look like glass in person.  What are they?  Melted transparencies covered with alcohol ink.  Cool, right?  I'm definitely going to have to do a little video tutorial on them!

And here's another layout using a transparency and alcohol ink.

Can you tell that I'm so over alphabet stickers?  It's just a million times easier to paint your title, you know?  It's like journaling by hand.  Yes, computer journaling looks pretty, but man-oh-man, it takes too long!

This is a layout I rescued...

What does it mean to rescue a layout?  I'm so glad that you asked!  I sometimes make layouts that I hate.  We all do, I suppose.  But, I did this layout and couldn't stand it.  Ick.  But, I also don't like to throw a layout away and start again.  That seems like a bad cycle.  So, I took out my paintbrush and started painting away to see if I could transform the ick into something fabulous!  And, I'm thrilled with the way it turned out!  I particularly like the way the scalloped frame turned out.

Ah, a wavy page.  Must mean there's a lot of paint involved...

The big yellow circle is crackle paint!  I used a slick writer to write in my journaling and painted the title.  The flourishy things are cut from some Cosmo Cricket paper and then I added some rhinestones.  I think the stitching adds a nice touch too!  (My friend Cheryl went crazy when she saw the size of the photo.  She seemed to think it was a crime to use such a tiny photo on a 12x12 page, but I think it's fun!)

PS: Right At Home has a ning group that you are welcome to join - it's a kind of social networking board that has become very popular.  One of the things that it does is generate a slide show of all the photos you upload.  Check mine out...

Pretty cool, right?  Anyway, it's a great little community, so drop by if you get a chance!

Thanks for stopping by!

Label Tulip: March Comes in Like a Lion!

What a fabulous kit from Label Tulip this month!  One of my faves!  Here's what I did with it....

We Went to See Art....

I built this page in layers:

• I used glue dots to adhere paper circles and some cellophane packaging to the background.
• I machine stitched over the background.
• I painted the entire background with gesso, leaving some areas with a thin coat and others with a thick coat.
• After the gesso had dried, I painted the background with a watered down coat of acrylic paint.

• I went back in and added some darker spots of red for even more texture.
• I used a scrap of paper that had holes punched out of it, and used it as a stencil to paint the yellow dots.
• I added my photo and the journaling spots.
• I stamped down the side of the layout with Distress Ink and then used water (which is reactive with Distress Ink) to wash away parts of the image and give it a more distressed look.
• I added the chipboard hearts and then painted the title, the frame, and wrote out my journaling.
• I used a dauber to color the very outside of the layout with a touch of blue.

Love this Cast

• I inked a scrap of paper and then folded it back and forth (securing it with embroidery floss).
• The chipboard letters are outlined with white pen.
• I used a coating of watered down gesso to create a space for my journaling.

Only Half the Truth

• I colored the flowers (and crinkled them a bit) by using water and paint daubers.
• I also colored the chipboard letters with a paint daubber - after the letters were adhered to the layout.
• I snuck a bit of packaging into this layout.  The black striped scallop is packaging from a Chatterbox product.

• I wanted to give the flower some more weight, so I used embroidery floss to stitch some ribbon into a circle.  It creates a lovely base for the large flower.

She

• The patterned paper is pink tone on tone.  I hand cut all the vines and leaves and flowers and then used a black pen to outline the patterns.  Then, I added glitter glue.  Parts of the pattern are lifted up with foam adhesive.  It took *forever*, but I think the effect is lovely!

• The cardstock is edged with three colors of ink (pink, yellow, and brown).
• I inlined the chipboard letters with a white pen.
• The photos were actually a processing mistake.  My photo printer was running low on ink, but I love the aged effect!  So, I decided to use them!

Thank You

Cindee, one of the founders of Label Tulip has decided to step down.  Each of the Tulip Girls was asked to surprise her with an 8x8 layout about ourselves to give to her.  This is mine.

• I printed the e-mail from Cindee, inviting me to join the Label Tulip team, onto my background paper. 
• I stitched down all the little photos of my layouts and of me (that's the one from my Tulip Girl bio).
• I painted the title with an Adirondack Paint Dauber.

Thanks for stopping by!

Project Fifty-Two Flickr Pool is Awesome!

The Project Fifty-Two flickr pool is full of some amazing art!  It's not too late for you to join!  All you have to do is create something (a photo, a poem, a layout, a tag) that celebrates your week, every week for 52 weeks.  I wanted to share this little slideshow of the wonderful things that are being created...

Created with flickr slideshow.

This is my week 10 contribution:

It's also my first official layout for Prima.  Here are some details on how it all came together...

• I stitched the photographs to the background and then stitched five random circles.  The interiors of the circles are painted somewhat realistically and are meant to represent the camera focusing on something - kind of making it real or defining it.
• I used the glitter glue (from Sulyn) to adhere the crystal centers to the paper flowers (which are actually sewn on).  I simply covered the paper flowers with a nice thick coat, waited a few minutes for it to “set up” a bit and then pushed the centers into the glue.  I left it to dry overnight.
• Because the background paper had so much text, I decided to add my journaling to my photos.  I used two different colored pens to write on the light and dark surfaces.

Thanks for stopping by!

Two Tutorials on Friday the 13th...

I've got two easy and fun tutorials for you today.  I did these for Right at Home Scrapbooking, a fabulous LSS in North Attleboro, MA.  Every month I do a few of these cards for the 7 gypsies spinner and then follow up with a little technique video.

If you would like to doodle an adorable little bird like the ones above (did you see the super little one covered in glitter?) just watch the video:

And here's the next one...

This video is all about painting a new pattern onto existing patterned paper to give it a more personalized look.

Thanks for stopping by!