Balzer Designs

Easter Egg Techniques with Suzanne

Hey you guys! My assistant Suzanne Sicuranza is guest posting today with some fantastic artsy Easter Eggs!

Feast your eyes on some Julie-inspired Suzanne-made Easter Eggs.  I'll share some photos captured along the way, as well as a few short videos (and if you couldn't already tell, Suzanne written).  Let's begin!

Here is our starting point, store bought "chalkboard" eggs from Target:

And here are the finished products artfully waiting to dry in a red solo cup:

First I'll show you a bit of the drawn eggs. The surface was nonporous and black, which made it a nice starting point for Soufflé pens! It also meant that there were some extended drying periods, so I worked on a few at a time (you'll notice I didn't get as many progress shots as Julie does, but hey, I'm learning).

On this side I drew a mini mandala and filled in a bit of color.  Great choice because Soufflé pens have just the right spring pastel colors!

For a second doodle driven egg design, I went to a standby favorite - swirls!

In the photo above you can see how the pens transform from a cloudy translucent white to a fully opaque white once they dry. 

There's one other egg I made with the Soufflé pens as an homage to Julie's favorite thing ever.  See if you can spot it in the group pictures below. ;)

I had a semi-brilliant idea for a few others.  What if I were to load up an ArtFoamie with paint, and roll the egg over it? The key is to use paint that won't take forever to dry, and a bamboo skewer as an aid.  These eggs luckily already had holes in the bottom. Or top? Is there any real direction to an egg? Moving on...

For this one I layered different colors and different ArtFoamies on top for some cool texture. 

This is a short 30-second video that demonstrates the stamping process:

I didn't go too crazy and still let some of the black stay visible.  It was quick and easy and made for a good-looking outcome, if I do say so myself. 

Next I chose an ArtFoamie with a spring feel and wanted it to be seen as the main focus.

I later add a touch of copper with a Permapaque marker, because metallics are always a good idea.

I had to make one egg just a little different and I wanted to try to make a golden egg, and used black with the stained glass ArtFoamie:

Lastly, if you know me online @concernedowl or in real life, you know my love for purple and owls runs deep.  So, I couldn't resist making an owl, but to make it Easter ready I drew on bunny ears using Permapaque markers. 

Here they are, all pretty and in a row ready for Easter, or even just for a fun decoration for your home.

In a few of the pictures you can see the other side of the mandala egg, where I wrote Happy Spring.  Did you spot the egg I (or should I say eye?...ha) made for Julie?  As you can see you can easily take a few of the art supplies you may already have and decorate, or personalize store bought eggs. Think outside the box, or egg carton as the case may be.

I hope you liked my first (and hopefully not last) post here for the Balzer Designs blog. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Four Art Foamies Projects

Today I wanted to share a few Art Foamies projects that I put together for the Creativation Show.

This is a mixture of black paint on white paper and white paint on black paper -- not always easy to tell which is which:

This colorful collage didn't quite turn out the way I intended.  I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but I'm trying to let go of my expectations and let it be whatever it is:

Lots of fun details of stitching and layering!

This next project is my favorite!  I used paper clay to create some pretty cool grunged up tiles.

Believe me when I say that they are 100% better in person!  They really look like tile thanks to the glossy coat they got!

This final project is a little mini quilt embellished with beads and buttons.

I wanted each of my projects to reflect the possibilities of what Art Foamies can do: be used with paint, be used with clay, be used on fabric, be used for craft, be used for art, be used as background images, be used as strong motifs, be used as templates for embellishment, and so on and so forth!

What's your favorite way to use Art Foamies?

Thanks for stopping by!

Blogiversary Story & Giveaway: Art Foamies + Me

Foam stamps have been around forever.  Well, maybe not since the dinosaurs.  But they have been kicking around craft land for a very long time because they're relatively inexpensive, easy to use, and work well with paint.  Because they're relatively inexpensive (as compared to rubber), you can make some super giant foam stamps.  That's why you often find foam stamps in the home decor section of the craft store along with oversized stencils for wall stenciling.  

I did a quick search on my blog to try and find the first time I ever mentioned foam stamps.  Back in the beginning of my scrapbooking life, Making Memories and Heidi Swapp had lots of cute foam stamps -- alphabets and flourishes and shapes.  I loved them and bought them all!  But I can't seem to find anything in my archives about them.  There's a little bit of chatter about foam stamps on the blog in 2010 when both Claudine Hellmuth and Donna Downey released foam stamps (I used one in this 2011 post).  But I only really started to talk about them when I started making my own foam stamps!

• Here is a 2011 tutorial where I share how to make your own foam stamps from a Sizzix die.
• This extensive 2011 post contains a video that shows how to use a stencil to create a foam stamp.
• Check out this 2012 post (and spectacularly dark process video) where I incorporate home made foam stamps into a painting.  There are some thoughts on using foam stamps in the post, which I read with some interest -- apparently I'm still the same person in 2017 that I was in 2012.  ;)
•  In 2012 I came out with an hour-long DVD called Stamp Making Adventures.  This video workshop includes instructions on making all kinds of stamps -- foam and rubber -- using lots of different kinds of tools.  You can buy it HERE.
• There are a couple of art journaling posts where I mention having used foam stamps -- 2012, 2013.
• Here is a 2015 tutorial where I share how to make foam stamps using your ScanNCut.

In 2015 I taught some classes at Scrapbook Centrale in Quebec (I'll be teaching there again April 7-9, 2017, btw).  They had a wall of gorgeous foam stamps for sale.  These were unlike other foam stamps I had seen -- the designs were so intricate and they were all foam -- not mounted on plastic.  I bought a whole bunch and posted a video review of them.

A week or so after the video review the owner of the company, Emmie, randomly reached out to me to say thank you for the video.   They saw a spike in sales and figured out that it was coming from my video.  After getting her email, I decided to take a risk.  They say that you can't get things you don't ask for, right?  So I asked if she'd be interested in having me design a few stamps for Art Foamies?  I was overjoyed when the answer came back as a yes!  In November 2015, I shared my first Art Foamies designs with you!

And it has been a love affair ever since!  Art Foamies is a small husband and wife company based in Canada.  They are very kind and generous people and I am delighted to be working with genuinely nice people who make a wonderful and unique product.  Here are some notable Art Foamies posts for you to explore:

• Exploring Art Foamies
• Stamp Buddy Basics
• Three Art Journal Backgrounds using Art Foamies
• Two Art Foamies Printing Tips
• Stencil & Stamp Bumping
• NEW 2016 Art Foamies designs

 Although I may not shout it from the rooftops, Art Foamies make it into my artwork all the time.  Here are some recent examples:

To celebrate my partnership with Art Foamies -- and the fact that it was this blog that generated that partnership -- I am offering two things to you today. The first is a giveaway.  The winner will receive the Shadow Alphabet, Dinoskin and Inner Struggle stamps:

To win: Leave an answer to the following question in the comments section of this blog (it must be posted on the blog itself, not on Facebook and not in an email reply):

What do you like about Art Foamies?

This contest will remain open until Tuesday, January 17 at 11:59 EST.

In addition: This entire month (January 2017) you can place an order at artfoamies.com and if you mention my blogiversary celebration in the comments section, you will receive a FREE surprise stamp with your order!  This promotion only applies to new orders.  And remember, the prices on the Art Foamies website are in Canadian dollars.

Thanks for being part of the blogiversary celebration!!

---

P.S. The winner of last week's stencil giveaway (ALL of the new release 12x12 stencils) is...

E-mail balzerdesigns2@gmail.com with your contact information and I'll get that prize right out to you!

NEW Balzer Designs Art Foamies Foam Stamps!

I am super duper excited to share that I have brand new Art Foamies designs available for sale!  Watch the video to see them in action:

My personal favorite is the Shadowed Alphabet:

Watch the quick video to see them in action:

If you'd like to win a Shadowed Alphabet set of your own, leave an answer to the following question in the comments section of this blog post:

What is your favorite new Balzer Designs Art Foamie and why?

I will announce a winner on Monday, December 5, 2016.

Three chances to win: I'm giving away THREE different Art Foamies.  One Shadowed Alphabet set of stamps, here on the blog, one Stained Glass stamp to newsletter subscribers (sign up now, newsletter goes out Friday), and one Tulip Doily on instagram (giveaway post will be live by 6pm EST)!  Enter to win all three.  Winners will be selected using random.org.

Thanks for letting me share my excitement!

Guest Post: Art Caddy with Patty Eskridge

Hi, I’m Patty Eskridge from Elephant and the Owl, and I’m excited to be a guest on Julie Fei-Fan Balzer’s blog. I’ll give you step-by-step directions for how to repurpose an IKEA cardboard carrier into a stylish, colorful art caddy for your studio.

A little about me:
I am so happy to be able to spend all day in my studio making art! I’m a newly retired elementary school teacher and have begun my next career – being an artist. I have taught adult art classes, had several journal pages reposted on The Crafter’s Workshop IG, but this is my first guest post and I can’t be more excited!

Turn this:     

 To this:

Supplies:

• IKEA cardboard carrier used for carrying glasses or plates
• Liquitex Professional gesso
• Liquitex Professional matte medium
• Liquitex BASICS acrylic paints- titanium white, mars black, medium magenta, brilliant purple, light blue permanent, cerulean blue hue, bright aqua green, cadmium orange hue
• Americana paint- citron green
• Anita’s All Purpose Craft paint- ripe apricot
• paintbrushes
• scissors
• white tissue paper – inexpensive, non-glossy
• book text – dictionary pages, etc.
• washi tape
• various stencils – I used Dina Wakley’s Mini Favorites, Tim Holtz Bubble, Dylusions Letter Jumble, The Crafter’s Workshop (TCW) 12 x 12 Art Deco Leaves (Balzer Designs), The Crafter’s Workshop (TCW) Balzer Bits Circled Face
• Art Foamies Writer’s Block
• cosmetic sponges
• black duct tape
• Stabilo All pencil
• words or a phrase from a magazine

Step 1: To begin, I gessoed the cardboard using Liquitex Professional gesso wherever I was going to paint. That meant gessoing the outside and the handle section down into the carrier, but not inside the carrier because it’s not going to be seen. After gessoing, I began painting the body of the caddy using the medium magenta, brilliant purple, light blue permanent, cerulean blue hue, and bright aqua green. There was no set pattern or plan when painting; I just made sure to overlap the colors and keep turning my brush to get irregularly shaped paint sections.

Step 2: After the paint was dry, I added irregularly torn pieces of dictionary text and washi tape a little below the middle of the body of the carrier using the matte medium. I painted matte medium on the carrier, lay down the text and tape, then painted matte medium over both to make sure they won’t come unglued.

Step 3: Next, I added details with stencils. Using a cosmetic sponge to apply the paint, I made sure to dab the sponge in the paint and blot it so the sponge was dry and didn’t bleed under the stencil. Starting with the titanium white paint and the middle stencil of the Dina Wakley Mini Favorites, I stenciled the four sides of the body. I varied the position of the stencil around the sides of the carrier. After that, I stenciled the lime green paint and the other two Mini Favorites all around the carrier.

Step 4: After that, I applied mars black paint with a cosmetic sponge on the Dylusions Letter Jumble stencil to the body of the carrier. I made sure to vary the effect by turning the stencil, using different parts of the stencil, even applying the stencil upside down.

Step 5: On one side of the handle, I stenciled the TCW Art Deco Leaves with orange paint. After drying that, I laid the Dylusions Letter Jumble on the handle and then lined the Art Deco Leaves over the top of that stencil, “sandwiching” the Letter Jumble between the Art Deco Leaves and the cardboard. Then I applied black paint and in this way, the stenciling appears only on the orange lines.

Step 6: On the other side of the handle, I used a different technique. I sprayed the Letter Jumble stencil with a mixture of 50-50 acrylic paint and water, sprayed that with water, and then “stamped” the stencil onto the handle several times. (You can also spritz the carrier with water so it bleeds down.) I dried this.

Step 7: I use tissue paper frequently in my art work. For this project, I used tissue paper that I had previously blotted spray inks with. I love to apply these little pops of color the same way I applied the text and washi tape. By applying the matte medium and laying the tissue paper over that, the tissue appears to melt into the cardboard.

Step 8: At the top of one side of the caddy, I added an orange drip for extra color. I loaded up my brush with diluted paint and let it slide down the edge of the carton.

Step 9: Using a brayer, I inked Julie’s Writer’s Block Art Foamie with white paint and applied that all over. It is a good way to tone down the black, or to cover up where the paint seeped through or where the stencil slipped.

Step 10: To reinforce the cardboard, I added black duct tape on the bottom and around the handle. Then I stenciled TCW’s Circled Face Balzer Bits onto a piece of dictionary text. After drying it, I cut it out and glued it to the front of the caddy using matte medium. I use a lot of magazine words which allows me to have interesting sayings and/or fonts in my work. I attached the words “Press Play” with the matte medium and dried it. Next, I outlined the saying with a Stabilo All pencil, and painted over the black lines with a slightly wet paint brush to get a grungy, smeared look.

Step 11: Finally, the art caddy transformation was complete. Now all I had to do was add some art supplies and get ready for people to ask where I bought that super cool art caddy for my studio. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial and have gotten some useful tips to use in your art. Until next time, take the time to make art every day!

You can contact me through Instagram @elephantandtheowl or through gmail at peskridge78@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you.