Balzer Designs

Fantastic Friday!

Dude, there is some seriously awesome messy stuff happening in the Technique-a-Palooza classroom!  The student work is *amazing* and inspiring and so creative!  Check it out:

taniamclauchlan:

Alex Michiardi:

Paperspices:

effie's blue castle:

Moogieof4:

I love seeing everyone's different interpretations of the techniques. 

1. Acrylic on Gesso, 2. ink marbling, 3. inky stamping gone wild, 4. TAP Color Wash 1, 5. complicated love, 6. tag was brayered over glimmer mist lace, 7. oilpastels gesso carving , 8. ink brayered over scrap1, 9. Minialbum_teknikutmaning_v.44, 10. Gesso Stenciling, 11. PA220024, 12. gesso stenciled on cardstock, 13. PA190003, 14. assorted inky goodness1, 15. Masking tape with acrylic paint, 16. Untitled

Check out the rest of the class flickr pool here.

And as for my art, I am thrilled with today's lesson on working in layers:

It's the most involved technique of the 30 days, but I think the results are just stunning!  It looks complicated, but through a series of simple steps, I show just how easy it is to create!  I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's interpretations of this one!

By the by, I've gotten a few e-mails about the class and is it too late to join?  The answer is not at all!  Feel free to join in any time.  We have had a few new people join every day or two!  The classroom will be up for at least a full year (through October 2010) and all the videos and .pdfs will be there for you that whole time.  And of course, you can download all the .pdfs to print and have around forever.  I'll continue to check in to the classroom during the year, albeit with less frequency than I am now.  But, you can also e-mail me with questions at any time.  Finally, you do not need a PayPal account to purchase the class.  You can just use a credit card when you click on the PayPal link.  Hope that helps answer some questions!

Have a fantastic Friday!

Random for the Weekend

Still sick, if you can believe it.  Ick.

So, briefly:

1. My online class, Technique-a-Palooza: Paint and Ink, is full of the loveliest people!  And so talented!  I'm loving seeing all the different creations.  Here's a quick sampling of the students' work so far:

1. Gesso carving and oil pastels, 2. mica shimmer mist on gesso tag, 3. impressions in Gesso, 4. chalk on gesso tag, 5. Glue resist and watercolour paint tag, 6. IMG_1557, 7. Glue resist and watercolors, 8. Ink Splat masking and stamped with distress ink, 9. 015, 10. water soluble crayon, 11. 012, 12. Paint splatters, 13. Gesso

2. OLW has shut down!  OLW or "One Little Word" is one of my favorite challenge blogs.  Every other week they post a word and challenge you do create something based on that word.  Today, I went over there to check out the new word and read this announcement instead.  They're shutting down and re-prioritizing and I totally get it.  It takes an enormous amount of time and energy to run something like that.  As a farewell to them, I wanted to share a few of my layouts inspired by their blog over the years (the words that inspired them are true, joy, grow, good, create, and reflect) :

As I wrote on their blog, change is both inevitable and good.  I want to say thank you for all of the inspiration.  I've created some of my favorite layouts thanks to their prompts.

3. I've decided to stop hoarding scrapbook magazines.  Except for the ones I'm in, I've started ripping out articles or ideas I like and pitching the rest.  I just put the torn pages into page protectors in a binder, and now I've got the best homemade magazine ever! 

Along the way, I've been looking through old mags.  Today I took a quick peek through a BHG Scrapbooks Etc. magazine from 2004.  It was unrecognizable.  The layouts were just not at all what is in vogue right now.  Even the ads were from another planet.  I was also interested in the fact that other than a few big names (like Donna Downey), I didn't recognize almost any of the artists or writers.  Nowadays I open a magazine and I recognize about 85% of the names.  Certainly, I'm more aware of people nowadays.  But the bigger realization was that these 2004 people just didn't stick around.  Either they didn't evolve as the industry evolved, or they just re-prioritized (as the OLW challenge blog did).  No big conclusions from me, but I still find it very interesting!

Hope you're having a great weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

Ick! I'm Sick.

I'm sick. 

It's one of those horrible scratchy throat, stuffy nose, cloudy head things.

But, my brother is in town and that's enough reason to be wandering around the streets of New York with a purse full of tissues and cough drops. 

On Thursday, we stumbled across this place:

Well, I'm a fan.  And an owner of a LOMO camera.  According to the wikipedia entry:

Lomography emphasizes casual, snapshot photography. Characteristics such as over-saturated colors, off-kilter exposure, blurring, "happy accidents," and alternative film processing are often considered part of the "Lomographic Technique."  Users are encouraged to take a lighthearted approach to their photography, and use these techniques to document everyday life, as the Lomo LC-A's small size, simple controls, and ability to shoot in low light encourages candid photography, photo reportage, and photo vérité....Similar to Eastman Kodak's concept of the "Kodak moment," the Lomography motto of "don't think, just shoot" presumes spontaneity, close-ups, and ubiquity, while deemphasizing formal technique. Typical lomography cameras are deliberately low-fidelity and inexpensively constructed. Some cameras make use of multiple lenses and rainbow-colored flashes, or exhibit extreme optical distortions and even light leaks.

I have had my LOMO camera for almost a year (bought it at a trade show) and *oops* I haven't finished the roll yet.  I keep not wanting to "waste" the film.  Ridiculous, right? 

Wandering into the store, I was reminded how much LOMO is all about having fun.  I only took these two photos, but I hope you get the sense of chaos and fun and color!

I think it's time to stop worrying about "wasting" the film and get to shooting and developing that film!  After all, that's the LOMO way.  Here are the "10 Golden Rules" of LOMOgraphy:

1. Take your camera everywhere you go.

2. Use it any time – day and night.

3. Lomography is not an interference in your life, but part of it.

4. Try the shot from the hip.

5. Approach the objects of your Lomographic desire as close as possible.

6. Don’t think. (William Firebrace)

7. Be fast.

8. You don’t have to know beforehand what you captured on film.

9. Afterwards either.

10. Don’t worry about any rules.

I'm putting my camera in my bag right now.  I plan to share some photos very soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

Teaching is All About Learning

I think that this might be my most favorite class yet.  I've just put the finishing touches on my "Scrappy Jewelry" class, which I'm teaching tonight at Portrait Bug.

The image above is the first slide from my PowerPoint presentation for the class.  Those are the four projects we're making in just two hours.  It's going to be a crazy whirlwind of activity!  I can't wait.

In the meantime, I thought I'd talk a little today about my experiences with teaching art classes.

Share Your Joy And See The Lightbulbs Go Off

I don't think that you can be a good teacher unless you love what you do.  The whole impetus to teach has to be because you want to share with the world!  I think that I get the same kind of joy from teaching that I do from blogging.  But teaching is even better because I get to see the lightbulbs go off.  And whenever I feel burned out, teaching reignites that flame!

Prepare, Prepare, Prepare

You know the old joke? 

Q: How do I get to Carnegie Hall?
A: Practice, practice, practice!

It's true.  But for me, I've always felt that "prepare, prepare, prepare" was a better way of putting it.  It is the act of putting together the class samples, preparing instructions, preparing my presentation, time planning, etc. that really gets me ready for the class.

Furthermore, preparing gets me to understand every part of it a little bit deeper.  Which means that I'm able to answer questions easily and offer more detail during class.  It also means that I can anticipate mistakes and stop students from making them. (Unless they're awesomely cool breakthrough type mistakes.  Love those!)

I Prefer PowerPoint

One of the reasons that I like teaching at Portrait Bug (classroom pic below, that's me up front) is because it's a wired classroom.  I bring my laptop, hook it up to the big TV, and start through my presentation.  

I find that even with a small class, a PowerPoint presentation makes it so much easier for everyone to follow along, see the details, and really understand the techniques.  For instance, in my presentation for the Scrappy Jewelry class, I embedded a video I made about how to create a wrapped loop. It's small detailed work and this way students can see it clearly.  And then I can show them how to do it individually.  Much more efficient use of time!

I also like using PowerPoint because it keeps me on track, and it's so flexible.  I can make adjustments and tweaks so easily!

Learning is a Two-Way Street

Seriously, I have the best students in the world.  They are so crazy creative and talented and brave.

Every time I step into a classroom to teach, I learn something.  Sometimes it's something small, like how a product works or doesn't work.  Sometimes it's big, like major inspiration.

There's Always Another Way To Do It

When the space isn't quite right.  Or the store doesn't have the supplies.  Or people keep coming in late.  Or something breaks.  Or everything is cut to the wrong size.  Or your demo just won't work.  You know what?  You find another way to do it!  Being flexible and creative and rolling with the punches is part of the deal.

One of my major mantras when I teach is, "Perfection is boring."  Seriously.  It takes so much effort and sucks all the joy out of creating when you're trying to be perfect.  Aim for terrible.  Aim for stinky.  And you'll either reach your goal or be pleasantly surprised!  And so I take a spoonful of my own medicine.  Being a perfect teacher is boring.  I want to be a lopsided, uneven, handmade, true-to-myself teacher!

I'm Creating More Consciously

Having to explain to someone else why I put the photo right there.  Or exactly how I stitched that tree.  Or why I prefer Sakura Pigma Microns to Zig Writers.  Or whatever else.  Having to explain all of that really makes me create consciously.  Or at least analyze things a bit more. 

One of the best things I ever did for myself was teach my "7 Days • 7 Principles" class.  Previous to teaching the class, I was designing a lot of things on instinct.  I didn't know why it worked, it just did.  Creating the class forced me to analyze exactly why something worked.  And it forced me to be able to verbalize it.  I think my work really took a huge leap forward at that point.

That's all off the top of my head.  I'm looking forward to class tonight!  So many good things to come.

Thanks for stopping by!

Changes @ Label Tulip

We welcomed  a new team to Label Tulip last week.  Here are the new girls:

Here is a link to her blog.  And some examples of her gorgeous pages:

Here is a link to her blog.  And some of her awesomely fun work:

Here is a link to her blog.  And some of her funky cool pages:

And these are the Tulip Girls who are returning for another six months:

Here is a link to her blog.  And some of her beautiful and colorful pages:

Here is a link to her blog.  And some of her sweet pages full of charming details:

Here is a link to her blog.  And some of her lovely work:

Here is a link to her blog.  And some of her funky artsy pages:

Here is a link to her blog.  And some of her unique and beautiful work:

And then, it's me!  And my big news!  I was very surprised when the new owner of Label Tulip, Jennifer, asked me to be the design team coordinator.  Here's the post with the announcement.  It's not something that I ever thought about.  I'm excited to see what the next six month's will bring!  Here are two pages from the first month I designed for Label Tulip (October 2008):

Thanks for stopping by!

Never Be Afraid To Ruin It

I have this motto that has stood me well:

Never Be Afraid To Ruin It.

I think it's a good motto.  I think it's a true motto.

Sometimes I have a tendency to stop when something is "good enough" or "fine."  This motto reminds me to take the risk; to dare to do it.

What is the "it" in that sentence?

Cut a hole in my quilt. 

Glop paint all over it. 

Stamp directly onto my cardstock with abandon!

Cover up a perfectly good piece of art with a new idea:

It' also a good reminder to use my supplies.  And stop worrying about ruining them!

I remember buying Basic Grey paper and hoarding it.  It was simply far too pretty to cut up.  I mean, look at that:

And yet, I kept *hating* all the layouts I did with it.  It took me a while, but using my motto, I started cutting it up.  And now I am a happy girl!  I've used the same motto to conquer my fear of Sassafras Lass and other densely patterned papers, like the one below:

Or how about spraying that gorgeous flower above all sorts of colors and potentially "ruining" it?  Or pulling this flower apart...

...and only using half of it.

And I've been feeling very proud of myself for doing it.  Sometimes the results are great and sometimes the results are...well, less than great.  But I've always figured that I'd rather have 2 art projects that are jaw droppingly amazing and 8 that kind of stink, than 10 that are "fine."

Of course, the reason I'm writing this post is to make myself feel better about ruining the most gorgeous piece of Hambly paper. 

I had been keeping it for something special.  And now, alas, it's disfigured and permanently ruined.

Sigh.

But, I suppose that means something lovely is coming down the pipeline, right?  You have to fail gloriously over and over in order to find that one little moment of genius.

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday is Full of Joy!

It's Monday.  And Fall has arrived in The Big Apple.  I love Fall, so that makes me giggly and happy!  This is going to be a bit of a monster post, so I hope you make it to the other end!

1. Label Tulip Sneak Peeks

This is new owner, Jennifer Chau's, first kit.  It feels very fall-ish and kind of homey.  The big reveal is on Tuesday (September 15) at 9pm EST.  Here are some peeks at what I've done with the kit so far...

 

 

 

PS: Don't forget about the design team search!  The deadline is September 18!

2. Prima Layouts

I've been lost in flower land, buried under a delicious pile of Prima.  I can't share all of it, but here are a few things that have already made it onto the Prima blog:

• I wanted black letters, but I only had red ones, so I colored them with a black permanent marker.
• The black square is painted.
• The leaves are cut from a piece of patterned paper and popped up with foam adhesive.
• I placed the backing for the self-adhesive felt over the black felt itself.  I sprayed the backing with some Glimmer Mist and then stapled it in place.  The rhinestone flowers are covering the staples.

• I cut the title out of black cardstock.  I think it’s easier to just eyeball it and cut then go to the trouble of drawing it first and then having to erase all those lines!
• The ruffle under the title (stitched to the page with a sewing machine) is the reverse side of the purple paper that makes up the bulk of the background.  They’re the one inch strips I cut off of that paper.  Not a scrap is wasted!
• I cut the base circles with a circle punch to create some sense of uniformity.  Then, I used scissors to cut the others.  
• I used foam adhesive to separate the layers of circles.

 

• The pearl centers are colored with Sakura Souffle Pens.  They’re usually pretty chalky and matte, but I went over each of the centers with some clear nail polish.
• Note how I cut apart the Prima stitched paper (for all those circles).  I think sometimes we get scared about cutting apart our fancy beautiful papers.  But, the stitching and pattern add wonderful texture and I’ve still got plenty of scraps to use for something else!

3. News From Sultane

I wish I could say that the paper line I designed is going to be sold somewhere in North America.  Sadly, not true.  However, I have been asked to design a brand new line!  I'm extraordinarily excited!  I learned a lot from the last line.  I learned from making it, but even more, I learned from using the finished product.  I'm anxious to get started on this one!

4. Quilting Arts Gifts

I've got *two* articles in the new issue of Quilting Arts Gifts!  The photography is unbelievably beautiful.  And when the recent e-newsletter went out, one of my projects was featured!  Eeek!  You can see it here.  It's got the instructions for the project and everything!  Here's a screen shot of part of it:

 

5. Another Journal Quilt

I *love* teaching my Journal Quilt class.  This week, we played with Angelina fibers.  Anything heat bondable is pretty stinkin' cool.  Add some sparkle to it, and I'm sold!  Here's my little quilt using the Angelina:

The heart and the beads (see below for a better view) are made from Angelina.

6. Simplicity Designer Challenge

Recently, I was asked to participate in a Designer Challenge by Simplicity Creative Group.  They challenged a group of us to use their rotary cutting machine (below) and bias tape maker (above) to make a small wall quilt.

 

The machines are fun.  I'm having a good time playing around with them!  The deadline is September 25, so soon I need to stop playing and actual commit....  I did a little bit of sketching today.  And I like my idea, so we'll see what happens...!

Thanks for stopping by!

Today is My Anniversary

Today is my TEN-YEAR Anniversary with New York City. 

I moved to "The City that Never Sleeps" on September 12, 1999.  It's hard to believe that it has been a decade.  Wow.  Over the years, I've done a number of pages celebrating my relationship with NYC:

 

 

 

 

I know that there are plenty of lovely places to live in the world.  And I'm sure that I could be very happy elsewhere.  But New York has my heart.

Happy Anniversary.

I Waited Almost Three Years For This: The Genesis Trimmer

On November 23, 2006 at 1:03 am, I received a confirmation e-mail from Bonnie Boyle.  She had received my order for a Genesis Trimmer.  The e-mail indicated that the company was behind on filling orders.  Currently filling orders from April 2005, and so there would be a wait. 

I knew about the wait.  I had been reading about Genesis Trimmers online for a while.  Everyone said, get one.  Get on the wait list.

Ridiculous.

Who would get on a wait list for a paper trimmer?

People said it was the most accurate trimmer ever.  It had an edgelight, blah, blah, blah.

Who would get on a wait list for a paper trimmer?

Well, it turns out that I would.  I decided, late one night, to just put myself on the wait list.  No commitment to buy.  I'd just make up my mind when my number finally came up.  Honestly, I didn't think much about it after that.  Oh, occasionally it would flicker across my mind: I wonder if I'll ever get that Genesis Trimmer?

Imagine my surprise when I received an e-mail almost three years later: "Your trimmer is ready."

The decision wasn't hard, though the price was steep.  I mean, I had waited three years.  I *had* to have it at this point! I plunked down my money and a few days later...

...it had arrived.  You should have seen me dancing around the apartment on Wednesday.

1. The Edge Guide.  This was an optional part I purchased.  If you're making repetitive cuts, you attach this bar (see the screw thing at the bottom of it) and don't have to measure.  Right now it's sitting at 12 inches.  This trimmer goes to 16 inches.
2. The Blade.  It's a very sharp round blade.  It is *always* exposed, so not a trimmer to have around kids.  It gives a really nice clean cut, by the way.  I experimented last night and you can cut off the tiniest of slivers.
3. The Edge Light.  Another optional part.  And it is so, so, so, so, so cool!  It makes precision cutting super easy.  You turn it on (it must be plugged into an outlet) and you can clearly see through your photo or paper exactly where the edge is.  This is going to change my life.
4. The Bar.  Just a note.  Unlike other trimmers, this bar doesn't fold down or grip the paper.  It's what the blade hangs from.  You have to hold your paper and use the handle on the blade to cut.

I have to admit that this thing is huge.  Thank goodness it arrived after move and now that I'm in the "big" craft room.  I'm looking forward to test driving it.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Thanks for stopping by!

30 Seconds at MoMA

What a lovely, lovely day!  The day began here:

 

And now, I will go into excruciating detail.  Because I had so much fun and I can't help myself!  But, I'll do it in bullet points, so it's minorly more readable.

• My appointment was at 10am.  When I arrived around 9:50am, the guard told me that the museum didn't open until 10:30am.  So, I was sent to wait for Thilo Hoffman (the artist/filmmaker).  It was the first time I'd ever sat in the MoMA lobby and had it be empty!
• When Thilo arrived, he was a tall, well-spoken guy.  He told me that I was the first person to arrive on time, let alone early.  Score one for my parents, eh? 
• Thilo offered to take me into the museum the "regular" way or the "underground" way.  It wasn't even a choice!  Of course I wanted to go the secret underground way!
• We went through a series of corridors and elevators and through the bowels of the museum.  I have to admit that I was pretty excited by what is essentially a series of empty hallways. 
• Thilo was chatting to me, but I was busy reading the signs on every door and peeking around to see what I could see.  He asked me what my concept for my "30 Seconds" was.  I said that I wanted to create a scrapbook page based on a painting at MoMA.  His reaction was fairly negative.  Polite.  But, fairly negative.  I have to admit that I panicked a little inside.
• We finally arrived at our destination: the staff lounge.  Modern leather chairs gathered around glass tables, with an *amazing* view of MoMA's sculpture garden.  After a few minutes, we were joined by John Wilson, who works at MoMA.
• There was a little bit of chatting, but I finally figured that I needed to do a show&tell to get my point across.  I pulled out a few scrapbook layouts that I had brought with me.  These ones:

 

(By the way, I've never shared the layout above before.  I made it last September.  Cardstock, paint, pen, and a lot of foam adhesive.)

 

• I saw the lightbulbs go off.  They finally understood what I meant by scrapbooking.
• Best compliment ever: John, who works at MoMA, asked me if I had art training.  When I replied in the negative, he said something like, "Oh, well, that makes it even more impressive."
• I know I shouldn't geek out over a simple passing thought.  I mean, it's just some guy's opinion.  But, one does like a person who works at (arguably) the greatest modern art museum in the world to think one has art training.  Right?
• So, now that scrapbooking was a clear idea, we talked a bit about my vision for the video.  I told them that my thesis was "see and do."  See the painting and have it inspire you to do something.  In my case, make a scrapbook page.  They liked it a lot. 
• We headed into the empty galleries to take some video of the inspiration piece I had chosen: Hope II by Klimt.  You can see it in the photo below.  I've also pointed out Thilo and John.

• Then, we got to take another secret journey!  This time, up to the MoMA offices.  Thilo set up an overhead camera shot on a drafting table. 
• He told me to take out all my supplies while he filmed.  And so, I just started scrapbooking!
• I felt a little rushed.  Couldn't find all the pieces and people were watching intently (totally creepy), but here's my Hope II inspired scrapbook page (completely made from scraps, by the way):

And a closer view of the painting for comparison:

 

• Nothing is adhered to the layout particularly well, I must admit.  I was rushing to get done!  I felt pressure!
• It was interesting to have to think about how I could recreate the painting in a way that was quick, neat (no paint or spray ink), and accurate.  I've never "prepped" a layout in quite the same way.  I spent an hour or two the night before, getting it all ready to go!
• After the layout was finished, we went looking for a place to talk about the audio.  Thilo, John, and I chatted a bit about whether it should be music or a voice over.  In the end, I decided that I wanted to (a) add some intellectual content, and (b) put myself (it was just my hands creating the layout) and my point-of-view into the video a bit more.
• I sat for about two minutes, made some notes, and then pitched my voice over idea.  Basically, I connected my job in the theatre with my love of art with my passion for scrapbooking.
• They loved the idea and we took three takes to wrestle it into 30 seconds.  Wow, 30 seconds goes by fast!  First take was 36 seconds.  Second take was 48.  Ooops.  Last take hit 30 seconds on the nose!  Yay!
• As a last step, we went into the sculpture garden to take a "portrait" of me for the front of the video.  Thilo let me choose which of the photos I liked best.  In the end, we all agreed that there was one very friendly, "smiling with the eyes" photo that worked well.
• And then, alas, it was time to say goodbye.  What fun, though.  I loved every moment of collaborating and planning and thinking about it. 
• The videos won't debut until November, so I'm just going to have to wait for the finished product.  Sigh.

Thanks for stopping by!