Balzer Designs

Art Carts

I have four art carts in my studio. Cart #1 is for sewing items. I use it to hold my fabric scraps and sewing notions. Cart #2 is for art journaling. I use it to hold my favorite pens, markers, stamps, deli paper, and collage fodder. Cart #3 is for memory keeping and ScanNCut. I use it to hold my most used Project Life supplies and some ScanNCut accessories. Cart #4 is for painting. I use it to hold my most used mediums, brushes, tools, and favorite paints. This system works for me because my studio is a big open... Read more →

ScanNCut: Videos for Sewers

I have a super fun project for you today! We are going to take advantage of the fact that the ScanNCut makes cutting shapes from stiff felt quick and easy. We are making this booklet-style felt needle case: These needle cases make great gifts and can be customized for the recipient with a variety of motifs and even their name! Watch the video for the how-to: Here's a peek at some of the details of that gorgeous needle case! And here's what it looks like inside: It's beautiful and functional. Can't beat that! I love to create "technique" videos for... Read more →

News & Notes

I hope you are all home and healthy at the moment. Some quick updates from me: ONE: The monthly newsletter went out on Friday. If you didn't receive it (a) check your SPAM folder, or (b) sign up for the monthly mailing list HERE. (It is a different list from subscribing to this blog.) TWO: The Balzer Designs member livestream is tonight (Monday) at 7pm EST. Here is a photo of my worktable after the last livestream: The link to watch live is in the forum section of the online classroom. If you miss the live version, you can watch... Read more →

Art Journal Every Day: The Two Week Art Journal

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, there is a short introduction here. All of the previous posts can be found archived here. Remember, it's just ten minutes of nourishing your creative self every day! No need to finish anything or even like it. If you've done some art journaling this week, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. Even if you're not on social media, you can see everything (from twitter, pinterest, instagram, and facebook) that uses that hashtag here. On Wednesday, I mentioned at the end of my blog post that I... Read more →

Finished Tar Paper Face

I loooved the process of creating this face. I think it might be the beginning of a series. I might never make anything else. It's simple and yet graphic. It has movement and interest. It's colorful but not crazy. Best of all, you can hang it on your wall with two pushpins. I'm excited to explore some variations! It feels like what all the faces in my art journal have been leading towards. Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

20 Art-Related Things to Do While You're Stuck at Home

Chances are pretty good that you're stuck at home right now. No worries. There are plenty of art-related things that you can do! Make art. Stupid and obvious, but it can be hard to get going. Go do it! Check out YouTube tutorials. Watch them. Binge them. And do it guilt free. The Frugal Crafter has hundreds of crafty videos to watch on her channel! Take out that new tool, new paint, new thing you got and never used. Use it. I am guilty of this. I suspect we all are. Read an art book. It could be a biography... Read more →

About Tar Paper

I got a bunch of questions about tar paper after my post last week. I am not a tar paper expert. Here's what I know: Tar paper is a building material. It is primarily used for roofing. You can read the wikipedia page about it here. The tar paper I have doesn't have a smell. My understanding is that tar paper made before 1970 had asbestos in it, but the modern version does not. I learned about tar paper from Ardith Goodwin when she was a guest on Make It Artsy. You can find some information about using soap as... Read more →

A New Print & Notes About Classes

I created a new Purposeful Print and I wanted to share it: I also wanted to share a few notes about my in-person classes, originally planned for this upcoming weekend: MARCH CLASSES MOVED TO SEPTEMBER. Due to concerns about COVID-19 and out of an abundance of precaution, the March 20 Art Journaling... ...and March 21-22 Purposeful Printing classes... ...have been postponed to September 2020. I have e-mailed all registered students, but I wanted to post it here as well, in case the e-mail missed you! ATTENTION DEBORAH BARNETT Sorry to post publicly, but I can't reach you. You have sent... Read more →

Adventures in Arting Podcast: Nathalie's Studio

On today's podcast I'm talking to my friend, Nathalie Kalbach about her new art studio and her obsession with architecture and the history of the places she's lived. If you do not see the podcast player above, please click on this link. You can listen to a podcast anywhere and at any time. It is a recording that is available to you whenever you'd like to listen. If you'd like to download it to your iTunes library, click here. You can also pause and rewind or fast forward as you desire. I like to listen to podcasts while I'm making... Read more →

Starting Something New

Do you ever get a bug in your bonnet? A few days ago I decided that I need to draw a huge face. I don't know where the impulse came from or why it came at that moment, but it was an all consuming feeling and so I slapped up a big piece of tar paper and got to work. I love this giant face. It's sitting on my painting wall staring at me right now. I know that I want to paint it, but I can't quite figure out the colors/the style. I'm going to think about it for... Read more →