Balzer Designs

The Adventures in Arting Podcast: Tina Walker is Resetting Herself

On this episode of The Adventures in Arting Podcast, Mom and I chat with Tina Walker about her obsession with details, antiques, instigating art challenges, and how she uses art-making to reset herself. I really enjoyed our conversation and I think you will too! Give it a listen: If you do not see the podcast player above, please click on this link. On the off chance that you've never listened to a podcast or don't get why anybody would want to, here are some facts: (1) Podcasts are convenient. It's a recording that is available to you whenever and wherever... Read more →

Two Replays: May Book Club & Social Media Panel

Grab a cup of coffee (and maybe a mindless art project). Today I'm sharing two replays of recent live events. First up is May's Book Club, which was hosted on Facebook Live: This month's book was Maria Shell's book, Improv Patchwork. In the Book Club video, we talk a lot about value and I share several tools for ascertaining value, such as a gray scale value tool and red & green value tools. If you watch the video replay on my Facebook page, you can read the comments in real time as they were posted during the live event. Press... Read more →

Art Journal Every Day: Tags, Tags, Tags!

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, the concept is simple: It's a commitment to take ten minutes each day to do something in your art journal. No need to finish anything or even like it. It's about making the time to nourish your creativity every day! If you have the time to flip through your phone, you have the time to Art Journal Every Day. If you'd like to share what you make, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. I love to use tags for experimenting and exploring. They're hardy and they're... Read more →

Can You Spot the Differences?

I painted this flower doodle almost a decade ago: Several weeks ago a client asked for a high resolution scan of it. Unfortunately I had long ago cut it up and used it as collage fodder. (Monthly Members will recall the drama of this situation from April's personal vlog.) So, I did my best to recreate it. On the right is a low-res photo of the original. On the left is the redo. There are some differences. But I did my best to capture the essence of the original. It was really interesting/frightening to try to recreate the original pattern.... Read more →

Watercolor Flower Cookies for Mother's Day

Hey guys! I made some more watercolor-style cookies! I put together a short video about the process: Supplies: sugar cookies - I used this recipe. royal icing - I used this recipe. shallow bowl gel food coloring lemon extract - Your cookies will taste like the flavor of your extract so use a flavor you like (almond extract, peppermint extract, coffee extract, etc.). edible marker palette for your "paints" - I used a mini muffin tin. food dedicated paintbrushes - Any paintbrush that has never touched paint is okay. piping bag pick I am not an expert cookie maker/decorator but... Read more →

100 Days of Art Botanical: Days 82 - 94

We are deep into the home stretch of the 100 Day Project. I don't think I'm quite ready to talk about all the things I learned. But I can see that I'm getting better at making this particular style of mixed media collage and I find that extremely exciting. Take a peek and let me know what you think: I'm excited to keep exploring this type of mixed media collage. In the remaining few days (and past the end of the 100 days) I'd like to work on the following things: Using more uncomfortable-for-me colors. Pushing at my composition comfort... Read more →

Easy Watercolor Prints with Foam Stamps (Art Foamies by Balzer Designs)

Today I've got a quick and easy step-by-step tutorial for you. It's all about creating beautiful watercolor prints using foam stamps. As I shared in Friday's weekly newsletter, I have two new Art Foamies designs. There's a 3-inch and a 6-inch version of each. These are the 3-inch ones: In the video I'm using one of the larger 6-inch stamps: Aren't these prints gorgeous? Links: Art Foamies Inktense Blocks Live Online Tag Class This is a quick and easy technique and I love that Inktense blocks are permanent when dry! It's the look of watercolor but it allows me to... Read more →

ScanNCut: Vinyl Auto Blade Kit

The ScanNCut Vinyl Auto Blade Kit is a great buy if you own a ScanNCut DX machine and like to cut vinyl -- adhesive-backed or heat-transfer. You can “just” use the Vinyl Auto Blade for cutting your intricate vinyl designs or you can take advantage of a number of exciting new possibilities that come with kit activation: New Vinyl Designs – There are 21 detailed designs for you to resize as you wish and cut out with your ScanNCut machine. With the Vinyl Auto Blade kit you can choose to make a design as small as a piece of paper... Read more →

Adventures in Arting Podcast: Tania Ahmed

On this episode of The Adventures in Arting Podcast, Mom and I chat with Tania Ahmed about her life in the craft industry. Tania is smart and insightful and totally down-to-earth. I really enjoyed my conversation with her and related to so much that she said and I think you will too. There was so much to talk about. Give it a listen: If you do not see the podcast player above, please click on this link. On the off chance that you've never listened to a podcast or don't get why anybody would want to, here are some facts:... Read more →

Around Here: April 2021

Hello, friends! Here is a little bit about life around here right now: What are you working on? I am putting together a new online class (planning to release it this summer) all about developing a sketchbook habit. The format is going to be 30 short videos over 30 days. I've filmed the first few videos already and I'm really excited about it! Let me know your sketchbook questions in the comments section! What are you loving? This week we moved this bench/chair hybrid from the upstairs foyer to the downstairs front hall. I wasn't sure about the scale (it's... Read more →