Balzer Designs

Art Journal Every Day: Developing a Daily Art Habit

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. You can find new Art Journal Every Day posts here on the blog... Read more →

Reduction Printing

If you've ever wondered what goes into creating an online class, know that there are tons of videos and projects that never make it to the classroom. I've been working on a #CarveDecember class since 2019 (it's going to be packed with stamp carving/printing/design info). This week, I decided to tackle a lesson on reduction printing, which really should be its own class. Yesterday, I made an irrevocable process mistake and only realized it part way through filming the lesson. Alas. No matter, I've started a new lesson. And it's going to be GREAT. But in the meantime, I thought... Read more →

Super Easy Watercolor Masking

I stumbled across a fabulous YouTube video last week. It's by a woman named CeeCee: Her style is not necessarily my style, but I loved her easy watercolor masking with washi tape. A very simple idea with seriously cool results. And so, I gave it a try myself. Rather than cards, I made small works of abstract art. First some very simple brush strokes: This is probably the most minimalistic artwork I've ever made. And I like it. And now, some more dense pieces: I love how these turned out! The big thing that I hope you take away from... Read more →

ScanNCut: Curving Text

Several months ago, I created a video all about how to curve text in CanvasWorkspace for Mac. You may remember it. After I posted that video, I got one question over and over again: But how do I make the text on the bottom face the other way? Good news! It's easy to do and I show you exactly how to do it in this video: Here's the original project, where the date is upside down: And here is some text using the technique I share in today's video: You can see that all the text is "right-side-up." One quick... Read more →

Design Boot Camp - Evening Section Added!

Design Boot Camp -- my 5-week live online class -- sold out last week. But I'm delighted to share that due to popular demand, I am opening an evening section of the class. You can read all about the class and sign up HERE. You can also watch the half-hour webinar I did about whether or not the class is a good fit for you: Design Boot Camp Informational Webinar from Julie Balzer on Vimeo. Here's a peek at a few of the pieces I did several years ago, when I was putting myself through the design boot camp process.... Read more →

Art Journal Every Day: Stencil Stencil Stencil

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. You can find new Art Journal Every Day posts here on the blog... Read more →

Adventures in Arting Podcast: Creativity & The Burnt Cookie

The photos were missing in yesterday's post, but I've fixed the problem. You can see them HERE. ---- Mom and I have an argument on this episode -- like a talking over each other and accusing the other of being wrong argument. 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 you'd like... Read more →

Coming Friday: New Online Class (+ Live Online Class)

Hooray! I'm just wrapping up the filming and editing of my epic online class all about designing and cutting custom stencils with a ScanNCut. I filmed the final video yesterday afternoon and I'm planning to have the online classroom all spiffed up and ready for students on Friday. This class is epic because it has taken me the entirety of the pandemic to film and edit it. I recorded every tutorial twice -- once on a ScanNCut 2 and once on a ScanNCut DX. Hopefully this will allow all ScanNCut users to easily understand the lessons and translate them to... Read more →

A New Mixed Media Collage

If you've been following this blog for a while, you know that my interests are far and wide when it comes to art making. I tend to create in phases or bursts or binges or whatever you call it. At the moment, I'm in a mixed media collage phase. That's the thing that's holding my attention at the moment, and so here is a new one. This piece is 8x8. It's a long way from where it started. Take a peek at this fast forward video of the process: If you're a member, you can see the real time version... Read more →

Gelatin Printing for Non-Artists

Last week I had the great pleasure of teaching a group of teachers how to gelatin print via Zoom. It was a group bonding experience set up for them by their principal. Unlike when I teach in-person, I can't share photos of what they made because we weren't in the same room. However, I can share what I made as demos during class. To make class manageable for people who don't normally make art, we limited supplies to just 5 basic colors of paint, a 5x7 gelatin plate, paper, scissors, and a brayer. You can watch this video flip through... Read more →