Balzer Designs

A Year of Gelatin Printing: Stamps & Texture Plates

There's still plenty of time to join in on the gelatin printing party! "I love how you teach Julie.. simple, thorough, really suits my style of not measuring and winging it! Thanks!" -- Robin "I love this next step in my gelli printing. It’s actually OK to be free and play. I just paint over something that doesn’t strike my fancy instead of being discouraged. Who knew!?! Thanks!!!!!!" -- Jeanne Printing with acrylic paint and stamps and texture plates -- commercial and hand made -- is tons of fun. Making stamps and texture plates is also incredibly fun! And I'm... Read more →

3 New Stencils & 7 Gel Prints

Several months ago, during a monthly member livestream, someone asked me a question about stencil design. As part of my demo, I hand cut this teeny tiny stencil: While cleaning up my studio this week, I found it. And it inspired me to create three new stencil designs. Basically, I made a cleaned-up digital version of my original hand cut stencil and then played with it in Adobe Illustrator. Here are some gelatin prints I made using these stencils: Which one is your favorite? If you'd like to learn all of my gelatin printing secrets, check out my online gelatin... Read more →

The Adventures in Arting Podcast: Out of the Kitchen & Into the Studio with Edva Sims

On this episode of The Adventures in Arting Podcast, Mom and I chat with Edva Sims about her pottery business, finding your personal style, and the belief that things made by hand are important. 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 to listen. You can pause, stop, start, fast... Read more →

Art Journal Every Day: May 2020 into June 2020

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 →

Make Ugly Collage Paper

I feel like I see a lot of people making truly gorgeous collage fodder. It's just so lovely to look at. Not me. I make ugly fugly collage paper. Why? There are a lot of reasons to make ugly collage paper: ONE: It lowers the stakes around cutting into your collage fodder. Here is a piece of copy paper that I had no problem cutting up. You can see that the ugly piece of paper makes for beautiful little bits. I used two of them on this mixed media collage: TWO: You need contrast to make your work sing. If... Read more →

Why the Structure of Artwork Matters

This is a photo of the dining room of my house when we bought it: Looks great! Beautiful woodwork and I don't even mind the wallpaper. But six months later, this is what that same room looked like: Not because we wanted to move walls or change the layout. We had to take everything down to the studs because the structure of the house was no good. From plumbing to electrical to insulation to the foundation to the roof...the structure of this house needed to be repaired. It's easy to understand that structure matters in a house, right? No matter... Read more →

Fancy Pancakes aka "Pancake Art"

This past weekend I tried my hand at making fancy pancakes, aka "pancake art." I had some technical issues, but it was still fun to do. Take a peek: Here's what I learned: I used 2 tsps of cocoa powder to turn half of my pancake batter a darker color. This way I had two colors to work with. The flavor wasn't noticeable. I was surprised. I used a funnel to pour my pancake batter into squeeze bottles. Someone more talented than I can certainly skip the funnel, but I couldn't make it from bowl to bottle without it. My... Read more →

Art Parts Explained

"Art Parts" are the mise en place of art making. Having a stash of art parts makes the act of making finished art quick and easy. But art parts aren't simply painted pieces of paper. They're immediately usable "parts" that can be adhered in place. Watch the video for more: If you're interested in my Art Parts class this weekend, you can read all about it and sign up HERE. There are 3 spots left in class. Regardless of whether or not you sign up for class, I hope you'll consider building up your Art Parts stash. Piles of pretty... Read more →

100 Days of Art Botanical: Days 58 - 64

These mixed media collages are changing a bit now that I've left the art journal behind and I think that's a good thing. Evolution is an important part of being I did pop back into my art journal for day 62: And then back out again: Monthly Members can see the real-time process video of the piece above in the online classroom. I think I prefer the pieces without the white margins. What do you think? Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

ScanNCut: Temporary Tattoos You Design

I got a tattoo! I'm scared of needles and commitment, so the good news is that this one will wash right off. I have always loved temporary tattoos, but I don't always love wearing someone else's design. Well, did you know that you can buy printable temporary tattoo paper? Yes, you can! You simply design your tattoo and print the design onto the paper. Now, one of the important notes on using temporary tattoo paper is that you need to cut close to the edges of the design. So, I decided to use my ScanNCut to do just that! As... Read more →