I was recently catching up on some blog reading and went on a big old blog reading binge. One of the benefits of letting so many posts from my favorite bloggers pile up is that I am able to notice trends. One big trend is that everyone in the scrapbooking world seems to be using a Silhouette Cameo to cut cool titles and embellishments. What is a Silhouette Cameo? It's an electronic die cutter that allows you to cut virtually any design you can imagine. And that's awesome! But what's a girl to do without a Silhouette? Well, grab her... Read more →

If you want to catch an in-person class with me, you've got three chances! I'm teaching three classes at CREATE: New Jersey in July 2012. Carving Stamps for Patterning (6-Hour) Date: Friday, July 20 Time: 9:00am-4:00pm Price: $149.00 Materials Fee: $5.00 This class is all about carving patterning stamps, ones that can be used over and over to create beautiful repeating patterns! Along with the basics of transferring images, carving stamps, and printing, you will learn tips and tricks for carving stamps that create complex patterns depending on how you print them. Gain loads of fresh new ideas for methods... Read more →

Last year I did this canvas: It's kind of a hot mess. Last weekend I decided to paint it over and try again. This is as far as I got last weekend. I knew something was off, but I wasn't quite sure what. Then last Tuesday night I decided it was the jaw. And the shoulder was too far away. And I didn't like the mouth. And the right eye was weird and droopy. And she was just creepy and without a story. So I set out on another re-do. The first step was cleaning up all my mistakes -... Read more →

I forgot to post the winner of the "Happy Little Moments" class giveaway! Congratulations to: Please e-mail me (balzerdesigns AT gmail DOT com) and I'll pass your info on to Studio Calico! And because it seems wrong to post a blog post without a photo of any kind, here are some images of what I've been up to for the past few days: Hope you're having a lovely weekend! Read more →

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, all the posts can be found here. Please read this post first. There is a flickr group for sharing right 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 and you've blogged about it, or put it on flickr, please leave a link in the linky list at the end of this post. Thanks! I've got some lovely guests lined up to share their art journaling process through a fast forward... Read more →

You'll recall that I mentioned I had filmed two DVDs while I was in Colorado last year. One of them is here and ready for you to buy! It's called "All About Faces." And yes, you're going to love it! In the video I share a number of different ways for creating fun faces, along with the basics of how to create a pleasing face. Here's a video preview: You can buy it three different ways: DVD Download HD Download And of course my DVD "Collage Fast & Furious" is still available as well. If you have watched my videos... Read more →

I wanted to share how this painting... ...came together. I took a bunch of photos with my iPhone along the way. I've put a line or two of commentary underneath each photo. First, I sketched in the basic figure. Next, I added in some shading to refine the image. I kept the paint a very light color so that I could cover up my mistakes during this "sketch" period. In this image you can see that I've brought in lots of different shades of brown to give her some form. Color is beginning to be added! Her eyes are looking... Read more →

I mentioned on my blog a week or so ago that I'm contributing a project to Maggie Holmes' Happy Little Moments online class at Studio Calico. (Class starts on March 1.) I'm allowed to share some peeks, but I won't be able to share the full project, even after the class is over. So if you want to see my book in its entirety, you have to be a member of the class. You can buy the class and the kit separately. You don't need the kit to complete the project unless you want to do it exactly as Maggie... Read more →

I love going to the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art). It's about three blocks from my apartment and I try to get there every week. I don't go for a long time each time. Usually just about an hour. I poke around and look at the things that are grabbing my attention on that particular day. I often only visit a single exhibit. I just need one really exciting spark and I consider the visit an enormous success! On this particular day I paid a visit to one of my favorite paintings. Portrait of Joseph Roulin by Vincent VanGogh. I've... Read more →

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, all the posts can be found here. Please read this post first. There is a flickr group for sharing right 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 and you've blogged about it, or put it on flickr, please leave a link in the linky list at the end of this post. Thanks! I have to confess that I have been very unfocused lately. I can't seem to finish anything.... Read more →