A number of people sent me e-mail and left comments asking how I did the photo collages from last Monday's post. I'm sad to tell you that it's not an app or a plug-and-play program, it's Photoshop. And it took me about three hours to put together that post. I got some shocked e-mails back when I revealed that detail. I think sometimes people are surprised by how much time I spend working on this blog. As you can imagine, to post quality original content five-days-a-week takes a lot of time and dedication. That said, I enjoy doing it, and... 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 head back to NYC this morning and I'm looking forward to having all my "stuff" to... Read more →

It's stencil hop time, baby! I present to you four fantastically talented women: Michell LaPoint Rydell: Michelle runs the challenge blog "Scrapping the Music." Her colorful art journal pages and scrapbook pages are incredibly inspiring to me. Jenn Mason: Jenn is the editor of Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine. She is also the author of six books including Pockets, Pull-Outs, and Hiding Places and The Cardmaker's Workbook. Be sure to also check out her DVD Mixed Media Collage: Working in Layers. Valerie Mangan: My favorite guest post that has ever appeared on this blog is Valerie's post "Cookie Crafts for the... Read more →

I'm here today to ask for your help. I now have forty-five stencil designs with The Crafter's Workshop and more products are on the way. (Hooray!) People are always e-mailing me and asking me for ideas and inspiration and well, I can only get so much done in a day. However I also get a number of e-mails, tweets, and facebook links from people sharing their beautiful artwork made with Balzer Designs products. And I LOVE seeing them! And this made me think. Maybe we could all get together and provide some inspiration? A while back I started a Balzer... Read more →

Today is the third Second Floor challenge! Are you ready to take it to the second floor? The challenge this time around is to create something inspired by truth. Whatever that means to you or however it inspires you. The prompt is simply meant to get you started. The level of challenge you aim for is entirely internal and up to you. Click here to see what Nat did. As for me, I started with a small monoprint... ...and then worked my way around to this image: Hmmmmmm...that's pretty unreadable. So I decided to work on a bigger plate and... Read more →

Here's what I've been up to for the past week: Friday/Saturday/Sunday: On Friday I picked up my bright green rental car, loaded it full of art supplies and projects, and headed towards Pennsylvania. I stopped in Pennsylvania for two wonderful nights with one of my oldest friends (we've known each other since first grade) and her wonderful family. Among the highlights of my visit: a jazz concert, helping one of the boys with a sewing project, and just soaking up the warm family atmosphere. On Sunday I arrived in Cleveland, checked into my hotel, unpacked my suitcase, and girded my... 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! Today I thought I'd share a bit of a different-for-me kind of art journal. As you might... Read more →

Are you psyched for another stencil hop? This week I've got three paper crafting rock stars for you to visit: Traci Bunkers: Traci is an art journaler extraordinaire and author of The Art Journal Workshop and Print and Stamp Lab. I stumbled onto her blog last year and I've been hooked ever since. Jenny Doh: Jenny is the former editor-in-chief of Somerset Studio Magazine. She is a fitness enthusiast, avid arter, and active tweeter. You may recall that I taught at her wonderful studio space in California earlier this year. Ronda Palazzari: Ronda is the author of the book Art... Read more →

As I mentioned yesterday I'm in Cleveland this week filming the upcoming season of Scrapbook Soup TV. Here are some more of the projects that I'm demoing on the show: Watercolor Scrapbook Page... Art Journal Style Scrapbook Page... And here are two more spreads that I'm going to share on air (but not demonstrate) that use the same supplies: Distressed Wood Layout... And one more project that I'm going to show off on air, but not give any instructions for: Instructions for will be up on The Scrapbook Soup TV website as soon as the show starts airing! I'm exhausted... Read more →

I'm in Cleveland this week filming the upcoming season of Scrapbook Soup TV. If you want to see what I'm up to while I'm away, I'll be posting pictures to Twitter and Facebook and instagramming! Today I thought I'd share some images of just a few of the projects that I'm demoing on the show: Photo Banners... Doodling and Lettering... A Tiny Accordion Album... Transformed Store-Bought Cards... In a few months you'll be able to tune into your local PBS station and/or the Scrapbook Soup TV website to see the instructions for all of these projects and so many more!... Read more →