Today I'm beginning a teaching marathon in Somerset, NJ at the CREATE Mixed Media Retreat. I know you can't all make it to my classes so, I thought I'd do a little bit of teaching and share one of my favorite tutorials from the Balzer Designs archives! It originally appeared January 15, 2010. Enjoy! I did a little project for Scor-It in October 2009. And I wanted to share it here as well! Sign up for their newsletter to get fun new projects delivered each and every month! In case you don't know what a Scor-It Board is, here's a... Read more →

I was delighted to be a guest on the Paperclipping Roundtable yesterday. We discussed design crutches, which I mentioned in this post a few weeks ago. While we were chatting, I was doodling on a piece of paper with a ballpoint pen. What could be better than discussing art making while making art? If you'd like to listen to the podcast, click here. Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

Hamburg is full of absolutely amazing street art. Lots of grafitti and posters and all sorts of cool stuff. Here's just a quick peek of what I saw: Please Note: This post contains a sexually explicit image. Please don't read any further if you might be offended. I find street art both provacative and inspiring. Do you? Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

Summer CHA is fast approaching and, as a result, I am making samples like a crazy person. I have twelve new 12x12 and 6x6 stencil designs and ten new designs for a totally new kind of stencil! The new stencils are called "Balzer Bits" and I'll be sure to share all about them very soon! In the meantime, here's a quick sneaky peek at what's coming your way: Lots to look forward to! See anything you like? Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, there is a short introduction here. All of the previous posts can be found archived here. 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! My sweet friend Nathalie turned 40 while I was visiting her. And I... Read more →

While in Hamburg, Nat and I stumbled upon a photo booth right by her house. We decided to take a photo booth strip every single day of the trip. When I got home, I grabbed an empty frame and stuck all six of the strips inside. I love the way it looks and I giggle every time I look over at them. Quick and easy wall art and a wonderful memory -- can you ask for anything more? What have you done to display your photo booth strips? Read more →

I recently received the following photo from Judy: She writes: "SO excited to see your stencils in the window of my tiny little town art store, Sebastopol California!!!!!" I am super excited myself! I still take photos every single time I see them hanging in a store. It's so surreal and so awesome. I find it very hard to express just how geeked out I am to see product with my name on it. It still feels like a dream to me. A dream come true! :) Have you seen Balzer Designs stencils or stamps in your local art shop?... Read more →

I'm heading back to NYC today. It has been an amazing and thrilling week in Hamburg. I'll give you the full report once I settle back into life stateside. In the meantime, here's the short version: There has been a lot of eating... ...sitting outside... ...art making... ...laughter... ...photo boothing... ...late nights on the roof... ...sightseeing... ...graffiti peeping... ...plus museums, exploring, talking, sharing, and generally having a totally awesome time! Can't wait to share more pics and stories! Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

Today I'm sharing a post from February 15, 2012. I think it's a great post full of lots of good information. I hope you enjoy it! So I sat down and decided that I'd put together a quick scrapbook page and snap some photos along the way so that you could take a peek into my process. I started with this piece of cardstock. I had previously drawn and painted the leaves on it for another project and then abandoned that project. I saved it thinking I would use it at some point. And today is that point. I took... Read more →

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, there is a short introduction here. All of the previous posts can be found archived here. 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 love quotes. I know some people think they're cheesy, but I love... Read more →