Today is my final round-up ost. I'm picking my favorite Balzer Designs tutorials of 2014! I hope they're your favorites too! You can find a link to the original tutorial underneath the image. DIY Boot Cuffs Tutorial Why I love it: I adore projects that mix crafty skills with practical use. I wear the boot cuffs I made all the time and I love being able to say that I made them! Embossed Foam & Distress Paint Tutorial Why I love it: This was a kind of crafty alchemy. People never guess that craft foam can look like this! I... Read more →

Here's a round-up of my favorite other projects from the past year: Why I love it: This is a big piece and I really enjoyed working larger than usual. I was quite pleased with how it turned out. It's a piece that looks good from afar, but is even cooler up close! Why I love it: Abstract is tough for me, but this one turned out really well! It was a labored process and so perhaps that's why it appeals so much to me! Why I love it: I use these two paper clay bowls I made every single day.... Read more →

Here's a round-up of my favorite papercrafting projects from 2014! Why I love it: I don't scrapbook as often as I used to and I find it a bit of a struggle these days when I sit down to create a scrapbook page. I'm out of practice and I can feel it. However this page came together quickly and easily and magically! Why I love it: I find drawing intimidating. I think most people do. Looking at the roller coaster in front of me I thought: there's no way that I can draw that. What a delight to discover that... Read more →

Hello! I hope your Christmas was happy and full of cheer! To wrap up 2014 I'm going to be posting a bunch of favorite projects from the year. Today I'm starting with Art Journal pages. (No linky list for Art Journal Every Day this week, but it will be back next week!) Why I love it: Love the way the hair and journaling work together and I love the face -- bold, ethnic, and unafraid. Why I love it: Love the lettering (stamped, btw, with a hand carved alphabet set), love the face, and love the patterning and hatching. Why... Read more →

Wishing a very happy Christmas to all of you who celebrate the holiday! Thank you for reading my blog and letting me share my artful life with you! I hope Santa brought you lots of art supplies for Christmas! Read more →

Today I'm sharing two short videos to help you get the most out of your ScanNCut. First up, I get asked lots of questions about how best to save your cutting mats. Getting the stick back on your mat is really easy, just be sure to use alcohol and fragrance free baby wipes! Watch the video for more on mat maintenance: Next up, cutting out your stamped images with the Direct Cut function: Here's a peek at the two stamped images we cut out, glued into my art journal: Quick and easy! Just remember that the scanner inside the ScanNCut... Read more →

I am super stoked to be guest posting on Julie's blog! Her blog is so chock full of inspiration and her stencils rock! One thing I love to do with my stencils is outlining/doodling. You can use just about any pen you want. Sharpies, copics, markers, ballpoint pens; and you can experiment with different surfaces and materials to see what works and what you like. For this post I used my Sharpie fine point black pen, my white gelly roll pen, and my white paint marker. My first example is a photo border on a scrapbook layout. I had added... Read more →

Happy Monday everyone! #CarveDecember is going strong! Here's what I carved up for days 11-21: I did a little instagram video for this one, using a custom colored ink pad: A quick video of today's #CarveDecember stamp being printed in color. #stampcarving #carvestampplay #customcoloredinkpad #hyperlapse #flowers #whatjuliemade ETA: I share how to make a custom ink pad in my book, Carve Stamp Play. 👍 A video posted by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer (@balzerdesigns) on Dec 12, 2014 at 2:09pm PST If you can't see the video, click HERE. I was traveling when I carved the next few stamps. Here's a peek... Read more →

I was lucky enough to go to a Patriots home game last weekend. In case you didn't know, I grew up in Massachusetts and so the Pats are my favorite team! Gillette is a really nice stadium and we had a great time at the game. Now, while I'm a fan, my Mom is a *super* fan. She was so excited about going to the game that she couldn't sleep the night before and was up and bright & early as if it were Christmas morning. She is super knowledgeable about football and watches every game with serious intensity. We... 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! Happy Friday! Every good journal must come to an end. Today I'm sharing... Read more →