Balzer Designs

Art Journal Every Day: Two New Junque Journals

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! As I mentioned on Monday, I made two new Junque Journals thanks to... Read more →

Interlocking Stamps

I'm continuing to put together projects for Scrapbook Soup. I carved up two new interlocking stamp sets (chevron and triangle) and paired them with an old favorite set (circles). If you can't tell from the photo, interlocking stamps are stamps that fit together. These are really simple ones. In the past I've done some fancy ones like this: I combined the prints from my little two-part interlocking stamps with one of my favorite stamps I carved during #CarveDecember... ...in order to create this scrapbook page: The heart detail is one of my favorite parts. I cut the heart shapes from... Read more →

Embossed Metal Tape Notebook Cover

I carry a notebook in my purse. It's useful for drawing, writing down notes, or simply keeping myself entertained. I like to decorate my notebooks -- why not carry some art with you? Usually I simply doodle or paint on them. Today, I decided to go for **fabulous** and decorated my new notebook with embossed metal tape. It's easy and the results are fab! Watch the video for the how-to: Moleskine - Extra Small Craft Foam Adhesive Backed Foil Sheets 4.25x5.5 6x6 Striped Flower Circle Orange Stick Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue Golden Gel Medium Fiskars Amplify Scissors Perfect Pearls... Read more →

A Few Scrapbook Soup TV Projects

As you know I host a TV show on PBS called, "Scrapbook Soup." As the name suggests, the core of the show is scrapbooking, but we do a lot of off-the-page projects too -- home decor, greeting cards, even some art journaling! As always, the focus is on techniques that can be applied to any kind of art-making. We are filming our next season in May and so I'm busily working on projects! Today I thought I'd share a few with you. Over the next few weeks, I'm sure you'll see a lot more of them! I made these cute... Read more →

Make Your Own Junque Journal at The Ink Pad

At the end of March I taught a one-day version of my "Make Your Own Junque Journal" class at The Ink Pad here in NYC. It was my first time trying to teach this class in one-day. I made some changes and it all worked out (i.e. people left with beautiful hand made journals) but it definitely felt like a power-packed day of making! It's always fun to get together with other people who like art and make stuff together! I had a really good time and it motivated me to make some more journals of my own. On Friday... Read more →

Art Journal Every Day: February into March

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! Today I've got some daily pages to share with you. My art journal... Read more →

How to Leave a Comment

I've gotten a lot of questions lately about how to leave a comment on my blog. In this quick tutorial I show you how to leave a comment if you subscribe to the blog via e-mail and how to leave a comment if you're simply viewing the blog on the web. I hope it's helpful to you. If you've never left a comment and you'd like to try, I suggest trying to leave a comment on this post! Just say "hi" and you'll know that you can easily do it in the future! Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

Sun Printing with Your Stencils

Back in 2011 I attempted sun printing for the first time. I wrote all about it here. It remains one of my favorite easy and magical experiences. Simply put, you paint your fabric, slap down some stencils, come back an hour later, and you have printed fabric! Magic! I made a video all about it: Balzer Bits are perfect for sun printing because you don't have to deal with any of the hard edges of the square stencils. Spray Bottle for Water Blick Paintbrushes - incl. Flat Foot Glad Small Trash Bags Masonite Sketch Board PFD Muslin Pebeo Seta Color... Read more →

Art Tip: Sand Your Chipped Bone Folder

Several months ago I posted a tutorial video for creating an Explosion Card. In that video, I mentioned that I had broken the tip of my bone folder and asked you to ignore how it looked. Nan Robkin left the following comment on that post: BTW, if that folder is really bone, you can reshape the tip with sandpaper. Just sayin'! Oh. My. God. What a stroke of genius! I quickly got out my sandpaper and gave it a try. And you know what?! It worked beautifully. Unfortunately, I neglected to take a "before" photo, but I did pull a... Read more →

Jewelry Roll

My Mom recently mentioned that the jewelry roll she uses for her jewelry when she travels was dying. She asked if I could make her a new one. I took a peek at the one she had and I drew up a sketch. I wasn't sure how to put in the zippers, so I did a little research and found a great tutorial for putting in a zipper pocket. It was much easier than I thought, but I really need a zipper foot for my sewing machine! (I know I keep saying that. Some day I'll buy one!) Nevertheless, once... Read more →