Balzer Designs

Instagram Inspires

I don't know about you, but I'm totally instagram addicted!  Here are a few things that inspired me lately:

This is Alisa Burke's gorgeous studio!  Can we talk about life goals?!  I love the light, the color, the pattern, the whole thing!

Instagram itself has a very interesting instagram account.  They often highlight art and artists (thank you!), such as the cool paper cuts you see in the photo by Gio Pastori.

After all these years, I still love scrapbook pages.  I follow several scrapbookers and scrapbooking companies on instagram.  Pink Fresh Studio is an embellishment club with a quirky and feminine look that I like a lot.

I find a lot of quotes for my art journal and Project Life album on instagram.  Effyourbeautystandards always posts lots of body positive quotes and images.

There are so many talented people out there with so many great ideas!  When I saw Rae Missigman's terrific idea to corral punchinella with binder clips, my brain exploded into happiness.

As you know, I love looking at art!  Love, love, love.  I have discovered so many cool artists through instagram, such as Michela Sorrentino.  Her artwork reminds me of Squeak Carnwath, one of my all time favorite artists ever.  (She does not have an instagram account, sadly.)

Finally, here is some student work that Tracy Verdugo posted.  Having taken Paint Mojo with Tracy, I love seeing what other students are creating using those same techniques!  plus, that face just speaks to me.  I love interesting faces!  Pretty faces are just pretty.  I need to work on making mine even more interesting!

ETA: Linda Chaves (the face artist) has an instagram account!

Who or what inspires you on instagram?

Thanks for stopping by!

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P.S. You can find me on instagram as BalzerDesigns.

Fiskars Stamp Press

Hey you guys!  Thanks to your enthusiasm last week, I decided to go for this new video series on exploring (new to me) products!

The Fiskars Stamp Press has been around for a while, but I finally decided to buy one.  

Okay, okay, I bought two.  One in each size (large and small).  Because that's how I roll with art supplies.  One is never enough and Amazon Prime is dangerous!

Watch the video to see my explorations:

Have you tried out the Fiskars Stamp Press?  What do you think of it?  Any tips or tricks to share?

Thanks for stopping by!

Some New Garbage Stamps

From time to time I grab some of the garbage rubber -- i.e. rubber cut away during the carving process -- and create "garbage stamps."  It doesn't mean that the stamps *are* garbage, rather they have been created *from* garbage!

Here's my most recent batch:

The process is pretty much the same for each of the stamps: I take a scrap piece of rubber and trim it down to a shape or size I want to work with and then I attack it with my carving tools!

All in all, this entire collection of itty bitty stamps took me about two-and-a-half hours to carve and print.  Pretty amazing!  I know I say this every single time, but stamp carving is easier than you think!

Stamp Carving 101 Online Class Carve Stamp Play Linoleum Cutter Ruler Speedy Carve Avery Shipping Tags 2.75 x 1.375 Avery Tag 6.25 x 3.125 Archival Ink Pad: Black Permapaque Ballpoint Pen Glass Mat Grid Stamp Box Cutter

InLinkz.com

Thanks for stopping by!

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P.S. The winner of the Round Gelli Plates is...

Congratulations, Diana!  E-mail me with your mailing address and I'll pass it on to the good folks at Gelli Arts!

The Weekend Five: It Must be Summer

The official start of Summer isn't for a week or two, but it sure does feel like Summer around here.  I've got the A/C cranked and I'm seeing all the signs...

Every other block is under construction.  I don't know about how it is where you live, but NYC turns into one giant construction zone in the Summer.

Flip flops are the only shoes I reach for, which means it's pedicure season!  I'm sure there are people who get pedicures year round.  I'm pretty much a Summer only kind of girl.

I'm seeking shade.  In the blustery Winter months I'm always going for sunshine.  Right now that sounds really hot and uncomfortable.  Shade is my friend in the Summer.  Thank goodness NYC has lots of trees and shade!

Summer and water kind of go together don't they?  It's always windier down by the water (hello, hair), but you crave that breeze in the Summer.  In the Winter it's a misery.

All I want is fresh food!  I've noticed my kitchen habits change as the weather warms.  I recently bought a Zoodle Slicer and I can tell that zucchini is going to be the food of the season for me!  Everything that looks like pasta on that plate is actually zucchini "noodles" created with my Zoodle Slicer!  Perfect for low-carb, gluten-free, Paleo, or someone like me, counting Points on Weight Watchers!  Yum!

Does it look like an early arrival for Summer where you are?

Thanks for stopping by!

Art Journal Every Day: The End of a Journal

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!

It's always a little bit sad when I get to the end of an art journal.  That journal has been my friend and companion for many months.  On the other hand, it's also super exciting when a journal starts getting towards the end because I know that means I get to start a new art journal!  

Here are the last two pages of this particular journal:

This face is marker over a Gelli print.

I probably could have fit an extra entry on this side of her neck, but instead I decided to simply fill the space with a simple repeating pattern.

Stamped and stenciled tags will always find a home in my art journal!

My last few journals have almost all ended up with a glue page -- i.e. a page where all sorts of junque is simply glued to the page.  I think it's because when I get to the end of a journal and I'm ready to move on and so I simply clean up my desk by gluing all those pretty bits into my art journal.

Archival Ink Pad: Black Palette Paper ATG Cosmetic Sponges Liquitex Basics Acrylic Paint Gelli Plate Speedball Soft Rubber Brayer Sharpie Waterbased Paint Marker Permapaque Dylusions Spray Ink - set of 12 Days of the Week Stamps Balzer Designs Numbers Stamps Tim Holtz Acrylic Grid Blocks Avery Shipping Tags 2.75 x 1.375 Avery Tag 6.25 x 3.125 Balzer Bits: Rose Balzer Bits: Tiny Rings Balzer Bits: Burlap Balzer Bits: Celtic Heart 6x6 Striped Flower Circle 12x12 Swirly Garden Stencil 6x6 Chevron Arrows Stencil Gold Glitter Tape black & white washi tape black and white washi Artist Tape Little B Tape: Golden Black Honeycomb black & white washi tape

InLinkz.com

Finally, here's a peek at all of the pages in this journal:

 Here is this week's linky list:

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks for stopping by!