Balzer Designs

Around Here: July 2017

Hello out there! Here's a little bit about life right now: This is me right now: My current art obsession is: Watercolor. I'm currently deep into a QoR Watercolor love affair. My current life obsession is: Giant earrings. I want them all! The bigger and gaudier, the happier I am! I'm loving: This quote that Jackie Kelly shared with me on Facebook. I'm hating: All the negativity. I feel like there's too much negative energy being put out there. I'm determined to be a point of positivity. These are two thoughts I recently shared in my instagram stories. My home... Read more →

Art Journal Every Day: End of November 2016

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. 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, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. Even if you're not on social media, you can see everything (from twitter, pinterest, instagram, and facebook) that uses that hashtag here. I work on my art journal pages in bits and pieces. It is... Read more →

BEHIND THE SCENES OF MAKE IT ARTSY: SEASON THREE (Part 2)

More guests! More fun! More art making instruction on Make It Artsy. You can watch it online for free, on your TV on your local PBS or Create channel, or purchase a set of season DVDs. Take a peek at more of what went on when we filmed season 3 of the show. Cheryl Boglioli shared some unbelievably cool sculpture-making techniques. Debbi Simon shared easy encaustic techniques with stencils and lots of ideas for casting! Rebekah Meier brought her shabby chic mixed media style to set! Sandra Evertson shared how to make some super cool assemblage pieces! And gifted me... Read more →

BEHIND THE SCENES OF MAKE IT ARTSY: SEASON THREE (Part 1)

I recently filmed the third season of my PBS TV show: Make It Artsy. You can watch it online for free, on your TV on your local PBS or Create channel or purchase a set of season DVDs. Over the next few days I'm going to share a look at some of the amazing guests and projects from the show! First up, Candie Cooper! She shared a ton of ideas for jewelry making and cool home decor and embellishment projects! As you can see, we have a lot of fun on set while we get the work done. :) These... Read more →

ScanNCut: Wood Inlay Table

You guys, I am insanely proud of this table: I bought it at a thrift store for a few dollars. The top was kind of banged up and had staples all over it. So, I used my ScanNCut to cut two colors of wood veneer to refinish the table with the look of inlay wood. Watch the video for the how-to: I love the way it turned out! Four coats of varnish darkened up the wood quite a bit and made the shine of the top match the shine of the rest of the table. You can download the file... Read more →

Art Journal Every Day: Pages from November 2016

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. 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, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. Even if you're not on social media, you can see everything (from twitter, pinterest, instagram, and facebook) that uses that hashtag here. I'm super behind in sharing my daily art journal pages, but I think... Read more →

100 Day Project: Faces 87 - 100

I made it to 100. I made it kicking and screaming, but I made it. Some thoughts: I'm proud of myself. Really really proud of myself. There wasn't a single day that I let this project drop. For 100 consecutive days I challenged myself to make a face and film the process. In hotel rooms, on set, at home, during sick days, when I didn't want to, when I was out of ideas, at 11:30pm -- all of those days, I made it happen. I'm so glad it's over. I still love faces. I still love creating things. I still... Read more →

SFMoMA: Send Me

My Aunt, who lives in San Francisco, recently alerted me to the coolest thing ever! SFMoMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) has such a vast collection of art -- only 5% of the collection is ever on display -- that they decided to come up with a fun way for people to explore more of their collection. In essentials, you send a text to them and you receive an image of an artwork and some information about it in return. It's called the "Send Me Project." I sent a few texts, and here's what I got: "Send me love"... Read more →

Two Classes at The Ink Pad

This weekend I'm going to be teaching two classes at The Ink Pad in NYC. On Saturday we will be slinging paint, stamping, stenciling (I've got new stencils to share) and stitching up this super cute, super awesome pamphlet journal. It's the easiest journal ever and I will be sharing some super cool tips on creating flaps and unique pages! You can see more of the pamphlet art journal in this little flip through video: On Sunday I'm going to be teaching you how to draw. Seriously. And I did a quick sketchbook flip through video for you too: I... Read more →

What I'm Reading: July 2017

I loooooove art and I looooooooove books. Put them together and you have one of my favorite things: art books! Sometimes I'm more of a collector of them than a reader of them, but here's what is in my to-read pile: The Art of Paper Weaving by Anna Schepper and Lene Schepper This is a book that I borrowed from my local library (a great resource, by the way) and renewed twice and ultimately decided that I had to buy. Really unusual project and all from woven paper! It boggles my mind. Of course, I refuse to start where the... Read more →