On Saturday I taught my "Collage Faces" class to a great group of ladies. We had lots of fun cutting and pasting funny faces! Isn't it amazing how a group of people can walk into a room, receive the same instruction, and walk about with such different final projects?! I love that. Art making is such a personal expression of who you are and where you are at that moment! Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

In case you don't know, I host a TV show called, Make It Artsy. It's one of the last crafty TV shows around and you can watch it on PBS, online at makeitartsy.com, or purchase DVDs of each season. Today I wanted to share a few recent segments I thought you'd enjoy: You may recall that I was thrilled when I tried out Marabu's Easy Marble for the first time. Here is a segment I did all about it: How about making earrings from old cookie tins? Watch this segment with Candie Cooper for the step-by-step how-to: And finally, my... Read more →

It's no secret that I love my gelatin plate. Looooooove it. My art life really hasn't been the same since it came into my life. Lately I've been experimenting with how to create fully composed works of art on the plate. No collage. Just layers and layers of printing. The good news is that I feel like I've finally mastered the technique. Here are two prints that I made and L-O-V-E! I call this one "City Moon": I call this one "Mountains": I used my Balzer Designs Dash Triangle... ...and Plaid Fringe stencils. I really love the way these two... Read more →

I'm super excited about today's podcast because it's one of our few repeat guests. Mom and I have been doing this podcast since 2011!!! And we've only ever had a few people loop back during that time. Today's guest is Jenn Mason, the former Editor-in-Chief of Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine. If you do not see the podcast player above, please click on this link. You can listen to a podcast anywhere and at any time. It is a recording that is available to you whenever you'd like to listen. If you'd like to download it to your iTunes library, click... Read more →

As you know, I normally do collage work with my own brightly colored hand painted papers. But, I decided to see what would happen if I used only found vintage papers. Here is the result: And a hyperlapse video of the process: View this post on Instagram I love using my hand painted papers to make art, but you don’t have to! Here’s a more neutral collage face made up of vintage found papers. 🙌 . . . #vintage #vintagepaper #ephemera #collage #collageart #cutandpaste #whatjuliemade #balzervideo #contemporaryart #iheartpaper #bookpages #portrait #whatjulietaught #julielikeseyes #craft #papercrafting #abmcrafty A post shared by Julie... Read more →

I am a member of the Cambridge Modern Quilt Guild. At our Guild Meeting on Sunday, one of the Guild Members taught us how to make a pincushion from eight hexagons. I used some leftover scraps that another Guild Member didn't want. It's not the most beautiful pin cushion, but I really enjoyed the process and I'd like to make another one in fabric I love. Maybe even some hand painted fabrics? Here are some things I liked about this project: This pin cushion uses up very little fabric and is perfect for leftover scraps you can't bear to throw... Read more →

YouTube has recently rolled out a new feature to some channels: membership. You can still subscribe to my channel for free, but now you can also buy a membership for $4.99/month. As a member, you'll receive access to a one-hour livestream each month. At the beginning of the livestream I will share an art technique or idea and then I'll spend the rest of the hour answering your questions. If you can't make it to a particular livestream, you can still watch the replay and/or you can leave your question in the private members-only area. I'm going to do my... Read more →

As you know, I'm taking a knitting class. I'm in the midst of making a hat: knit two/purl 2. I love the delicious fat ribs that I'm creating: I have reached the end of this skein of yarn, so I'm anxious to go to class and learn how to add on new yarn! Thanks for all of your knitting tips last week. I'm really enjoying the process and finding it a very portable craft. I've only had to rip work out 3-4 times so far! Not bad and making progress! Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

I recently made these gorgeous paper flower place cards with my ScanNCut: The flower, the leaves, and the "twigs" are all built-in designs from the ScanNCut DX225. I used one of the basic shapes in CanvasWorkspace to create the flag. I even used the ScanNCut to write the names on the tags! If you're interested in making a similar project, here are some resources: Two Videos on Making Flowers with ScanNCut: Two Videos on Drawing with ScanNCut: Thanks for stopping by! --- P.S. I am a paid spokesperson for the Brother ScanNCut. It is a machine that I love and... Read more →