Balzer Designs

Scrap Packs are Baaaaack!

Hey you guys! Great news! I finally restocked the scrap packs in my online shop. This is a pack of at least 30 hand painted scraps of paper. These are the papers I use to create collages and build my art journals! Painted papers may include a mixture of: deli paper, tags, watercolor paper, book pages, maps, cardstock, drawing paper, and more! Papers may be painted, doodled, stamped, stenciled, and/or marbled. Media used include: watercolor, acrylic paint, markers, stamping ink, oil pastels, and more! Scraps vary in size from 1.5"x2" to 8.5"x11" -- each pack is 100% unique. Shipping is... Read more →

Gelli Journal Doodles

It takes me a lot longer to complete a page in my Gelli Journal these days, but I'm still doing my best to make art every single day. Here's a recent doodle page: In a previous life I would have completed this in one sitting. Instead, this page took me a week of little bits and pieces of time. That's fine. As they say: slow and steady wins the race. One of the nice things about a Gelli Journal is that you *can* do it in little bits and pieces and with products -- like gelly roll pens -- that... Read more →

New In-Person Classes!

I'm so excited to be inviting you into my home studio for some fabulous in-person art classes! Yay! I wanted to make it easy for people to come to class no matter where they live, so classes include all the supplies! Isn't that a nice treat! All you need to do is to hop on a plane, a train, or into an automobile and come on over. (I've even roped Steve into feeding everyone lunch during the two-day classes, so you're in for a treat!) Coming up in March 2020: Friday Night Art Journaling: No More White Pages Friday, March... Read more →

I {Heart} Surface Design: Photo Transfer

This one is perfect for a Valentine's Day gift! Today's heart features a photo transfer of my two special Valentine's Day squeezes! I used TAP (Transfer Artist Paper) to do the transfer. But there are a million ways to do transfers -- you can learn four of them in my online class on the subject. Here's the process with TAP: I adjusted my image in Photoshop, including mirror-imaging it so that the text would read correctly. Then I printed the image onto TAP: I cut around the edges of the photo and laid my chipboard heart on top of the... Read more →

The Source of Creativity

I listen to a lot of podcasts. In the past few years I've converted over from watching TV to listening to podcasts. They're great for listening to in the car, on a plane or a train, in the studio, in the kitchen, while breastfeeding, or while walking down the street. After listening to a podcast, I almost always feel like I've gained something: knowledge, a laugh, an insight, etc. I also often need to share what I've gotten from a podcast with the people in my life. After listening to this recent ted radio hour podcast, I knew that I... Read more →

Creative Dog Grooming

I was at my Mom's house last week and we watched a documentary that introduced me to a world I didn't know existed. Have you heard of "Creative Dog Grooming?" It is the art of creating art in a dog's fur with products such as: dye, hair chalk, nail polish, glue-on rhinestones, etc. For example: source source source source The documentary we watched is called Well Groomed. You can watch it on HBO. Here's a trailer for the film: Obviously, this is a hobby that requires skill, patience, and artistry. The documentary follows three groomers and covers some of the... Read more →

Creative Jumpstart Interview

I wanted to share 22 seconds of an interview I did for the Creative Jumpstart Classroom: What is Creative Jumpstart? My friend Nathalie Kalbach made a video to answer that question: Along with my interview all about curiosity and creativity, I will be teaching a super cool lesson all about working in a series. These are the four pieces that I create -- from start-to-finish -- on camera in the class: If you sign up for class you get 31 downloadable video lessons from 31 different artists! Early Bird Pricing is in effect until December 31, 2019. I hope to... Read more →

Guest Post: No-Sew Craft Plastic Pen/Pencil Case

Today's guest post is from the super talented Cat Kerr. Cat is a frequent guest on Make It Artsy and always shares super fun projects with lots of layers! Are you always losing your favorite pens, pencils and markers? If you're anything like me you want to pull your hair out every time you go reach for your favorite writing tool and guess what...it's not where it's supposed to be! So I decided I wanted to make my own case and I would attach to directly to my journal so I could never lose my favorite writing tools again. Now... Read more →

Guest Post: Stamped Reusable Shopping Bags

Today's guest post is by my sweet friend, Nathalie Kalbach. You may know Nathalie as the host of Creative JumpStart -- the annual January art lesson extravaganza! You can still sign up for the discounted price of $50 until December 31, 2019. Don't miss out! After getting into making patterns with my rubber stamp sets, I knew I wanted to take that idea and use it on a couple fabric projects. My friend Kim and I got together to put some of those lovely patterns to use on reusable shopping bags. Our neighborhood banned single use plastic bags this year... Read more →

Guest Post: Taking Risks to Open Up Creative Possibilities

While I'm settling into my new role as a mother, some of my art friends have agreed to keep you inspired with guest posts! First up is my friend, May Flaum, with a wonderful post about stretching yourself creatively. I was above 95% success rate in my creative endeavors, and I was miserable. Now I know this is going to sound crazy, but I was winning at making good projects way too much and somehow that became a bad thing. It took a good amount of time and self-reflection, but what I came to realize is that I had bound... Read more →