I made a really cute (and useful) travel earring book. The cover is made from fabric I printed during #PrintInktober 2019 with a hand carved stamp. Here are some pictures of the inside: You can fit A LOT of earrings in this thing! Watch the video for a quick flip through: I think these will make great holiday gifts for the ladies in my life who looove earrings. And, of course, now that I've made one and figured out all of the issues, the next one is sure to be even better! Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

Fun fact: Before I was a painter or a collagist or even a scrapbooker, there were beads. In fact, I stumbled into A.C. Moore for the first time because I was looking for beads. Here's a peek at just a few of the pieces I've made over the years -- a lot of the photography is old and not great quality: Bead weaving and bead embroidery remain activities that I really enjoy doing. It's extremely relaxing and meditative work. Plus beads are small and make a perfect travel art project. Today, as part of my ongoing series of basic art... Read more →

The Artful Holiday class is going strong with lots of fabulous projects, techniques, and ideas for you! On Monday, I shared how to print and construct this paper vase: Kim said, "Such an adorable project, at first I didn’t think I’d love it….BUT I DO!!!! The cork one was quite stunning!" On Tuesday, Sarah Matthews shared how to make your own stamp, print your custom patterned paper, and then turn it into this fabulous ornament: Vicki said, "I loved this class and made one with 3/4 in squares! Addicted ❤️" On Wednesday, I shared TWO mash-up projects. Every Wednesday, I... Read more →

The Artful Holiday class is off to a fabulous start! On Monday, I shared how to make these super fun fabric earrings: Sharyn said, "Easy to follow and thorough instructions. I BELIEVE I can do this. I like that I can use my own stuff or paint a new design. Beautiful result! Great start to this series. Thanks." And I was thrilled when Laura posted her version of the earrings in the Balzer Designs Students Facebook Group: And Marybeth posted hers on instagram: As a teacher, there's nothing better than seeing the work you inspire! On Tuesday, Carolyn Dube taught... Read more →

I loooooooove big earrings. But I don't love my earlobes hurting. So I finally came up with a solution: I would make lots of HUGE but totally featherweight earrings. True story: I have been an earring factory for the past few months. Since March, I've been very disciplined about making gorgeous lightweight and totally unique earrings each and every week. And now I have a treasure trove of earrings to sell. Hooray! Believe it or not, this is actually just a small selection of the earrings I've made thus far: These fabulous one-of-a-kind earrings are not necessarily for everyone, but... Read more →

My two-year-old loves to come up to my attic studio and make art. We paint, we draw, we smooth fabric, we spray water, and most recently: we play with air dry clay. We made some clay beads together -- which mostly means that I rolled balls of clay and he smashed them. But after he went to bed, I fixed up some of the salvageable beads and set them aside to dry. Once the beads had dried, I painted them -- using the same technique I share in The Artful Holiday class to make these fabulous clay ring/jewelry dishes: As... Read more →

One of my favorite things to do with my ScanNCut is to make custom t-shirts. It’s quick and easy and they make great gifts. As you may know, Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV) is a breeze to cut with the ScanNCut (especially with the Vinyl Auto Blade). However there is one part of the process that I have messed up a few times, much to my chagrin. And the worst part of this mistake is that it really makes the whole project look bad. So here’s my true confession: I don’t always get the sizing and placement of my designs right.... Read more →

Happy Monday! I wanted to share the three demo projects I did during Friday night's #PrintInktober class. The topic was printing on fabric (you can watch the replay now in the online classroom). We covered 4 different fabric mediums for printing and used all kinds of stamps -- hand carved, commercial rubber stamps, silicone stamps, and foam stamps (handmade and commercial). We printed on light fabric, dark fabric, and a t-shirt. Take a peek: Printing on fabric is one of my favorite things to do. It has a lot of impact and printed t-shirts, aprons, and tote bags make fabulous... Read more →

As you may know, each month I host a live online hour of art demos and answers to questions for monthly members. The demos are 100% based on the questions that members ask. Sometimes the demos are done without a finished product in mind and sometimes I end up creating finished projects, like these: August's livestream boasted two projects that I wanted to share. Here is the art journal spread that I started during the August member livestream: I love how it turned out -- somewhere between abstract and representational. Plus look at all that yummy texture! Hard to believe... Read more →

At the moment, my son is 100% obsessed with vehicles. His happiest moments are when we stand on the sidewalk by a busy street and watch the traffic go by. He points at every single truck and car that passes and says, "caaah." It's adorable. To celebrate his deep love of all vehicles, I decided to make him a t-shirt. Here it is: I used some leftover scraps of colored Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV) for the colored bits in this design. HTV can be a bit expensive, so I always try to minimize waste and I keep all of my... Read more →