Balzer Designs

October Livestream Recap

Each month I host a one-hour livestream for members of my YouTube channel. I put together lots of art tips and tricks and tutorials based on questions that members post both before and during the livestream. Replays of all livestreams are available to members at any time they wish! Membership is just $4.99/month. It's a super fun hour of art and conversation. In October, we kicked off the livestream with a face painting demo, at the request of several members. Here's the demo face I painted: We also covered how deColourant works, organizing paper scraps and ephemera, Gelli Printing with... Read more →

Studio Bathroom Curtain Makeover

I needed a curtain for the bathroom in the studio. In a pile of linens, I discovered a single canvas curtain panel with a few holes in it. I decided that I needed to repair the rips and shorten the curtain (no one wants a curtain dragging on the floor right by the toilet). I stitched up the holes... ...and cut and shortened the curtain: As you can see, I tacked it up to my painting wall and then went to town with spray paint and spray ink: It didn't feel quite done at this point, so I added some... Read more →

From the Studio: My Moveable Walls

In the new house, my studio is in the attic. It's a wonderful space with one big problem: low angled ceilings. Beyond the fact that this eliminates the ability to hang shelves for storage (a problem I am currently working through as I unpack), it means that I don't have a painting wall or a place to put a quilt design wall. I talked to my contractor about it and he built me two huge wooden walls on wheels! This means that I now that 4 flat walls (2 sides on each of these wooden "boxes") to work with! Yay!... Read more →

Baby Shower Thank You Cards

You may recall that I asked for advice on making thank you cards for my baby shower. I got lots of good advice -- keep it simple, create a postcard instead of a folding card, etc. Well, I took the advice and these are the cards that I made: These were pretty simple to make. I took two large pieces of paper and did some indoor sun printing on them -- in two different color ways -- one dark and one bright. I cut up the sun printed paper and glued it to a white piece of cardstock. In some... Read more →

New Online Class: Indoor Sun Printing

I've got a great new 4-part class for sale! Watch this quick video about the class: You get: Lifetime access to class. Once you purchase, you never lose access. 4 Instructional Videos. Written tips & tricks to take away from each video lesson. Complete supply list with links to purchase. Private classroom where you can ask questions and share your ideas. Class is just $25. Get immediate access to the classroom and all lessons as soon as you purchase the class! Learn more & sign-up HERE. I hope to see you in the online classroom! Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

August Livestream Recap!

Today I thought I'd share a quick recap of the August Livestream for YouTube Channel Members. As always, I started off the hour-long livestream by answering questions from members. Question included a number about painting on fabric. I shared my favorite fabric painting products and techniques on this scrap of fabric: After the livestream, I couldn't help myself from finishing up the painting on this piece of fabric, using all of the techniques and supplies I shared in the livestream: It's so delicious! I can't wait to stitch it up into something fun! PS: I used my Fantastical and Stone... Read more →

Tile DIY Fail?

Decorative tile is really expensive. You probably know this. For a while during our home renovation I thought very seriously about painting my own decorative tiles. I even went so far as to make some samples to see if it was a good or a bad idea. The previous homeowners had left a box of plain white square tiles in the basement. Score! I did my online research and discovered that enamel paint was going to be the best bet for painting on top of finished tiles and actually having the paint stick and stay. And so off I went... Read more →

4 New Shibori Shirts

My brother, who doesn't generally like anything crafty, saw a faux shibori t-shirt I made for Make It Artsy a few weeks ago and asked for one of his own. I was delighted to say, "Of course!" He gave me two shirts -- a heavy-weight long-sleeve t-shirt with a stain and a plain white t-shirt. Not one to miss out on the action, my Mom gave me an old t-shirt with an image of a samurai on it. And I threw in a t-shirt I had already dyed, but not yet "fixed." I used RIT dye -- one quarter denim... Read more →

A PanPastel Portrait Monoprint

I'm seriously addicted to PanPastels on my gelatin plate. I can't stop (and I don't really want to). Yesterday I broke out my 8x10 plate and decided to try creating a portrait that I could monoprint. It actually worked out better than I thought it would (if you can't see the video, click on the title of this post). Here's a pic of the plate and first print next to each other: I thought it was an amazingly good pull. The only thing that didn't really translate were some of the white highlights -- like the catch light in her... Read more →

PanPastels on the Gelatin Plate

Birgit Koopsen is hosting a month-long gelatin-printing party on her instagram. Several days ago I watched a video she shared on using PanPastels on the Gelli Plate. I immediately went tearing through my studio to grab the supplies I needed and began to experiment. I shared a video of my first experiment on instagram earlier this week (if you can't see the video, click on the title of this blog post): Here are my two favorite prints from that video: But you know meI had to keep going because I looooooove to experiment! So I decided to see if I... Read more →