Balzer Designs

Around Here: May 2020

Hello, friends! I have to confess that I've been trapped somewhere between burnout and depression lately. But I'm rallying. So let's focus on the positive! source Here's a little bit about life around here right now: What are you wearing? FYI: DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK IN THE WORD T-SHIRTS. I DID NOT PUT IT IN THIS BLOG POST AND I CAN'T SEEM TO GET RID OF IT. Pajama bottom like they're pants, ice-dyed t-shirts, and lots of handmade masks: What have you bought? So. Many. Baby. Things. Our most recent purchase: a bag full of silicone balls and... Read more →

100 Days of Gelatin Printing: Days 43-51

A little bit more than half way through this 100 day challenge! I have to confess that I looooove being home. I hate the isolation, the fear, the inability to go places and visit people, but I love waking up in my own bed every day. It has certainly made this the easiest 100 day challenge I've ever tried. Traveling is not good for regular art making. In any case, here is the week in layered monoprints (These images are embedded from instagram. If you can't see them, click HERE.): I'm definitely entering some kind of grungy phase. I find... Read more →

Ice Dyed Dress Muslin

This is one of those projects that started one way and then morphed into something else entirely. I wanted to draft a pattern for an easy summer dress to wear. After I made the pattern, I decided to sew it out of muslin before I actually moved on to "real" fabric. As it turned out, I didn't have any muslin, but I did have some Kona PFD (prepared for dyeing) fabric. In the absence of muslin, I decided to use it. Once I put the "muslin" version of the dress together, it wasn't quite right and yet I found I... Read more →

Pandemic Masks as Art & Fashion

Masks are quickly becoming a part of our everyday life. There are a lot of people out there making and wearing masks as art/fashion. Check it out: source From a 2018 Alexander Wang fashion show: source source source source This is an artist who is creating a face mask every single day she's quarantined: source source From a 2014 runway show in China: source This etsy seller has tons of ornate handmade masks for sale: source source source I don't know about y0u, but I feel like I might have to level up on my face mask game. Time to... Read more →

Art Journal Every Day: A New Journal Begins: June 2019

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, the concept is simple: It's a commitment to take ten minutes each day to do something in your art journal. No need to finish anything or even like it. It's about making the time to nourish your creativity every day! If you have the time to flip through your phone, you have the time to Art Journal Every Day. If you'd like to share what you make, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. You can find new Art Journal Every Day posts here on the blog... Read more →

Ice Dyeing Scrunch

I did some more ice dyeing this week! But this time I didn't do any fancy folding or tying, I simply scrunched up the fabric. Check out my scrunch results: I did the t-shirts in two batches and each time I put a piece of fabric underneath the rack to "catch" the excess dye. These are the pieces of fabric that I scrunched up under the t-shirts: There are some really lovely details in there. But I'm not sure if I like the scrunch quite as much as the folding and tying...but it could also be because I tried to... Read more →

Quilt-as-You-Go in Progress

Just before the baby was born, I put together some improv circles. They grew and grew into quite a fearsomely large quilt top. For scale, each quarter circle section is 8.5x8.5. At some point I add some black and white sashing. And then this design sat on my design wall for five months because I was so intimidated by the notion of quilting a quilt that large. I posted a photo of some of the blocks on instagram and someone suggested quilt-as-you-go. Fun fact: I started a quilt-as-you-go project back in 2007, and blogged about it, but I'm pretty sure... Read more →

100 Days of Gelatin Printing: Days 36-42

I'm finding it pretty easy to keep up with this 100 Day Challenge. I think there are a few reasons for it: I'm not traveling. I'm home every day. So that makes it sooooo much easier to make art every single day. Even with a baby. I looooove gelatin printing. Doing anything you love makes for an easier journey. Gelatin printing is both finite and expansive. On the one hand, the process is pretty finite. You put stuff on the plate. You print. On the other hand, there's all sorts of stuff you can put on the plate. All kinds... Read more →

Art Journal Page with Two Hamsa Hands

I've rediscovered colored pencils. It might be because of all the Zoom calls and webinars. I've discovered that colored pencils are a nice quiet way to make art while listening to the conversation. I don't know about you, but I listen a lot better when my hands are doing something. Doodling and coloring somehow frees up space in my brain. Odd, isn't it? As you know if you've followed this blog for a while, I like to work on my art journal pages in stages over time. This page was one I started during a Member Livestream. Here's a screenshot... Read more →

Adventures in Arting Podcast: Episode 100!

As my mother says at the beginning of the podcast, "I didn't think it would last." But we made it to episode 100. Woo hoo! It took us 8 years, but here we are. On today's podcast, entitled "Looking Back. Looking Forward," we chat about earlier episodes, the future of podcasts, paying for content, and lots more. I hope you'll give it a listen! If you do not see the podcast player above, please click on this link. On the off chance that you've never listened to a podcast or don't get why anybody would want to, here are some... Read more →