Balzer Designs

Art Journal Every Day: October into November 2018 Pages

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, there is a short introduction here.  All of the previous posts can be found archived here.  Remember, it's just ten minutes of nourishing your creative self every day!  No need to finish anything or even like it. If you've done some art journaling this week, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek.  Even if you're not on social media, you can see everything (from twitter, pinterest, instagram, and facebook) that uses that hashtag here. 

Today I'm sharing three pages from my art journal created in October and November 2018.  You can see that I did not journal daily during this period of time.  It happens and that's totally okay.  As I mentioned in my post on Tuesday, it's important to treat yourself with kindness and see any progress as forward movement!  Here are the pages:

I would call this a pretty proto-typical journal page for this period in my art journaling life.  There's a bit of deli paper collage:

This is a print I made with a round gelli plate and my Balzer Designs Solemn Branch mask.

This page has a pretty typical Julie face: marker and lots of scratchy layers:

This next page is one I worked on while I was in Ireland.  I do like to take my journal with me when I travel.  Luggage permitting, it's a nice hotel room activity.

This hand is a ton of little scraps of painted deli paper collaged into a hand shape.  You can see the little scraps a bit better in this close up:

And this is a die cut I inserted into my page (a trick I teach in some of my in-person art journaling classes):

You can see the other side of that die cut on this next page, which jumps straight into mid-November!

These little bird scenes are (a) from a stamp set I designed for Impression Obsession and (b) the leftovers from some chine-collé I attempted last year when I did "Printinktober."  You can see those images here.

Finally, this art journal page features some funky lettering, which you can see isn't at all that exact.  I think we stress too much over getting things perfect.  It's a waste of energy in my opinion!

I hope you enjoyed this peek into my art journal!

Thanks for stopping by!

Doodled Planters on Make It Artsy TV

Hey you guys!  Remember that epic dresser re-do I did last year?

A lot of people thought that the floral pattern was stenciled.  But, it was not.  I hand painted every inch of that dresser, including the edges of the drawers!

So many people asked me about the pattern that I decided to put together a quick tutorial for season 6 of Make It Artsy.  Instead of a dresser (which would have been awkward to bring on the plane and far too time consuming) I used succulent pots!

They're super cute and very easy to make.  You can watch the video for the how to:

I'm using the Pen-Touch Gold by Sakura, which comes in multiple tip sizes.  And the succulents are really good looking fakes that even I can't kill with my black thumb!

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial!  Thanks for stopping by!

Meeting Yourself Where You are Right Now

I'm currently enjoying a little R&R at a spa in the Berkshires.  This photo is one I took yesterday when I went for a long walk in the woods.

As part of the program here, there are lectures in all kinds of things including some inward looking topics.  Yesterday I attended a lecture called, "Being in this Body."  In essentials, it was about meeting yourself where you are right now.  What does that mean?  Well, this is what I took away from the lecture:

• Being kind to yourself even though you may not be where you want yet.
• Looking at any steps forward as progress!
• Not comparing yourself to others -- celebrities or simply the person standing next to you.
• Being okay with starting exactly where you are at this moment.

Now, this lecture was focusing on those points in terms of body image -- your weight, your age, your body shape, your fitness level, etc.  But I am **always** thinking of art.  And so I started to think of these ideas in terms of art.  Let's look a bit closer, shall we?

Being kind to yourself even though you may not be where you want yet.

I think we all have an inner critic who loves to point out all the ways in which we are deficient.  I know that I have one (and he's loud).  It's difficult not to feel frustrated when what you're making doesn't match up to that image in your head. Can you find a way to be kind to yourself?  Can you see anything positive about what you just made?  It could be as simple as: "Hey, I made the time to create art!"  Or, "I tried something new!"

Looking at any steps forward as progress!

In my opinion, one of the major keys to being willing to continue with the practice (and I don't use that word lightly) of making art is acknowledging your progress.  Remember, it's progress not perfection that should be the goal.  Giving yourself a pat on the back for simple forward progress, such as showing up, is important.

Not comparing yourself to others -- celebrities or simply the person standing next to you.

This is sooooo hard -- especially with the internet.  Two of my favorite quotes:

• "Comparison is the thief of joy." -- Theodore Roosevelt
• "Don't compare your beginning to someone else's middle, or your middle to someone else's end. Don't compare the start of your second quarter of life to someone else's third quarter." -- Tim Hiller

The only person you are in competition with is you.  Social media is packed with inspiration, but it's also filled with pretty pictures that can make you feel badly about yourself.  There are people who I simply had to unfollow or mute because something about their posts filled me with jealousy and self-loathing.  This is totally normal.  But it's important that I took that step to protect myself by unfollowing or muting.

Being okay with starting exactly where you are at this moment.

Everyone begins somewhere.  So you don't have the right supplies or the knowledge or the skill or the space or whatever it is that feels like the problem?  Who cares.  Start anyway.  The next 30 days will pass whether you spend them practicing your art or whether you don't.  Start now.

I hope you find this list as motivating as I do.  Start with ten minutes today and keep going!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Art Foamies + Balzer Designs: Stamp Buddy Basics

Today's tutorial video is an oldie but a goodie.  I often get asked about the mysterious "Stamp Buddy" included with many of the Art Foamies stamps.  What is it?  Packaging?  Why on earth do I need it?  Watch the video for all the answers:

You can purchase Art Foamies direct from their website.  

Big Numbers Floral Polka Dot Make Art Leaf Vine Eyes: Triangle Lashes Me-O-My Pair of Eyes Spot On Happy Edge Ring Fling Ring Fling Large Love Candy Mind Track Writers Block Triangle Staircase Water Lilly Holiday Tree Ring Tic Tac Flowery Tree Gone Dotty Tripsy Triangle Ring Hopscotch Tree Brigade

InLinkz.com

Let me know if you have Art Foamies questions!

Thanks for stopping by!

--

P.S. There's an Art Foamies coupon that's good for this Labor Day weekend ONLY: Maple2019.

Art Journal Every Day: 2018 September into October

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, there is a short introduction here.  All of the previous posts can be found archived here.  Remember, it's just ten minutes of nourishing your creative self every day!  No need to finish anything or even like it. If you've done some art journaling this week, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek.  Even if you're not on social media, you can see everything (from twitter, pinterest, instagram, and facebook) that uses that hashtag here. 

Hello!  I'm sharing some art journal pages from the end of September 2018 into the beginning of October 2018.  It's hard to believe that these pages are almost a year old.  Have I changed the way I create art in the last year?  It's hard for me to tell....

This is a series of pages where the edges have been cut away, so you can see the edges of the pages before and after.  It makes every spread look kind of busy.

I love the detail in the forehead.  It's a gel print that I created the face on top of.

I can see the clear influence of my Gelli Journals class on this next spread!

You may remember this next spread from a video I shared back in August 2018 (almost exactly a year ago to the day!):

And here's the spread once I completed it:

I have to confess that I feel that I mangled this spread a bit. I wish I had simply left it at silhouettes.  This cutesy lettering just doesn't vibe with the figures at all.

So there you have it!  Lots of painting, stamping, collage, drawing, doodling, and messing around in my art journal!

Thanks for stopping by!