Balzer Designs

Pom Pom Earring Tutorial

I finally put together the pom pom earring tutorial that I've been promising you! This video shares the basics of how to make a pom pom using the Clover pom pom maker: And then this video shares how to make the earrings: If you don't want to make pom poms, you can buy them pre-made. These are the little gold bars I used in the video. I think they really elevate the earrings and make them feel super polished. I'm off to try to find my needle nose pliers! Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

USPS Art Project: Judy

Here is my fourth USPS Art Project collaboration piece. This time with Judy. As a reminder, this is a project where two artists pair up and each mail an unfinished piece of artwork to the other. Then each artist finishes the work they were sent and posts it online. Here's what I made: My goal was to have them work together as a group and be able to stand alone as mini artworks. This is what Judy sent me to work with: As you can see, I cut the 6 tags from the large piece that she sent me. It's... Read more →

Art Journal Every Day: September 2019 into October 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 →

Adventures in Arting Podcast: Willa Wanders

Mom and I had a wonderful conversation with Wendy Solganik, aka "Willa.Wanders" this week. We probably could have talked to her for several hours. Our conversation covers making a living, pricing, business killing creativity, Black Lives Matter, authenticity, love of instagram, and more. 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 facts: (1) Podcasts are convenient. It's a recording that is available to you whenever and wherever you'd... Read more →

Five Art Supplies I Love Right Now

I love art supplies! I keep a list of all of my favorite supplies HERE. But today I thought I'd share 5 that I can't live without: Grey Matters Palette Paper I used a plastic plate as a palette for years and years... ...before I switched to white palette paper (which you can see me using in this video). But then I read about how the only way to really see colors as they are is on a grey background. So then, I had to switch to grey colored palette paper. I made the switch many years ago and I... Read more →

Creativity and Confidence

Last week I posted this image on instagram... ...with the following caption: The number one thing I hear from my students is, "Oh, I'm not creative." These are people who make art and love to make art. Everyone is creative. Don't ever forget it. I think what these people lack isn't creativity, it's confidence. Agree or disagree? The responses I got were wonderful. Here are just a few (you can read them all on the post): Absolutely! I think so many people confuse creativity with the end product. If I don’t create a Picasso or a Rembrandt, I’m not creative.... Read more →

A Pen Bag Made From Paper

I made this fabulous pen bag from...PAPER!! I have always looooved cut paper, but it's fragile. It's hard to make anything long lasting from it. But then I figured out that I could sandwich the cut paper between two sheets of iron-on vinyl and turn it into a much more durable material. I cut two pieces of pink cardstock, sealed them between layers of iron-on vinyl and was then able to stitch together this pen bag... ...including putting in a zipper! One Note: You do have to be careful when turning the bag because the paper will crease if you... Read more →

Art Journal Every Day: Rocky Terrain

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 →

ScanNCut: Custom Box File

There are new ScanNCut products from Brother! Yay! I'll be sharing some of them in two live events with Sewing Machines Plus tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday. You can see the full schedule and register (for free) to watch the events HERE. I hope to see you online! In the meantime, you've been asking for some more advanced ScanNCut tutorials, so here it is! In this video I'm going to show you how to make your own custom box file using CanvasWorkspace for Mac. Watch the video for the how-to: As I mentioned, this is a project to tackle once you're... Read more →

USPS Art Project: Melinda

I'm working fast and furiously through these USPS Art Project collaborations now! As a reminder, this is a project where two artists team up and mail each other an unfinished artwork. And then they each finish the artwork they receive. My partner Melinda sent me an embellished gelatin print and I turned it into a cover for a little pamphlet stitch art journal -- otherwise known as a single signature art journal: Here's a peek at some of the inside pages: One of the things I love about bookbinding is that you can put any kind of page into your... Read more →