If you know me, you know that I looooove place cards. However, we will only be four people at this year's Thanksgiving and so there's really no need for place cards. But I wanted to add something homemade to the table decor. I finally settled on utensil pockets and they are my new favorite thing to make. So fun! I plan to create many many variations for every possible holiday. Take a peek: And I put together a tutorial video that takes you through the process. It's really so easy and so customizable. Make these from scrapbook paper, hand painted... Read more →

I am vending at two upcoming holiday markets. The first one is for the Watertown Business Coalition's Fall Fest on Thursday. The second is for the Whoville Jubilee on December 3. To prepare for the markets, I've been making things, packaging things, and getting everything ready. In my experience, at the markets I sell at, most people are interested in smaller and lower priced items. Impulse buy kind of stuff. So, one of the things I've been making a ton of is one-of-a-kind handmade greeting cards! Plus some hand printed sets of block printed cards: I like to finish all... 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 →

My art practice involves five major branches: Making Cleaning and Organizing Research and Learning Planning and Shopping Practice and Processing I'm currently mostly doing #2 today: cleaning and organizing. My current mission is sifting through all the pretty paper projects I've made recently and sorting them into three piles: sell, collage fodder, do more. SELL is pretty easy. If it looks great and I can imagine someone hanging it on their wall, it goes in the sell pile. 🙌 (This paper weaving is one of the tutorials from the Artful Holiday class, btw.) COLLAGE FODDER is the stuff that isn't... Read more →

Wishing you a very happy Fourth of July! I hope you're enjoying the long weekend and can find some time for creativity -- even if it's just 5 minutes of doodling. (This photo is from a 2017 blog post I wrote about making these cut paper pieces.) Read more →

As you know, I spent the month of February doing a paper weaving every single day. During that month, I heard about a German paper weaving tool that school children in Germany use. I eventually ordered this German weaving tool, but I was reluctant to order it for a long time because the tool is $6.95 and the shipping is $7.50. That said, I'm so glad that I did. It's a total game changer. It comes with no instructions because it's pretty intuitive to use. It's like a long skinny pair of reverse-grip tweezers. I think of it like a... Read more →

Here is the first of what I assume will be many, many, many mixed media collages made from my gelatin printed striped papers. I put together a short process video: Monthly members have access the the real-time (about 30 minutes) version of this video. As you can see in the video, I used Matte Medium to adhere the papers together and I didn't use a substrate of any kind. This has positives and negatives. On the positive side, you can make your collage any size. It's also really nice and lightweight because it's just copy paper. On the negative side,... Read more →

During February, I participated in "Weave Through Winter," a project led by Helen Hiebert. The challenge was to create a paper weaving every single day in February. Here are my previous posts about this challenge: Days 1-6 Days 7-14 Days 15-25 For the final 3 days, I wanted to think about how I might integrate weaving into my regular artistic practice. I figured it would be a good fit with bookbinding, which I do a lot of, so I made a few books with woven elements. Take a peek: This is a woven concertina. It's nice in the photo, but... Read more →

I'm currently participating in "Weave Through Winter," a project led by Helen Hiebert. The idea is to create a paper weaving every single day in February. Here's what I've made so far: Days 1-6 Days 7-14 And now, days 15-25! This leaf is woven into an existing journal page - you can see the front and the back here: The entire process of this weaving is available to members to watch in real time: This weaving was painted AFTER weaving and you can see a bit of that process HERE. This weaving is by far my favorite -- it also... Read more →