Balzer Designs

ScanNCut: Cut File to Card Base

A happy early Mother's Day to you! Using the built-in editing functions of your ScanNCut, it's super easy to take almost any cut file -- symmetrical or not -- and turn it into a card base. I used a flower shape to create a super cute Mother's Day card. Watch the video for the how-to: Here are the basic steps: Choose your cut file. Resize it so that it's slightly wider than 6 inches. Increase the number of flowers to 2: Align the two flowers and then flip one of them. And last but not least, weld your design. As... Read more →

From the Archives: Sticky Back Canvas Book

I thought I would share one of my favorite tutorials from the Balzer Designs archives! It originally appeared January 15, 2010. Enjoy! This is a folded canvas book. I used mine to write some thoughts on the act of creating. Here's how it came together for me: Materials: Scor-it Board 12x12 Sticky Back Canvas from Ranger (I don't believe they make this product anymore, but you can do this project with a regular piece of canvas and add glue.) Acrylic Paint Book Page Scissors Gel Medium Paintbrush and Water Gesso Watercolor Paints (I used Koi by Sakura) Box Cutter Glass... Read more →

Fabric Face Mask with Filter Pocket

Like many people who sew, I made some cloth face masks. I used the template provided in the description of THIS video tutorial to make these particular masks: I used all kinds of fabric: hand painted, hand printed, hand dyed, sun printed, and commercial. The ones I made are for friends and family and I sent them out into the world with this video I made on how to use them -- proper fit is very important to functionality: This particular mask design calls for 6 pieces -- 2 outer, 2 lining, and 2 for the filter pocket. I cut... Read more →

Paper Window Eggs for Easter

You guys, I couldn't bring myself to dye eggs this year. It just seemed so wasteful with eggs being in short supply. I tried to give myself the pep talk: you still eat dyed Easter Eggs, etc, but hunting through the grocery store for white eggs just seemed like misplaced priorities. So instead, I bring you paper window eggs: This is easy to do and would work for people of all ages. I started with a leftover piece of deli paper that was already covered in paint. Then I used a paint marker to draw an egg on it with... Read more →

ScanNCut: Videos for Sewers

I have a super fun project for you today! We are going to take advantage of the fact that the ScanNCut makes cutting shapes from stiff felt quick and easy. We are making this booklet-style felt needle case: These needle cases make great gifts and can be customized for the recipient with a variety of motifs and even their name! Watch the video for the how-to: Here's a peek at some of the details of that gorgeous needle case! And here's what it looks like inside: It's beautiful and functional. Can't beat that! I love to create "technique" videos for... Read more →

ScanNCut DX Calligraphy Kit

Introducing (drum roll please) the ScanNCut DX Calligraphy Kit! With your ScanNCut DX you can now beautifully label envelopes, create unique signs, and add custom calligraphy to all of your projects! Choose from pre-made designs and sayings or use the alphabet -- included in the Calligraphy Starter Kit -- to write whatever you'd like! Please note that the Calligraphy Kit only works with ScanNCut DX machines. Watch the video to see how easy it is: Thanks for stopping by! --- P.S. I am a paid spokesperson for the Brother ScanNCut. It is a machine that I love and use. All... Read more →

I {Heart} Surface Design: Persistent Failure

As you might guess from the title of this post, today's heart was a problem from the beginning. I failed at almost every turn, and yet I think it might be my favorite of the hearts! Isn't that amazing? This tutorial is less of a tutorial and more of a tale of persistence. I had an idea. I wanted to use Color Burst Powder through a stencil. It didn't really work (you can see a video clip of the failure on my vlog), so I decided to make lemons out of lemonade and just smush the color around for a... Read more →

I {Heart} Surface Design: Collaged & Stitched Heart

We are collaging and stitching today! The first step is to pick out some papers that you like or make some new ones. This project is also great for leftover scraps. I sun printed some book pages. (Indoor sun printing is fun and easy and I've got an online class all about it!) I cut the papers into strips and taped them together (on the back): By collaging the papers in strips and keeping them relatively monochromatic, a unified appearance is easily achieved. Then once I had an arrangement I liked... ...I glued the heart to the back of the... Read more →

I {Heart} Surface Design: Collaged Flower

This one is a little bit sweeter than I normally go for in style. I think it's because I chose a relatively soft palette. I've been feeling like I'm in a color rut and trying to mix things up. This soft pink is the result! I have to confess that I don't think this 100% counts under the "surface design" headline, but I put together a quick two-minute tutorial for you nonetheless: I hope you'll give this project a try! Personally, I might just have to fill an art journal page or two with collaged flowers! Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

I {Heart} Surface Design: Photo Transfer

This one is perfect for a Valentine's Day gift! Today's heart features a photo transfer of my two special Valentine's Day squeezes! I used TAP (Transfer Artist Paper) to do the transfer. But there are a million ways to do transfers -- you can learn four of them in my online class on the subject. Here's the process with TAP: I adjusted my image in Photoshop, including mirror-imaging it so that the text would read correctly. Then I printed the image onto TAP: I cut around the edges of the photo and laid my chipboard heart on top of the... Read more →