Balzer Designs

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 →

I {Heart} Surface Design: Stencil Foiled Heart

This foiling technique is easy and fun and requires almost no skill! The most difficult part is walking away to allow the gel medium to dry. One of the nice things about foiling with gel medium is that the texture of the foiling has an organic, sort of distressed, feeling that I really like. Check out the detail photos: Watch the video for the how-to: O I hope you'll give this technique a try! SUPPLIES Tacky-When-Dry Gel Medium: http://shrsl.com/23f7t Old Circle Grate Stencil: http://shrsl.com/23f5d Deco Foil: http://shrsl.com/23f7w Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

I {Heart} Surface Design: Antiqued Heart

In the roll up to Valentine's Day week, I thought I'd share some surface design techniques that I love and use often -- all on hearts, of course! This first technique is one I've been using for years and years with some variations. It's all about creating this super dimensional antique looking heart: For this project, I cut my chipboard from a hand drawn design using the ScanNCut. You could also hand cut the chipboard or use existing chipboard die cuts. Glue the chipboard pieces to a chipboard heart: Once the glue is dry and the pieces are secure, paint... Read more →

ScanNCut: Dip Dyed Football Onesies

I'm super excited about today's project. It's just so darn cute! Or is it the model that makes it so cute?! Either way, this is a fun and quick project. In the first part of the video I show you how to dip dye your baby clothes. In the second part of the video we add heat transfer vinyl or HTV sayings with the help of the ScanNCut. Check it out: I'm making baby clothes in this video, but you could absolutely use these techniques for grown-up clothes or even accessories like tote bags! Check out the full collection of... Read more →

Two ScanNCut Tutorials: Cutting HTV & New Disney Roll Feeder Designs

Today I've got two ScanNCut video tutorials for you! First up: HTV or Heat Transfer Vinyl is one of the most popular things to cut with your ScanNCut. Today I'm sharing 7 tips on cutting HTV with your ScanNCut DX. Here are the tips I go over in the video: How to place HTV on the mat. Mirroring or flipping your design. Consider drawing your cut file first. Setting the Half Cut. Do a Test Cut. Every. Single. Time. Weeding tips. Ironing & Peeling Tips. And here is the shirt I made in the video: If you've never used HTV,... Read more →

Stamped Christmas Cards

This has not been a crafty holiday season for me. However, I did manage to put together two very last minute Christmas cards. It was a Christmas Eve miracle! I followed an easy 1-2-3 card-making formula that you can use for any occasion: Background Paper Sentiment Detailed Embellishment For my cards: The background paper was stamped using a hand carved stamp and a custom ink pad, but you could grab a sheet of pretty scrapbook paper to make the process quicker. For my sentiment, I used my ScanNCut to create exactly what I wanted. However, you could just as easily... Read more →

One Little Word Necklace

One of the New Years traditions that I've adopted is Ali Edwards' "One Little Word" challenge. The idea is that instead of a list of New Years Resolutions, you choose one little word to represent your goal(s) for the new year. This year I have chosen the word: "enjoy." With a new baby in the house, I want to focus on enjoying my life rather than pushing and hustling and trying to get stuff done. As a simple reminder of my resolution, I decided to make a necklace featuring the word, "enjoy." In this video tutorial, I show you how... Read more →