Weekly Wednesday Sneak Peek #2

Last week Wednesday I did my 1st post of something I have made for an art and craft fair in August.  If you missed it you can see it here.  I will be posting something every Wednesday for a total of 8 weeks. 

This week I am sharing some of the letters and dangles I have made. Everyone seems to love to have a letter of their 1st or last name, so I am hoping these will sell.    I was inspired to create these after I read the book "Zenspirations" by Joanne Fink.  I think this is just an awesome book in which Joanne shares so many creative ideas.  She shows you step-by-step how to create letters, patterns, color ideas, and some really cool dangles.  The book is also filled with various project ideas  (ex. borders for frames, bookmarks, cards, t-shirts, mugs, etc.).  I have been so inspired by this book, and am thrilled to have it as part of my Zentangle library because I know I will use it a lot.  If you haven't see it yet, I highly recommend that you check it out....you will be glad you did! 

Challenge 76 HOME

I feel very fortunate to live in Loveland, Coloraodo.  It is a pretty little town (pop. 66,000), but still feels like a small town.  We are centrally located in northern Colorado with Ft Collins 10 miles to the north, and Denver 60 miles to the south.  Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park are a 45 minute drive up the Big Thompson Canyon. Lake Loveland is a beautiful little lake in the middle of town, with the mountains to the west.  We love the outdoors, and have gone on a lot of hikes in RMNP.  You haven't really seen the park until you explore it on foot! 



In my tile I used Golven for the lake (since it means waves) and the mountain on the left is Fife, to symbolize all the beautiful wildflowers, the mountain in the middle with Flux and Tipple symbolize the winter snow, and the mountain on the right is Hollibaugh to symbolize all the hiking trails.  The heart in the lower right corner is for all the hearts you see around town (Loveland). This place is plastered with hearts in the month of February.  The lower left corner is Finery...just for more outdoor beauty.  Last but not least, is Ahh to symbolize the stars you can see while in the mountains at night.   

SIDE NOTE: I am sure most of you have seen on the news that we have a large wildfire (High Park Fire) burning west of Ft Collins, with 250 plus homes lost and only 45% contained. We have had temperatures in the 100"s with no relief or rain in sight. In Estes Park, 21 homes were lost due to a fire on Saturday (that one is contained).  Now there are other fires around the state too.  Not a good summer for Colorado!  Please keep the firefighters and families who have lost their homes in your thoughts and prayers. 

Challenge #75 Cadent

This week's challenge from the DIVA, Laura Harms has us experimenting with the tangle, Cadent.  Cadent has always been one of my favorite tangles because it looks elegant, but is very easy to do.  It also blends in so well with a lot of different tangles.  It is really fun to play with one tangle and see how you can make it look so different.  Thanks, Laura!

Weekly Wednesday Sneak Peek #1

I decided at the beginning of the year that I was going to go out on a limb and enter my very first Art & Craft fair this year.  The fair is here in Loveland every August, and is called Art in the Park.  If you want, you can read more about it here.  It runs in conjunction with 2 large sculpture shows and is a big outdoor event each year.  This year, the show will be Aug 11th & 12th.  I have always attended the shows, but this year I will have a Zentangle booth!  Along with spreading the word of Zentangle and hopefully attracting some future students, I will be trying to sell some of my art work.  I have created a large variety of work (and still creating more), but my goal was to be done with the creating part by July 15 since we have a lot of out of town family staying with us for over a week,  for my nephews wedding on July 21.  That will let me focus on the the actual work of getting the booth ready the 2 weeks before the show.  Since I now have 8 Wednesdays until the show, I wanted to share some of the work I have been doing.  Hope you enjoy, and if you are near, I would love to see you at the fair! 



ZIA- Matted & Framed 16x20






Zendala Dare #9

This is my contribution to the Zendala Dare at The Bright Owl.

TANGLES:  Black Purls, Yinlinx, Paradox, Snail

Challenge #74 Eccentric Circles

This week's Diva challenge was to draw a string using eccentric circles.  You can read all about the challenge here.  I really like circles of any kind to tangle in or around, so I really liked this challenge. Thanks again, Laura for keeping us entertained each and every week...WOW week 74!

Challenge #73 UMT: Bridgen

The first Monday of the month has rolled around again.  This means that Laura at the Diva challenge is using a random number generator to pick a tangle to challenge us with.  This week we have the tangle, Bridgen, from  CZT Carole Ohl's husband, Daved (who is also a CZT).  On my first attempt, I tried it with a lot of different tangles inside the string that Bridgen creates, but I didn't like it because Bridgen really got lost.  So, when I tried it again, I stuck to one tangle, Baton (by Carold Ohl)...keeping it in the family, LOL!  I put in a little Ahh, and I like this one a lot better. 


 

 

 

Ensemble Complete

What a fun 9 days it was completing a pre-strung ensemble set!  I tried to use some old tried and true tangles, some that I don't use often, and some newer ones to mix it up a bit.  Of course the best part of making an ensemble is putting it all together!  Drum roll please......

Thanks again to everyone who left comments along the way!  May you all have a happy and healthy start to the summer. 

Challenge #72 Crescent Moon

This week, The Diva, has us doing a monotangle (using only one tangle) with the tangle, Crescent Moon.  Crescent Moon is still one of my favorite tangles.  I still teach it as the first tangle in my Basic Zentangle class, and it continues to pop up in a lot of my ZIA's. 

For my 1st tile, I used a monostring (LOL-is there such a thing?), just a circle that I tangled inside with different color pens.  When I was done, it looked so plain that I decided to add a colored pencil wash to the outside.  I am not quite sure if I like this one or not.  For the 2nd tile, I used a more traditional string and added Crescent Moon in a couple of different ways.  One of the things I really liked, was just adding the Crescent Moon to the string, every other way, on each side.....very fun tangleation!