DIVA Challenge #206 Tools/Trade

This week the DIVA challenge is to try some new tools that you have never used before.  In preparation for a illuminated letter workshop I have coming up in April, I have been trying all kinds of gold pens.  After seeing CZT, Sharon Lynn Payne's beautiful work with gold, I had to inquire what she was using.  It's a Pearl Watercolor Metallic paint set that is made by Finetec. I ordered some last week and it came in yesterday!  The paint is all mica pigment and comes in a variety of iridescent colors, from several shades of gold, to silver, and many other colors.  You just mix it with a little water and paint it on.  I thought the results were beautiful, very shiny, even though the picture doesn't do it justice. I played with all the gold varieties and decided that this is going to work perfect for my workshop! While it is on the slightly expensive side, I found a good deal at merriartist.com. Another great tip from Sharon.  A little goes a long way, and it would last you a long time.  Thanks so much for sharing this info, Sharon! 

So, not to much in the way of tangling on my tile, but my new tool was really fun to play with!

Pen Organization

If you know me, then you know that organization is my super power.  So, when my pen collection was taking over 4 drawers and I was having to constantly dig through them to find what I was looking for, I knew I needed a new plan.  After searching online at Office Depot, Amazon, etc. and not finding what I needed, I turned to Pinterest.   Why didn't I go there first!  Everything you could ever want or need is on Pinterest......right!  I found these cool looking pen organization units made with PVC pipe and asked my hubby if he could make it for me.  Off to Lowe's to buy the pipe, he sawed them to the length I needed (5 inches - so that the pens would stick out for easy access) and then glued them together with PVC glue.  The ones I saw on Pinterest just stood on their own or were placed in a bin on its side.  Doug wanted to make one better looking then that, so he stained a piece of wood and hot glued the PVC tubes to it.  He then put legs on the back so it would stand up with the weight.  It is now located to the left of my drawing table and I just have to reach over and grab the pen I need.  I love it!  Thanks, honey!

DIVA Challenge #205 Year of the Goat

In the Chinese Zodiac 2015 is the Year of the Goat, so the DIVA challenge this week is to use something related to the Chinese New Year in your tile.  I did a Google search and found this interesting goat, that my husband said was an Ibex, when he saw my tile.  So then I had to do a Google search on that, and he knows his stuff, as always, he's so smart.  Anyway, back to the tile, I drew a rough sketch of the goat and then decided to just use the tangle Printemps around it.  I wanted to use a darker red pen, but as you can see, I ran out of ink and had to switch to a lighter red. I was too lazy to do it over with the same color. Then I used a red colored pencil to shade.  So it is what it is, a funky looking Ibex.

2 New Zentangle Books!

I am honored and thrilled to be a part of two new Zentangle books!

The first is a by CZT, Beate Winkler from Germany, titled 101 Zentangle Patterns.  To date, the book is only published in German, but since it is a pattern book with pictures for all the step-outs, words aren't really necessary to appreciate and use this book.  While it has a lot of the original tangle patterns for Zentangle HQ, it has plenty of new and/or favorite patterns from others as well.  The individual pages are laid out very nice and it has a wonderful A-Z index in the back.  I think beginners and seasoned tanglers will find this book a very nice addition to your Zentangle library!

Two of my tangles are in the book; Tri-Po and Ceebee!  Such fun! 

 

The next book is by CZT, Beckah Krahula, titled 500 Tangled Artworks.  Beckah lives in Texas and you may recognize her as the author of One Zentangle A Day, another very popular Zentangle book.
As the tiles says, this book is a showcase of inspired illustrated designs!  If you love looking at, and being inspired by zentangle works of other tangle artists, then this is the book for you.  It is full of beautiful tiles, zendala's, ZIA's and more.  I find something new each time I look at it!

I am honored to have 3 of my pieces in this book (#014, 208, and 318)! 

 

 

 

 

DIVA Challenge #204 Valentangle

With Valentine's Day coming up this week, the DIVA has asked us to do something Valentine related.  I used a heart mandala template from the Facebook group Ornation Creation and my Tombow markers to create this valentangle. If you know me, you would know that I love hearts, and Valentine's Day is a really big deal here in Loveland, CO.  I was going to wait until Valentine's Day to post it, but it was too perfect for the Diva's challenge, so I couldn't wait. 

On another exciting note, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first grandchild (it's a girl) due this week!  Will she be a valentine baby...we'll see???

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you from me in Loveland, CO! 

DIVA Challenge #203 Athitzi

This week at the DIVA's we are trying out at new tangle named Athitzi by Seven.  It is a very simple tangle, a row of lines on top of each other.  I tried it 3 different ways in my tile, and I like the spiral version the best. 

Square One for Jan 2015

These are the tiles I created in Jan. for the Square One: Purely Zentangle group on Facebook.  Each week this group concentrates on a different tangle pattern.  It's a lot of fun to see the variety created each week!



 

XYP

N'ZEPPEL

BB

RIXTY

 

 

Art Chain on Facebook

Normally I don't go for any kind of chain mail type things, but a lot of the Zentangle art community is doing a fun little art chain.  You post a piece of art (old, new, anything) for 5 days in a row and nominate a different person each day to do the same.  So I thought what harm can some beauty and uplifting art be to make people aware of what different artists are creating.  Who knows, it may be just the thing to inspire someone else to do something creative and fun, or at the very least, make someone smile.  Here were my posts, along with the roses that I posted here.