Letter "S" for Sonia

Happy Birthday to one of my soul sista's, Sonia!  I had the pleasure of working with Sonia for years and we became really good friends.  Our birthdays are 5 days apart (same year) and last year we were both fortunate to be able to retire from our long careers with the federal government.  We retired within weeks of each other and had a combined farewell party.  A couple of months ago, Sonia and her husband moved to the Texas coast and bought a home on a canal, so she is living the good life.  I can't think of anyone who deserves it more.  Sonia had diabetes since she was a child and was the recipient of a kidney and pancreas transplant some years back.  She continues to do well!  What a treat  to be able to see her enjoy sweets for the 1st time in her life!  We are looking forward to the day we can go visit them and do some fishing.  Happy birthday, Sonia!  All the best to you! 

Challenge #20 "Royal Wedding"

Our challenge this week was to tangle with whatever inspiration comes to us from the "Royal Wedding".  I didn't get up early enough (2:00 am our time) to watch it live, but I did set the DVR.  Although I saw bits and pieces of the coverage when I did get up, just in time for the balcony kiss (2), I watched the entire event later that day.  I love weddings, and this one being history in the making, how could I not watch it all!  As Laura said, there was so much to get inspiration from that day.  I was really fascinated with the hats. I love all the hats that Catherine Middleton wore before she became the Duchess of Cambridge and then all the hats at the wedding!  I wish we wore fancy hats more for weddings and special occasions.   Some were so beautiful and others were pretty crazy!  Here's a sample in case you missed it......

       

And the craziest hat of all was worn by Princess Beatrice (Fergie's daughter), and the inspiration for my tangle.........

 

I know I didn't put a lot of thought into this one, just drew her hat, outlined it in color pencil, and tangled around it, but it was fun looking at all those hats again! 

It also made me think about the last time I wore a hat...on my wedding day, which was exactly one month after Prince Charles and Lady Di.  Remember, it was 1981, LOL!!!

Challenge #19-More Morris 2nd tile

I had so much fun playing with this new process the 1st time, that I just had to try again.  This time I took a piece of black paper and tangled on it with a white gelly roll pen.  Then in the background I tangled all one pattern with a silver pen to give it a little more contrast.  After looking at a lot of images by William Morris, it was hard to not tangle something organic, since most of his work is floral and leafy, not to mention gorgeous.  Having fun, enjoying the process!  Thanks again, Laura & Maria! 

Challenge #19-More Morris

Awhile back, Rick and Maria did a wonderful post on their blog about William Morris  who was a wonderful textile designer, artist, and writer.  Maria showed us her technique of using a white gelly roll pen on black.  When you scan the Internet on all of the wonderful work William Morris did, it becomes a little overwhelming.  This weeks Diva challenge was to use the William Morris technique of light over dark.  I need to work with this technique a little (ha-a lot) more.  It's hard to get the gelly roll pens to be as precise as the Microns.  I'm not sure now that I look at this tile again, if I filled in enough light on dark.  It's was hard to decide how much to do without totally loosing the verdigogh tangle.  Anyway, it was fun to try something new and I will definitely be trying more!  For someone without an art background, I love that Rick and Maria are always taking it up a notch and introducing us to artists and how we can apply their work to Zentangle.  I also love these challenges from Laura Harms, the diva.  Thank you all!

Challenge #18 EGGZZZZellent

This week's challenge from the DIVA is to tangle an egg.  I have been looking at the submissions this week and there are some incredibly beautiful eggs out there. When I sat down to tangle my egg, I had a picture in my head of a cracked egg with some beautiful springtime flowers coming out of it.  Well, I made the egg and before I knew it, my hand was drawing a Mooka and it kind of took over the tile.  Then out spilled some 'nZeppel jelly beans.  So much for the springtime flowers, but then I thought about how I always tell my students not to have a pre-conceived idea about what your tile will look like.  Just go with the flow of making the tangles and let zentangle unfold before your eyes.  I knew that it just had to have color, so I used the Sakura jelly roll pens we got in CZT class to add the sparkle.  Wishing everyone a very happy Easter weekend!  

Artisan You

Last night I held a Zentangle basic class at Artisan You for the 1st time.  We had a fun group of six and everyone was really excited about Zentangle.  I will be teaching classes there once a month.  If you are in the area, check out my schedule and sign up for a class.  Scroll down and check out the beautiful work they did!

Mooka meets Tri-Po

Just playing a little more with Mooka & Tri-Po...........

I5 Minutes of Fame/Challenge 17

This week, the Diva's challenge was to create a tile in 15 minutes, from start to finish.  When Rick and Maria created Zentangle the tiles were designed small so that you could complete one in 15-20 minutes.  When I started doing Zentangle, I could do this because I picked easy patterns (tangles) and didn't spend much time on shading.  Now, I rarely get one done in 15-20 minutes.  It's more like 30 minutes (sometimes more-yikes).  Why is that?  I think that now I make my Zentangle time more of a ceremony.  I love to get my cup of tea, relax, get out my tile and pen, breathe, draw my string and ponder what tangle I want to start with.  I take a lot more time deciding which tangles to use, sometimes flipping through my binder of official tangles, and my other binder full of tangles by other designers.  It can be a process some days, but it doesn't feel that way.  To me it is part of the relaxation process, being in the now.  I have no time limits!  If I want to take an hour, I can.  Of course, whenever I get done.....I smile! 

So, this week's challenge was the total opposite of my norm.  I sat down, looked at my cell phone time, and drew fast, while my brain was saying do easy, fast patterns, certainly no time to ponder.  Of course the first tangle I thought of was Hurry, and that didn't calm me down at all!  I got done and looked at the time, 2 minutes, quick throw on some shading.  Time's up.  Okay, let's try another and this time relax, go slow, let it just happen.  Although I went a little slower, I still felt the time crunch and it was hard to relax and do whatever came to mind.  Hmmm, maybe this exercise did teach me something.  Maybe I shouldn't depend on looking at the books so much and go with whatever tangle I think of more.  More importantly, it reminded me of the value of breathe, relax, and smile!

New Tangle Pattern TRI-PO

My inspiration for this tangle came from a shampoo bottle.  I changed the design up a little to make it a little easier to draw.  It's a pretty easy pattern that you can make any size, 3 or 4 lines, intersect them (by drawing behind-the zentangle way), or put them next to each other.  You can also make some lines thicker to make them stand out.  I did not shade the tile because I drew it on regular printer paper.  I added aura's around some of the empty spaces.  I hope you enjoy, TRI-PO! 

Mooka Madness

Mooka is the newest tangle to be released from Rick & Maria at Zentangle.  For those of you who haven't seen the video, you can find it here:  Mooka video & wonderful examples.  This is such a great tangle pattern, and I look forward to working with it more.  Be warned though, once you start, it is hard to stop!
I was so glad that this was also the Diva's Challenge #16 this week.  This is the first time I am submitting 3 tiles for the challenge (told you it was hard to stop-LOL).  Thanks to Rick & Maria for the new tangle and video and thanks to Laura for all the work she does on these challenges! 

Held Together By The String

I promise I won't keep talking about the accident after this post, but I did find this a little weird.  I was returning home after taking a mini-kit and the official zentangle kit down to the art studio that I am going to teach some classes at when the accident happened.  They kept the mini-kit for a table display  and the zentangle kit along with my purse were riding with me in the passenger seat.   My purse was thrown to the floor of the car and things that were in my outside purse pockets were scattered around.  The zentangle kit was ripped along the spine and was still sitting on the seat.  What amazed me, was that everything inside the kit stayed intact and was literally held together by the string! 

Of course, I have done a lot of reflecting these past couple of days and I am staying focused on the positive, because I realize that a few seconds more instead of being hit at the front tire area of my car,  it could have been the driver side door, and the injuries could have been serious. 

The zentangle kit was held together by the string, our tangles are held together by the string, and this community that Rick & Maria started is all held together by the string of blogs, websites, newsletters, tangles, etc.   I am so fortunate to be a part of this string!  

I am healing more every day (the bruises are wonderful colors now), and I want to say "Thank You" to all of you that left kind words after my last post.  It meant a lot to me. 

This week will be busy, as I try to catch up on all of your blogs, and shop for a new car!  

Love Your Curves, Baby!

Challenge #15 from our diva, Laura Harms was to tangle with only curved lines.  While it sounded easy enough (I love curvy lines) for some reason I struggled with the challenge this week. 

It could be because my nerves and muscles were thrown off balance a little this week, at least that's what I am going to blame it on.  On Wednesday, I was in a car accident at a busy intersection, where the person coming the other direction did not see the red light and ran into my car at about 35 mph.  Luckily, my guardian angel was riding with me that day and I wasn't hurt that bad, just aches & pains, bumps & bruises.  I will know for sure next week, but it appears that my car is totaled. :(

Anyway, I tried to do a couple of tangles on Thursday, and wasn't happy with the way anything was turning out.  So, I did this one today and it's not quite what I was hoping for, but decided to post it anyway. I started with the ribbon in the middle and then just let the rest happen.  I used Maria's technique of using a Sakura Gelly Roll pen on black ink in a couple of spots.  I've done tangles with white pen on black paper before, but never thought about mixing the two together.   It was a lot of fun and I look forward to trying this some more. 

Hopefully, I get my focus back once my muscles loosen up and my body heals a little more. 

Mandala/Zendala with Versa & Color

One of my tangling friends, Joni Feddersen/CZT  from South Carolina has done some beautiful & colorful mandala's that you can see on her blog at Pattern Play With Pens, under the tab,  Mandala Gallery.   She also has a tab, Mandala Templates, where she shares her templates with all of us.  I was in the process of trying out one of Joni's templates, when Laura Harms (our CZT diva from Canada, who posts the weekly zentangle challenge)  posted a mid-week unofficial challenge, to try out her new tangle pattern, Versa. Well, what perfect timing to try out a new pattern in my mandala/zendala!  I love Versa!  It has a lot of different variations and I look forward to playing with it more.  Now as for color... I have not done a lot with color (it shows) and I need to practice that a lot more!   Thanks for the templates, Joni and for the new tangle & mid-week challenge, Laura! 

I Walk The Line

Laura's challenge this week, (#14, can you believe it) is to create a tangle with only straight lines.  Not too hard to do, but definitely not my favorite thing to do.  I love curvy lines mixed in with straight lines.  My daughter, Lindsay was just showing us pictures of her trip to Chicago,  and I had a city skyline on my mind when I drew my string and just found tangles with straight lines, not very inventive, I know, but I wanted to get done early this week.  You can find the link to Laura's challenges on the right hand side of this blog-The Diva's Weekly Challenge.

Note:  I even squared off my initials, so they would be straight lines-LOL!

Garden Of Zen

Welcome to my garden of zen...come in... sit down... stay awhile. 

 Breathe, Relax, Smile!  

Guest Tangler-My Left Hand!

Well, this is my attempt at Challenge #13 from our CZT diva, Laura Harms.  The challenge this week was to complete a zentangle tile using only your non-dominant hand, which in my case is my left hand. 

I really resisted trying this one.....then I tried one on Weds night and it was so awful I didn't even want to take a picture of it or post it.  I thought I would just skip this weeks challenge, but then something was nagging at me to try again because I haven't missed a challenge yet, and I'm not a quitter, yada, yada, yada.

So, this time I went really slow...breathe...hold the pen lightly...okay it wasn't as awful as the first attempt. I did learn that when filling in the dark spaces,  if I really concentrated on holding the pen very lightly, I had a lot more control.  Everything was done left handed, the border, the string, the tangles, shading and signature on the back. 

This was the hardest challenge yet for me.  I can't say it was fun....but I did it! 

New Class Venue & Schedule for April!

I am so pleased to announce that I found a great creative art studio in downtown Loveland and I will start teaching classes there in April.  It is called Artisan You and is owned by two lovely sisters, Vida & Elisabeth.  They offer all types of classes, glass art, glass jewelry, silver jewelry, paint your own pottery, and now Zentangle!  See the class schedule tab above for the details.  My 1st class there will be Sat, April 2nd from 1:00-3:30.  Hope to see you there! 

Challenge #12 "Something Blue"

When I sat down to do this week's challenge,  I was thinking about the beautiful blue, almost turquoise, water of Jamaica.  An island where they say they have no problems, only situations.  YA MON!  It's a beautiful place, if you ever get the chance to visit, go!  Laura's (I Am The Diva) parents just returned from a vacation there.  So, this week's challenge is to do "Something Blue".  As I said, I was thinking I would do a water tangle, but I started flipping through some old tiles and I spotted, Stubs,  Sandra Strait's (aka Molossus) tangle.  I only used that one once and think it is a beautiful tangle, so before I knew it, that is what I was making and the rest just fell into place (so much for the water-LOL).  I used a Sakura glitter jelly roll pen on Stubs and used a color pencil to highlight the other tangles.  I loved having the opportunity to add a little color and will need to play with color more in the future.  Thanks again, Laura.  These challenges are a lot of fun! 

Apple Corer/Slicer Zendala's

One of the things (and there are so many more) I love about being part of this ever expanding community of zentangle artists is the daily inspiration and ideas that everyone shares.  I am a fan of Margaret Bremner's work and love all the of the mandala/zendala pieces that she created using an apple corer/slicer as a template.  See her original post here, and another post here displaying her beautiful creations! 

I am always bargain hunting for sales on picture frames (1/2 price or more off) and found a great deal on a matted one with 3 (5x7) openings.  I've been pondering what to do with it, when I remembered Margaret's apple corer template, so I gave it a try.  Margaret has a wonderful way with color on her work, and I have not done very much with color.  Since the matting was white, I used colored scrapbook paper to tangle on.  The one that appears blue in the photo, is actually a light lavender.  Thanks, Margaret for the great idea!

4 Tile Ensemble

If you want a fun and quick piece of art work, make a 4 tile ensemble.  Put 4 tiles together.  Draw your string over all of the tiles.  Individually, tangle each one without looking at the others.  When you are done, put them back together, frame them, and you have a little treasured piece of art! 

(Note: When I photographed the individual tiles yesterday, there was too much sun coming in the windows, and the color is off.  I didn't want to take the assembled pieces out of the frame to redo.  The framed piece shows the original color better.)  :)

Challenge #11 Monotangle

Once again, Laura Harms came up with another fun challenge!  You can link to her blog with the "The Diva's Weekly Challenge" button along the right side of this blog.  This week's challenge was to do a tile with one tangle pattern.  I decided to try doing a tangle that I don't use very often, Braze.  So, here is my entry for week 11.....