DIVA Challenge #134: BEAMZ

Another 1st of the month is the UMT (use my tangle) time at the DIVA's challenge! This week we are trying out the tangle, BEAMZ by Traci F.  I used Tangle Patterns string #54.  I have never used this tangle before, but found it kind of fun to just start drawing lines and boxes in each section of my tile, turning them every which way and varying the sizes.  Then I filled in some of the boxes and around the boxes with other tangles.  I may have lost Beamz in the process, but that's the fun of zentangle...no planning and just let it unfold before your eyes! 

Fish's Pub

My brother, Steve lives in Wisconsin and has a really cool little bar, pool table, darts, and hang-out area in his basement. He DJ's on the side, and his sound system is great!  Our last name being Fischer, we all had the nickname Fish at one time or another while we were growing up.  The ceiling going down the steps has a slant to it and he asked me if I could make some kind of Zentangle poster.  Instead of a poster, I decided to use wood letters that were already painted white and had what I thought was a neat design to them.  I found them at Hobby Lobby.  I then found a beer mug shape online and my husband, Doug cut it out for me in wood.  I painted and tangled it along with all the letters (I used a Sakura IdentiPen). On our trip there, early in August, we hung it up.  I was really happy with how it turned out, and so was Steve! 

He also has this piece hanging behind the bar that I made him in 2010, shortly after I got out of CZT class.  Love spreading the zentangle joy with my family!

Dream Catcher

I love making gifts for people that are special to me.  This ZIA (zentangle inspired art) piece is one I made for my sister, Priscilla .  She has always loved Native American Art and has some wonderful pieces in her home....painting, pottery, plates, you name it.  So I thought she would love a tangled dream catcher.  I tried some new techniques for me...a watercolor wash on the paper for the background and some watercolor pencils for color and shading, and I was really pleased with how they came out.  The rest is standard tangling with a couple of different color pens and white charcoal pencil for some of the highlights. I framed it in a beautiful frame that complemented the colors.  I made this several months ago and really wanted to tell her about it, but kept it a surprise until earlier this month when we drove to Wisconsin and was able to give it to her.  I know she loved it because she took down one of her beautiful pictures and replaced it with mine in her family room! 

 

P.S.  It looks so much better in person then the photo I took!  Stay tuned for my brother, Steve's gift coming soon. 

DIVA Challenge #133 Tipple

This week's challenge from the DIVA is to use the tangle Tipple in your tile.  I love Tipple and I teach it in every beginning Zentangle class.  Tipple is a really versatile tangle that fits in so many places.  I decided to do my tile using Flux & Betweed because they are two of my favorite tangles to put Tipple around. 

Zentangle Lesson With My Nephews & Sister-In-Law

On our recent trip to Wisconsin I had the opportunity to have a Zentangle lesson with my sister-in-law, Rhonda and three nephews, Owen (age 8), Evan (age 7), and Ian (age 5).  I gave them the book, "Zentangle For Kidz" by Sandy Steen Bartholomew, some apprentice tiles, pencils, blending stumps, and two pens...the Apprentice pen and the Sensei pen.  I love both of these pens, but I wanted to see which one they liked.  They all liked the Sensei pen the best because it is just a little bigger and easier for them to hold.  It was so much fun to share the art of Zentangle with them!



HARD AT WORK

AWESOME TILES



EVAN AND OWEN



IAN

EVAN IS ALL SMILES WHILE RHONDA AND OWEN COMPLETE THEIR TILES



Aren't they just the cutest little guys, and their zentangle tiles were awesome!  They also ran and got the tiles I made for them last year with each of their initials on them that they keep in their rooms. :)



This week, after we were home, I got a surprise email from Rhonda & Evan (my godchild). They sent me pictures of the tiles they made for me with my initial!  How sweet is that!!!  Once again, they did awesome work!

Thank you for such a great surprise! Love you all & miss you so much!!! Aunt Sue

DIVA challnege #132 Non Dominant Hand/Bales

This week the DIVA challenge is to do a monotangle of Bales, but the catch is to do it with our non-dominant hand.  For me, that's my left hand.  I learn something new each time I try tangling with my non-dominant hand.  The first and most important thing is to go really, really, really slow.  It takes a long time to complete what would be a simple tile with my right hand, but with the left that's another story.  I also discovered that if I hold my hand on the pen down close to the nip, I have a lot better control.  The size of the nib made a difference too.  The dark color was done with a Micron 05 and was easier to work with than the 01 pens for my left hand.  If you look close you will see all the shaky lines and the shading did help hide them, but the shading with my left hand leaves a lot to be desired too.  All in all, it's a fun exercise in learning to slow down and concentrate on making one line at a time! 

 

 

DIVA challenge #131 DEX Monotangle

Another DIVA challenge that I am catching up on!  This one is to do a monotangle of DEX. 

Diva Challenge #130 UMT: Henna Drum

I have been gone for a couple of weeks visiting my family in Wisconsin.  We attended a wonderful family reunion with about 70 people (aunts, uncles, & cousins) that I haven't seen in years, a 60th jubilee celebration for my Aunt Agnes (60 years of service as a catholic nun), and lots of great times with my brothers, sisters, nieces & nephews.  Now that I am back home, it's time to catch up on the DIVA challenges that I missed!

Shading

When I teach zentangle classes, I always encourage my students to shade their tiles.  I also let them know that shading does take practice and the more you do the more confident you get.  It makes such a difference to the finished tile and adds so much contrast and interest.  I remember Maria Thomas telling us in  CZT class that some tangles will literally jump of the page with just a little shading, and that is so true!  The one thing I see beginner's doing (and I was guilty of this too) is not putting enough graphite on the tile.  In other words, when you look at the tile, you can barely see that it is shaded at all.  It's good to start out lightly, but when you like the look, try adding more graphite for a darker shaded area and see what a difference it makes.  The one think you want to be careful of is covering your whole tile in gray, because you still want to have the contrast between the light and darker areas.  One other way to tell if shading makes a difference in your work is to take a picture of your tile or ZIA prior to shading and then one after and you should see a noticeable difference.  I am not an expert in shading, but I think I am improving all the time with practice.  Here is a 5x7 ZIA before and after shading pictures.  Notice how much more dimension the shaded piece has.

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In my classes I also recommend the book Made in the Shade, by  CZT, Cris Letourneau.  This is a great workbook that is full of wonderful information on everything to do with shading zentangles.  Cris covers in depth, getting to know your tools, shading simple shapes, shading tangles, shading ZIA, and shares some new tangle patterns.  The workbook is set up for you to practice what you learn every step of the way with examples to fill in right in the book.  At the end there are a lot of samples for you to practice shading from a lot of CZT's and artists.  So if you want to get more in depth practice with shading check out Cris Letourneau's book at this link to her blog.

 

As Rick & Maria from Zentangle Inc. say, "Not everything in life is black and white, but all shades in between". 

 

(Note:  If you made it to the bottom of this post and know how to show pictures side by side in Blogger, let me know.  They are side by side when I am writing my post, but not when it is published????  Thanks) 

Diva Challenge #129/Tangle Patterns String #4

This week at the DIVA's challenge, Laura has us trying out another of the growing string collection from www.tanglepatterns.com.  This challenge is to use string #4.  I added an additional challenge for myself and used only tangle patterns I never tried before.  I went on to tangle patterns.com and randomly hit the letter "D" and found so many that I never tried that I used all tangles starting with that letter.  



Tangles:  Diamond Drops, Dugwud, Dyzzee, Dooleedo, Dancet

Diva Challenge #128 Two Pencil String

This week over at the DIVA challenge, Laura has brought back a challenge we did a long time ago, but one that I love...the two pencil string.  If you haven't tried this yet, it's a lot of fun.  Take 2 pencils and put the together with a rubber band and draw your string.  In the first one, I made a very simple string and used 3 different shades of brown/sepia Micron pens.  I had to do another because I love the ribbon effect you can get with this two pencil string.  Thanks, Laura!

 

 

 

Organized

I finally did it....I got my DIVA challenges organized!  Normally, I am an organization freak, so I am surprised that it took me this long to get it together....127 challenges later. Ah,  maybe retirement has mellowed me out some!  Awhile back I bought some of the plastic sleeves made especially for Zentangle tiles from cropstop.com and I had put some of my DIVA challenge tiles in with other tiles I had done off and on.  I also had a stack of challenge tiles in the kitchen after photographing them for my blog, and some more downstairs in my classroom on display.

I decided it was time they had a binder of their own!  With the help of my blog, I started way back at the beginning December of 2010...really, I have been doing this challenge for 2 1/2 years!  Some of my tiles had the challenge name on the back but not the number, or vice-versa, or worse yet some had neither.  That's where the DIVA's blog came in handy because she has them all numbered and named on tabs on the top of her home page.  Unfortunately, a few of the actual tiles were lost, and some were gone because I mailed them to the guess authors of the challenge, but I had them on my blog, so I was able to take and resize the pictures, print, and put them in my new binder.  Also, some of the challenges I did on the round zendala tiles, which are too big to fit in the plastic sleeves, so I printed pictures of those too and put the pictures in the sleeves.  The actual round zendala's I put in the front pocket of the binder (hopefully there will be sleeves for them someday).  The plastic sleeves hold 12 tiles (front & back) and have a little area off to the right that I used to write the number and name of the challenge. On some challenges I did 2-3 tiles. 

It will now be easy to just add the tiles to my new binder each week, and I can display it at classes.  It's a fun way to look back at your work and to see how much you've done.  I love my new binder!








Diva Challenge #127 Duo Tangle/Cirquital & Opus

Our challenge this week from The DIVA is a duo tangle (only 2) Cirquital & Opus. I love the duo tangle challenges because often they are 2 tangles that you wouldn't normally use together, or don't use often.  Cirquital is one that I don't use often, but I really like it and need to keep in mind for those rounded strings.  Opus is one of my favorites (or at least the variation of Opus) and I use it a lot because it goes with everything.

 

I subscribe to the free emails from Zen Habits and find they are always full of great information.  I really liked this this one so I am sharing it with you.....enjoy! 

zen habits: 6 Steps To Being More Creative

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6 Steps To Being More Creative Posted: 07 Jun 2013 08:00 AM PDT Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Marc Lesser, CEO of SIYLI, Zen priest, and author of Know Yourself, Forget Yourself. For most of my life I did not think of myself as creative at all. Then, many years ago, I started a greeting card company, despite that I had rarely purchased or sent greetings cards. My motivation was combining business with taking care of the environment, by making products from recycled paper. I found myself in a role where I needed to be very creative – in developing new products as well as how to distribute products. I also found that the act of leadership – my perspective about my role and the company’s strategy required tremendous creativity. Creativity is important for many reasons. It is a path and process for not getting stuck in old habits and ineffective ways of seeing yourself and the world. Creativity can help with problem solving, with creating healthier relationships, and with having a healthier and happier life. What I learned is that creativity isn’t something that you have or don’t have. It is something that you can nurture and develop. Most importantly, creativity can be a practice. This is especially true for me in my current role (as the CEO of the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute) of helping business leaders to be both more effective and happy. Here are the 6 steps that I began using, and find I’m using every day, not only in my work but especially in my relationships and my life outside of work These practices can be used to support the changing of habits and creating new habits. I’d suggest making the practice of creativity a habit that can support other habits. Here are some guidelines: Believe in your creativity – This is the first practice and probably most important. You might begin by thinking about or writing down three creative things you’ve done – something you have written or said or completed. Notice an area in which you feel creative; perhaps cooking, drawing, fixing things, gardening. Creativity can show itself in lots of small ways, such as the gifts we give, or the clothes we wear, or how we set the table. Just begin noticing and recognizing your own creativity. Know your voice of judgment – Everyone I’ve ever known has an inner judge. It can be difficult to accept that having an inner critic is part of the human condition. The good news is that this inner voice just wants to protect us and keep us safe, and that you don’t need to be stuck with or thrown by these inner voices. Knowing this, try relaxing your inner judge. Give it a name. Be playful. Experiment. Despite your judgments, you have the ability to be creative. Pay attention to details – By entering into the practice of creativity, you can begin to notice more of the details of everyday life. By paying more attention to details, you can become more present; your world can become more alive. It is in this presence and aliveness that creativity takes place. When you put your shoes on, which shoe do you put on first? What’s the color of your front door? How many emails do you receive and send each day? Or play with giving things different names. Look at a paper clip or a strawberry, as though seeing them for the first time. What might you call them? These types of details and experiments can open doors to seeing the world differently. Ask dumb questions – Our desire to look good and smart can get in the way of creativity. Instead, ask questions, especially those that may seem obvious, or even dumb. Risk looking awkward. Be curious about your feelings and your motivations. Let yourself wonder how things work and why you and others talk and act the way you do. Let go of the need to look good, and allow yourself to be curious and at times awkward. This is another door to creativity. There are no dumb questions. Practice Mindfulness – Mindfulness is a fancy word for paying attention and for being in the present moment – not ruminating about the past, nor worrying about the future. Mindfulness is a simple and powerful practice. Of course, reviewing the past and preparing for the future are important. And, being creative, happens in this moment. The practice of mindfulness is to over and over notice when your mind is wandering and to bring your attention back to the present. In this way we build our capacity for presence, and for creativity. Mindfulness can also mean to allow your attention to open, to consciously not focus on any one thing. This space, of intentionally expanding your attention can be a creative process. Embrace Paradox – It seems that nearly everything about being a human being is a paradox. In my own life, I’m an introvert and I enjoy speaking in front of groups; I can be indecisive and make decisions quickly; I’m confident and vulnerable. What are some of your paradoxes? Instead of ignoring or pushing these contradictions away, try acknowledging them, and embracing them. An example of a paradox I find myself embracing and practicing with is – fight for change and accept what is. These appear to be completely opposed, yet, the starting point for changing habits is to notice the habits that we actually have. Being more creative is a practice, a habit, and a process. A good way to begin is to notice how creative babies and young children are. Just the act of crawling, walking, and exploring can be enormously creative. Creativity is easy – just let yourself be more childlike, curious, open, and start by exploring any of the six practices I’ve outlined. Marc Lesser is author of Know Yourself, Forget Yourself: Five Truths To Transform Your Work, Relationships, and Everyday Life. He is the CEO of the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (SIYLI) and leads a weekly meditation group in Mill Valley.

Diva Challenge #126/Stencil Fun

This week's challenge from the DIVA is to dig through your stencil stash and try tangling with the stencil as your sting.  I have some stencils made just for tangling zendala's on a regular size tiles, and on the 4 1/2" round tiles that I hadn't tried yet.  These stencils are made by Julie Evans, CZT in Hawaii.  They come in packs of 5 really neat designs and you can find them here at her ETSY shop.  Thanks, Laura for the challenge which gave me the opportunity to try them out.  Thanks, Julie your stencils are great!

Diva Challenge #125: UMT/Birdie Feet

This week we are using a tangle called Birdie Feet, by Owl Loving April.  You can find the challenge and the link to this tangle here at the I Am The Diva Blog.  I tried one little section with different size birdie feet going all different ways, and another section with them going in the opposite directions and an aura (sort of) around the inside of them. 



TANGLES:  Birdie Feet, Yew-Dee, Angel Fish, and Pais

Zendala Dare #62

It's always a happy day when I get to participate in a Zendala Dare over at The Bright Owl's blog!  Thanks, Erin for always being there with your great templates!

Diva Challenge #124: Calgary

To keep Calgary and the people there in our hearts this week as they deal with the results of flooding, Laura Harms writes:

This week's challenge is an open challenge - i only ask that you keep Calgary in your hearts this week, and any part of the Earth where people are dealing with incredible struggles and tragedy.

It truly is heartbreaking to see people dealing with incredible tragedy everywhere around our wonderful earth.  Here in Colorado, it's yet another summer of terrible wildfires where so many have lost homes and all their belongings. 

It's nice to have a challenge where we can meditate on sending good thoughts and love to everyone dealing with tragedy through our tangling.  Thanks, Laura! 




I started with one Mooka heart in the corner,
and it grew to three.  Then added Opus and another unplanned heart
showed up.  Crescent Moon for the center and
a little Poke Leaf. 

Diva Challenge #123 "Is it a Zentangle?"

This week we had a guest challenger over at the DIVA's blog.  CZT, Maria Vennekens came up with quite the challenge.....

The challenge for this week is: can you do a Zentangle without  using existing patterns or tangeleations* of them? And what are your experiences while doing so?

I read, and re-read the challenge on Monday and then went on packing for a camping trip I was going on with my husband.  At that point, I wasn't even sure if I would do the challenge because I thought, what was the point in doing a zentangle tile without using existing patterns.  Isn't that what I love about the zentangle method of art?  No thinking, planning, or sketching involved... just tangle and let the beauty unfold before you. 

We left Tues morning for our trip and of course I took my zentangle supplies in case I had time to get to the challenge and because I like to always have them with me.  This was just a short trip, 2 nights and 3 days, and back home Thursday afternoon. Well, on Weds afternoon my husband was going to go fishing, and although I enjoy that too, I stayed behind to tangle.  As I pondered what to do with this unique challenge, I did a zendala tile with existing patterns and then decided to take a walk with my camera for inspiration.  Here is what I found....

 

Here is the my tile based on this inspiration.....

 

I did not sketch, but drew these images as if they were tangle patterns.  Not sure if they exist as patterns, but I may to write up the steps and make them patterns (what do you think?). 
It looks like a zentangle tile to me, but I have to agree with Maria that you lose the zen part of zentangle by all the thinking and planning involved. 

I am looking forward to seeing what everyone else has done with this challenge.  Laura, you were right...this was a doozy of a challenge!


Here's a few pictures of our camping trip, just for fun!

 

A moose on our way to the campground

 

We've been camping in this pop-up for almost 20 years now (since the kids were little

Nothing like brauts over the campfire coals

 

 

Lots of hummingbirds to enjoy!

This guy showed up about 20 feet from our campsite.
What a beautiful moose and what a treat!

 





DIVA Challenge #122/Grid Unlocked

Another fun challenge from The Diva this week!  Rick and Maria announced in their latest newsletter a new way to draw a "grid" pattern tangle, and that is to do one block at a time and let the pattern develop.  You can do this by completing one whole block and moving on to the next, or by making the same stroke in each block until all of them are completed.  Maria came up with a chart of possibilities that they call "grid seeds", or of course you can make your own.   On my tile I used D5 in the upper left hand corner (which came out looking like Bales), C3 in the lower left hand corner, my own seed on the bottom, G1 on the right (with a weird little decoration since there are no mistakes in Zentangle), and J1 on the circle arch.  This is a fun new way to work a grid pattern and let the finish surprise you!  Thanks, Rick & Maria for always inspiring us with new techniques!  Thanks, Laura for giving us the opportunity to try new things every week!

Teen Class in Greeley

I was invited to share the Zentangle method of art with a group of teens at the Lincoln Park Library in Greeley as part of their summer reading program yesterday.  We had 9 teens and their wonderful librarian, Stephanie in the class (not all of them wanted to be photographed).  It was a fun class and a great way to escape the 98 degree heat.  So happy to welcome 10 more Zentangle artists into our tangled world!

Thanks, Stephanie & teens!

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Their awesome 1st tile:  Crescent Moon, Hollibaugh, Static & Printemps
(I forgot to photograph their 2nd tile, but they were awesome too!)

Diva Challenge #121 UMT: Birds on a Wire

It always surprises me when another UMT (use my tangle) appears on the DIVA challenge because that means another month has flown by.  I was just talking with a friend yesterday about how the summer is filling up with plans already and that it's sure to go by way too fast, as it always does.  This week we are trying a tangle from CZT, Mary Kissel called Bird on a Wire.  This is a very versatile tangle that can look lovely going both ways in the same line and around in a circle.   Thanks for sharing your tangle, Mary and thanks Laura for this feature of your weekly challenges!  I would miss so many great tangles without it. 

Listen while you tangle

What do you listen to while you tangle? 

I have been a long time fan of books on spiritual teaching's. Two of my favorite authors and teachers are Dr. Wayne Dyer and Eckhart Tolle.    I have read a lot of books by Dr. Wayne Dyer, since the 70's.  In the last couple of years I have discovered the wisdom of Eckhart Tolle in The Power of Now and A New Earth.  Within the past year, my sister and I were once again discussing The Power of Now when she asked me if I had listened to it yet.  She told me I would get so much more out of listening to both of Eckhart Tolle's books versus reading them, but I love to read, to actually hold the book in my hands, and I still have a hard time reading books on my iPad (unless I am traveling and have to pack lightly).  So, I thought I would give it a try, and what better time to listen to a book, then when tangling.  Oh my, was she right!  There is something about hearing the voice of the author who wrote the words come to life in your ears.  It's also great to be able to rewind and play back parts you want to listen to again, and again, and sometimes a third or fourth time.  I have now listened to The Power of Now (3 times) and A New Earth once.  I get something new out of them each time.  In April, my sister attended a writing seminar (she has always wanted to write a book) in Denver where she met Dr. Dyer.  She bought a 2 disc CD there called "The Importance of Being Extraordinary", by Dr. Dyer and Eckhart Tolle.  This is a great CD set in which you feel like you are sitting down to a cup of coffee with two very insightful spiritual teachers of our time.  The more books I read (and listen too) I find the common theme is that Zen is presence,  and if we can learn how to live fully in the present moment we can live an extraordinary life. So, if you are looking for something good to listen to while tangling, I would not hesitate to recommend any of the above.  

If you are still with me, here's is what I tangled while listening to this 2 disc CD....

PHOTO UNAVAILABLE

P.S.  Of course there will still be a lot of days when I listen to music of all kinds, and whatever suits my mood for the day..... and some days I like complete silence.  It is nice to now have the option of listening to a book of my choice too...thanks, sis! 

Diva Challenge #120 Tangleation Nation-Bales

This week's challenge from the DIVA is to use one tangle, Bales.  Bales, is a wonderful tangle and one I still teach in my beginning classes.  There is so much you can do with this tangle and I look forward to seeing everyone's work this week.  I couldn't stop at one....

Challenge #119 Ebony & Ivory

This week the DIVA has us doing a tile with equal parts black and white (ebony & ivory).  When the challenge came out, I knew I wouldn't be able to get to it until later in the week due to appts, etc.  So, as the week went on I thought about how I was going to do this challenge....use tangles that had a nice balance of black and white, or use both a black and white pen.  I will admit, I am not crazy about how my work with the white gelly roll pens looks on the black tiles, but it has been awhile so I thought it was time to try again.  I even broke out a new pen to see if that would help!  I remembered Maria's words of wisdom...use a lighter touch then with the Micron's, or just tickle the paper.  It's true the pens work better when you do that, but that technique can be hard to get down for the heavy handed, like me.  I will have the opportunity to try this more, since I just got my new Black Zendala set in the mail yesterday!  Here is my contribution for this challenge:

I started by drawing some overlapping circles on my tile, and then filled in opposite shapes in black.  Then I used a Micron for the white area's and a white gelly roll pen on the black area's, and added a string of white and black pearls around it with some beadlines.  I shaded with a gray Fabrico dual tip marker. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, and safe travels if you are going out of town.  My husband and I are babysitting our "grand-dog" while my daughter and her fiancé go to Nebraska for a HS graduation of his sister's.  Nate is a one year old Basset Hound....don't you just love those ears!