Sewing a Zentangle®, Strircles and an Inchie

This week, over at the Diva's, the challenge is to try using tools or materials you've never used before for tangling. I had my sewing machine out for a page I was doing for my art journal and thought, well, why not? Many of you know that my favorite tangle is Rick's Paradox, so here it is on a small (just shy of 4"x4") piece of lavender cardstock.

I added shading with a cool gray Fabrico pen. This should really be a fun week of seeing many different types of ZIA's (Zentangle Inspired Art).

For Square One on Facebook, the tangle of the week was Strircles. Not necessarily a favorite, but I had some fun doing overlapping beginning lines to make it more interesting. Then I had to add a few that had almost escaped but found themselves still attached with the string. A few black pearls slipped in as well.

And, finally, Every Inchie Monday and the word snail as a prompt. I'm so glad I don't work anymore. My daily commute on the freeway was close to two hours a day, often because the traffic was moving at a snail's pace! In case you can't tell, this is the view from the helicopter that was always flying and  reporting on yet another accident. (You can't see my car, as I am still miles behind LOL!)


And, in case you don't follow my other two blogs above, I am please to tell you that not only am I a Certified Zentangle Teacher and a Copic Certified Designer, but I recently passed all the testing to become an Accredited Spectrum Noir Colorist. I love learning and playing with all kinds of pens, pencils, paints and anything else. I'm still teaching Zentangle, but have added many other classes. This Friday, I have a class in Alcohol Inks that should be fun and the following week, we will explore water color techniques as used in art journaling. The week after that, we will explore colored pencils. How I love being retired!!!

Thanks for stopping by. I love reading your comments!

No Mistakes in Zentangle® and The Year of the Goat

The Diva is spending the day with her family today, so if you're looking for this week's challenge, do stop by again tomorrow. I will edit this post and add the challenge right on the post.

EDITED: As promised, here is the challenge from I Am the Diva.

The Year of the Goat With Betweed, Meer, and Tipple

Thursday is Chinese New Year, and in the Chinese Zodiac, 2015 is the Year of the Goat. I found that the lucky colors are brown, red, and purple, so that's what I used to do this ZIA (Zentangle Inspired Art)

The tangle for this week on the Square One Facebook group was to use Huggins. But, the very first stroke I made was in the wrong direction. We all know there are no mistakes in Zentangle, so I went with it and wound up with three cornered Cadent that I then used my Derwent Colorsoft pencils and blended with Gamsol.

Then, I did the "correct" tangle, Huggins, but I still had to add some fun to it.

And, finally, the prompt for Every Inchie Monday was "texts". Have you heard the term "anchor" texts? Well, when you type in a word and then linking it to something else as a hyperlink, it helps search engines figure out the subject matter of the linked document. For instance, if I typed beautiful colors and linked it to one of my pieces, the search engine would add that to its little brain, or at least I think so LOL!

Zentangle® a Valentangle, Well, and an Inchie

With a nod to Valentine's day, the Diva, at I am the Diva,  challenged us to do a Valentangle this week. I love playing with hearts and tangles, so this was a fun one. I grabbed a nice piece of pink paper, traced a wooden heart and filled it with Verve. Then, I added Hollibaugh and filled the insides. Simple and fun.

Square One, on Facebook, had the tangle "Well" for this week. I added Rudox, Tagh, and Zinger.

And, finally, for this week's Every Inchie Monday, the prompt was "Night". Hummm, I had to think about this one for quite some time. I finally thought of "night cream". Anyone remember the horrors of their mom's nighttime ritual? (This was so much fun. I drew the woman first and then added molding paste. Do you think she'll look younger in the morning? LOL!)

Thanks for stopping by. I truly appreciate all my visitors and love to respond to your comments.

Zentangle® Athitz, Quandary, and an Inchie

This week, over at the Diva Challenge, it is a UMT (use my tangle) week. The tangle chosen is brought to you by Eleanor Holt, and the tangle is named Athitz. This was so much fun (I always loved crosshatching) that I got carried away on my practice file card and didn't want to do a "normal" Zentangle tile after that. So, I pulled out a standard tile and played with some distress inks and spray acrylics and then used what happened as a base for a ZIA (Zentangle Inspired Art). I added Mooka and a bit of Fescu. When complete, I sprayed it all with Perfect Pearls for some glimmer.




For Square One, on Facebook, the tangle of the week was Quandary which I embellished with some Laced and some cones.

 And, finally, for Every Inchie Monday, the prompt was "kitchen". When I thought about kitchen, it brought back memories of those cold snowy days that we insisted on going out to play in. We would come home freezing, wet, and hungry. I could often see steam on the window as I was racing home knowing my mom was brewing up a huge pot of homemade chicken noodle soup. Wonderful memories.

Thanks for all your comments. I truly appreciate each one :)

Zentangle® Chebucto and Copada, Rixty and an Inchie

This week's Challenge from the Diva Challenge was to use Margaret Bremner's tangles Chebucto and Copada as a duotangle. Easier said than done! It took me three tiles because each time, I found myself adding different tangles inside the empty spaces NO, NO, not a duotangle anymore. Sigh. I will continue with those later though :)





For the Facebook group, Square One, the tangle was Rixty. I had fun letting Rixty grow into PokeRoot and PokeLeaf. I filled the insides with an aura and added some Fescu.

The prompt from Every Inchie Monday was "Talk". Well, they say "talk is cheap". Whoever said that has never seen my cell phone bill!











Thanks for stopping by and I always appreciate your comments.

Zentangle® a Moebius, Waax Challenge, and an Inchie

The Diva Challenged us to be part of Moebius Syndrome Awareness day, which is on Friday, January 24th. Her adorable son, Artoo, has this very rare disorder. Here is a link to more information. I used the Moebius Syndrome Foundation's logo as provided by Laura.







Square one tangle of the week was BB. I added Sandswirl, Sez, and Jetties.

 
Did you know that Linda has put a "link" button now whenever she introduces a new tangle on her site (TanglePatterns.com)? I have added my link for the new tangle "Waax by Ester Piszczek with a little Crescent Moon too. If you get on her mailing list, you will know when new patterns are added to this great resource.

And, finally the Every Inchie Monday prompt: Elephant. Did you know that elephants have been trained to paint? People have watched in amazement to see them doing it and have paid large sums to purchase the paintings. However, in researching this, I have found that their trainers pull on their ears to guide the brush. Not nice. But, I love elephants and like to think they can paint because it makes them happy.

Zentangle® Paradox and 'Nzeppel with an Inchie

Cheers for the Diva, who has posted 200 challenges for us! We thank her, not only for the fun challenges and learning, but for the friendships we have made along the journey.

For this challenge, #200, we were asked to use our go to or favorite tangle as a monotangle and be sure to add the year somewhere. My absolute favorite tangle is Rick's Paradox. I can add it to just about any shape too LOL! So here it is, on a Renaissance tile, with Paradox inside of Paradoxes.

Square One tangle this week was 'Nzeppel. I added some Cat-Kin and Pokeroot. Notice the 'Nzeppel inside of the Pokeroot? Think I have a problem?









 

And, finally, from Every Inchie Monday, the prompt was giraffe. I didn't want to go to afar with this one as the giraffe is my main totem. A totem, if you do not know, is an animal or thing that is believed to have spiritual significance. The giraffe, who sticks his neck out, reminds us that we all have the ability to rise up to a challenge and be graceful when doing so. I, the giraffe, love all the other giraffes in this group who boldly post something that they have created from their own heart.

Editing to acknowledge that, yes, the Diva asked for the number 200 and I, being a very poor reader of directions, turned that into the year. Oh, well, not perfect I guess :)