Diva Challenge: White on Black on Found

This week's Diva Challenge is to use a black tile or anything found black. I have some of the black Zentangle tiles but don't use them often. I find that I cannot get the white pens to be as detailed as I would like. They don't flow like the Sakura micron pens. In fact the one that worked the best for me was the Signo uniball pen. I did love, love, love the Zentangle soapstone stick for shading. I could shade all day on black with it! They seem like a hard rock but lay down a soft white misty shade of white on the black paper. It was fun but I doubt I'll be a lover of the black tiles anytime soon.

Diva Challenge #212: UMT Fanz

This week's Diva Challenge is to use a tangle created by another tangler. This tangle is by Susan Goetter and is named "Fanz." I really like this tangle and wanted to use it in a Zendala which I could also post to a Facebook group I have joined called Square One: Round One Zentangle. The Square One groups are Zentangle purists and each of their groups posts pictures which have narrow parameters and are very true to Zentangle in its truest sense. I like that since I basically have kept to the either the 3.5 x 3.5 square black and white format, or the round zendala format myself. At any rate this challenge meets the requirements for each group and was a lot of fun to do.

Two Posts in One

Last week was so crazy that while I did manage to complete the Diva Challenge #208: Duotangle: Cubine vs. Pokeroot I had no time to post. The next week came and with it a new Diva Challenge #209: St. Patty's, Going Green. So before this week slips by me I am posting both challenge's together. Quickly!

Diva Challenge #206: Tools/Trade

This week's Diva Challenge was to use some new tool or method to create our Zentangle. I chose to color a Zendala with a set of 12 Koi watercolor brush pens which I acquired some time ago. My go to color method is usually Prismacolor pencil. The markers color palette was more limited and the colors brighter. However, I was pleased with the effect which the brush pens produced and like the bright springy feel of the piece. I think I'll be playing with them more in the future.

Diva Challenge #204: Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

Diva Challenge #203: UMT Athitzi by Eleanor Holt

This weeks Diva challenge is to use a tangle called Athitzi. I made two tangles. The first one I used only Athitzi. I was not entirely pleased with the results and decided to add color to enhance the tangle. The second one I used with other patterns and designs which seemed to enhance Athitzi. I used it in a spiral design which seems to work well with this tangle.

Diva Challenge #202: Duo Tangle - Chebucto vs Copada

This weeks' Diva Challenge was to use two tangles in one tile. They are Chebucto and Copada and both are patterns created by CZT Margaret Bremner. Both tangles were a bit challenging on their own though by far I consider Chebucto the hardest of the two. The step outs for both tangle can be found by clicking on the name of each tangle. Here are two Zentangles in answer to this challenge.

Diva Challenge #200: Bi-Zen-tennial

Congratulations to "the Diva" Laura Harms on the posting of her 200th Zentangle Challenge for us to enjoy! The challenge instructions this week are for us to use our "go to" or "mac n'cheese" tangle, to omit the border and to include the number 200 anywhere in the tangle. This challenge could easily be entitled comfort. Comfort is a noun which can mean "a state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint.

The art of Zentangle itself is the embodiment of comfort. Practicing drawing patterns puts us in the "comfort zone". We relax, unwind, are at ease. There is a freedom in putting together patterns which are easy to draw and drawing on our "go to" tangle makes this challenge especially relaxing. I chose

the tangle "Inapod," though I often change the basic tangle to fit my own needs. It pops up quite frequently in my drawing and like a familiar friend is easy on my mind. 

Diva Challenge #196

This week's challenge from "the diva" is from guest challenger Emily Classen and was entitled "All Dolled Up." I must admit I was not thrilled about this one. I looked at many of the submissions from other Zentangle artists and there were many clever and amazing posts! There were dancing dolls, doll dresses, doll patterns, zendala dolls, rag dolls and angels. Many wonderful and inspiring answers to this challenge and I was still not thrilled. Even so I was determined to rise to the challenge and so I present "All Dolled Up and No Place to Go.

Small Business Saturday, November 29th

In recent years American Express has generously sponsored a movement know as Small Business Saturday. Local hometown businesses may sign up and join for which they receive promotional materials to support the event, placement on an online map of supporting business and ideas to encourage people to "Shop Small" on November 29th.

On their website there are ways to show your support for Small Business Saturday (click to learn more) such as by promising to shop small and posting on facebook, and showing you will be there by taking a picture at the businesses and sharing it at #shopsmall.

Show your support for your hometown this Saturday. Look for the signs in the windows, the shop small mats at the front doors and get your free canvas tote at participating businesses in Benson!

Diva Challenge #195

The Diva guest challenge this week asked us to take our favorite tangle and use it in the opposite way in which we might normally. If the tangle was typically used in a grid, then we were to use it in a free form way. If it was a free form tangle we were to use it in a grid. The tangle I chose was one which I use frequently and is basically of my own design. It is similar to other patterns I have seen but one I have been using for a few years which I based on a seashell type of design. I call it Shelz and I generally use it to fill large spaces in a free form manner. This Zentangle uses it in  grid pattern. Because the tangle is very open and plain it benefits from the extra use of color and makes the tangle a bit more fun. I must say that sometimes I can get into a rut with a pattern I like a lot and this challenge will make me think of using many tangles in a different way. I was impressed by the samples that Sandy Hunter did for us. I really liked the look many of the familiar tangles had when used in this new way.

Diva Challenge.

Webster's defines the word used as a noun as a "call to take part in a contest or competition, especially a duel, as in 'he accepted the challenge'. Synonyms: dare, provocation, summons." When used as a verb it can be defined as "invite (someone) to engage in a contest, as in 'he challenged one of my men to a duel'." There are other meanings but for the sake of this post these are the two definitions with which I am concerned.

Sometime ago when I first discovered the art of Zentangle I also discovered a blog called "I am the diva" by Laura Harms. Laura is a Certified Zentangle Instructor and on her blog she challenges us weekly to participate in a Zentangle drawing in which she provides the guidelines and a means for us to all post and enjoy each others tangles. The link to her site is on the right side of this blog.

Since renewing my blog posting last week I have decided to once again take up the gauntlet and accept the challenge of a weekly Zentangle. The real challenge for me will be sticking to it and actually getting it posted each week. Today I have succeeded.

This week's challenge was a guest challenge by Holly Atwater, CZT to create a Tritangle, a tangle using three specific patterns. They are Trio, Huggins, and Xyp. I always seem to have the hardest time with Huggins. I love the pattern but don't use it often because it confuses me when I try to draw it. Be that as it may I am posting anyway! Challenge met.

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Change.

Well it isn't the new year but one can not always wait for January to make a resolution for change. November seems to be just as good a time for new beginnings. Maybe its the change of the season from a busy summer of activity to a slower pace in which there is room for reflection on the last years changes. As for myself there were many.

Last year on November 1st I set out to lose 35 pounds. I succeeded by February and have successfully maintained that weight loss for a year now. In February I met someone new who would by June become an important relationship in my life. My youngest son moved out on his own and my oldest got engaged. And at the end of this year my parents and I will be closing the larger studio know as Swift Weavers in Benson.

Change is inevitable and sometimes bittersweet. When I opened Swift Weavers in 2008 it seemed to be a blessed endeavor, I called it a "God thing." All the pieces fell into place effortlessly. When my Mom and Dad moved to Benson I taught  my father to weave and he began to assist me at the shop. We managed to stay afloat but some circumstances in my life demanded that I return to work full time to support my family. My Dad continued to maintain the shop, handling a large  part of the weaving and the day to day operation. As a person who needs something to do I believe it gave him purpose. I look back now and see that Swift Weavers was not in God's plan for me but for my father. Who knew?

I'd like to thank my Dad and Mom for faithfully keeping the doors of Swift Weavers open for the last 3 years. And while we will be closing the main studio this January we will be retaining a small yarn section in Bugs and Flowers and continue meeting on Tuesday afternoon with the knitters. As for the future I would like to return to blogging on a regular basis, continuing to weave at home this winter and establishing more of an online presence for Swift Weavers.

Thanks to everyone for all their patronage and support for the last six years. It has been a privilege to have met and served you all!

Zentangle Challenge - Pendrills

This week's zentangle challenge involved using the new tangle, called Pendrills, which Rick and Maria just unveiled in their newsletter. You can read all about here.

I just love this tangle. It so organic and flows so easily. I love the feel of the grapevines from which it was inspired but it also remind me of netting. I think we will all have a lot of fun with this one. I know I did.

Zentangle Challenge - Fairyland

Once upon a time I was an avid reader of fairy tales. I would wander the library in search of all things magical and extraordinary. I read fairy tale stories of every color. The Blue Fairy Book, the Red Fairy Book etc. Do you know you can download the whole spectrum (all 12) as e-books for virtually free. They are classics. As are their themes. Good vs. evil. It never gets old and it is never not true.

In fairyland good always triumphs over evil. Not always so here in the real world. But the lessons we learned in those stores apply here as well. Hereos never give up and tomorrow is another day. Giants are meant to be faced down and overcome. A handful of fast friends and family will see us through the journey. There is a higher power watching over us. Beauty is all around us and yes, there really is a happily ever after.

Zentangle Challenge - Initialize

This weeks challenge at the Diva blog was a guest challenge by Christina Vandervlist. She is expanding on the string theory by asking us to use our initials as a string. This challenge was a lot of fun. I had a little trouble getting a D and a T to work well together. One is so fat, and the other so thin but I finally came up with something with which I was happy.

I think the idea of initials or monograms could make nice personalized cards or t-shirts. Here is one I had made previously based on the letters of our high school here in Benson. BHS - Benson High School.

Happy Tangling!

Zentangle Challenge - Creative Genesis

Guest challenger Sue Jacobs, CZT has expanded once again on the string theory challenge. And rightly so since drawing a fresh, new string for each tangle can be a challenge in itself. I read that the inspiration for the "string" in drawing a Zentangle is just that. If you held a string in your hand and dropped it on your tile and drew the lines in with pencil you would have a design to start your tangle off. And so Sue's challenge is to tie a weight to a string, drop the string onto your tile and trace the resulting lines onto the tile. Surprisingly this seems to generate a lot of "strings" which look like the ones I draw for myself. Very loopy. However, the challenge has a nice randomness about it and was fun to do.

Rain, Rain, Gone Away

This picture pretty much sums up how I feel now that the sun is out and the rain has stopped. Here's hoping it will be a long running weather trend, like for the rest of what is left of summer!

However, rainy days serve their purpose, and when it poured this past weekend I took the opportunity to clean house and sew, neither of which I confess I am inclined to do too often. However, these little fabric postcards were such fun I may be at my sewing machine awhile yet.

Three events facilitated the making of these little art cards. First, a good friend had recently donated a couple of boxes of upholstery samples to me and I have been looking for a way to use them since. Second, I received the new issue of Cloth, Paper and Scissors, a mixed media magazine full of fun and inpiration. It was all about fabric and sewing, with a couple of cool projects I want to try. And thirdly, a discussion arose with another friend on printing photos onto fabric. I have been wanting to try a few products and methods for this because I was always dissatisfied with the iron on transfers of old.

Put all this together and you have a recipe for fabric postcards.

Fabric postcards were begun by quilters as small mini-quilt projects. They are fun to make and, yes, they are mailable. You can find detailed directions and techniques here. The minimum card and letter size for US Postal Service mailings is 3-1/2" x 5". Most fabric postcards made measure 4" x 6" and can be mailed using one self-adhesive first class stamp. Keep fabric postcards 1/8" or less thick to stay within weight limits; cards over 1/4" thick require an extra fee for their depth and will weigh more. You can make cards that are larger and heavier, but postage will be higher.

Depending on the fabric and the backing used you may need a filler layer for sturdiness. One of the reasons I love using the upholstery samples is that they are thick and sturdy in and of themselves. I cut them out as 4"x6" rectangles, sew on collaged layers of fabrics and ribbons, sew on a picture printed or stamped on fabric, and tightly zig zag the whole piece to a Tyvek backing. Tyvek is strong, can be altered by painting or drawing, is easily written or printed onto, and is sewable.You can find templates for postcard backs or real vintage postcard back images free on the internet.
You are only limited in your creativity by your craft stash and your imagination!

Zentangle Challenge - Zendala

I have always loved mandalas. They remind me of kaliedescopes in a way and I have always been fascinated by the ever-changing designs of those magical devices. I had seen the tangled mandalas or "Zendalas" on flickr and other sites but had yet to try one. So this challenge seemed like just the time to try my hand at one and the bonus was I didn't even have to come up with my own zendala string. Yea!
I am posting two versions - one the traditional black and white and another in color. I actually did the color version first, the zendala just seemed to lend itself to color especially well. Back to that love of kaliediscopes I imagine. The tricky thing for me was to not just keep repeating the same things over and over as I moved around the circle. I tried to mix it up a bit as I moved away from the center. I found if I broke the spaces up smaller and smaller then things were more interesting.
Another thing I did not do this challenge is view any other zendalas before I tackled my own. Often I am so excited by a new challenge and the fact that many other tangler's out there post so quickly that I jump right in and look at the "early bird" posts. I resisted this time so that I would be working on my own Zendalas with no outside influence or ideas. So after posting tonight I am off to the Diva's blog to see all the wonderful work by so many other talented tanglers!
Here is the link to the mandala template from Genevieve Crabe, who was the guest tangle challenger this week at the Diva's blog. It was easy to download and I printed it out directly to cardstock which I then drew on right away. I would love to do more of the Zendala's and am open to any suggestions on ways to make the "string." One good idea I have seen is to use an apple corer as a template maker. This kitchen tool has possiblities! Any other good ideas out there?

The Mail

Checking our mailbox in America has become a singularly boring and depressing experience. Letters and cards from loved ones have turned into emails and facebook posts, packages have become our own internet purchases and there are virtually no surprises in store. Most of what shows up in my mailbox are bills, junkmail and letters from the school. The United States Post Office is floundering in the wake of electronic communication and online billpay.
There is, however, an answer. Mail art! There is nothing I love more than the expectation of art coming in the mail. Many artists and groups online participate in mail art swaps. Not only do you get a little piece of someone else's art, get to interact with people all over the world, but you can once again look forward to your mail! If you have not joined a swap group online I highly recommend it. It helps me to focus by giving me a specific assignment and goal, keeps me on task through mail deadlines, enables me to try new techniques and projects and gives me a look at others people's creative ideas. It reminds me a lot of  being  back in the classroom without all the stress of grades, criticism, and failures.
You can find many online art groups through Yahoo. There are also online websites dedicated to mail art. Two of my favorites are Red Lead Swap Sisters on Yahoo and artfortytwo.org. The swaps are varied in project and media. I have swapped everything from dottee dolls to artist trading cards (the most popular art swap). People swap craft supplies, cards, paper dolls, art dolls, chuncky pages, inches, twinchies, mini albums, mini zines, altered books, tag art, envies and ATC's. If any of these terms are Greek to you then jump into the wonderful workl of mail ar. So be creative, support your local post office and for goodness sake begin to look forward to your mail again