Shaking off the dust...

Hi friends!
It's been a long time. I loved blogging and keeping track of what I was doing, what I was learning and trying and I think I just kind of backburnered it for a bit.
I'm back.

I've been working on things daily still.. I'm still a firm believer that that is how you grow, in art, in life, in everything. Just do it.
Nike should totally hire me lol


I'm looking to get back to more behind the scenes sharing of what I'm doing and some tutorial and other fun things like that.
I have had a LOT on my plate, I realize I'm technically running 4 businesses right now and that's a LOT but they all fall under the same umbrella and I'm looking to smoosh them all in and share them with you.


I'm about to jump in and do some Zentangle work in my journal. I'll be sure and share that as I go!

So... break out your pens, your pencils, your paints and let's make some stuff ok?

Moonlight and Zen....

One of my favorite effects in Zentangle is the glow of white on black. It's the basis of my Moonlight and Zen class.

I know I SHOULD have a set class format that I use for each class, but I often find myself reinventing my wheels so to speak, because there are JUST SO MANY FUN THINGS TO DO!!!

So, I played around and here are some of the things that may make it into tonight's class.
Including a BRAND NEW just announced today pattern by my friend (and CZT) Mabel Yap!
It's called Palmer and it's so much fun!

So that's a little sneak peek if you happen to be joining me tonight, and if not... and you live in the area, maybe you'll want to join me another time!

I hope everyone is having a nice week, the weather has finally broken here and the sun is shining and it's "warming" up enough that outside is an inviting place. Almost. It's still chilly.

When the weather gets nice, do you find yourself inspired to create outside?

A bit about Tangling

So many mornings I pop up my little piece of creativity and hope that it encourages and inspires you to take a few minutes out of every day and come up with something creative, whatever that may be or mean to you. Creativity fuels creativity and adds so much to life. My little gift to you is hopefully the push that you will use YOUR gifts to enrich your life.

Today I want to talk about tangling. That's what I did this morning. I took less than 5 minutes, I sat down with my cup of tea, I focused myself and I tangled. I used the time to reflect on my day, and on my creativity challenge and how far we've come! I'm so proud of each and every one of you that has joined me on this journey.
See my little bijou? Isn't it cute? They're so perfect for morning tangling!!!

As you can tell I come to this with some art background and I've had people ask me "Why Zentangle? What is it about Zentangle that you love so much?"

As a CZT my brain kind of goes into overdrive when I hear that because there is SO MUCH I want to share with EVERYONE about it, because I've seen amazing results with literally every student I've worked with....
I like Zentangle because it let's me share.
It lets me take a few minutes  create something beautiful, while calming myself as well.. or it lets me take a couple of hours and open up a whole new world to someone who never thought they were artistic.

Trust me when I say that ANYONE can do this. Anyone.

If you are the type that tells me you draw lousy stick figures, that makes me happy because it means I am about to open a new door for you, one that you may not visit often, or that may become a new favorite destination, but one that will allow you to see that this IS something that you can do.
I love to watch someone's eyes light up when they hold their tile out at arms length for the first time and see that THEY DID THAT. They made that beautiful piece of art they are holding in their hand.

There are some that didn't love what they did at first, but they trusted and continued, or they put it aside... and yet every single one has told me that when they took it out later, they were amazed at what they had made.

Perfectionists take a bit of time to realize that this is an art that allows you to embrace the parts of you that make you unique. That yours SHOULDN'T look like mine any more than your handwriting should be a mirror of anyone else's. It should be exclusively yours and part of what makes it beautiful.

I love tangling because it lets what's in you shine out.... all while coming together piece by piece. It's like growth and life and discovery in a tile no bigger than your hand.

If you haven't tangled yet... you should. :) I'd love to share it with you. If you are far... well, let me encourage and inspire you and if you want help finding someone to teach you in your area, let me know. I can probably hook you up.

Remember. You are awesome. Whatever you make is awesome.
Trust in that.

I got a rock....

Actually... I got an entire bag of them! I have a collection of rocks but I also ordered some from North Carolina because I wanted some specific ones a project.

I'm going to tangle them and display them.
I tested one out this morning to put into a gift basket. I really like the way they turned out!

I'll plan on making a whole bunch. 

 This is my Zentangle® gift basket. It includes tiles, a kit and a gift certificate for a Zentangle 101 class with me as well as info on what Zentangle is. I think it turned out cute!
I made the the "basket" from an Amazon shipping box and some cute tissue paper.

That's what I have made today, and I'm pretty pleased with it. 

What are you working on today?

Work in progress

Working on the skyline some more.

Been binge watching Criminal Minds and being lazy this weekend, but tangling has been done. I'ts a little warmer here, but it's snowing again. (At least some of it melted before it started again!)

What are you all working on this weekend? 

Chicago is my kind of town!

I actually adore Chicago, so when it was suggested for a skyline, I knew it was going to be my next one.
I spent one of the weekends that was the MOST FUN EVER in Chicago back in the spring in the early 90s. I stayed at the Hotel Lincoln, spend a day at the Lincoln Park Zoo, ate some great pizza, went to a fun wedding, realized that the offical shoe of the city seemed to be the rollerblade at the time and of course there were cocktails and dancing and so much energy!
Frank Sinatra said Chicago was his kinda town, it was also mine!
So I'm not very far with this yet.. but here we go.

Do you think it would be fun if I started posting the outlines before telling you where it is? And people could guess? :D
Kind of a "Name that skyline!" idea?
Just for fun?

Today's Thursday and the sun is out. Today's prompt is to do something that makes you think of spring!

Lost in Zentangle®

Normally I try and post a little earlier than this but it's going to be a busy week for me and I took some time to sit and just tangle this morning with my tea.

I had a stressful morning, you know how those go?
It's Daylight Savings time (ugh) There was oversleeping (double ugh) tripped over the dog, and on and on and on.
Yesterday... my little brat of a pup actually decided to go on an adventure, hop the fence and go make new friends. She's home safe and sound, thanks to my amazing neighborhood, but because the snow is still so high, she can step over the fence and leave. Um... how about no Puppy! How about no!
So now, every time she has to go out, it requires puppy sitting here. :( Talk about messing with my routine!
I decided I need to find my zen, so I pulled out my pens, thought about the challenges and fun things I've been meaning to get to this week and dove in. And I got a little lost in my tangling and now it's 11:30 and you don't have a post yet. Yikes. Sorry. :)

First... Laura's Diva Dare. #208! Wow, that's a lot of challenges! This one was a duotangle, two that normally aren't my favorites, Cubine and Pokeroot. They came together really nicely though and I'm happy with it!

Cubine and Pokeroot Diva Challenge #208

Next up was my Square One-Purely Zentangle.

For some reason I NEVER seem to get to this and it's one of my favorites!

This week was Bunzo. Ah, the drama tangles. I admit I love the dramatic tangles. 

Square One Focus: March 6 - March 12, 2015 BUNZO

And then one of the other AMAZING CZT's that I'm lucky enough to get to be inspired by, shared a meditative tangle session. Totally auditory. I've been toying with the idea of doing this, I talked about it a few months ago but I wasn't sure if it would work online.
IT IS AWESOME! And this was how I got distracted. LOL
Check out what Holly has done here!  


I know I made an extra step for you here, but you have to click to see my results on this one.
 I posted it on a different page so that it wouldn't pre-influence you.
Come back and check AFTER you do it if you want to try. Or if you know you aren't, you can just click now.

So now my mood is better, I'm more relaxed, my bad morning is but a memory... and um. The dog needs to go out again, so I'm going to go roll my eyes and dream of summer when the snow wasn't 4' high and fences worked.

Make something awesome, ok?

Day 31/365

We did it!
We have completed January!
Don't worry if you missed a day or two, or are just finding your way here now.
The challenge for the year is to be creative 300 out of the 365 days (That means you can miss 2 whole months and still make it!)
AND if you jump in late there will be a half year celebration too!

I promised some prizes... and prizes we shall have.

This month, I've been pretty focused on Bijou, so from all the entries 1 person will be selected to receive a set of Bijou tiles and a new micron.

The winner will be selected on Monday so make sure to get your entries in if they haven't been entered so far!


I played with my sketchbook and made some Bijou sized tangles myself.

 What's Bijou have for us today?

Enjoy the shade!
For a snail that's a double entendre (I love using my French now and then). I love hanging out in the shade beneath the ferns. I also love shading my tangles. How do I do it? That's a secret and a snail needs some secrets.





So thank you to all of you for joining me on this journey, I look forward to the next 11 months of creativity with you all!
Tell your friends, bring them too. You know creative people tend to be happier people who get more out of life. :)

Zentangle 101

Since I was knocked out of commission yesterday, I wanted to share pictures of the mosiac my class did on Sunday today. :)
It was a great class, everyone seemed to have a great time, and look at the beautiful art they made!

I set up a spot on my display board for our mosiac and I really like doing it that way!
Here is the board I was working on last week. (See the spot?)

I love sharing Zentangle with people, it makes me really happy. 

And today's Bijouism...

Reflect

While I tangle, I often pause and look around at where I've been . . . in other words, I look at the tangle I've drawn. That's easy for me . . . I just twist around my eye stalks! I've seen humans do the same sorta thing when they hold their tile at arms' length and rotate it this way and that (every now and then) while they are tangling.



Can you believe we are almost through our first month?!?!?

Patterns, patterns everywhere!

One of the things I love most about Zentangle is how it's really opened my eyes to so many patterns in EVERYTHING. I just never really noticed them quite the same way before.
I'm working through all my patterns and putting them in a book. So that was my creative.

I have a lot more to do but I'm getting there!


I realized I didn't put up a prompt yesterday, so today my prompt to you is create something with a pattern. Your choice from there... Just use some type of pattern.
I look forward to seeing what you do!

What's really funny.. is that I didn't look at today's Bijouism before I wrote all that. :D

Deconstruct

Ever since I heard Rick and Maria talking about all the patterns they'd see in their surroundings, I started to notice patterns more. Now that I tangle I REALLY notice them. I see how they deconstructed patterns and made them into tangles. It seems like magic because I never thought that I could recreate some of these tangles when I first saw them. Now I'm excited to find a pattern to deconstruct and turn into a tangle. After all, I do have a unique perspective down here amidst the ferns, flowers and grasses!

Just... do it (day 4)

I had big plans for projects yesterday, instead I had a horrific headache and spent a good chunk of the day in bed.
NOT my favorite thing to do. :(
So I finished my "Jar of Happiness/Jar of Positivity" which was almost done and then I did get my Tangle a day done and that's about it, but I did it... because a day without a pen in my hand makes me sad. I know there will be days I stumble and don't get much done, I know that there will be days when you don't want to do it... it really IS ok, but if you can, try. :) You really do feel better at least while you are creating.

Today the headache is better,if not good, so I'm hoping for more productivity.

Here's what I got done yesterday!

Diva Challenge 186- String theory Leaves, leaves leaves!

I love fall so much. It's my favorite season. I love the warmth of summer, the promise of spring (especially after my arctic winters of endless snow) but the color and breathtaking beauty of fall make it my favorite. I love the crispness of the days that alternate with warm days that feel like presents!
I live in NY so.... I associate fall with warm cozy sweaters, new boots, POT ROAST!!!! and new school supplies, freshly sharpened pencils and blank notebooks...
So.. ALL MY FAVORITE THINGS!

Today's Diva Challenge  was leaves.
Ok.

Here's what I came up with and I had so much fun doing this. I used brown, a dark green and red from my heritage color pen set and then coordinating pencils from my inktense set.

Loved it. Might even do more of this one.

Well I feel productive! (and a new challenge template!)

Ok, I said the other day that I needed to get busy and catch up with challenges... and so I did.
I competed a bunch of the challenges put out weekly by Laura Harms over at I am the Diva (If you don't follow her or participate you totally should!)
But I was behind since.. sometime in early summer. So in the last few days I completed... not 1, 2, or even 3, but 8 of hers!
177-185
Wow. Really, she's up to 185, and now I am too! (I still haven't posted all the first ones that I went back and did, I should make that a project this fall!)

So without further babbling...
177- Truffle. I like the way this one turned out so organic. It makes me feel like I fell into Alice in Wonderland or the garden or something!

177- Use the Tangle Truffle

 178- Duotangle by the letters, using tangles with the first letters of your name.
So, K & B
Two of my favorites Krli-Q and Bales!

178-Duotangle by the letters

 179- Be like Bijou, Tiny tiles! This isn't actually a tiny tile, or "twinchie" because I don't have any. I actually ended up doing this in the corning of my Marketing homework!

                   179-Be like Bijou

 180- This is a UMT- (Use my Tangle) This one is called MacDee, and I love it, cause it's PLAID! I love PLAID!!!

180-UMT MacDee

181- Water.
I am not sure about this, but my daughter loves it. It's to use water as an inspiration. This is different than many of my other pieces but it's kinda fun and hey... COLOR!

181- Water

182- Stripes. A fun opportunity to use a bunch of tangles!

182- Stripes

183- UMT- X-Did. I don't think I "did" this one right, but I am happy with the result. It was new to me, so you know what that means right? PRACTICE!

183- UMT X-Did

184- New Tangle by Molly. I like it. I'll use it a lot, another one to practice though!

184 New Tangle by Molly

185- Duotangle Phicops & Diva Dance. Not sure about this one but it DOES have a lot of movement to it.

185- Phicops and Diva Dance

AND I'm CAUGHT UP on those!
but...
I also fell off the alphabet wagon. :( Cheryl over at Artful Creations had a cool alphabet challenge going, for Tackle it Tuesday I stopped somewhere around K I think. (I'll have to check) I want to finish that but I'm not sure when... but the fates aligned and the day before  I looked to see how behind I was... she had launched a NEW CHALLENGE! So I am throwing myself in and encourage you to do so too! This week was to use Tangles that started with S, E and P.
Here's mine.
I used Peaknuckle, which I love but never feel like I have quite perfected, Sand Swirls which is a favorite and EEZ.
I'm very happy with this one actually.

So then there's one more thing...
I've been posting challenges here and there for a while, mostly there since my 30 day (Which I WILL be running again in the future!!) but I promised you a new template for fun. So....
We "Grew a Garden"
We "Built Houses"
Now... Let's "Make the Bed"
(Can you tell I have too much housework to get done these days?)
But I think it'll be fun and I actually have something that's been in my head since I was a little girl and read the Princess and the pea for mine.

So here's your template.

I know they don't look like much but it's really the prompt and giving you a few things to work around to make it a challenge... so, what are you waiting for?

DOWNLOAD IT HERE
Please play along and you can share too!

Diva challenges 175& 176

I was a couple weeks behind on these, but I'm caught up now. 

175 was to use Cruz.

The UMT's usually (Use my tangles) are always a true challenge for me, but I always learn something new.

For this one I decided to go with all grid style patterns and then use a thicker than usual line to kind of unify it. I like how it turned out, but it doesn't feel like anything special. 

The next one is 176, and was a challenge by her guest blogger, Amy. It was to "BYOB" and stain your paper with your beverage.
YAY! TEA!
So I dripped tea on it, it made some cool splashes and I liked that part all by itself! Then I tangled on it using my sepia pens and then to continue with the "something different" theme I added a quote.
One of my all time FAVORITE quotes actually.

I am in love with this one. I know it's messy and not even and I could do a much better version, but I love it. (Is it ok to be in love with your own work?)

Here it is. 

Trusting my process

I find that a lot of times when I let things come easily I think no one is going to like the finished project, or that I won't, and yet more and more what I've learned in the last month is that the more "natural" or organic I let my process be, the more I just let things come to me, whether it's writing, drawing, sketching, doodling or painting, the pieces that have the most likes anywhere, that people respond to the most are the ones I almost didn't post because in my head they were "throwaways."

My perfectionism is still there. I'm going to continue to try and make it be quiet.

Here's what I have for you this morning.

Have you ever tried a mandala? Not a template, but creating one yourself? This was my freeform attempt. I liked doing it. My technique needs work. (see there I go again with the perfectionism) 

So today's art prompt for you is to find a mandala, use it to inspire you in some way, either to create your own, to tangle it or to see what it inspires you to make. 

Have fun!

(10 days left!)

Day 19- Monotangles

Sometimes I like just working with 1 pattern. My original inspiration for this was a picture of a box of ribbon candy. It reminds me of my Gramma and that always puts a smile on my face. I found a tangle pattern that I've used in the past that looked like ribbon candy and thought I'd just go with it. Instead this reminds me of bees or mummies. I'm not sure why. Not quite what I was going for but I think it's visually interesting.

Today's art prompt...
Find inspiration in a piece of candy. I'm often inspired by candy. Some of my favorite pieces have ended up reminding me of tasty treats! If you have to eat it to be inspired, that's ok too!

Day 10- 1/3 of the way through the challenge so I'm giving stuff away!

Can you believe we are already 1/3 of the way through? THAT is AWESOME! Because we are already 1/3 done I am throwing in an extra giveaway today and tomorrow!
I missed having pen and paper in hand yesterday! I did put some time to good use and found something new that I'm jumping into feet first.
Here's what I did today.

There's a facebook group called Doodling Together that is built around this concept and I'm in love with the idea.(I have no affiliation other than I joined and am participating)
You get the app (yes it's an app, that's how I found it) and there is a small fee ($2 US), but one I thought was well worth it.
Each project is a larger piece that is then broken down into LOTS of other squares. You claim a square in the app, the pattern for your individual square comes right to your email, you print it out and complete it in the next day or two.
Then you upload it and it gets added into the project. How cool is that?
When it's done the final piece is available on all kinds of cool things and you have art you participated in making across the globe.

You can learn more about it here or get the app. 
IN fact.. .I'm going to give one away today and one away tomorrow from the entries on today's blog! All you have to do is submit something today and leave a note in comments that says "Enter me!"

Today's art prompt is to find something you want to jump into and do it (of if you've been waiting to start something)! No procrastinating!

Rules remain the same and this is an extra prize today... so all entries still count for prizes at the end of the month too. I'll be doing the same giveaway tomorrow as well. Tell your friends!

Day 3 already! Woo Hoo! And my contribution for the Diva challenge 170

So remember, the goal of the challenge is to be creative EVERY day!

Just DO IT!
I have perfectionist tendencies... if I let myself think too long I second guess everything I do, which is the heart of my own personal project this year and the challenge. Stop worrying about it and just DO IT!

For anyone new please check out how to participate.

Complete something. (There's a prize for the person that completes the most)
It doesn't have to be big, or intricate or spectacular. (See above.. just do it!)
Try and link daily, if not, please no later than each Sunday for it to count.
Link on each day's Linkey (There will be a new one each day starting today)
Tell your friends! The more the merrier!
Winners will be listed July 1!
1 winner for the most entries and 1 chosen at random.

Prizes

Sakura Microns in winner choice of black or color

Wooden spiral art set

So today, for MY creative project, I dove in the The Diva's weekly challenge, which is #170! WOW (I'm so behind! LOL)
The challenge is a UMT and to use Bugles. I'm going to be honest, I hated it while I was making it, then all of a sudden it came together. I still don't love it, but here it is. I love how her challenges push me outside my comfort zone. It really makes me grow and learn new things.

I also made tart cherry Zoku popsicles and last night I made homemade granola. YUM.

So what did you create today?

Zendalas and my gorgeous new toy

I really like the structure of zendalas. I love the way they flow from one segment to another, the order, the stability of them. I like doing other things to, but these come together very quickly for me and I'm almost ALWAYS happy with the result.

This one makes me think of magic wands.

I'm really happy with the shading on this one, but it might be a little too busy.

Recently I was reminded of my childhood spirograph. I wished I still had it because it would be so much fun to doodle and tangle on. So I started searching to see if I could find a new one at a decent price, but the reviews weren't fantastic compared to what I remembered and I tend to be really picky.

I ended up on ebay and etsy trying to find a vintage one, only to discover that only specific pens are supposed to work in them. That wasn't a problem when I was 8, but now... i want ALL my pens to fit.

And then I found this on Etsy. It's a gorgeous, hard wood spiral art set, so... basically, a spirograph for the me who didn't like any of the other choices. I can't wait to play with it! All my pens seem to fit and it's sooooo gorgeous. The picture here and the ones on the link do NOT do it justice. 

It's a little smaller than I was expecting, but that's not a bad thing, in fact, it's perfect because storage isn't going to be a problem and for tiles or my sketchbook...  SCORE! I'm really pleased with this and I encourage you to go check out the seller. (Not affiliated in any way but very happy with the product!)

Hardwood spiral art Drawing Tool 

There are several small plastic disks as well for even more sizes. 

So that's tomorrow's project. Play with my new toy! 

Ack! It's been a week!

I have an excuse or something. LOL

No, I really don't. I've just been kind of in a funk. I did do some drawing but I didn't like it enough to even finish it, and then I got ready to start a project and kind of "artist blocked" but I think I'm ok now. 

I also spent time playing with the puppy... because LOOK AT THAT FACE!

Plus it's nice out, and I am a SUCKER for nice weather. See my liliacs? I'm working on a sketch for them... but it's not going as well as I'd like. 

And then I broke out my pens and paper again. 

First, the Diva's challenge this week was to use rain. (I'm seriously sick of rain... so I wasn't thrilled with the idea lol) but it did not seem to invoke the results of a rain dance or anything. Plus I like how it turned out. 

So here is my completed piece for Challenge 168.

Then the Tackle it Tuesday challenge was the letter M.

It did not go the way I planned at all, but it's kinda fun and different.
I used

• Meo
• Mak-Rah-Mee
• Merryweather
• Mooka

And then some daisies found their way in there all on their own. 

I posted in a few other places that I'm going to be starting a 30 day challenge in June. I really hope you'll consider participating. It should be fun and I'm going to give something away at the end. 

More details on the 31st though! I don't want to give everything away in advance!