Thursday of Excitement, fun stuff, contest with secrets and fun!

Yesterday was a busy day! I had an amazing class of 4 ladies who spent the afternoon tangling with me and then came home to find out that my pattern BrrrSt  had been featured on Tangle Patterns. Super cool stuff huh?
I was excited, especially since I didn't even submit that one so I had NO IDEA it was coming, it was a cool little surprise! :D

Anyway... so I have some cool pictures to share of my class but I'm going to wait til tomorrow to show you those because I AM JUST SO EXCITED about the tiles I just finished I can't wait to show you.
They're part of the samples for my Tangles and Ink class that I'm teaching wth my friend Sara who is an amazing potter! (SO if you happen to be in the Buffalo area, you can sign up for our September workshop here )
As I was making the samples, I created a tile that I think is my absolute favorite.. ever.
So without any more build up... lol (because I know sometimes stuff I love other people don't fall in love with the same way) but I'm really excited about this one... .
TADA!

Tangles and Ink class sample

 I really like this one too...

Tangles and Ink class sample

I used the inks to kind of create the string and then worked within it on both.
Two completely different tiles, and so much fun. Oh my gosh. I'm going to have to make more.

It looks like it's going to be a beautiful weekend, so I hope you are getting some great plans going and I can't wait to see the amazing things you all create!

OH! I promised a giveaway!
I have put together a little surprise pack that I think you'll like a whole lot and it's going to contain a secret about something fun that's coming that ONLY the winner will learn in advance.

So, to enter.. you have to be participating (link up your art! I may not always comment but I do always look!!!! even if it takes a day or so) and you have to leave a comment for me and tell me why I should pick you as my secret keeper!

 I'd LOVE it if you shared the blog post on your social media too because I'd really love to see some new people come show me their creative side too, but I'm not going to make that a requirement.


Ok! Have fun!

Milestones!

So this week, I have reached several huge number milestones.
My blog has reached 50,000 views and I surpassed 500 fans on my facebook page. Wow. I am kind of overwhelmed at those  numbers to tell you the truth.

I'm honored that you are interested enough in what I'm doing, and hopefully inspired to create yourself as well that you are part of my journey.
I'm giving away a piece of artwork on my facebook. You're all welcome to enter.
All you need to do is comment on this post to be entered.

Yesterday I taught 5 people who were brand new to Zentangle® to tangle and I drew this pinwheel which was inspired by another CZT.

So, thank you all, for joining me. We're nearly 6 months into the challenge this year <3 I'm so proud of all of you!

I hope you have a great day!

Jar of Wishes Giveaway

Origami stars are nothing new, I used to make them back in high school and sometimes I still do. Every so often I make one of these to inspire a friend or as a pick me up... each of the stars has a little note.
This month I'm making one as a giveaway for one of the #whimsybykelly2015 participants.
You DO have to have commented on this post (even if you don't have an entry for today just drop me a comment) and you have to have participated at least once this month. (Still 2 days left!)

It's Friday. YAY for Friday! Over in Square One they have issued a new challenge, to use SeZ. I'm going to try to get to it, but I keep missing stuff. :) I have a lot going on and I've been picking and choosing the things that excite me these days!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Stay warm, stay safe, make something awesome!
Tell your friends about the contest and get them to dive in on the challenge with you!

Use your good stuff

I have boxes and cabinets filled with things i have never used..and I can't really tell you why. Becuase I'm waiting for something I think.
No more.
I'm going to pull out all my stuff and try and use a ton of it this year, what I don't, I will either sell and buy things I love and will use or I will give away to someone who might actually love and appreciate it. :)
The other day in one of the groups I participate in, I posted something. It's been pretty popular and I'm glad that it reached the audience it has, but I want to pass it around a little more, because I think it's really very important.
I've cleaned it up a little and made a few additional notes, but pretty much, here it is.

I've seen something a lot in groups and online discussion groups lately. I want to share something with you,  not because I am a CZT (though I am) or because I want to sell you something (you have a million options for that and unless you live close to me I'd direct you to someone closer anyway) so I really have NOTHING to gain by what I am about to say.
But it's in the spirit of Zentangle so I think it belongs here.

Use the good stuff.

Don't save your good paper for the day you feel your work is "good enough" because you never will. You'll always wait until you are "a little better" or you've "perfected that tangle"
Don't practice on scraps, don't treat your work as insignificant. That makes me sad.
Use the best you can.
If that's a piece of notebook paper because that's all you have, fine... but if you have choices, find paper YOU love.
It doesn't have to be Zentangle tiles... unless those are what you love. I mean.. I ADORE them, but that's MY personal preference because it's beautiful and make me happy to just hold them in my hands.
You might love Bristol. If that's your favorite USE BRISTOL!
Find a pen that works for you. Maybe you want something refillable, maybe the smell of sharpies makes you happy, maybe you like the way Pitts flow, maybe microns work for you. Good! Use what works FOR YOU.

Part of the joy of Zentangle is the play of the ink against the paper. Microns and tiles were selected to teach with because they work nicely together, they don't smear a lot, the color is deep and rich and beautiful and it's a JOY to lay the ink down on the paper. It really is. There are a lot of tools out there that will play nicely together. Each stroke feels like an event when you are using tools you love.
Whatever your tools ARE, they should be ones that make you ENJOY what you are doing.
Coloring in shouldn't feel like a chore, it should be part of the fun. The tools you use should be selected with that in mind. It doesn't have to be expensive. You can find a sketchbook to practice in with good paper for a couple dollars. I draw almost constantly and I only go through 1 pen or so a month. I can invest a couple dollars in that.
Truly if in your heart of hearts you know you truly can't afford any pen... reach out to me.
I'm not going to just pass out hundreds of pens, but if someone wants to create art and they can't afford the $3 for a pen, I will find a way to help them get one.
If you love crayons, use crayons. But use what you love. Use your good stuff, don't save it for someday, because someday might never come.

My favorite responses to that (and there have been a lot) were the ones where people shared that they were going to do that, that they took it to heart and that it inspired them to take it outside their art as well.
Go get a glass of your favorite beverage in something beautiful that you've been saving til you had company. You and your family are certainly as good as company. :) Make dinner tonight and use your fancy plates, even if you have leftovers.

My Gram used to tell me, make each day a memory. :) I've been forgetting that myself.

In the spirit of using things you love... I have a small  carepackage of things I no longer love or need. It's a surprise box of goodies... so I'm not going to tell you what's in it... but this is a little bonus contest for the month.
(I'll give everyone til the end of Jan)
Post your entry on here, show me something using your good stuff. It doesn't even have to be a creation with your good stuff... It can be a china cup, or your favorite boots, or whatever you want.

Leave me a comment completing this sentence...
I know I'm worth using my good _____________________.

Winner will be chosen at random on Jan 31st by one of my minions. :)

Upcoming contest....

I'm going to run a contest through September on my facebook.
 I'm doing it over there because it's primarily for my business side. I want to increase my visibility before the holidays, I'm sure you all understand...  so I didn't want to do TOO much cross over to this blog, where I focus more on the creative parts but I did want to let you all know! You're all certainly welcome to participate if you'd like.
https://www.facebook.com/WhimsyByKelly

Anyway, it will start on Monday and run through Tuesday September 30th. The details will come out Monday, but for now...I want your guesses. What do you think the prize will be?

I have something I think is pretty awesome in mind, but I'd also love to hear what you think. You might even change my mind if you come up with something better! :)

29 days in a row!

Did you think you'd get 29 days in a row complete? I know I didn't know how I'd do. I toyed with the idea at the beginning of having some posts pre-done, etc just in case but that didn't feel fair to the challenge, so some days have been early, some have been late some have been simple things and there were even a few days where I really didn't feel like doing something but I have created EVERY day for the last 29 days. 

Got some stuff to work on today too and then tomorrow is the last day! 

This is for the #Doodletogether project.

Today's art prompt is the word WOVEN. 

Week 1 is over!

Remember how I said everything had to be posted by Sunday night? It's because today, my project was to give you this.


It's a showcase of the artwork submitted by everyone this past week and I really hope you enjoy it. That amount of creativity and amazing stuff was fantastic and I love to see what everyone is doing.



I tried to get everyone in here, if yours is not here for some reason, shoot me an email at whimsybykelly@gmail.com and I'll make sure to add it to next weeks when I do that one. There were a couple that lead to nowhere.


So that's my creative thing for today... my prompt for you today is to find something in there that inspired you, whatever it is and use it to create something new. If you can't get to it today, then sometime this week.

The rules remain simple.

• Create something. Doesn't matter what. Just do it.
• Post your creation 
• Put your direct link in the linkey thing
• Leave me a comment. 
• Be nice

Past due entries may be posted up until the Sunday of that week, otherwise they can't count. You can still link them but that's the cut off for the video and the contest.

Let's have fun this week!

Create, Create CREATE!!! Day 4

Ok, we're on to day 4! That means we are over 10% done with the challenge! Feeling creative yet?

GOOD!

Ok, so here is what I did today. It was fast, it had to be, it's a big day here. It's my youngest minion's 13th birthday! WOW! It doesn't seem possible. He's taller than me now, I remember walking the floor with him for 2 years straight!

So I'm feeling a little nostalgic and have a lot going on today...so today couldn't be something really intricate, but I wanted it to have a fun feel. 

My prompt for you today is this...

GO with it. (I was going to say Let it go, but I didn't want to be responsible for making you all sing for the rest of the day)

Don't overthink what you are going to do, put pen to paper, brush to canvas and let it flow.

I'm excited to see what you come up with.

For those of you who are JUST finding my blog, you can find the details in any of the last few posts or you can click here on yesterday's where I listed the rules AND showed pics of the prizes!

Hey, who's on Pinterest? Instagram? Twitter? Let me know so I can follow you! 

Enter your submission on the linkey thing below and then please leave me a comment after you do so I know you did. 

Submissions for today are ok until Sunday.

What are YOU going to make today?

I think this is done, unless I decide to go back in and do something else, but it kind of told me I was done!

Today is Day 2 of my challenge, so with that in mind I want to encourage you to do some shading.

I tend to NOT do it as heavily as I maybe could and I find that when I do, I'm ALWAYS happy with the result. So that's my mini art prompt for you today.

If you need more info on the challenge you can find the details HERE and more about the prizes HERE. 

Shade something, or use shading or hey, do whatever outside in the shade. :)

I look forward to seeing what everyone accomplishes here!

More catching up and Ooohh... a Starbucks project!

So let's get to it!

2 catch up's bring me current on the Tackle it Tuesday challenege (Cheryl by Artful Creations runs this one and it's so much fun!) so I'll be ready for tomorrow!

Here is my J compilation.

I had only used one of these before, and I think I messed up a couple but I do think it was a fun one and I'm VERY proud of my circles.

• Jonqal
• Jilli
• JaJazz
• JalouiseJambalee
• Jax
• ssicup
• Jetties
• Jawz
• Jeewes
• Joy

And here is my K as well!
 I'm actually super happy with this one, I was going to go with more tangles, but as it came together I thought this was just about right!

I had only used Keeko before, but 2 are my new favorites!

• Kuke
• Kelp
• Keeko
• Krli-Q

Now what is this Starbucks thing? Well, the other day a friend told me that Starbuck was running a White Cup contest and I wanted to play since this is the type of thing I do anyway! I ended up with a half dozen plain cups and broke out my pens. My goal was to submit one every day til it ended, but you know.. time and stuff.

Here were the 3 I ended up submitting.

This one I just went freeform to get a feel for drawing on a cup. It's harder than it looks.

I think this is my favorite. It's the most detailed and Starbucks actually is adding it to their Pinterest board for the contest. 

I really liked this one too.

So there we go. I have a few others to get around to uploading, but 1 post, 5 projects. I think I'm back on track.
Hope everyone is doing good! What cool projects is everyone else working on? I really want to know!