Dare #16

     I really enjoyed reading Erin's post this past Friday.  So much of what she said I have felt.  I started my blog for the same reason.  I also feel the caring and friendliness of this community.  I really just started in January, but feel I have made so many friends.  It's the challenges and dares that have brought us together.  Thank you, ladies, for providing SO much enjoyment!!
     I love this template!  It is big and open and . . . . just plain neat!  I had an idea right away how I wanted to use it, but I will save that one for last.

    The first one I wanted to be more organic.  So I pulled out some of my Suzanne McNeill books and the Sandy Bartholomew ones and went on an organic search.  I also debated on whether to add color.  As you can see, black and white won out.
     Number two got a dash of red, but not too much color.   I liked the more geometric forms for this one.

   And now for my favorite (probably due to the handsome addition in the center).  This template reminded me (and Lakota) of a ball. Of course, that is not surprising since everything reminds him of a ball.  I need to work on his scrapbook and thought this would be a perfect picture frame!  I tried his pic in both black and white and color.  Finally decided on b/w.  It fit the frame better and didn't detract from it.  Either way, he looks rather dashing!

Lakota

   Now I guess it is back to some school work.  We start in 5 weeks, but I am using this time to do some "fun" things for my room.  Have a great week and happy tangling!!

A Dare and A Challenge!

  I don't usually post to both places with one writing, but this week things got busier than usual.  Okay, not really super busy.  More like I got more involved with crafty stuff.  I also got involved in reading some really good professional stuff for school.  So anyway, here goes.  I promise I will try to separate them from now on. . . .hopefully.

Dare #15

This week's dare from Erin over at The Bright Owl was a tough one.  All those boxes stumped me for a few rounds.  I couldn't decide how to approach them.  So I did my usual sit and stare.  For a bit longer than usual.  I didn't even touch it all of Friday.  I did look at it - a lot.
     I really liked the first one I did.  Well, honestly I liked them both.  But on the second one, I was almost done and got involved in a conversation with my brother while I was working and boom!  There it was.  A glaring mistake.  Why is it when there is a mistake it screams "Notice me or else!"  I hate that.  It sort of ruined my feelings on the zendala, but here it is anyway.  Hold your ears, because it does scream rather loudly.

Challenge #80

Now for the Diva's challenge.  We were asked to use Mi2.  I love the way this tangle looks, but can't seem to control it.  I did find that Rick Robert's steps using a dot rather than a seed to begin was somewhat easier.  Not a lot, mind you.  So for my tile I had to keep Mi2 in a very basic format - no spectacular flourishes or major creativity like you can see if you check out Diva's site and the other entries.  I tried to dress it up a bit by inking the edges, using a sepia pen and a brown pencil, but honestly it still remains rather . . . basic.  

     It's easy to see why I love Fridays and Mondays.  These gals provide SO much fun.  Thanks ladies and thanks to all who drop by.  Happy tangling!

Summer Olympics 2012

  This was a tough one.  I really wanted it to be special and "perfect", especially after the gorgeous one on the Diva's site by Rho Densmore - the guest challenger.  I am getting a bit braver and not looking at the other entries until I at least have my idea.  Now I can go look as much as I want.
     I chose a larger size, 8 x 10.  I also cut some sports figures with my Cricut to use as silhouettes to trace around.  Overall, I am very pleased with this.  Okay, not perfect, but special.

Summer Olympics 2012

  I also want to add a link to my post about my calendar and organizer.  I know I mentioned this on my post on the Bright Owl's recent dare, but I wanted to make sure that I had shown this to whoever had asked me about them.  I am sorry to repeat myself.  

     Hope you have a great day and a wonderful week.  Thanks for any comments you care to share.  

Zendala Dare #14

   When I open my computer and check out the zendala template for the week, I quite often get hit with an immediate idea.  It may not be what I use, but the inspiration starts kicking in.  Not this time.  I couldn't come up with a single idea.  Zilch.  Zero.  I have restrained myself from looking at other entries since I was so blank.  I printed the templates adding an extra one in due to fear I would not have anything suitable in 3 tries.  I started out, became frustrated and nearly threw the piece away, but decided to keep it for my "practice piece".   Thought you might enjoy seeing my practice tile.

practice page for dare #14

     After trying several things out, I got a bit of inspiration.  For the first one I completed, I decided on a monotangle - "huggy bear".

Marble Drop

     The second tile has the tangles - arckles, pea-nuckle, and sonnenband.  Pea-nuckle is a fast favorite of mine.  It looks so complicated, but just seems to flow on the page.  I love it!

         The last one really only uses coaster and chard.  The rest is just rings and flowers.  I thought I would play with some color on this one.

    For absolutely no idea, I ended up liking most of what I did.  Either way, as always, the dare was tons of fun.
      Several people have asked about my tangle calendar.  I decided I wanted you to see what I was referring to and also see the wonderful organizer I use.  If you are interested check out this previous post on Nifty tangling tools.
  Hope you are had a great week and thanks for leaving a comment. 

Nifty tools for tangling

   I have two fantastic tools I happened to "stumble" across one day on the computer.  They are very valuable to me.  The first one I happened to find was the Tangle-A-Day calendar by Carole Ohl.  I use it to tangle in (of course), write quotes that I find interesting, and jot notes about what happens in my life around that day.  Inside the calendar are some beautiful tangles by Carole and the paper is great quality.  I tried a bit of water color and it buckled some.  However with pens it is perfect.  It a great place to "play".    I took pictures of the covers of both books, but my brother said I probably shouldn't use them due to copyright law.  I think it would be alright, but hate for someone to get upset.  So go to Open Seed Arts.  On the side bar you will see the calendar advertisement.

     The second great find was the Tangle Organizer by Genevieve Crabe.  Oh I love this tool!  It comes in four sizes (referring to the boxes on the page).  There are books that hold one, two, six, and twelve tangles per page.  The one that holds one has spaces for you to draw out the tangle steps.  I chose the the twelve tangle book (shown below).  I wanted to not have to purchase or store so many books.  This one holds 1200 tangles!  I won't get that many, because sometimes I draw out steps in more than one box.  Either way, it is fantastic.  Whenever a dare or challenge comes around, I pull out the organizer and search for ideas.  I also roam the internet blogs ( of all you talented folks!) and put down tangle ideas.  It has 100 pages and I am on page 43.  Lots of ideas "under one roof".  Go to this link to see the items by Genevieve Crabe. 

   I hope you enjoy these two items as much as I have.  If you have any great storage ideas or know of any good tangle "products", please share them in your comments!

Challenge #78 - Auraknot

     I love this new official zentangle - Auraknot.  The major problem is: it is addicting!  I find myself wanting to try new tangleations and playing with it connecting to other tangles.  What fun!  I found out about the tangle over the weekend and after viewing the video how-to, grabbed my calendar to practice.  I marked off Monday on the calendar so I would still have room to do the Diva's Monday challenge.  So I just drew lots of shapes and tried auraknot on a variety of spaces - no thought or planning.  It is fortunately very forgiving as I have lots of mistakes, but hey, it was my first go at it.  What a surprise when on Monday the challenge was - you guessed it - use auraknot!  I played in the calendar some more and then did a few tiles to "count" as official.  But rest assured, this tangle is going to be one of my go-to favorites!

This was the first tile I did to share.  I really wanted it just to take center stage.

Lost

     I looked through my notebook and found the tangle "exinside" by Sandra Strait.  I thought it might work with auraknot.  Add a little allium and here you have it.  I called it "Lost" because as you might guess, I kept getting lost with my lines!  Fun, but definitely an exercise in concentration.

   

Last, here is my calendar page for the fourth of July.  That was a lot of fun to play with!  Have a great week and thank  you for stopping by and any comments you might leave.

Zendala Dare #13 - Playing with paper

    This is SO made for me!  I love paper.  I scrapbook, make cards, design handmade books, you name it!  If it involves paper, I probably have at least tried it.  So I have drawer full of a variety of paper.  Sometimes I will buy a sheet in the craft store simply because I like it, not because I have any uses for it.  Ah well, cheap obsession, I guess.
     I pulled out several pieces and ran the template on all of them, so I could decide.  I have never had the experience of using "real" zentangle paper.  I hope to get some tiles one of these days.  Right now I cut my own tiles from white cardstock - fairly heavy type used for card making.  It is not "official", but I like the feel of it and it is cheap, since I use a LOT of it.
    I decided to "break the rules" with my first attempt.  I didn't tangle on another type of paper, but I involved other types of paper.  Maybe it is more of "bending" the rules rather than breaking them!  I cut parts of the design out of scrapbook scraps and glued them on top of the template.  I tangled with colored microns and some colored pencils.  Then I took chalks to the outside edges of the tile.  Overall I like this one, except for the pink paper in the center.  I kept thinking I should tangle over top the pink, but I couldn't decide.  Since I like paper piecing, this was fun.

      Attempt number two.  I pulled out one of the templates I had printed on vellum.  I enjoyed the feel of the Micron on this paper - smooth and easy to move.  After I finished it, I turned it over and colored the back of the design.  This leaves a softer color showing through.

     The last one is printed on colored cardstock - scrapbooking paper.  I like it best.  I decided not to shade it because I didn't want to lose the pretty yellow color or the white streaks in it.

     This has been a lot of fun.  I still have several templates on a variety of paper, so I may get around to playing with this some more.  If you want to see some more really creative and gorgeous uses of paper, go to The Bright Owl.  There are lots of great entries - and ideas to try! 

Challenge #77

        For this week's challenge by The Diva, we had to use the tangle "Fiore di Pietro" or Peter's flower.  This is going to be used to put in a book for a memorial to Rho Densmore's brother-in-law.  Rho, your family has my prayers and I would be honored for you to use my tiles in your book.  What a lovely and thoughtful thing to do for your family.
      I love this tangle.  At first it was a bit difficult, but once I got to playing with it the more comfortable I became.   I tried to "say" something with the first tile.  I chose facets for the only other tangle because there are many facets to a person and their relationship to others.  Those facets are how and why we connect with others.  Even though the tangle is named Peter's flower, it reminds me of stars.  So I wanted this tile to be representative of the stars and heavens.  Ah well, I know what I wanted to say even if I am not doing a very good job of making it clear to others.
     The next tile is simply a flower garden.  Sort of a garden walkway to contain Peter's flowers.  At first I didn't like how I let them slip off the tile, but now I feel differently.  There isn't an end to the garden, it keeps on going even if we can't see where it goes.  More philosophy, I guess.

Peter's Garden

    Thank you for stopping by and also thank you for your comments. 

Dare #12 and 106 degrees!

     When it is 106 degrees outside (in the shade), what can you do?  Why, tangle of course!  I really don't mind the heat - as long as the air conditioner keeps working, but Lakota really doesn't understand why we won't let him have but very brief play sessions and why we keep hitting him with the water hose when he's out.  This weather conspires against a black, very active pooch!
     The Bright Owl's dare was super this week and since I was (blissfully) inside, I have several offerings.  I played with color on one small tile.  I also tried to keep the tangles sort of related.  There are a lot to choose from on the same theme.

     For the next couple, I kept the traditional black and white.  The first one reminded me of eyes when I finished it, so I named it "Eyes".    I think of all of them it is my personal favorite.  It is so bold and that appeals to me.

Eyes

    For the last one, back to the color.  You can guess where my inspiration came from!  I had been playing with sun faces in my Tangle-A-Day calendar and decided to do a zendala with one.   I also got to use DL Sunray, which is a tangle I haven't used before.

106 Degrees

     Hope you are having a great week!  I guess I can get back to working on my tangle organizer.  Anything that can be done inside!!