Challenge #88 - IX

     Busy week, so I am surprised to have finished.  Well, I sort of half cheated.  I grabbed an earlier one to post then decided I had time to try another.  This is a pretty tangle, but a bit hard for me to make look as flowing as I would like. 

Fungus

Hope your week is going well, thanks for stopping by and as always thank you for your comments.

Twenty-four and Six

    I can't believe how fast I flew through these two dares!  The ideas were flowing and I had time and oh, how sweet that was!  I am really loving that the zendala dare doesn't post until Saturdays now.   That is perfect, Erin!  I also am now caught up with the celtic knot challenge.  I see all these awesome challenges, dares and what-nots as I roam around the art blogs, but I honestly don't think I have a moment for one more.  Unfortunately.  These three - no more.  That's what I keep telling myself.

Celtic Knot #6

Judy's instructions were to think about adding something outside the celtic knot pattern she gave us.  I took it quite literal and only drew outside the knot!    I did outline the knot, but other than that I only worked outside.  It was sort of fun, thinking outside the box knot.

Playing Outside

It is so funny.  I have admired nzeppel for ages, put it in my pattern notebook and realized it wasn't for me.  Now it seems to crop up on lots of my tangles.  I love it all of a sudden.  Amazing how our favorites change over time.

Dare #24

Grabbing Sandy Bartholomew's e-book Inspiration Book of Kells,  I went to work on dare #24.  Lots of what I used came from there.  I was rolling along and made a real bungle.  I so hate when that happens.  You can't go back - it is in ink.  You fight (in your mind) going forward.  Then you sit there thinking "do I junk it, or will anyone see it?"  Well guys, it's there.  But I really tried to hide it. 

I am sure there is some profound statement there.  But now is not the time to ponder it.  Now it's off to lesson plans, entering grades, etc. 
             Have a great week!  Happy tangling!

Pinwheels for Peace

  What a fun challenge number 87 was!!  I loved playing with the pinwheel design.  I also got my classroom involved.  We had a blast Friday afternoon making pinwheels.  Then we went out to the front of the school and displayed them on the lawn.  Our school secretary even made several to put on the lawn with ours.  What fun!  Thanks, Diva!

Third Grade Pinwheels for Peace

     I decided on just two tangles for the actual pinwheel.  Then I needed to add a way to put it in the "ground".  So I added a few more tangles.  A tiny pink peace symbol in the center and some pink chalk around the edges and voila, I am done!  Well, with this one.  Now I want to tangle a 3D one of my own.  And then there is one for my calendar . . . uh oh, this could get out of hand!

Pinwheel for Peace

   Even though I missed the two celtic knot challenges, I thought I would show them here.  I had lots of fun playing with the color Judy wanted us to.  Can you tell my favorite color is purple?  Pretty obvious.

Celtic Knot #4

 

Celtic Knot #5

     Hope your week is going great!  Have a good week-end!  Until next challenge . . .

Dare #23

     Oh, I loved this template!  When I have more time, I plan on doing some more of these.  The moment I saw those large ovals, I thought of my Nannie's jewelry box.  The one where I would pull out things to play dress up with.  I felt so glamorous in all her finery.  It provided such a pleasant memory as I tangled.  I tried to find tangles that looked "jewelry like".  Erin, this was a great one!

Grandma's Jewelry Box

  For the next try, I went in a totally different direction.  Not just from the first one, but for me altogether.  I have never tried steampunk styles.  But thought I would give it a go.  Actually I sort of like this one.

     The Bright Owl challenge is being moved to Saturdays.  That is perfect for me.  I am usually so tired by Fridays, I don't have my best focus. 
     Hope you had a great week-end and thanks for stopping by and leaving comments!
                         

Challenge #86 - Breaking Free

    I loved this challenge!  Actually I loved it the moment I read the title!  Laura, this is an awesome one.  Sometimes, I feel my tiles get "boxed in".  So this gives me the excuse reason to break free!  It did take me awhile this week to complete.  Several reasons for that.  One of them was my idea.  I knew the moment I read the Diva's directions exactly what I wanted to do.  Now that doesn't happen too often.  I knew I wanted three tiles on a large piece of paper (8x10) and let them all break free and interlock.  That was my plan.  The other reasons, this was my first full week back with children, papers to grade, etc. 

Breaking Free

   I hope everyone has had a wonderful week.  I surely have.  This has been an exciting week at school.  I have started a classroom blog where my children can post.  They are loving it!  I have them begging, yes you read that right, to write.  They even got upset with me when we didn't have time to write yesterday!  Can you believe that?!  They also are writing at home - a lot!  I love it.  If you are interested in seeing their posts, go to www.kidblog.org/MissCussonsClass/  and check it out.  You won't be able to leave comments there, but I will share any you leave here with my kids. 
     Have a great week!  Thank you for any comments you leave - they are so appreciated!

Back to School!

    What an awesome first week back with children I have had!  I love, love, love this group!  Of course, because of looping, I have had most of them, but there were enough new faces to make it interesting.  They are all such great kids.  The "flow" of this week has been great.  Things have just seemed to come together.  I know there will be days, hopefully not weeks, that I won't feel as super-charged as I do right now, but I am really enjoying the moment!
    Unfortunately, my "free" time is getting limited.  The wonderful days of sitting and tangling til noon or so has evaporated.  I worked really hard to get the challenge and dare complete.  The challenge from Diva (see side bar) was hard.  I love the tangle "copada", but I had trouble coming up with a string.  So I decided to do a zendala.  I used the compass to give me a circle base, but the rest is free hand, as you can probably see.  I think I like the finished piece, except for maybe the circle in the center.  That went a bit astray.

Challenge #85 UMT:Copada

    Erin, over at The Bright Owl (again check out side bar), made it easy on me this week!  The template was cool - I loved it at first sight.  The directions were even better - use one tangle only, variations were accepted, but only one tangle.  I did have a bit of trouble deciding which tangle.  But once that decision had been made it was peaceful and relaxing to just tangle without thinking about what to do next.  I only completed one template and with school work to do that may be all I get to, but I printed all three sizes and who knows?  I might need that "zen-place" this week.

Dare #22 - Crescent Moon

     Last week-end before things got all schooly-fied, I purchased Sandy Bartholomew's e-book Inspiration Sketchbook.  If you haven't gotten it, you should check it out.  It isn't very big and only cost $8.50.  The drawings and tangles inside are purely Sandy!  I love her work and this is no exception.  You can find it at Bumblebat.com.  I started playing around with some of the tangles included and decided a Celtic circle would be nice.  Again I used the compass to get the circles, but beyond that it was freehand again!  Except for the tangles, Betweed and Pea-Nuckle, the rest come from her book.  Lots of fun ideas here!

Celtic Circle

     This pretty much sums up my week - at least artistically.  I could tell you about reading programs, recess, math ideas and making microwave s'mores with 20 eight year olds on a Friday afternoon, but I won't.  I love when you leave comments and I really appreciate your stopping by.  I am trying to comment as I view all the wonderful artwork, but nowadays I can't seem to do as much of that as I wish.  Bear with me, I will get more of a routine going (I hope!).  Take care and I hope your week was as great as mine!!
                                                     Happy Tangling!!

Celtic Knot #3 and Dare #21

     Summer is now officially over (at least for me).  I had my teacher in-services this week and next Tuesday I get my kids back.  I hate to see summer end, but I am so excited about seeing my children.  It is really nice because they are (mostly) the same class since we loop classes at my school.  Its even nicer since I really, really loved this group!  But even with school "stuff", I found time to tangle!

     Celtic Knot #3

     This challenge by Creative Doodling's Judy West was lots of fun.  We had to use the celtic knot style to do either a letter or a word.  I couldn't decide what to do at first.  Then I decided on doing something I had thought about using for a Christmas card.  

Dare #21

     I agree with several others - dare #21?!  Have we really been doing them for 21 weeks?  Wow!  I love this dare.  The repeated patterns and the rhythm of a zendala really appeal to me.  Very calming.  I printed all three templates.  I usually do, even if I don't get to do them all three.  The ones I don't do go into a "rainy day" drawer.  I decided on what color to use.  I really lean toward the traditional black and white most of the time, but the black pen is running low on ink and I haven't got to the mall to get one.  So color it is!  Once I got started with the green I could not get my mind off of an idea that popped in my head.  So I had to stop and do this other idea first, simply so it would let go of me.  The moment the green hit the first paper, this is what I saw:

Peas and Carrots

It is not my favorite, but it was begging to be done!  And so I could move on to other things, I had to comply!  The next one is where I started in the first place (before being so rudely interrupted).

I like the tangles and the way this one looks, but I do wish it had been black.  The green is a bit more vibrant in person - the scan tends to wash it out a bit.
     The last one is my very favorite.  I like the tangles I found in Sandy Bartholomew's book for the outside pieces and I also really like the browns.

      This was done on the large template and printed on tan cardstock.  I used colored pencils to shade it.  You can find this and all the other great entries at The Bright Owl (see side button).
      Now I need to go and look at some plans for next week.  Fortunately planning is something I really love to do.  Thank you for stopping by and I really look forward to your comments.  Those comments are like little presents in my inbox!  Seriously, they brighten my day.  I am trying to keep up with leaving comments as I enjoy the other sites, but sometimes school gets in the way.  Just know I am loving your work!  I learn so much from just looking at the talent out there. 
                    Have a great week-end, and Happy Tangling!