Days 330 - 333

     Day 330 and the day before Thanksgiving.  It is just my brother and I but we still enjoy a rather nice "feast".  I like to cook a bit more than usual so I can do left overs as much as possible.   When we were younger and lived in North Carolina, we had lots of family.  My grandmother, aunt and mom cooked for hours (probably days).  Nannie's pecan pie.  Mama's special potato salad.  Oh my.  Such a bounty of good food and the warm feeling of being surrounded by people who loved you.  I was very fortunate to have grown up when and where I did.  Adele Bruno's string challenge was to keep it simple and use two tangles, gourdeous and lichen.  Then to use the tile to reflect on someone or something that you were thankful for.  I am most thankful for my brother.  He is my best friend and favorite person to be with.  I have been blessed with him.

     Thanksgiving and day 331!  The casserole is in the oven.   The smells are so good.  And I have a bit to tangle!  I was so happy to see the two challenges by Susy Mosh were up.  I love her challenges.  For That's New To Me #46 we had to use the tangle "points and curves" and a new (to us) tangle that begins with the letter x.  I used a new tangle called "x".  Then I also added some xplode and xplo-zen.  It was sort of empty so I added some color.

    The second challenge is the Tangle Me 3.  We had to use points and curves again for a monotangle.  I almost didn't do this one because I wasn't sure I wanted to play around with that tangle again.  Glad I did though because I liked it much better this time.

     Square One's facebook challenge was to use the tangle steps.  I went and watch Helen Williams's show how to do this in her video.  That helped.  Here is day 332.

     Diane Clancy and working on this blog for day 333.  I chose to use hi-c's, waterslide and nzeppel for her HWN challenge. 

     I think I will take a few minutes and play around with drawing the "gems" that are so popular on a facebook site I go to.  They are so beautiful.  I suppose tomorrow I will spend the day doing some school work.  Then it is back to work on Monday.  I am excited about seeing my kids and hearing about their break.  I hope all goes well with everything else.  I have had a battle with the anxiety I felt, but feel a bit stronger now than I did.  Take care and thanks for dropping by.  Hope your day is filled with blessings!!

Days 327 - 329 Time off!

     I am so loving this week and time off from work!  I needed this break.  I have been able to get some crafting done, a few things around the house, and spend time enjoying a new computer game that Ray and I are loving.  Yep, good break.  Not to mention sleeping in. 
     For Every Inchie Monday the word was crochet.  I had a great grandmother who crocheted all the time.  She did such beautiful work.  There would always be a special crocheted Christmas item for all her family.  A while back I tried my hand at tatting (crocheting lace like items).  I made some snowflakes for our tree, some doilies, and a few other small items.  It was fun but not what I would say relaxing.  Now I am not sure my eyesight would be able to do this.  Probably not.  But for my inchie I went to my old thread basket and found a scrap I had practiced on.  I cut it so it would fit my inchie and there you have it!

     It seems like the tangle hollibaugh has been a focus of a lot of challenges lately.  Diva wanted it to be the focus of her "back to basics" challenge this week. 

     Made by Joey's challenge #88 was to do a monotangle with the tangle Yuma.  I never used this one so much.  I watch one of Ellen Wolters's videos on drawing Yuma and actually found myself liking this tangle.

    Now I think I will head off and work on some shrink plastic ornaments for some Christmas presents.  I will show them to you later.  Take care and have a blessed day. 

Day 322 - 326 Finally

    This has been one of the most difficult weeks I have gone through.  And it is finally over.  I just haven't had the energy to post - I have drawn my tiles, but I really could not work up the frame of mind to write. 
     For the That's New to Me challenge #45, I used the tangle icthus and Sue Clark's falz and echo.  I took the easy way out and made a tile composed of some little tiles. 

     Then the next day I worked on Tangle Me 3 # 21 challenge.  We had to use the tangle ansu. I had this one in my notebook, but had never used it.  At first I really didn't like the tile, but once I added the color I became happier.

      Friday evening I sat down and finally worked on Diva's challenge "Tripoli triptastic".  I like this tangle a lot.  It always makes me think of orange slices.  Yum.

     A little more time on Saturday afternoon to draw.  I did the facebook challenge to use peanuckle (I love this tangle).   Then I worked on Diane Clancy's 33rd challenge.  Tangles had to begin with the letters BEX.  I used bunco, balo, emingle, and XYP.  Added a bit of color to help it be more cheerful.

     There.  Now I am all caught up.  I am also out of school for 9 whole WONDERFUL days!  I love my class so much.  I love the teachers and staff I work with.  I wish I could say that for the "leadership".   My life is being made miserable by one person.  I barely got through this week.  I have spent 39 years in that building.  My passion is education and working with children.  I have spent every evening this week trying to figure out how I can manage to either find another job or financially retire.  Neither seem possible and I don't know how I will find the strength to go back.  I have prayed and hope to be blessed with that strength.  For now I am trying to focus on Thanksgiving and being away from the school.  Normally I would be searching the internet for ideas and things - I am not allowing myself to do that.  For 9 days, I am not a teacher.  I am . . . well, I guess I am an artist.  Or whatever.
      Have a wonderful day and I hope you are feeling blessed.  Hugs to all!!

Day 322

     Usually I am very pleased to trace tiles and draw them in my sketch journal.  It keeps them altogether.  That is unless you make a mistake - a large one - on the bottom half of the page and there is no way to get it out of the journal unless you throw away the top half.  Bother.
     Since white out wasn't an option, I grabbed a black pen and "blacked out" the first bottle and the nasty mistake.  From there everything seemed to work nicely and I actually think it came out okay.  But just know lurking under that black bottle is a rather poor tangle that is all wrong!

     Thank you for dropping by and saying hello!  Have a blessed day!

Day 321 - Made by Joey challenge - xplode

  A rather nondescript tile.  My heart is just not with it today.

Have a great day and I hope it is one filled with blessings.

Day 320 - Every Inchie Monday, Exotic

     Oh my!  exotic what???  My brother's suggestion was an exotic car.  In an inch?  Don't think so.  Then I risked googling the word - considering all the things that could be exotic it was a risk.  But there I saw some gorgeous flowers, animals, and locations.  One caught my eye and made me think it could be within my ability. 
     On a piece of paper about 1.5 inches big I painted the background with watercolor.  Then after it dried I pulled out my gel pens and drew in the sunset - way too bold.  So I took my finger and smeared it around - perfect for what I wanted.  I then did the same with the reflection on the water.  Last I drew in the island and palms.  You can't see it, but I am sitting right there on that beach and my little beach house is just behind those trees.  Ahh  . . . don't I wish.
     When everything was good and dry, I take my inchie frame and move it around til I have the space that I like the best. 

      Thank you for visiting on my little island.  Pull up a beach chair, grab something cold and stay awhile.  You may not want to leave!

Day 319 - Paradox

     What a beautiful day it is today!  Blue sky, crunchy leaves!  Autumn perfect!  I loved the Square One challenge to play with paradox.  It is one of my absolute favorite tangles.  Many (lots of manys!) years ago, when I was in high school and taking a drafting class they sponsored a drawing contest - more mechanical type things.  I chose to do a page of a drawing called Huddy's Doodle.  Or as we now call it paradox.  It was a grueling exercise, because each line had to be measured and done with a ruler (a tool I rarely use).  I have no idea how many times I started over!  But I did win the contest. 

     Thank you for dropping by and I hope you are having a wonderful day.  Mine is considerable better than yesterday, (smile).
    

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 318 - Diane Clancy's challenge

     For this alphabet challenge I chose to use kollide, hekzee, and unyun.  I had to use hekzee since I had it confused with another one earlier in the week and didn't get to use it. 

   It has been a disaster of a day.  It started out wrong and got no better.  But on the upswing it is Friday and I have plans to zen out all afternoon.  Maybe all weekend.  Thanks for coming by. 

Day 317 - W2

    I struggle with the over under type tangles.  I have no idea why.  And it does seem I am getting a bit better.  A bit.  Here is my tangle for Made by Joey.

     Off to finish my grading - yuck! 

Day 316 - Adele Bruno String Challenge

    This week is wild!  I have so much to do I will never finish it all.  Okay.  Slow up.  Breathe and grab some zen!  For Adele Bruno's string challenge we had to use the tangles ahh, accrosstick, and afterglow.

I hope you are having a great day and thank you for dropping by.

Day 315 - Diva Challenge

What a day this has been!  I needed a tiny bit of "simple".  Here is my tile for the Diva's "small taste" challenge.  I put this onto the first page of my new sketch book.  Later on I may add quotes either inside it or around the outside.

Thank you for dropping by!  Have a great day!

Day 314 - Every Inchie Monday

    The word for this week is "nymph".  So I googled it for an idea.  I discovered I could 1) draw a really beautiful woman (out of my artistic realm), 2) do something that relates to a bug (ewww), or 3) use a tangle named nymph.  No contest, right?  So I tangled my little inchie with nothing but nymph.  I also added a bit of color.

      Thank you for dropping by and saying hello!  Have a great Monday! 
One more just for fun!

Day 313 - Review of a new magazine, DO!

     I am a sucker for anything with the word "tangle" on it.  Seriously.  I get every book I can afford and love looking at other artist's works for inspiration.  I also am really into the current coloring book craze.  Rarely - only once - has my purchase not lived up to my hopes.  That should tell you just how many good books there are.  So naturally when I saw the advertisement for a magazine devoted to "color, tangle, craft, doodle", my blood started pumping.  The magazine by Design Originals, "DO", is going to be a winner. 
     Inside this publication - the premier edition - there are tons of things to color, guide to tangles, and several projects.  The seven projects look well laid out with clear directions and include coloring sheets if needed.  I haven't done any of them yet, but I am seriously eyeing the purple stool.  That would look so cool in my classroom.

     The page with the tangles would be very helpful for a person new to tangling, but they were not as important to me.  I did enjoy reading the article about zentangle and its philosophy. 

    There are nine feature articles.  Each one is well written and enjoyable to read - when you need a small break from creating.  I particularly enjoyed reading about artists Ben Kwok, Suzanne McNeill, Marie Browning, and Joanne Fink.  It is always interesting to see the creative process from another artist's point of view.  The artists each have several pages of their work to color.  The coloring pages are printed on great paper - cutting down on bleed-through.  I decided to scan and print the ones I wanted to use right away.  I didn't want to lose access to them if I wanted to try them again sometime.  You really wouldn't have to though. 

     Above is a picture I colored using some of Joanne Fink's suggestions.  I added some details of my own and am thinking about a frame for this one.  I have always enjoyed her art work so it was fun to color on her design!
    One of the most interesting feature articles was about using your tangles and doodling to enhance a prayer journal.  I think I will be using this idea very soon. 

     Okay, I am smitten.  I like this publication.  I like the type of art work it promotes.  A year's subscription is a little under $30.  I usually live on a tight budget, but I plan on trying to figure out how to afford it.  There are only 4 issues, but with as much as there is to do inside this magazine I really wouldn't want it to come out more often - I would never have time for mundane tasks like cooking, cleaning and working on my school work. 

Days 309 - 312

     Day 309, I worked on the challenge for Suzy Mosh's That's New to Me Challenge.  We had to use a new tangle that began with the letter M and other tangles by artist Kathy Barringer.  I chose to use mooned zen for the center and then antique, flower box, and haley's hearts.

      While I love the tangle sand by Adele Bruno, I am less than happy with this monotangle using it.  I could not make it work into the string she gave us to use.  Either way, here is day 310.

      Friday and day 311!  I am so glad it is Friday.  It has been a rough week.  Lots of people sick at school so some schedules rearranged to accomodate.  Children sick and whiny.  Just a rough week.  I had thought all week about what I might do for the Tangle Me 3 challenge.  Then I looked the tangle up in my notebook.  Good thing I did because I was thinking of the wrong tangle!  So here is hepmee not hekzee (both by artist Carole Ohl).

     I got to work on a couple of things for day 312.  I did my tile for Square One using cyme.  I really like this tangle a lot, even if I don't use it very often.

     I also worked on the Diva Challenge #242 using the new tangle gourdgeous.  This is a really pretty tangle - but not my version.  I need some serious practice with this one.

     Thanks for dropping by and if you have any spare sunshine your way please share - I am sooooo tired of rain!  Hugs to all!

Day 308 - Diane Clancy's Alphabet challenge

     One of my favorite challenges is the one at Diane Clancy's site.  We are given 3 letters of the alphabet and have to find tangles that start with those letters.  Any thing "alphabet" appeals to me so this is right up my alley.  This week our letters were SFT.  I used fandance, sooflowers, twile and a new tangle by Adele Bruno that I wanted to play with some more - sand.

      I am really enjoying our fall weather, but I do wish we weren't getting so much rain.  The weatherman is predicting a very cold and wet winter - oh fun!  I do want one pretty snow, but I hate to miss too much school as that eats into my summer.
     Thank you for dropping by and leaving me some - much needed - sunshine.  I hope you are having a blessed day!

Day 307 - Verdigogh

     When I saw the challenge over at Made by Joey's, I wasn't sure what I would do.  It has to be a monotangle so even while verdigogh works well with other organic tangles, I wasn't sure how to make it a successful monotangle.  Coming home today an idea popped in my head (isn't that strange?) and here we go.  Would make a nice Christmas card, wouldn't it?

     Thanks for dropping by and I hope you have a wonderful day. 

Day 306

     Rainy and dreary here today.  So when I thought about an inchie for the word emotion, I just couldn't work up a sunshiny face.  This little guy is a bit stressed (probably from all the paperwork he had to do at school), worried (when will his next evaluation be?), tired (sinuses are a gripe), and frustrated (oh will it ever stop raining???).  But even with all that he is trying to be a sunshine yellow. 

     Hope you are having a very blessed day and perhaps you can make this poor fellow smile with some sunshiny comments!  Thanks for taking the time to take a peek.

Days 303 - 305

     Tonight is Halloween.  Sorry if I offend some who love this holiday, but I will be so glad when it is over.  As a child I did the usual costumes and treat gathering.  It was always lots of fun.  Now though, I do not participate at all.  It doesn't appeal to me.  There are too many dangers without a holiday that invites them.  I worry something fierce about "my" kids (my class).  It is always a relief to see them safe and sound the next day or in this case on Monday.  So if you do celebrate - Happy Halloween and please be very safe.
     Now onto more artsy endeavors.  For Diane Clancy's challenge this week I used the tangles - ole, arabel, archer, crux, and come and go.  Lots of fun to play with the circular shape and some color.  Here is day 303.

     Friday at school (day 304) we had the most awesome presentation by fifth graders.  They dressed up as historic figures and presented a "wax" museum.  As you walked by and stopped at the exhibits they told about the character.  Even my little guys were entranced.   The fifth grade teachers at our school really knocked themselves out with this one!  I was so tired this afternoon I didn't get a lot of tangling done.  I worked on Square One's challenge to use verve - which is one of my very favorites!

    Which brings us to today, day 305.  I took a "crafting day" as we call it.  It is almost too late but I completed Diva's challenge on stones.  Very relaxing tangling for this one.

     I also added new tangles to my notebook thanks to Tangle Harmony's weekly update and worked a little on a card for a friend.   It is dreary outside so staying in with hot chocolate and a pen is my kind of day.  Lazy me, smile.
    Take care and I hope you are having a very blessed day.