Another great Zendala dare!

   Friday morning and the anticipation begins.  I can't wait until I get to take a peek at the new zendala dare posted by The Bright Owl.   This is so much fun!  I usually print out both pages of templates and then sit and stare.  And stare.  And stare.  Then finally something (hopefully) hits me. 
  The last Diva Challenge was to use a new tangle called pea-nuckle.  I really didn't like this one so much, so I hurriedly did a tile so I could at least post.  The problem?  Now I love it!  So I knew I had to put it on this dare.  It is simply a very fun tangle to do - it's the basket weave around the outside.  Then I before I knew it my pen was making betweed the center.  That tangle crops up even when I don't ask it to.  I love it, so I have a tendency to overdo it. 

   I guess I better cap the pen and move on to fun things - like grading papers and finishing up school work.  Only one more week to go with kiddos!  I am looking forward to summer, but I really love this group. 
   Have a great week and see you next dare!

Challenge #71 and a few other things

The last two weeks of school are hectic!!  I have to do all sorts of paperwork and pack up furniture and clean out cupboards and. . . okay,  I've got my whining in.  I will get on with it.  I was afraid I would not have this challenge done, so I rather hurriedly completed a tile.  Maybe I will get another one in later on in the week.  I definitely will be using "pea-nuckle" again (and again).  That tangle is some serious fun!!

I also mentioned last challenge post that I was working on several gifts.  Thought you might enjoy seeing my results.  One more shower to go.  It is clearly not safe to drink the water in our school, well, unless you are more my age.  :)

Turk's Bama elephant

 

Some baby shower gifts -

Hope everyone is having a great week.  Thanks for stopping by and giving me your comments!  I can't wait until I have time to check out all the other entries.  They are always SO awesome!!

Seeing Stars!

   I am really seeing stars after this fun zendala dare by The Bright Owl!  This dare has been so MUCH fun!  When I first saw the template, I thought that it was interesting, but not exactly my favorite.  But the more I have played with it (and I played a lot) the more I liked it.  I grabbed the tile size and my first thought was facets for the star points.  After that it was flip through my books and see what stirred my thoughts.  I backed it on pink paper after I finished it because our school media specialist is crazy about stars and pink.  I decided to give this tile to her to say thank you for all her hard work this year and the nice things she has done for us as a staff.  Great lady!
      It was too much fun to quit.  So I cut out the circle template.  After roaming through my collection of zentangle books for inspiration, I spotted a drawing of a lotus flower.  Aha!  Perfect for the center.  Then the rest of the tile had to be oriental in theme - kogin leaves, yin yang symbols.  I love the peaceful feel of this one.

Lotus

     What no color?  I started to color Lotus, then just couldn't "interrupt" that lovely black and white.  So I absolutely had to do another one, you understand.   Working my way out from the center again, I "grew" a flower garden.  I am not real comfortable with color, but I love to play with it. 

Flower Garden

 

 

 

 

 

        I think I shall stop now and go back to the drudgery of school work.  This time of year is full of reports to be filled out, papers to be completed, etc.  Ahh, summer is just around the corner though.  Nine more days with children and a few inservice days and I will be a lady of leisure.  Have a great week and thank you for dropping by!

Love that brown!

  This week's challenge was perfect!  I love sepia and browns!  I like the earthiness of it all.  Thank you Diva for a great challenge #70!  Also I am glad you had a wonderful birthday!  Best of birthday wishes.

    Now I have 4 gifts to get ready!  I have a shower x3 tomorrow and 3 pictures to paint! Yikes!  I do these really different silhouettes for gifts and have to get going.  Got the pictures drawn, just have to work on the painting part.  The other gift is a "just because" type of thing for my custodian.  I will post that at a later date - I am tangling her a Bama elephant.  Fortunately not life size - argh!
   Hope you have a wonderful day! 

Zendala Dare #5

  This has been a roller-coaster week!  At least emotionally.  There is a lot I would love to write to get out of my system, and I will at some point, but some of the changes I am having to adjust to are at work and we are not in a place to discuss this yet.  For the record, though, I hate change.  I really prefer a nice calm "rut".  Adjusting to any changes are hard for me, but honestly after a lot of prayer, I am feeling pretty good about "things". 
  Fortunately some things don't change.  Like an awesome dare each Friday.  Oh how I love that!    This design was really extra awesome in my opinion.  I had so much fun and needed so much calm, that I did two.  When I first saw the pattern, for some strange reason, I immediately thought Native American blanket.  It must be the strange way my brain works.  So after a more traditional tile, I used the round version and went to work on the blanket.  I used Margaret Bremner's new tangle "shing" and flukes.  Beyond that, I just played around with things that seemed to fit the Native American motif.  Sort of looks like a group of tepees to me.

Wigwam

  Hope you are having a great week and thank you for leaving a comment.  I love connecting with such fantastic artists.  This has become a real passion with me!  See you at the next dare!

Challenge #69

    This was a tough one, Diva!  I knew what it was "supposed" to look like, but I didn't really seem to get it.  Drawing the initial curvy lines was my biggest hurdle.  However, I stuck with it and here it is.  Not wonderful, but not too bad.  I "clipped" a bunch of paper together to sort of symbol how many tries it took to get it right! 

     That will have to do until I get more practice with this one.  I intend to do just that though.  I like the tangle and I will get it . . . eventually.  Have a great week and thanks for stopping by!

Hola! Amigos!

    And there was the real extent of my two years in Spanish class way back in high school.  Okay, maybe I know one or two more words but not much.  However that didn't stop the fun I had with Erin (over at The Bright Owl) and her zendala dare #4.  We could choose either to do an ocean inspired zendala or a Mexican one.  Since I had recently done an ocean one and I felt really colorful this week, I decided on Mexico.  This was so much fun!!  I even tried my hand at a couple of my own tangles.  I might even get "brave" and post the directions.  I found the inspiration for those on some Mexican fabric. 

Fiesta

  From the moment I saw the challenge I knew I had to use those little lizards I had seen in one of Suzanne McNeill's books.  The problem?  I didn't own the stencil.  So I traced and cut and traced some more.  It was a pain, but they turned out okay.  One day I will get the stencil. 
   Our weather is so hot for May.  It really worries me at what to expect in July and August!  I would love to live in an area where it was spring all the time.  Well, sort of.  I do like snow.  I just don't like heat.  However as you can see, Lakota enjoys a bit of sunshine.  He doesn't stay out long, because being black, he just "bakes"!

 

 

"I love summer!!"

  Hope you have a great week and thank you for dropping by!