'A' Tangles

Another fun prompt in  Zentangle All Around. Use the first letter of either your first or last name. Draw it on your paper. Then tangle with only patterns that start with that letter. 
This is a piece of paper about 4" x 6" that I had pre-colored with some  Color Bloom sprays. I used the letter A from my first name and drew it on the paper. The tangles I used are: Ahh, aquafleur and avreal from  Zentangle HQ and my own airways and All Boxed Up. White highlights came from a gel pen. What a fun idea!

Philippians 4:8

 Finally, brothers, whatever is true,

whatever is honorable,

whatever is just,

whatever is pure,

whatever is lovely,

whatever is commendable,

if there is any excellence,

if there is anything worthy of praise,

think about these things. 

Philippians 4:8

 I am still getting used to Bible journaling.

Getting 'OK' with drawing in my Bible

And glueing things in my Bible.

And adding color. 

But I am going to keep going until I get used to it!

Haha!

This has always been a favorite verse for me,

and when I saw this little piece of art in my drawer,

I knew this was the verse for her.

She looks thoughtful and ponder-ful.

Haha!

My friend Evelyn pointed out to me

that this is the art of Leeanne Ellis.

I didn't know that. 

I cut this picture off a piece of packaging.

I especially like the 'think happy thoughts' sticker.

That is what this verse says to me.

To think on the good things,

the positive things,

the happy things in the life

that God has given us.

Verse 9 goes on to say that if we practice

the things we have learned and seen in Him,

that the God of peace would be with us.

That is what I want in my life. 

Letter Art

In my Facebook group -

Zentangle All Around - 

we are working on letter art this week. 

I set up a Pinterest board showing different

types of lettering - some fun, some serious, 

some decorative. Just examples - you can

see them here. 

I chose this page of letters to work with.

 I knew that I wanted to work in an arc,

so I set up two lines in pencil

and roughly divided the space into the

number of letters I was going to use.

 Next, I sketched out the letters in pencil -

knowing that I would eventually erase the lines.

 Once I was happy with the placement,

I outlined the letters with a sharpie fine liner.

I elongated the top legs of the letter K

and put a spear through the crossbar of the F.

 Happy with that, I erased my pencil lines

and began tangling some of the letters.

 For me, this was the difficult part.

Deciding what patterns to use in the letters.

Where I made mistakes, I just thickened the

lines. Yes, it is supposed to look like that.

Thank you :).

 I wanted the letters to look like they were floating

over the background, so I drew some

ribbon lines and began adding some airways -

that's the flower looking designs along

the outside.

I used Schmincke watercolors to add some color.

(And I just noticed that I forgot about the arc

and made those ribbon lines straight.

Oh well. The best laid plans of mice and men.

Or some such nonsense.)

Once I had all the color added that I wanted, I added shading around each letter - to give the letters that 'floaty' look!  Super easy and it didn't take very long. My final step will be to frame it and mail it to a special little Frankie that I know.
What kind of letter art might you work on today? Feel free to check out that Pinterest board linked in pink and see what ideas you might come up with.

Drogon, A New Tangle from Lily Moon

Fun tile to draw! The border is gotcha, one i really love tangling. Lower right corner is my very own tangle - airways - and across the frame is Lily Moon's new tangle drogon.  So versatile and easy to draw! Drew this tile in Florida, just getting around to posting it.  Rainy day here in Maine, so tangle time this afternoon -  or a nap - is a given.

Too Busy

Too busy. That accurately describes my life but I love it! Lots on my plate art wise, swaps, adminning, looking into book options, helping a friend launch a new book tomorrow. (Stay tuned.) Working my Etsy store again, trying to find some me-time to draw, staring out my window at Maine. I love all of it! Hahaha!
Let's do some links. Etsy store is here. Tangles used above are: airways, cee-a-mosa, and  cross bar - all my patterns.
Also Carole Ohl's inapod,  Katy Abbott's kuke, and  zentangle® original tangle printemps.
It's a beautiful day. I think I'll stare out the window some more.  SaveSave

New Tangle Pattern Airways

 I like to use flowers in my tangling,

but not strictly for the floral aspect.

Sometimes I want my work to be

"representative" of something specific.

Say a dragon.

Most of the time I don't want it to be representative

of anything specific, but a floral design

would work well with the other tangles.

 And even when I design something that looks

representative,

I like it to be comprised of legit tangles.

The center of airways is called ripped screen.

Circling that is a band of tagh.

The outer arms are a more organized version of

an original zentangle pattern called mysteria.

 There are plenty of ways to switch up airways.

And plenty of ways to use it.

Not to mention plenty of places to tangle it up.

This is a wall in my studio.

Still have a long way to go on it,

but airways is making a real difference with it

so far. 

And then there were all those Valentine's Day ATCs I made and swapped.  Airways. Have fun and give it a try. I'd love to see what you do with it. SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

Work in Progress

Working on a new large project. Actually started this in Florida, I need to finish it up here in Maine. The background is Dylusions Ink Spray, my standby, my go-to product. London blue and bubblegum pink.  That mix in the middle is arukas and my own airways. The overall piece is 9" x 12", this is just a small section to get you interested. Stand by for more. SaveSave

Make Your Own Journaling / Tangling Cards

Recently on Blitsy I found little packages of journaling cards -  actually bits of colorful scrapbook paper - from BoBunny.

 The cards came in several different sizes,

all perfect for tangling.

 Do you only have a few minutes at night for yourself?

Pick up a journaling card and tangle it for yourself.

The first three you see only took me 10-15 minutes each to complete. 

You really can fit a quick project into your tightly scheduled routine.

Do you have to buy little journaling cards from Blitsy? Or Michael's?  Or Hobby Lobby?  (No, but you should go there and check out all the holiday decorations! I am now the proud owner of three snow covered Christmas trees that I saved a total of $1,300.00 on by waiting till the day after Christmas.)
If you scrapbook/ed like so many of us, you probably have scrapbook paper that you bought for a  specific project and never used.  Or paper you bought in a pack and you  still have sheets that you don't really like,  or they don't go with your color scheme.
Take you trusty little paper trimmer and cut those sheets into: 4" x 6" 4" x 4" 3" x 3" OR 2" x 2".
These are frequently used journaling sizes, and they will fit into any of the journaling sheet protectors you might have from various companies.
Tangle and decorate these cards with  whatever tools you normally use.  Pens, fine liners, markers, pencils, watercolor, ink sprays, they all work well on scrapbook paper.
And have fun! That's the recipe for success!

A Bit of a Week

So I haven't posted in a couple days and I was wondering why not. Then I realized a lot has been going on in my life. I did find time to participate in A String Symphony with my Facebook group Zentangle All Around. Above is my tile for string #30.  I am only about 30 strings behind. Hahaha! The tile is a mashup of arukas and airways. Such fun!

 I also got to spend some time with the Frankles.

She loves those sunglasses. 

 She even insisted I wear them -

even if they were made for a little guy

and barely fit my face.

Frankles wore her new glasses that 

are helping her see better.

(When she gets tired of wearing them,

she will have them to me and say, "thank you.")

And our really big news this week is that Bobbie - my son's wife who I call daughter - and mom of the Frankles - earned her ears at Disney two days ago. The beginning of a new adventure for their family. My son will be starting a new job dispatching in a 911 call center for one of the Sheriff's Offices in the area. And the Frankles is starting day care.
In the meantime, we are packing everything  that doesn't move in preparation for our move to Maine.  Happy times. 
What are you up to? How was your week?

Valentine ATC Swap, 2016

Before you know it, Valentine's Day will be here. This year - probably for the first time ever - I was able to post a swap  before the holiday happened. In my Facebook group Zentangle All Around, we are currently holding an ATC swap. A 9 for 9 swap, which means you make nine ATCs and you receive nine ATCs in return. People are mailing me their ATCs now that they created, and at the end of this month I will set them up in groups of nine each and mail them back to the participants. This is a smattering of what I made for the swap. None of the entire ATCs show here. ATC stands for Artist Trading Card and they are the same size as a baseball card - 2.5" x 3.5". We trade them in little plastic sleeves and they are greatly treasured.  In my personal collection I have ATCs from all over the world. Little glimpses into the hearts of artists that have become friends -  truly all around the globe. So. Happy early Valentine's Day from me to you!
these are all made on white yupo paper. the color is alcohol ink

Blue Semaphore

I will be back home in sunny Florida before you know it. Being too hot and wishing I was back in Maine. Seriously. In the meantime, let me introduce you to semaphore. That grid tangle down through the middle. Doesn't it remind you of the signal flags used on ships? The art of signal flagging is called semaphore. Hence, the name. To the left you have dropz, another of my patterns,  and the fringe is an abbreviated version of airways.
I had a lot of fun putting these ATCs together, and you have almost seen them all. 

Golden Airways

I love this tangle airways! It is easy to draw and looks different every time, depending on how you  draw the arms.  It also has a lot of applications.
Step outs will be coming soon.  If you can't wait, you can find airways in the Tangle It! Planner.

Holidays In Maine

By the time you see this I will be in Maine. Relaxing and enjoying our new house. Sitting on the sectional, admiring my huge Christmas tree. Hahaha! Cause we finally have a home tall enough  to house a ten foot tall tree!
This ATC was made with postbox red and lemon zest  Dylusions Ink Sprays. The tangle is called Airways - it is one of mine that was released in the Tangle It! Planner. Super fun and easy to draw.
I hope you are enjoying the holidays. I am (insert big smile here.)