Coming Soon, Are You Ready?

It's almost that time again! It will be here before you know it. I was trying something different here. Something different for me. An ATC card. I had not done one before. They are so small - just 3.5" x 2.5", not much room to work with, but so much fun! I watercolored this tile first, then used a good ole-fashioned rubber stamp, to add some words, then tangled till I couldn't think of anything else to do. Then I added that cute little rhinestone that you can hardly see in this shot - on the 'i' in mine. Yep, it's almost here!

Floating on the Bottom

How's that for a depressing post title? Hahahahaha! Seriously, I wish I was a scuba diver! We used to spend a couple weeks each summer in the Florida Keys. The boys would snorkle and look for lobster. Kali and I would swim in the pool and shop :). A couple years Mark had an underwater camera and was able to shoot some pictures of fish. I've never been down there swimming, but if I could - I imagine this is what it would look like - all zentangle-y :).

When I was at CZT training this past month, there were a couple ladies there that had large artbooks with pages filled with every pattern type imaginable. When I got home I knew I wanted to give it a try. I got a little side-tracked along the way and came up with this, so I will give it another try soon. I built this on a 9" x 12" sheet of Bristol from a Strathmore pad. I started with the pokeleaf at the bottom and the pokeroot in the adjacent corner. I thought fengle would make one awesome starfish, so I did that next.  I just started adding elements here and there.

When I'd get stuck, I would start adding in some color with Pitt markers and Copic markers. Then I realized that ixorus would make some awesome swimming creatures and I kept adding indyrella around the bottom.

My favorite element is definitely that fengled starfish with the danglies and springkles! It also has a little rounding enhancement.

More color added in - when I got to this point I thought I was finished.

Silly me! There was still some room to add in some popsicles (hahahaha!) and those dandelion-looking floaty-thingies. Add a whole bunch more color, and voila! Floating on the Bottom! Just because I can :).
So much fun! I will definitely be doing more of this real soon!
The challenge this week in the Artist's Play Room is ~ juicy! Beneath the seas, lots of water, lots of bright juicy colors - it's just what Jenn ordered up this week. Check it out here and join in the fun!
I am also trying to link up to Serenity Now where Amanda hosts the Weekend Bloggy Reading. You can share your best post of the week and check out other bloggers' fun posts! Why don't you head on over and join in the fun?

Brayd With the Diva, A String, and Inspiration

I apologize up front because I am going to use this tangled tile for three challenges this week - I have never done this before.  I am feeling the stress this week - I am leaving town in two days for almost a week and I am nowhere near being ready. So, up first is Challenge #82 from the Diva (AKA Laura) - that's police talk :). Laura challenged us to use Shelly Beauch's pattern brayd for our tile. I think I have drawn this pattern once before, so it was like new for me. The hardest part was taking my time, and not rushing my way through.

The second challenge comes from Linda Farmer at Tangle Patterns. The string came from Barbara Finwall.

When I drew this, I patterned my brayd along the lines of the string Barbara drew for us. To give the color - I used Derwent graphitint pencils, and their metallic pencils with a water brush. I really like the way the graphitint pencils look - like aged patina - sweet!

Inspiration Avenue offered a challenge this week to use the art of zentangle. Above, I used the patterns brayd, jalousies, and two of my own patterns - blox and barz.

To see some fantastic art, go to these sites and check it out! You can share your work with us! The Diva Challenge, Tangle Patterns, and Inspiration Avenue.