A Little Zingo

Since my mom passed away two months ago,

I have had a really hard time getting motivated to art.

Drawing/tangling is like pulling teeth.

Making color is a little easier right now.

I can always make color,

BUT

tangling isn't easy.

Zentangle® HQ recently blogged and videoed their granddaughters Indy and Mazzy tangling Zingo.  You can see my rendition of zingo in the tile just above this.  To watch the 7 and 5 year olds make their very own video, click this link. And turn the volume up. Their commentary will leave you smiling.
I probably should have left things alone at this point, but I wanted to push myself and try to draw.

So I added some Printemps and some fiore. Two of my no brainer tangles. I don't know if it helped or hurt, but at least I did something.  Here's hoping this motivation down time comes to an end soon. 

Power of the Cross, Blessed Easter

 Once in darkness - now in light,

Once blind, now you see.

Once a sinner - now a saint,

Once bound, now free.

That's the power of the cross.

See the chains fall.

That's the power of the cross.

See the chains fall.

Once a stranger, now a child.

Empty - now filled.

Once condemned, now reconciled.

Broken - now healed.

That's the power of the cross.

See the chains fall.

That's the power of the cross.

See the chains fall.

Yeah, the chains fall.

Once a prodigal, now home.

Once lost, now found.

Once an enemy, now a friend.

Once poor, now crowned. 

That's the power of the cross.

See the chains fall.

That's the power of the cross.

See the chains fall.

See the chains,

See your chains fall.

See the chains,

See your chains fall.

(Power of the Cross, by Natalie Grant)

He is risen. Matthew 28:6

I know my redeemer lives. Job 19:25

Happy Easter!

I pray for family held close to your heart.

I pray for happiness and thankfulness and joy.

I pray God's blessings on you and your family.

And I thank you for joining me on my

art journey and adventure.

What a blessing each of you are to me.

Every single day.

I am thankful and grateful for each of you.

(Just a little side note - I took each of the photos in this post. Locations range from mid Florida all the way  up to the D.C. area. One day I hope to have a cross and steeple book on the market, with lyrics and thoughts about the cross. The artwork is mine, as well. The first piece is tangled. The last piece is a paper pieced topper  I made awhile back for my photography blog.)

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!

Fiorefied

Fiore is a favorite tangle for me. I have a lot of favorites. Hahaha! Fiore was created by CZT Jana Rogers and it is the most fun! Step out is available on Tangle Patterns.
While I was working on this one last night, I noticed the top part of each drop was left open. I didn't like that. My fiore didn't look complete. So I took those top bands that were left open, extended them out, curved them around, and capped them off with a tip.
Then the contrast needed a little help to balance out the design, so I added in a little flux between each watermelon slice :) .
Hahaha! Now I am totally wishing I had some sweet, juicy watermelon!
Fiore-fied.  Just what the doctor prescribed. Why don't you give it try?

Thursday String Idea #6

 Welcome to Week 6 of the

Thursday String Idea!

I am sorry I missed posting last week.

Mark and I were in Maine looking at houses.

The Florida heat is really messing with me and we want to move to a cooler climate.

We did a lot of research before we went.

We knew exactly what we wanted.

And even though our 'dream' cabin turned out to be a dud,

the realtor pointed us towards a dream house we would have 

never looked at because of the price.

Fortunately, since we first saw that house online -

and the time we went to see it last week -

the seller dropped the price $30,000.00 

which made an unattainable house suddenly attainable.

Long story short - the seller accepted our offer and we should be closing on this beautiful home in a little over a month.

Blog post with tons of photos coming soon!

Anyway, I am back this week with string #6. You can print the string out here - it is sized to fit a 3 1/2" tile. If you want additional size links, just let me know and I will make it happen.
The tangles I used are fiore and frost flower. It reminds me of the Starship Enterprise for some reason. Hehehehe.
In case you missed the link above, here it is again. Print the string from this link and tangle away!

Thursday String Idea #4

 Welcome to Week 4 of the

Thursday String Idea!

Please feel free to print the string and tangle your own work of art with it. 

The string is sized to fit a 3.5" tile.

You can print it from this link

OR

there will be another link at the bottom

of this post.

This is a basic blocked out string that leaves you several spaces to tangle. You might even carry tangles over from space to space. There are several ways you could interpret this string.
Tangles I used: printemps, frost flower, fiore, florez, and ta-da.
If you would like to print this string, just click this link.

Thursday String Idea #3

Welcome to Week 3 of the Thursday String Idea! Please feel free to print out the string and tangle your own work of art with it.  The string is sized to fit a 3.5" tile. You can print it from this link OR  there will be another link at the bottom of the post. 

This is a nice geometric sting that you could interpret in many ways. Here is my take on String #3. (Hahaha! I'm just noticing that it also stacked.) From left to right, I used: ta-da, frost flower, fiore, and flying geese.
If you would like to print out String #3, just click this link.