Snowflake Zendalas, ZD #35

This week's zendala dare was a lot of fun! I haven't been able to participate in awhile, so I was excited to be able to this time. Erin challenged us to make a snowflake zendala, something she learned about at her CZT training. Erin had also read about this fun technique in Suzanne McNeill's book Zen Mandalas.

You begin by cutting a snowflake. Erin shows how to size the snowflake to fit your zendala at the pink link just above this photo.

Once your snowflake is ready, place it on top of your zendala round and trace it in pencil. You are supposed to do this "lightly." I have never quite been able to figure that whole "lightly" thing out. Mine is always "darkly," or "heavily." Makes for some interesting erasing later.

Then you start figuring out how to split up your zendala. Decide how you want to lay out the lines by looking at your traced "lightly" lines and envision what might work. You can start marking some of the lines you want to use with your micron, or in my case my copic multiliner. Because I have to make things difficult. And different.

After a little while, you must take a five minute play-with-the-adorable-little-puppy break. You know, rub the ears, protect your fingers from getting bitten, throw the green snake toy, protect your fingers from getting bitten, play some more fetch with said green snake toy thingy, protect the fingers from getting bitten,  wipe up a little puddle of "accident" off the floor, protect the . . .  you get the idea.

This is where I decided I was done with laying down lines. I liked the way my template looked at this point. Erin mentioned that this method of completing a template had limitless possibilities. I would have to agree with Erin on that point. Right about here, my daughter mentioned that my zendala no longer looked like a snowflake.

Next I started tangling the various areas of the zendala.

I notice that I say "next" a lot. Oh well, at some point the adorable-little-puppy is going to get sad that I am no longer providing chew toys by way of my fingers, and will decide to chew on my jeans instead. (And sometimes inadvertantly my leg. Take a break to put puppy back in her play area, away from my feet and legs.)

Add shading and call it done. Can you line up any of my completed zendala with the lines of my snowflake?

I really love the shading step. I used to hate this part, but now it's one my favorite things to do. Lots of people are posting their snowflake zendalas over at The Bright Owl, Erin's page. You can check those out here. You could also complete one of your own and post it there for the rest of us to admire :).

No Strings Attached - Diva Challenge #97

Laura's challenge to us this week was to tangle with no string. Just grab a tile and go for it! I typically draw this way anyway, so I just had fun with it!

I started by coloring my tile with some of Tim Holtz' distress stains. I'm not sure why I can't get the colors to look right in this post. The paints gave me some pretty vibrant orange and pink. Can't really see that here. Then I started in one corner and started laying down tangles.

I began with that asian fan pattern and it really reminded me of a roller coaster track. I noticed as I kept drawing patterns that my tile began to remind me of an amusement park. Perhaps you can see the roof of a lovely carousel.

I kept building on that carousel and filled in some other pieces.

This indy-rella just really reminded me of a merry-go-round on a playground. Spinning and spinning.

I really like this pattern that I used for fencing. It's called cheesecloth. It's easy to draw, it's forgiving, and it looks great. I made some breaks in my fence - maybe we could sneak in that way to go ride those rides! Do you think anyone would notice?

And here is my completed amusement park! Lots of fun to be had here. A great way to spend a day! 

This is what I have on top of my work station tonight. That little Tinkerbell tin has seen better days, but  it is where I keep the pens I use the most - easily portable, easy to access.

Last night was a late one! Didn't go to bed until almost 5 AM, not good. Just before I called it a night - or morning - I pulled out four tile and slapped some Adirondack acrylic paint dabber colors on them and left them to dry overnight. I hope to be drawing on these soon!

Please visit Laura Harms' page here and check out all the 'no strings attached' drawings for the week. You could even post one of your own!

It's All About the Pink!

This week at Inspiration Avenue, Cindy of Cottage Remnant is hosting the challenge. (She's also been very busy revamping/re-constructing my blog :). For the challenge - Cindy chose Perfectly P!NK, and if you visit her blog you will see why.

This is my finished project. A little different from what I'm used to, but I like how it turned out :). Here is what I did.

Supplies included Studio G ink pads (Wal-Mart for 97 cents,) dabber duos (had these for years - I was surprised they still worked,) a stippling sponge, and a template for the cup. I placed the cup template onto my 5" x 7" white cardstock and lightly dabbed first the green ink, then the pink ink inside the cup opening. Then I used the dabber duos to pop some dots on the cup. (All that mess rinses right off the template - no worry.)

Next, I removed the template and made sure my inks were dried by blasting it for a couple seconds with my heat gun. I found the quote online - google searched for coffee quotes :). A simple black 01 micron pen was used to tangle some patterns - florz, some swirls, and maybe some weave.

Then I started adding in some color with copics:

• YG11 mignonette
• RV10 pale pink
• YG13 chartreuse
• RV14 begonia pink
• C3 cool gray
• W5 warm gray
• G00 jade green.

A shot of all the supplies I used - except for the black micron :).

Lastly, I outlined the coffee cup with the micron. And, popped a little logo in there under the handle. Easy to do and a lot of fun! You should check out Inspiration Avenue where everyone is posting about P!NK, you could even post some artwork of your own!

Zendala Dare #15 . . . Already?

It is so hard to believe that we are already at week fifteen of Erin's Zendala Dare! I love doing this challenge every week. I was so busy last week - working on a new facebook page and working on my blog - I just never got around to last week's zendala. I plan on doing it later today so I can get caught up :). Above is the template Erin gave us this week. It reminded Erin of candy. To me it looked like Christmas packages and I was determined not to tangle a bunch of packages. 

So I just started thinking about random patterns that would work well in lines. And I switched a few of them up to make it work even better. Threw in a couple of my own patterns and this is what I got. Hopefully it isn't too random, but at least it doesn't look like Christmas paper - haha! (Actually I love Christmas paper, I just didn't want to do the expected.)


Patterns - auraknot, hollibaugh, crossroads, muzic, melody/variation, newell, woods/weave mixed together, knightsbridge/variation, fescu, and my patterns blox and pipez.


To check out all the zendalas, head on over to Erin's page The Bright Owl here. 

Zendala Dare #13 = Fun!

We are thirteen weeks into the Zendala Dare with Erin over at The Bright Owl. Above is the zendala template she gave us, and the challenge was to play with paper! All of us have our favorite papers to tangle on. I prefer the zentangle tiles or watercolor paper.

This week we are drawing on other types of paper - anything that isn't our usual. I started out with a piece of cardboard filler that came in a package today. I couldn't get the template to transfer over onto the cardboard, so I tossed that in the trash! Then I pulled out a heavy cardstock scrap of scrapbook paper - above - and transferred my template with no trouble. This worked like a charm! Smooth pen strokes, shading was easy. I stuck with lines mainly, so I wouldn't get confused - hahaha!

Today was bill-paying day, my least favorite day of the month! I didn't want to use scrapbook paper solely, so I scoured around my workroom and came upon the garbage can full of bill-paying trash. I pulled out this ad for AT&T and used it. Template transferred very well, but the penwork was sloppy. I noticed the pen kept moving when I wanted it to stop. I guess due to the slickness of the paper. This was a challenge. 

I thought about things other than paper that I could draw on. I m going to the CZT session in 36 days :smiles: and am trying to figure out what I could use to make a display the first night. I bought this letter at Michael's for around a dollar. It was already painted white. I used the same method to transfer the template - it worked great!

Then I used a fine point Sharpie and a Zig Memory Writer to fill in the zendala. (Note added the next day - don't use the zig memory writers - apparently they are not permanent. Big, huge smear right across the middle. Argh!) I stuck to the same basic design on all my zendalas, with very few changes so I could concentrate on the materials.

Here's a closer shot. It worked great! Took a little longer to dry than pen on paper, so I had to be careful of hand placement. I expect to continue tangling on this letter and it will be on display at the CZT session in - count them - 36 days!


To check out all the zendalas, and see the various types of papers, visit Erin's page - The Bright Owl - here! You have time to complete one of your own!

Zendala Dare #10 - Thanks, Erin!

Erin at The Bright Owl is sponsoring Zendala Dare #10 this week. She gave us the blank you see below. Above, you see what I did with mine. I chose a yellow round tile and used the patterns paradox, weave, copada, hurry, and a variation of vortex. I'm calling the design in the middle 'paradox' - am I right? Or is this called something else?

You can check out everyone's drawings at The Bright Owl. You can even try your hand it at and post one for me to look at! I will leave you a comment to let you know I've visited your page!

Diva Challenge #73 - Bridgen

This week the Diva's Challenge is a UMT one - Use My Tangle, where we get to submit our own tangle ideas for the weekly challenge. This week's tangle was designed by Daved, submitted by Carole Ohl. Steps for the tangle "Bridgen" can be seen here on Carole's blog. Above is my drawing. It was interesting to use and I actually trashed two before I completed this one. I have issues with lines - can't seem to get them equi-distance apart. Ugh.

Then - just because I could - I added a little color with my derwent inktense pencils (that I love!!!) And I even flicked some specks of color around the tile. An easy hand on that one so it doesn't overwhelm the design. What fun! Check out all the bridgen drawings at the Diva's page here! And maybe you'd like to give it a try and share with us :).

Zendala Dare #7 - Catching Up!

I don't like being behind and I don't want to skip a challenge. I have a list of what I need to do and I'm knocking them out one-by-one. This is my first response to last week's zendala dare at The Bright Owl. Actually, it was my second response, but my favorite so I'm pushing it to the front of the line :). As far as patterns - I used paradox and made up the rest. Then I watercolored with derwent inktense pencils - my favorite art supply at the moment.

This is how things work. Erin at The Bright Owl posts a blank zendala each Friday, then we take it and create a work of art with it! Above is the blank she gave us this week.

This was my first response. Recently I hit the junkpot at Michael's. On the clearance row they had some scrapbook supplies. And in that bin were packages  of 60 (I think it's 60) round tiles. I bought a package of all white tiles and a package of various colored tiles for $0.99 each. Once you add in tax, it cost me about $2.00 to be able to create 120 works of art :). What a deal! So, for this zendala I used a hot pink tile and the patterns weave, skein, vortex, and Msst. Check out all our art contributions here at The Bright Owl. It isn't too late to add one of your own!

Colour Me Sepia - Diva Challenge #70

It's time for our weekly challenge from Laura, also known as the Diva :). This is challenge #70. A colour challenge - of sepia. I used one of Zentangle's pre-strung zendalas, a couple sepia microns, and a brown micron. This super simple design just kind of drew itself. All the pieces fit very well together. It doesn't always work that way - hahaha! For patterns I used weave, strircles, betweed, tipple, and a variation of shattuck.


To admire all the other designs, head on over to the Diva's page here. Perhaps you'd like to give it a try and post one of your own :).