Twinchies Under the Sea

Under the Sea ~ The Little Mermaid ~
The seaweed is always greener in somebody else's lake. You dream about going up there, but that is a big mistake. Just look at the world around you, right here on the ocean floor. Such wonderful things surround you. What more is you lookin' for?
Under the sea, Under the sea, Darling, it's better down where it's wetter, take it from me. Up on the shore they work all day. Out in the sun they slave away, while we devotin' full time to floatin' under the sea.
Twinchies are tiny pieces of art that are two inches square. A whole bunch of artists on facebook are currently involved in a twinchie swap. I can not wait to start receiving beautiful pieces of art from all over the world - literally! These are just a few of the twinchies I will be sending out. More tomorrow.
These twinchies were made on watercolor Bristol smooth from Strathmore, color comes from Dylusions Ink Sprays, and sparklies are courtesy of Wink of Stella Glitter Markers and At You Spica Pens. Click on photo to see a larger view.

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?

Break Free! Diva #86

This week's Diva Challenge (#86! unbelieveable!) is Break Free! Break out of our borders, expand our boundaries, so to speak. 

Here's my tile. Now, most of the CZT's strictly adhere to the black pen on white tile concept. Not me. Typically I add color, which specifically makes my art become zentangle-inspired-art, but whatever. It's what I like. So, to step beyond my borders would be to go "black pen on white tile." But you notice I had to throw in that colored scrapbook paper in the background! Hahahaha! And yes, I did expand some of my designs so they meld right off the side of the tile. AND - - - I'm getting this posted before the challenge is over :D! Head on over to the Diva's page here to check out how everyone else breaks out of their borders. Perhaps you have some borders of your own that need breaking out of!

CZT Training Was Great!

My zentangle training has come and gone. The past few days whirled past in a blur and then, all too soon, the workshop was over. (I need to do a post about Rhode Island - apart from the CZT process. The area where we stayed was interesting in its own rights!)
Rick and Maria started us out with some basic tangles. We were able to get our feet wet a bit before we jumped on some of the harder patterns. The one above is an interesting design - it's called Punzel. They told us why it was called this, but I couldn't hear them. I'm guessing it's because it looks like Rapunzel's braid. I could be totally wrong, too :).
(Short break while I try to kill the humongous wasp flying through my work room!)

Rick's Paradox. Not the cleanest drawing, but it's the best I've ever done with this pattern. I wondered how to get this look with paradox. Who knew it would be as simple as reversing the pattern and laying the sections side-by-side!

I mentioned here recently that I used betweed entirely too much. The top pattern in this photo is betweed, but I can tell you I have never had it look like this before. Wonderful! The fishy looking one below that is fengle. I had never tried this one before - not that I remember - and I love the way it turned out! You will notice some of the arms are filled with orbs, while some appear to be open in the middle. Rick was showing us some variations of fengle.  I can't wait to play with this one some more!

And this one was my absolute favorite! Maria named this one marasu - for her sisters. I don't believe I had ever seen this one before. It was easy to draw and gave a real sense of accomplishment. The light running on top of the rounded portion was drawn in with a chalk pencil.
I have lots more to show you, but I think that's enough for today :).
(By the way, said wasp has been dispatched! It is once again safe here.)