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You may have noticed it has been awhile since my last post. That was on May 20th. On May 23rd, Kali was involved in a head-on collision 800 miles from home. She was on her way to school when a man ran a red light and hit her head-on. Mark and I left right away and drove almost straight through to get to her. We stopped around 4 AM for a short nap, then drove the rest of the way. Kali is doing much better now, pretty much back to normal, and she has a new (pre-owned) car. I was gone for three weeks, got home last night. I don't think I posted this drawing before I left. I drew it the week before when we were moving Kali in to her new apartment. For those of you who knew what was going on and were praying for Kali's recovery, and for our travel time, thank you so much! We are blessed to call you friend!

Monsters and Giraffes :)

If you read yesterday's post you will recall that I was working on a project for Tangles and Stuff using blue painter's tape, watercolor paints, and tangles. I wanted to do another because it was fun! I actually meant to do the tangles on the colored portions this time, but I got carried away with the shapes caused by the tape and forgot. :( BUT - I like the way this turned out. I went totally out of my comfort zone by drawing animals and crazy stuff I'm not used to. What a hoot! I've got a bowl full of kitties, some singing birds, a snail, a tulip, a monster, some beans, a giraffe, a princess castle, a cat, and some crazy BTL Joos stuff!


We are still floating in water from Tropical Storm Debby. We need to get hay out to the horses and donkeys in the morning and I'm kind of concerned with how that's going to work out. The water in the roadway yesterday was waist-deep in some areas and it has been raining ever since. Literally ever since. Joy! Can't we please send some of this rain out to Colorado??? Please???

String 005 - it's far out!

Each week Linda at Tangle Patterns gives us a string to tangle. I actually made two tiles today with string 005. Outer space is what I was thinking as I drew this first tile. And it's the first time I've drawn one of the little bean guys! I love it! I used patterns from Zentangle For Kids! (cootie, bean, botto, squid, jetties)

This is the string Linda gave us to use. 

I also drew this second tile. I just went with the line separation provided by the string and filled the spaces. (organza, beaded, hurly burly, betweed, some auras, and sunz (my tangle)

This string was fun to use! I may pull it out again :). All color came from Derwent Inktense Pencils and some water :). If you want to join in on the string fun, visit Linda's page here!

London Olympic Games, July 27, 2012

The Olympic games will start in London on July 27, 2012.
I grew up watching and enjoying the olympics on television.
I've never been to one of the games, although I'd like to be able to.
My favorite events always included gymnastics, figure skating, and basketball.
Before we know it - it will be that time again. Bring it on!

Surf's Up, Dudes!

It's Zendala Dare time again. Zendala Dare #4, actually. 

On Friday, Erin posted this zendala for us to tangle. Well, when I looked at it, the first idea that popped to mind was surfboards!

So, you might ask if I'm a surfer. Hahaha! I watched Surf's Up - the movie, does that count? Actually, I'm a little old for that sport, but I do love the ocean! I started by drawing the version above. I like it, but I thought it needed some color. Surfboards are typically colorful! So I used my Derwent Inktense Pencils and a waterbrush to add some color! Can't you just feel the sand between your toes?

Patterns are Btl Joos, cootie, pepper, Msst, sunz (my own pattern), and some free-hand waves. A zentangle-inspired offering. If you want to check out some incredible zendalas, head on over to the Bright Owl here, perhaps you would like to draw one of your own.

Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!

Whale! Swim with me, Whale! We will swim far into the sea.
Lyrics from Whale, by Yellow Ostrich.


I was working on this tangle a couple nights ago when my daughter walked past my desk and commented, "nice whale." At that point, I had the string drawn and was working on the pattern hibred that you see filling in the head of the whale. There was one circle on the right-hand side of the drawing and that was it. So, I added a second 'eye' and shaded the lower corner to make a body. Ta-da! Whale! 


This past fall, Kali traveled with a team of ten teens teaching debate and speech skills to students across the United States. They traveled and taught for five months - representing the Institute For Cultural Communicators. One of the songs the team listened to as they traveled was Whale! 


So, today - enjoy my little whale and if you get a minute, check out Whale by Yellow Ostrich. It's different! (And the opening line of the song is Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! - hence, the title of this post.)

Just a Little Steampunk

I am working off a laptop in a hotel room in Tallahassee, Florida. My daughter - Kali - and I are here for the NCFCA Region 8 speech and debate qualifying tournament to nationals! Basically this is a Christian debate and speech competitive league for high school students. Kali graduated last year, so she is no longer competing. She is here to cheer on her friends. I am here as a judge - and to visit with my region 8 family who we love so much!

I am trying to have something to post for you every day, so I came prepared with saved photos in my email. The night before we left, I sat down to draw. I've gotten a little interested in this steampunk idea I see floating through so many websites and blogs. Thought I'd give my hand a try at it!

I hope my interpretation of steampunk is right :). These were a lot of fun to make! I started by watercoloring my tile. These tiles from  www.zentangle.com are perfect for watercoloring. Just threw a splash of brown or tan across the tile, then set it with a heat gun. I scouted through patterns for anything that looked like a gear, wheel, or metal, then started drawing. I used Spinner, Assemblies, Metal Plate, and I made up some filler. I didn't worry so much about my lines being perfect - hey, it's steampunk! Once I got what I thought looked steam-punky enough, I added some shading, and . . . 

. . . this is what I ended up with. So much fun! So, my offering today is a little zentangle-inspired art called Steampunk. Why don't you give it a go and get your steampunk on?

Dangles and Vertical Patterns

So, I'm practicing, drawing, and learning as much as I can about this interesting art of zentangle. When I started researching, one of the first things I did was scour amazon.com looking for books on the art. 

One of the first books I grabbed was Zenspirations - Letters and Patterning by Joanne Fink. This book has a lot of great ideas and step-by-steps for frames and lettering. And, on page eleven,  Joanne talks about dangles and vertical patterns. In this style you use geometric shapes as building blocks for your patterns. You can use a lot of different ideas in dangles. Just give it a shot and draw whatever comes to mind! The top photo is my first dangle. My only one so far. I drew this in my smash journal. I think next I am going to draw one on a zentangle tile and see how that works out. For those of you who aren't familiar with these tiles - they are 3 1/2" squared. I am going to have to be pretty creative! Stay tuned! In the meantime, why not try a dangle of your own? email it to me and I'll post it here on The Creator's Leaf!