Hammered Flowers on Tiles

I picked up a cool effect from my friend and fellow CZT Leslie Coren.   She explained how to hammer flowers into paper.  You take the blossom and place it face down on your tile.  Then place a paper towel over it and hammer it several times.  The color from the flower will transfer to the tile and then you scrape the remaining flower part off the paper.  Below is an example of some flowers I hammered and then how I tangled the tile around the violets.  Forget-me-nots did not work so well (that's what the big brown blog was from), but the violets work great!  Try it and post some images of what you are able to do!!  

More tangling at the Quadrangle

I had the pleasure of going back to the Quadrangle (a Continuing Care Retirement Community) today to see what they had been up to and boy am I impressed!  First images are of the newbies who just learned today and then the others are of the students who took my class a few weeks ago.  I so enjoy seeing what people create.  Happy, Happy, Day!

 

Times when I don't want to be mindful

I had to have some oral surgery today.  I'll be the first to admit that I am a wimp when it comes to dental work.  I consider myself a pretty rational person, but I've been having stress dreams since the appointment was made over a month ago.  I even changed it twice.  I tried not to think about it, and reminded myself to stay in the moment and not let the anxiety get the better of me. For the most part it worked.

Then I found myself reluctantly in the dentist chair this morning waiting for the Novocaine to fully numb my mouth and wishing it could numb my fears.  I didn't want to acknowledge that I was afraid of what was going to happen, what the recovery would be like.  Then I remind myself that being mindful also means acknowledging your feelings. I text my husband to say "I'm scared" and thanks to auto-correct it sent him a message saying "I'm scarfed".  Oh damn, now I have to write it and admit it again.  I feel my eyes well up with tears and my body start to shake.

So I fully felt the fear, and hoped no one would noticed me shaking and something surprising happened.  After a few moments, the fear passed and I was okay.  I knew I would be okay.  Being mindful helped me move through the emotion to hear my rational self.       

I'm not saying that I was able to relax during the procedure, so I still have work to do.  However, the procedure went smoothly.  I will heal.  I have learned a valuable lesson.

Create your own Mandala

I taught a Beyond the Basics Zentangle class tonight where we explored different ways to create DIY mandalas.  Here is the recap since we covered a lot!

1).  Lids, lids, lids.  Go into the kitchen and pull out different sized lids and use them to create nested circles. Lightly trace around the edges and then tangle.

You can see how I used four lids for the design above.

 
2).  Ruler and compass - make concentric circles then use a ruler to draw lines that bisect the circles.  Use the intersection points to create a string.

Examples of strings - not tangled yet!  The first one has three concentric circles and two lines.  The second image has four concentric circles and four ruler lines.

3).  Buy mandala stencils from Genevieve Crabe - her stencils give you the intersection points from which to create a pattern.  Go to this link to see a video showing how to use them.

4).  Use pre-strung zendala tiles from Zentangle.com in either black or white!

Diva Challenge 118 - Featuring Kuke!

 Here is a tile I completed using kuke, fengle, and colored pencils!

Wow!! Kuke Selected as Pattern of the Week by the Diva!

I can't tell you how honored I am that my original tangle "Kuke" was selected to be the weekly challenge by Laura Harms aka I am the Diva CZT.  You can find the challenge information here.  I am looking forward to seeing all the cool creations people come up with!!

Make your own blending stump!

Check out this link that shows how to make a blending stump!  

http://monologues.co.uk/Portraits/Tortillon.htm

Creation of a Zendala and using Irojiten colored pencils

I have been stretching myself and learning new techniques thanks to the on-line class Time to Tangle with Color by Marie Browning.  You can find out more by going to mycreativeclassroom.com.

Here is the progression - I started with toned tan paper and a mandala stencil by Genevieve Crabe found here.

 I added poke leaf, purk, and the start of fractal tree

 finished pen drawing

 I added white highlights using a white charcoal pencil then went over it with red and green colored pencils

Almost finished piece!

Love through a scientific lens: Our true capacity to connect

Very insightful conversation about the biological effects of positive connections on the NPR program Voices in the Family this week.  Take a listen here.

Definition Differences Between Doodling and Zentangle

Thanks to fellow CZT Meredity Yuhas for using dictionary definitions to show the difference between doodling and zentangle. 

Doodling VS Zentangle

Doodling (from dictionary definitions):
1. Mindless
2. Aimless
3. Unfocused
4. Used as a distraction
5. Done while doing something else
6. Getting lost in a daydream
7. Unstructured/chaotic
8. Foolish activity

Zentangle:
1. Mindful
2. Done with intent
3. Focused
4. Purposeful
5. Sole activity
6. Attention in the moment
7. Structured process
8. Helpful activity

My First Original Pattern! Kuke

How the pattern came to be:

My six year old daughter loves cucumbers and one night she dropped a slice on the floor.  I did not notice it until the next day.  When I looked down and saw the partially shriveled up cucumber slice I immediately saw a beautiful pattern.  I struggled to deconstruct the pattern until I thought to put it on top of my light box so I could be able to see through the slice (see image below).  X-raying the cucumber slice made all the difference and I developed Kuke.  Cuke is short for cucumber, but there are lots of C patterns already, so I thought it would be cute to spell it Kuke (it is also the first letter of my name - Katy's Kuke)!   Have fun!!

 

Here is the slice when I looked through the light box!

Zentangle at the Quadrangle

The Quadrangle is a Continuing Care Retirement Community in Haverford, PA that has independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing care.  I taught a Zentangle Basics class yesterday for 13 lovely residents.  We had a lovely time!  Here are some images of their work.

I wanted to show a close up of one of the tiles that was completed by one participant.  I had taught crescent moon, hollibaugh, florz, and printemps and this was her interpretation of those designs!  Delightful!

Example of tangled poem on a special occasion

One of my friends created this poem for her sister's 50th birthday and tangled around the edge.  With the season of celebrations (graduations, weddings, mother's and father's day) coming up, I thought this might give you some inspiration!  Thanks for sharing Jenn!

Color or black and white?

Here is another earth day postcard that I drew while we were driving back from Indiana last weekend.  I had a good time starting with Rain and then drawing Reticulated and then adding more Rain so there is the illusion of depth.  I also added Hatchpatch and Arc Flower.  Finally, I added some color with ranger distress inks.  What do you like more?  Black and White or Color?

Earth Day Postcard Swap #3

Here is a post card I made for an Earth Day Swap.  Patterns used include: Rain, Reticulated, arc flower, tagh, eye-wa, heart string, tortuca, and echo.  This was lots of fun and forced me to learn some new patterns!

Totally Cool Coasters!

One of my students, Lisa Donnelly, sent me this image of coasters she is making using glass tiles from Home Depot and her Zentangle Tiles. 

She said that she sprays the tile with a sealant, such as hairspray and then uses modpodge to adhere and seal the tile to the glass.  She then cut some felt and glued that to the back of the glass.  I think these are totally cool and would make great gifts!

Earth Day Postcard #2

Here is the second postcard I created for the CZT Earth Day Swap.  I used Echoism as a string and it worked out really well for giving me lots of spaces for patterns.  I could only use patterns that started with E, A, R, T, and H.  So that was a nice challenge and forced me to learn some new patterns like eke and angle fish!

Lettering Video

I found this short video by Joanne Fink very helpful when thinking about lettering and adding tangles!

Cool Tree Pattern

We were hiking today and I came across this cool pattern on a tree - I'm going to play around with the design to see if I can come up with a pattern!  I love the way the middle is darker so I'll try shading it different ways too.  I also picked up a few of the rocks around the tree to try tangling on!

Tangelation Challenge

I wanted to share some of the work I have been doing in my tangle a day calendar.  I have been forcing myself to come up with different variations of the same tangle and here are some examples.  This has been a great exercise for me and serves as a way for me to remember my tangles! 

Cubine with square, circle, and triangle variations

Phicops variations  (this is similar to Fengle - so you KNOW I like this one!)

Poke Root and Poke Leaf variations - with auras and perfs!