Floral Zendala

When I started this week's zendala dare, flowers were not on my mind.  Yet, that is where I ended up.  A few dares back, I used Hi-C's in the center of my zendala and wanted to use it again.  To me, when Hi-C's is turned outward rather than inward, it looks like a lily.  Now that I have this big lily in the center, I wanted to keep up with flowers and nature.

I used a variation of Versa and opted to fill in the space because I was in the mood for some black.  The other side is Fife.  I wanted there to still be black behind the pattern, but I wanted some contrast to the Versa.  Around the boarder is my variation on Chainlea by Norma Burnell.  When I get a moment, I'll step it out for anyone who may like to see it.  I couldn't think of a pattern that I wanted to use in the open spaces so I took that as a sign that I should leave it as is.

This post is short as my boys keep coming in here to see if I'm finished with the computer yet.  Plus, I need to get working on this week's Diva challenge also brought to us by the wonderful Erin.

Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!

Mi2!

This week the challenge is to use the tangle pattern Mi2 created by CTZ Mimi Lempart.  I really love this tangle pattern.  It looks so complicated yet is very easy.  The spacing is the hardest part for me.  I confess, I draw a grid to help me get started.  Without that my "seeds" would be all over the place but once I have them drawn, I am no longer following a grid.

I used Mi2 in an Illuminated Letter that I made for friends so I have a little but of experience with this pattern.  I haven't used it very often since then, so it was nice to have another go at it.  I wasn't sure where I was going when I got this tile started.  I drew Mi2 in the center and then decided what to do next.  I wanted the pattern to stand proud in the tile, so I didn't draw a string.  After I finished that, I decided to surround it with Verve, my latest pattern.  I have been playing with it and wanted to explore it some more.

I really like this one and it was a lot of fun to make.  I have to say, this is probably the fastest tile I've done in a while.  Thanks Laura for a great challenge.  I am glad to hear that you had a good time in Philly.

Have a great week everyone!  I can't wait to see what you've created!

Gift Zendala

This week I must have had Christmas on my mind.  I have been working on ornaments for the up coming craft show that I will be in so maybe that's why.  Anyway, this week Erin has given us rectangles in a circle.  I was unsure what I was going to do and was clicking through a few entries when I came to Maria Copetas beautiful zendala.  Someone commented how her designs looked like gifts and I had my idea.

I used red and green micron pens and pencil shading on this one.  I kept the shading to a minimum, just separating the layers and not shading the patterns.  Wrapping paper doesn't usually have much dimension so I didn't feel the need to shad much.

This was another fun challenge.  I've started looking forward to Friday's and a new zendala.  Thanks Erin for another great one!

Nosegay Zendala

This week the template at The Bright Owl was a doozy for me.  At first I was totally stumped on what to do with all those circles and half circles.  I almost skipped this one but I stopped myself.  Then I decided to just jump in and do something rather than sit and look at the outlines anymore.  Sometimes just starting is my biggest stumbling block.  But you can't finish if you never start, so I bit the bullet and put pen to paper.

After making 12 different choices on a test page, I opted to start with Arc Flower.  Then I decided that rather than filling the lower circles with tangles, I would give lines a try.  As I went along, I decided that the result looked rather like nosegays.  Then I needed to choose another flower for the other 6 circles.  I just made one up after a few doodles.  I say that I made it up, but it very well may already be a design already.  I then drew lines to make the nosegay "holder" for that flower.  I decided to just shade the spaces between rather than making it too busy.

I like this one but it seems a little unfinished to me.  It must be however, as I can't think of anything else to do to the design.

Thanks Erin, for this week's template.  It was a challenge for me all right.  I had to stretch my mind for this one and I'm glad that I did.

Auraknot Challenge

At last!  I am back to the Diva's Challenge.  I have been too busy to finish or do the challenge for a little bit now and I am glad to be back at it.

Auraknot.  I must confess, I was intimidated by this tangle pattern.  It has so many steps and looks so complicated but I am glad I bit the bullet and tried it for this challenge.  I have to say, I found it MUCH easier than it looks.  I must also confess, that my star shape was traced from a cookie cutter.  A big part of my fear of this pattern is the beginning outline.  Starting with the outline done really helped me a lot.  I think that I can do it without one next time.

Now that my confessions are over, I have to say that I am looking forward to using this again.  I think that Auraknot will be a lot of fun to use.  Creating this tile went quickly, aside from kid interruptions that is.

This one was done on a 6"X6" watercolor paper square.  I found these at Dick Blick on Sunday and I HAD to buy some.  I am not good a cutting a straight line so finding these was very exciting.  They also have them in 8"X8" size.  Whoo Hoo!  The final size is more around 4" though.  I want to take it and see if I can find frames and mats that these would fit into.

After getting Auraknot finished, I added the tangles around the out side.  Please ignore the tangle on the lower right.  It was to be one tangle but I messed it up so horribly, that i just had to flub my way through.  It doesn't look too bad but still...

Thanks for stopping by and I can't wait to see what everyone else has done!

Tangle Pattern: Verve

Back in Zendala Challenge #9, I came up with a new pattern that I am calling Verve.  I must credit my Husband with coming up with the name.  I was stuck and asked for his help.  I asked him to tell me what word or name comes to mind when he saw that design and he said "Verve".  I'm not really sure that it visually embodies the definition of the word, but it works for me.  :)

The pattern is really quite simple and will easily fit into a circle shape that pops up in your string.  I have been toying with it in some other designs that I have been working on.  I have tried to carry the pattern into a line if you will.  I'm still working on it but I am enjoying the process.

I start with a 6 and a 9 that wrap around the circle.  You can "wave" the stems quite a bit to add interest.  I have just been shading where the lines "tuck" into each other but I imagine that shading where the lines bend will add some more dimension to the look as well.  Also, the center circle can be filled in with anything you'd like or just left empty.

I hope that you like this one.  It has been a lot of fun for me.  I confess, I have to fight myself to keep from filling every rounded space with this one.

Playing with Paper: Zendala Challenge

I like to use watercolor paper when I create my Zengangles and my Zentangle inspired drawings.  It is as close as I could find at the local craft store to the original tiles that you buy from Zentangle.com.  But in all honesty, it is the paper I chose to use first before I had any tiles from Zentangle and now, it is the paper that I prefer.  I like how it shades as well as takes the ink from the micro pens.  Despite this, I was excited at the added challenge from Erin to use different paper in the challenge this week.

After reading the challenge, I decided that I was going to use origami paper.  I love origami paper.  I think that it is beautiful.  However, I didn't have any.  So, I loaded up the kids and we went to the store.  If you've ever looked at origami paper, you'll know that there is a lot to choose from.  So many colors and patterns!  It was a bit over whelming.  Plus, I didn't need a lot of it.  Let's face it.  I will not be trying the beautiful art of origami.  I get type A about some things, but I don't think that I can be as precise as the folding requires.

I know! Zentangle like!

But, I digress.  While flipping though the paper I cam across paper that jumped out at me.  The black and white patterns said "HEY ZENTANGLE!" to me.  They are quite inspirational these little squares.  I think that I may hang up some in my studio or use them as background paper to display some of my Zentangles.  One thing I learned though is that that these patters are wonderful but they do not make great background to draw on.  I find that they compete with the eye against the drawing.  If I had to do it over, I would choose some larger patterns or some that are only color.  I also used Sakura Gelly Roll pens for the drawing.  I figured that the larger lines would help.  You'll have to be the judge on that though.  The origami paper also doesn't shade as well as watercolor paper.

Without further comment, I present my tries at the challenge.  I made three on the origami paper.  One in red, one in orange and one in black.

Again, I enjoyed the challenge.  I really love the paper that I found. But I don't think that together, they were successful.  Thanks Erin for another great Zendala template.  I really like this one.  So much that I am making yet another go at this template.  This time it is on a 12" X 12" canvas and using paint pen.  When I get it finished, I'll get a photo up.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Summer Zendala

Well, I'm back.  It has been a little while since I posted anything.  Summer, the kids out of school and vacation in the Adirondacks has kept me from the computer.  That does not mean that I haven't been busy though.

I am in a mad dash to get work ready for a neighborhood craft fair, The Arden Fair, that happens on September 1st.  I love this fair so much.  It is up the street from my house and is really wonderful.  For the very first time, I will be an exhibitor rather than just a visitor.  So, my pen has been busy, busy.

But, you are here to see this week's Zendala challenge.  This challenge was a lot of fun I have to say.  At first I was a bit stymied as to how I was going to get started but once I decided to use Brayd, I had my "theme" and I went from there.  This is the first time I have used Brayd in a circle and I have to say, I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

Brayd, Featherfall, Raindotty, Fescu, Beeline, Arc Flower

I did the center with Arc Flower next and then the Featherfall.  I didn't stay in the lines with these two so I wanted to get their uneven edges done first.  This is my first real go at Featherfall.  It came out pretty good but no where near as good as some of you do it.  I have to keep trying it and get better at it.  That being said, I do like it here.  Keeping with "natural" tangles, I chose Beeline, Raindotty and Fescu to finish it out.

I am really thrilled with how this one came out.  The shading really added a lot of depth to it and well, I just couldn't be happier.  I am going to see if I can get art prints made up for the fair.

Now, a late entry into Challenge 11.  I had this one drawn in time but held of shading it.  I was trying to work out some ideas that I had but then I changed my mind and went back and shaded it this week.

This one was all line work.  I just couldn't think of a way to get tangles into this one.  There is good space, I used the large size template, but I was just out of ideas.  I think it was because I had vacation on my mind.

I do like it.  I am calling it "Trippy Zendala" as it looks more like a visual test than the usual zendala.

I wish I could think of more ways to add some shading here.  I think more could be done to play with the perspective but I'm stuck.  I don't want to go overboard so I stopped while I was ahead.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look.  It has been very hot here and I'm sure where you are as well.  I do hope that you are all staying cool, or warm for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, and are having a great day.