Go Small or Go Home

June 28, 2015June 28, 2015 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 2 Comments

Some weeks are a bit more challenging than others…I should retitle this post “Better Late Than Never…”

Lots of action this week revolving around opening the new place (CharKat’s Creative Insanity at 27309 Jefferson Ave. Suite 102 in Temecula!) so putting pen to paper has been a bit of an effort for me. This is a lot more involved process than I ever thought it would be, but shout out to my new Landlord for taking a chance on a new business venture. I think we are going to have loads of fun there, and make lots of stuff!

Diva’s Challenge (#223) was pretty simple this week – Umble, but my brain is too tightly wound. That being said, I decided to mess my brain up by working something that looked MUCH larger on a smaller tile. Think Bijou…and thanks for the cool present from Jenny Perruzzi I used to cut the cute envelope for it. (Sorry, Jenny’s shop is down for a bit while she fixes her “laser.” I know you just did the Dr. Evil on that, didn’t you?)

You may also notice that the number of blog posts multiplied on the new site. I love WordPress…they made it very simple to import my old Blogspot posts, and everything ported over famously! If you are new to my site, be sure to look at some of the older things, some of them will be featured in future classes!

The Square One focus tangle this week was Akuras. I like this tangle, and see lots of possibilities in it for fun stuff!

I had a private lesson this week, with a really nice lady named Laurie. I didn’t photo her tile (forgot to ask) but here is the one I did while we were learning!

I have gotten a lot done around the shop this week. I finished 2 big things on my to-do list – a “spinner board” to teach hands on with, and a mosaic board to photo class works with. The spinner board is rather pedestrian and not all that exciting, but here is the mosaic board. Completely upcycled, didn’t cost me anything but time. I got to use my new sewing machine I traded in for last summer, and a frame I’ve been carting around for nearly 20 years. The bad news part is that I killed my stapler (and slightly damaged the frame) but the good news is I am finally buying a real point driver to take my framing to the next level.

And speaking of framing, I need to get back to work. I bought a bunch of frames at the thrift shop this weekend to frame Zentangle® postcards to put on the walls at the shop.

And…I have been digging through some of my supply boxes in the home studio, and found these really cool stone donuts…wonder what this might turn into?

Stay Crazy My Friends!

How Do You Know When You Are Done?

June 17, 2015 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 4 Comments

The conversation used to go like this…

Whatcha doin?

Nothing…

How do you know when you are done?

So I figured it out today as well. I started the tile for this weeks’ Diva Challenge (#222) on Monday, and promptly got “art block.” The prompt was Colours of the Rainbow and I wanted to finish another of my already strung Zendala tiles from TangleU, and I really like color on black, so I grabbed that one. Now last week, I had no problem at all throwing all kinds of color in my tile. But this week, I was stumped! I did eventually get into it, and then I started thinking I needed to keep adding to it. But ya know what? It’s Done. Enough. I like it how it is and I think if I keep OCDing on it, it will detract. But…alas, the Stardust pens (the black light ones) don’t scan in their color that well, so this week I had to photograph it.

I worked some more with the alcohol inks this week. I can’t decide what was more fun…coupons at JoAnn for the inks or the trip to Home Depot for more tiles.

I bought a whole bunch of ornaments last Christmas, so I have a lot of raw materials for this. Here’s a little bit of what I did:

The dark stains on the 2nd side were from a failed attempt at a Pinterest find (Sharpies and alcohol…didn’t work, and didn’t come complete off. I think these are coming out pretty neat, so I’ll do a bunch more, maybe a class?

Speaking of classes, the schedule is up in the Class Schedule page. And even better news, the actual brick and mortar location for my very own classroom/art gathering space goes live on July 1st. The Grand Opening is tentatively scheduled for July 10th. I am very excited, and more than a little scared! I’ll have loads more information next week, and hopefully more students!

I am already schedule to have the Girls Scouts from Troop 1124 again, and I planned a fun little project for them. We are going to start some Tangle Journals (which should give them some nice space to practice in!)

And last, but not least, Square One Focus on Flux this week! I love flux and all its variety!

Stay Crazy My Friends!

Waiting for Paint to Dry

June 10, 2015 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 8 Comments

So this week seems to have a theme with me. It all started Sunday, with the talk at church being about living a balanced life. New Thought has a lot of great philosophy on what that entails and I won’t go into it, but needless to say it got me thinking.

Monday, we had a meeting of our San Diego Tanglers friendship group…where we did a cool project with alcohol inks. They dry on non-porous surfaces almost instantly, but you have to handle them delicately. The balance here is to find harmony in getting the right effect BEFORE the paint dries. It can be a bit tricky, but it can be done.

(I haven’t sealed this yet, but I wanted to scan it first, in case I ruin it. Tangled with a black Sakura Permapaque (fine point) and a white Sakura Decorese pen. Kinda fun. I am going to do some additional tiles and see how they hold up to different sealers.)

And this weeks Diva Challenge (#221) was on Beads of Courage. This is a great program that works to balance the lives of children in medical care with rewarding bravery in going through their procedures with beads, which they collect to show how brave they have been.

For me, beads are colorful, so of course I needed to add color. I decided to use my Derwent Inktense and Metallics (watercolor pencils) and on paper, those need to dry pretty thoroughly between steps. Again…balance…I want to get the tile done, but I don’t want to smear the pretty colors…patience.

I got to thinking about the balance in my own life, and how courage plays into that balance. For me…there has always been both beauty and duty. Sometimes, they are joined, and sometimes, there is a very thin line separating them. The Army and my dad taught me plenty of duty and obligation, but there are times when I want to just do nothing but create art. Finding the balance where they can be together is divine!

On Square One this week, the focus is Msst.

So I’ve decided what I’m gonna do now
So I’m packing my Avreal for the Mssty Mountains
Where the Onamatos go now
Over the Tagh where the Festunes fly

I know I usually don’t wax this philosophically, but there is a lot going on in our lives right now, and most of it is requiring me to be a lot more patient than I usually tend to be. I am looking into opening my own creative space here in Temecula, so doing the due diligence for that seems to be taking up a huge space in my brain.

But…a tangle a day keeps the psychiatrist at bay!

Stay Crazy My Friends!

I’ve Moved!!!!

June 2, 2015 ~ CharkatTangles ~ Leave a comment

I have my own Domain now!

Check me out at CharKatsCreativeInsanity.com

Stay Crazy My Friends!

This is What Normal Looks Like…

June 2, 2015June 2, 2015 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 14 Comments

So, this is the start of what a normal week is going to look like, I suppose. Still working out some logistics, waiting for my business license to come in the mail so I can open a business checking account. Just normal business stuff I guess.

This week’s Diva Challenge (#220) was a UMT (Use My Tangle) called All Boxed Up by Alice Hendon. I had not previously tried this one, so I decided to mono tangle it on another one of Caren Mlot’s pretty colored tiles. More straight lines this week…I seem to be getting a lot of practice in them lately!

This week’s theme in my studio is “Finish What You Started.” I am thinking that is going to be the theme for the next 6 months, as I probably have way too many projects going at once. I did finish this cool Flextangle that I started a week or so ago. I think it’s pretty nifty, and will probably offer it as a class later on.

If you are feeling adventurous…you can get the template here. If you are going to tangle on it, I highly recommend you use a mixed media paper (I used the Canson XL Mixed Media, cut to 8.5×11 and printed on my inkjet.) I tangled with regular Micron (I used an 05 to speed things up a bit) and Irojiten colored pencils…and a little metallic Gelly Roll. (Gotta have some sparkle!) There are some tricks to getting the folds right…and getting the tabs to stick inside. You can see it in action on this video (sorry, I haven’t gotten the hang of videoing myself yet.)

And…not to get left out, this weeks Square One focus tangle was Rain. “All I can say is that my Fife is pretty plain. I like watching the Punzel’s gather Rain.”

And it was quite fitting, as I was in Texas last week for my step-son’s wedding. And Rain it did! And thunder…and humidity…at least my hair was curly! And this little guy…was just the cutest thing ever! (yep…my step-grandson…)

So, on that note, I have to get back to work. Finishing up some logistics to teach at Wine Down Wednesdays in July at Sip & Paint Studio in Temecula. Details will be forthcoming!

Stay Crazy My Friends!