And the Week Just Flies By!

August 31, 2015 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 13 Comments

This past, and this next, are probably the busiest weeks I’ve have in some time. We had a trip to San Francisco (planned months in advance) that we just returned from last night. Just shy of a week on the road, doing something we don’t normally do (drive,) we had some fun along the way (an overnight in Santa Cruz and a Giants game,) and were able to celebrate the life and passing of Mike’s beautiful sister, Marie, who would have been 60 this past Saturday. We were able to scatter her ashes in the Bay, and on the hill behind the house she grew up in, and it was the most beautiful day weather-wise, and she would have loved it.

This week, the Diva has RETURNED form her well deserved vacation, and #233 is for Zenith! Zenith is the newest “official” tangle, and it makes a great border. I did this cutie with the Bijou inserted.

Since I didn’t get my post up for last week’s Diva Challenge (#232, with Holly Atwater as the guest Diva,) here it is! I chose to do the Betweed portion, and I plan on going back to do the meditations later (again…busy week!)

And I made the news this week! There was a pretty cool article in 2 of the local papers here this week, complete with my picture.

http://myvalleynews.com/health/army-veteran-opens-zentangle-meditative-drawing-art-class-to-heal-pstd-and-depression/

I also started a MeetUp Group…so if you are in the area, join us there, I will be announcing class times and free meets on there as well as here on the blog.

http://www.meetup.com/Zentangle-in-Wine-Country-Temecula/

That’s it for now…I have to get back to the laundry so I can repack to leave for Arizona on Thursday. This little unplanned trip came up a week or so back when it was decided that my mom needs to live where she can be supervised. For now, that is with my brother and sister-in-law, in Arizona. So, I am headed out to help close up the house and get it ready to sell. And it’s hot….

Stay Crazy My Friends!

I Shall Flourish!

August 21, 2015August 21, 2015 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 7 Comments

Oh, I do love botanicals, and I love to flourish, but I don’t seem as good at it most of the time. My “style” is a bit more heavy and graphic, and I am comfortable with that.

But this week, I went out on a limb and went all flourishy with 3 different tiles for this weeks Diva guest blogger, Sharla Hicks, CZT. For Challenge #231, she tasked us with undulating S’s and C’s. These are the backbone of her beautiful botanical style, which I have always enjoyed trying, and have now adapted to my Zentangle style.

The first one, I did on black Stonehenge, with a white Gelly Roll, chalk pastels, and my trusty glitter pen.

The second pass, I tried out the Storm Blue Artagain.

And finally, I wanted to tangle with a fountain pen. This was done in J. Herblin Stormy Gray on Pearl Gray Stonehenge. Using a fountain pen was a lot of fun, and it really made me slow down a lot.

Lots happening around the shop…we have a lighted sign now!

We also had a great class on Flat Kumihimo Braids.

Keep an eye out for date announcements for Quilts of Valor meet ups at the shop to cut fabric, and maybe even do a little sewing.

Samples are being worked on for the September Patriot Tangles Class (hand colored tiles by me!) and the Spook-tacular October Class. Options for October will be to make this cool cat or a pumpkin…just a preview!

Off to finish a few things…and watch baseball! (Go Giants!) I can’t wait to go to AT&T Park next week to see them in person!

Stay Crazy My Friends!

Why…Big?

August 15, 2015 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 9 Comments

Ok…so I did it again. I tend to go a bit overboard with my visions of grandeur when the Diva Challenge comes out, and this time it came back to bite me. I finally finished this tonite during the Giant’s absolute rout of the Nationals! (if you are not a baseball fan, it’s ok…I still like you!)

Laura is still on vacation, so Erin Olsen, CZT, from thebrightowl.com was our guest blogger for Challenge #230. Erin hosts a weekly challenge on her site called the Zendala Dare, so this week, she dared us Diva-style. The template was cool, and available in 3 sizes, but of course I chose the biggest one.

I decided it really looked like a color wheel, and on Clearprint 16 lb Vellum, it came out pretty cool. I am going to mount this in a double mat so it can have light shining thru it, as it looks pretty cool that way.

And it wasn’t like I didn’t do anything else this week. I finally got to play with my Tints on Tan kit that has been sitting on my workbench for a while now, and have the following efforts to share. The first one is on Renaissance Tan Zentangle Tile (3.5″ sq)

And then I decided I needed to go a little bigger, and try some different paper. This one is on Stonehenge Kraft (6″ sq) – which is available in my etsy store (or you can email me at CharKatTangles at gmail.com to get some.)

And then a seascape…5.75″ x 4″ on Stonehenge Kraft, mounted on a double mat card.

Been working on the web site all week, fixing the schedule. I have buy it now buttons on the class dates…hopefully that makes it easy! And the course dates are listed with their descriptions, rather than on a different page.

And…back to work. No rest for the crazy!

Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces

August 4, 2015August 4, 2015 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 5 Comments

This weeks Diva Challenge (#229) is from Guest Blogger Sandy Hunter, CZT, who tasked us with using negative space as a focal point. I decided to pull out my name plate that my friend, Suzanne Wilka, CZT, made for me as part of our “swag bag” for our Day at the Bay get together back in April.

The whole time I was working on this, I was thinking of the first album (CD…whatever…I’m old…) that I ever heard from a band called Seether. It’s title is Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces. I worked a bit bigger than usual this week, so it was challenging to keep that white space in the middle clear! (although, I have to tell you, that I am probably going to color it and gild my name this week…I think it would be pretty.)

Had a great class this week on Black Tiles. Only one student, so we had some fun.

We did her Intro class before the shop opened, but here is what we did then.

Been playing a little catch up on things, so here is a tile I did for Diva #226 – Simplicity. I had dyed this tile with Distress Ink and Pearl Spray. It was such a pretty color I didn’t want to do too much to it!

Well…another week on the books at CharKat’s Creative Insanity! The etsy Shop is up and running, but its just paper for now. In case you have never tangled on Stonehenge papers, you are in for a real treat…hop on over to check it out…Just click here!

That’s it for now! Be sure to check out the class schedule, I have plenty of space!

Stay Crazy My Friends!