Challenging Myself

September 29, 2015 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 12 Comments

Well…I am Diva Fabulous this week, as I am the Guest Blogger for the Diva’s Challenge (#237). My prompt was to use a stencil and some liquidy substance of color to make a string and tangle it.

I have been using this particular technique for a while now, and had quite a few test tiles from things I didn’t think worked particularly well, but I was reticent to toss them in the waste bin. So…I decided to dig out this one, I did with a stencil from The Crafters Workshop and some Walnut Ink. It was a cool, fall color, but I got a little over zealous with the spray, and it bled a bit. (It’s the dark brown spider web looking one in the top of the picture.)

I also had a bit of a conundrum trying to figure out what color to use to tangle it. I think it was pretty dark, but not dark enough, if that makes any sense. I kept with the spider web theme, and black and brown micron, and a white Gelly. It looked a bit odd to me, and I added some shading, and I think it got better. Its a 6 x 6 inch piece, so I used 05 Micron on the black, and an 01 brown for the lines behind the white.

I have been trying really hard to look at what everyone has done on this challenge, and unless you are on Flickr, you should see some feedback and thanks from me for participating (not a member on Flickr…go figure…)

Trying to get back into somewhat of a routine after a summer of traveling. I’ve had some cool classes with a few lovely people this past week, and have really enjoyed getting back into the swing of things.

We have a fun schedule coming up this next week, with Rock and Tangle on Friday night, where you can preview a few of the Halloween projects we are doing on the 10th. I could not narrow it down to just one project, so it will be a bit of a free for all, with skulls and pumpkins and masks (oh my!) If you plan on coming, and want to tangle a vinyl pumpkin, they are on sale at Michael’s for 50% off (might even be 60% by now!) Pick one up and come on down. Studio time is from 10 am -3 pm, for $25 (plus whatever materials you get from me, probably not more than $10) and I will be there to coach and guide you through which ever project you choose. I’ll be in the shop all week (for the most part) working on samples!

Speaking of this week, it is still the tail end of concert season for us, so we are off to LA on Saturday, and Santa Barbara on Tuesday, to see the Scorpions! I am so excited, as this will be the 3rd and 4th time in 5 years we have seen them, and they rock pretty hard still. They hold a special place in our hearts, as that was our first “concert date”, so they are “our band”. This is from 2010…

I think I need to sleep at some point tonight, so I better get on with that!

Stay Crazy My Friends!

Kicking Rocks

September 25, 2015September 25, 2015 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 6 Comments

Kicking Rocks…not out of frustration these days, but to find cool ones to tangle on!

I have recently returned from a lovely Zentangle retreat with the totally awesome CZT’s of Vancouver Island (Tangle Island 2015) and while I was there, one of the “Make & Take” activities was tangling on rocks and shells. I picked both, naturally, since I have to try everything!

So I thought it was rather serendipitous when this week’s Diva Challenge (#236) was to tangle on something you do not normally tangle on (like anything that isn’t paper for most people.) Since I tangle on anything that holds still long enough, I just went with what I was working on. A rock…and an oyster shell. I used a lot of things on these, but would like to point out the Twinkling H2O’s that the shell is highlighted with, and the Sakura Decorese Pens that work really well on non-porous surfaces. These pens were designed for nail art, and the ink stays a little raised.

And some more of my Tangle Island projects (4 down, 14 to still finish!) First is a found objects collage. I may or may not really be done with this, as I should probably still tangle on it a little.

And a nifty little tangleation of Cadent.

We also spent a few days in Vancouver, mostly to go see AC/DC at BC Place. That was a very emotion moment for me, knowing it was the first time I have seen them live, and probably the last time too. I very much doubt they will continue after this is over, and I can’t say I blame them.

And we did a bit of walking on the day of the concert…16 kilometers worth! But I really enjoyed it, and even found some tangles!

And the beginning of fall colors.

I gotta get moving now, have a class on Black Tiles at the shop today!

Stay Crazy My Friends!

Keep It Simple

September 18, 2015 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 12 Comments

As I sit here in LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) typing this, I had this resonating in my mind. keep it simple. That was my mantra this week. While I overpacked my art supplies for this trip to Tangle Island 2015, and may have under packed my clothing, I really have a feeling of peace that I have everything I need.

That was my theme for this week’s Diva Challenge (#235) as well. Our task this week was Stripes as a string. I had some cut watercolor paper left from another project, and noticed my Twinkling H2O’s on my work bench, so I painted a border and stripes. I also just got a Rotring Isograph pen I wanted to try, so I used that. I think it came out pretty cool, but simple.

Diva #235
I seem to have been pretty productive this week. I also finished some AT. Tiles for a swap in a FaceBook group.

ATC Swap - ABC
And last Saturday, I hosted my September Special, Patriot Tangles, at the shop. We learned a couple new tangles and did this cool mixed media collage.

Patriot Canvas 1
And not satisfied with just the one, I had prepped a 2nd canvas while I was experimenting, and tangled that too!

Patriot Canvas 2
We have lots of fun classes coming up, so be sure to join us if you can!

That’s all for now, off to Vancouver!

Stay Crazy My Friends!

Home Again! (For Now Anyway)

September 10, 2015September 10, 2015 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 10 Comments

Whew, this has been a super busy month already. After the week in San Francisco, I had to make a mostly unplanned trip to Arizona to deal with some family matters. I will leave this off as my mother’s increasing dementia making me feel trapped in an episode of “Hoarders” and really overwhelmed for a bit.

But, on a brighter note, I did get my giant Opus tile finished, as Gridiculous as it is. (Gridiculous is the name Jenni Perruzzi has given her Zencil system to line out Opus-sized tiles. You can find this on etsy.) I had a few openings still left when this week’s Diva Challenge (#234) was issued, for a UMT (Use My Tangle) by Chris Titus for her tangle CanT. Of course, I felt the need to include it on my all grid based tangle project, and kill 2 birds with one stone!

Of course, Opus is a larger tile, so this took a while. If you want to do one of your own, I will be teaching this as a class on September 26th.

I have to get back to the unpacking and get ready for a class tonight. My month of travels is still ongoing, as I get ready to head to Tangle Island in Canada next week. (I have never been to Canada…this is super exciting for me.)

Oh, and I fixed the glitch in my etsy store. I finally got the postage issues straightened out, and the ordering works fine now.

Stay Crazy My Friends (and join me on MeetUp and my Facebook page when you get a chance!)