The Paradox of Overwhelm

March 29, 2018 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 3 Comments

So, by now I think everyone knows I am closing my studio in Temecula. (Yes, I am still teaching, at my house, and the online store is staying.) This is a daunting task. Inventory management is not easy for the most seasoned professional, and trying to guesstimate what people will buy at any given time is just not my thing.

That being said, I have a *lot* of stuff that I had either guessed too high on, or the class didn’t go, or yada yada yada…it goes on and on. I had a near breakdown yesterday as I reviewed the volume of things I still needed to catalog and update in the system, so that I can offer it to you good folks out there. I’ve slashed prices on a few things (t-shirts and Trim-a-rims) and the discount MAR15 will still get you 15% off till the end of the month. I will issue a new discount code in May, to help me clear more.

This has become pretty overwhelming for me. So naturally, I turn to tangling to try to resolve some of those feelings (I also have been meditating daily on top of that.) So I found this week’s Diva Challenge (#357) to do a monotangle of Rick’s Paradox to be quite soothing. Line work. Making lines. Line after line after line.

I decided to use my Big White Bee charcoal paper journal for this, and I traced 2 tiles, not really knowing what was going to come out of it.

I really liked the one we did during the 12 Days of Zentangle, so I decided to revisit that one, with a bit of a twist.

And then just a plain line work style in the second “tile.”

And part of getting through the overwhelm is eating nourishing food. Since Mike is on a trip, I am trying some different recipes. Zucchini and cheese Tacos? They were actually pretty good.

But, calming down again got me in the mood to try a ZenButton…I really like this way to use fragments…I am trying a black one next.

I had another calming day on Saturday, with a small Zentangle 101 class.

You can book classes directly by emailing me!

And then I got a little more overwhelmed today when I went to get some washi tape out of my box to decorate my Giants Baseball Opening Day page today…

That, my friends, is what more than 200 rolls of washi tape looks like. I may have to have a swap or something, as I have a few duplicate rolls. (In my defense, most of this was swag from the recent Planners Rock conference I went to.) The case is from Michaels, you can get it here (use a coupon and save!)

So, the game starts in 5 minutes, and that means I have to go!

(PS…I didn’t publish this before the game started. Giants beat the Dodgers 1-0!)

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Spring…Cleaning!

March 22, 2018March 22, 2018 ~ CharkatTangles ~ Leave a comment

We’ve been going thru a lot of our clutter lately. I am not sure not this accumulates in the quantity it has, but I can allot a bit of it to all the stuff I brought back from Arizona in January.

Cleaning out my mom’s house was a daunting task. She had accumulated “things.” I’m not going to say hoard, because it wasn’t like that, but I am not sure she had a switch that said…I do not really need to buy that bag or that purse or that pair of shoes. Or subscribe to another Danbury Mint monthly thing…like a collection of Presidential dollar coins. (Which, by the way, are worth $1 each. But if you subscribe, they will send you 13 of them a month for $39 a roll. There’s a racket we all need to get into.)

But, that made me spur into action and roll them all to take them to the bank. (For my friends outside the US, dollar coins have never really caught on here, even though they are in circulation.) And that made me also roll up all the other change I had accumulated in my pickle jar…and voila! I made $671!

I know what you are thinking…Charlotte, what has this got to do with Zentangle?

Clutter is not only something that accumulates physically.

“Clutter is the physical manifestation of unmade decisions fueled by procrastination”
― Christina Scalise, Organize Your Life and More

Mental, emotional, and physical. And it builds up, and keeps us from being our best selves. I struggle to get things done on my super cluttered desk because it does not invite me to be creative. It invites me to see the clutter. The clutter depresses me and makes me not want to work on things I know will make me less depressed.

Just the simple act of organizing and picking up can be so freeing, mentally and physically. Spacious freedom in your mind and in your home. Now, I am not going all Marie Kondo method on you. I’m an artist. I have stuff.

I am becoming more productive as I clear things out, and I think even more creative without all those “things” to weigh me down. So I did a bit of playing this week on a prompt for a journaling group I am in (it was my turn to create the prompt) and whilst I was doing my page, this popped up:

I think I may have come up with a new tangle I am calling Zigmajig, a cross between Keeko and Jonqal.

And that led me to make a step out for it…and use my initials for a Tangle Your Name from this week’s Diva Challenge (#356). (My name is a bit long to get on a tile, so initials work for me.)

Neato, eh? Oh, and if you have ever seen this by another name, I’m happy to give it up.

I had a couple of awesome playdate/classes this week. On Monday, Pam and her daughter came and played with me for a few hours. We learned a few things and had a lot of laughs!

And on Wednesday, I taught the first of 2 sessions for the San Diego Book Arts Guild at the library in Pacific Beach. I had 15 lovely ladies tangling on coasters for a high altitude flyover of Zentangle…just enough to wet their appetite for more! They did an awesome job.

And while I know it’s not spring-like weather in some parts of the country, after my class I walked along the beach for a while, and enjoyed a sunset.

Boy, do I love living in SoCal. (Note that it has been raining all day today. I love rain.)

I’ve also been busy putting the final touches on my mobile store for TangleU this year. I am still working on a super top secret limited edition kit for the event, so that is what the empty space is for…

Remember, there is still time to use the code MAR15 for 15% off at the online store.

And now, I have to clear the clutter of accounting work, so I can submit my taxes for the year…icky!

Have fun!

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Tide in Knots

March 13, 2018March 13, 2018 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 6 Comments

Yep…tide…not tied. Water. Oceans. Rivers. That is what the tangle Verve speaks to me. Movement of water.

This week’s Diva Challenge (#355) was to use the tangle Verve. I’m working on samples and a handout for a top secret project, but found this to be just the tangle I needed for this body of water.

At this time…I’m not at liberty to discuss what else is going on. But you are gonna love it, I guarantee!

Oh, and I did mention knots. It is coming up on St. Patrick’s Day this week, so I thought I would give you a quick video on how to draw one of the knots in my Ready or Knot kit. My finished piece looks like this:

And the video is here:

At this time, there is only one Ready or Knot kit left in stock, and I have not decided if I am going to restock it or not.

In the meantime, hop on over to the store and use code MAR15 for 15% off the rest of this month!

Cheers!

A Steep Learning Curve

March 6, 2018 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 4 Comments

Some of the things I do come pretty easy. I can visualize images in 3D, much like the computer imaging that Tony Stark uses in the Iron Man movies. But those things don’t always translate to what ends up on my paper.

Some tangles are like that for me, too.

This week’s Diva Challenge (#354) was one of those tangles. The Use My Tangle of Siri by Simone Menzel, CZT was pretty cool looking in her samples and step outs, but I struggled with it. I imagine I would like it better had I not tried to use color in my initial attempts, but I got some new pencils this week that needed trying out, so I went for it.

I have been playing around with Helen Williams’ String Rose pattern for a few days, so that made a good focal there, and I was able to distract myself from the parts that didn’t please me that much. I also did a little bit of that in my Bullet Journal this week:

We had an awesome meet up of the SoCal CZT group last Saturday, and I did finally remember to take pictures, although it was of the projects, not of the people (luckily, others did catch us in photos…those are posted in the FaceBook group.)

I did finally finish cleaning out my tool box this week as well. The finishing touches on parts of my home studio (readying for the transition for things to come home from the shop) has been a bit of an undertaking, and a lot of soul searching to downsize from things that have not been of service to me. I have had fun organizing…there is something so magical about seeing my pencil drawer in my tool box look like this:

Coupled with the knowledge that I may never have to buy another pencil in this lifetime!

I have set up cool little features intended to make me smile when I see them. Like this playful take on an aquarium without water, complete with a few Pokemon.

What made you smile today?

Don’t forget to use the code MAR15 for 15% off all remaining items in the online store. The less stuff I have to move, the better!