Ellish and Adventure

May 24, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 18 Comments

Sorry for missing last week. I was off on vacation…and I did take things with me to do, but nothing got done. I’ve caught up, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that this week’s Diva Challenge (#269) is the new official tangle, Ellish! I got to learn this one at TangleU, from Molly Hollibaugh herself, so that made it pretty special. It was one of the very few things I’ve finished from that trip (and I actually finished it in class!)

I do like this tangle, and if you alter the center shape, it can even be a “C”-ish. I’ve been working some other alternate shapes to make it conform to different letters, but they don’t look quite the same.

I also finished Diva Challenge #268 (A Bit ‘o Black) but was busy working on the schedule for June so I didn’t get it posted in time…but here it is!

I was on a bit of a Mooka roll, so I just went with it. I really like the look of black and white on the Renaissance Tan tiles.

I have been working pretty much non-stop since we got home, but the fruits of my labor is a really fun schedule coming up in June (July and August should be posted soon, too!) I have included some Zentangle for Kids sessions for the summer break. Those should be loads of fun!

And I’ll leave you with a teaser of what I did on vacation. While I was born in California, I grew up mostly in Arizona. And in my 54 years on this planet, I have NEVER been to the Grand Canyon…until now.

There are simply no words…but we loved every minute of it.

And…back to work for me!

Dueling Tangles

May 11, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 7 Comments

Another busy week here at CharKat’s! I started a new planner this week, and I seem to be getting a lot more done, which is nice. I hope the honeymoon lasts with this one. It is a bit more compact than my last one, and fits in my purse. Yes, I know there is technology that I can use in its place, but I like paper…I like to use a fountain pen to write, and I like to make notes and tangles and sketches and jot down ideas…so the technology is a time suck for me, because…SQUIRREL! (or FaceBook or Pinterest, or Candy Crush) So I am making more of an effort to stay off the technology!

This weeks Diva Challenge (#267) was a Duo Tangle: Pokeroot vs Drupe. Now, I am not particularly fond of Pokeroot. I don’t really use it much (make that ever) so this took a bit of prodding to get me to do it. ‘Nuff Said…

On Monday, the SoCal Zentangle Friendship Group met at CharKat’s, and I showed them some of my cool projects (the finished ones) from TangleU and led us in a couple of tangles. We learned a new tangle from Zentangle HQ, called Ellish (if you haven’t seen it in your newsletter yet, it will be coming soon!)

And K-leesi by Sharon Robinson.

Speaking of TangleU Projects…here are some books I’ve finished from Cherryl Moote’s Class:

They are still blank on the outside, but so cute!

And I am seeing a lot of finished t-shirts! All so different, and so pretty. What fun it is to wear your art. Here is one is black and white from Izumi Sato, my fellow SoCal CZT:

And this pretty, almost electric looking colorful one from Karen Sandoval:

Judy Englehart submitted this lovely:

And this bright bit of spring from Julie Gladstone:

If you want to color your own t-shirt, I still have them available in my online store. I can ship international, but you will need to email me your order instead of going online (charkattangles@gmail.com) Click here to get to the store, and don’t forget the Gell Roller for Fabric and Fabrico markers for color!

I am putting the final touches on my larger piece for the May 21st class (May Flowers featuring the tangles of Helen Williams) and I am really liking what I’ve done here. I don’t normally post works in progress, but I thought this might be the time to make an exception!

I think that bottom flower looks a lot like this Japanese beauty, so I am probably going to color it the same.

And on that note, I need to skedaddle! But, I’ll leave you with this:

A Crux of Good Intentions

May 5, 2016May 5, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 7 Comments

Good intentions go a long way sometimes. I intended to post a blog last week from TangleU in Portland, Maine, but just got further and further behind while learning some amazing new things.

But, so you don’t feel slighted, here is my Diva Challenge (#265) for Stripes. The string is all stripes, so I tried to fit as many border style tangles as I could think of…and even some that weren’t borders to begin with!

And…of course, on to this week’s Diva Challenge (#266) with a UMT (Use My Tangle) of Crux. This version is by Henrike Bratz. There is another tangle of the same name out in tangle-land…but this is the one Diva posted this week.

This is on watercolor paper, using one of the tiles I created in a class at TangleU. Twinkling H2O’s sure make it sparkle, but I’m not sure how much of that translates into the scan. It looks kinda creepy here…

Maybe its a giant green squid, I dunno…in person it really looks like it is levitating above the paper.

Speaking of TangleU, I had a great time. I did vend this year, with my Tangle Me Crazy T-Shirts, Fabrico Markers, and Pentel Gel Rollers. (All of which you can purchase here.)

I learned a lot, and made a few cool books in Cherryl Moote’s class with the help of my friend, Hello Kitty!

I also got to hang out with my friends Nancy Dawes and Sheila Jarvie, which is ALWAYS fun…and our men hung out together while we were in class!

I haven’t finished many things from the classes yet, but here are a couple…And I am not sure this first one is really finished, I may add some more tangling. Primsacolor Premier pencil on Mi-tienes paper.

And the Zero Drawing Technique, tangled and watercolored with Peerless Watercolors.

And, my lone tile…done with Molly Hollibaugh’s direction.

I tangled this hat from Ann Grasso Pattern Art. I am going to do some more on the rest of the hat as soon as I find that head that is hanging around here somewhere….on the back, it says “CREATIVE.”

No trip to Maine would be complete without a little lobster…I think these guys were subject to some extreme torture, and this is all that is left…

Busy weeks ahead, make sure to check out the schedule for some great classes this month.

Stay Crazy My Friends!

The String’s a Spring!

April 19, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 8 Comments

Wow….when I have a good and creative week, it really does start to roll! Too bad that doesn’t carry over to me getting dressed and leaving the house sometimes….

But, it is spring here in beautiful Southern California, and while its been a bit on the windy side, we are already experiencing warmer than usual temperatures. Our darling Diva tasked us this week with using a Spring for a String (#264) and since I am working back through Helen Williams’ e-books, I thought I would work up some ribbons with that spring. Morning Glories with a little of Helen’s Mooka-Style and a pretty green ribbon to tie it all up with. This is a little bit of what we will be doing in the May Flowers Class on May 21st. That class will feature several of Helen’s tangles on a larger format, including her new Compass Daisies! I simply love her work.

I know what you are thinking…wow….those colors are beautiful! They actually look even better in person. I was experimenting with my new Peerless Watercolors for this, on Fabriano Medioevalis paper in the 4.8-ish inch square.

Peerless Watercolors are saturated sheets that are activated with water. Instead of pigments, they are mineral dyes. There were originally developed to hand tint photographs around the turn of the century (like more than 100 years ago…) and the formula has not changed. The colors are translucent, except for the Spotting Black, Opaque. They come in cards that are about 6 x 2.5 inches, and you can just use a water brush to work with them. They are a little strange to work with in their native form…so there are a variety of ways to make them into neat, lightweight, portable palettes to work from. Jane Davenport has a great video and information on that here. But…me being me, I took my own creative license and made mine a bit different.

To give you perspective, that is a hair tie as a closure. 3″ x 4.5-ish. I have acetate between each page for protection and as a mixing pallet, and only cut a 1/2″ piece for each place. It weighs about an ounce, and is easily held in your non-dominant hand while working in it, so page flipping is no big deal. The pieces of card are stuck in with double sided tape, and when it runs out, I can just pull it off and put in a new one. As you can see, the color of the card is not really representative of what color they are, so a swatch test is necessary. I used some old watercolor paper I have had for probably 20 years (and the puppy had chewed on when I still had a puppy) so the net cost of this was…well…just the paints. I also stuck a few extra pieces of watercolor paper in the back in case I got an urge to try something, and the inner cover liners are also watercolor paper.

Not that I haven’t been busy prepping samples for the May classes, and packing for TangleU next week, but I’ve been on rather a book-making tear. In addition to my Peerless pallet book, I also finished my working notebook/travel journal for TangleU. In an effort to not bore the people that aren’t interested in bookmaking, I will show you the highlights. I’m still trying to figure out how to make another listing for just paper craft-type things, so you don’t have to be subjected to this…

I’m pretty impressed with it, and have started keeping track of my “lessons learned” for each of these types of projects, so I can continue to improve them. This one has 4 sets of pages (for a 4-day retreat) with each set having one watercolor page with a “tile frame” mounted on the back of it (still using up that puppy-chewed paper!), 10 sheets that are lined on one side and blank on the back, trimmed with Washi tape and some stickers, and a double-sided pocket folder that I also decorated. The closure is a button held on with another smaller button through an eyelet, with the same cord braided and beaded to loop around the button. This was mostly made from a WeR Kit I found in my drawer, and I bought one button and 4 sheets of 12×12 scrapbook paper. So again, it cost me nothing but time, really, to make.

AND, on that note, I really need to sleep. Baseball season makes me stay up later than I usually like to keep up with my beloved Giants, so I tend to be a bit more sleep deprived than usual.

Stay Crazy My Friends!

Going Global

April 15, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 4 Comments

Ok…first things first. The May 2016 schedule is up! Journals are the first Saturday, and the Monthly Special is on the 3rd Saturday this month because I will be out of town. But…you won’t want to miss this one…May Flowers featuring the Tangles of Helen Williams. I love her flowery botanical work, and while I am still working up a sample for the class, here is a teaser of one I did previously.

Check out the full schedule here – Zentangle Classes & Schedule. The Buy It now button for classes is at the top of the page now. (Thanks Square for changing the online store around…not sure if I like it or not yet!)

You can also find all kinds of cool stuff and supplies in my online store. CharKat’s Creative Insanity – Online Store!

Ok…enough of my blatant advertising and down to the matter at hand.

This week, I got thrown for a loop (almost literally) with the Diva Challenge (#263) when she asked us to use a Globular Grid. I freaked out just a little with all those small spaces. So I grabbed the biggest round tile I found, a “card” from Dick Blick, and my compass, and made bigger spaces. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to try out some of the Fragments from the new Zentangle Primer, Volume 1.

It looks great to me, from a distance, with my glasses off. (Of course, we are all our own worst critics!) A note about working on “cards”…this paper had no tooth and was very difficult to shade. It is about 6”, and I used a bit bigger pen, so that was part of the problem for me, I think. Anyway…learning/teaching moment!

We had a lovely time on Monday at this month’s Zentangle Friendship Group. We pre-scrunched pieces of paper bag to make a type of Kente cloth, using tangles. It was pretty fun. This is 9 x 12, so I did use brush pens (hence the chunky designs) and tried a few different things.

A design note: to try this, you need to scrunch and scrunch and scrunch your paper bag. Then, I ironed my with a hot steam iron and let it dry. I imagine its is not a super-permanent paper, and I did not spend a lot of time on it. I am going to try a few other things with some other pieces that I treated with a preservative. I’ll let you know how that turns out!

It’s been a busy week. On Wednesday, I attended a quilting workshop with Ami Simms, and boy was that fun. I should have pics of my quilt posted in a week or 2…woo hoo.

We’ve has some great classes this week at the shop, too! You really should join us.

And on that note, I need to finish getting ready for tonights Zentangle 101 class and Iron Maiden at the Forum tomorrow night!

Stay Crazy My Friends!

More “Fassetts” of My Life

April 9, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 5 Comments

This has been a really nice week for my budding little business venture. I’ve had some new students, and some old friends, and sometimes both together, which is REALLY fun.

This week’s Diva Challenge was a Use My Tangle (UMT) from Lynn Mead, CZT, from Washington State. Her tangle, Fassett, is really quite cool, and you can do so much with it. I taught it in my class this week on Black Tiles (Beyond the Basics: Black Tiles) and we had some fun with it in gold Gelly Roll Metallics.

We had a really fun class last Saturday, with Nancy Dawes and her family visiting from Vancouver Island. Everyone folded and worked on their origami.

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Nancy caught me in action!

And she posted her finished ball on her FaceBook page (Crafting Passions.) You can also check out her blog here – http://craftingpassions.blogspot.com. She does some awesome things!

I finished the one I started in class too, but only just this morning!

I tend to get a bit…carried away. I like to say I never do anything half-assed…I do it full assed! The scattered gold pebbles in my Tipple are reminiscent of the beach sand by the Hotel Del Coronado, which we visited on Monday with our guests!

So pretty!

ok…I have a million loads of laundry to finish, journals to work on, quilts to cut bits for…I know…get back to work! Next week, look for journal pics. I am really excited to finally be putting my “stash” to use (thanks for the push into the glue, Nancy!)

Stay Crazy My Friends!

Sorting Stacks

March 30, 2016March 30, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 10 Comments

First off, I hope everyone had a

As typical, mine was quiet, as Mike was at work. I did get a lot done, and the house got cleaned!

This week’s Diva Challenge (#261) was issued by guest blogger Jan Reiter, CZT, who challenged us to Stack Bijou. Now, I have to tell you, I was a little intimidated by this. That seemed like a lot of work! And we know how famous I am lately for not finishing anything. So…I rummaged through all my “pretty paper” collection that isn’t particularly good for tangling on in great quantity, and cut up 6 “stacks” and a Bijou-sized (2×2 inch) tile. And I stared at it for a little while. Then I went to town…and I tangled them from the biggest to the smallest. It went a lot faster than I thought it would, but then I always make things more complicated than they need to be!

This was a lot of fun. And believe it or not, the Bijou-sized tile and the far outer frame are from the same paper! Since brown was my “theme” I went with a sepia Micron too, so that was nice, and a copper Gelly Roll on the accents.

UPDATE: I realized while I was filing this weeks photos after I posted the blog that this Diva Challenge marked 100 & 101 consecutive challenges!

So you know I haven’t been slacking, I have been busy with shop models for upcoming classes. I know you want to join us this Saturday when Origami meets Zentangle! The project is based on a design from Hans Werner Guth, called “Jump” and tangle inspired by Dorian Eng, CZT.

To sign up, head on over to the Class Schedule Page!

I have been participating in a Round-Robin tangle with 3 other CZT’s and received my tiles back yesterday (and I’m sending the next batch out today, I promise!) I think they came out really cool, and it was a lot of fun working with everyone on this. We all have really different styles, and that melded together very well.

And…So you don’t think I missed last week’s Diva Challenge (#260), I did that in my journal in church this week. Yes…I listened to the talk…and yes…this helps me concentrate on it rather than making my grocery list in my head or thinking about what I am cooking for lunch. I love Shattuck, it is such a versatile tangle!

And, for everyone that knows me, no week is complete without a little rock n’ roll! We headed to Las Vegas last week to see Billy Idol at the House of Blues. I was deaf in my right ear for a good while since we were next to the speaker, but what a show, and what great seats! It is hard to believe he is 60! (hubba hubba!)

Back to packing for TangleU! Here’s a sneak peek at what you will be able to score at CharKat’s after I get back…

Tangle them…Color them…Embellish them! Wear Your Art!

Stay Crazy My Friends!

That Green Time of Year

March 15, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 8 Comments

Yep, that’s right…it’s March! I love the month of March. Not only is it the month of my birth, but the weather starts being nice again, the sun is out, the grass is green…and…we all get to be Irish for a day.

We had a couple of really fun Celtic themed classes over the weekend, so that led right into this week’s Diva Challenge (#259) “A Touch of the Irish.” This was one of those pieces I was particularly proud of when I finished it. I have not forged into the ZenGems craze because I did all this stuff 20 years ago when I was designing jewelry, but I broke out my Prismacolor Premier pencils and some luscious hand-made Garza Papel (from Spain) and pulled this off.

I know…huh? I keep looking at it..lol.

If you want to see the steps I took for the gems, check this out…

I didn’t get a blog up last week, it was my birthday…I joked to one of my students who is a professional cake decorator that she should bring me a birthday cupcake (since I am watching my girlish figure) and she arrived with this:

That is one HUGE cupcake…and it was really tasty too.

I did get the Diva Challenge (#258 UMT Rautyflex) done too, although I just did it in my Tangle Journal.

There was some unusually beautiful skies here this week, with pretty vapor trails. I loved how they made a pretty perfect X there…

I will have the April Schedule up by the end of the week. I am working on a sample for a class, so be sure to save the date (April 2) if you are in the area. Origami meets Zentangle, and it is so fun to fold!

That is all for now…Stay Crazy My Friends!

Heavy Metal!

March 2, 2016March 2, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 6 Comments

Of course, most of you know I am a HUGE fan of rock…hard rock…heavy metal!

And I have worked with metals a lot longer than I have been tangling, so to be able to combine tangles with metal was pretty awesome. Guest Diva, Amy Ridge Brody, CZT, said to make it “Ohh Shiny” and that is exactly what I shot for in The Diva’s #257 Challenge.

I have lots of metal do-dads leftover from a plethora of projects, and odds and ends…so this was really fun. Silver and blue metallic Gelly Roll, and a Blue Stardust Gelly Roll, with General’s Multi Pastels for shading.

And since I was a little behind, Diva #256, which was a Duo-Tangle of The Diva’s tangles Boo*Kee and Artoo. I was in a red mood…

While I was working on this, I noticed my new page tabs looked like Artoo was looking at me (he is such a cutie.)

Have a few other cuties I worked up this week:

Also, I will be teaching a ZIA (Zentangle Inspired Art) Easter project at La Rebelde Winery in Lake Elsinore on March 25th. It will be something along this line:

La Rebelde is at 530 Crane Street, Lake Elsinore, and the class will be from 6 till they kick us out! $35 per person includes all materials, snacks AND a glass of wine!

The Color Me Crazy T-shirts are at the printers as we speak, so they will be available online and at the shop AFTER TangleU…2 different designs, that you tangle and color yourself! What a great alternative to coloring books, and you can wear your art!

Ok…back to work for me. Finishing up the examples for the March Monthly Specials – Found and Tangled (Irish Authors Edition) and Celtic Tangles with ZenGems!

Namas’ cray! Stay crazy my friends.

Ghosts…

February 17, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 6 Comments

Have you ever felt haunted by your past? I think our past is a part of our journey in life, and shapes us into the people we become. You can either learn from it and grow from it, or let it drag you down. This week, Diva (challenge #255) asked us to revisit a tile/tangle from our past, to see how we have grown. I have only been tangling about 3 years, but I have everything I did in my first year in a book, to show my students MY learning process. While I did have a smallish art background, I like them to see how much I have learned and what practicing has done to my art. For this quest, I went back to my very first tile, pre-class with a CZT, learning out of One Zentangle a Day.

That first one was done on card stock from my limited scrapbooking stash. I never realized how small I worked until I tried to re-do it! (I think this is a trend I’ve noticed with most of the CZT’s that have posted…all our early work was tiny, and now it is much bigger!)

So here is the “new” version. See the style I have developed into!

And to bring up another ghost, I didn’t get this finished in time for Diva #252: Using a Tangle as a String. I used a giant Cadent.

Pretty things have been made at the shop this week! We had an awesome group for a Zentangle 101 class, and I threw in a little Valentine, too. What prodigies!

And on Saturday, we made Valentine cards and frames, based on Joanne Fink’s Zendangles. Here are the ones I did:

And my Valentangle for Diva #254 that I couldn’t post because it was Mike’s present!

And a thank you card for Mike’s mom, who has been bestowing her stash of all her calligraphy and card making supplies. My faux calligraphy skills still need some work!

I am working on the schedule for March, and it should be fun! I should have it posted by the end of the week.

Found and Tangled Poetry, the Irish Poets Edition in time for St. Patrick’s Day. And some exploration of Celtic Knots and Tangles. (This is just an ATC I did with some ColorBursts…pretty backgrounds!)

Tangle Journals, from January, will make a repeat appearance. This will be an ongoing class, you can join in any time, or whatever you like. First time attendees will need to buy the Journal Kit, returning students can buy refills if they need them. Every other month we will explore a new set of tangles.

And I will add a Sunday afternoon Alcohol Ink class, working on ceramics. They make lovely decorations and gifts. I finished this one today.

Whew…I didn’t realize I had done so much work this week! (I guess it was really 2 weeks, since I didn’t post anything last week.)

Namas’ cray my friends…stay crazy and make stuff!