Ok…this weeks Diva Challenge (#206) asked us to use something you don’t normally use, or expand our horizons. I had it all planned out…the huge piece of beautiful Rosapina has been on my work table for weeks, I have it all planned out in my head. I started it…and it is now cut up into smaller tiles, as it really didn’t work out the way I wanted it. (tried rubber-stamping words…not a good idea while you are on a conference call…)

So…I reverted to something else I figured as a semi-failed attempt a while back. I watercolored a few errant pieces of water color paper with the salt process and some cool Niji pearlescent watercolors, and when they were done, I didn’t know what to do with them. They were so pretty, they intimidated me. So, I whipped out the least intimidating one (purple and grey) and the associated Tombows, and tangled away. I just got my Tombow markers recently, and haven’t really used them much, and I have never really shaded with color, so this was a grand experiment.

I did mount it on a black tile, I thought it looked nicer.

Squeaking in under the wire…and back to homework.

Stay Crazy My Friends!

Slow week, not a lot to report…

Diva #205 gave us the prompt of Chinese New Year (Year of the Goat.) So…I found a lot of sheep that looked like goats…and goats that looked like sheep. Tried to keep a it a bit simple I guess, Found a cool vector graphic of the sheep and used it as my focal (traced, kinda, drawn, kinda) and thought it needed the red and gold colors I always see in pretty Chinese things.

Happy New Year!

Stay Crazy My Friends!

And here I am, in the throes of my final semester of undergrad…buried in the hoopla that is internships and homework…

I am squeaking last weeks Diva (#204) in right under the wire. Since today is Family Day in Canada, she isn’t posting this week’s until tomorrow!

So #204 is a Valentangle. I thought I might like to try out my new Tombow markers, and I sure do like them. (ad before anyone goes praising my ability to make a Celtic knot…that is a Zencil and you can get the set for either 3.5 inch tiles or Zendalas, or even Bijou from Jenny Perruzzi at her etsy.com shop.) I am a little sad that the glitter pen I used in the rings didn’t show up on the scan, but that’s life. It’s really pretty in person.

And for our Diva Throwback, I present to you, #195, which was Old Into New. I deconstructed Fengle to make this ring for my Trim-a-Rim. Derwent Inktense pencils and that Wink of Stella Glitter Brush (I’m on a glitter bender again…)

Oh man…was this one a real challenge for me!

This week, our darling Diva asked us to do a DuoTangle of Chebucto and Copada by Margaret Bremner. Now, for those that know me, I’m not squeamish, and I don’t practice, I just do. I have to say this one was a major trial for me (resulting in a couple of ripped up tiles in the trash!) I love Margaret, but I was calling her all kinds of names…and kinda lost my Zen. But on a last resort, I pulled out one of my old “practice tiles” and I think I came up with something workable. I was really getting back into it in the end. (Thankfully, that silver pen is opaque and covers up a bunch of things!)

So to make this week a real challenge, here is a throwback Diva from when I was being a bit of a slacker. This one was #194, entitled “Embrace the Yuck.” The prompt was to go outside your comfort zone and do a tangle with your non-dominant hand. I’m right handed. I may as well only have one arm, because my left does not do what I want it to do. I procrastinated on this one really bad for a while, because it made me very uncomfortable. I did part of it with my left hand, and part of it with my glasses off (which just made my eyes water and gave me a headache…)

This week, I learned a lot about a lot of things, and it’s only Monday!

Laura Harms, The Diva, has a couple of really cute kids. The youngest, Artoo, has a neurological disorder called Moebius Syndrome. This coming Saturday is Moebius Syndrome Awareness Day, so she her prompt for this week’s Diva Challenge was to use the Moebius Syndrome logo in our work. So…I printed it out…made it the right size for my 6 x 6 paper, cut it out, grabbed a piece of purple paper (the color they use for the Moebius Syndrome stuff) and did a little paper treatment. Paper curled with the spray…ack…I ironed it…it flattened.

So…this post will get a little weird. I thought I would collect up some of the Diva Challenges as I finish the one ones I am behind, and just post them all on one page so I can sort them out. I will do this from time to time!

The first here is Diva #199, which is a UMT (Use My Tangle) of Hitch by HeidiSue. On a Black Tile, with metallic Gelly Roll pen. Not completely happy with the red, it looks more pink on the black, and not quite as dramatic as I would have like.

And also, #197, which used the new Zentangle pattern Akuras. I feel like I cheated on this a bit, because I am going A-Z on Official tangle patterns in my Tangle-A-Day 2015 calendar, and it so happens I am catching up on that too.

And last, but not least…I saw this on Pinterest, so I had to have it for my work space.

Ok…the rush of finals is over, and I am off school until January 24th.  Grade have not yet been reported, but so far I know of 5 of my 6 classes I got A’s.

It is a Good News/Bad News situation. Good News is the Spring is my last semester; I graduate in May. Bad News is I have class 4 days a week (including my precious Quilts of Valor Fridays.)

I realize I have been lax in posting, and lax in my participation in the Diva Challenges, so I am making to rectify that. I left off with #193, which was Veterans Day, and the challenge was THX (Trio, Huggins, and XYP.)  Worked it on a watercolor post card, with Micron and Derwent Metallic watercolor pencil. I went over the gold watercolor with a gold UM-153 from Signo, because it seemed like it needed it.

I am setting a goal of being completely caught up before school starts again, so I need to get crackin! I started doing the Diva challenge at #160, so I think this year I will go back and start at #1…thought that would be lofty goal and give me a prompt when I need one.

Ciao for now. Happy New Year!

First off, I am alive. I know I’ve said repeatedly that I have 6 classes (I am attending) this semester, and subsequently, being that I will graduate in May, they have gotten increasingly difficult on the homework scale.

I have been trying to fit in some tangle time (mostly in class) and trying to keep up with at least a few challenges (mostly Diva and Square One on Facebook.)

So this week’s Diva Challenge was with guest CZT Cris Letourneau, with a Use My Tangle (UMT) for her tangle, Seton. If you haven’t checked out her book (with Sonya Yencer, CZT) called Pattern Play, I highly recommend it.

Seton is a grid pattern, that rather reminds me of a quilt, so I had a little fun with it.

I know….excuses excuses!

But, this has been a really trying past 2 weeks. Last Tuesday, we lost our dear Marie (sister-in-law)  to cancer. It derailed me a little, and I actually forgot a lot of things for the week. I ran on school only autopilot. It was difficult for Tuna, but he, his mother, and his other siblings were there with her. My final take on this….cancer sucks.

And…in the midst of this I am having mid terms at school. Studying for my last 2 tests now. Whew…semester is half over.

I did so the Blind String last week (#187) but I gave it to someone that admired it in class, so I forgot to post it…so here that is. Black tile with all the metallic Gelly Rolls I could grab at the moment.

And on to #188…This one I really lamented over. To have a 12 year old who is so aware of the world and the inequities in it, is really amazing. So it is to him, and all my friends and family in the LBGTQA community that I dedicate this tile (if you don’t recognize that last bit, it’s Queer and Ally, and I also added a C tangle to my tile for myself!)  I wish the scan would show how sparkly it is!

How fortunate this coincided with my Sunday get together at Susan Bowden’s for the San Diego-Temecula Zentangle Group! (Thanks Janet Masey for coordinating me to be there and I love how Susan added me – Temecula – makes me feel rather special!)  Susan’s aunt was visiting from Canada, so she had prepared some lovely white tiles in fall-ish watercolor pencil with the maple leaf traced on it.

I did mine in sepia Micron with brown artist lead shading and a little Glitter Pen and Copper Gelly Roll.