Out of the Blackness…Light

October 25, 2017 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 5 Comments

Ok…I’m back. Sorry for not posting last week, but my holiday got the best of me and I was running a bit behind. And now, not only am I playing catch up, but I am still a little b~~rain dead~~…er…jet lagged. So, here is the whirlwind that is going on now.

This week’s Diva Challenge (#338) was a white on black prompt. Diva already had the new Fine and Bold White Gelly Roll pens, but I just ordered mine yesterday, so I had to make do with just the medium. I did, however, pull out my cool black journal I bought in Venice last year to do it in.

This is a tale of jet lag. I have no idea what this even is, except it was done in the middle of the night when I could not get back to sleep. Zentangle helps. (And the new pens will be in stock in the store by the end of the week!)

I did get last week’s Diva Challenge (#337) of her tangle, Artoo (in honor of her son) done, as I incorporated it into my Fall Tangles class piece!

I am very excited to be teaching this, both at my place on November 4th, and in Santa Barbara on November 11th. Class includes all pens, pencils, and paper (that is the awesome Toned Gray Mixed Media from Strathmore.)

You will need previous Zentangle experience to take this class…but never fear! I will be teaching a Zentangle 101 class in each location on the same day! Sign up early to ensure your space!

With this horrible case of jet lag, all I want to do is sit and knit (especially since I am still sleeping at some pretty odd times.) I did knit on the plane most of the way home (mostly because I found this awesome yarn and some pretty new needles in Christchurch.)

And wouldn’t you know it, I must have summoned the knit gods by doing this. There was a phone call waiting for me when I got back from a nice lady named Debra who wanted to use the studio to teach Hand Knitting. So won’t you join her on November 1st from 6-9 to learn to use your own hands as knitting needles to create this cool throw?

You will need to bring your own yarn…3-4 skeins of ‘Yarn Bee Eternal Bliss’ chenille chunky yarn. You can get it locally at Hobby Lobby. Pre-register with comments below and I will forward it to Debra.

And talking about classes…The November schedule is up!

In addition to the classes listed above, Fall Tangles and Hand Knitting, we have Risa Gettler in on the 18th to teach Pointed Pen Calligraphy. Just in time for your holiday cards (and what a great way to practice!) this class will put you through the basics of the pointed pen. A materials list will be published, and everything you need will be available for purchase at the shop.

I will be open for Small Business Saturday (November 25,) with some awesome in-store specials for all your holiday needs. If you are on the email list, I’ll be sending out a special code for free shipping on Cyber Monday! (And CZT’s…I have a great deal on tortillions!)

And if you are in the area, consider dropping in for Open Studio on the 17th or 26th for a make and take ornament! I’ll include the first one for your $5 drop in fee, and you can purchase additional ones if you like.

And not to be left out of the awesomeness that is prepping for the holidays…Fun with Alcohol Inks on November 29 in the afternoon. We will explore some great papers, clear glass ornaments, and even some ceramic ornaments. Great for making gifts!

And I am cooking up something new for December-January time frame, with a great new (to me) pen/tool I am starting to use more. Here is a sneak peek!

For fans of the book arts, I am happy to share that Cherryl Moote will be teaching a 3-day workshop for the San Diego Book Arts Guild in February. If you are not familiar with Cherryl’s work, you have seen me post a lot of books and things I’ve made in her classes. She is well worth ~~stalking~~ following and presents some awesome stuff that is Zentangle friendly!

For information on this workshop, go to their website here.

And a final report on my holiday. We spent the 2nd week in Christchurch, New Zealand. Christchurch was rocked with devastating earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. The second one killed a lot of people (185,) and rendered the landscape of the city into something even the locals no longer recognize. It was like playing “I can’t remember what was there before” for a week.

This is what remains of Christchurch Cathedral. It is smack dab in the middle of the city, but nature seems to be reclaiming it for its own. There is a huge, very permanent looking fence all the way around it, but there are viewing ports at various locations.

The ~~“snow cone”~~ Chalice in the background, I learned, is all the different plant life native to the area. Each sections leaf structure is different. With the clouds in it, I thought it looked like a cotton candy holder. It is quite lovely.

One of the things that struck me was talking to a shop owner on our first day in Christchurch. She had the most awesome attitude…she said

How many times does a city have the chance to completely rebuild itself in the image it wants to have?

We did get to the Antarctic Center. Mike flew the mission to the ice in 2005/6 time frame, so it was great for me to get to learn more about what he was doing down there. I also met a penguin (he is a little blue.)

And we ventured back to Sydney for a day to fly back. Since we had a whole day to kill, we hit the one place we didn’t get to the week prior, Manly Beach and the North Head Trail. We hiked more than 10 miles that day, but boy were the the views worth it.

We also met a little dragon along the way. (He posed for this.)

Lastly, I found this awesome opal to wear as a lasting memory of our time out there.

So I guess I can come out of the darkness now.

Geez it is hot here. Maybe I’ll stay in the dark where it is cooler and draw!

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And Sometimes, Your Ink Runs…

October 2, 2017 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 7 Comments

Today has been a day of intense sadness. If I wore mascara, it probably would be all over my face…but instead, my ink ran. Picked up the first pen my hand laid on (Zig Cocoiro with Extra Fine Black insert,) and tangled myself calm in my Iona Cub. Then I spritzed it with SpectraFix, and that happened. Not sure why, so I guess I need to look that up.

But…all is not lost. The page actually looks pretty cool (although I have now removed that pen from my travel bag) and I will continue to use that book for my #InktoberTangles this month. I figured I have just enough pages in it to finish the month and keep scattering in some Diva Challenges whilst I travel (more about that later.)

So for Day 2 of #InktoberTangles, I decided to combine the Diva Challenge (#335) – a Use My Tangle (UMT) called Tint from Henrike Bratz, CZT with the tangle Dicso because I thought they looked cool together. They are both stepped out to be either stand alone or border types, so they naturally fit together. So here is my page…bleeding ink and all!

And for Day 1 of #InktoberTangles, it was Bunzo…one of my FAVORITE tangles, and a true pen killer!

If you would like to participate in #InktoberTangles, here is the prompt. Be sure to use the hashtag, and I would love to shout out to Stephanie Jenner, CZT, for putting this together. I think the list rocks!

I did get last week’s challenge (#334) done, I just didn’t get a blog up for it. I have been playing with my glass dip pen I purchased last year in Venice, so I thought it would be fun to do the Crazy ‘Nzepple with it.

That one was done with the sepia ink the pen came with. I had been playing around a lot with it that week, both with the sepia and with Calligraphy ink in black. That pen really loves the soft paper, as it has a really smooth, fine tip. no pressure was required, and I really have to slow down a lot to get those lovely lines.

And another shot, without the pretty bottles and pen. The sepia on the left is Sharlarella from Sharla Hicks, CZT and the one on the right is Pixioze from Margaret Bremner, CZT.

I’ve put up a VERY limited class schedule for October. Not that I don’t have anything to teach, but I am headed out on vacation tomorrow night and will not be back until around the 20th. I will fill any store orders when I return, unless it was something you needed sooner, in which case I am happy to cancel it.

But when I get back…lets do some Pumpkins on the 29th.

And be sure to reserve your spot to play with Risa Gettler on October 28th as she presents Day at the Bleach. This fun class will take you on an exploration of bleach on black paper, with beautiful pastel accents…and can be done with or without calligraphy skills.

I will also be making an appearance in Santa Barbara on November 11th, where I will be teaching a Zentangle 101 class in the morning and Fall Tangles in the afternoon. Sign up as soon as you can, as I have heard this could be a sell out!

Register for any and all classes, and shop online at www.charkatscreativeinsanity.com. Or just click the Home button at the top of this page.

With all the stuff that is going on today, I want to leave you with this:

And a big hug. Next post will be from Australia!

See ya then, mate!

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Cozy Up to Tangles

September 19, 2017September 19, 2017 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 9 Comments

Part of what I really love about the practice of Zentangle is the feeling of comfort I experience whilst tangling. Nothing else matters for a while. Nothing hurts…my body or my brain…for that little while. The outside noise shuts off. My inner critic shuts down. For that time, and usually a good while after, I am everything I want and need to be.

And when this week’s guest Divas – Juliette Flessinger and Kellie Fellinge, CZTs asked us to cozy up for a change of seasons, I was READY! Even though I live in Southern California, I love FALL! It means an end to the heat, even though we don’t get the foliage of someplace like New England, it is definitely a change. They gave us a few tangles and I picked Tripoli and a tile I had spray dyed with coffee and a silicone coaster. Tangled in Sepia and Brown Micron, and shaded with Van Dyke Brown Chalk Pastel, I outlined the coffee areas and added the flowers back in. I was really pleased. So here is Diva Challenge #333:

That was relaxing (doing the outlining) and challenging at the same time. I have to concentrate a lot to get the Tripoli to line up.

I was in a 2 day meeting last week, and I tangled quite a bit during it. Keeps me calm and stops me from being disruptive (I like to talk too much sometimes.) So here are a couple tiles I did there.

The Blue Flowers are on one of the tiles in did in my Paper Play class!

And I have been working through some more prompts from an online journaling thing I was following over the summer. I started really late, and I am WAY behind, but have been really enjoying these little dips into techniques and tangles I do not normally use. Here is what I am caught up to now:

I’ve also used this opportunity to use my tangle, Abukas, in as many ways as possible!

We have a fun class coming up on the 30th with Risa Gettler on doing this cool pop up card. Get a head start on your holidays with this multi-purpose card. While the main focus is to use your calligraphy skills, you can use a computer font instead if your skills aren’t where you want them yet.

I will be out of the country for a bit in October, so if you need store items, I should be shipping right up to around the 3rd. I’ll be back on the 20th!

There are still a few of the expanded Summer Time Blues Kits, and be sure to check out the video I posted on blue shading on the tan paper!

Tangle Away – and be cozy.

Throwing Some Blue Shade

September 5, 2017September 5, 2017 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 5 Comments

Hey Everyone!

No Diva Challenge this week (she is busy with getting the kids back in school,) but I had something I just did not want you to miss!

I have been promising you a video for some time now with my Blue Glow Shading method, so here it is!

All the items used in the video are available in a kit, in a couple variations, at my online shop http://www.charkatscreativeinsanity.com!

So you can peruse the items a little closer, here are the pieces featured in this video.

I hope you like it!

I have a few pieces to share too! I was working on my Tangle Journal (where I create my step outs and use them in a drawing, and did this one for Jetties:

And I particularly love the tangle Btl-joos (by Sandy Steen Bartholomew, CZT) and when it came up as the tangle of the week in Square One on FaceBook, I could not resist!

I think that is enough to entertain you this week.

Happy Tangling!

Traveling Around and Kicking Rocks

August 29, 2017August 29, 2017 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 11 Comments

This year’s vacation is getting close! We are heading out in early October, and I have not been getting the excitement I’ve had in years past. I think part of that is the unknown quality of where I am going (Australia and New Zealand) and that I did the initial planning months ago and really haven’t done much since.

This week’s Diva Challenge (#331) by guest blogger Jane Reiter made me start really thinking of it, in terms of the unique geological make up of all the places you can travel to. She has us tangle patterns similar to the Petoskey Stone in Michigan. Now, I love me some pretty rocks, and these are particularly cool, in their patterns. While they are mostly hexagonal, I took a more free-form approach. I found one of my tiles I had painted in a class, with Twinkling H2O watercolors and alcohol. It was one of those tiles that I wondered if I would ever use, because of the pattern on it. But for this, it seemed to work perfectly (and again, as usual, I forgot to take a picture of it BEFORE I started tangling on it.)

This one is on hot press watercolor paper. I decided to have a go with the Pentel Hybrid Technica 04, a gel roller pen with some nice pigmented ink. We all know that Microns and other fiber tipped pens are notorious for clogging up whilst tangling over watercolors and other paints, and I have found this to be a great substitute. They come in several nib sizes (03, 04, 05, 06) and the ink is nice and black.

And of course, I have started my “art supply” packing for the trip. Now, I am pretty famous for OVER packing art supplies when we go on vacation. I usually take WAY too much and end up doing nothing. Last year, I even made a scrap book to work on “on the go” so that it would be finished when we got home. (And to confess, I did the first 3 days, and didn’t touch it again. It is still sitting at the shop, wanting attention. It is a beautiful book. It is on my list of project UFOs.)

So this year, I took a harder look. I travel, for whatever amount of time we go, with a small backpack (PacSafe) and a small suitcase (ebags) that fits in even foreign carrier’s overhead bins. I always plan on doing laundry if we are going to be gone longer than a week (and honestly, a charming part of the trip last year was doing laundry in Venice at a laundry mat with American washers.)

And that brings me to the scaled down version of what goes in the backpack. I have an iPad Pro. It is huge, but it keeps me connected (especially to you guys!) while I am out, but has a pretty large footprint. It took me a while to find a backpack that it fit in, without being a huge backpack. Here is the backpack, with all the things that go inside (minus the giant iPad.)

On the left: I’ve recently started keeping a Bullet Journal instead of a planner, and that is the center of my focus for what I need to successfully plan and record events while we travel.

And of course, I need to tangle. (Note that I said need. Not want, not should. It helps me sleep and keeps my head on straight.) The purple pen is an Uni Jetstream 4 color with a pencil. Easy access for just jotting notes and not having to dig into…

On the right: my Kipling Nolan Pencil Case. It has plenty of room for all the pens and tangle supplies I also need, as well as a couple zipper pouches inside to hold tiles and smaller things.

I can get a LOT in there and it doesn’t take up much room.

Starting at the top: Mini Travel Stickie Notes from Daiso (the Japanese $1.50 store but you can order online in bulk,) a couple blending stumps, eraser, and extra 2mm leads for my 2B holder (Daiso!) Stuff to tangle on and a couple of my most loved flat templates and a ruler that can also be used as compasses. 2B lead holder (Daiso), White UM153 Gel Pen, Pentel Hybrid Technica 05, Tombow Mono Drawing Pens in 01, 03, and 05, Ooly 6 color Gel Pen (found this one at The Container Store,) Pentel Multi 8-color Color pencil, Factis eraser, and a spray bottle with SpectraFix Fixative. I also have a small card case with ATC blanks, pre-stamped with my information on the back to leave as abandoned art (not shown.)

After I evaluated what was in there, and what I had to tangle on in the bag, I added a few more white and tan tiles, and these (how on earth could I forget a Stardust Glitter Pen and Gold Gelly Roll, much less a white and indigo Chalk Pastel Pencil!?!?) And that also meant I needed to add a sharpener, so I found the smallest one I could (without going shopping.)

So after repacking, this is what the front and back flap look like:

It is a little fuller, but I think more complete.

I also have need of something different to work on, so I packed a wool appliqué project that I am in the middle of. It is compact, and fits in my cute skellie zipper pouch.

The needlework kit is an Altoids tin that I did many years ago, with preemie scissors (airline safe.) Those were ginger Altoids. Handy to have if I need to do any repairs on the road, but I also have a small travel sewing kit for that.

Speaking of scissors, some of the wool things still need to be cut out, and I need sharp scissors, but I don’t want TSA to take them. I purchased these Gingher’s after 9/11, and have been successfully traveling with them since. Rounded ends and short blades keep TSA happy, and sharp enough to shave with keeps me happy.

So I have plenty to do, and plenty of room for everything! And, it isn’t all that heavy until I put the monster iPad in it.

So, I hope this little look into my packing schema helps you on your next trip. Pack light and have fun!

While I was puttering around the shop/studio this week, I took some time to play!

I spent some time making a new swatch for the Iridescent FineTec Palette. All three of the specialty FineTech palettes (6 color Pearlescent Gold, 12 color Pearlescent, and this one) are back in stock at the shop now. This looks SO cool on black paper!

And I was playing around with the idea of simplicity this week, too. It is amazing at how gratifying it can be. I wish I had taken more time to shade it with graphite instead of Fabrico Marker.

What week would be complete without a little sacred geometry and Spirograph?

And now, more than ever, it is important to stop and spend quality time with the ones you love! And when the Giants WIN, that quality time is even better!

Even my plant is happy this week (the continuing saga of the African Violet that took 5 years to bloom.)

Peace, love, and prayers for receding water in Texas.

The Best Laid Plans

August 18, 2017 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 3 Comments

ok…it is Friday. I meant for this post to be up on Monday. But, the best laid plans often do fail.

And I did plan. I packed everything I needed for the trip, including the art supplies, and even a few extra projects to work on on the plane (I can’t always tangle while flying…bumpy air and all.) I uploaded all the pics I needed into WordPress Media. I had everything in place in order for the plan to be successful, but still I did not succeed.

Be it a matter of motivation, or I was having too good a time in Florida visiting with friends and communing with the local wildlife, I simply did not accomplish what I put down to do in my Bullet Journal.

When you get derailed like this, what do you do? I made a plan to hit the ground running this morning, and get through the critical tasks. I marked them with asterisks in my list, so I knew what had to happen, and the rest can get done later.

So far, I seem to be on track. I finished and photographed this weeks Diva Challenge (#329) – Fragment D1 presented by Marguerite Samama, CZT. I am really starting to love fragments, but I often cannot get them to do what I want them to in my head. I paired this one with my tangle, Abukas, and it came out looking rather like a faceted stone.

The tile had been shaving foam marbled, so I stuck with the colors trying to make it a little cohesive.

Speaking of marbling…that will be the special in September (among other techniques.) On September 9th, join me from 10-3 for PaperPlay – Creative Backgrounds for Tangling. We will work through several techniques for creating one of a kind backgrounds on tiles and other paper and learn a few new tangles, too! I will have the schedule up by Sunday and a newsletter out with all the fun things early next week. Be sure to subscribe so you do not miss out!

And in the realm of fun things, there are still a few seats left in Cris Letourneau’s class, Renaissance Express, on September 11th (from 3-7pm.) You are welcome to join us for the monthly gathering of San Diego/Temecula Zentangle Friends from 10:30-1:30 prior to the class, where Cris will be giving a demo of what you are going to learn in the class, and I will teach a cute origami frame for Bijou tiles. But to be in the actual class, you must reserve a seat!

I have had a lot of people comment on the shading I did on this blue piece from my Summer Time Blues class:

I will be making a video this week on how I do this blue-glow shading, so be on the lookout!

(and that shape was made with this cool new tool from Spirograph I found called a Cyclex. It has been a lot easier to use than a regular cog and wheel Spirograph, so I plan on experimenting with it some more.) See it here.

I have also been playing with Holly Atwater’s new tangle, haKrall.

And I also found out you really need to pay attention when you are trying to space them out…but I still liked the way this turned out. Focus, Charlotte, focus!

And I was also honored last week when Chris Titus featured Abukas as the tangle of the week for the Square One FaceBook group. I saw a lot of amazing things done with my bitty tangle, and was quite excited to see some of my favorite artists give it a whirl! This, of course, is mine:

And as if that were not enough, on Monday, while I was in Florida, I found out that one of the pieces I put in to consideration at the Ashton Gallery/Art on 30th was selected for the show! This is my first time, and I was really pleased that it is a piece of Zentangle Inspired Art being accepted in the art world. The reception is this Saturday, so if you are in the area, drop by!

If you are in Southern California, plan a trip to Temecula on October 7th for the Old Town Temecula Outdoor Quilt Show. This is an annual event from Valley of the Mist Quilt Guild and is a sight to behold, as the entirety of Old Town is literally blanketed in beautiful, hand made quilts. This is the 2nd year in a row that I will miss it, but even if you are not in the area, you can bid on the quilts being auctioned online (see the details below.)

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Aloha…Abukas!

August 8, 2017August 8, 2017 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 22 Comments

I know…cryptic, eh?

This week’s Diva Challenge (#328) is a Use My Tangle (UMT) by Suzanne Fluhr (CZT and Guest Diva Blogger) for her tangle, Aloha. Suzanne writes a travel blog I really enjoy reading called Boomeresque. Mike and I had the honor of meeting her, and the infamous Mr. Excitement, when they were in San Diego for a cruise earlier this year. We had dinner and did some walking…topping it off with ice cream. What could be more fun?

I dig this tangle. I have done it several times now…

It is fun and bold and graphic. It makes a great border, string, or if you make it big enough, you can even tangle inside it.

So I wanted to do it a little bigger, and on one of my alcohol ink mono prints that reminded me of Hawaii. It is, after all, called Aloha!

So…you may notice the other tangle I used here. Yes, it is new. AND…it is my VERY FIRST tangle. I call it Abukas, and it is influenced by Lynn Mead’s tangle Abeko and the original Zentangle® tangle Arukas. I rather stumbled on to it while I was working on some smaller Bijou tiles for a project I am working on.

I thought to myself….self….you should do a step out for this and see how it comes out. So, here it is for all you to try, too! I like how art deco it looks, and I think it has a lot of potential.

I have had some grand fun playing around with it, and I know a few others have tried it as well.

Speaking of those little Bijou tiles…here are some more of them.

I love doing these little things. It really helps me stretch my creative juices without a lot of sit down time. While I love to tackle larger projects, I think it makes it more fun to break it up into chunks, like we can do with an Opus tile.

I tend to lose my motivation when faced with finishing one of the really big things, like this mandala. It actually sat on my easel for just over a year! Finally took some Inktense Pencils to it, blacked in a bunch for consistency, and attacked it with a gold pen. Yes, that is a pen.

Imagine the relief when that was finished. (It is 20 inches across!)

I am prepping some wool appliqué to keep me busy during a couple of flights next week, so I had best get back to it.

Have a Wonderful Week! Aloha!

A Fragment of My Life

August 2, 2017August 2, 2017 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 10 Comments

While I was working on this week’s Diva Challenge (#327) that song kept going thru my head. I get horrible earworms while I am working, and this Elton John song (Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me) would just not stop. So…I went with it. In my take of the Lisbon Fragment by guest blogger Henrike Bratz, CZT, I used my new chop as a string, although you cannot even make it out in the finished bit. Blacking out some of the background (I can’t light no more of your darkness) and tangling on top with a white pen (All my pictures seem to fade to black and white.)

I was a bit shocked that it looked nothing like the fragment I had in my head.

I did a bit of fun origami, folding some pretty little holders for Bijou tiles.

I’m not sure why, but I am feeling a bit of an Asian themed September class. I am working on some suminagashi marbling, and I think it may be ready for play time, along with some origami type folding and Asian inspired tangles.

There are still a few seats left for Cris Letourneau’s Renaissance Express class on September 11th (3-7 pm.) It is selling out fast, so if you want in on the fun, make sure to get your reservation in now. Also, if you are coming, let me know if you want copies of her books, as she will need to bring those along (Made in the Shade and Pattern Play.)

The 3rd Friday Open Studio time will be going on hiatus in August, September, and October. While I try to not be out of town for regularly scheduled events, this was just a confluence of events I didn’t notice until it was too late. Trust me when I say I would rather be here than in Florida in August…lol.

But, I still have seats in both Summer Time Blues classes, so join me!

I got a new scan of that done today, and boy is it bright!

Continued progress on the bleach mandala…but I am feeling stuck. I know it needs something more, but I just can’t put my finger on it.

I am thinking something that will disguise the pencil lines that erased but left a line behind in the paper. Next time I will use a soft chalk pencil…I think that will not leave that telltale line behind.

And lastly…my brown thumb is officially over, as my wayward African Violet is now in full bloom!

I think it was just mocking me.

Off to do some quilting before dinner – make stuff…you will feel better!

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Where Do I Fit In?

July 25, 2017 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 11 Comments

This is a question that has plagued me my entire life. In my family, I was rather an outsider. At school (and I went to 9 schools over the course of my K-12 days) I was not popular or athletic or anything really. In the military, first in the Navy I was a woman in a predominately male occupation (avionics,) then again with the Army in advanced tech/electronics. Later in my Army career, I was older than everyone I worked with, usually by about 20 years. Even know, I feel like I do not really fit in with a lot of the people around me, but they kinda tolerate me because I can be fun sometimes.

So this week’s Diva Challenge (#326) with guest blogger Elisa Murphy, CZT, prompted us to use the ultimate “fit in” tangle – N’zepple. Now, unlike last week with Peanuckle, this is one tangle I use a lot. And since I was playing around with some black paper and bleach for another project, I challenged myself to use this as my medium.

Different papers react to bleach differently. They have different underlying colors. It was very interesting, and I started to see what colors I could coax out of them.

The N’zepple tile is a 6″x6″ cut of some scrapbook paper. The other 2 are a black Apprentice tile and a regular black Zentangle tile. Here is the finished black tile. I did a little shading with some General’s Chalk Pastel in the closest color I could find, but the light spots were just the concentration of the bleach in those spots.

I may have gotten a little carried away, as I continued this into my Mandala study on Monday night.

And I thought…hmmm…what about other colors of paper? I still have some more work to do on this one, I am going to add some color with colored pencils.

And I wasn’t the only one that had fun trying this, eh Karen?

And that is all the fun I can stand for today.

Don’t forget to check out the store and upcoming classes.

AND…if you were on the list, the first newsletter went out today. If you aren’t on the list, hop on over via the Home button up there and sign up!

I feel like I fit in a little, even if it is on the fringe!

Facing Your Fears

July 20, 2017July 20, 2017 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 6 Comments

Ok…so the original title of this post in my head from last weekend was “Big Scary Sewing Machine” (more about that in another post)…but then the Diva Challenge (#325) came out. Add tho this a trip where I ended up having to face a fear of heights whilst driving, and out came this topic.

First up…fear of heights. I have been working over the past several years to desensitize myself to a fear of heights that mostly manifests during freeway driving. You know…those huge stacked freeway interchanges we have in the United States? Well, I drive a fairly large SUV (Toyota FJ Cruiser) and since I am 5’4″, I cannot exactly see over the hood, and it sits up pretty high. So, I have some little anxiety/panic attacks about those interchanges, and will usually add a few minutes onto my routes to avoid them. Thank goodness for Google Maps, as I can see in the satellite views which ones I need to detour.

But, there are places where that just is not possible. Like traveling across bridges. Like the Golden Gate Bridge. One of the most beautiful places I know. And one of my happy places. I have not driven in the Bay Area in about 30 years. Mike does all the driving when we are up there, But today, I had to get myself to the airport and return the rental car so he could drive the Uhaul down. And you know what happened? Nothing. Not even a twinge of panic.

I was so emboldened by this that I took the Express Lanes all the way home from LAX and crossed over the new “big scary” at the State Route 91 – Interstate 15 connector. (The caveat here is that I was driving his car, a lot lower to the ground.) But I did it. No sweaty palms, nothing.

So, you ask, CharKat, what has this to do with the Diva Challenge this week? Jessica Davies, CZT is filling in for Laura again this week, and proposed the tangle Peanuckle. At TangleU 2016, this tangle was presented by Molly Hollibaugh herself, to a collective groan from the audience. It strikes unease in the hearts of many, even CZTs, as it is a particularly high focus tangle.

I can execute this tangle with a degree of technical proficiency, but I have yet to make friends with it enough to make it my own. It is not one I ever do on purpose, and I have yet to teach it. But, I thought I would give it another shot here. I took a 6″ Stonehenge piece with me that I had been playing with Tombow markers and water on, so I used that.

I am not unhappy with the results, but I think it just fades into the background a bit. I may try it again more front and center, or just continue to hold it at arms length. Maybe I need to desensitize myself to that, too.

The August Schedule is posted! This month’s special – Summer Time Blues – An Opus Undertaking – will, in fact, take place on Saturday the 19th. We will play with shapes as reticula for tangles as strings, with a whole lot of blue pens. FUN! (Seating is limited to 12 for this class…do not miss out!)

I am also going to be adding a FREE Bullet Journaling Support Group, but in August it may take place during Open Studio time on the 13th.

And check out Open Studio – EVERY SUNDAY – in August. It is cool inside, and you can bring anything you want to work on. I have been working on a quilt.

Oh, and not to be remiss in announcing…we have a Guest CZT at the shop in September. On Monday, September 11, Cris Letourneau will be teaching her class Renaissance Express at CharKat’s! I am very excited for this, and the techniques she will be teaching are amazing and fun. Cris has authored 2 books on Zentangle techniques that I refer to often – Made in the Shade and Pattern Play: A Zentangle Creativity Booster (with Sonya Yencer.) This is a limited seating class, so make sure you reserve your space early. (Did I mention that you even get that awesome mat in your class kit?)

I have a few things to finish tonight, being out of town for a few days really puts you in a tight spot playing catch up. Sometimes it is a puzzle seeing where to fit things in!

Make Stuff…You Will Feel Better!