Welcome to 2017

January 9, 2017January 10, 2017 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 17 Comments

Ok…I know…I did not really need to take a few weeks off from blogging. Not good for business, etc. But sometimes, you have to refocus your intentions and get some things done. Get through the holidays. Spend time with loved ones. Make art.

I set some pretty lofty goals for myself this year. All measurable and attainable, though, so I know I can do it. The first one is to get my blog posts in on Monday. So, I think I did that! (1 down, 51 to go!)

What better way to start off the New Year than with a new Use My Tangle (UMT) Diva Challenge! Challenge #298 comes to us in the form of the tangle Orbs-la-Dee by Anneke van Dam. It is a nice filler tangle, and has a few cute variations. I decided to use it on a tile where I was testing the Sakura Micron against the Copic Multi-Liner SP. I wanted to see if I could tell the difference, so I divided the tile in half and tangled the same tangle on both halves.

Honestly, there isn’t a lot of difference. To the naked eye, the Copic looks slightly different when next to the Micron, but if you used just the Copic, that difference wouldn’t matter. I think the deal here is the price points more than anything else. They are both pigment inks, archival, etc. But I think my real love of the Copic is that it is more economical in the long run, not to mention more environmentally friendly. It is refillable, and has replaceable nibs. The refills last longer than a Micron, and the nibs stay juicier a lot longer. So instead of carrying extra pens when I travel, I only need refills. The con side to this is the starter price of the Copic. I sell the Microns for $2.25 US…the Copics are $11 US. But…the refills are the price of a Micron….and last at least twice as long.

And…as luck would have it for you, my readers, I can supply these lovely pens for you! (Leave me a note below.)

So you know that I have not been slacking over the holidays, I shall produce proof!

First up, I participated in the 12 Days of 3Zs Challenge from Zentangle®. Although I got my tiles late and did not finish them in time for the actual contest, I did, in fact, finish them before Christmas! They make a pretty mosaic star:

And individually:

These tiles are a lot of fun, and take a little less time when you only have a short time to tangle. And the pre-strung set take the stress out too!

At our December Friendship group meeting, we had a nice gift exchange, and I was the lucky recipient of a handmade latka book, from my friend and fellow CZT Hiroko Hashimoto. She tangled on the covers:

And I realized that I have a huge stack of these really cool journals and books, and I do not use many of them. I have yet to make one pen stroke in the journal I received at CZT training. So, I decided now was the time to start! The paper in this one is really interesting…it has a lot of texture and character. It also pills excessively when shading (hint: use a lint roller prior to spraying fixative.)

I have been trying to do a page or 2 a week. Seems like a good place to try out some new things.

I noodled around with my Scan ‘n Cut 2 some more and came up with these snowflakes:

The paper is an Astrobrights Metallic card stock, and I used Sakura Glaze pens on them. It is a fairly non-porous surface, although they say you can print on them with an ink jet printer. I have tangled on this paper with a regular Gelly Roll pen, but I find the Micron does not show up well.

Also came up with this cute little ornament from 3 Bijou tiles.

I did an end of the year recap on my FitBit…I walked over 1,300 miles! The chart was interesting. I started playing PokemonGo in July (my FitBit broke in August, so I was without it for 10 days, and I was sick a good part of December.)

This year, I am setting a goal of 1,500 miles. That is attainable, if it ever stops raining. The rain is a conundrum for me. We need it badly here in California, but it is severely cramping my walking! But…the rain also gives us beautiful rainbows.

That was the most magnificent one I have ever seen, and it was right from my home studio window.

I am not going to tell you to stay crazy anymore.

I am going to tell you to make art. It will keep the crazy away!

Merry!?…Happy?!…Whew!

December 16, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 16 Comments

Needless to say, I am feeling a little behind this holiday season. Evidence points to the fact that while I generally have finished my Christmas shopping (always before Thanksgiving!) and the decorations are up and the house looks mighty festive…the packages are not wrapped, and things have not been mailed. But, in my defense, I was a bit under the weather for about a week, and that set me behind. And, I have been a bit busy at the shop (which is a good thing.)

I started doing the Diva Challenge at #161. Now that we are at #297, that seems like such an age ago. I had already done 2 of the past Christmas Challenges…so I filled in the rest for this weeks Challenge – Holiday Bash. So here, is a recap:

Diva #1 was Simiplicity. What better way to show simple and Christmas than a white ornament tangled in the basic tangles in black. Although it did need a bit of bling with the glitter glue (and that was mostly to hide a weird glue incident when I used the wrong glue to stick the sides together.) I glued 2 pennies in the middle for weight.

Diva #52 was “Give”. I cut out a hole lot of stars based on Cris Letourneau’s Star pattern, to attach to cards and gifts this year. They are super quick to tangle up, especially when I cut and pre-scored them with my Brother Scan n Cut 2.

Diva #100 was New Tangles and A Diva Dance. While Diva Dance isn’t a new tangle anymore, it surely does make a great tree base in my card with a quilled angel and gothic calligraphy lettering. I am still working on my calligraphy skills…

Diva #148 was Merry Happy. Celebrate the season in your own way. I found a cute set of metallic pens at Daiso (Japanese discount stores where everything is $1.50) so I decided to give them a try. 8 colors, but they didn’t really look different on the black paper I tried, but they looked festive in a Squid nonetheless. Hard to tell that is a lot of different colors on the scan, in person it is pretty subtle as well.

I also realized while I was writing this, that I had not completed Diva #198 “Keep It Simple”. I guess that gives me something to do this week! (Brilliant)

We had some fun classes this past week…starting last Saturday with an Ornament Extravaganza. We did 4 different ornaments and folded the Zendala gift box for later tangling.

A festive Zentangle 101 class with bonus Crescent Moon study at the end:

And tangled on paper bags in tribal styles on Thursday:

On Monday, we had our annual San Diego/SoCal Friendship Group Christmas meeting, where Wendy Gray led us in the making of this lovely lotus fold “Squash Book” to hold Zentangle tiles. It was a lot of fun!

I am working on the January Schedule today, so that should be up by Monday. If you are in the area, be sure to come hang out tonite and art to your hearts content. Open studio from 4-9 ($5 drop in fee). Bring whatever you are working on, and have some festive cheer!

If I don’t post nest week, Merry Christmas, and Happiest of Holidays to you and yours!

Maximum Effort

December 8, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 5 Comments

I try to do the Diva Challenge every week. I have been pretty consistent since #168 when I started. I am missing one at this time, but I’ll probably cover it soon to add to my files. I’ve even thought of going back to the beginning and doing those as well.

Use My Tangles (UMTs) are usually the most challenging for me. I tend to be a little selective in the tangles I choose, and sometimes I drag my feet a little when trying something new. And sometimes…I put so little effort into it, I am just disappointed in myself for not trying harder.

This was the case in my first pass this week at Diva #296 – UMT Moowa by Anya Ipsen, CZT. It is not a tangle I would gravitate to, normally, but then again, the Diva CHALLENGES us to push our comfort zones at times, so I gave it a try…with really minimal effort.

Needless to say, I was really disappointed with myself over that. I did not beat myself up, but I know I can do better. So I pulled out my little black journal I purchased in Venice, and gave it another try, with more concentrated effort. I felt the pen on the paper. I made the fill work for me. And I felt a *LOT* better about my finished product.

So, I guess my point in all this is, if you are going to do it, put some effort behind it. Do not just cop out and go through the motions. It will be worth it in the long run.

Catch a Falling Star

November 29, 2016November 29, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 10 Comments

So yes, this week I jumped on the bandwagon after seeing Cris Letourneau’s neat 3-d star. I used if for my Reticula for this weeks Diva Challenge (#295) – Part 2 of Reticula and Fragments. I used a triangular fragment, C12, and a little extra line work, and added a little bling and found objects (tried to give it a little weight so it would hang nice.)

Green metallic Gelly Roll on black Artagain paper (and cut out with my Scan n Cut 2!)

I think I will cut a few more of these to toss in the kits for the Ornament class on the 10th. Bonus!

Last week in Hawaii was really nice, but it did rain a lot…warm rain. Stepped out of the airport in LA, and it was COLD!!! and then it rained for a few days…COLD!!!

But, I got some tangling done on the plane; one is for an art challenge group on FB (done with a ball point/gel pen), and I think the tag came from Tangle Europe. I spilled wine on it whilst I was working…gave it character! It is also quite small. Probably the first time I have worked with an 01 entirely in a long time!

Mai Tais were drunk, sunsets were watched, and lots of Pokemon were caught. I loved my little 4 day get away, and I am so grateful that I am able to do these things.

Well, Sort Of…Mahalo!

November 22, 2016November 22, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 12 Comments

So, this blog post finds me on the beautiful (but raining and cloudy) island of Oahu. Most of you know I am blessed with the perfect mate for my travel bug self, and he occasionally invites me along when he goes to work. I came out on Sunday with him, and he flew off to work on Monday. He will return on Wednesday, so we can at least spend the morning of Thanksgiving together. In the meantime, I have been occupying myself with a lot of walking, catching LOTS of Pokémon, and visiting some important historical sites.

And, as always, my Diva Challenge (#294) reflects the location in which it was drawn. This week’s challenge was to use Reticula and Fragments. I honestly have not tried much with them, and did not bring my Zentangle Primer with me, so I went off memory and the materials at hand. I just so happened to have my Zencil set for tiles with me, so I made a “sort of” reticula with circles, and used a variation of Well that made it look like plumeria. I did this on a spray dyed tile, that reminded me of the beautiful colors of my surroundings, and the flowers found here.

I did not shade it because I was quite pleased with the colors…so that is that!

I would like to wish all my fellow Americans a Thanksgiving filled with family and remembrance of things we need to be grateful for. I know things are a bit in turmoil for us at the moment, but there are still many things in our lives that are good and right, and just plain don’t suck.

Mahalo!

Take the High Road

November 10, 2016November 10, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 5 Comments

Recently, whilst in Venice, I was reminded about how change can effect the things that man makes. Venice is a man made island, and it is slowly sinking under the weight of buildings and an influx of tourists. But in its own right, it is adapting to an environment of charming decay, and they are trying to figure out a solution to the problem. Part of that solution may be to limit the influx of cruise ships that port there and release their populations for a day. That may stay part of the problem, but there are also engineers trying to figure out solutions for the infrastructure. They have “high road walkways” in St. Mark’s Square for when the tide is high and floods the square, as part of a temporary fix as well. In the long run, to keep Venice, it will take a combined effort to make things work so the city/state does not sink.

I think the same thing needs to happen with us in the good old USA now. We need to take the high road, band together, and be part of the solution. Complaining, riots, posting and sharing untruths to social media, and having a tantrum because we did not get what we wanted are part of the problem…not the solution. Let us be better than that. Let us work toward a better world. Do not let us sink.

What brought a lot of this to mind is this weeks’s Diva Challenge (#292) which was a Use My Tangle called Eaxy by Nadine Roller, CZT. It was not the tangle so much, as the medium I chose to complete it in. On my trip to Venice, I purchased several hand made journals, so I selected one of them to work in. It is a lovely red leather with hand made paper, sewn in small signatures.

I love hand made paper, but it can be a little tricky to work with. This one is a bit soft. I tried some water colors on it for a background.

And it did not really spread like I would have liked, it just sat there on the page. I had to iron it after it dried…yes, I iron paper. Not particularly pleased with the outcome, but I have a better idea now of how the paper acts.

Had some fun working up a new sample Christmas ornaments, possibly to share in a class. Cut the shapes from bristol paper with my Brother Scan n Cut 2.

Just did my basic Zentangle 101 tangles on it (may be a 1st class for a girls scout troop.) After they were finished, I glued 2 pennies inside for weight, and then glued them together and added a hanger. kind of cute.

The pen in the picture is the Pentel Arts Hybrid Technica. A roller ball pen with nice black ink, in a variety of nib sizes. I find the smaller sizes to work better than the larger ones. The 08 seems to skip a lot. They are not any cheaper than the Microns, but I am thinking they might be better for travel.

I found a new origami video for a 12 pointed star on YouTube that I had to try…it was long, and looked pretty complicated. But, I did have some important points about origami reinforced. Precision in folding is key! This one started out with a regular 8.5 x 11 sheet of copy paper, and you had to turn that into a hexagon. My hexagon using her method turned out a bit wonky…so the first one was a complete bust. I cut a hexagon using my Scan n Cut 2, and that one worked out a lot better.

My new friend Chloe came to visit the shop with her mom and dad…we had some fun chasing her fog and getting some cuddles.

And…Election Day was not a total bust for me. We went to Palm Springs to take Mike’s mom out for her 83rd birthday. Lulu California Bistro does up a completely adorable cotton candy in a huge champagne glass for special occasions!

That is all I have to report this week.

Oh, and Hug a Veteran this Friday…

Remember…the high road.

A Ghostly Squid

November 1, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 10 Comments

¡Feliz Dio de los Muertos!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Halloween. We refer to it as “Birthday Eve” for the man of the house, and due to a distinct lack of trick or treaters the past few years, we decided to make it Date Night with Dinner and a Movie. We found out that Yard House has all day Happy Hour on Mondays during football season, so we had cheap appetizers and beer, and went to see Inferno, the new Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon movie. It was pretty good…and we got to relive our recent trip to Venice, too. (We have watched the end of Casino Royale a few times since we got back as well!)

Happy memories!

I feel like I was no where near as productive this week as I was last week, so not a lot to share. This week’s Diva Challenge (#291) was a Halloween special…so I broke out my new black journal I bought in Venice and tangled a ghostly looking Squid, al la Btl Joos (by Sandy Bartholomew Steen.) I am still trying to make friends with working on black. I love the look but I just do not feel like the pen works that well for me some days.

Had a lovely make up class for the Summer Tans (Tints on Tan Technique) last week, and the practice pieces came out lovely.

I think all three of us did a spectacular job, and I can’t wait to see the finished larger pieces.

I am still working on my Christmas card, and working on “the purge” at both the shop and the house studios. I keep misplacing things…it creeps me out a little, and I know I have bitten off more than I can more than likely finish in this lifetime unless I really stop goofing off so much!

I think I am going to print this out as a reminder to do more art:

Keeping it short and sweet this week!

Stay Crazy My Friends.

Sometimes, You Just Have to Walk Away…

October 26, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 11 Comments

Right before I left on my fabulous vacation back in September, I was wearing my super cool Tangle Me Crazy Lotus Mandala t-shirt.

I stopped in at my favorite Japanese market (Myrukai) to pick up dinner and a few groceries on my way back from our very fun Tangle By the Bay retreat. One of those grocery items was my favorite radish kimchi. Well…apparently on the trip home, it got a little shook up. And being a fermented food, it was seeping a little from the pressure in the bottle…and when I opened it (over the sink, of course!) it exploded…all over my t-shirt.

Now…I had planned on taking that t-shirt with me to show off to the European CZT’s at our meet up in Cookham, UK. So I pre-treated it, and washed it…still stained…I did it again…still stained…and one more time…still stained. In utter frustration, I doused it liberally with Spray and Wash stain remover and threw it in the laundry room sink. I was very sad.

So nearly 3 weeks passed, and when we unpacked after the trip, I found myself with a mountain of laundry to do (although we did some it at the laundry mat in Venice…how cool is that?) So I see the shirt in the sink, pick it up, and low and behold, the stains are GONE!

I guess the point here is, If you do the right thing, with the passage of time, everything comes out all right. And…if you want a cool t-shirt like mine, click here…you can buy them at my shop!

Ok, enough of my travails. What you are really here for is to see pretty things!

This week’s Diva Challenge (#290) is a duo tangle of Flux and N’zepple. I love both tangles, and decided to use Flux as my container. And I was being fall-ish with the Renaissance Tan tile (or lazy, because that was what was in my bag and I did not feel like walking upstairs to get a white one…lol.)

And since I didn’t get a post done last week, here is the Leafy Goodness that is Diva Challenge #289!

I am really loving combining quilling with Zentangle. They go together so well. I will be doing a special Christmas quilling design class in December, so be on the look out for that!

We are also up to Gothic Calligraphy at the shop this month, with an ongoing series being taught by Risa Gettler. I was playing around whilst practicing my letters the other day, and playing with Hannah Geddes’ Mandala Template. And this happened.

Well…I couldn’t just leave it like that…and I had a clock I had disassembled in the shop that needed a new face. So now it turned into this:

So long Sons of Anarchy clock…lol.

I did not realize how busy I have been these past 2 weeks until I started writing my post. I started a purge and organize campaign both here at the home studio and the shop, trying to make things more accessible and easier to find. (that, is a long story all of its own!)

I made it through my entire fabric stash so far, dumped all the fabrics I had been holding onto for costuming and what-not, and organized my quilting stash. Emptied out the little used filing cabinet for the bigger pieces.

And folded all the fat quarters into an ArtBin Super Satchel. That felt really GOOD!

And not to be left out, I finally found a container to get all my Gelly Roll Pens in one place.

I will contain this mess!

AND…lastly…I have a pineapple guava tree in my backyard that I planted 3 years ago that has never fruited, until this year. I was blessed with an abundance of fruit, more than we could possibly eat before it spoiled, so I found a recipe and made chutney out of it.

And you cannot have a great chutney without some curry to go with it!

Yum! (and, it was pretty healthy homemade!)

Speaking of healthy, I am walking my fish this week…(Pokemon Go thing…it amuses me.)

And now I need to get back to work…Stay Crazy My Friends!

Dream Revelations

October 7, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 10 Comments

Ok…it’s been quite a week. You might recall I blogged last week from Germany, and this weeks Diva Challenge (#287) was completed in Venice, but I’m writing this in my hotel in Cookham, Maidenhead, England. It has been a lovely vacation…Venice was amazing! Complete with gondola ride!

So, one of the things that has to happen when you are on an extended trip, unless you pack pretty heavy, you have to do laundry. So, while I was doing laundry in the lavanderia in Venice, I broke out this pretty little red leather journal I found…

Filled with beautiful black paper! So this weeks Use My Tangle (UMT) is from Daniel Lamothe CZT, and he provided us with a tangle/reticula called Dreamcatcher. I think it is a lovely idea, and decided to keep it a little simple in my new journal. (It is just under 4″, so perfect Zentangle size!) White and Gold Gelly Roll, and White Chalk Pastel pencil.

And I need to get a nap, so I can join in the Festivities at Tangle EU with my European CZT friends! But I will leave you with this…Inside the Doge’s Palace…(it really is not curved, but the panorama did that…cool effect!)

Munchin in München!

September 29, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 10 Comments

Diva said straight lines this week, and I am in Munich, so what better tangle than Munchin!

Have not done a lot of tangling this week, but have some sketches for some new tangles based on my trips to King Ludwig II’s castles. Hope to have them to show you soon.

So far, it has been a lovely trip. We have been to Salzburg, the Eagles Nest, the salt mines of Berchesgarden, Herrenchiemsee, Munich, and of course, Oktoberfest.

We are off to the Weis’n for more beer…Prost!