Wibble Wobble

November 9, 2017 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 5 Comments

Well, I am a little behind this week. My usual goal is to have a post up by Tuesday afternoon, but here it is, Thursday.

While I have lots of excuses, none of them are all that valid.

But, while I was in my meetings today, I tangled, and I present my version of Wibble by Shawna Martin, the Use My Tangle (UMT) for the Diva Challenge (#340.)

The tile was something I found in my box of prepped backgrounds (on a white Zentangle tile. It had a lot of greens and yellows in it, so that leads me to believe it may be a Color Burst by Ken Oliver. I do so many of these sometimes I can’t remember. Whenever I have my paints out for something, I always “sop up” whatever is left with tiles and let them dry. Makes for an interesting challenge, using colors. I did a lot of rounding here, making it pretty graphic looking. Music notes? Interlocking J’s? I dunno…but I like it.

I tend to tangle my way through training sessions so I pay more attention to what is being presented. It helps my brain focus. I have a little pile of started tiles to finish, as well as some blanks and colored backgrounds. This was a partially started tile:

And this one was sprayed with hibiscus tea through a silicone coaster I found at Daiso (Japanese $1.50 store here in California.)

I feel pretty productive when I do this.

I found a cool new toy from one of my art supply wholesalers…a lap desk/easel! It folds up really nicely, and has a drawer to hold all my pens. I can neaten up bu just closing it up! I’m nearly sold out of the first order, but if enough people like them, I will order more.

Click on the Home button to go to the main web site to order them.
I also got the new White Gelly Rolls sets. I have to say I am really impressed with the ink, which I truly believe is reformulated. I am having a much better time doing fill work with them. And check out those awesome metallic pencils. They look marvelous on black paper (and tiles!)

It’s not too early to give your family a wish list for me to fill up for a great Christmas gift! I am always happy to do special orders, and put together custrom packages.

I may have a few kits left for the Fall Tangles after Saturdays’s class. I did a few more samples…check them out!

After posting this, I feel like I’ve been drawing non-stop all week. Gosh!

And thank you to all my fellow Veterans for your service to our great country. And to my civilian friends, than you for your support. Without you, it would be really hard to serve.

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.

Some Gave All (And Just a Little More)

November 11, 2015 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 6 Comments

I sit here writing this on Veteran’s Day (Remembrance Day) and it makes me think about a lot of things. Most of my readers/followers know I spent a good amount of my life in the Military (Navy 1981-85, Army 1985-1993 and 2005-2012) and around the same (Dad served from 1952-1974.) Between me, my dad, and my grandfather, we have covered every war and conflict since World War II. I cannot begin to tell you what this means to me.

Daddy in Vietnam.

Me, with the Multinational Force and Observers in Sinai, Egypt.

I learned a new technique this week at our San Diego Tangle Club…Found and Tangled. You basically repurpose book pages into new poetry and tangle on them (look for a class on this after the first of the year!) This page from Dante’s Inferno called my name, and was a fitting tribute to my brothers and sisters in arms.

And if you are in the Temecula area, I have a monthly free Zentangle class for Veterans and Active Duty Service Members. 3rd Wednesday of the month (November 18th this month). You must pre-register, and seating is limited to 10 free students (and your guests will receive a $10 discount.) (951) 972-3015 or CharKatTangles@gmail.com.

So this week’s Diva Challenge (#243) was to give “Just a Taste”…tangle a little bit. This is REALLY hard to do! Some things you just keep wanting more and more of! So, in order to limit myself a bit, I used a black tile. Cyme (Zentangle) and Heartswell (Helen Williams).

Join us on MeetUp. I have a new Monthly rotation coming up, Mandala Monday. 3rd Monday of the month, we will explore different mandala techniques.

The December schedule will be finalized later this week. Late November and December focus will be on making gifts and ornaments (using Zentangle and a variety of other methods.) Here is a bit of a teaser:

Namas’-cray my friends…stay crazy!