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!

Life is a Trip(oli)

September 12, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 9 Comments

I feel like I have been busier than a one-armed paper hanger these days. Between trying to keep up with shop stuff, the upcoming retreat in SD, Sunday Funday market at Vail Ranch Headquarters, vacation packing/planning, and the usual housework, I am spinning in all directions at once. (Oh, who am I kidding…housework…ha…like I do that. I finally remembered to put clothes in the washer today, and promptly forgot about them.)

Before I get to cool pictures of all the aforementioned activities, I’ll trip right into this week’s Diva Challenge (#284) – a monotangle of Tripoli. I have a stack of tiles that I colored/dyed that I have wanted to start working through, so I pulled out one that I did with some pretty greens. I think I used one of the dye inks on this one, because when I started working with the white pen, it picked up quite a bit of the green.

It kind of reminds me of the felt flocked wallpaper we had in our house when I was in 5th grade. I dig it…lol.

I also finished the origami piece I was working on last week. We had a really fun class on Saturday, and I finished it up on Sunday at in the sweltering heat at the market. (High on Sunday was 88 F, today was 76 F. It is just not fair!)

We have a pretty nice set up with our booth there, it just gets pretty sunny…

I played a little bit with the circle drawing I did on my Brother Scan N Cut 2 last week.

I decided to finally “test drive” the Chameleon Markers I got for my birthday and color it. I was originally going to test the gradient features you can use with these pens…

But, I found them to be really cumbersome to use. It was pretty impossible to get a consistent gradient, so I settled for just coloring without the blender. I do find the caps hard to remove (nothing to hold on to really…) and once you get the cap off, I can see how easy these would be to lose as there is no place to stick them on the pen. All in all, I can’t say that I am impressed for the price, and will more than likely not use them all that much, if at all. (the struggle with the caps is a HUGE deterrent for me.) But, they did make a pretty final product.

And…back to work…I think I am going to try to sort this laundry out…and I have to figure out Mail Chimp…and finish my travel journal for the trip…and set up for classes this week and next…and…and….ARGH!

Stay Crazy My Friends!

Check…Mate!

September 7, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 6 Comments

This week is full of final detail planning for our upcoming European adventure, but you know I always take time out for my Diva Challenge (#283)! This week was a Use My Tangle (UMT) by CZT Aleesha Sativa, who currently resides in Thailand. Her tangle, Center Square, is a play on Knightsbridge, with lots of coloring! I tried to make it a bit less angular with a wonky grid, and some Printemps. I used of of my pre-dyed tiles, and spiced it up a little with some Shimmer Mist. I wish the sparkles showed up better in the pictures…but…I think you get the picture.

Had a fun Tangle Journals session with my regular crowd, and one of the tangles we worked out was Arukas. My student, Angela, did some “what if” exploring with different types of lines. I thought it was pretty neat to see different progressions!

I also got a bit of sewing done this week. Up-cycled one of Mike’s old shirts into an apron, and learned a practice lesson on making double-fold bias binding. I was thinking this might make a great class for some basic sewing skills!

And not to be left out, I have been noodling around with my new Brother Scan’nCut 2…seems like a lot of potential for some stuff to tangle on! It cuts, it scans, it draws…possibilities are endless!

And now I have to get back to the vacation planning…more like planning how much beer I can drink at Octoberfest…lol. I am open for any suggestions on places to see or things to do around Munich and Venice. I have some things in mind (And I lived outside of Munich as a child) but I am always open for new ideas!

Stay Crazy My Friends!

Blueberry Rorschach

August 31, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 6 Comments

Sounds like a new recipe, eh? They are very tasty, but also such a pretty color on paper! Read the blueberry ink blots…what do you see?

It was almost too pretty to tangle on. The tile has actually been sitting in my “to be used” pile for quite some time, so when this weeks Diva Challenge (#282) asked me to spill something, I used this one. Started out with an idea, saw a lot of orbs in it, so I tried a new tangle (Starcrossed,) and an old one (Nipa.) Kept it rather simple to keep the blueberries in place.

I’m trying really hard to finish some things lately. A lot of my larger pieces suffer after I start them for a class, and some take a lot longer to get into the completed pile. I pulled this one out last night and finished it while I was watching baseball. It is on some really smooth paper that didn’t shade well, so I used my Cool Gray Fabrico Marker for shading.

I feel pretty good about this one, as it was finished in the same month it was started in!

I’ve been working up some new patterns and ideas for upcoming classes…this week I was focusing on December and ornaments.

Look for this on the schedule! While it looks complicated, this modular origami is one of the easier ones I’ve found, but I made it a little harder by using a heavier weight paper. Silver and black are pretty!

We also have several fun things in the works for September and October. First up in September. Join us for Art & Aromatherapy (Monday September 19, 5:30pm-7:30pm.)

We will share the many healing aspects of essential oils and aromatherapy and explore calming creative art projects including Zentangle, watercolor designs and mandalas.

Bring your moms, bring your daughters, bring your sisters, bring your girlfriends! Self-nurture through creativity! All ages are welcome! Join the fun. We are offering this class for free but will graciously accept love donations for materials ($10-/person suggested).

On Tuesday, September 20th, join me for Mandala Drafting. I will show you how to use tools and templates to draft the shells of your mandalas to make some spectacular work.

And not to be left out, in October, we will welcome Risa Gettler to the studio to teach calligraphy.

RISA GETTLER, author, artist, calligrapher and instructor, combines her education and career in graphic design with her lifelong study of Letter Arts. Risa’s art can be seen in The Smithsonian Institute, The Washington National Cathedral, national and international art publications, CD jackets, wine labels, and juried exhibits from Washington State to the Washington, DC. The pursuit of honing her craft has lead Risa to advanced and special focus calligraphy studies at the Accademia Delle Arti Calligrafiche, Cittadella, Italy, St. John’s University via a Scholossberg Scholarship, the Marquis de Sentmenat School of Design, Barcelona, Spain, Princeton University, The Getty and Huntington Library, and the UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Risa has been a featured guest on radio and television programs. Teaching began from 1993 to present for the University of Riverside X, Riverside Art Museum, Oceanside Art Museum, calligraphy guilds and international lettering conferences. Her work is featured in the centennial edition of Speedball Textbook. Notable clients include His Holiness Pope Paul, II.

We are currently working on 2 courses. Monday nights, starting October 17th, we have a 4 week study of the Gothic hand. The price will be $80 for the series, plus supplies.

And then on Thursdays, starting October 13th, a six week series of Formal Italic. This series is $120, plus supplies.

I should have a more thorough description of both courses up soon, and all supplies will be available for purchase at the shop, so you don’t have to go run down things you need!

Olivia and I have been having fun out at Vail Headquarters for their Sunday Funday. Art, live music, food, and fun. It is a new event here in Temecula, and takes place every Sunday afternoon from 12-5. The next time we will be there is on September 11th. Be sure to come check it out!

Ok…I think that is really quite enough for this week!

Stay Crazy My Friends!

Double-ING Up

August 22, 2016August 23, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 8 Comments

So…you may have noticed (or not) that I was absent from posting last week. I was spending time with my adorable grandson and his parents. We had all kinds of adventures; the beach, Balboa Park, the pool, and, of course, the Hotel Del Coronado for a fabulous sunset.

And I did actually get last weeks (#280) Diva Challenge completed, I just didn’t get it posted. And now, the Olympics are over. I was pretty underwhelmed by them this year, and watched none of the coverage. I am usually all over that…not sure what my issue was. I used a Renaissance Tan Zendala because I thought, well, Rio and tans and Arukas looked like Carnival to me.

And we also had a fun class exploring the Tints on Tan technique by Marty Deckel. And who knew wearing 2 pairs of glasses was better than one!

But…I did this weeks (#281) study of ING to complete the page in my step out Tangle Journal…so I almost feel like I was cheating, because it was nearly complete already. Not sure if you can tell, but there are actually 2 rows of ING there, with the pearls separating them. I like it. ING was the “new” tangle for my CZT Seminar (#14) and I love it’s angular-ness. Very architectural!

I have finished a few other pieces this week…tried Lynn Mead’s Abeko in my purse journal, along with a Zedbra frame I had already started.

I am happy to say that I have both the September AND October Schedules up on the site now, so be sure to check out the upcoming classes. I will be on vacation for a little while during that time, but will be working around it!

AND…drum roll…Risa Gettler will be teaching BOTH Italic AND Gothic Calligraphy starting in October at the shop! I’ll be adding those dates to the schedule in the next few days. EXCITING!

Did you know you can order online from me? Check out my Square store linked here…I am in the process of adding more pictures and spiffing up the online shop…everything your tangly heart needs!

And I know you want this, so I will leave you with this beautiful macaroon from E.A.T. Marketplace. I swear they are my one weakness….salted caramel…sparkly gold…

Stay Crazy My Friends!

Merely…Auraknot?

August 11, 2016August 11, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 8 Comments

Ok…I am spent. But its been a great week so far. It did involve a trip to San Diego, with a Poke-Walk through Balboa Park…

And for a little history lesson…those beautiful buildings were put up for the 1915-1916 World’s Fair. I know by European standards, they are practically new, but for California standards, they are quite amazing! They are in use and beautifully maintained, and the park is really beautiful.

And finished off the day with some oysters at Beerfish (that place is amazing, too!)

But, I digress from what brings you here! This week’s Diva Challenge (#279) was a Duotangle featuring Meer and Auraknot. It did take me a couple of days to get my head wrapped around this, because I could only see it the same way I think everyone else saw it…but you know me, I had to be different. So I grabbed a dyed tile, and my compass (gasp!) and put in the basic flowers shape. I thought I would monochrome it, but it was looking really bland, so I went back in with the black Micron and finished it. Shaded with a chalk pastel.

Not quite as exciting as I had hoped for, but hey, sometimes things don’t work out like you want them to.

I also finished this gem this week…watercolor and Twinkling H2O background using the plastic wrap technique…I was playing with shading using Prismacolor Premier pencils, and not entirely sure I would do that again…but I do like how it turned out.

That’s all for now, I need to jump in the shower and go shopping…groceries need to be acquired!

Stay Crazy My Friends…and Catch them all!

(Actual step counts from last week are unavailable, but the FitBit is back and another 2 pounds is gone.)

The Night of the Dead FitBit

August 2, 2016August 2, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 11 Comments

So…not sure if anyone remembers an old US television program from the 1960’s called The Wild Wild West. They did a movie one off of it a few years back with Will Smith, but the original series featured Robert Conrad. He was rather like William Shatner in Star Trek, he always got to make out with the girls, shirtless scenes, and really questionable acting skills. So, what made me think of this was that all of the episodes of The Wild Wild West all started with “The Night of…” for at least the first 2 seasons.

So on Sunday night, I woke up to a strange light in my bedroom. Mike was off being Flyboy, so I was alone…and it was a bit creepy. Then I realized that my FitBit was stuck in update mode…and thusly, died that night. I was sad, because I had become really used to having that. It was my light (literally,) and the one thing that kept me honest about my walks (and justified that playing Pokemon Go was worthwhile for exercise.)

But…it was still under warranty, and they are sending out a new one post-haste.

So the second night of this week is actually a Knight(star). This week’s Diva Challenge (#278) was to use Daniel Lamothe’s tangle Knightstar. Daniel is one of our newer, and probably youngest, CZTs. He came up with this whilst in math class, and I think its pretty keen. He did a video for it you can see here, and as you can see, I did some step outs, of a sort, for it. Cool stuff!

Lots of fun things going on at the shop this week. Saturday was a Zentangle 101 class, which was a lot of fun. We had time to explore a “what if” with Crescent Moon, and did that on some ATCs at the end of class.

Also got a few things finished (but not framed…) This one is a study of Printemps with Sepia Micron on Fawn Stonehenge. Shape was a stencil. (you may see a theme this week…lol)

Sparkle does not photograph well, but this one has an iridescent background sprayed through a stencil on black paper. Use the Moonlight 06 to draw on top of it.

And this was hibiscus tea, sprayed through a stencil. Tangled with purple LePen and Metallic Gelly, shaded with purple Chalk Pastels. On Garza Papel and I am not sure why it looks yellowish, but it is very white.

And I started this one…on a day when I was a little down in the dumps, but it made me happy when I got at least the basic outline done. Designed with Margaret Applin’s Medallion Master Series stencils. Laid out on Stonehenge White 24 x 24 inches.

So…I think that’s enough to entertain you for this week. I’m off to further lament the death of my FitBit…at least it updated for the day before it died, so have last weeks totals.

Stay Crazy My Friends…Catch Them All.

(Last weeks totals: more than 42 miles walked, and 1 more pound gone)

Walking ’round in Circles

July 26, 2016July 26, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 10 Comments

Seems to be a moving kind of theme this past few weeks. I have been a lot more active, and seems like the Diva Challenge (#277) is right there with me. This week’s theme is Running ’round in Circles. But…I am a walker. I loved to run, and missed it a lot when I had to stop because of joint and back issues…but…I still walk. And I can do circles. I found tile in my bin that looked like it had a circle on it for my string (Twinkling H2O background!)

And I decided to stick with an “orby” type theme…

It is so sparkly in person…one of these days I’ll figure out how to photo the sparkles.

I also got this one in during yesterdays private lesson. I love working on Kona paper. It has such great tooth for using the General’s Multi Pastels on. The glow is amazing! (5.5″ square)

Over the weekend, I did a new weekend crafters market at Vail Headquarters. It was super hot, so there weren’t many people out. I will be doing this once a month and then a bit more frequently right before Christmas. Here is our little set up:

And now, I’m off to practice calligraphy, since I have not done that all week.

Stay Crazy & Catch Them All My Friends!

(Last weeks tally: 75,259 Steps, 38.03 miles, 4 pounds gone!)

Moving On Down the Road

July 21, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 9 Comments

It has been a week for moving…mostly moving my feet! I have caught the Pokemon Go bug, and have been clocking more than 10,000 steps a day, which has really gotten me back on track with my exercising. I know, I know…its a silly little game, and isn’t really all that important, but any little trick I can use to get my butt off the couch and moving works. And…this week I hatched our new tangle mascot…lol.

We have become rather attached to him, so I was inspired by this weeks Diva Challenge (#276) entitled “Space Trucking – Moving Tangles” to do my interpretation of this cute little ball of Hollibaugh (which I am calling variation PG114.)

And Olivia, my step-daughter and shop minion, joined in the tangly fun too:

While I don’t normally tangle in a vehicle, I do tangle a lot on the road, at my local Starbucks or on longer trips as well. I spend a lot of time, killing time, in airports, working in a cute little 4×6 Midori MD journal. I still need to tangle/decorate the plain cover (it also has a protective plastic cover,) but here are some of my musings from a few of my trips:

I also have an affinity for coasters, especially when they have a “doodle spot,” like this one from the Garage Brewing Co.:

Oh, and by the way, don’t tangle on coasters with your Microns…its a good way to bleed them dry. I always carry a few Pentel G2’s or other Gel Pens in my purse for this.

We had an awesome Zentangle 101 class last Saturday evening, and the class was nice enough to let me capture their mosaic so I could post it. Everyone had a blast.

The words were from a meditative focus from the leader of this particular group. I think they fit in quite nicely!

The August Schedule is up…be sure to check it out!

Stay Crazy My Friends!