Bang…Boom…BLAM!

July 4, 2016July 4, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 12 Comments

Yep, that’s right…it is Independence Day here in the United States. I also like to call it the day we find out which of our neighborhood kids are not that smart and got illegal fireworks. (Disclaimer…Southern California is VERY dry and we have a really wicked fire season here, where many of the fires are human caused…)

But…all in all, it is a good day to be American. As a veteran, I know what it took to get here, and while I worry about the future of my country, I do celebrate it with the traditional baseball (Giants won, 3-1 over the Rockies,) hot dogs (bacon wrapped and baked, with mole aloi, chopped onions, and dijon,) and tangling (in support of this week’s Diva Challenge #274 entitled My Country Tis of Thee.)

The scanner never picks up the glitter and sparkle, but I think sometimes less is more. I sprayed the background through a star stencil with my eBrush and Spectrum Noir markers, then tangled with a blue Micron, clear Stardust Gelly Roll, Silver Gelly Roll, and indigo and white chalk pastels. Seems more complicated when I type it out (kinda like those hot dogs…lol.)

Been doing some other finishing this week, and this ultra cute elephant (or elephunk as I call him) emerged.

I seem to use an awful lot of pens for something so small…lol. He is Brusho paints dabbed through a Dreamweaver stencil. I decided I liked the paint bleeds and didn’t cover them up. I think it makes him look artsy.

I also finally finished this great up-cycle project for a display frame.

I had 2 frames left from a reframing project, and used a piano hinge to join them, and installed eye screws and picture wire in copper and silver. The clips are quilting clips. I did learn the importance of drilling pilot holes for the eye screws after one of them slipped and left a nasty gash in my left palm. But other than that, I think it came out really CUTE!

I am going to be a bit busy this week, with classes and I volunteered to work the Major League Baseball All-Star FanFest in San Diego. For anyone that knows how much I love baseball, this is going to be a very memorable event for me, and I get to be involved for free! I don’t get to see the game (except on TV) but just being around so much baseball stuff is awesome!

Stay Crazy My Friends!

Making Old Things New Again

June 30, 2016June 30, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 7 Comments

Wow…another whirlwind weekend and right into a busy week! Time flies when you love what you do! I am blessed and grateful on a daily basis to be able to do what my heart tells me to do.

In my early days of Zentangle, I would start a tile and if it did not go the way I wanted it to, I would banish it to a pile of Forgotten Tiles (rather like the Island of Misfit Toys in Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer.) I just could not seem to figure out, at that time, how to make them work, and I would not toss them out because they held some value for me.

So, for this weeks Diva Challenge (#273), I dove into that pile to find one that needed some love and a bit of a “Tangle Remix.” I picked this tile, that I was not happy with the Betweed on, but I had done such a nice job on the gold I did not want to toss it.

And I used the adage “When in doubt, black it out.”

And once that was dry (I left it overnight) I went back to work on it, with the gold pen on the black areas, and a little Rick’s Paradox. I thought briefly about putting more, but I t think it really needed a little white space.

See, all better now!

I spent this past weekend up in Big Bear, California at a retreat called Dancing with Petals and Leaves: Mixed Media and Color Play put on by Sharla Hicks, CZT and artist of unbelievable talent. It was an intense weekend (Thursday – Sunday) of color theory, tangling, print making of all sorts, and outstanding food.

By the end of Thursday, we had done color theory and alcohol printing and I made this awesome piece.

We did a lot of tangling, using the “What ifs” and exploring different forms…

And we played with print making on a larger scale, using big tools!

And lots and lots of other fun things…

Oh, and did I mention food? We ate VERY well.

And I will leave you with this…my pile of things that need to be worked on or finished is so much larger now!

And be sure to join me in July for some fun stuff! Stay Crazy My Friends!

Ghosts…

February 17, 2016 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 6 Comments

Have you ever felt haunted by your past? I think our past is a part of our journey in life, and shapes us into the people we become. You can either learn from it and grow from it, or let it drag you down. This week, Diva (challenge #255) asked us to revisit a tile/tangle from our past, to see how we have grown. I have only been tangling about 3 years, but I have everything I did in my first year in a book, to show my students MY learning process. While I did have a smallish art background, I like them to see how much I have learned and what practicing has done to my art. For this quest, I went back to my very first tile, pre-class with a CZT, learning out of One Zentangle a Day.

That first one was done on card stock from my limited scrapbooking stash. I never realized how small I worked until I tried to re-do it! (I think this is a trend I’ve noticed with most of the CZT’s that have posted…all our early work was tiny, and now it is much bigger!)

So here is the “new” version. See the style I have developed into!

And to bring up another ghost, I didn’t get this finished in time for Diva #252: Using a Tangle as a String. I used a giant Cadent.

Pretty things have been made at the shop this week! We had an awesome group for a Zentangle 101 class, and I threw in a little Valentine, too. What prodigies!

And on Saturday, we made Valentine cards and frames, based on Joanne Fink’s Zendangles. Here are the ones I did:

And my Valentangle for Diva #254 that I couldn’t post because it was Mike’s present!

And a thank you card for Mike’s mom, who has been bestowing her stash of all her calligraphy and card making supplies. My faux calligraphy skills still need some work!

I am working on the schedule for March, and it should be fun! I should have it posted by the end of the week.

Found and Tangled Poetry, the Irish Poets Edition in time for St. Patrick’s Day. And some exploration of Celtic Knots and Tangles. (This is just an ATC I did with some ColorBursts…pretty backgrounds!)

Tangle Journals, from January, will make a repeat appearance. This will be an ongoing class, you can join in any time, or whatever you like. First time attendees will need to buy the Journal Kit, returning students can buy refills if they need them. Every other month we will explore a new set of tangles.

And I will add a Sunday afternoon Alcohol Ink class, working on ceramics. They make lovely decorations and gifts. I finished this one today.

Whew…I didn’t realize I had done so much work this week! (I guess it was really 2 weeks, since I didn’t post anything last week.)

Namas’ cray my friends…stay crazy and make stuff!

Falling…Behind.

October 23, 2015 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 5 Comments

So…on my day planner, it says to post a blog on Tuesday. Today is Friday! Have you ever had one of those weeks where you constantly felt like you were behind? That has been this week for me. I seem to be racing from one place to the next, and seem to have no time to sit down to tangle. And I really NEED to tangle. It keeps me sane.

This week’s Diva Challenge (#240) is all about Fall. I love Fall. I love the colors, I love that the weather is cooling off (sometimes…not in Southern California that much), and I can eat soup without sweating to death (most of the time.) When I was in Vancouver last month, some of the trees were already beginning to change.

We don’t get that here. They just kind of turn brown and fall off. Green…or Brown…that is all. So I had to make up my own Fall Colors, using the new Tints on Tan – Fall Edition I got in the mail a few weeks ago. I used a lot of creative license on this, with a different leaf, smaller tangles, and a Zendala tile. But I think it tuned out ok!

Speaking of Fall, we have a new class coming up at the shop on November 9th. Teri, who is a Wilton Certified Teacher, is going to show us how to decorate Fall cookies! Check out the details below:

It looks like fun! Call Teri on the number listed to register.

I’ve been getting some other things finished this week. Had a lovely Zentangle 101 Class this week and we tried our hand at N’zepple. When in doubt, add grout! Gold grout is even better.

I also got in some practice time with my alcohol inks. Getting some Christmas items ready for boutiques and holiday sales! Check out this pretty tile:

And this cool glass ornament:

If you are looking to stay “in the know” for all things happening at CharKat’s Creative Insanity, be sure to join our MeetUp group (Zentangle in Wine Country).

Stay Crazy My Friends!