The Paradox of Overwhelm

March 29, 2018 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 3 Comments

So, by now I think everyone knows I am closing my studio in Temecula. (Yes, I am still teaching, at my house, and the online store is staying.) This is a daunting task. Inventory management is not easy for the most seasoned professional, and trying to guesstimate what people will buy at any given time is just not my thing.

That being said, I have a *lot* of stuff that I had either guessed too high on, or the class didn’t go, or yada yada yada…it goes on and on. I had a near breakdown yesterday as I reviewed the volume of things I still needed to catalog and update in the system, so that I can offer it to you good folks out there. I’ve slashed prices on a few things (t-shirts and Trim-a-rims) and the discount MAR15 will still get you 15% off till the end of the month. I will issue a new discount code in May, to help me clear more.

This has become pretty overwhelming for me. So naturally, I turn to tangling to try to resolve some of those feelings (I also have been meditating daily on top of that.) So I found this week’s Diva Challenge (#357) to do a monotangle of Rick’s Paradox to be quite soothing. Line work. Making lines. Line after line after line.

I decided to use my Big White Bee charcoal paper journal for this, and I traced 2 tiles, not really knowing what was going to come out of it.

I really liked the one we did during the 12 Days of Zentangle, so I decided to revisit that one, with a bit of a twist.

And then just a plain line work style in the second “tile.”

And part of getting through the overwhelm is eating nourishing food. Since Mike is on a trip, I am trying some different recipes. Zucchini and cheese Tacos? They were actually pretty good.

But, calming down again got me in the mood to try a ZenButton…I really like this way to use fragments…I am trying a black one next.

I had another calming day on Saturday, with a small Zentangle 101 class.

You can book classes directly by emailing me!

And then I got a little more overwhelmed today when I went to get some washi tape out of my box to decorate my Giants Baseball Opening Day page today…

That, my friends, is what more than 200 rolls of washi tape looks like. I may have to have a swap or something, as I have a few duplicate rolls. (In my defense, most of this was swag from the recent Planners Rock conference I went to.) The case is from Michaels, you can get it here (use a coupon and save!)

So, the game starts in 5 minutes, and that means I have to go!

(PS…I didn’t publish this before the game started. Giants beat the Dodgers 1-0!)

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It Gets Better

February 27, 2018 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 6 Comments

Really…it does. Breathe deep, eat right, exercise, and do something you love, and it gets better. Everything gets better.

February is the month when both my parents had birthdays. My dad would have been 84, and my mom would have turned 74 over the weekend. This is her first birthday since she passed in December, and I decided to honor it a little (even though we never really got along) with working in her favorite colors for this weeks Diva Challenge (#353) – Zendala Hearts.

I started with a pre-strung Zendala that was rather like a mandala. It had the right shapes for those hearts, and I have a mini set of Polychromos in Valentine colors, so I decided to do a bit of coloring. I think it turned out ok.

I was in an awesome workshop over the weekend with the San Diego Book Arts group and Cherryl Moote. I really flexed my imagination, and did some fun things. I have a few things still to finish up, but here is a little of what I did so far:

Rectangular Flexagon (which got water spilled on it, so this is in the mock up pile now.)

Square Flexagon

And because I had the middle of that one, I made a baby Square Flexagon.

A Kaleido Cycle.

A Gallery Book with my alcohol ink on mineral paper in the windows.

And since I had a tiny strip left after the Kaleido Cycle, I had to make a mini Gallery Book.

I still need to finish a few bits and pieces, and make some cases for the Gallery Books. I also got a good start on learning the fold for the Chinese Sewing kit, which I will make after I run by the studio and pick up the paper I want to use. (boy will I be glad when all my art supplies are in one place again!)

If you think these look like fun, you can get Cherryl’s book, Slight of Binding, which has just been reprinted by John Neal Bookseller. I highly recommend it.

And if you need supplies, remember, everything in the store is 10% off in February with the code FEB10 and 15% off in March with the code MAR15. The discounts are limited to stock on hand, and will not apply to anything I have to order.

And I leave you with someone that got miffed when I told him he could not jump on the window ledge, so he decided to take a rest on the quilt I was trying to work on.

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Go Big…AND Go Home!

November 14, 2017November 14, 2017 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 8 Comments

Yes…I made it home from Santa Barbara ok. I really am not enjoying driving at night much, and I did miss an exit, but made it out unscathed. But for all that, I would not have wanted to miss out on the classes I taught there. Zentangle 101 with 5 lovely ladies at WorkZones; we were really productive and I love it when they have this much fun!

We had a fun meet up yesterday with the San Diego Zentangle Friendship group, where I gave a short, hands on lesson on Reticula and Fragments. We drew out a few Fragments on small squares, and tried putting them in different configurations. Hiroko did this one with 8 squares and a couple different Fragments.

Then we explored different Reticula. Denise K. did this sample:

I started a much larger Reticula to play with Bales with my New White Gelly Roll Pens, some really cool Metallic Pencils, and a Black journal from Bee Paper…and it was BIG. Which played in nicely with this week’s Diva Challenge (#341.) That baby is about 7″ across!

I do have to report that I LOVE the new Gelly Rolls. And those Metallic Pencils from Pentalic are just a dream on darker and black paper. I’m afraid they don’t show up all that well on white paper, but they are chalkier rather than waxier and blend nicely.

You can purchase all these items at my online shop!

I’ve really been on fire prepping up for your holiday shopping pleasure, too. I have been re-vamping the online store, making it more shopper friendly, one little bit at a time. It does take a lot of time to edit and add photos, but I am tackling a little bit ever day to make this the best place to find everything you need to make your art practice fun and zen-filled!

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