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)

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!

Munchin Around

October 13, 2015October 14, 2015 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 12 Comments

My routine is becoming a bit more…Routine! yay!

I don’t know about any of you, but I am rather lost without my planner. Even though my “to-do” list is a bit overwhelming at times, at least I know what I am supposed to be doing (other than playing Candy Crush!)

This week, the Diva (#239) asked us to play around with the tangle Munchin. I have only done this one once or twice, so I decided to give it a go again. But, alas, I confess, I share the same aversion to black Zentangle tiles that our dear Diva does. I just cannot get them to do my bidding! (I feel rather the similar dislikes for the Renaissance Tan tiles, but mostly because I have really oily skin, and if I touch my face at all, and touch the tile, it stains it!)

But, I too, have a workaround for this, as I love the look of the white pen on black paper. I find the black Stonehenge to be much more cooperative, so I pulled a bookmark out of my cut scraps stash and tangled away.

I’ve been working up a few new items for the shop, based on my love of all things Stonehenge, including this cutie. 5.5″ x 5″, 32 pages (4 of each of the 8 colors I carry) with a chip board cover and wire binding comb. It also has tracing paper between the black pages, so the white pencil doesn’t rub off on the adjoining pages.

It is also available in Shades of Gray, Tans, and Whites, as well as all one color if you so desire. $20 – $22 each. If you would like one, drop me an email (CharKatTangles@gmail.com).

I am slowly working my way through all my Tangle Island projects, and have completed this cool piece from Barb Round’s class:

And in an effort to not leave too many class projects half finished at the shop, I finished this Gridiculous on Stonehenge Pearl Gray, with tinted charcoal pencil for the accent piece.

I guess my routine is being pretty productive!

That’s it for now. I am working on a couple new monthly specials (think…Mandala Monday! starting in November.) I’ll have more on that later this week!

Stay Crazy My Friends!

I Shall Flourish!

August 21, 2015August 21, 2015 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 7 Comments

Oh, I do love botanicals, and I love to flourish, but I don’t seem as good at it most of the time. My “style” is a bit more heavy and graphic, and I am comfortable with that.

But this week, I went out on a limb and went all flourishy with 3 different tiles for this weeks Diva guest blogger, Sharla Hicks, CZT. For Challenge #231, she tasked us with undulating S’s and C’s. These are the backbone of her beautiful botanical style, which I have always enjoyed trying, and have now adapted to my Zentangle style.

The first one, I did on black Stonehenge, with a white Gelly Roll, chalk pastels, and my trusty glitter pen.

The second pass, I tried out the Storm Blue Artagain.

And finally, I wanted to tangle with a fountain pen. This was done in J. Herblin Stormy Gray on Pearl Gray Stonehenge. Using a fountain pen was a lot of fun, and it really made me slow down a lot.

Lots happening around the shop…we have a lighted sign now!

We also had a great class on Flat Kumihimo Braids.

Keep an eye out for date announcements for Quilts of Valor meet ups at the shop to cut fabric, and maybe even do a little sewing.

Samples are being worked on for the September Patriot Tangles Class (hand colored tiles by me!) and the Spook-tacular October Class. Options for October will be to make this cool cat or a pumpkin…just a preview!

Off to finish a few things…and watch baseball! (Go Giants!) I can’t wait to go to AT&T Park next week to see them in person!

Stay Crazy My Friends!

Why…Big?

August 15, 2015 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 9 Comments

Ok…so I did it again. I tend to go a bit overboard with my visions of grandeur when the Diva Challenge comes out, and this time it came back to bite me. I finally finished this tonite during the Giant’s absolute rout of the Nationals! (if you are not a baseball fan, it’s ok…I still like you!)

Laura is still on vacation, so Erin Olsen, CZT, from thebrightowl.com was our guest blogger for Challenge #230. Erin hosts a weekly challenge on her site called the Zendala Dare, so this week, she dared us Diva-style. The template was cool, and available in 3 sizes, but of course I chose the biggest one.

I decided it really looked like a color wheel, and on Clearprint 16 lb Vellum, it came out pretty cool. I am going to mount this in a double mat so it can have light shining thru it, as it looks pretty cool that way.

And it wasn’t like I didn’t do anything else this week. I finally got to play with my Tints on Tan kit that has been sitting on my workbench for a while now, and have the following efforts to share. The first one is on Renaissance Tan Zentangle Tile (3.5″ sq)

And then I decided I needed to go a little bigger, and try some different paper. This one is on Stonehenge Kraft (6″ sq) – which is available in my etsy store (or you can email me at CharKatTangles at gmail.com to get some.)

And then a seascape…5.75″ x 4″ on Stonehenge Kraft, mounted on a double mat card.

Been working on the web site all week, fixing the schedule. I have buy it now buttons on the class dates…hopefully that makes it easy! And the course dates are listed with their descriptions, rather than on a different page.

And…back to work. No rest for the crazy!

Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces

August 4, 2015August 4, 2015 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 5 Comments

This weeks Diva Challenge (#229) is from Guest Blogger Sandy Hunter, CZT, who tasked us with using negative space as a focal point. I decided to pull out my name plate that my friend, Suzanne Wilka, CZT, made for me as part of our “swag bag” for our Day at the Bay get together back in April.

The whole time I was working on this, I was thinking of the first album (CD…whatever…I’m old…) that I ever heard from a band called Seether. It’s title is Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces. I worked a bit bigger than usual this week, so it was challenging to keep that white space in the middle clear! (although, I have to tell you, that I am probably going to color it and gild my name this week…I think it would be pretty.)

Had a great class this week on Black Tiles. Only one student, so we had some fun.

We did her Intro class before the shop opened, but here is what we did then.

Been playing a little catch up on things, so here is a tile I did for Diva #226 – Simplicity. I had dyed this tile with Distress Ink and Pearl Spray. It was such a pretty color I didn’t want to do too much to it!

Well…another week on the books at CharKat’s Creative Insanity! The etsy Shop is up and running, but its just paper for now. In case you have never tangled on Stonehenge papers, you are in for a real treat…hop on over to check it out…Just click here!

That’s it for now! Be sure to check out the class schedule, I have plenty of space!

Stay Crazy My Friends!

My Obsession with Sea Life Continues!

July 28, 2015July 28, 2015 ~ CharkatTangles ~ 5 Comments

I used to have an 80 gallon salt water fish tank. I researched and obsessed on every detail before I ever put a fish in it (those little suckers are expensive!) While it was a lot of work to monitor and maintain, I really enjoyed it.

I tend to seek out aquariums wherever I travel, and I can stare at the seahorses for hours. And then, I saw a Leafy Sea Dragon (I think the first time was in Boston.) I was hooked. While I was teaching the Girl Scouts a few weeks ago, I was demonstrating a version of Flux with a curl (thanks Marie Browning,) and one of the girls said it looked like a seahorse, so I morphed one off on a side bar into a little guy.

When this weeks Diva Challenge Guest Blogger Cari Sultanik, CZT gave us the theme “Nature” for Challenge #228, I knew I had to use my new little buddy on a ZIA!

Tangled on Stonehenge in Pearl Gray with a Tombow Fudenosuke Dual Tip Brush Pen (One end is black, the other is gray…very handy,) Derwent Graphitint and Metallic pencils, and some Gelly Roll Glitter and Decorese highlights.

Teaser: The Stonehenge and Tombow products will be available soon in my new etsy (CharKatTangles) store! Mark it and check back often…I’m adding new things daily (and mostly paper!)

It’s been a busy week around the shop. I welcomed everyone in on Friday with some snacks and fun. Mike brought me flowers.

And had our first class on Saturday. We had fun with some tangles and laughs…with this result (the unfinished ones are mine!)

I also received a package from my friend Jim Hill, in Egypt. He sent me a fresh batch of hibiscus tea, and some papyrus!

I did a little practice tangling on the papyrus to see if it would work, and I think it was a grand success. Papyrus is water resistant, so the Tombow Mono Twin marker really did a nice job of covering without losing the really cool weave of the natural fibers.

I think that’s it for now. If you are in the area, be sure to check out the class list/schedule. I’m really looking forward to making more stuff with awesome people!

Stay Crazy My Friends!