IX and Tipple

This tangle uses the newest official tangle 'IX'. It's a fun tangle to draw. The instructions are in the latest Zentangle newsletter and can be found  here .

I just started drawing the pattern a couple of times - just going with the flow. After I had done it three times I looked at it and felt it reminded me of the Triple Xs that were on bottles of moonshine. So I decided to surround it with 'Tipple'.

By the way, I'm going to be spending some time with my sister. I probably won't be able to post. See you next week!

pictures from Mundelein library session

Last night I had 54 people attend a session at the Mundelein public library. That was the biggest group I've ever had so it was an interesting challenge. Luckily I had a microphone, projector and document camera so everybody could see and hear. And luckily my daughter was able to come and help me with sales so that wasn't quite so hectic. I came home tired but happy. All night long though, I kept thinking about something else I really wanted to tell the group. Hopefully I'll be able to do another session in the spring and maybe some private parties too.

Please click on the pictures above. There are some beautiful tangleations that the students came up with!

Mundelein Library tonight

Yikes! I've got a big group I'm speaking to tonight. Wish me luck. I'll be at the Mundelein public Library. They tell me that 60 people have signed up! So, unfortunately for those of you reading this now, the session is full - unless there are no-shows. If you want to stop by after the session is over though (around 8pm), I will have my zentangle supplies available for sale. There will be pictures coming up in the next few days.

Until I have those new pictures, here are some from a private group I did last week.

Pinwheels for Peace

The challenge from the Diva for this week is to use the string of a pinwheel. It was begun as a project for school children. You can follow the link here - Pinwheels for Peace -  to find out more.

I decided to do my pinwheel on a zendala blank and color the background first with my Koi Coloring Brush markers. Then the tangles were done with colored Microns. 

Tangles here include Florz, Purk, a tangleation of Crescent moon, and my tangles Plaited and Coil.

tangle trip to Milwaukee

My nephew was recently married in Milwaukee. We were able to stay in a beautiful old hotel - the Hilton downtown Milwaukee and from there we went to the reception in a lovely venue - The Wisconsin Club. In both places I kept seeing eye candy. Eye candy for a tangler that is! Enjoy the pictures!

Zentangle for the Holidays class and more class pictures

Announcing a new class- 'Zentangle for the Holidays'. October 14th, 2012.  Join this fun class to create zentangle inspired art pieces  for cards, gift tags and ornaments. This class is open to ALL levels. Sue Jacobs, CZT, will teach this with enough basics information for beginners but with enough variety for experienced tanglers. Every will go home with two finished projects.Class fee of $35.00 includes all supplies. Class will be held at Banbury Fair in Bartlett, call 630 837 1727 to register.  - or contact Sue to schedule this class as a private party! 

 These pictures are from Sunday's Basics class. I always enjoy seeing how everyone has their own personality emerge as they use the same tangles! Great job ladies!

The current schedule for classes at Banbury is;

Zentangle Basics -  (prerequisite for advanced classes)
                                 Sunday, October 21, 2012 1:00-3:15

Beyond the Basics - Sunday October 7, 2012 1:00-3:15

Zentangle for the Holidays - ALL LEVELS - Sunday October 14, 2012 1:00-3:15

and Sunday November  11, 2012  1:00-3:15

break free

OK, I'm confessing, this challenge was just not my thing. I just am not excited about this tile. I liked the concept I came up with but the final tile leaves me feeling 'meh'. The one benefit to this tile is that I can use it as a teaching tool as I did enjoy figuring out which tangles I could use to 'break free' of the original grid.

I used  a 5" square that I used when I was tangling with seniors. I laid a regular tile slightly askew to get the dimensions, removed it, and then figured out drawing a frame as I would normally do. Inside my frame I drew a basic grid and then tangled away with tangles that would fit a grid. I then 'broke free' with other types of tangles.

tangling on Band Aids

Click on picture to enlarge

One of my tangling friends issued an appeal for good thoughts for her mom while she is hospitalized. She asked that we tangle a few band aids and send the pictures on to her. This is what I got done recently. I hope her mom is feeling better quickly!

McHenry class pictures

Last week I had a wonderful class at a new location. It was at Grass Roots Yoga in McHenry, Il. We had an enthusiastic group who really appreciated the zen aspects of zentangle. In fact, I'll be back there in October for a zendala class.

A yoga studio provides a wonderful environment for a class. And I could take my shoes off when I taught! We played Rick's flute music as we tangled. And the hostess provided some delicious snacks. I can't wait to go back there!

Color and Lis and Nia

I pulled out a tile that I had colored a while ago and decided to tangle it. I used both my comfort tangles and two that were new to me-  'Lis' and 'Nia'.

I had previously used my watercolor technique with my colored markers to color within the triangle shape. When I did my tangles I used a blue Micron pen in the white areas and a white gelly roll pen in the colored areas. Shading was a blue colored pencil.

Copada zendala

I was happy doing Copada in color but I wanted to get back to more traditional zentangle in black and white. I found this template from Erin's zendala challenge http://thebrightowl.blogspot.com/ and thought it would work well.

I started out thinking this would be a mono tangle with lots of tangleations for copada. That plan was quickly changed however as the first time I drew Copada I zigged when I meant to zag! You can see that in the outer most ring. Soooo - in true zentangle fashion - there are no mistakes, just an opportunity to create another pattern -  I created something new. I then repeated this new version again inside the zendala so it would really look intentional.

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Have a good weekend everyone!

'Copoda' in color

I've been having fun with Copada lately. I had written down the steps for this tangle pattern as soon as Margaret Bremner posted them but hadn't used them in a tile yet. Wow, this was fun. I'm so glad this one was picked for the Diva's challenge. http://iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com/

I used my colored watercolor markers here. The greens and blues in the first tile are Koi coloring brush markers. The orange, red and pink colors in the second tile are Tombow markers. 

If you examine them closely you will see some places where the pattern didn't come out the way I intended it. That's OK. I still enjoyed doing them and got the relaxation and thrill of completing tiles I was happy with

Teeny tiny zendala dare 21

I decided to try something a little different with the zendala dare this week. I made jewelry out of it using shrink art.

The first picture is blown up so you can see the detail. The second picture shows you how big the piece was when I tangled it before I shrank it. And the quarter gives you a real idea of scale.

It's harder to shade shrink art because the ink doesn't dry well before you shrink it so I tried to pic tangles that had some movement in the tangles already.

Happy Labor Day!