McHenry and Banbury classes

The month is almost over but before it is I wanted to share with you my student's work from McHenry County College and Banbury in Bartlett. I love seeing what they all do!

String 59

String 59 contains only two tangles.  Oke and Meringue.  Because the string itself is rather symmetrical I decided to do it on a small zendala. 

By the way - This tile was shaded with black pencil - not purple. Somehow as I edited it it got changed. I kinda like it so I'll leave it - but in the interest of full disclosure ....

leaf string zendala

This week the Diva suggested we use leaves as our string. Most of the leaves in our yard are pretty basic so I decided to try using them in a zendala instead. Fun, easy to do, and relaxing. I'm trying to get over a cold and I needed something to help me zone out and forget about the drums going off in my head.

The tangles used are tellis, euca and maelstrom.

This shows you what I had to work with. I started off using the big leaf and quickly decided it was too big.I ended up with just using two leaves - the orange, yellow leaf, and the bigger dark green leaf. My tangles were done with the brown micron pen shown. I started with the terra cotta pencil shown for shading and added a few other colors to deepen the shadows and add a few highlights.

One of the reasons I chose these tangles was that this week, Cheryl, over at artfulcreations, suggested we choose tangles starting with the letters T, E, and M. Thanks Cheryl! It sometimes help to narrow down the choices.

String 58

I've had so many things going on lately that I haven't had time for some of the challenges. So I was glad to get back to participating in the String challenge from Adele Bruno at tickledtotangle. Going back to the basic black and white is a wonderful, comforting way to tangle.

This one uses;

Girdy by Karl Stewart

Gothic by Mariet Lustenhouwer

Girlande by Simone Bischoff

Tangling in RI-NY

I'm back home again after a wonderful week with family in Rhode Island and New York. My sister has a place in Narraganset so we flew out to Providence first. She took us out on her sailboat for a sail around the homes near Newport. Seeing the homes from the water is definitely the way to do it!

Once we docked again we had lunch at a little stand by the marina. As we were sitting at the picnic tables I looked down and realized that instead of gravel under my feet, there were broken shells. It makes perfect sense when everywhere you go they serve oysters and clams! I found one shell that hadn't been broken into too small of a piece and got out my Micron pen. It was a quick little tangle while we waited for our lunch. I left it behind to surprise the next person.

We climbed the rocks that line parts of the shore. It was a beautiful day. We tried out the tradition of stacking rocks. My sister got a nice tower going!

When taking this selfie I discovered that my phone could take a mini picture of the view in the opposite direction!

 And we enjoyed dinner at several wonderful restaurants in the area. The oysters we had came from a nearby pond. If I hadn't been flying I would have kept the shells!

Then it was time to take the ferry from New London, CT over to Orient Point on Long Island. The ferry is a great way to get over and eliminate the stress of driving all the way around. On the ferry I found a table and did this tile to pass the time. I meant to leave it as a Random Act of Zentangle but my sister laid claim to it first.

After the engagement party for my niece we had time to play. We enjoyed the beaches in the Hamptons. Again, seeing the houses from the water (or beach) is the best way to get a peek into those mansions! And then we enjoyed a trip to the vineyards on the North Fork of Long Island. Good memories!

Phicops - Diva Dance

The Diva asked us to do a duotangle with Phicops and Diva Dance this week. I was visualizing the Diva Dance radiating out of the Phicops. These are two very relaxing tangles. The Diva Dance tangle is also very forgiving of unintended marks. I've been traveling and unable to participate in several of the last challenges so this was a good one to get back into the groove!

Three classes!

Wow, this past week has been busy. I got back from a wonderful vacation on the East coast with family and jumped into three classes on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. They were great classes but on Monday I had to take a break and regroup! Here are the class pictures.

The Zenspirations monogram class was the first time I had taught this technique. So I was actually happy we had a smaller number!

Come to the Dark Side! Tangling on black tiles was the theme for the class at the Windy Brushes meeting! It was a big group. They did a grea job!

This was the group named Sassy Stitchers in Northbrook. While there were only 5 people participating, there were several others that worked on their stitching projects while I taught. Afterwards I had a couple of the stitchers come up to me and tell me how much they had gotten out of just listening! I'm working on setting up a return visit!

Zenspirations Gift

It is finished and framed and was given to the happy couple this past weekend. I'm happy with the way it came out! The closeups were posted in the past few posts so scroll back to see them.

Each square is the standard Zentangle tile size - 3 1/2 square. 

If you are intrigued by this technique please join me in the Zenspirations class at Banbury Fair in Bartlett, IL this Sunday. There are seats still available. Call Banbury at 630 837-1727 to sign up!

Zenspirations TM

This is the second part of the Zenspirations piece I have been working on.  It's a piece for my niece and her fiance for their engagement.  Congratulations! 

Zenspirations AK

Working on a gift for someone special. Hopefully she doesn't check my blog today.

I love doing the Zenspirations letters. If you are excited by these too, come join me in the class in Bartlett on September 14th.  See the class tab for details.

Alphabet soup Z

The letter Z. I've made it through the challenge.  Each week I looked for tangles that started with the letter of the week. I did my best to find tangles that were new to me or little used.

On to new challenges.  I wonder what Cheryl will come up with next!

Tangles used are z-trick,  ziabolic and zoshtovo.