Sermon Notes

 I'm still alive! And actually creating again...thank you, Lord! I've been dabbling with watercolor painting and loving it, but since this is my blog dedicated to Zentangle, I'll share my latest tangling fun. I mostly tangle on Sundays, now, on my church bulletin during sermons! Like many folks, I listen best when my hands are occupied, so I keep a pencil and Sakura Micron 01 pen in my Bible! :)

I'm so grateful Zentangle is bringing me joy again. I did take a wonderful Zentangle class with Eni Oken not too long ago...I'll post on that soon...and my watercolor journey!! God is good all the time - all the time God is good.

Latest Making Mania

I've been in a long, dark creative slump for a couple of years. The past eighteen months have been the hardest eighteen months of my sixty-one year life, and my creativity has not been the only thing to suffer. But! The Lord is so faithful to me, and my determination to trust Him with all the moments of my life has borne fruit in small ways. I am finding joy and rest in Him, and learning how to navigate life with deep grief and pain as my constant companions. They are not pleasant companions, but they are uniquely mine, and I am learning to accept them. Acceptance of circumstances that I cannot change is key to pressing on and choosing joy...and I am pressing on and choosing joy. That's the first time I've written my thoughts down...it is cathartic, and thank you for listening.

I'm part of a Facebook group called Bitty Bookz. A lovely, talented CZT colleague of mine, Chris Titus, created a tiny book using Zentangle tiles, and offered a tutorial on how to do it ourselves. You can find her tutorial here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/707891507/bitty-bookz
I love book making and tiny things, so I was immediately smitten.

One of my granddaughters is a talented crafter, so after I made my own test Bitty Book (pictured first), she and I made five more for herself and four cousins. What fun! I failed to take progress photos, but below are the three books made for young cousins. We all went shopping and each cousin chose their book covers and closures. These books measure 1.75"X3.5". 💖

I loved shopping for fabric for my first book, and found this embroidered Batik
...along with that darling Bumble Bee charm! 💕

One of the beauties of this tiny book, is that it's drum leaf binding allows
the book to lie flat - perfect for drawing/writing in!

For the spine, I used card stock that I embossed with my  Cuttlebug! 

What a blessing to make something again. Thank you, God, for my hands that work well and without pain, for my well stocked studio, for my eyes that still see well...for every good and perfect gift that comes down from You. Thank you. 

Helloooo! I'm Still Alive!

I don't even know how to explain why I haven't posted in...gulp..over three years. I don't really have to explain to you, though, do I? You know. You know, because your life is just like mine. So we'll just move along, OK??

I haven't been creating much this year. Been a tough year, and my creative bone has been, well, a little broken. I did make some bookmarks, which is kind of my favorite thing the past two-three years. They're small, don't take much time, and I really enjoy personalizing them and giving them as birthday and special occasion remembrances.

This year I made one for each of my oldest three daughters. My youngest daughter's birthday had already passed when I had the idea, so hers is coming next year. I find bookmarks for guys a little trickier somehow, so my son's is still in the offing, too.

I got out my calligraphy stuff last May and enjoyed practicing and piddling with it for a few weeks, so I used my lovely brush markers for their names. When they were small, I had a plaque in each of their rooms with their name and the meaning of their name on it. Name meanings are important.

Number One is the picture of diligence. So faithful, so steadfast, such a strong woman of conviction. Her favorite book is The Count Of Monte Cristo

Number Three is truly a "Bright One". Brings light and love and laughter everywhere she goes. She loves gems and sparkles (like me!), so I created some tangled gems for hers.

Number Two is our darling peacemaker. She was the middle child for seven years until Number Four came along. Middle children learn a lot about getting along. Such a precious, tender heart...but more grit and determination than can be measured. Her great love is horses. These last two were my first foray into tangling with just pencil, for a lighter, ethereal look. Kind of cool.

Thanks for bearing with me over these dry years. You're my kindred spirits. 

Dynamic Duo

I rarely submit anything to the Diva's Challenge, but this week it definitely called my name. Auraknot and Mooka are two of my favorite tangles. I decided to do a quick one, and I also decided to (gasp) use my 2013 "Tangle A Day" calendar that I've had over a year and...not tangled a day.

So here's a hearty shout out to my lovely friend and talented creator and author of the "Tangle A Day" calendar...CAROLE OHL of Open Seed Arts! Thanks, Carole, for such a lovely book, such lovely paper, such lovely Zentangle art. You're the best!

So, without further ado, here is my duo tangle featuring Auraknot and Mooka!

Thanks, to the Diva herself, Laura Harms, for this great combination!

Know When To Hold 'Em & Know When To...Trade 'Em!

I am participating in a Zentangle® ATC (Artist Trading Card) Swap with 110 other Certified Zentangle Teachers from around the world! The swap was the brain child of CZT Sharon Lynn Payne, who also facilitated the group and made it happen. It was her idea for all the CZT's to create a "deck" of ATC's - 52 tiny, original, works of Zentangle art! So we all made 53 (one extra to be sent to Rick & Maria) cards over the course of the past five months.

            

One would think that five months to create fifty-three 2 1/2" X 3 1/2" Zentangle drawings wouldn't be that big of a deal...but, as I am wont to do, I procrastinated and found myself frantically drawing the last 25cards in the last seven days before the March 26 deadline.

It was a fun experience though, getting to know so many other CZT's and learning from their work in our Facebook Group that Sharon created. Many thanks and kudos to you Sharon, and all my ATC buddies! Can't wait to receive my deck of 52 from 52  of you! ♥
              

                    

                   

                  

                  

I Did It Again

I've entered a tile in the Diva's Weekly Challenge. It is her 155th Challenge, but only my third time to venture out of my comfort zone and enter my work. You can see my two previous entries here and here...and you'll also see why I don't enter the challenges often! I always read (and love) Laura's posts, but there are SO MANY incredibly talented Zentangle artists out there, that I usually just enjoy looking at everyone elses' entries. Not today. Today, I loved her notion of leaving empty space in the tile, so I gave it a shot.

Betweed, Mooka, Hibred, Aquafleur

This is also my first time to use Aquafleur (in public)! I've been wanting to try it since its debut from Rick and Maria in their Jaunary 19 newsletter, and finally did. I did a practice monotangle tile a couple of days ago, and liked it so much, that I've been playing with it in my bookmarks.  Here's my practice tile:

Here are the bookmarks with a little Aquafleur:

THANK YOU for stopping by! I'd love to hear from you, and visit my Facebook page!

Bookmark'n It!

I've been having a lot of fun making bookmarks recently. I made a few as giveaways for a Facebook post regarding my first Found Poetry art. It was so much fun, and the possibilities are endless. I just finished one as a personalized gift for a friend - she requested a New York City/Broadway/dance theme. I've decided to add them to my Etsy Store, because personalized stuff is always fun!

 

What have you been up to in your tangled world?

Tangled Ink Art

I finally got a chance to take a class with my fellow CZT, the lovely and talented Bonnie Pewterbaugh of Emerald City Tangles. I had so much fun! Can't wait to teach a Tangled Ink Art Class of my own!

Watch here for an announcement!

"Church Tree"

I'm In!

I've only done the Diva's Challenge one other time in over three years of tangling. I love looking at all the entries, but am often intimidated into...silence. This week's challenge appealed to me in its simplicity. Just use one of the strings from Linda Farmer's marvelous blog Tanglepatterns.com, String 004. So I did it.

Sand Swirl variation, Mooka, Auraknot variation, Betweed, Paradox, Pearlz

And it was fun! I so seldom actually do the traditional Zentangle Method on a lovely Zentangle tile - I've been doing more ZIA (Zentangle Inspired Art). Fun, fun, fun. Man, I love this art form! :)

In other news...

I'm offering a new class!

Tangled Garden Classes August 10 & 31

10:00-noon HOBBY LOBBY EAST

I am now taking registrations for my new Tangled Garden Classes! I've been really loving drawing the organic tangles on the Strathmore Toned Tan paper, and can't wait to teach YOU how to do it, too! So fun, and the results are so satisfying and lovely. Intro to Zentangle is a prerequisite, but for a small additional charge I'm willing to do a one hour intro for newbies just prior to the class. Email me for more info and details or look here.

The possibilities are endless!

The Keeper of the Plains

This is my ZIA in honor of the masterful Native American artist Black Bear Bosin. It is called "Kansas Keeper", and is a tribute to his magnificent 44 foot sculpture "The Keeper of the Plains", which he magnanimously donated to my hometown, Wichita, Kansas in 1974.

KEEPER OF THE PLAINS

He stands nobly atop a 30 foot raised rock promontory at the confluence of the Big and Little Arkansas Rivers. Wichitans are rightfully very proud of this powerful symbol of our Native American heritage. After all, Wichita is named for the Wichita Indians, and Kansas for the Kansa Indians, "People of the south wind".

I used eighteen different tangles in this Zentangle Inspired Art piece. The first person who can name all eighteen will win an 8"X10" print of my "Kansas Keeper"! 

Getting It Back

I finally feel like I'm getting it back. Coming out of....the shadow - the Black Dog, as Sir Winston so aptly called it.  I've been off my groove for 2-3 months - uninspired, unmotivated, undone. This is a first for me, and I found it very unsettling, very distasteful...but couldn't even care about how the Unhappy World of Un made me feel. There were a number of factors contributing to my state of Un, not the least of which is my age (55) and my health (not the best). I've taken the health thing by the horns and am wrestling it to the ground - making serious lifestyle changes and feeling much better. Other mitigating factors have also changed and improved, as well. Overall, the shadow is lifting.

The hardest part of the World of Un for me was not wanting to draw or create. Anything. It just dried up - like a lovely, sparkling stream gone completely dry and lifeless. That's how I felt.

Even though I knew I shouldn't. Knew I should feel grateful, happy, joyful...because of the profound blessings in my life. 

All that to say, I've finally drawn something. A few things, actually, and I liked them. It's been a process, with fits and starts, but I'm definitely getting it back. It started small, a trickle, with an embellished logo on our church bulletin on Sunday, but I was quite smitten with it! :)

Just a scrawl, unplanned, unthinking, unhindered. The very heart of Zentangle. It whetted my appetite for more. That night, I got out the Strathmore Toned Tan journal I'd bought a while back which had been sitting patiently on my desk, and tangled another sunflower. There it was. That joy, that satisfaction, that pleasure.

Then I decided I wanted to dive all the way in and draw a Tangled Garden of my own. I've been watching with interest for several months the organic tangles and tangled gardens of CZT's all over blogland and FB, drawn on the toned tan and toned gray paper. I just simply could not bring myself to lift my micron! :D Until this week. 

What a pleasant journey from shadow to sunlight. My mind is filled with ideas for more Tangled Gardens and Tangled Garden classes. 

Thank you, Lord, for your sustaining, strengthening, sympathetic love. ♥

"Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert."

Isaiah 43:19

Spring Tangling

March was busy with Zentangle classes! 

This fun group was my Hobby Lobby class. As an added bonus, one of my fabulous students was Darian Leatherman, star of the stage! As it happened, Hubs and I had tickets to the Wichita Community Theater's production of "Doubt" on that very night, and I got to see Darian splendidly perform the role of Mrs. Miller! I also saw Darian's name in the credits as costume designer for the Crown Uptown's wonderful musical "Little Women". What a talent!

                                                                                                          

These industrious ladies made up my March class at the Mulvane Recreation Center. 

Such a fun and enthusiastic group. ♥

 Their class mosaic - beautiful work, you Terrific Tanglers!

                                                                                                           

This lovely lady and I got to spend three glorious hours together for her Private Lesson! She'd already taken my Intro class, so we were able to cover so many tangles and techniques. Private Lessons are so productive and FUN!

This is the "Tangles To Go" kit students receive in the "Beyond The Basics" class. Patti got to try her hand at white on black tangling with the black tiles, as well as putting her newly learned tangles to use in a pre-strung ZENDALA tile! 

                                                                                                       

I also taught two classes at the Derby Senior Center, which were SO much fun! Unfortunately, I didn't take any pics. Drat. It was my largest class yet and they were an absolute hoot. Love them.

And YOU! 

Call me, write me, take a class, tell a friend to take a class! Summertime is the perfect time to learn