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. 

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!

A Little More Phicops...

A little more phicops, if you please! I love all the phicops tangles I've been seeing all over Pinterest and Blogland! I took another stab at it and finally feel like I'm getting it. I really love nautical and shell-like tangles. I adore seashells, and would have a houseful if I lived near the sea.

Undah Da Sea!

Thanks B-rad and Laura Harms at the Diva Weekly Challenge on Laura's wildly popular Zentangle® Blog I Am The Diva

Tangle Patterns Guide 2013

The lovely Linda Farmer, of tanglepatterns.com, has completed the Tangle Pattern Guide 2013! For a modest donation of $12 per year, Linda will send you the download for the PDF version and the online version of this invaluable tool.

 There are nearly 500 tangle patterns, with step-out instructions, in this guide. For the online version, simply click on the tangle for which you want to see instructions, and, voila! There they are. Linda's wonderful website, tanglepatterns.com, is the storehouse for all these tangles and their instructions, just a click away.

Many of the tangles found on this site were created by Zentangle® founders Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, and you will see links to their newsletter - which you can sign up to receive free via email.

Here is my offering for this week's Diva Challenge - "Phicops"

Tangle On!

Tangling In The New Year

I held my first class of 2013 last night. Five lovely ladies and one terrific young lady - what a great bunch! They were an enthusiastic, entertaining group, given to much wit and laughter, which made for a really fun evening.

This class was Introduction To Zentangle, and was a party, which always enhances the Fun Factor! The delightful hostess warmly welcomed us with a beautiful array of snacks and beverages - an altogether perfect party! She lives in a loft apartment in Old Town, so I was excited to get a chance to see one of them! It's so cool, and she is a Decorator Extraordinaire. Bonus: she received her class FREE for hosting a class party. Thanks, D.!

They all had a good time and their Zentangles were wonderful! Thanks, girls! Hoping to see some of you at Beyond The Basics coming up at the Mulvane Recreation Center!

CLASS MOSAIC

Wouldn't you like to book a class party for a group of friends?

It's more fun than a barrel of monkeys! Way more. I don't care for monkeys.

First Class A Smash!

Held my first Zentangle class this past Tuesday, 11/13. It was so much fun! I had twelve students, all friends - which made my maiden voyage so much more enjoyable. Everybody had a good time, and I spotted at least three people who were definitely hooked! :)

I thought of a couple of things I wish I'd said or done after everyone left, and I also wished for more time. My future classes will be two hours, which will be better. One of the things I wish I had had time to show them was how to draw Onamato or Perlz. They are one of my favorite tangle patterns (a pearl shape), and I use them frequently to fill in odd shaped spaces.  Onamato is an original Zentangle® pattern by Maria Thomas, but the step out instructions are found here on Sandy Steen Bartholomew's blog, Beez In The Belfry (♥ her!). I use both black and white pearls in lots of my tangles. I love 'em! I also love the way Maria used them in her tangle pattern Purk, demonstrated here in a video on TanglePatterns.com. I used Purk as the north point on my compass rose (which you can see on my "My Tangles" tab). 

I had so much fun, and it was particularly special to me to see so many of my good friends at once and at my house! Thank you for coming and for supporting my new endeavor. I love each of you too much!

"He has it: a new mania. Motor mania!"

I'm Toad - only my mania is

Zentangle!