Beads of Courage - Diva Challenge #271

Here we are again....late as ever, but at least I am actually posting this week. I can't believe that it has been what, 3 weeks since I posted? I don't know where the time goes; one would think that since I am retired, I would have more time to play, but it just doesn't work out that way. But, at least I am here for this challenge.

I have, over the past couple of years, made ZIA's for Laura's Beads of Courage challenges, but have never posted them. I asked myself this year, what's wrong with me that I don't get things posted? Since I couldn't answer that with any kind of an answer that actually sounded plausible, here I am.

This week, we have been asked to use the Beads of Courage program as inspiration for our challenge. Beads of Courage is an arts in medicine program to help sick kids deal with their chronic or life threatening illnesses and be able to better share their medical journeys. Whenever these children have a medical related procedure or appointment, they are given ceramic beads rather than lollipops so that they can document their specific challenges. It sounds like a wonderful program to help these kids be mindful of just what they have overcome in their lives.

I chose to use a stamping technique for my background for my bead tile. This is called "Bokeh" technique and gives a soft muted background with flashes of bright white reminiscent of photographic lights. Anyway, I like the way this background looks and you can Google bokeh technique to find out how to do it.  Without further adieu then, here is my tile for Beads of Courage.

I also have some older challenges that I have finished and would like to share with you. Up next is my take (after tons of tries to get it right) on Skye. I love the way this tangle looks and am going to try to include it as I get a bit more proficient.

And since I missed posting my Ellish tile, I have GOT to post that one. Of COURSE, I love it, after all, it resembles my initial "L" and makes a beautiful monogram!

For our local Tangle group, we have just started with monthly challenges, and the challenge for our last meeting was a monotangle of our choosing. I have been playing with Aquafleur lately and trying to get it right (finally), so here is my Aquafleur monotangle.

For any tanglers or tangler wannabee's, our local group meets on the second Sunday of each month (unless notified). We have a very nice group, which is headed by Dave Hunter and Heidi Sue. Check out the Tanglers blog HERE to see what we do.

Also, for those of you new to this blog or to Zentangle, check out all of the artists that have submitted their artwork for this challenge. The Diva posts a new challenge each week and they are a lot of fun. There is always so much diversity and inspiration in the work we see.  Check out the Diva's Challenge HERE. Feel free to come join in the fun any time you like.

As always, I am thrilled that you have chosen to visit my blog and always appreciate any and all comments. They make me happy. Have a great zen-ful day!

Diva Challenge # 268 ~ "Bit-o-black"

Just a short entry tonight because we've all been a bit under the weather here. I loved this challenge, but since I tend to use quite a bit of black anyway, I was hard pressed to know what to do. So I decided to try to play a bit with a Mooka monotangle and darken the spaces. Also, I tried to draw it a bit closer to the way the stepouts indicate, even though I tend to normally do mine a LOT different.  Anyway, here's my entry for this weeks challenge....hope you  like it :)

I did this in black ink on a Strathmore toned tan 4" tile and used graphite to shade with with accents and a few highlights with a white chalk pencil. Not quite what I had in mind, but still nicely dramatic, which fit with what I had wanted.

Thank you for stopping by and, as always, CC are always appreciated. If you want to see what the other artists submitted for this challenge, please check out the Diva's blog (click here) and see what everyone has done for the challenge.

Have a zen-ful day!

Challenge # 267 ~ Drupe / Pokeroot

I'm behind again and here it is Saturday (but hey, at least it isn't quite Sunday yet). I got my challenge tile done last week, but for some reason, I just was exhausted and didn't get my blog written. I think it must be something going around, because both of my sisters have called this week and we are ALL exhausted with no discernable reason, except perhaps allergies. My younger sister and I are both allergic to cats and she has 2 and I have 3. Can't seem to give up the fur babies and don't want to even try! But my older sister and I figure that it's just because we are getting old....her birthday was last week and she was 70 and I will be 64 in July and we both have physical problems, so I  guess we can blame it on that *giggle*   Ah well, I guess I will just take responsibility and say it was just tired and just flat didn't get it done.

But now that's out of the way, this weeks challenge was to make a duo-tangle using  Drupe and Pokeroot. I have seen these both many times, but in actuality I have never tried either one of them that I recall. I think that somewhere along the line, I probably tried to draw them without knowing what they were, but I just really don't recall using them.  After practicing them both for a bit...I decided that I could actually use them, but trying to get them to play nice was a bit difficult. I have several half done tiles and attempts, but I finally got one done. It took me all week though, I'm afraid because the weather this last week has been making a mess of my arthritic hands and I just couldn't hold the pen well. But here is my attempt:

After I  finished the penwork, I decided I would like it better with color and after I made my Pokeroot into some weird color (Prismacolor PC937~Tuscan Red) of cherries, my son suggested that I put yellow with it (I usually listen to him as he has a great eye for color...he gets that ability from his dad). I didn't have a yellow that I liked, so I used one of my orange colored pencils (Prismacolor PC1003~Spanish Orange) and liked the way it turned out. So I guess it was worth all the time it took for me to finish it *smile*

As I mentioned above, I actually DID do challenge #266 ~ UMT Crux. I rather like the way it turned out too and I actually did scan the penwork just in case I didn't like the colors I had chosen. So I have my penwork for this one before shading and color. I need to get into the habit of taking pictures before I do any shading or coloring to see where my linework can use improvement. So here is the basic linework for Challenge 266 ~ Crux

Nothing fancy here, just pretty much just Crux and some Flux with Springkle and a bit of Tipple.

Here's the same picture now after I colored it and did a bit of shading. Hope you like it!

I signed this one different than the normal signature I use, but I didn't really like it, so I guess I will keep trying different ones out until I am thrilled with one.  Anyway, that is my meager offerings for this week.

If you haven't seen all of the artists that have submitted their tiles for the Diva's challenge, please head on over to her site and check out the submissions there for this challenge. Scroll through and take a look of some of the fabulous artists that show their work each week and if you would like to join us, please do. It's a great learning opportunity each week. You can find the Diva's site here (click here), so come and play along and find your Zen!

Any and all comments are appreciated, good or bad, and helpful criticism is always appreciated. Thank you for stopping by!

Diva Challenge #265 ~ Stripes

Here we are at the end of the challenge week and although I was very busy this week, I only have one tile to share with you. We had family get togethers this week and it was great to see some of the family that I haven't seen in awhile. My cousin and his wife had spent the last 3 or 4 years over in Russia as missionaries and had a lot of wonderful stories to tell as well as some of the strife the Russian people had suffered over the years. It was fascinating to hear the stories they told, and sad to hear of the trouble and fear that went along with living in a country that doesn't want you there. Evidently where they were was very close to Ukraine and they were very fearful on several occasions and taken by the KGB on several occasions for questioning. But now they are safe and sound and we are glad they are home.

I have worked on a couple of Zentangles and did finish my stripes tile for submission. I was going through some of my older work and found a few that I am going to try and finish up in the next few weeks and so will get them  posted when I get them done. So here for your perusal is my tile for this week:

I chose to go minimal on this because of the tangles I wanted to use. I don't actually remember the names of them, but I like the way they look together on here. As always, comments good or bad are always welcome.

If you would like to see what the other artists have shared this week, head on over to the Diva's blog (click here) and see what everyone has shared. There are some beautiful pieces there this week, as always.

Thank you very much for stopping by and have a zen-tastic day!

Diva Challenge #264 ~ String Theory: String into Spring

Our challenge this week was to use a spring-like string and create something using that string. I actually had a picture of the string I was going to use and had the linework all done, but when I went and shaded it, it became a disaster, so I may actually try that one again (I do have a picture of the linework before shading, so I can just do it again!) But the one that I actually finished (yes, I started several and none of them spoke to me, so I have a pile of half-finished tiles hanging around - maybe for another day) turned out better than I thought it would. The only problem is that I did finally get my scanner working (YAY!) but it tends to drain all the color out. And since it's dark out now, I didn't want to be taking pictures to upload, so please forgive me for the washed out color. It's far brighter than it looks.

I do actually have a 3 looped spring string under this one, but it kind of got lost. I started drawing the Abundie and in actuality, wasn't going to have it be Abundie, but the pen insisted and then just took over from there. After I finished the linework and was trying to decide how I wanted to finish it, it screamed for color. So since I haven't used my Inktense pencils in quite awhile, I thought I would give them a try, I am actually quite pleased with this....hubby thinks it looks like a Martian garden, but I just think it's a colorful ZIA. Hope you like it!

I missed last week's challenge completely, but it looked like fun, so I had to give it a try. I have had quite a problem with my hands this past few weeks, I was doing so miserably that I could barely hold my pen and I missed our local Tangling Get-together this month. I actually did try about a dozen grids for the Globular Grid challenge, but they drove me crazy, so I didn't get anything posted last week at all.

This is the Global Grid that I finally ended up finishing and again, I am still playing with the scanner to get the colors right here too.  This one is done on kind of a light pink paper, so the scanner kept trying to pick it up white and washing everything out. But I liked this one too!

That's it for this week and I know it is really last minute, but when my hands don't want to work, I can't get 'er done as quickly as I wanted to. These will be used on some cards going to family that I need to get in touch with. I love being able to use them like that.

If you haven't already seen the rest of the artists doing the Diva's challenge, you can go  HERE  and see what everyone else has done. There is a new challenge most every Monday, so if you want to go ahead and join in the fun, keep you eye on her blog. 

Thank you for checking this out and to all the other artists this week...I have been looking at all of your blogs, but wasn't able to make comments this week. Just know that I am always impressed with ALL of the work here and inspired by each and every one of you. Thanks again and have a wonderful zen-day!

Diva Challenge #262 ~ UMT Fassett by Lynn Mead

It's been an interesting week here for me and my family. The weather has been beautiful the majority of the week, with soft spring rains and warmer temperatures.  Of course, that meant that the pollen is on overdrive and consequently, I have spent a good deal of the week with sinus issues due to allergies. I don't really want to go out (although I would love to go out and about) because my eyes are so swollen with the allergies and I can't wear makeup and have it last more than a half hour (Yes, I tend to be vain about going out not looking my best). But worse than that, when I try to  blow my nose and unstuff my sinuses, it feels like I am going to pop an eye out.  That has just been a new thing with my allergies and it's the strangest feeling ever. So, I have been doing lots of experimentation and relaxation with my tangling.

I know that I have mentioned my beautiful kitties before and here is a picture of the oldest and youngest keeping me company while I am tangling and/or on the computer. (Yes I have a pillow on the table for them to sit by me.) The black and white handsome boy is Mistoffellees, who just turned 16 a month ago. He's the main reason that there is a pillow on the table. He has problems sometimes getting comfortable when he is trying to sleep. The black baby is Salem Saberhagen and he's a beautiful Bombay. I think he's about 8 or 9, but I'm not sure. Our other one, Nicholas, usually isn't on the table with them because he and Mistoffellees are still discussing who is the alpha male, but they don't know that it's actually Salem....lol. Anyway, these are my companions who keep me company.

This week's challenge by the Diva was a UMT (Use My Tangle) and we were challenged to use Lynn Mead's tangle FASSETT.  This was one of the first tangles that I learned because it was actually similar to some of the doodles I have been doing all my life. Not quite, but almost. Anyway, I find it relaxing to do tangles like this one because my pen essentially takes over with the rhythm of the lines. I used a Toned Gray Tile by Strathmore for this first one and loved how it turned out. I was not only trying out the gray tile, but also used an actual string, something that I rarely do. They tend to confuse me, but I actually liked using it on this because it gave me some direction when I started my tile. Hope you enjoy!

For my second one, I used a Toned Tan Strathmore Artist Tile. I'm not sure which one I like the best, so I'll just continue playing with them. On this one, I did some of the shading with a light gray marker and it helped me to achieve the look I was going for. I was proud of both of them, because hubby actually liked them this week. He normally says he likes them, but this week, he practically gushed, telling me that he really liked them both and told me how well I was doing with composition on these. Maybe there IS something to using a string? Well could be ... at any rate, here is my second one.  Hope you enjoy!

Well, that's it for this week and I have got to say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself on this challenge . If you get a chance, head on over to the Diva's Place (click here) and check out what everyone has submitted. It's fun to play with our tangles, so if you are a tangler, come join in the fun!

Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment if you are inclined. It's good to know that people are out there. Have a zen-ful day!

Diva Guest Challenge ~ #261 Stacked Bijou

Up to my usual tricks and posting this late as usual. But no matter, I actually have been keeping up with the challenges, just not posting because for a bit I couldn't find my camera. But I found it now and wouldn't you know it, the only challenge that I can find to photograph is the one for this week.  I had a great time with this for many reasons...I have tons of paper around the house and getting it all out and trying to decide what colors would go with what was actually a pleasure. The palette I selected probably doesn't go together all that well, but I liked the colors.

Anyway, the Diva had a Guest posting the challenge this week; Jane Reiter, CZT. She proposed a very unique challenge this week for us. We were to start with a Bijou in the center or at least paper the size of a Bijou, 2 x 2. Then cut each layer 1" bigger than the last and stack them. So here is my take on it:

 This is a straight on picture of my stacked challenge and it really is shaded more intensely than it looks here. I love these colors together because to me, they are quite earthy. I have several more layers cut out and ready to go because I had such a wonderful time with this. And I just noticed that I took my picture before I signed it. Oh well, I have now signed it and dated it on the back. I may actually put this one in a frame because I really do like the way it turned out.

I decided to add a closeup picture of the different tangles I used. On Bijou, I used Sinchun. I love the way this one turned out, even though it took me many, many practice pages before I got it looking the way I wanted.  Next one is Organic ... love the way it flows.  On the orange is Abundies, yet another favorite. The green is D'rua and a few Molygon next to it. The outer frame (purple paper) is Oybay. I love drawing that one too, this one is rather plain and not embellished much, but it works for me.  Anyway, hope you liked it this week




There are many more beautiful pieces to check out at the Diva's blog. Click here to take you to her blog and check them out for yourself. Any feedback is always welcome for mine or any of the other artist's work. Thanks for stopping by!