Warm Vanilla Cream

I'm not a big fan of chocolate, but vanilla? Ahhhhhh, I confess it is my weakness. I've always been envious of the pleasure I see on the faces of chocolate lovers as they sip cups of hot cocoa each winter. Imagine my delight when I discovered that the Starbucks menu included a tasty concoction called Warm Vanilla Cream. Sadly, the item was dropped from the menu. Undeterred, I have experimented and developed my own version, which I dare to say is even better than the Starbucks version. Top it off with a few mini-marshmallows for a tasty winter treat. I think a jar of the mix would make a great gift to the vanilla lover in your life.

Beth’s Warm Vanilla Cream Mix 2 cups nonfat dry milk powder 1 1/2 cups Splenda 1 cup non-fat dairy coffee creamer 1 1/2 cup non-fat French Vanilla coffee creamer 1 (lg pkg that makes 6.5 cups) package instant vanilla pudding (sugar-free and fat-free) Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. If a finer consistency is desired, you can run the mix through a blender or food processor. Store mix in an airtight container. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup (depending on your consistency preference) of the mix to an 8 ounce mug of boiling water.

Time for the Soul

Sunday mornings are a special, sacred time to me. Over the past few weeks I've developed the habit of watching Super Soul Sunday on the new OWN network. This morning as I watched, I experimented with the new tangelation "Bridgen" that was recently developed by Carole Ohl's better half Daved. It wasn't just the process of Bridgen that intrigued me, but also the quote and thoughts that Carole shares in the blog entry: [Carole] called to mind something Rick Roberts had said during the recent CZT seminar: "To pay attention to what is NOT there: the open space." Very often it is the stillness and not doing, that brings us to see the next step to take. Being present in the midst of that stillness, now that is where and how we connect with our soul and discover the next step to take on our life journey.

Letter Lab

This week I've been working in the lab...The Letter Lab that is. This workshop created by Lori Vliegen of Elvie Studio is a great way to polish your cursive writing skills and learn a few techniques to enhance lettering in art journals and other creative projects. This is a recent bit of practice that combines Zenspiration with cursive lettering.

Pinterest

I've been collecting gobs of doodles on one of my Pinterest Boards. Stop by and check out the collection. Some of them are Zentangle related, many others are not. I hope you find some inspiration in this ever-growing collection.

Check this out

MyOats is a new web site that raises the art of doodling to an entirely new level. MyOats is a community where people create designs using an online drawing application. These designs can be rated, downloaded, and archived. Check out my first design:

What do you think? This is primitive...just wait until you see some of the amazing art that others on the site have created. Enjoy!

Profound

I just ran across this quote over at Gypsy's Girls Guide: “How” is not the Question. How is just logistics… it’s really a matter of getting ready to say “Yes!” to the Universe. Isn't that awesome? I'm going to have to sit with this one a while. My nature has always been to take a leap of faith and plunge into new opportunities as they open to me. As I get older I am finding that I am not leaping nearly as often or as far. This quote is reminding me not to question the opportunity and that I do not need to figure out all of the logistics.

Pixie Dust Paperie

Don't miss your chance to win the October giveaway at Pixie Dust Paperie.

Way cool!

I ran across this AWESOME art journal page that seems to incorporate Zentangling in a way that I have never seen. It is quite beautiful as are most of the art journal pages found at http://artjournaling.tumblr.com This particular one is by Ingrid Dijkers.. I've now added Ingrid's blog to the list of places where I find creative inspiration. Enjoy!

Check-in

Why do I have such a struggle with routine? I was adding a few new resources to the list on the right when I realized how long it had been since I actually posted anything to this blog. Believe it or not, I do stop by very often--almost daily--and use the links to visit other blogs for inspiration. I'm still doing Zentangles. mostly in my art journal. My latest kick is mixed-media. There just are not enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do--doodle, journal, collages, paint, blog, read other blogs, experiment with ideas I learn from others....oh yea, and work to earn a living that funds all of these projects that I get myself into. Life is good!

It's WILD!

I found a new toy today. Crayola has a new product called "Wild Notes" it is basically a spiral notebook that comes with a special pen. When you write/doodle on the paper with the pen the lines are multi-colored (green, red, blue, purple, pink, orange). The colors are really intense when you shade in sections of your doodle.

The pen does not work on regular paper and using a regular pen or pencil in the notebook does not produce color--you have to use the Wild Notes pen and paper together to get the effect.

Here is a link to product information on the Crayola site:
http://www.crayola.com/products/splash/wild-notes/

WOW! I wish this had been available when I was in school--but then again, I probably would have doodle in class even more than I did.

Recent ZIA

Here are a couple of my recent tangled pieces.

Simple tangles

Here are three simple tangle patterns. In fact, they are so simple that I imagine someone else has likely used/named them already. If so, let me know and I will give proper credit where it is due. I used them as filler in a ZIA with a lot of flower and leaf patterns.

There really aren't any steps for these simple patterns. For Rayne draw a series of dotted or tiny dashes and end with the drop. The rainfall can come in from any direction. Splash is just the droplets sort of bouncing back up as they hit the ground and Puddle is a series of concentric curved lines that progressively get longer as you work out from the center. These tangles work nicely with the floral and leafy tangles.

Doodle Camp--Day 1

Doodle Camp officially begins today. There isn't anything to do yet...just unpack, get settled in our cabins and begin to get to know our fellow campers. I have that same excited/nervous feeling that I get whenever I begin something new. I know this will be a lot of fun and I will learn a lot from our camp counselor, Dawn DeVries Sokol as well as from the other campers. As usual, I am just anxious to get started and DO something. I want to prep a few of my sketchbook journal pages by painting them. I think I can at least do that tonight.

More later!

I'm off to camp

I'm not sure why I do it...I have a history of diving into a project full-force then abandoning it when I get, distracted, overwhelmed. bored, busy...???...I'm not exactly sure why. With Zentangle and this blog I want to change that behavior. I haven't stopped Zen-doodling, I've just stopped posting my work.

I've just signed on to two new projects that will dovetail nicely with Zentangle and hopefully get me back on track here.

The first, I plan to attend Doodle Camp hosted by Dawn DeVries Sokol. This summer camp for doodlers, beginning July 2, will be three weeks of doodle tips and techniques, chances to win cool prizes (you know I love contests), and lots of fun.

The second is the 2012 Sketchbook Project. I really debated with myself about this one, but decided to take the plunge because the sketchbook isn't due until January. Besides, I can begin to fill it with my summer camp doodles.

For now, I am going to kickback, relax and tangle.

It is what it is.

I may already be a winner....

So far this month I've won 3 (count em, 1, 2, 3!) different contests (See comments with previous post). I am so excited! By nature I tend to be a joyful person. Recently some typical life circumstances were beginning to weigh me down. Over the past few weeks I've been more purposeful in trying to project positivity. Now it looks like that positive energy is attracting positive results in my life...at least as far as these blog contests are concerned. [GRIN].

For some reason the phrase on those thick Publishers Clearing House envelopes just popped in my head. You know, the one that had your name blazoned across the front of the envelope. I entered another blog give away earlier today, who knows...I may already be a winner!

I won!

YIPPEE! I won the Express your Inner Pen-tivity Pentel Contest & Giveaway sponsored by Shoplet. Thank you Sandra for announcing the contest on your blog.

String Theory: Version II

This is my response to Weekly Challenge #24. It has been too long since I have participated in the challenge. I've checked in each week, and even sketched out a few tangles, but this one is the first one I have posted in a while. It is nice to have a leisurely day off to tangle.

The challenge is to only use stripes as the string. Now that I am writing about this, I'm wondering if I have accurately followed the directions. In the example, Laura's string is diagonal stripes. I have used horizontal stripes. Hmmmmm, it will be interesting to see if others diverge from the example.

You'll see I've left a good deal of white space. I'm wondering if you think it makes the piece look incomplete. I tend to fill every nook and cranny of the tile and thought I would leave some air in this one. We'll see if I am actually able to leave it alone or if I end up adding more patterns. Oh well, it is what it is!

7:00 PM Here is my second ZIA for this challenge. This time I decided to fill more of the space.

Speaking of stripes....look at the second optical illusion on this page. I would love to see someone replicate the effect in a Zentangle tile.

End of May

It has been too long since I've posted an update. May was a busy month for me. I have managed to find time to Zentangle, thankfully! May, June and July are the most hectic time of the year for me as far as work goes. Finding time to tangle is so helpful in keeping stress at bay. I haven't kept up with the weekly challenges, but I have doodled in my sketch book. Here are a couple of pieces that have helped me find my personal moments of Zen.

In honor of Mom

This is the photo that I posted to my Facebook profile to honor my Mom for Mother's Day. It was taken the day I was born. Wow, that little baby had no idea what a blessed life she had ahead of her! :-)

Why is it the we don't fully appreciate our parents until later in life? I am so very grateful for the loving, adult relationship I had with Mom in the years before she died. I loved her deeply my entire life, but did not show it as much as I should have while in my early twenties. The wonderful thing about Mom's is that they understand and continue to love us through our 'stupid years' when we are desperate to be independent 'adults'.

I love you Mom!

Happy May Day

I've neglected this blog for a couple of weeks, because I have been busy with Beth's Bookshelf. Things over there have been picking up at a rapid pace. Other bloggers and sites are linking back for book recommendations and teaching tips. I've also been invited to write a couple of guest blog posts and doing research for those pieces has kept me busy. I've managed to find time to zentangle a few tiles and hope to photograph and post them soon.

In the meantime, I want to share a pattern that recently caught my eye. It is carpet I happened upon during my recent trip to Indianapolis. I'm in the process of deconstructing the pattern into a set of instructions for a filler tangle.

Weekly Challenge #18 - EGGZZZZellent

Last week I was traveling and missed the challenge so I was anxious to do this one. I've wanted to do an egg-y Zentangle for a couple of weeks, but held off hoping that Laura a.k.a "I am the Diva" would issue an egg related challenge. This one was a lot of fun for me.

This is my first attempt...the idea was to show the egg in a basket. Remember the Easter egg hunts of your childhood and that feeling when you found your first egg? That is the memory I tried to capture in this ZIA I call "The hunt is on."

I continued to play a bit more and ended up with the next two pieces. Drawing both took me back to memories of Easter Sunday and my grandmother's house. She would already have a big bowl of decorated eggs waiting when we arrived. She was more excited than we were to hide the eggs.

When she issued the challenge, Laura reminded us of the Pysanky tradition (The Ukrainian art of decorating eggs). I'm working on another Zentangle and will put more effort into the egg design than I did on this first piece. I went to the library where I found a few great books with lovely photos of the eggs and patterns for inspiration. Here are a few of them...ENJOY!

Home Sweet Home

After a week long business trip to Indianapolis, Indiana I am soooooo glad to be home. I brought my sketchbook and a couple of pens with me, but never stopped long enough to Zentangle. I'll have to find a better way to organize my time next trip because I really missed it. I didn't even do Laura's challenge. Today I am resting and hoping to recharge my batteries for the new week. No doubt that I'll make time to Zentangle today.

It is what it is.

Imagine

I'm traveling this week and won't be able to blog, but I scheduled this post to go live in my absence. It is what it is.

Zee

I was playing around with a pattern the other day and came up with what I am calling "Zee" I think it has potential for variation used in combination with other tangles. For an example of it in use see the "Live, Laugh, Love" ZIA in the previous post.

Sweet 16: Mooka

Appropriately, Diva Laura selected the lovely new tangle "Mooka" for the Week 16 challenge. If you haven't seen it yet, Maria and Rick introduced a new, official tangle pattern in their April 3 newsletter.

Mooka looks complicated, but is actually very easy. Interestingly is it created using one, continuous stroke. The result is quite elegant. This was a fun challenge.

This first try is from my sketch journal. I did it Sunday night before I knew what the challenge would be. I was so excited when I read the Zentangle newsletter that I had to use the new tangle as soon as possible.

The next two examples were explorations of Mooka. I wish that I was as skilled as the rest of you had keeping my hand steady and keeping the distance between lines consistent. As I keep saying...practice, practice, practice will hopefully help me improve in those areas.

Now that you are getting to know me you have probably realized that my imagination far outstretches my skill. In this last piece I decided to experiment with my sparkly Sakura gel pens. The result is a bit garish in person, for once I am glad that the camera tones the image down. :-) Oh well, It Is What It Is!

As always, I am learning so much from you expert Zentanglers and welcome any tips/advice. Until next time...

Tangled Obsession.

How can such a simple practice such as Zentangle so quickly become an object of obsession? When I'm not Zen-doodling in my sketchbook, working on a new tile, maybe going back and tinkering with a piece that I thought was finished, or practicing one of the hundreds of tangle patterns, I find myself pouring over the thousands of photos other Zentanglers have posted online, or seeing patterns everywhere I look. :-)

Over the weekend I played around a bit with using watercolor pencils. Here is the result. I'll show you both the before and after. I must have put the colored pencil down to heavy, because the color is heavy even after the water wash. I see more experimentation in my future.

Qudele

I decided to put together a 'How To' for one of the the tangle variations that emerged from the Venntangle exercise. This is Quedele and an example.

Venntangle Challenge

Double the challenge, double the fun--this week ptrish40 issued the Venntangle Challenge This time the challenge is to merge two or more tangle patterns so they morph into a new pattern. My contributions turned out to be better as ideas than in execution, but still were challenging and fun. :-)

This first attempt is a combination of Adele and Quip. I call the new tangle "Qudele." The new tangle that emerged in this venntangle is my favorite of the three creations that I worked on last night.

Take two is a blending of Cadent and Quiltz into the new tangle "Quildent." In the end, the new tangle just gets a little muddy.

At the end of the night I was either punchy or bold and decided to go for a 3-fer with this combination of Claire, Finny's Florets and Pinho into "Hoclrets." Rather brassy for a newbie, don't cha' think?

More curves...I can't help myself!

I can't stop sketching curves! Here are a few more pieces of ZIA inspired by the weekly challenge. Since I had problems with my scanner I've been photographing my work. Unfortunately, I am unable to get out of my own way...thus explaining the shadow. Perhaps I could have let you think it was a skillful shading, but I'm not that good! Ha Ha

This one looks futeristic to me so I named it "Space Odyssey." What do you think if the use of wiggly lines with the Nipa tangle?

I named this next one "More curves" it is another piece that I played with early on right after the challenge topic was announced.

Finally, I call this last one "Tossed at sea" because when it was done it reminded me of an old wooden ship with sails. What do you see in this one?

I'm lovin' my curves, baby!

Diva Laura has done it again, this week's challenge: "Love your curves, baby," called on us to use only curved lines...a curved string paired with curved tangles and curved lines...WHEW! what a relief after the previous challenge to only use straight lines. I found this much easier--my pen seemed to flow across the tile (or page in some cases). Here are a few examples of the fun I'm having this week. As always, I would appreciate your feedback.

I am very pleased with how this piece turned out. I did not use a string; however all of the tangles are constructed of curved lines. Even the shapes in the center--they may look like they are made of straight lines, but I tried to make each line concave or convex. I do not have a title for this one yet.

I call this one "Going in circles." It is my first response to the challenge. I was really just playing around and I think that the lack of seriousness shines through. I drew this in my sketchbook, so the other edge (the only straight-ish lines) are the ones that I drew ti mimic the edges of a 3.5 x. 3.5 tile.

I have a few more that I have created in response to the challenge and will try to post them later.

Experiment

I have noticed that some of my fellow tanglers have created tile ensembles. One type is created by framing tiles created in workshops in 3x3, 4x4, 5x5 etc arrangements. The result is quite lovely. Another type of ensemble is created by laying blank tiles side-by-side, drawing a string over all of the tiles in the set, then drawing the tangles on each (without referring to any of the other tiles in the set). After all of the designs are complete the set is reassembled. I experimented with this second type of ensemble and the result is shown here. What do you think?

What happened to spring?

Less than a week ago we welcomed the official arrival of spring and the weather forecast for tomorrow predicts an inch of snow. This is when I really feel homesick. In Louisiana spring has fully arrived in all of her glory. When I close my eyes I see the beautiful azalea blooms that were the landscape of my childhood.

I picture the old, heirloom plants that thickly lined the fence. The bushes were so heavy with blooms that you could heardly see the leaves for the shades of fuscia, pink or lavender. Nearby dogwood and japanese magnolia trees contributed their tender blossoms to the vision creating an explosion of color everywhere.

Shades of yellow, white and green from plants and flowers who's names I have long forgotten added offerings to the scene. Ah, to be surrounded by the beauty of a Louisiana spring.

Star Gazing Part Deaux

When I got home from work this evening I was anxious to re-do the "Star Gazing" piece. (See first attempt in previous entry.) I think this one is better, but again I have spots that I do not care for. Using a straight-edge definately made a difference with the border. What do you think? I added color to version 1 and will also color this one at some point. This time, instead of using colored pencils I might give this one a watercolor wash. Hmmmm, that might be interesting.

Star Gazing

This is the result of doodling while watching American Idol last night. Perhaps I was influenced by the notion that I was watching the creation of a future star. There are parts of this that I really like, and other parts not so much. When I began, the intention was to fill the entire star space with big flowers such as you see on the points, somehow I lost that plan along the way. If I had a do-over I think I would stick to the original plan. I'm trying to hold true to working freehand as suggested by Rick and Maria; at the same time, I know this piece in particular would have benefited from the use of a ruler. I was working in my sketchbook and did use a stencil to create the initial string. I think I want to add color to this one, so I took this black and white photo so I can later compare the before and after. As always, I welcome your critique:

UPDATE

Here is the same piece with a touch of color. I used Prismacolor pencils.

I walk the line

Here are my initial attempts at the Diva's challenge. The challenge is to draw only using straight lines. As you can see, my work is rather primitive. I think that I work too quickly. If I can develop the habit of drawing in a slow, methodical way I think my stokes will be cleaner and the overall design more cohesive. Well, that is my personal critique--as a newbie to Zentangle I welcome your feedback.

I titled this first one "Constrained" as in constrained by the straight lines. The idea was for the focal point image to be tied down (held back) by the outer lines.

I elected to go very simple in the second attempt titled "Lightning Strike."

Finally, with "I walk the line" I decided to stick with straight edge tangle patterns.

A Name is just a name

I'm beginning to think that coming up with names for my ZIA is more difficult than drawing the tangles. Ha Ha here is an example of a recent creation:

"The sun also rises"? What was I thinking?

One hot mess...a.k.a Diva's Challenge #13

Oh lucky me, I picked last week to plunge in and begin participating in the the Diva's weekly challenge. Turned out that my attempts were one big ole hot mess!

For challenge #13 she pushed us to create Zentangle inspired art using our non-dominant hand, for me that meant using my left hand. WHAT?!?!?! it is difficult enough for me to draw with my RIGHT hand! Ha Ha! I was not looking forward to diving in to this piece--I doubt my attitude helped the outcome. Regardless, I'm not making any of my attempts public.

This week the new challenge is to create the design only using straight line tangles. I tend to use more curvy tangles as they can hide a multitude of sins. This is another daunting challenge for a newbie, but I WILL post something to share.

Until then....it is what it is!

Whimsical

Here are two new Zentangles from the weekend.

This first piece is called "Whimsy." It is the first time I did not feel compelled to fill the entire page. I think all of the white space sets it off nicely. There is also quite a bit of shading in this one--a technique which, of course, is lost in the scan.

I titled this second piece "Open Net." I did not set out to have the ragged edge to the netting, it just sort of happened. Once it did I thought having the fun elements floating out added a new dimension.

This and that

It was a busy weekend. As you can see I did some renovations around here at my blog homestead. I have loved purple for as long as I can remember. Speaking of purple, when I was in the 5th grade I insisted that my Mom buy me a purple outfit that I just loved. [chuckle] I can't say it was very stylish, but I wore it proudly just the same.

I also created an account on flickr:
So far the images there are the same ones that are here. I'll let you know when I post something new.

In addition to playing on the computer, I also did a lot of Zen-doodling yesterday. I haven't had time to scan anything yet, but hope to have something uploaded for you to see by the end of the day.

Wishing you the best!

Zentangle Questions

Welcome to all of my new Zentangle friends who are finding their way to my humble blog via Sandra's "Life Imitates Doodles" space. I've been quietly observing the beautiful tangles and creations that many of you have posted as I practice the art of Zentangle. I have a few questions and I hope that you will take a few minutes to share your thoughts.

1. Are you really creating your work freehand? I see lovely straight lines and am wondering if you actually lightly sketch a pencil grid on the tile before you begin. Otherwise, how do you consistently draw such straight lines?

2. From what I've read at Zentangle.com and in the books by Suzanne McNeil and Sandra Bartholomew the choice of tangles that are used in each piece is random. At the same time it looks like some tangles just go together better than others. What rule of thumb do you use when selecting the tangles that you use?

3. Related to the above question, do you plan each tile before you begin from the string to the tangles used or do you simply go with the flow?

Thank you in advance for your tips.

Tragedy in Japan

My heart is full as I think of the people of Japan and the devastation in the wake of the recent earthquake and tsunami. Nature's force has wreaked havoc resulting in a yet unknown number of deaths. It is difficult to make sense of the images that pour across the screen. I hope that the Japanese feel our thoughts, prayers and encouragement circling the globe to reach them. May they find peace in the midst of the turmoil.

B's Border

Here is another tangle that I came up with last night. My scanner is not of a high quality so the example loses quite a lot of detail. The shading is lost.

Zentangle Tile

It may not be obvious, but most of my Zentangle inspired pieces are done on full size (8.5 x 11) sheets of paper. The creators of this art form promote doodling on 3.5 x. 3.5 tiles. I like to work on a larger canvas because it is easier for me to see the detail and I can use thicker lines. I have done a few tiles, here is an example of one I completed recently.

Happy Monday

I spent the weekend playing with a few new designs. It is amazing how relaxing this practice can be. Here are a couple of the pieces that I have finished.

I named this first one "Longing for Spring"

This one is called "A bit of color"