Congratulations Laura!

In case you haven't heard the good news. Zentangle Diva, and all around cool chick, Laura Harms has an awesome blog that is nominated for an award. Not just any award, but for having the Most Fascinating Blog of 2011 in the Teaching Category. Surf on over to her blog to check it out and also take a moment to cast your vote. In addition to being a wonderful Mom, gifted artist, and fascinating blogger, Laura creates the weekly Zentangle challenge that I often participate in and occasionally post here on my blog. This week's challenge, #54 in the series, is to incorporate purple into the design. Since purple is my favorite color I'm definitely participating in this one and in honor of Laura's nomination I even promise to take a few pics and share what I do with you. Good luck Laura and Congratulations!

Heartbreak

Saturday night the New Orleans Saints lost their bid for another chance at the Superbowl. They ended up on the wrong side of a nail-biter. While the loss brings disappointment, it is difficult to be sad after watching such an exciting game. I'll watch the remainder of the playoffs, but now my sights are on February 3, 2013 and watching the Saints play IN the Superbowl game that will be played IN the New Orleans Superdome. You've got to believe!

Back to the dentist

Sunday afternoon, while enjoying a sweet, sticky and tasty treat that I had no business eating in the first place, an old crown came off of a tooth. My dentist was able to see me Tuesday afternoon and I left sporting a temporary crown that was supposed to sustain me the two weeks until a permanent crown could be constructed. Lat night the temporary crown popped off. This time I was being good. Having just finished a modest meal of lima beans, I was enjoying a small handful of dark chocolate covered raisins. I am befuddled to understand how a lowly raisin loosened a crown, so I surmise that the problem is the result of substandard dental cement that was intended to hold the prostheses in place. I am tempted to launch into a diatribe about the deterioration of society evidenced by inferior products and services--no worries, I've decided to refrain. Instead I will cling to optimism.

Happy Wednesday

My 50th Year

In December I marked my 50th birthday. Contrary to the stereotypical "Over the Hill" outlook that some people adopt at this life juncture, I have embraced my 50th year with gusto. I am full of excitement and expectation as I anticipate the wonderful opportunities and adventures that will present themselves to me over the coming months. I was reminded tonight that my greatest accomplishments are ahead of me. I am so blessed. I look forward to sharing what unfolds.

Welcome 2012!

Greetings my friends. I hope that your 2012 is off to a great start. I've spent today relaxing, doodling and sipping a few cups of my warm vanilla cream concoction that I told you about in my last post. I have not set any resolutions this year. Somehow the pressure gets to me and I invariably fall short. Instead, this year, I have made the decision to be more disciplined in several areas of my life--that includes sharing my art with you. Here are a few pieces that I finished over the past few months. Nothing particularly special or inspiring. I think the two with the triangle strings were my efforts to respond to a weekly challenge. Bottom line...even though I have been out of touch, all is well. Life is good.

Other news, you know what a Saints football fan that I am. They one their first playoff game of the season in a battle against the Detroit Lions last night. I say battle, but they only seemed to have to dig in and fight during the first half. The Saints blew them off the field during the second half. Ahhh, what a sweet win. Next week the Saints are on the road and will face the 49-ers. I can hardly wait. Until next week, PEACE.

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!