Diva #169: Wheels in the Sky and a Few String Things...

Whew...for school being out, this has been a busy week!

First, I'll give you what you came here for: The Diva. This week, Laura said to use circles for the string. Still being a bit...stringaphobic...I opted to do a bit of creative watercoloring using some pretty pearlescent water color paint and...wait for it...a spool of thread.

On a watercolor paper postcard...I spattered and stamped and tangled. Think the Diva dancing in circles...and diva dance and knightsbridge and sharla-rella (Sharla Hicks' variation of Indy-rella.)

Fun, eh?

So now for some String Things. I kinda blew it for getting #41 in on time.  I was OCD-ing on those Van's from last Saturday. (Check out this post if you missed them.) So here is my pretty from that week that didn't make it on the web listing.

Of course, this week I am on time, but I am going to post it here anyway. #42 is a mono-tangle of Knightsbridge. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Not pleased that my scanner isn't working at the moment and I had to photo it and my Diva this week...

And yes, I am stuck on cycle fill this week...

It's Gotta Be the Shoes...

So today I finished what I at first thought to be a daunting task. I did my first tangles in 3D.
And not just any 3D. I did SHOES. (Go big or go home I guess.)

So a little background first. I have been tangling for precisely a year this week. I am going to CZT in a couple weeks (Certified Zentangle Teacher course.) I have been pretty doubtful of my skills in this area at times, but I keep on keeping on.

I have a friend who works at the local Van's store at the mall here, and he gave me a coupon when they had their friends and family deal. So I thought to myself...self...Vans are pretty cool shoes...but pretty expensive...are you sure you want to tangle a pair? And being myself...I answered...SURE! (at already on sale and some percentage off anyway!)

So I pick out a pair in denim blue with white stars (think...pre-strung!) When I got them home, I took out the laces, and took a good picture of them:

I used that picture to try out some tangles on...and test some pens...

And then...they sat on my workbench for, oh, a month. 

But, I had done a few small our of the way spaces from time to time to test out my design and the pen width. I had to order some pens, so they sat there a while longer. And after one such little test, I forgot to click the cap on my Permawriter, and it dried out (fortunately, I ordered several.)

Today, I got a wild hair, and just started on them. Before I knew it, most of one shoe was done.

And then the rest of that ONE shoe...

And I'll be darned if BOTH shoes aren't done now!

I am so totally impressed with myself now!

The particulars: I used both Permawriter 03 and Sakura Identi-pen in red and black. Are they the "right" ones? I'm not sure yet. All the information I found said so. And in all my research I did find that Sharpies fade funny and yellow, and I certainly didn't want that. So I guess only time will tell. 

I am going to let them thoroughly dry before I re-lace them, and I probably won't wear them for a while.

And that, is all the excitement I can handle for a Saturday.

Diva #168 - Making it Rain

FINALS ARE OVER! DONE! YAY!!!!!!!

And on a brighter note than that, while they did close the campus and cancel graduation (which was rescheduled to this weekend,) everything is back open and semi to normal this week. Camp Pendleton saw more than 21,000 acres burned (that's 18% of the base) and there were quite a few homes lost in this round of fires. The sad part was that some of them were man-made.

Because I was so stressed out about finals last week, I didn't tangle (boy, should I have) all week. I'm back on my game now, with Laura's challenge this week of Rain. (I wished for Rain all last week, and here it is finally!) I wanted to try out the Zenstone wash on a black tile, so this seemed like a good opportunity.

I don't know about you, but I really like it. I put down a cloudy wash of Zenstone, then tangled over it with black Gelly Roll pen. The color spots are General's Chalk Pastels. 

I also did a little tangling over the weekend trying out some map paper I have. I have been using it as wrapping paper, but I wanted to see if it would bleed through at all with a Micron. It didn't bleed at all. These are air route maps the airline pilots used to get before everything went digital, and I have a stack of them. I didn't completely tangle this one, but you get the idea. (and Laura, if you see this, that's Canadian air space!)

Still decompressing from finals, so I will be more active in the coming weeks. Only one class for me over the summer, Spanish 102, and of course, in less than a month now, CZT!

Sunday Tangles

My head is about to explode. I have been studying all weekend for ONE...not all 5...just ONE of my finals, and I had to take a break.

I have been thinking a lot about Fengle since I first saw it. It matches a tattoo I have, a symbol of a band I really like (Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers,) and kind of a reminder of Arizona.

I had also been wanting to try out putting down a layer on colored paper with the Zenstone and tangling over it, so I incorporated both here.

Not as successful as I wanted it to be, but that could be partly the paper's fault. Not quite enough tooth. I do like the ghostly shadow effect and that it looks a little leathery.

And this weeks entry for Adele Bruno's Tickled to Tangle String Thing #39 was also pretty interesting...Mooka, Meer, Msst, and Mak-ree-may. It was fun. I may be getting over my string-a-phobia. I think I am concentrating less on staying inside the lines, and more as using them as a suggestion.

Back to studying...it will all be over soon...

Diva Challenge #166 - UMT Diva Style

Ok...so in reading the comments from last weeks Diva Challenge posting, I almost fainted. A tangler and artist I greatly admire, Helen Williams, liked my work! I highly recommend her ebooks for inspiration and tangles.

So this week...UMT...Use My Tangle. Cool. This one from the Diva (Laura Harms) is actually her tangle, hence Diva Style.

This tangle has yet to be named, but I think it looks a bit like the Falkirk Wheel when it is in rotation. (And yes, I took that picture on holiday. Nerd holidays often include trips to engineering marvels.)

I also finished it off with some Nzepple and Crescent Moon. Please note the regular size of my tile this week! I am so proud of myself for that...lol.

Tickled to Tangle: String Thing #38

Ok...we've already been through this week that I am not fond of grids, and I am even less fond of angular strings...or strings in general.

I think I have string-o-phobia. Yes...fear of strings. For some reason, I am having a bear of a time seeing around them. I feel compelled to color inside the lines.

So this week's Tickled to Tangle String Thing had a very angular string. and organic rounded tangles. I am having a tough time with that. But here's what I came up with:

I'm still not really sure why I feel compelled to color some of these. Derwent Graphitints, some washed, some not washed. And that Glitter pen. I dunno how it gets in my hand, but it always does.

The stars...Mike and I are going stargazing tomorrow night, so I had to connect the dots in my Axlexa to make them stars (glittered stars, of course.)

Diva Challenge #165 - UMT "Camalia"

Psst....lean in...I have a secret...

Closer...yes...that's it...

(I am not a huge fan of griddy things...)

Ok...my secret is out. And the original Camelia is very, very griddy. (Anne Marks makes it so pretty though, see it here.) So, in an effort to make this better for me, I untangled it a bit. Oh wait...I remember...it's called variation. I variated it. :-)

And I think I said I was done with bigger pieces for a while. The last 2 I did were 6 x 6...giving me an area of 36 square inches to tangle on. Hmmm...a regular tile (3.5 x 3.5) is 12.25 square inches of tangly delight. So...if its 1.675 x 9... is only 15 (and a skosh) inches, so its really close to an official tile, just stretched out a lot.

Honest...truly...its really almost a tile. OK...more like a really long book mark. I do love that paper, and it was the last bit I had trimmed off something else. Stonehenge I think. Not quite brown, not quite grey. Takes the white pen nicely. Pulls off the black pen with ease.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, I learned Bunzo...and I really love it!

Stay Crazy My Friends,

CharKat