Diva Challenge #182 - A Study in Stripes X2

First off, I would like to thank everyone for their kind words last week.

Second, keep the well wishes coming, because school started today. Six classes, 17 semester hours, five days a week. So far, so good, as my Monday classes are Chemistry (which I really enjoy.)

I have two entries for this week's Diva Challenge of Stripes. The first one I actually did last week while I was at the Tangled Expressions Group meeting up in Anaheim with Sharla Hicks. She has been doing a lot of black on tan tiles, and I thought I would like to play with them.

I really like the way it looks, although it seems rather stark with my tendency toward more angular line. The second one I did today, going alone the same stripe lines. While the lines are pretty regular, I think it has a bit of a different look.

The pearl effect is done by laying down a little graphite and blending it, then burnishing over it with the Zenstone. Neato, eh?

Ok...I have to read for tomorrows class (haha...I am always last minute.)

Stay Crazy My Friends,

Char

Catching Up...Diva 181, 179, and a Peek at the Second 176

ok, I am a bit behind. Admittedly, it has been a rough last couple of weeks. Another trip to Florida to see my sister-in-law, Marie, as she continues her brave battle with cancer. Dealing with the suicide of Robin Williams. And to top it all off, one of my Army buddies and her husband (also a veteran) were killed in a freak motorcycle accident, leaving behind 2 small children.

This would be enough to get anyone down, but dealing with, and living with, depression is a tough roads sometimes. It can greatly interfere with your desire to do anything, much less anything creative. But, I have found that if I can get started, especially on a tile, I can get out of it a little. That's where the prompts from the Diva, Adele Bruno, and Square One (on FaceBook) have been a godsend. I don't have to think about what to start (the hard part) and can get into the mindfulness.

So with that being said, I've made a lot of effort on a few projects that required minimal mental effort. I am almost done "up cycling" our dart board case (icky old Miller Lite thing,)  which, of course, I had to add some tangles to. I'll post the finished product next week.

I got out this week's Diva Challenge #181, with the theme of Water. I went to the beach yesterday, and it was rather soothing listening to the sound of the waves crashing. I hope you can see some watery-ness in my Mooka.  Signo UM-153 pen in blue, Signo Angellic in light blue, and General's Chalk Pastels (white, light blue and indigo) on Renaissance Tan tile.

I did get some Bijoux done, but I was on the road when I did them, so I didn't get them posted. But...here they are!

I really love doing these. I will often draw Bijou on several tiles in different positions with my dip pen, and after they dry I tangle him into someplace. I love that these have given me the impetus to try some tangles I don't normally use as well.

Speaking of Bijou, since he sends us tiles in these adorable little tins, I found one at JoAnn that fits 3.5 inch tiles perfectly...check it out.

I had "colored" 2 tiles to use for Diva's Challenge 176: BYOB, but I only finished one in time for posting that week. I have now finished the 2nd one. Here is the before pic again:

So this is the wine stain on the left on Renaissance Tan.

I think it came out pretty cool. I was on a Cadent-esque tangent that week, after doing this one for Square One:

And contenting off my Initials from Diva #178: Duo of my initials, I did this cute frame from Michael's dollar rack with all C and K tangles:

Whew...I think that catches me up for now!

Stay crazy!

Char