News from ...

I made it back after a busy and friend-filled week! My English friend and former colleague Sonia drove up from Atlanta for a visit. An amazing teacher and artist, she caught me up on all that's going on in her home town, but also England, Canada and Jamaica, where she recently spent time with her family. In between our marathon chats--we hadn't seen each other for 4 years!--we got together with other friends, from North Carolina, but also Mexico and France. And in between those reunions, we hit the Scrap Exchange, my favorite up-cycling place to find any "scrap" you can imagine, be it textile, paper, metal, glass, plastic or wood. Sonia sews beautifully, and snagged some gorgeous fabrics. I picked up some lace, a chalkboard, some chalk, a mosaic mirror....and of course, my favorite, rubber stamps. Yesterday, we went to an estate sale in my neighborhood. More foreign flair, as the owners were selling their treasured mementos of years in China, Indonesia, India, Thailand and then some. I managed to limit myself. After all, I just downsized 2 years ago, and really don't have space! Sonia found a camel blanket to hang on the wall, since camels in Atlanta stay pretty warm, and some more fabulous hand-woven fabrics. This was so much fun!
This morning, I finished a page in my art journal for the Martha Graham quote: "Age is the acceptance of a term of years, but maturity is the glory of the years." I wanted to splatter black gesso to give it an aged look. Ha! Now I understand why artists have studios ;)

Inspired by Zentangle Project Pack 03

Thank you, Ria Mattheusen, for the string art you shared on your blog recently. Here's my first try. We'll see what this turns into! I love the technique. The shape remind me of calla lilies, a favorite flower. 

And no post would be complete without a tea bag! This one is stitched onto some fabric:

Inspired by creationscee youtube tutorials

Thanks for your visit! Wishing you a multicultural week!

Café ou thé?

While I've been continuing my gratitude journal, I haven't done a lot this week. I spent a fun four days with my daughter, while her husband was working in the Netherlands. (We figured the last mother-daughter time we had was 21 years ago!) She spoiled me with a shopping trip, pool time, a special trip to her mother-in-law's magnificent garden and a wonderful Italian restaurant among other things. And, of course, there was time with my grand-dogs! Stella, the latest addition to the family, is a 10-month old pit bull rescue. She is about the most loving dog I've ever known! So much energy for cuddles and kisses! The only time I was able to get a good picture was when she came to do yoga with me, and fell asleep on the mat!

I especially love Mary Lou's shade gardens 

When I came back home on Thursday, I decided to pick up my art journal, which has not seen a lot of action of late. I grabbed a used tea bag and a used coffee filter, and after much hesitation, applied them to the page with some medium matte. The quote came from Robin Wright.

On Friday, I grabbed another tea bag. I took an old Bijou tile and put it inside, then applied matte medium.  (I recently discovered the "Before the Landfill--Crafty Recyclers" team on sparkpeople.com. Looking forward to discovering more things to recycle!)

Thanks for stopping by! Have a lovely week.

All tangled up!

I finished it!

Project Pack 03

This was a challenge! I struggled with the "tool" for drawing ribbons, with making the "fold" in the ribbons, with filling in the space. (I considered adding some background "ghost tangles" in pencil, but  decided to hold off.) It still seems like it's missing something to "tie" it all together, as I saw in Shelly Beauch's frame and background behind the ribbons. Adding color with water color pencils was lots of fun. Time will tell if I move on to the Renaissance project. Stay tuned!

This week in our Zentangle SparkPeople Team, we've been looking at Step 5 of the Zentangle Method...tangle! This is such a personal topic, since this is where your personality and creativity really shine through. The good news? There is a plethora of patterns to choose from. The bad news? There is a plethora of patterns to choose from! You really have to hone in on your desires and needs at this point. Remember steps 2 and 3, where you spent a few moments centering? What did you find?  Need to try something new? Need to focus on your mindfulness? Need to create comfort? Need to explore the familiar with new eyes? Once you've centered yourself, you may want to consider the following options:

• For something new, there is a myriad of sites for new tangles. The latest addition is tanglelist.com.
• For focus, try a monotangle, or duotangle, with one of the basics, like crescent moon or hollibaugh, and focus on synchronizing your breath and your strokes.
• For comfort, take a favorite, or mac n' cheese tangle. (To help with this, Maria suggests making a list of your 10-20 favorite tangles.)
• For a new perspective, take a familiar tangle and tangleate, using my "What if?" approach. (For example, with a grid tangle, what if you use it as a ribbon, or a fragment, or with wonky lines, or with embellishments, or as a checkerboard, or as a string?) The possibilities are endless!
• And if you just don't know what you need? Choose a random tangle from your list of favorites. If they're numbered, you might want to use a die or a "random number generator", which you can find on tanglepatterns.com.

These are just a few ideas. Tangle challenges are great, too. Although some of these are now defunct, the sites are still active, so you can easily access past challenges. (See the right side bar for a list.) Facebook has countless challenge groups, too.

How do you approach Step 5?

A quick note from the garden: no new stars this week, apart from the baby cardinals in a nest outside our window! No photo, as their mom has hidden them well! 

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be visiting my daughter next week, and a dear friend the following week. Hope to see you again soon!

Dots, border, string! And coffee, of course!

While I haven't finished my Project Pack 03 tiles, I have been exploring dots, borders and strings! In our Zentangle SparkPeople group, we focused on how we can use these simple steps of the Zentangle Method to enhance our mindfulness. For example, when I place the 4 corner dots, I always think of  a compass, and ask myself, "Where am I right now? Physically? Mentally? Emotionally?" This simple centering exercise continues when I draw my border and string. "What are my borders today? Who has drawn them? Am I comfortable jumping any of them? " (While I don't always use dots, borders and strings, I try to be conscious of where "I am" at that moment. If I feel like I really need to slow down and be more mindful, I take time to go through this process.) These steps are really important when working in my daily gratitude journal.

I continue to explore using "trash" for my Zentangle work. I recently posted a used tea bag that I put on a card for my sister. Here are two more pieces. 

Pre-strung Zendala traced onto a used coffee filter

Used tea bag with bird stamp and a bit of Cat-Kin, mounted on my handmade paper

I don't really know what I'm going to do with these! Feel free to leave me your suggestions!

My garden is getting a lot of my time and attention now that summer is here. Here are the latest blooms.

Canna

Cone flower with pollinator. See the pollen on her legs?

Crepe Myrtle

Butterfly bush

Black-eyed Susan

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you again soon. In the meantime, see the beauty around you.