It's finally over!

This probably doesn't matter to you, but today I finished watching 29 days of cycling in France. It all began with the men's Tour de France, from July 1st to the 24th, followed by the women's Tour de France, from July 24th to the 31st. (This was a new women's tour, after some 30 years without.) I watched approximately 4000 kilometers, broken into 27 segments of roughly 140-180 km a day, or 2 1/2 hours a day of televised coverage. (I never got to see the beginning of the segments, just the second half, but that's probably a good thing!!!) When I told Lar it was "finally" over, he reminded me that I would be delighted to see its return next year!

I hope to make good use of my newly retrieved afternoons! Tangling sounds great ;)

Even with all that TV time, I did manage to do some tangling. The Tangle of the Week is Noodle , by Angie Gittles, CZT. I re-discovered this one while looking for ideas for the Meals on Wheels cards. It was so comfortable for my hand, I stayed with it all week. In the following two tiles, I also pulled out some Glaze pens for a little shine and 3D effect.

One of the cards for our Meals on Wheels friends

In my journal

Apart from Noodle, I enjoyed working with two tiles precolored with Lindy's Magicals. The first was after a study of one of Debbie New's tiles. The second was pure relaxation after finishing all my cards.

Have a lovely week!

Easter eggs in July?

It rained this week! In the midst of seemingly unending heat advisories and high humidity, the sky burst

open. On my walk in the cool forest the next day, new mushrooms surprised me at every bend!

Don't these look like Easter eggs?

Pink and orange and yellow beauty

As is often the case, my forest forays inspired my tangling. I made some backgrounds for my Meals on Wheels cards using Lindy's Gang magicals in pinks and yellow-oranges. I tangled these cards with a Sharpie, some Koi watercolor brush pens and an orange / silver Gelly Roll Shadow pen. Browsing through tanglepatterns.com, I tried to choose patterns that felt good to my hand and had a certain flow. I rediscovered some oldies but goodies, and discovered some new ones. I've finished about half of them so far. Going through the patterns in alphabetical order (with the 2021 e-book guide) was relaxing and fun. I rarely take time to do that. But there were so many tangles! It felt like wandering in the forest among all the new mushrooms! Surprises everywhere!

In my journal, I kept it pretty classic in black and white.

Patterns: Saturday and Hirari. 

I love the ruffled feel of these two together. 

They remind me of my Rose of Sharon bushes in bloom.

Pattern: The top was an attempt at ING with leaves.

It came together at the bottom, after I looked at the

step-out!

My pink and orange tiled were originally intended to

be seashell-like. But that changed when I tried it on the

2-inch square.

My string was drawn from the Art Raffle rap. 

What hidden surprises have you found on your path this week?

So are you!

When I sat down to write my blog post this morning, I still didn't really have a theme in mind. Usually, when I look at my art for the week, there's something. Maybe the overriding theme could be this: Even when we don't see it, there is creativity in each and every one of us. Drawing, painting, coloring, cooking, writing, supporting friends and family, music, humor, organizing, gardening, dance, and more! Whatever it is, it is a powerful force, and a wonderful gift.

From an Eni Oken Art Raffle draw

 If you're not familiar with this app,

it can give you a path to follow

 when you're not sure about what to tangle.

And it's free!

Summer oblige, flowers, blooms, and leaves seem to be everywhere in my pens! And they love to be gathered into bouquets, no strings necessary!

I-Wings and Apacore patterns, and a quilting pattern

Spud, Ditto and Printemps patterns in a "Whats-Itz" composition from 7F5R Studio

Oleasligero and Fall Dance patterns and more!

My new journal cover, with Really? , a new pattern

Another Art Raffle draw

This week's Meals on Wheels cards, with Partay! pattern

Remember: You are a powerful creator. So do something AWESOME today!

Due to increased call volume...

Do you enjoy talking on the phone? Have you ever thought of making it a career?

For 12 years, I taught English as a foreign language over the telephone. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know my students, who were all adults with interesting jobs and lives. Their training with me was through their company, and those ran the gamut from agriculture to zoological research!

Once I moved back to the States and ended my work on the phone, I developed an aversion to talking on the phone, unless it was with family and friends. My ear said, "Enough!"

This week, I had to spend hours on the phone with customer service reps, or with their lovely recordings.

If you're like me, once you hear ,"Due to increased call volume..." you feel your shoulders tense, your blood pressure increase, and your body begin to go into fight mode! I decided I was going to find some joy in my wait time. I picked up a tile and started to draw. And by the time my service rep picked up the phone, I was relaxed and pleased with my use of the time. (So grateful for that speaker button!)

In my meditation this morning, the question asked, "Faced with a dreaded task, how can I create a space for some joy while I complete it?" Can you use the time for tangling?

Here are my tiles:

Wishing you joy while you wait for those customer service reps!

The heat goes on....

In previous posts, I've mentioned using Zentangle to remember a favorite place or experience. During the summer of 2020, I chose patterns that reminded me of the beach, or the ocean, or seashells to take me away from the monotony of the pandemic. And it worked beautifully!

This week, with the continuing heat, I chose cool blues and greens for my cards for our friends at Meals on Wheels. I tried tangling with watercolor brush pens, then repeating the lines with a fine-tipped Sharpie. I really enjoyed the blurry, underwater look that it created. So much so that I made 55 of them!

In my journal, I continued this color scheme.

This distress ink background became more gray than green, so I added pink and purple :)

Have a great week! (And a Happy 4th to those who celebrate it!)