Zensdays: Challenges....last week of May!

I'm off to a sluggish start this week on challenges. But I have my diva challenge done and will add more if I get them done. This week Laura had an interesting idea. Only use tangles with straight lines which I thought was a very clever challenge. Because there are oodles of straight lined tangles that if you take notice really have a curvy look to them just depending on how those lines come together. Paradox which I used as a border around Weben is one of those tangles. I have to admit I didn't put my thinking cap on to go down that road even more, but rather I wanted to try a new tangle (hence Weben) and then I vowed that my next opportunity I would utilize a tangle that I love to work with (hence Paradox). Paradox is done with all straight lines and this week I did the "columns" variety rather than the fans application of Paradox. I don't really make a habit of looking at the other challenge postings on the diva's site until after I post my challenge, but I am thinking this time around it will be fascinating to see what others have done. So follow the link above and see what's happening there and do give it a go and join if you get the chance. Everyone seems to be so supportive, so if you don't get the chance to tangle this week at least leave a comment or two for those who like some encouragement. (Which BTW is most of us!)

Also if you want an interesting read this week, stop by the Toula Boula site... Becky Robertson has some very thoughtful insights on her Monday's Muse regarding creating. As a teacher I am always interested in knowing how others approach creating and the perception of perfection and how to deal with our own and our student's creative vicissitudes. This is week four of her Love Notes challenge and an opportunity to make a card for someone you care about. I hope to have the time to do a birthday card for a friend!

If you would like to view Wayne's diva challenge click HERE to view his Flickr site with his latest creation.

I told Sarah at hungrycorgistudio.blogspot.com that each time I see her blog I remember years of pleasure with our corgis.

Our daughter is visiting this weekend and she just turned 31 this month! In honor of her visit I am posting a pix of her with her Corgi (one year old).

She is now pregnant and we are looking forward to years of fun with grandchildren and maybe even more Corgis in our lives.

One Step Cloisonné

This technique is called one step cloisonné and is really quite simple to do. The feather stencil  (LG760) is paste-embossed the regular embossing paste (DEP) onto a decorative paper. Then when it is dry the clean stencil was repostioned onto the feather and it was stenciled with aqua pigment ink. Leaving the feather stencil in position the spiral dots stencil (LX 7029) was positioned on top of the aqua feather and stenciled with varying colors of purple pigment inks. (Remove the stencil at this time.) The advantage of the pigment ink is that is stays wet for awhile so now the Deep Impressions embossing powder was sprinkled on top and heated with a heat gun. Be sure to leave the paper flat and not hold it at an angle because thicker powders like this can slide while you are heating them and slip onto the paper. Repeat the process with the Hello stencil (LS96). The feather and the hello are nice and shiny and thick on this beautiful background paper...you can see the shininess, especially on the shaft of the feather and the hello. Fun to do and lots of kudos from friends who receive this beauty in the mail.

All of the linked items are from the www.stencilwithstyle.com site.

Winners for the Showers of Showers: April Challenge

OK...so it looks as if we missed posting the random winner for Showers of Showers/April Challenge. 

Sorry!!! 

Our winner for April is Leanne S. #3 

and this month we are also choosing a commenter: 

that winner is Burning Rubber

Please choose a Dreamweaver stencil and email me your snail mail address at lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com and we will get those off to you poste-haste!

Zensday's New Challenges

I'm posting this for two different challenges. The Diane Clancy challenge for S-T-U of the ABCs challenge. 

I used Starmap, Ticking and Undling...the three together make a window on the universe with the Undling as flowing curtains and the Ticking as an unraveling valance over the Starmap.

I also made this do double duty for the diva's #218 challenge of "White on Black". I used a Sakura white gel pen...it helps if you use a lighter pressure and keep moving, or the ink tends to puddle or blur. I used 80# card stock which is a black linen that I happened to have on hand. The diva, Laura Harms, is giving us the choice of doing the white on black or the opportunity to do a ZIA with a found object. Would love to do something with that, but not sure when I'll have time...it might not happen until next week. The tangles used were: Starmap, Ticking and Undling. Go to tanglepatterns.com to find the step-by-step instructions from the creators of these patterns.

Also Becky Robertson at Toula Boula is giving a challenge to make a card for someone you love and post it on her Monday's Muse. This month her Monday's Muse is called "Love Notes". Click HERE if you are interested in knowing more, she has a beautiful website and blogs regularly, she often posts to the diva's challenges and has some interesting information on this that and the other, an enjoyable read because she really writes well. The card can be made with altered art, fine art, stencils, rubber stamps or pretty much any medium you want to use as long as it's a card for someone you care about. Mine is for a friend who's been going through a difficult time. The "friend" tag was done with shrink plastic. The daisy stencil (LL548) was done with the double glitter technique and the raindrops stencil (LJ905) was paste-embossed with pearlescent embossing paste (DPP) on top of acetate then adhered over the top of the glittered card. If you are interested in the Double Glitter technique email me at lynell@dreamweaverstencils.com and I will send you the instructions in a pdf format. The links for where to find the stencils in this paragraph go to my Mom's website stencilwithstyle.com

Hoping you have a wonderful time tangling and stamping and stenciling this week! Would love to hear your comments. Wayne just finished his post for the diva's challenge #218, so here is his Flikr link.

P-Q-R Challenge for DC

Finally getting around to doing my alphabet challenge this week for Diane Clancy and Zandypant's weekly challenge. This week was PQR and I used Popsicles (the poppies), Quib (the greenery) and Riverstones.

I used a combination of coloring materials and when I do that it's always a learning experience. "Always be willing to try something new" is my motto and of course when you do that there are bound to be a few glitches. I think the part that is the hardest when applying color on top of the black ink is that it can make your ink a bit muddy, so I had to go over some areas a second time. I was using bristol board and it does pretty well with the watercolor pencils and accepting moisture, but if you get too rambunctious there can be issues....mine were a couple of overworked areas, but lessons learned and hopefully more patience will be in my future attempts. If I did the Riverstone tangle again I would make the stones more oval so they don't look quite so much like the tangle called Tipple. So that is what I learned. But one of the reasons I have been enjoying this particular challenge is that I can control what I do for tangles and I wanted to be pushed to try some different ones. So there you have it. 

If you want to see Wayne's P-Q-R alphabet click HERE. Just took a peek at it myself and am amazed. I am also planning on doing Toula Boula's card challenge for a loved one, so stop back later if you get the chance, and take time to see her blog and join the fun if you get the chance. Still haven't had the chance to try the tangles Static for Daniel's challenge, but I am still hoping to have time to try it. Thanks much for your encouraging comments.

A question for you that love color. Which watercolor pencils do you have and which do you like the best. I'd love to get some more of the Ink-tense, but they are pretty saturated pigment-wise. Love to have your feedback.

Thursday's Dream Schemes: The Frugal Frigate

This card by Laura Drahozal, who has been on the Dreamweaver Stencils design team since it's beginnings, reminded me of a wonderful Emily Dickenson poem that often pops into my head whenever I hear or see the word "Frigate" (of course an old fashioned word for ship). Here's her poem:

There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry-

This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll
How frugal is the chariot
That bears the human soul

Reading has always been a wonderful escape for me and this poem says it all, doesn't it? Imagining and creating is very similar in my life, it really puts the mind in a relaxed state and the process doesn't cost a dime, pretty inexpensive therapy. 

Since I love this creation so much I asked my mom if she would offer the Frigate stencil and the Mermaid rubber stamp as a kit with some quality polyshrink plastic. The mermaid is of course much larger than you see on this piece of shrinkie. She did add a piece of shrink plastic to the kit that is high quality. I had  purchased some at a local big box store recently and it was horrendous and shrunk in a very uneven wonky way. So she has added a piece that is much better and worth using. Go to her Stencil with Style site if you are interested in the discounted kit. If you would like the step-by-step instructions HERE is a link to Laura Drahozal's post  from a few weeks ago. Beautiful job Laura!

Just a quick note to let you know that Wayne and I will be teaching a Sten-tangle class at the Cracker Jack Store in Redlands CA on Wednesday, June 3 at 5:30-7:30PM.  Contact the store for more details if you are interested in taking the class: 909 793 2200.

This quatrafoil stencil (LX7010) design was paste-embossed onto black paper with silver embossing paste (DSP) and then after it was dry Wayne used a variety of patterns and a micron pen to sten-tangle the image. Wayne is a certified Zentangle Teacher and I always learn a lot when I co-teach with him. Hope to see you there!

Zensdays: Dex and Bonzo = 35

This week the diva's challenge is a duo-tangle using Dex and Bunzo. (I realize I spelled it wrong in my title, but won't fix it because it will mess with the URL for the linky tool...oops.)  Read Laura Harm's post and join the fun on her blog. Yes, she chose two tangles which symbolize her 35th birthday. Hope you have the best ever Laura... I remember those 30s as being some of the most fun with my young daughter. And you certainly have a blessed family to celebrate life with, thanks for sharing their ups and downs with us. Glad Artoo is better.

I have never done Bunzo or Dex before.  If you are interested in giving them a try go to www.tanglepatterns.com to learn the easy step-by-step techniques. It was very fun, but the straight lines in the smaller Dex squares were a bit exasperating to me. Putting the design at an angle made me relax more and ignore the equal and straight syndrome. I couldn't resist adding color...I think I have the attitude that if I am not quite sure what to do then maybe throwing some color on it will make me happy and sure enough I felt better after playing with color.  I used LePlume markers because they were what was on hand. Then shaded with the Inktense watercolor pencils by Derwent. 

Sunday I also joined Daniel's Tangle-ation Vocation challenge using Mooka and am posting it again to encourage others to join his challenge. This week he is putting forth the challenge for the tangle Static, which I probably won't get around to until later this week. But I will give it a try. I have to admit that doing more challenges is getting me into trying more tangles.

Submissions: MNO-Challenge and Mooka Challenge

Ah....last week was busy and I am just now getting my ABC challenge done. I worked on it this weekend and we were doing MNO last week. Better late than never is my motto:M is for MUMSY (which I thought was perfect for Mother's Day), N is for NAVAHO which seemed to make a nice background and OVY had such a nice feel for a unique "ribbon" for my card. I am also entering this card in a challenge by Becky at her ToulaBoula blog. She is encouraging a "card" and I thought my MUMSY creation looked like a gift package and perfect creation for a card, so there you have it. 

I used the Inktense watercolor pencils by Derwent, (mostly on the Mumsy flower) which I like but am a novice at using them ...it seems like there are never enough colors (we have 24). On the background I used the LePlume pens...I love the tips on these they are so easy to get into tiny places where you want fine fine detail. Again not enough colors, but I guess that is one thing you just build with time or you purchase a large set. I like having a case or some way of storing them, so it is always tempting to get the case for them. On the OVY I mostly used Prisma Color pencils because it had the colors I wanted. I would like more colors, but would like to have another try at a different brand. If anyone has tried the Prisma Pencils and uses something else as well, I would love to hear your thoughts on what you like and why. Here is my piece M-N-O creation and I am reposting the piece I did with Mooka from Daniel's Tangle Corner challenge...this young man is in his teens and loves to tangle so I think it's nice to join when I can. Love it when younger people take the initiative to be not only creative but promote it as well. Yeah! Daniel!

Mooka with Tipple colored with Inktense watercolor pencils.

ZENSDAYS: May the fourth be with you...zen challenges!

Well it's the first Monday of the month challenge with Laura Harms (the diva) and highly recommend that you go to her site to get the full impact of her first week in May challenge. The first Monday is always a UMT (use my tangle) challenge...where she randomly chooses someone's tangle and this month the tangle is "Brella" by Bunny Wright a CZT from Canada. May is famous in Laura's household because they all love the Star Wars movies and seeing her tangle creation which is a wonderful ZIA by Laura is truly a must do. Today Wayne's Brella tangle is Star Wars themed as well....go to his Flickr site to enjoy his fun creation. I have to admit that in 1977 when the first Star Wars movie came out Wayne and I were going to college in the Chattanooga Tennessee area and had no clue how that movie would change the sci-fi movie arena.  As you can tell by my ZIA above, I just went down my own road and did loads of variations on Brella and only a couple of them were true to the original tangle...so be sure if you want to know more visit tanglepatterns.com for the step-by-step instructions. I used the LJ811 grid stencil to trace 16 of the squares and then started playing. Well, that is how it went down, I let my pens and colors dictate the end result. I used my Prisma Color Pencils on some of them, and the Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils on others...there's a learning curve there and I haven't reached the comfort zone yet, but had fun and that's more important to me than stressing about whether or not something was perfect. 

I am also doing the ABC challenge for a few weeks with Diane Clancy and Carolien (Zandipants). This week is JKL and the above tile is done with Jujubeedze, Knightsbridge and Laced.

Before the end of the week I hope to participate in Daniel's Tangle-ation Vocation and this week his challenge is MOOKA! I made Wayne try to guess which tangle Daniel had put forth as a challenge and one of my clues was..."a tangle I have never tried"...I actually am very excited to give it a go! Come back to see if I get it done.

YEAH...I finally did MOOKA! Of course the first is my ink version and then below I've posted the Inktense version of it. Thank goodness for Wayne standing by giving me instruction on the shading. That is something that I am lacking due to all the years of stenciling where you don't really have to shade to create the shape. Of course Zentangle is an art form just done in black and white with pencil shading if you want to add it, but I didn't on this first one. The second one is considered a ZIA or Zentanlge Inspired Art...hence the shading with color