Doodle Art (continued)

Along with the Adult Coloring Book Craze that exploded in 2015, there is a type of doodling sweeping the nation (the world, really) trademarked Zentangle. Actually, Zentangle has been around a few years and doesn't seem to be just your average "doodling". There are RULES to Zen tangling. After studying up a bit on this art form, I've come to find out my art doesn't always follow the "Zentangle rules".

Zentangle was created by Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts.  The idea surrounding Zentangle is that you set aside 20 minutes or more to draw something repetitive and abstract on a small 3.5 x 3.5 inch card (also known as a tile), with a black marker or pen (no erasers, no colors). You just let the creativity flow, and ultimately go into a comfortable, meditative sort of state. You don't draw anything recognizable, it is all abstract. There are special Zentangle patterns (over 100 of them), some quite intricate. Most can be found on the internet.

Here is my first attempt at a tangle piece.  (It's actually too large to be a "true" Zentangle, being 5x7 inches.)  My husband actually asked to take this one to his office to have on his desk.  That kind of made my day.

　
In order to teach Zentangles to others, you have to be a Certified Zentangle Teacher. There are three Certified Zentangle instructors in North Dakota.  I wish there were more because I'd really like to take a few classes.
Want to learn more? Here is the official website. https://www.zentangle.com/

While I really want to learn more about Zentangle, my art is more "doodle art".  So, this is my new "Doodle Art" box.  It has a top layer and a bottom layer that snap together.

 

 

The bottom layer holds my small binder, extra cardstock and 3.5 x 3.5 cardstock tiles that I made myself.

 

 

I found the small binder at a garage sale (score!).  I bought extra page protectors for it at Target.  The binder is divided into sections.  There is a section for step-by-step instructions, for the more complicated tangles, most of which I find on Pinterest. 

 

 

It also has pages covered with the same small squares for simple patterns that do not need to be broken down step-by-step. 

 

 

There is one final section of completed 3.5 x 3.5 cards (two per page) that I have finished doodling.  I backed these on black cardstock to help the doodles to "pop" off the page. 

 

I made my own cardstock tiles using a paper cutter and my old Creative Memories corner rounder. The actual Zentangle tiles are made with special paper and can be found in stores and online, but I only need a few at a time, so I just make my own.

 

 

Inside the top layer of my doodle art box, I have another smaller snap-box that holds my pens, pencils, eraser, etc.  I've had the Micron Pens for a very long time and some of them are close to being empty.  Sakura Micron pens are my favorite art pen, I've been using them for years, and nobody pays me to say that haha! 

 

 

I also keep a small sketchbook in the top.  This sketchbook fits in my purse and goes with me (along with a pen) to the Doctor's office or anywhere I might need to wait in line. 

 

 

This is a small tangle that I did while waiting for my daughter at choir practice.  Yup, there's a mistake in there.  Can you see it?

 

 

It has been nice to be drawing again, and I'm excited to learn more about "Zentangle" as time allows!  As I get into the doodling groove, you can expect to see a few posts about my progress in the future.

That's all for today!  Until another time, have a happy, creative day!

Doodle Art

It's been awhile since I've sat down to draw.  There have been many other hobbies occupying my time.  BUT NOT ANYMORE!!  For about a month, I've been drawing and coloring again!

 

Unless you've been living in a cave this past year, you've probably noticed the wide array of coloring books for adults popping up in local bookstores, discount stores and even at the supermarket checkout, full of highly detailed drawings of mandalas, nature settings, geometric patterns and many other subjects.  They are so cool!  Years ago, my dream was to create a "coloring book" of sorts for grownups who LOVE to color, using my own mandalas and geometric patterns.

This is one of the drawings I did back in 2007, that I wanted to include in a coloring book.

 

I never did.  Mostly because I had no idea how to go about it...Do I self publish?  Do I sell them at the flea?  Are my drawings good enough?  How would I copyright my work?

 

Another drawing from 2007 that I actually started coloring myself.

 

At least now I know the idea wasn't totally crazy...people ARE buying adult coloring books.  Not just the books, but the colored pencils, and pens as well!  Why didn't I invest in Copic, Sanford or Crayola?

 

I bought this Secret Garden coloring book, by Johanna Basford, a couple years ago.  I decided to finally go ahead and color inside of it. 

It's crazy how relaxing it is to sit and color!  I put some Waltons on the TV and colored for almost an hour!

That's all for today, until another time, have a happy, colorful day!



 

 

 

 

 

 

Art Organization

Organizational tools make my heart flutter.  I love, I love, I love them.
Sometimes I seriously think that I have so many hobbies, just so I'll have stuff to organize.  It's like a sickness, I mean check this out.

My sea shells all have little plastic compartments that they live in.  I spend more time organizing and cataloging them than I do just looking at them.

My rubber stamping stuff lives in a giant Sassaby Cosmetics Caboodle type of thing.  Again, lots of compartments for all of the little things that go along with stamping.

And don't even get me started with my children's book collection...(I think I would have enjoyed being a librarian).

Now, even my embroidery items have been organized.

But the hobby that really takes the cake when it come to organization is scrapbooking.  
The organizational companies took one look at the scrapbooking craze and jumped on it like a duck on a June bug.  They produced a wide variety of boxes, folders, binders and totes, each with a gazillion little plastic pockets and compartments to stow tons of scrapbooking essentials.  And thank goodness they did!  Scrapper girls were able to clear the dining room table of scrap supplies and feed their families again in proper style!

I used to watch QVC's Scrap and Craft day and they would have a whole hour set aside exclusively for organizational items.  There were Art Bin boxes, Solutions boxes, and totes of all kinds, ones with wheels, pockets, and flaps that opened and held all of your pens. All items that would get my heart beating faster. 




And even though I no longer scrapbook, I still love to organize my craft supplies and artwork.And these sweet organizers from Creative Memories are AMAZING for artwork and sketches!

http://www.creativememories.com/Content/Shop/Product.aspx?pr=InspectOffering&s=640218&dpr=BrowseCategory&ds=/Hierarchy/Paper%20Scrapbooking/Organizers

Back in college, I had an elementary education professor who liked the word "packetize". Everything was done in packets. There were packets of worksheets, packets of note cards, etc.  She was actually delivered to class in a packet, would unfold herself and begin to teach.   She would love this product, and would probably create an assignment around it!   I can just hear her saying, "For tomorrow class, I would like you to create 5 reading and language arts file folder games with manipulatives that can be stored in the pockets of this packet, and every pocket must be used."  (I'd have loved that assignment!)

But I use mine for drawings.
Each folder has large center pocket that can hold 12x12 paper, and has pockets of other sizes on the front and back.
Here is the front side...I labeled the photos because the pockets are hard to see.

 

 

 

And here is the back side of the file.

And then the big 12x12 pocket in the middle holds large drawings!

If you were counting along, that is SIX pockets in all!  Woo Hoo!  That's a lot of packetizing!

Until another day,
Happy Crafting and Organizing!

Coming Along

Here is how the star picture is coming along.  I need to decide what to do now about the darker blue.  Should I do all of the blue with the darker shading or leave some of it in the Non-photo Blue.  Mmmm.

 

Time will tell.
Thanks for stopping by.
Have a Creative, Happy Day!

In The Words Of Monty Python...

"And now for something completely different!"
Yes, I have switched gears from embroidery to drawing.  I don't know why I jump from one medium to the next, maybe it's creative ADD.  I can't stay with any one project for too long and I get bored. 

It's been almost a year since I've drawn or done anything creative with my pencils, and it's funny how one little thing can trigger a reawakening of creativity.

About a week ago a friend of mine posted a drawing on facebook.  Looking at it, I thought to myself, "That looks kind of familiar...I did something similar to that last year!"  So I dug through my sketches and sure enough I found this.

This was just a doodle...an exercise with my circle template gone wild.  So, I stared at it for a bit and wondered if I ever took it any further than this.  So back to the portfolio to dig a little deeper, and I found this!

It soon dawned on me that I had a star somewhere that I had created for a Christmas card that never materialized.  (An unfinished project!?  Whoa, like that never happens.)

So I dug again and found this.

Hmmm.  I wonder what it would look like if I combined the two?

The drawing is difficult to see because at this point I had only done it in pencil.  Wouldn't you know, after not having the desire to draw for so long...I finally have the creative bug and not a SINGLE working Micron pen in the house! 

Here it is "inked", but I'm not satisfied with it.  I want the design positioned differently on the paper.
So, off to the light board to trace and then off to the copy machine (thanks DH) to make some copies.  Why make copies?  I NEVER EVER color an original until I know for sure what colors work together.  Once, I did color an original and hated it, but what was done was done, the original was ruined.  Now, I always test what colors will look best together etc, etc, before I color the actual original. 

Now it's time to start coloring.  I usually do a rainbow of colors, but today I want to experiment with warm and cool colors.  Warmth in the middle.  Coolness on the outside.
Deep in the back of my mind I kept saying the verse, "Jesus Christ is the light of the world, the light no darkness can overcome."  The verse seems to connect to the picture with the light in the center and sky around it. 

Here is the drawing so far...and it is here that I sit at a crossroads.  The project isn't exactly what I had envisioned, but with 6 hours already into it, I feel the need to keep pushing it along.  OR do I start from scratch and sketch until I get it just the way I want it?  Maybe I'll do both.

Who knows how long this moment of creativity will last.  But it feels good to have the pencil case out and to see all of those happy colors lined up in a row on my desktop.

Until another day,
Have a creative day!

Hippity Hoppity Easter's on It's Way

Easter will soon be here and I'm sorry it's been so long since my last post.
Because we very rarely have people over for holidays, I usually don't decorate for any of them with the exception being Christmas.  But this year we are hosting Easter, therefore, I've been digging out my decorations and what a fun time it is.  I've also been cleaning house, organizing cupboards, and even cleaned out from under the stove (was that ever a chore!)

Today I thought I would share some of my favorite Easter things.

These are blown eggs with paper dots glued onto them like fish scales.  I made my first one ever during my highschool years just for fun.  After I married Shannan, I made a few more.  The best paper to use was from a paper note cube I'd purchased from Staples.  It had many colors as the colors melted into each other and it was swirled or twisted.  I've never been able to find another one like it (not even online) and because I've used up the one I had I can no longer make paper dot eggs.  Sad.
Then I started painting eggs.

You get the idea.  These were fun, but took lots of time.  I didn't make any of these this year.

I found these cute little deviled egg chicks on Pinterest.  I wish I knew whos blog they came from!

And how cute would these utensil carrots be for an Easter kids' table?!!  What a cool idea!

Browsing through my March 1951 Woman's Day I found many Easter related ads, mostly for shortening, and cake mixes.  This first one is for Baker's Coconut.  I appologize for the photos.  My scanner hasn't worked for years.  Until I get a new one these photos will have to do.

My Grandma Eva used to make a coconut bunny cake.  Here is a picture of my little (not so little anymore) brother and his bunny cake.  His birthday sometimes fell right around Easter, so this might've been a birthday cake.

And here's a pretty cake made with pastel toppers (candy maybe?)

And here is a Gingerbread Bunny! 

And finally, here's an ad for Swan's Down Cake Flour.  Beautiful cake!

Ha ha, the last line in the bubble makes me laugh. "A girl's best friend when she bakes for a man".  Being able to put a decent cake on the table must've been a big deal back in '51.  My husband doesn't eat or like cake (I know, crazy right?)  so my cake baking abilities were not as important in 1997 as they would've been back in the 50's.
I do wonder what the difference is between regular white flour and "cake flour".  Maybe cake flour was sweeter?  Will have to do some research.
Until tomorrow, have a Happy Day!

New Drawing

This weekend my daughter had two birthday parties to attend, so I was able to get some drawing done.  If the creativity is flowing, I just go with it, and this weekend was a good one for ideas.  I don't like to stop when I'm in the artistic groove, so the art desk became my home for many hours.

This is what I did this weekend.  It looks much similar to the ones I've been doing the past couple of years, but I don't care.  I guess these big snowflake looking things are just what I'm into right now. 

Now I have two things to decide.  Do I add the circular bridge (I did one upper right in pencil and think I like it)?  And I need to decide whether or not to color it (that's the fun part), and if so, what colors should I choose? This has been such a busy week, I don't foresee getting a chance to draw again anytime soon.  So, I have plenty of time to decide what to do with it.

Drawing Again

I'm drawing again!  For awhile it seemed that my creativity was on a vacation. That, and I was busy crafting.

I sat with a blank page in front of me for a long time, then just started doodling.  I think I was hoping to map out some sort of creative path.  I soon found one, or maybe one found me. 

Many times I talk myself out of an art project or a drawing because I get the idea in my head that if it isn't useful, then it isn't worth doing.  Like if I'm wanting to sit and color, why color a drawing that will be shoved into a portfolio never to be seen again, when I could be making and coloring file folder games for the kids, that they will actually use?  If I feel like painting I say to myself, why paint something that is not useful?  If I'm going to paint it should be a pencil box or some other useful container.  When did this happen to me as an artist!!?  I used to do all KINDS of art that wasn't functional.  I used to paint bright, colorful patterns onto wooden balls and keep in a jar, until one day I realized I didn't have room for the jar anymore.

Maybe that's it!  Living in a smaller space I have learned that things need to be functional.  There is so little room for display.  That's why I've started embroidering dish towels and tea towels, they are artsy but functional. 
What I need to do is remind myself that it isn't the product that matters, it's the process.  Doodling, painting, embroidering, all of it, are a means of release and relaxation.  So what if this latest drawing just ends up in the portfolio, forgotten.  It was fun to make and I enjoyed my day!

Art Here There and Everywhere

Back in 2006 I was busy helping to clean-out my Grandma Eva's house, after she had gone to the nursing home.  It was a stressful time for all of us.  Good memories, but still stressful.  (but more on that another day).  After a long day at Grandma's house, I came home to find my birthday present from Shannan.  A place of my very own to create and craft!  He was so sympathetic to what I was going through and wanted to do something very special for my birthday.  He searched my "favorite scrapbook spaces" folder on the computer and used different ideas from those to create a unique space in our room!  I cannot say enough how much I love having my own space!  And he was such a dear to create it for me! 



Before, I had a little desk in the corner of the room.  It was fine, but not very big.




AFTER!  A new space that covers one entire wall with lots of storage above and below and space to work.  He bought all the cabinets at Walmart and put them together in ONE day!



I love my new space.  It has changed through the years but has been a wonderful place for both Autumn and I to work and create.

This is what my space looks like today, when it's not covered with projects!

But I can't sit at a desk all the time.  So Shannan bought me a couple of portible art boards so that I can doodle in the kitchen too.

Working on a piece at the kitchen table with my portable board from Utrecht.  Music is a must so I borrow Shannan's ipod often :)  I'm real surprised my cat is not curled up in the middle of the paper.

I like blogs with lots of pictures, so here are some pictures of my art.  It's nothing spectacular, mostly doodles (zentangles I guess they call them now), and geometric stuff that anyone can do.