Bright Owl Zendala Dare #85

It's been awhile since I completed a challenge or posted. We moved to a new house, and it's been a busy month with renovations starting right after we moved in, followed by Christmas! Here's my submission for this week's Zendala Dare. I don't have a printer set up yet, so I quickly drew the template by freehand, deliberately curving the three lines that cross. I've never used Rick's Paradox willingly before, but it fit really well today. Meer is a favourite of mine. PS It's -29 Celsius in Saskatchewan right now, and my finger tips are very cold, even in my house.

Zendala Dare #85

Zendala Dares #80, #79, and #78

Today is Remembrance Day, and I am grateful to the people who have given their lives and fought for the freedom I enjoy in Canada today. Thank-you.

Zendala Dare #80

I went crazy with colour for the Zendala Dare #80. I started off with the beginnings of wired in the center, but it turned into tons and tons of aura, which I think coloured in with gel pens.

Erin gave us the additional challenge to tangle outdoors, but I decided to pass on this one. It's been bitterly cold and windy here in Regina, Sask., and I think I'll stay indoors where it's warm (and where there are babies, cats, and dogs to cuddle with). :D My thoughts were on the outdoors though so maybe that counts a little.

I had my iPad set up beside my workstation for this zendala, so I took pictures as I went along. I always think it's neat when people do that. What I like is that I could have stopped at any step along the way but went for full out colour. 

Zendala Dare #79

For the life of me, I couldn't get rid of that blank spot between the above pictures and this paragraph. 

I think my second submission for Zendala Dare #79 is hilarious. I completed it over two days, and I think I had a complete mood shift during the 24 hours between doing the two inner circles and the two outer circles. This is my second submission and I submitted my first with this template in my previous blog entry.

Big thank-you to Rick and Maria for bringing Zentangle to my life. I just love it and will be grateful always.

Here are three of my submissions hanging in my Zentangle spot in my kitchen (on the right). 

Zendala Dare #78

I really liked the template for Zendala Dare #78, but I didn't get a chance to submit it until now. I completed two very different zendalas using the template. The first one has a lot of colour using coloured pencils.

Here's a picture of this completed zendala on my display shelf in my office.

Here's my second submission for Zendala Dare #79. It's very different from the first. I was excited to use Pauline's Pigtail here. 

Other ZIA

Here's something I just did in my spare time. It's on a watercolour washed postcard.

I think I need to calm down for awhile when it comes to Zentangle. I did quite a few challenges and dares this week, and it's been intense. Nick and I bought our first house, and we're moving November 26. I think I may take a step back from challenges (and deadlines) for awhile and focus on using Zentangle to meditate, be mindful, and remain grounded during the busy weeks ahead.

Here we are by the sold sign of the house we bought:

Zendala Dare #79

This week's Zendala Dare by the Bright Owl can be found here. I like the template a lot and I really like what Erin did with the template. Because of my printer settings, I always end up printing the template smaller than the Zendala tile, leaving me lots of room for extra borders, which I actually realy like! The red dots are done with watercolour pencil. Sending my gratitude and thanks to Rick and Maria!

Zendala Dare #77

I like the end product a lot more than I thought I would. I haven't given it away yet, but here it is in the office I share at work, so at least it's being shared that way. I'm really nervous about sending it out into the world so I don't know if I'll be able to bring myself to do that. Maybe I could leave a photocopy somewhere?

Zendala Dare #73, Lamp Inspiration, and Back to Work for Me!

Zendala Dare #73

Here is my first of two submissions for the Zendala Dare #73. I bought some gel pens and was really excited to use them. It's a bit overboard . Colour can be great, but it's another dimension to consider. My husband calls this the "Flower Power" Zendala.

Using my iPhone I changed the colours to Sepia and then to Black. The simpler basic colours create a nicer end product.

Here is my second submission for the Zendala dare. There was a lot I liked about my first Zendala that I tried to recreate in this one using black and silver gel pens. This one has a tribal feel to it that I tried to preserve throughout the whole piece.

Other ZIA

This drawing is based on the lamp in my living room.

Winds of Change

This is my last week of my maternity leave! I start work October 1, and I'm also going to be studying for my registration exams. Possibly I'm spending extra time on Zentangle this week knowing I'll not have the time to dedicate to Zentangle as I have over the past ten months. It's going to be an interesting change. I'll be learning to be a working mother and to find balance in my new role. I hope I also stop feeling guilty for dropping my son off at daycare!

Here's my little monster with his own form of art entitled "Spaghetti and Meatballs Extravaganza."

Zendala Dare #73 and Finished Tangle Box!!

I must really have my sh*t together this week because I managed to complete two different challenges, totaling three tiles. It's really impressive to me that one of them was a Zendala because I find Zendala's so much harder, although so much more beautiful. I'm taking a Zendala class in a few weeks, which I'm hoping will help me feel more comfortable with Zendalas. The hardest part for me is getting the outline onto a piece of paper for me to use. I'm curious about how other people do this. Here is my submission for Bright Owl's Zendala Dare #73:

Meanwhile, I have finally finished my tangle box to help me pick patterns for my tangles! This project has been going on for two months. My tangle box is my version of Sandy Hunter's (CZT) tangle jar, but I put the papers in a box rather than a jar. The box, which looks like a book, fits on my bookshelf more easily than a jar would have. I would have preferred a jar, but surface space is limited in our house. Things that can be piled on top of each other work a lot better. Here are the pictures of the box. I just love it, and I used it to pick out the patterns for my zendala above. I've been working on it steadily for weeks, so I'm excited to be able to dedicate that time to drawing now!

Diva Weekly Challenge #132 - Non Dominant Hand Challenge

The Diva's challenge this week was to draw a non-domonotangle (monotangle using my non-dominant hand) using the pattern Bales. I wasn't sure if I was going to do this challenge. Everyone seems to have found it difficult but rewarding. My favourite way to relax right now is to have a hot bath and read Zentangle blogs on my iPad. I was looking at everyone's submissions and was laughing at how everyone was saying the same thing over and over. Specifically, people were saying they didn't want to do this challenge, their hand cramped, they didn't blink, they were forced to be more mindful, etc. Reading these responses made me really want to do the challenge, so here it is.

I actually like it a lot. Some of the things I like are a result of my losing control of my hand, like the two little rogue lines protruding up from each side of the design. My husband, Nick, said using the non-dominant hand seems to have added something different to it, but it's not necessarily bad. I found it funny that when I stopped working on the tile last night I continued to do things unknowingly with my left hand. It forced me to slow down because I was less efficient, which I liked. I was definitely more creative when working with my left hand. Specifically, I came up with variation ideas, which I'm not usually good at.

Today is my nine year wedding anniversary with my fabulous husband, Nick. We had some champagne to celebrate, and now I'm ready for bed because I'm a lightweight when it comes to alcohol. While pondering our anniversary and the time we've spent together, we were looking at our 10 month old son, Sam, wondering what we were wasting our years together doing considering we could have had him and been enjoying him so much sooner. We weren't ready though, but we are just so blessed!

Speaking of blessings, I had the most delightful phone call today. My friend Eric phoned me from Australia to ask me if he can use my most recent Zendala dare submission as a template for a tattoo on his upper arm. I am deeply flattered and gave him permission to use it, asking him to send me a picture and the name of the tattoo artist so that I can share it on my blog. I'm not sure if he'll end up using it, but I certainly hope so! 

It's funny that I heard from Eric on my wedding anniversary of all days since Eric and I were engaged to be married when we were three years old. Things didn't work out though, and I moved on to another guy when I was five.

Bright Owl Zendala Dare #70

This is my first Zendala dare. I used charcoal for shading. I drew the template by freehand so it's not entirely symmetrical. Black shading at the border is added digitally. 

Diva Challenge #130 - 2nd submission

The Diva allows you to submit two pieces to her weekly challenge, so here's my second submission using Henna Drum.

I'm getting ready to try my first Zendala. I think I'll start with Zendala Dare #68 by Bright Owl. You can see my mind is in a Zendala state for this tile, particularly the Jekyl/Hyde dare issued by Bright Owl because I created two sides to the image using colour.

After creating the string and adding henna drum, I scanned the Tanglepatterns.com Tangle Guide 2013 for inspiration, resulting in my using beadlines and bubbles. I didn't mean for beadlines to make the loops look like leaves, but that seems to be the outcome.

I felt like something was still missing, so I went to my trusty tangle box and pulled out a free form tangle, resulting in my adding ahh. This is my second time using the tangle box, and it has worked perfectly both times. Love it!

You can tell I'm hooked on colour now. I used pencil crayons for this and my previous tangle using henna drum.

I regret adding the HB pencil shading around ahh. I think if I did this again, I would have either left this shading out or used purple instead.

Diva Challenge #130, an Original Zentangle by Meghan Woods, August 10 2013