Frosty walk

My contribution to The Weekend in Black and White.

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Happy Holidays!

I did finish them after all! I have two cards this year using two parts of the die cut. I did two original drawings, scanned them, printed and cut to fit my A2 card base. Then I added the dies. Each card is stamped from the Hero Arts set Holiday Word Borders. Apparently the stamps are no longer in production. The die is Clairmont Ornaments by memory box. Tangle patterns Orlique and Organza Again.

I was playing around with Braze in between working on cards. It seems to have that festive touch too. Happy Holidays!

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K.I.S.S. Akoya

This week's Diva Challenge is to keep it simple. So I simply used a standard Zentangle® tile, black and white, one tangle that involves two basic shapes and a spiral string. The challenge was that it was a new tangle... AKOYA by Sandy Hunter. Check out her instructions here if you haven't seen it yet. I think Sandy's examples are perfect for this week's challenge! I had to work a little to come up with something a little different!

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That's Maryhill spiraling, not me

It all started with that feeling of being overwhelmed at the holidays. Pretty common right? I felt the need to draw. I put pen to paper and ended up with a spiral. Well, that was funny because that was exactly how I was feeling! As soon as I drew the spiral my mind focused on "Hey, I bet Maryhill will spiral. Let's see!" Since Maryhill wants to spin even without a spiral string, I thought there was a good chance. So I just sectioned off one "rectangle" at a time and then filled it in with Maryhill. Since I didn't have the pie shaped wedge you typically need for Maryhill, I simply brought the lines together in the same corner each time.

Although I liked the final result, it seemed to need something. So I tried again with a wavy spiral. This was more fun and organic for me. I love how the wavy lines, once shaded, resemble folds of fabric.

Mid-tile, Yoda, queen resident of my craftroom, decided I needed a break. When I didn't stop, she completely covered my art journal! Ok, good idea after all!

After a chin rub (for Yoda, not me), stretching my legs, fresh air and another cup of tea, I finished the wavy spiral. I had a lopsided design, however, so I added Flux peeking through to hold it up.

Next, I tried a Zendala with more variety by adding Betweed and Tipple. With this spiral, I sectioned off triangles. This was more like the pie shapes in the original Maryhill step-outs.

Before, I finished, I needed to square things up. I nearly had too much spiraling! I looked back through my art journal to when I first discovered Maryhill. I had tried it with Beeline then but had never finished as I just hadn't been able to meld them. So I tried again. Look at how straight those lines are! I was in the zone. Let's try another, Tripoli, cool!

The Christmas crunch is still on and I'm still a bit overwhelmed. But, for a while, it all disappeared.

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Arukas, meet Squid

The Diva challenge #197 is all about Arukas, the new kid in town. Squid wanted to join in too!

Be sure to check back Friday. I've been playing with Maryhill again.

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No mistakes, just delays

I was working on my Christmas card background. I had an awesome time working on very nice watercolor paper. Then I tried it out on my card. Definitely too busy for the card I had in mind. A lovely piece, it just wouldn't do for my card. I could have framed it as it was, but instead, I decided to make it into 2 artist's trading cards (ATCs). So I get to have some more fun working on another background for my card. Just a slight delay to my Christmas cards. For me, that's normal. Maybe I'll finish in time to show you.

Tangles: Hurry, Fife, Verdigogh, Braze and Pepper.

 

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