Diva Challenge #230: "Let's all be ZenDivaDala - Guest Blogger The Bright Owl, Erin Olson, CZT

This week I did not have to make a choice between doing the Diva Challenge or the Zendala Dare as the guest Blogger is Erin Olson, the CZT that does the Zendala Dare. Since she has returned she has definitely come up with some unique templates. This week is no exception. I am not sure about this one. I usually use tangles to complete the different sections. While I used some, or variations of some it is mostly line work. That is different for me. I have seen some people that can do this with really stellar results. Mine are not in that category but it is okay. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles, or variations used: Betweed, Scena, Verve, Munchin

Shading done with 2B pencil.

Lately have been spending more time trying to get my inventory back up. That is one reason that I have not had as much time to participate, or even respond to recent challenges. It also a reason why my blogs have been pretty simple and maybe a little terse. Hopefully things will slow down a little soon. I have not looked at what others have posted. I am sure that there are a lot of interesting creations. If you have not checked them out all ready would encourage you to go to I am the Diva to do so.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !! 

Zendala Dare #101: She's Baaaaack !!!

Guess who's baaaaaack? That's right, it is The Bright Owl with Zendala Dare #101. I remember seeing the previous one, but not sure how long ago it was or if I even participated. For a couple years it was one that I participated in regularly and I do enjoy Zendalas. I have to admit that it took a little getting use to. I have not done a lot of Zendalas lately and those that I did were more free hand so I was not dealing with a template. Some would think that having a template would make it easier but there is a little decision making about how you want to use the template. I put the whole template on the tile and just took a little at a time. I started on the outside, then the center and then the middle part and the shading. It really was easier once I decided on the center. Before that I was not sure exactly what I was going to do with the majority of the template. Well enough gabbing. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used : Verve, Betweed,  Gneiss

Shading done with 4 B pencil

The last I looked there were not a lot of other zendalas posted at The Bright Owl. Hoping that a few more will do something. It is always interesting to see what people do with the templates. Would encourage you to take a look by clicking on the link above. Why not give it a try yourself, even if you do not post it.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !! 

Adventures in Monotangles #12 - Verve

Was not sure about doing this challenge. Mostly because of time and other things that I am trying to finish. Although the challenges do give one a chance to try out some new things. In this case it is not the tangle but I got a set of Permapaque metallic plus markers. I am looking for other things to use on the black zendala tiles that will be using in an upcoming class. I have to say I was not impressed with these markers. Will try them on some other surfaces and see how they work. Colors may look different on other materials. There is some inconsistency in the width of the line that they make. Interestingly enough, it seems that the white one is the thinnest line. There is not as much vibrancy with these as the Gelly Roll pens. I have stayed away from the paint pens as do not think they work as well on paper. They are good on glass and nonporous surfaces. If anyone has any suggestions on pens or markers to use I am open to any suggestions. Hope you enjoy this.

Guess will have to experiment with some other markers to see what I like. 

If have not done so, would venture over to Mindful Creations to see what others have done. Better yet, since this is a relatively easy tangle, why not do a quick tile and submit.

Thanks for visiting. As always. comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Zendala Dare #57

This weeks Zendala Dare had a guest contributor. Genevieve Crabe, the lady that posts the Weekly Zentangle Roundup and has a blog Tangle Harmony, that has lots of neat things including the stencils that she uses to create Zendala templates. If you have not, go to her blog and check things out. While you are at it, do a Zendala using her template and enter the giveaway that Erin at The Bright Owl is having to win a set of the stencils.  There is a video on Erin's blog by Genevieve demonstrating how to use the stencils.

This template has a number of different sections. At first it seemed a little overwhelming. I looked at the the ones that Genevieve and Erin did but purposely did not look at the others until I started mine and had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do. One of my concerns was that the sections were pretty small. I guess that generally I do not think about changing the template that much so I pulled out my trusty 005 Micron and started in the center. I am generally pleased with the result. The only thing that I am unsure about, besides the shading which is always an issue with me, is the sections using verve. I had traced over the template with a pencil and  there were slight indentations showing these sections so I did not feel I could leave them blank. Although this was a consideration because I liked it with that white space. I also thought about using a little Flux, with Zingers in this area but it really had become a habit of finishing zendalas with these organic tangles. I really wanted to break away from that routine. I could not find a "lacy" tangle that I thought would fit that well. Finally decided on Verve. That does give it a little bit of a layered effect which the organic tangles would not have done. Well enough rambling. Here is the result. Hope that you enjoy it.

Tangles Used: Knightsbridge(variation), Paradox, Betweed, Verve, and Chainlea.

I have not used Chainlea a lot but really like the way it looks. I can see myself using it more often for borders and for areas in organic sections. If you have not all ready been to The Bright Owl and looked at the other submissions, please do so. I plan to try and look at them and when possible make any comments that seem appropriate. I think most people who post, like to receive comments about what you think about there work.  While you are at it, don't forget to check out Tangle Harmony and Amaryllis Creations to check out Genevieve Crabe's work. 

Now that I have got this done, in addition to looking at the other Zendalas, I hope to get to work on this week's Diva Dare. 

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle!!