Zentangle challenge #56

Zentangle challenge this week was to draw one with your non-dominant hand. Ha, that was fun. Here's my left handed attempt. It's amazing how hard that is to do.

Thanks for visiting,
rebecca

Iron Craft Challenge #2

Iron Craft Challenge #2 - Hearts and flowers. As I blogged about here, I have been hooked on making needlepoint plastic canvas covers for miniature composition notebooks ever since the challenge #37 last year which was to make something small. They are quick and fun to put together.

I am one of those people who love Valentine's day so this was an easy challenge. I had no idea where it was headed when I started. I began with stitching the pink heart and then started to do the chevron pattern on the back, starting with the red and white stripes. It's hard to tell in the pictures, but the third color in the stripe is a nice grey. I debated between a dark pink and the grey. I'm glad I went with gray because as soon as I had that added it took on a more modern feel. And then I knew I had to add a more funky, modern looking flower on the front!

Thanks for visiting,

rebecca



Pink flamingo valentine

I am fascinated by real pink flamingoes. But our family has had running jokes about the plastic yard art kind for years. I love to tease my big brother because he has one or two, and loves them, and proudly displays them in his yard!

He got me back one year, though, by having DOZENS of plastic pink flamingoes set up in our yard special for my Birthday. What a sight to wake up and have a huge flock of them in my yard!

Doesn't compare, but this Valentine card is headed his way.

A stitched string art style Valentine card. Inspired by this fun pattern:  http://www.stitchingcards.com/product.php/371/flamingos

Thanks for visiting,
rebecca

Zentangle challenge #55

Zentangle challenge #55. "To raise awareness for Moebius Syndrome (a congenital nerve disorder affecting cranial VI and VII nerves controlling the lateral movement of the face), use the Moebius Syndrome Foundation's logo as your string."

Wow, the Diva sure had a tough challenge for us with this one. I'm sure I had the tip of my tongue sticking out while I drew this one. Ha, it does help you know!

All kidding aside, here's to Artoo and his family. I choose all A background tangle patterns; arrowhead, archer, and ahh!

Thanks for visiting,

rebecca

A creative project finished

It feels great when a project is finished.

I have enjoyed stitching on plastic canvas for a long time. I'm glad to see some plastic canvas projects appearing on blogs lately. Most plastic canvas projects are fun, fast, and portable. It can be so much more than tissue box covers!

I like working on the 10 count canvas, which has 10 holes per inch. It can be stitched with one or two strands of embroidery floss.

The Iron Craft challenge #37 last year was to Shrink It, we were challenged to make something smaller. And ever since that week I have been hooked on making little covers for miniture composition notebooks. They are so cute and can be personalized for whoever you make it for. Here's the one I made for my husband, so proud he actually uses it here at home to record financial data :).

And here's another one I just finished.

The front and back of the miniture composition notebook fit in perfectly. I leave the back unstitched just to make them faster. Plus I like the textured feel of the unstitched canvas. I think it's easier to hold.

Thanks for visiting,

I'm off to plan another cover!

rebecca

Zentangle challenge - Purple Haze

What a fun loving group of people you are, those of you who draw Zentangles. Thank you for the warm welcomes. I am glad to have stumbled upon it and hope to learn lots. I'm amazed at the talent and love looking around your blogs and challenge entries. Thanks for sharing your techniques and items used.

My Purple Haze challenge entries are below. Glad there are no mistakes (No, the scanned image is not tilted - my drawing ended up tilted ;)  ). It's a great escape to an otherwise busy and not so artistic work day.

It's fun to see how these end up. I can't help but think there is a very fat happy worm like thing now that it has eaten through part of the flower.

Challenge info here: http://iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com/2012/01/weekly-challenge-54.html

Zentangle info here: http://www.zentangle.com/

Thanks for visiting,

rebecca

Iron Craft Challenge #1- Paper

Hey fellow Iron Crafters, it's great to be back with a new year of challenges. I hope to get to do several and will try to blog some along the way. Paper was a great choice for the challenge and the first anniversary of Iron Craft. SO many creative things can be done with paper. Can't wait to see what everyone has come up with.

I have been paper weaving. Started off pretty simple. Just like grade school, but with narrow strips.

Some tips: I took some regular construction paper and put it through the paper shredder to get even strips quickly. A pencil eraser works great to push the strips close together. You have to push them together after every strip added, otherwise you'll never get them to move, :) .

I put some black paper and the woven strip around an empty container and put a few coats of mod podge on it. Seems to work OK to hold some hairbrushes. I'm just going to hang the hearts up somewhere.

Had some time over the weekend to have some more fun with paper weaving. A calming process once you get the pattern established.

I am using this so far as a journal cover. I think it would look cool as an e-reader cover or sleeve. I may cover it with contact paper or plastic and put a felt back on it.

Thanks for visiting,
rebecca

Weekend zentangles

Enjoying some time to draw this weekend. I love how zentangles take on a character all their own and surprise you as you go.

Thanks for visiting,

rebecca

Seeing Zentangles everywhere

I've always loved patterns. But now since Zentangle I notice them everywhere and on everything.

On a recent trip to a big chain bookstore I noticed the perfect rows of paving bricks out front with raised dots for traction. And the rounded triangles with circles is inspired from the hubby's shaver.

Zentangle challenge #53

The http://creativeeveryday.com/ theme this month is NEW, so I have been trying all kinds of new things. I am exploring blogging for the first time and hope to be able to participate as much as possible this year. I hope to have a variety of creative things to share most weeks.

My second newest interest is Zentangle.com. I stumbled upon this artform a few weeks ago and have been hooked. I hope to be able to participate in as many challenges as possible from this site: http://iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com/
So here is my first submission:

And finally, I hope to continue with the Iron Craft challenges that I began following last year. For their first anniversary, the current challenge is to craft something with paper. More information is here: http://www.justcraftyenough.com/2012/01/iron-craft-challenge-1-paper/

Thanks for visiting,
rebecca

New recipe - Lemon Bars

We were given some large plump very juicy lemons over Christmas vacation. A relative has them growing right in the backyard! So cool.

So I tried a new recipe from here:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/the-best-lemon-bars/

Wow, they are tart but tasty. Forgive the messy presentation picture, but I'm sure it's hard to get a good picture of lemon bars anyway. They are not the prettiest treat, but sure are good with fresh lemons.

Thanks for visiting,
rebecca

New envelope system

Perhaps a fancy new envelope will help keep me organized. Ha, It's worth a try!

Check out http://www.zentangle.com/ for some really neat designs.

Thanks for visiting,
rebecca

A New Year bookmark

Here's a Zentangle inspired bookmark. Go to http://www.zentangle.com/ for more information about this style of art.

Happy New Year to you!

Thanks for visiting,
rebecca