Monday Zen - Monday 31st March 2014

Hello Friends,

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and the sun shone for you where you are, as it did here. Saturday we took ourselves 'up the road' to Cirencester, one of our favourite places for a Saturday browse around the shops. A Festival started this weekend and it resulted in a few photos that I can tie to something I have made and plan to post later in the week. 

We also went for a walk locally at the weekend and oh my, so many little bunnies darting about across the path and back into the woodland, Spring really was in the air!

I hope those of you who are Mums had a wonderful day yesterday, Tom's Mum was thrilled with her card, I'm pleased to say.

Whilst we were in Cirencester, we happened by an artist's studio that we'd never seen before. It was a small studio in a courtyard and the guy was inside working, but he also had another visitor so I didn't get the chance to speak to him this time. His artwork was very colourful and modern and I loved it...and a lot of it featured tangles, which really interested me, so next time we go back I will make a point of lingering longer.

This made me remember that I still have some Zentangle cards to share, so today I have a two Zentangle creations, that I made when we were teaching a Zentangle workshop in January.

The first one is a simple little card made using a little fox Dreamweaver stencil: I matted and layered on black and white card, embossing one of the layers of white card and simply added two die cut leaves, a button and twine.

Secondly I decorated a little wooden bird with a Zentangle design. First of all I painted the shape with  Pantry White  Cottage acrylic by Indigo Blu. I just added some ribbon and a button to finish.

When I posted my last Zentangle cards, some of you asked about how to get started and I agree, that is the hard part. When we took it to our group, most of our ladies admitted they were scared by it, but once you start a doodle you tend to get hooked for a while. Everyone was so quiet whist they doodled away! It does help to have something to copy when you start off. There are officially registered tangles (though I admit that although I use them to get started I tend to make it up as I go along now, probably using some that I have memorised along the way. I'm afraid I'm not one to conform to strict rules in crafting). 

Stencils are a great way to start, especially ones that make a picture such as the fox above. The Rooster too, that I have used so many times in cards and always sell at craft fairs. Also have a look at these sites...

There is the Zentange website and blog:http://www.zentangle.com

Dreamweaver Stencil site and blog - Lynelle Harlow really was responsive for bring crafters the art of Zentangle through these stencils http://dreamweaverstencils.com
 and Mel Heaton is also a Zentangle expert, check this out for great examples: 
http://bramwellsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/zentangle-with-dreamweaver-stencils.html

Don't forget Pinterest as well, there are some great tangles on there.

I got a couple of books a while ago, just to get me started on designs; they aren't at all expensive and I do find them useful. They are the ones in this series and I have this particular one, which I refer back to often:

I hope you find this useful..go on give it a try! Thank you so much for stopping by,

Love and Hugs,
Carole X

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