A Little Zenful Meditation

Like most of my artful expressions, I am self-taught in the art of Zentangle. It's true, I haven't taken a class on it, just my usual method of reading and researching. I know I'm probably missing something (er, a LOT!). But for now, grabbing a book or reading an internet blog will have to suffice. My level of proficiency and my adaptations of the artform are sufficient to me in their current standings amidst my current circumstances.
I got a lot closer to meeting a Zentangle master this week at the Diva with guest blogger Holly Atwater, who provided some audio lessons. I tried my best to slo-o-o-w d-o-o-own, but found I was faster or slower than the instructions. And I listened very carefully...until I heard "draw an orb and fill it in." And I tried again and still heard it that way, so I'm sticking with this:

Tripoli
Filled in Orbs
Sharpie on Strathmore Sketch Paper

Holly offered an alternative route, and considering how much I "love" Tripoli, I went to Plan "B."

A little combo effort. In both instances I went as far as I was happy with all those triangles and I'm happy with them.

A Little Spanish Lesson

While I'm letting the glue on my twinchies dry, I decided to work on my inchie for the week. At EIM the word of the day is, "Pavillion." Good thing I put my teenie brain to work yesterday to try to cram all that into an inch space!

My first thought was a gazebo kind of thing, and that's all fine and wonderful, if you live in say, New England. Here in the desert Southwest, a "ramada" (rah MAH dah) is more appropriate. It's still a shade structure and they can be elaborate man-made constructions of stone for outdoor kitchens or simply made of found logs--for the uprights and across the corners and skinnier sticks--called "latillas" (pronounced, "lah TEE yahz), lashed across the top. I have seen ocotillos (oh koh TEE yohz) used in museum installations, but I have none of those (YET!), so I chose some olive saplings. Unto themselves, the thirty year-old olives in our yard provide dense shade and an occasional olive (and in most neighborhoods, olives are illegal to plant as they are high in allergens, but ours is a laissez-faire kind of place).

All right, moving right along!
I've been working on some twinchies for the TwobyTwo. This week, it's "grass." I kept it fairly light-hearted:

Beads on Scrapbook Paper
Trying to make it look like little flowers

Beads on Styrofoam
with Acrylic Paints
(and still waiting for the glue to dry)

Digital Scrapbook Page
Elements from pixelscrapper.com

I could really enjoy digging my toes into some nice, cool grass, sipping a lemonade. But I guess I have to settle for sitting under the olive tree with a nice, cool margarita.
CHEERS!

A Blankie for Charity

It's saying something when the desert Southwest is experiencing a heatwave. Phoenix proper boasted record triple-digits and overnights of over 90 degrees! That's hot, hot, HOT! We're not quite in the thick of it, but still VERY warm. And still, no rain!
And what am I doing? Crocheting wool blankets.
I've been called crazy before, and I guess I've earned the title!
I proudly finished a blanket I believe I started at least two moves ago, maybe four....designed to match a sofa that no longer exists. It's mostly wool, about thirty colors and full-sized. After 12 years, it's finally finished! YAY!

Boy, am I glad that's done. It was hot under all that yarn. 

Emboldened by my success and a will to clean out some clutter, I put some woobies up for sale on a little Internet concern. Maybe you've heard of it? Ebay? 

And I put one up for charity!

The listing, for now, can be found here. So, spread the word--I want that one SOLD!

And speaking of spreading the Word, with a capital, "W," my entry for today's EIM. For "lamp" I have chosen the everlasting light that breaks the darkness, the great I AM:

(AND I'm getting it in on Monday! HA!) 

I thank you for stopping by, I appreciate the company. I have been blessed this past year with meeting such lovely folks all over the planet! I am feeling much more philosophical than time really allows me today, but my life is richer because of you! 

Thank you!

Mellow Yellow

Time to get caught up again.
We've been packing a lot into this summer! Hardly time to think, let alone try to do something creative. Requires thought, time and materials. Hard to do when I'm swinging a hammer. It's still demolition mode on our spa, so....Not sitting still all that much! And when I am, I'm trying to finish a blanket that is over 12 years in the making. More on that later...

I'll try to get caught up on EIM:
For "Yellow," I chose daisies I photographed in Flagstaff on a road trip with my son:

Yellow Dots

For "Window," this stylistic photograph of our view out a cabin on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon last week. We were a mere 50 feet from that big hole in the ground, separated by a small stand of Ponderosa. And it was delightfully cool weather.

Grand View

And I have "China" on the brain for the TwobyTwo, so this is a carryover from that prompt for this week's EIM: "Wall."

The Great Wall of China

Which brings me to my response for the TwobyTwo, a lotus flower:

Chinese flower

I was going to draw from my antique tea set, but then I realized they were Japanese, so I'll save that for another day!

Back to all the fun we've been up to. Hammers and nails. Thanks for stopping by; make sure to check out these fun challenges!