I am the diva - Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT®)

Weekly Challenge #56

2012-01-30T06:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

Thank you everyone who emailed me or msged me to let me know that they were wearing purple for Artoo this week. I was so overwhelmed by the support of our friends and family, and it made me so happy that we have this wonderful community for me to draw strength from. Thank you so much!

my wacky family

Here we are, all sporting our purple. You can't tell, but the boys are wearing shirts with purple writing.

Another awesome thing happened this week - i received these letters in the mail informing me that my student loans were now paid in full. Honestly, i felt like throwing a party, or at the very least, having them framed!

NO MORE STUDENT LOANS!!! best day ever!!

Chewie and i had some fun colouring with markers this week, you can kinda see how Mama did a bit of tangling on the back side of the colouring book.... oh scallops. ;)

Look Mama, i coloured all of dem green!

Mister Artoo has been a drool machine, still working on those eye teeth. Hard work, teething.

so freakin' adorable...

I started taking a few shifts a month at the bra and lingerie shop in the small town where i grew up, it's about 20 minutes out of town - it's been a nice change of pace to spend all day speaking to adults.

Also, thank you to everyone who voted for my blog last week! i still haven't heard what the results are, but they said they'd notify me by email once the votes were tallied.

Weekly Challenge #56: "Non Dominatrix* v.2"
This week we are going to revisit a "Fun" challenge from last year. I first posted this challenge back in March, and this was actually the post that got my blog nominated for Most Fascinating Blog of 2011.

Those of you who have been around since the beginning may be groaning out loud, or getting excited... i'm not really sure. The reaction to this one was pretty strong. A lot of people really didn't like it.... but maybe i'm scaring you.

*I hmmed and hawwed about whether or not the title of this challenge is too racy, but i thought that dominatrices are about control, and this challenge is all about giving up that control. If you find this title a tad on the risqué side, sorry 'bout that. :) Feel free to re-name it on your own blog posts

As the somewhat racy challenge name implies - this week the CHALLENGE (and challenge is the totally appropriate word here) is to do an ENTIRE tile or ZIA using only your non dominant hand. As i'm right handed, i did my string, tangles, and shading with my left hand.

I'm not going to lie, it will be difficult. It was for me. Everything about this process felt foreign - but if i can venture one step further i'm going to say that the REAL challenge is to find a place within yourself where it is okay to let go of the control and let yourself make something that isn't "pretty"
and that is something that is truly hard to do.

Using your non-dominant hand will also engage the non-dominant side of your brain, something that journalers and artists have done for years.


I'm actually quite proud of this left handed goodness. let's see what you can do!

Don't worry, folks. We are all in this together! So - let's embrace our wobbly lines and love our not so circular circles. Heart!

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address). The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine.

I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. PLEASE do not put your *home* page in the linkey machine... please? for me??

Weekly Challenge #55

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!

First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

Well, it took most of the week, but i am feeling much better now. I'm not going to lie, i felt awful for a good 3 - 4 days. Thanks for all your well wishes.

We finally got some snow here in The Skatch. And the cold weather to go with it... the bulk of the week we had temperatures of -50C or so with windchills. Brr.

BRRRRrrrrrrrRRRRRrrrrr........

In true Saskatchewan form, we didn't let a little cold weather keep us from pretending to be at the beach eating ice cream!


Ice cream!

Artoo has some frozen fruit instead

I've also spent some time this week working in my Tangle A Day calendar from Carole Ohl. I got it on Monday last week - so, i'll be working backwards as well as forwards.

It's been really fun playing in this calendar! Thanks Carole!
I also got nominated this week for The Most Fascinating Blog of 2011 in the Teaching category by Online Phd! Voting has started and is going for a few more days. If you feel like casting your vote, you can click on the badge on the right. :)

Weekly Challenge #55 "String Theory v. VIII: Moebius Trip"

Thanks, everyone, for your submissions to last week's Purple Haze challenge. I spoke a bit about my son Artoo's disorder, Moebius Syndrome; a congenital nerve disorder affecting cranial VI and VII nerves controlling the lateral movement of his face. Moebius is a spectrum disorder - so some cases are more severe than others. We've been extremely lucky that Artoo's symptoms haven't been too difficult to adjust to. (follow the link above to read about our story)

In last week's challenge i told you that Moebius Syndrome Awareness day is in January, it's actually tomorrow on January 24th! In honour of my little dude, my sister-in-law and i dyed my hair purple!


It's dark violet with streaks of bright purple!! so fun!

Anyway, on to the actual challenge. To raise awareness for this disorder, use the Moebius Syndrome Foundation's logo as your string, or create a moebius strip out of paper and tangle that... or some other awesome creative thing that i haven't thought of.

Here's two versions of the logo for you to work with. You can print them or trace them or draw your own.

Now here are my two version of the above tiles... all tangled up!

ALSO - please wear Purple on January 24th for Moebius Syndrome Awareness Day!! Do it for Artoo, cuz he's so cute - and is the youngest CZT around!! (lol, i was pregnant with Artoo when i was certified!)

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine. I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. PLEASE do not put your *home* page in the linkey machine. please? for me??

Voting has started!

2012-01-21T07:59:00.002-06:00

Hey Ya'll!
so voting for the most fascinating blog has started and runs until the 26th. If you feel so inclined to casting your vote for me, you can click on the button on the right.

Don't get overwhelmed, there are 100 nominees. Yikes!! And the order of the nominees is randomly generated each time the pages is opened so i can't even say - i'm number 27!

But you can do a quick search using CTRL F and searching for iamthediva.

Thanks everyone! i appreciate it! Vote for me, and vote often (if you can)! As president of the Internet i promise to give you more Zentangle challenges!! and to FREE THE LOLCATS!! ;)

Love Laura

Wow, it's an honour just to be nominated!

2012-01-17T11:13:00.001-06:00

So, apparently i've been nominated as one of the most fascinating blogs in 2011 in the teaching blog category!!

::blush::

i'm very excited.

from the website:

The Most Fascinating Blog Awards are an annual collection of the web’s most inspirational and thought-provoking blogs.

To be nominated for the award, your blog must:

Inspire your audience
Encourage discussion through comment posting
Contain genuinely fascinating content

Blogs are nominated by our editorial team and are voted on by our readers.

Isn't that the coolest?

(HEART!!)

Feel free to vote for me over there on the right!! Voting starts January 21st and goes to the 26th.

Weekly Challenge #53 "Undine" Slideshow

2012-01-17T06:00:00.000-06:00

what an amazing collection of tanglations! So many possibilities!

If you have trouble viewing this slideshow you can see the online gallery here

Don't forget to enter your OWN tangles for consideration for the first monday of each month! Click the "Use my Tangle" Tab above or follow this link

Weekly Challenge #54

2012-01-16T06:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!

First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
See Challenge #49's slideshow here
See Challenge #50's slideshow here
See Challenge #51's slideshow here
See Challenge #52's slideshow here
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

WOO! I'm so excited about everyone's submissions for last week's challenge to use my new tangle UNDINE. It's so amazing to see your take on it, and how many awesome tanglations came out of it... i can't wait for your turn.

here's a quick reminder - there is a new feature on the Weekly Challenge. The first Monday of the month will feature one of your tangles!! yes! YOUR Tangles!

I figured it would be a great way to get some practice on those tangles that i see on your blogs and image hosting sites, but can't seem to find the time to get around to trying them out.

If you're interested in submitting a tile to the pool, click here or follow the tab "Use My Tangle" at the top of this page.

Artoo has been teething, which is a challenge, on top of which, he may also have a bit of a cold. This, of course, means that there's not much sleep happening 'round these parts.

B-rad was sick all last week...Happy Birthday to him.

and THIS week... well, let's just say that after almost 16 months of NOT being sick... i am sick.

most of the times that i THOUGHT i was getting sick this last year, i've managed to somehow stay on top of it and avoid the colds and viruses and junk - but this time i didn't manage to stay on top.

i have a frakkin' cold that makes me wanna lay on the couch and cry: "Iiiiiiii'mmmmmm Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick" :(
yeah, not feelin' so hot right now.
So, instead of talking about my life - here's some pictures of my kids.

Chewie holding his baby brother on New Year's Eve

aren't they cute?


Artoo rockin' out in his exersaucer. (Thank GOD for exersaucers)

sniffle sniffle... where'd my tea go?? hm.
there it is. ah.
(time to go, she's talking to herself... she needs to go to bed...let's get on with it)

Weekly Challenge #54: "Purple Haze"

We haven't had a colour challenge in a while, so i thought this week we'd do the colour Purple. Traditionally, Zentangles are done in Black and White and Grey - sometimes with a splash of Sepia for good measure. This is to eliminate the barrier of asking yourself - "What colour should i use?" and "What colours GO together?" (this creates a block for some people, and sometimes you just need one block to stop yourself from starting at all!) I know that for myself, one of the reasons i love to Zentangle is because i don't have to think too much. (Now if i could just get past the block of "What tangles GO together?"...hm)

So the challenge is to use the colour purple in your piece. I used 2 different purple gel pens from Sakura, one is metallic and the other is glitter. You can use purple pens, a purple marker, a splash of purple paint, maybe you want to work on purple paper?

Purple Ribbon for my baby

I've always loved purple, it's one of my favourite colours. (I have a purple rose tattooed on my back!) But for me, this colour has taken on a whole new meaning when i had Artoo and we discovered that he has Moebius Syndrome, an extremely rare neurological disorder. It just so happens that Moebius Syndrome awareness day is in January, and the colour for this disorder is Purple. :)

Bubbly - seems i was in a circle drawing mood today. ;)

So play with violet, mauve, amethyst, lavender, periwinkle, plum or just plain old purple. Have fun!

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine. I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. PLEASE do not put your *home* page in the linkey machine. please? for me??

Weekly Challenge #53

2012-01-09T06:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday everyone! Did you miss me??
I have to say that while i DID enjoy the time off, there was a part of me that felt like i was forgetting something important each Sunday night... it's nice to be back!

First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
See Challenge #49's slideshow here
See Challenge #50's slideshow here
See Challenge #51's slideshow here
See Challenge #52's slideshow here
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

WOO!! Challenge #53!! Can you believe it? I sure can't. I'm so thrilled to be hosting the second year of these weekly challenges.
You've all been so patient and i'm sure you're as itchin' to go as i am...
Let's jump right in, shall we?

Weekly Challenge #53: Diva Tangle - Undine

Sunday my amazing and wonderful husband B-rad had a birthday, so i want to dedicate this challenge to him. He has been so supportive of this blog. From editing my posts for me, to giving the occasional challenge idea...to naming the challenges... he's so understanding when i'm up tangling and typing frantically on Sunday night, and he is my number one biggest fan. He watches the slideshows, he checks my blog hits and keeps me informed of where my counter's at.

A few weeks before Christmas, i came up with this tangle, and i named it "Undine". Back on my giveaway post - someone mentioned that undine was their spambot verification word and professed their 'undine' love for Zentangle (I think it may have been Margaret Bremner?)

I knew when i did the tangle that i wanted to name it for the hubby, and threw around beerad, bierahd, or even b-rad - but nothing was right... then i remembered 'undine'.... and i thought it fitting. My Undine love for my husband. :) heart.

lots of room for variations

Here's the instructions and now my tile


Happy Birthday B-rad! (this tile reminds me of pacman)

Oh, and there is a new feature on the Weekly Challenge. The first Monday of the month will feature one of YOUR tangles!! yes!

I figured it would be a great way to get some practice on those tangles that i see on your blogs and image hosting sites, but can't seem to find the time to get around to trying them out.

If you're interested in submitting a tile to the pool, click here or follow the tab "Use My Tangle" at the top of this page.

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine. I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. PLEASE do not put your *home* page in the linkey machine. please? for me??

Weekly Challenge #52: "Give" Slideshow

2012-01-08T15:00:00.000-06:00

If you have trouble viewing this slideshow, you can view the album here

Weekly Challenge #51: "Fife" Slideshow

2012-01-08T12:00:00.000-06:00

If you have trouble viewing this slideshow you can visit the photo album here

Weekly Challenge #50 "Biggefy" Slideshow

2012-01-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

If you have trouble viewing this slideshow you can visit the album here

Weekly Challenge #49 "Red Thread" Slideshow

2012-01-07T09:00:00.000-06:00

Thanks again Cris, for hosting this great challenge! i hope you had some nice pieces sent to you for the poster!

If you have trouble viewing the slideshow you can see the album here

a quick note

2012-01-06T14:11:00.002-06:00

Hope you all had a wonderful Holiday season! we were quite busy over here with Christmas and family gatherings... in fact, there's still ONE MORE LEFT before we can take down the tree and call it quits over here. My brother's family were in New Mexico for Christmas and came back the day before my family's dinner - all carrying their bright and shiny NEW COLD viruses! So, we had to postpone the family dinner so that they could recover and not bring their new viruses to our house.

Anyway, i've been trying to catch up on my slideshows... GASP!! i know... i know!!

And i wanted to say here and now that my new year's resolution is to be firmer with the linkey machine. PLEASE ONLY POST A LINK that takes readers DIRECTLY to your tile or contribution to each challenge. All site addresses that end in a .com will be deleted. If you need help figuring out how to do this, please see my tutorial here, or pop me an email. (i'm more than willing to help)

Yes, i know that i'm supposed to be gathering images for the slideshows on sunday, but sometimes that doesn't happen, and sometimes i'm weeks behind because of my kids health or my life just getting crazy. If your link just takes me to your home page, and it's January, but the challenge was in November - i'm not going to have the time to look through your entries and your entry will not be included in the slideshow.

Also - this blog generates a lot of traffic. PLEASE do NOT post a link unless you are participating. Posting to get traffic to your own site is not good blog ju-ju...especially since you can get that traffic by playing along.

So.

If you happen to see that you entered your link, and now it's disappeared, it's likely because i have deleted it. All home sites without extensions are going to be deleted.

ex:
yourblog.blogspot.com - deleted.
yourblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/thisismylink.html? not deleted.

i'm sorry.
:(

i feel like a big meanie, but that's the way it's going to have to be.

Weekly Challenge #52

2011-12-15T15:24:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!

SO SORRY about the delay in the challenge.... we are starting to feel better...

First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
See Challenge #48's slideshow here
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

Hey everyone - check out my very first and possibly last vlog... i apologize in advance for not wearing any makeup - but hey, i haven't slep in 5 days... i think i look pretty good!

So, in case you can't watch this video... you should hopefully be able to view it here on youtube

Weekly Challenge #52: "give"

you are challenged to give away a Zentangled tile or ZIA - we are giving Artoo's pediatrician a tile, i'll post it when it's finished.

also, an important update is that i'll be taking a bloggy break over the holidays, returning on the SECOND Monday in January (which is the 9th, not the 10th as i said in the video) and i look forward to starting another year of challenges with all my Zentangle Besties!!
Merry Christmas Happy Holidays everyone!

Oh - and this challenge will remain open until my triumphant return on Jan 9, 2012. :)

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine. I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. PLEASE do not put your *home* page in the linkey machine. please? for me??

Quick update

2011-12-14T11:14:00.001-06:00

Thanks vicmelhorse for the nudge :)

I wanted to update you all on the status of Chez Diva.

Artoo's cough has gotten worse, and so yesterday I took him to the clinic where we got a prescription for some antibiotics. Last night he slept through the night (mostly) for the first time in almost a week!

Yay. So hopefully we start feeling better soon. B-rad and I are still doing ok. Fingers crossed.

Weekly challenge #52.....delayed

2011-12-11T20:52:00.001-06:00

I'm sorry everyone, but this week's challenge will be late due to a sick baby. Chewie started coughing on Monday and it got progressively yucky, then little Artoo picked up where he left off and unfortunately he just doesn't do colds as well as the older one.

We are doing what we can to keep him at home, but will take him to the ER if we need to.

Thanks.
Laura

UPDATE:

hey everyone, i thought i'd give you a quick update on the situation. As it stands, we are still home. We did not go to the ER yesterday, but its still kinda touch and go. Artoo has a wicked cough that doesn't sound like it feels all that great. All his secretions are clear or milky white... no yellow or green, so no infection. He has had a bit of a fever, but we're keeping him cool and giving him drugs to bring the fevers down.

thanks for everyone's understanding... what a way to end off the year...sigh.

How has Zentangle Enhanced My Life?

2011-12-06T06:00:00.000-06:00

Before i ever heard of Zentangle, I suffered from anxiety attacks. These attacks seemed to have been amplified by postpartum depression after the birth of my first son, Chewie. i was in a dark place, a cycle of depression fed by anxiety fed by depression.

When i tried my hand at tangling, i immediately noticed the change in my anxiety levels, in my mood, and in my heart. it was like someone offered me a 3.5" square of sanity, and i clung to it with all my might.

I was pregnant with Artoo when i made the trip to Whitinsville to become a Certified Zentangle Teacher. I met some fabulous people, had a wonderful time, and learned so much! I started this blog to chat about my classes and teaching experiences. When i went into labour 2 months early with Artoo and we adjusted to hospital life of a preemie, Zentangle kept me calm on days when i thought i might scream. On an impulse, i created a tile for Artoo's preemie neighbour, a teeny little baby named Erik. Because of that one act of impulsive tangling, i met some amazing women with preemie babies, who have become some of my dearest friends. It's a sisterhood - to go through the hell of having a sick preemie and to thankfully come out the other side. we all did. <3

Then one day, a CZT posed a challenge on facebook to all CZTs to create a tile a week. I asked if there was a particular challenge, there wasn't. So, i took it upon myself to challenge other Zentangle enthusiasts, and the rest, as they say, is history. This blog has exploded.

I am so honoured to host this challenge each week. You've all become some of my bestest online friends. i love seeing your tiles, i love visiting your blogs... Zentangle has changed my life, it's made it happier, calmer, more creative, full of wonderful and amazing people who keep inspiring me... each time i think: "i wonder if i should stop the challenge" someone emails me to tell me how they loved this week's challenge, how it moved them, or how they never thought they were an artist, but now they do. you all, you keep me going. thank you!

AND NOW - the winners!!

I took all your entries, tweets, and blog posts and put them into a spreadsheet, then used Random.org to pick the winners!

So, without Further Ado - the winners are:

Third Prize:

Congratulations!!

Second Prize

Congratulations!!

And the First prize winner is

Congratulations!!

Thanks, everyone, for your kind words and your emails. I'm so happy to pass on this Zentangle Love to the winners, i wish i could award you all!

Winners, please email me your addresses by Thursday so i can get your packages off to you!! :)

Weekly Challenge #51

2011-12-05T06:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
See Challenge #48's slideshow here
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

I've picked the winners of the 200K post. i'm going to announce the winners Tuesday morning (sorry!) I'm going to give the winners 48 hours to contact me (so, until thursday) so be sure to come back tomorrow to see if its you!!

i wanted to say thank you to everyone who entered and shared their reasons why they love Zentangle. It's truly awe inspiring to read how many people have been touched and how their lives have changed.

This week we finally put up our Christmas tree. I have to say, Christmas with a three year old is much more exciting than with a two year old. Chewie has been singing Frosty the Snowman for the last 2 weeks! He 'helped' with the tree, as much as you'd expect a three year old to help.

Chewie's letter to the man in Red

Artoo and i by the tree

Merry Christmas!

Artoo had some doctors appointments this week, they went well. His podiatrist says his feet (which were both clubbed and have been in casts, and now boots/brace since he was born) are a perfect 10 out of 10! Then he got vaccinated for the RSV virus. Since then he's been a bit feverish and cranky, but i'll take that if it means he skips RSV this year.

Weekly Challenge #51: New Tangle, FIFE
I've been meaning to post this challenge since the tangle was announced but with the last couple of crazy weeks we've had, i'm only getting to it now.

Fife is an awesome tangle... it's very similar to my tangle Versa that i came up with in March. I love these geometric patterns, they look so impressive on a tile!!

You can see instructions to FIFE here in the latest Zentangle Newsletter.

The challenge is to explore this new tangle and see what it's capable of! Have fun!

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine. I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. PLEASE do not put your *home* page in the linkey machine. please? for me??

Weekly Challenge #48 "String Theory v.VII: Tr-Shapes" Slideshow

2011-12-03T08:59:00.001-06:00

if you have trouble viewing this slideshow, you can go to the picasa album here.
Thank you Sue for hosting this great challenge!!
I hope everyone enjoyed it!

quickie

2011-11-30T20:48:00.001-06:00

i just wanted to say thanks to everyone who entered the 200K giveaway... the contest ends in just over 3 hours - midnight my time. (there's a clock on the sidebar)

then comes the task of weeding through all the entries! i hope to have the winners ready to announce at least by Monday!

if you haven't had a chance to read some of the entries, you can see them here in the comments.

pretty amazing stuff.

good luck everyone.
laura

psst.... the winners have been selected! they'll be announced on Monday!

Weekly Challenge #50!!

2011-11-28T06:30:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

Enter my 200K Giveaway! Contest ends November 30th!
If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
See Challenge #47's slideshow here
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

What a week.

Well, i was looking through my phone and my camera and i have no new pictures to share with you. Mostly this is because we didn't do anything this week except try to keep Artoo out of the hopsital. And we were successful. Yay!

B-rad and i are both exhausted, after such a long and stressful week of sleepless nights and waking every hour or so to suction the baby, or to feed him a bit of a bottle of pedialyte to keep his hydration up.

He's not completely out of the woods yet, though. He still has a wicked nasty cough, but the coughing spells are becoming fewer and fewer, which is great.

Weekly Challenge #50 "Biggify"

I taught a class this week to a great bunch of ladies (HI LADIES!!) and as we were chatting, we got to talking about how sometimes the tendency, when working on a small canvas such as a Zentangle tile (which is 9cm x 9cm or 3.5" x 3.5") is to make all your tangles really very small. Which can have a wonderful effect, but what would happen if we made the conscience effort to biggify those tangles...?

So, i tested this out on my own. Turns out - when i decided to biggify my tangles, it was really very challenging for me.

Here are three tiles with four of my go-to tangles; Crescnet Moon, Keeko, Ennies, and Tripoli. You can see my 'regular' size tangling in the first tile, the second tile i 'biggified' the same 4 tangles - i showed it to b-rad and he said "You should try to make them even bigger".

So, the last tile i biggified to the edge of my comfort zone and then a bit further. It was a different feeling, for sure. Especially with a pattern like Keeko (the basketweave type one) where, when i do it in my regular size, i find it very relaxing and meditative. But biggified to the max, i had to be much more aware of my lines. They were longer, i had to space them out differently... i had to be much more deliberate in my work. And i really loved the shading i was able to achieve on the size of that tangle. Usually i just shade around the edges.

This week's challenge is to push your comfort zone and biggify your tangles. Don't biggify your canvas, try sticking to the size you generally work on to get the full effect. (Zentangling on a large surface is a whole other ball of wax - fun though) so if you work on tiles, biggify on a tile. if you work in your journal, biggify in your journal. you get it.

have fun! try it a few times and see where your comfort zone lies. Put your toe over that line and test the waters.

good times.

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine. I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. PLEASE do not put your *home* page in the linkey machine. please? for me??

Weekly Challenge #49

2011-11-21T06:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

Enter my 200K Giveaway! Contest ends November 30th!
If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
See Challenge #47's slideshow here
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

Today's entry will be short and sweet, as B-rad and i are doing everything to keep Artoo at home instead of in the hospital. As of THIS SECOND, it's nothing serious. Just a cold that is plugging his nose and making it hard for him to breathe. This in and of itself isn't so bad, but when paired with his neurological disorder, it tends to hospitalize him. So for now, we're focused on keeping the little man's breathing clear, keeping the junk out of his lungs the best we can.

As for me, i am still feeling a bit under the weather, but when you're a mom, babies come first.

Thankfully i had already planned to have a guest post this week! Cris Letournea, CZT blogs at Tangled Up in Art and has an amazing challenge for us this week...

Weekly Challenge #49: "Red Thread Challenge"
"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break." -Chinese proverb

To me, this sounds like an invitation to tangle. To my friend Sonya, it sounded like an invitation to help orphans in China, disabled kids in Haiti, and people in the United States who would otherwise be lacking in medical care and other essentials that most of us take for granted. She is VP of an organization called The Red Thread Promise. Take a look at their blog to see the wonderful work that they do.

To raise awareness of their mission, your challenge this week is to create a traditional black and white tangle tile with a single red "thread" running through it.

If you are inspired to help even more, I will be collecting actual tiles to be auctioned off to help raise money for the Red Thread Promise. All tiles collected will be made into a poster that will be available for purchase. Proceeds will also be used to help fund their mission. If you want to participate, you can find out how at my blog, Tangled Up In Art.

(be sure to check out her link, if you wish to participate and don't have an official tile to tangle on, she will provide you with one. this is so great, i can't wait to see the poster!!, Laura)

Cris' bio: I am a homeschooling mom and wife of 22 years who loves to make pretty things. I heard about Zentangle about a year ago and it was love at first sight. I signed up for the next available CZT seminar and have been on a wild ride ever since. Who would have thought that such a simple thing would have blessed me with confidence in my creative abilities, discovering a love of teaching, and meeting wonderful people from all over the world?

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine. I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. PLEASE do not put your *home* page in the linkey machine. please? for me??

Weekly Challenge #47 "Lest we Forget" Slideshow

2011-11-20T23:35:00.000-06:00

such a lovely slideshow, and many of you wrote such touching blog posts dedicating your work to a loved one.

If you are having trouble viewing this slideshow, the link to the picasa album is here

World Prematurity Day

2011-11-17T15:54:00.001-06:00

November 17th, 2011, is World Prematurity day... and because both my beautiful baby boys were born premature, i'm celebrating by wearing purple (the colour of the cause) and also by sharing the collages i made for the WPD facebook group showcaing how far these amazing boys have come.

Chewie was born at 32 weeks, he was 4lbs 11oz at birth and spent 18 days in NICU. I remember thinking when he was born that i had never seen a baby that small before. It was love at first sight.

Today Chewie is three years old, runs around like a crazy person, has an extremely high vocabulary and asks questions a million miles a minute. He is my cuddle bum, my gymnast, my 'star-wers' fanatic and my budding author.

Artoo was born at 33 weeks - he weighed 3lbs 15 oz. He stayed in a whole week longer, and weighed almost a full pound less! He was officially the smallest baby i ever held. He stayed in NICU for 30 days, then in the Pediatric ward for another 10. His life has been a roller coaster ever since he arrived, full tilt! Now he's over 25lbs, he's sitting unassisted, eating solid foods, and even spending a little time on his knees. He's a little behind as far as physical development, but he's perfect. And i love him.

Being a parent, especially with two rocky starts, has been an emotional ride beyond anything i've ever experienced. My boys have made me a better person, even if i am a little bit of a cranky mom some days (chocolate usually fixes that). And even though i sometimes remember the days when we were free to come and go as we pleased, to sleep in until 11 on weekends, etc, etc, i wouldn't trade any of this... for the world. i love you, babies!!

this week's zentangle challenge can be found here

MORE PRIZES!!

2011-11-15T11:07:00.001-06:00

See this week's challenge HERE

I just got an email last week from Copic markers! They are very graciously sending me TWO Multiliner 4pc Sepia Sets to be added to the 200K Giveaway!! is that awesome or what?

Price packages 2 and 1 will be getting these sets. I am super jealous! ;)

Thanks Ashley at Copic!! You've been wonderful!!

Weekly Challenge #48

2011-11-14T06:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

Enter my 200K Giveaway! Contest ends November 30th!
If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
See Challenge #46's slideshow here
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

Well, we've finally had our first snowfall up here in the Skatch. The middle of November, that's really odd - it seems that we usually have snow sometime in October. This year, Chewie is sooo all about the snow. We got out the winter jackets and toques (that's what we Canucks call a wool hat... start spreading it around) and mittens and B-rad, Chewie and i had a bit of a play in the backyard while Artoo was napping.

Faster, Daddy, Faster...NO!! TOO FAST!!!

It was a short work week for B-rad, as Remembrance day is a Stat Holiday in Canada. So he was busy building our new custom shoe rack. It's gonna be sa-weet! (i'll post pics when it's all done and full of shoes...) I spent the "day off" (HA!) making home made baby food for Artoo (seriously, it's so easy and cheap, i couldn't imagine if i was buying jars of baby food on top of formula)

Artoo, hangin out in a laundry hamper

This week i made roasted beets, turnips, parsnips, butternut squash, avacado/quinoa, red lentils, beef and chickpeas, chicken and black bean, bananas, apples, rasperry/blueberry/blackberry/banana mix...

He's a lucky boy, quite often he eats better than we do. ;) I'm just always so thrilled that he's eating solids at all, (when he was diagnosed with an extremely rare neurological disorder called Moebius Syndrome the doctors wanted to insert a feeding tube into his belly....but i fought that, and look at him now!!) i don't mind all the work - to create a variety. His feeding specialists told us to try foods with really strong flavour, as sometimes kids who have been tube fed (as Artoo was in NICU) have tastebud issues... and this kid LOVES things with strong flavour, anything bland is boring. He will have NONE if it. lol

On 11/11/'11 at 11:11am i took part in a world wide Zentangling event - as CZTs from around the globe got together to tangle at 11:11 in their respective timezones.

ultimate wish moment!

This was my tile. I used a gold Sakura Gelly roll pen because 11/11/11,11:11 only happens once in a lifetime, and it was pretty magical.

as the week wound down, i found myself really super tired and feeling kinda 'off'. i'm hoping against all hope that i'm not getting sick... luckily, for me - and for you - this week is a guest post! The lovely and talented Sue Clark, CZT is sitting in for me this week with her excellent challenge.
Sue can be found at her blog www.tangledinkart.blogspot.com

Take it away Sue:

Weekly Challenge #48: String Theory v. VII: "Tri-Shapes"

I had a simple idea for the DIVA weekly challenge. (*I love simple, - Laura)

Three basic shapes (circle, square, and triangle) when combined can be used to create a string.

Just like the infinite possibilities of putting tangle patterns together, using these 3 shapes together and altering their size and placement on the tile would create infinite possibilities for a string idea.

I also thought it would be fun to also 'tri' all new tangles (ones you have never tried before). I have attached my before and after tiles and the names of the new tangles I tried are: Zuan Shi, Sanibelle, Gloven, Amaze, Krli-Q's, Rosé.

Sue's bio: I am married and have two daughters. I have had a love of drawing and many other arts & crafts over the years while working and raising my two daughters. I retired from a 36 year career with the federal government and before I knew it I was off to New England in Oct 2010 to become a CZT. I was the first CZT to teach in the state of Colorado. I teach in the Loveland/Fort Collins area and love sharing Zentangle with others. I have experienced so many new things this past year (becoming a CZT, starting a small self employment business, teaching classes, starting a blog, sharing art work on Flickr, etc.) and have met so many wonderful, talented, and supportive people in person and online. We never know where life will take us....and I am sure enjoying the ride!

This week's challenge is to create a tile or ZIA using the basic shapes Circle, Triangle, and Square TOGETHER as your string. For extra imaginary bonus points, use tangles you've never used before! i can't wait to see where you take it!

I managed to try my hand at this, and i'm not too wild about the way my tile turned out - but it's a challenge to post, even if it's not your best work... so there it is.

I love this challenge though, and i can see myself using the 3 shapes as a string in the future, it's just one more way to take the brain out of the process. and i love that. (being brainless, hahaha)

See you next week,
Laura

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine. I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. PLEASE do not put your *home* page in the linkey machine. please? for me??

Weekly Challenge #46 Slideshow!

2011-11-09T10:28:00.000-06:00

Thanks for your patience everyone as i catch up on these slideshows.i hope you enjoy them as much as i do.

for those of you viewing on an iPad - you can visit the gallery here

Don't forget to enter the 200K giveaway if you haven't already. (Contest ends November 30)

Also, this week's challenge can be found here

Sorry everyone, i forgot to change the privacy settings on the slideshow. It should work for you now if it wasn't before. cheers! L

Weekly Challenge #47

2011-11-07T06:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

Enter my 200K Giveaway! Contest ends November 30th!
If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

FIRST! The winner of this week's Zentangle Pocket Pages, supplied by the wonderful folks at CropStop!
I used a random number generator:

and winner #8 - lucky commenter #5

Congrats vicmelhorse, email me with your mailing address and we'll get those sent off to you post haste - courtesy of CropStop! My email address is in the contact tab above.

Didn't win this week? You can order your own Pocket Pagez from Crop Stop Receive 10% off at the Crop Stop when you use the coupon code DIVA - awesome!

Halloween was super fun, up here at Casa Diva.
Usually, in Saskatchewan, there's snow on the ground by the middle of October, and all the Halloween costumes are designed to go OVER a snowsuit. There's also a lot of Trick or Treating at the mall, because it's warm. Or Trunk or Treating - where a bunch of parents get together in a parking lot (like a church) and the kids go from car to car and get candy from the trunk - lol...

This year the weather was beautiful, which meant that Chewie and i could do half the block before he wanted to quit. (mostly because he was tired and his halloween bag broke) Chewie and his friend E have done a matching costume since they were both born in 2008. The first year, Chewie was a little devil and E was a little Angel, the second year, Chewie was a Spider and E was a Ladybug, last year they were both pirates - but this year, they both have little siblings. So, we decided that my boys would be dragons, and E and her sister E2 would be fairies. So...freakin...cute.

i'm pushing for StarWars next year... Chewie, Artoo, Leia... hmmm, kinda short on girls....any thoughts?

Weekly Challenge #47: "Lest we Forget"
As we approach 11-11-11 this week's challenge is simply to remember. Canadians have "Remembrance Day" up here (Nov 11) - and every year starting on the last Friday of October the Cadets stand in Mall Entrances offering Lapel Poppies for donation. The idea of the lapel poppy is pretty neat - based on the Poem "In Flanders Field" written by Canadian Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

I have memorized this poem countless time for countless elementary school programs, sang it in countless different choral arrangements - but its not until this year that i actually sat and read it. This line: "To you from failing hands we throw the torch; be yours to hold it high." gets me right in the gut. Do not give up. Do not forget. "If ye break faith with us who die we shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders fields."

The lapel poppies were first made in 1922 by disabled veterans. In time the Royal Canadian Legion took over the operation - and the Poppy Fund continues to support our Country's veterans.

When you create your tile or ZIA, the challenge is to remember - what this means to you. Remember your fallen loved ones, your long lost friend from childhood, remember when your 3 year old was once a tiny bundle in your arms, remember the feel of your aging grandmother's hand... remember laughter and tears, friends and family, fallen heroes or quiet bravery.

Poppy - by me.

and now the small-ish print:

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here) Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;) If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address) The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine. I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam.

Weekley Challenge #44: Tangled on the Inside Slideshow!

2011-11-03T13:17:00.000-06:00

THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE (#46 Halloween) is HERE
Challenge #45's slideshow is HERE

my 200K Giveaway is HERE

Here is the slideshow for Challenge #44 - String Theory v VI: Tangled on the Inside!
slowly catching up with my slideshows

also, for those of you viewing this site with an iPad, here's the link for the gallery in Picasa

Weekly Challenge #45: Punzel Slideshow

2011-11-02T14:10:00.001-06:00

THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE (#46 Halloween) is HERE

my 200K Giveaway is HERE

So, i'm, like, totally behind with my slideshows - i thought i'd start with the most current and then work backwards. ;)So, without further ado, here is the slideshow for Challenge #45!For those of you viewing on an iPad, here's the link to see the gallery in Picasa.....

Passing the Celebration on to YOU

2011-11-01T05:30:00.000-06:00

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED

source

Last week on my blog - some awesomeness happened. My counter rolled over to 200,000 hits!! it's been pretty exciting in my house as we were getting closer to the big number. B-rad would tell me every day how close i was getting.... i should say that i'm not a new blogger. I've been blogging in some form or other since the way back days of 2002 before blogging was really a thing. My personal blog (where i rant and rave and curse like a sailor, you've been warned) has been online for 9 years, and i have just under 50,000 hits on that one - since i started keeping track in 2007. So - for me, this is huge.

and i'm honoured.

This challenge has been such an amazing ride in my already ~~crazy~~ amazing life. You all keep saying in your sweet comments and emails how much you're thankful for me doing this - but the reality is i'm thankful to YOU guys.... This whole idea for a challenge started just under a year ago when i tentatively posted my first challenge and spread the word to the couple of CZTs that i was in regular contact with on facebook... and it grew. And it grew and it grew and it grew until it created this wonderful community of artists and tanglers. Through this blog and through your entries and comments and emails, i've come to know you guys as well. You are all so wonderful.

PLUS - how cool is it to be on THIS side of the challenge to see what you guys do with it?? the few of you who've guest posted for me, you know what i'm talking about!!

It's fantastic!

SO! i'm having a giveaway to celebrate 200K!
Here are the FANTASTIC PRIZES!

Prize Package #3

Click to Enlarge

8 sheets of Pocket Pagez courtesy of CropStop
Zentangle for Kidz! courtesy of the lovely and talented Sandra Steen Bartholomew, CZT
One set of Sakura Pigma Micron pens, courtesy of Sakura of America
One sent of 5 Dark Metallic Gelly Roll pens, courtesy of Sakura of America
One Red Sakura pencil case, courtesy of Sakura of America
Set of nine Zentangle Puzzle coasters, courtesy of Zentangle.com
One Zentangle to Go case, courtesy of Zentangle.com

Prize Package #2

Click to Enlarge

8 sheets of Pocket Pagez courtesy of CropStop
Yoga for Your Brain courtesy of the lovely and talented Sandra Steen Bartholomew, CZT
One set of Sakura Pigma Micron pens, courtesy of Sakura of America
One sent of 3 Metallic Gelly Roll pens, courtesy of Sakura of America
One set of 2 Stardust pens, courtesy of Sakura of America
One Red Sakura pencil case, courtesy of Sakura of America
One Multiliner 4pc Sepia set, courtesy of Copic Color (Not Pictured)
One beautiful leather Zentangle Wallet, courtesy of Zentangle.com (I have this wallet in dark brown and i LOOOOVE it)
One Zentangle to Go case, courtesy of Zentangle.com

Prize Package #1


Click to Enlarge

8 sheets of Pocket Pagez courtesy of CropStop
Zen Mandalas courtesy of the lovely and talented Suzanne McNeill, CZT
Tangle Organizer, courtesy of the fabulous and fellow Canadian Genevieve Crabe, CZT
One set of Sakura Pigma Micron pens, courtesy of Sakura of America
One sent of 10 Sakura Glaze pens, courtesy of Sakura of America
One Red Sakura pencil case, courtesy of Sakura of America
One Multiliner 4pc Sepia set, courtesy of Copic Color (Not pictured)
One Zentangle kit
One Zentangle to Go case, courtesy of Zentangle.com
One leaded glass frame containing two original Zentangles - one collaboration by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, the other by yours truly

Click to Enlarge

Now, you're probably wondering how to enter. Each of these methods will get you an entry:

Leave a comment below saying how Zentangle has enhanced YOUR life (be sure to supply a valid email address so i can contact you if you win!)
Blog about this contest on your OWN blog - be sure to leave the site-specific URL to your blog post in a separate comment
Tweet about it using the following (be sure to leave a separate comment with your twitter id letting me know) : @iamthediva is holding a #zentangle giveaway to celebrate 200K! #divacztgiveaway http://tinyurl.com/6bewexz

I will select three winners randomly on November 30th from the comment section. Good luck!! And thanks again for all the great submissions to all the challenges. I heart you.

Weekly Challenge #46

2011-10-31T06:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

FIRST! The winner of this week's Zentangle Pocket Pages, supplied by the wonderful folks at CropStop!

I used a random number generator:

and winner #7 - lucky commenter #22

Congrats Terrie, email me with your mailing address and we'll get those sent off to you post haste - courtesy of CropStop! My email address is in the contact tab above.

Didn't win this week? You can still try next week.... and the week after that! The Pocket Pagez giveaways have been extended!! WOO HOO!!

You can also order your own Pocket Pagez or you can try again this week! (rules posted in blue at the bottom of this post) Receive 10% off at the Crop Stop when you use the coupon code DIVA - awesome!

Happy Halloween!!
Hope everyone had a safe Halloween weekend - B-rad and i took turns going out this weekend. I went to a friend's Murder Mystery party and even guessed who the killer was! Chewie is pretty excited about Halloween this year. He's been counting down the sleeps for the last few nights. He and his brother are going out this afternoon as Dragons. i'll post pictures later this week, hopefully.

Speaking of Dragons, i have to share this cute little story;

Chewie is sooo over books and would rather him and i tell a made up story together (the Chewie contributions shall be astrix-ed) - tonight's episode featured a beautiful princess named Princess Mama who lived in a castle and had very long and beautiful arms, she was in the woods picking Strawberries when she heard a scary sound! It was a Scary troll who lived under da bridge! oh no! the scary troll would only let her pass if Princess Mama brought him Stinky Garlic and Stinky Onions to eat. So the princess found a Garlic and Onion garden, but it was protected by the Scarecrow named Chewie, but when the princess explained that she needed the garlic and onions to give to a scary troll the scarecrow decided to help her carry them. They crossed the bridge but Then the princess Mama got taked by a BIG...SCARY....MEEEEEAN DRAGON!!!! OHH NO!!! Who was going to save her? It waaaaaaaassss SUPER-SAVER-DADDY-With-a-CAPE! An he flew to da dragon and he bopped it on the da nose and the dragon said ooh no! my nose is bopped! waahhh!!! and the super saver daddy with a cape and the princess mama fell in love and lived HAPPILY EVER.....AFTER!!! THE ENNND!!!...Mama, NOW can i sing Jingle Bells?"

carving pumpkins - Chewie doesn't like pumpkin goo....

We also were fortunate to have a local coffee place hold a fundraiser for us this weekend, to help us raise funds to attend the Moebius Syndrome conference in Philadelphia in July.

On top of all this, both boys have been teething. Chewie - working on some molars, and Artoo cut 2 teeth, and has two molars on the way as well. I'm not gonna lie, it's been pretty tense around here the last few days.

Weekly Challenge #46: "All Hallow's Eve"

Time to have a little fun with the challenge and let our little trick-or-treaters have their time to shine. This week's challenge is to have FUN with the prompt: Halloween!!

Create a tile or a Zentangle Inspired piece that is haunting or spooky, maybe with things that go bump in the night - with such an open ended prompt, there's no end to things you can do with it. I chose to do a pumpkin tile, and also - to tangle a pumpkin! This was going to be last week's challenge, but as TODAY is halloween, it's still fitting.

Pumpkin

Another pumpkin - also featuring my Maria Thomas tattoo...

Happy Haunting Everyone!!

Oooh, and don't forget to stop by tomorrow, November first, for something pretty sweet....

To be entered in the Zentangle Pocket Pagez giveaway, the rules are this:

1. You must have entered a tile or ZIA in this challenge

2. You MUST enter a "SITE-SPECIFIC" URL in the linkey machine. Links to home pages or to past entries will not be accepted. If it ends in .com or the like, it's not site specific. (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

3. Leave a comment saying which number you are in the linkey machine

4. If you are emailing your submission, leave a comment saying your piece was emailed

This contest will close as of MIDNIGHT CST on Saturday. I will use a random number generator to select the winner from the comments on Sunday. I will announce the winner in next week's challenge! This contest is open to everyone, including overseas!! yay!!

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here) Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;) If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address) The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine. I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. :(

Hey! some Awesomeness just happened

2011-10-26T10:18:00.001-06:00

This morning my blog rolled over!! it was very exciting (i watched as it counted down from 199,980)

it was kinda like watching your car turn over.

anyway, awesomeness!!

and to thank every one of you, there will be some awesomeness coming your way! stay tuned!!

love,
Laura

Weekly Challenge #45

2011-10-24T06:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!

First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"

To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link

Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!

The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.

and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

FIRST! The winner of this week's Zentangle Pocket Pages, supplied by the wonderful folks at CropStop!
I used a random number generator:

and winner #6 - lucky commenter #41

Annet, email me with your mailing address and we'll get those sent off to you post haste - courtesy of CropStop! My email address is in the contact tab above.

Didn't win this week? You can still try next week.... and the week after that! The Pocket Pagez giveaways have been extended!! WOO HOO!!

You can also order your own Pocket Pagez or you can try again this week! (rules posted in blue at the bottom of this post) Receive 10% off at the Crop Stop when you use the coupon code DIVA - awesome!
~~

I spent a wonderful weekend in Calgary, by myself. I got to meet my friend's gorgeous baby. Trust me, she's beautiful. I don't want to post a picture of her without my friend's permission first, and it's kinda late as i write this.

I got to visit with a really great friend for lunch and sit in a book store for two hours enjoying a cup of coffee, i went for a walk with another great friend in the fall weather, saw some amazing visionary artwork at downtown gallery, enjoyed some fascinating conversion...and ate...a lot...

This eggs bennie was like heaven on a plate...

Butter chicken, some kind of veggie ball, palak paneer, coconut rice and delicious Naan bread

Crispy Thai chicken, beef and mushrooms with black pepper sauce, coconut rice (better than the last one) and some kind of tasty noodly thing

scotchy scotch scotch

my new hat!

i went through my pictures on my phone, and it appears i only took pictures of food... and also my nifty new hat - and some scotch (my friend's hubby shared his scotch knowledge and learned me up good... by the second or third sip, i was actually enjoying it! not enough to buy my own $75 bottle of scotch, but enough to accept if someone offers me a glass)

i had a great time. i feel like it was some much needed Laura time, but i was so happy to get home to my boys.

Weekly Challenge #45: New Tangle Punzel

i had been writing a challenge in my head during the seven hour drive home tonight, and then i got home and saw the Zentangle newsletter in my inbox (subscribe here) with a new tangle called Punzel, which is a variation of the the tangle Chainging. I haven't really played with Chainging before, so this challenge was extra challenging for me.

here's Chainging:

Image belongs to Zentangle Inc.

and the new tangle Punzel:

The red "dots" in these instructions are not meant to be drawn. Rather, they indicate the visualization process of seeing where the next element begins as you proceed to "draw behind" in a Zentangle way. - zentangle.com

Image belongs to Zentangle Inc.

you can see some more examples from Maria on the Zentangle blog for some inspiration.

Okay, well - here's my attempt. I'm really going to have to try my hand at this some more in the future. It's definitely a tangle that requires some more concentration and focus.

this ended up looking kind of like a fish to me

I had a hard time finding the 'flow' of my little braid pieces, but it still looks kinda neat.

To be entered in the Zentangle Pocket Pagez giveaway, the rules are this:

1. You must have entered a tile or ZIA in this challenge

3. Leave a comment saying which number you are in the linkey machine

4. If you are emailing your submission, leave a comment saying your piece was emailed

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here) Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;) If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address) The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine. I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. :(

i taught a class!

2011-10-20T17:02:00.001-06:00

So excited, last night i taught a beginner's class to six lovely ladies. It was the first time teaching in over a year, and it was great to be back in the saddle.

Here's a photo of all their tiles together. So wonderful to be able to see everyone's 'style' already!

Well! i'm off! i'm driving off to Calgary tonight to take a much needed break and to visit my berry best friend who just had a baby at the end of September!! CHILD FREE!!

I'll see y'all Monday morning!!

cheers,
laura

Weekly Challenge #44

2011-10-17T05:30:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

FIRST! The winner of this week's Zentangle Pocket Pages, supplied by the wonderful folks at CropStop!

I used a random number generator:

and winner #5 - lucky commenter #23

tangledtranquility, email me with your mailing address and we'll get those sent off to you post haste - courtesy of CropStop! My email address is in the contact tab above.

Didn't win this week? You can still try next week.... and the week after that! The Pocket Pagez giveaways have been extended!! WOO HOO!!

You can also order your own Pocket Pagez or you can try again this week! (rules posted in blue at the bottom of this post) Receive 10% off at the Crop Stop when you use the coupon code DIVA - awesome!

As i'm writing this post, it's Sunday night - and i am exhausted. Today was Artoo's first birthday! It's hard to believe that a whole year ago i missed out on our Full Day Zentangle retreat that Margaret Bremner and i had planned. It was a beautiful day, a gorgeous saturday, and i was really looking forward to spending it at the Devic Centre, 25 minutes outside of town... but as my luck would have it, Artoo needed out. And i missed the retreat. sigh.

He came 7.5 weeks early and weighed a whopping 3 lbs 15 oz.

Hard to believe that this is the same kid.

Happy birthday, kiddo. We spent most of today at grandparents' with both sides of the family, celebrating his birthday. He's come so far. I'm so proud of him... and it's been a crazy Cah-RAY-zee year. for all of us.

Weekly Challenge #44: "String Theory v. VI: Tangled on the inside"

i while back Jo in NZ sent me an idea for a challenge (have an idea? Email me at the address on my contact tab above) - the idea is that you use one tangle as the 'string' and then fill in all the spaces with other tangles. A tangle within a tangle....

To honour my little dude's birthday, i used my tangle Artoo that i came up with during one of our many hospital stays (click here to read about it and see the tangle instructions). Instead of doing many buds, i chose to just do ONE bud and tangle inside each 'stripe'.

i had very good intentions of doing a second tile using 'cadent' and filling in the spaces with other fun tangles, but... i'm tired. Throwing a birthday party takes a lot out of a gal.

So, this week's challenge is to create a tile or ZIA using a tangle or tangle section as your string, then to fill in the 'blanks' with other tangles.

To be entered in the Zentangle Pocket Pagez giveaway, the rules are this:

1. You must have entered a tile or ZIA in this challenge

3. Leave a comment saying which number you are in the linkey machine

4. If you are emailing your submission, leave a comment saying your piece was emailed

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here) Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;) If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address) The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine. I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. :(

Weekly Challenge #43

2011-10-10T22:13:00.010-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

FIRST! The winner of this week's Zentangle Pocket Pages, supplied by the wonderful folks at CropStop!

I used a random number generator:

and winner #4 - lucky commenter #13

Joni, email me with your mailing address and we'll get those sent off to you post haste - courtesy of CropStop! My email address is in the contact tab above.

Didn't win this week? You can still try next week.... after this week, it's the last Pocket Pagez giveaway....

BUT never fear, you can order your own Pocket Pagez or you can try again this week! (rules posted in blue at the bottom of this post) Receive 10% off at the Crop Stop when you use the coupon code DIVA - awesome!

We are all in a Turkey induced haze up in here, so i'll be brief. We had two big family gatherings - One Sunday night and one Monday night - with all the Thanksgiving trimmings... too much food... uhhnnnn... can't move....

But i want to say that i'm thankful for so many wonderful things in my life. I'm thankful for my wonderful husband and my two amazing kids, for my family who have been so supportive this last year, i'm thankful for hospitals (as much as it sucks to be in 'em, i'm sure glad we have 'em), i'm SOOO thankful for Canada's health care system - i think we'd be bankrupt by now..., i'm thankful for the smell of fallen leaves, i'm thankful for smoochy baby kisses and three year old laughter

So thankful for this guy

This guy too.

I'm thankful for Rick and Maria - for their generous spirits, and for the gift of Zentangle in my life. I'm thankful for the friends i've made through this challenge, and for the chance to be a part of this movement of creation.
thanks, guys.

Weekly Challenge #43: Sunflower Fun

This week's Challenge comes courtesy of Pennyb. (if you have an idea for a challenge, drop me a line... see my contact tab above)

She writes:
In Republic of South Africa, on 12 October we have Bandana Day, which is run by the Sunflower Fund. This is an organization founded in 1999 in support of the SA Bone Marrow Registry for people suffering from leukemia. Every year our local retailer (Pick n Pay) sells Sunflower bandanas and the proceeds go towards the Sunflower Fund...everyone wears a Bandana, somehow somewhere on this day! I wondered if you could incorporate the Sunflower Fund logo somehow as a Challenge during the week 12 Oct??

To that i say, heck yes we can!! i went to the website and checked it out, and i pulled their logo:

which i traced onto a tile and used as a string...

Penny also generously offered to mail me a bandana.

i think i totally make this work. don't you? :)

So, this week use create a tile or ZIA inspired by the sunflower!

To be entered in the Zentangle Pocket Pagez giveaway, the rules are this:

1. You must have entered a tile or ZIA in this challenge

3. Leave a comment saying which number you are in the linkey machine

4. If you are emailing your submission, leave a comment saying your piece was emailed

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here) Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;) If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address) The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine. I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. :(

Happy Turkey Day to my Canadian Friends!!

2011-10-10T00:02:00.000-06:00

Hey All,
Up here in Canada we are celebrating Thanksgiving! I'm gorging myself on Turkey and Pie.
Stop by Tuesday morning for the Weekly Challenge...

By the way, i'm so very thankful for all of you.
Hugs,
Laura

Weekly Challenge #33 Slideshow: Pendrills

2011-10-04T08:31:00.000-06:00

Weekly Challenge #42

2011-10-03T05:30:00.006-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

FIRST! The winner of this week's Zentangle Pocket Pages, supplied by the wonderful folks at CropStop!

I used a random number generator:

and lucky commenter #28 was..... me?

Poor Diana at Wolf Howlings was having trouble commenting on the blog. (I'm sorry, i'm not sure what happened there - i'm trying to fix it. ) So, she sent me an email letting me know she was trying to comment, so i added her comment for her... and she's the lucky recipient of this week's giveaway! Diana, email me with your mailing address and we'll get those sent off to you post haste - courtesy of CropStop! My email address is in the contact tab above.

Didn't win this week? never fear, you can order your own Pocket Pagez or you can try again this week! (rules posted in blue at the bottom of this post) Receive 10% off at the Crop Stop when you use the coupon code DIVA - awesome!

and now for the rest of the post;

Well, what we thought was the flu last week turned out to be Strep throat... only, it never went away - it just kept getting worse and worse and poor B-rad just never got any better and ended up being home from work all week long. Because, as it turns out, it wasn't actually strep either. It was Hand Foot and Mouth Disease. And by some amazing miracle - i came out of it unscathed (knock on wood) and i was able to care for my super sick hubby and my sick little dudes, who also had it.

He's so cute!

This meant that I was on full time parenting duty. That, and we finally got our new washer and dryer after months of carting laundry to my mother's. I did laundry for 3 days straight but i got every piece of clothing washed, sorted, and folded - as well as all the towels and face clothes and all the linen. It was exhausting, but it felt so good to get it all done.... (uh, please disregard the 3 full hampers of clean folded laundry that are currently sitting in my living room, i ran out of steam....)

he is too!

Because Hand Foot and Mouth is pretty contagious, this meant that all four of us were stuck in the house... together... alllllll week..... and, i mean, i love my family but by the end of yesterday i was feeling pretty ready to run away and join the circus.

But enough about me.

Weekly Challenge #42: "HOPE"

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. I don't know anyone who doesn't know someone living with, or affected by, or lost someone to Breast Cancer. A few months ago i shared with you that my grandmother's breast cancer has returned. So i was working on a piece for auctioning, which (because of my crazy life) i didn't actually get to send down to my aunt. However, i did finish it.

Yes, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and yes, my grandmother and even my aunt have or have had Breast Cancer. But Breast Cancer is not the only reason to have hope. i think each of us has had a situation in their lives when they felt like giving up, and for whatever reason - they didn't. That gives me hope. Sometimes, as some of you know, my life is hell. But i hope every day that things will get better. I hope that my kids stay healthy. I hope that my sons know how much i love them, i hope my husband knows how much i adore him. I hope for the strength to get through each day.

Most of the time, for me, hope is just the tiny light in the darkened room that helps my eyes adjust over time so i can maneuver through the obstacles that are in front me.

We all need to have hope.

What are you hoping for?

If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or fight like hell. ~Lance Armstrong

Never, never, never give up. ~Winston Churchill

Once you choose hope, anything's possible. ~Christopher Reeve

This week the challenge is to create a tile or ZIA inspired by hope. However this applies to your life.

To be entered in the Zentangle Pocket Pagez giveaway, the rules are this:

1. You must have entered a tile or ZIA in this challenge

3. Leave a comment saying which number you are in the linkey machine

4. If you are emailing your submission, leave a comment saying your piece was emailed

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here) Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;) If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address) The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine. I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. :(

Weekly Challenge #32 Slideshow: Zentangle is for Everyone

2011-10-01T13:14:00.000-06:00

Thanks again to Carole Ohl - the host of this challenge. Hope your show was as awesome as this slideshow is!

Weekly Challenge #41

2011-09-26T05:30:00.002-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

Hey folks... gonna be a quick post today... everyone in my household is sick. I somehow managed to put my back out on Thursday morning, i've been in on and off major pain since then. Even had a trip to the chiropractor and got my mother to do some energy healing on me... it's better, but far from recovered... then Chewie has had a "sharp neck when i drink" and Artoo has been teething and having some sniffles... then B-rad got smacked with a flu - leaving me to man the ship all by my lonesome with my messed up back... it's been a craaaazy gong show up in here. i. am. exhausted.

So - first i want to say congratulations to the winner of last week's pocket pagez! i used the random number generator:

and lucky commenter #23 was:

Lilith, please email me your mailing address and you will receive your very own Zentangle Pocket Pagez, courtesy of CropStop! My email address is in the contact tab above.

Didn't win this week? never fear, you can order your own Pocket Pagez or you can try again this week! (rules posted in blue at the bottom of this post) THIS JUST IN!! Receive 10% off at the Crop Stop when you use the coupon code DIVA - awesome!

Thanks to everyone who sent me well wished on my new found life of stay at home mom-dom. And an extra thank you to those who have been clicking on ads. I really appreciate it. :D

And now, on to this week's challenge...

Weekly Challenge #41: DuoTangle v. II "Jonqal/Opus"

It's been a while since the first DuoTangle challenge. And for those of you who are just joining us, DueTangle is a term i coined wherein you use ONLY two tangles. There was a lot of mixed feelings about that challenge.

Mostly i really pushed people out of their comfort zone to use tangles they maybe haven't used in a while, if ever... and to really get out of the idea behind only using tangles that 'go' together...

Part of my problem, i find, is that it's so easy for me to fall into the same old patterns i always use - and to get hung up on patterns or tangles that 'match'. Like i've said before, part of the great thing about hosting your own challenge is that i can work on areas where i feel i need challenging! :)

So, this week's challenge is to do a tile or Zentangle inspired piece that uses only these two tangles; Jonqal and Opus. Both of these patterns are official Zentangle Tangles, and the instructions for these patterns can be found in the Zentangle Newsletters - links below. (Click here to subscribe, if you haven't already)

Click the links for instructions to Jonqal and Opus (my tile looks very Easter-ish, with a little egg poking out there)

Limiting yourself to only two tangles is such a simple and elegant way of pushing your own envelope!

Also, exercises like this often leave people saying: "It's not very good." and before you start this week's challenge i want you all to take a deep breath and repeat after me: It's about the PROCESS, not the PRODUCT

okay?

To be entered in the Zentangle Pocket Pagez giveaway, the rules are this:

1. You must have entered a tile or ZIA in this challenge

3. Leave a comment saying which number you are in the linkey machine

4. If you are emailing your submission, leave a comment saying your piece was emailed

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here) Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;) If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address) The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine. I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. :(

Weekly Challenge #40

2011-09-19T05:30:00.002-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

OKAY!! First things FIRST!! The winner of last week's Pocket Pagez giveaway!

I used a random number generator from random.org

Lucky commenter #40 was:

Ranza, please email me your name and mailing address and you will receive your very own Zentangle Pocket Pagez, courtesy of CropStop! My email address is in the contact tab above.

Didn't win this week? never fear, you can order your own Pocket Pagez or you can try again this week! (rules posted in blue at the bottom of this post) THIS JUST IN!! Receive 10% off at the Crop Stop when you use the coupon code DIVA - awesome!

ALSO, in case you missed it - i actually got two slideshows up last week. You can see them here and here! (another big thanks to my lovely guest posters Christina and Carol)

This week i officially gave notice that i would be taking another year off work. It was a hard decision, but with Artoo's hospitalizations and the need for suctioning, daycare was not an option. But, the plus side is that my job is unionized, and so i am able to take a year unpaid leave. Stress the unpaid part.

Now i am totally unemployed.

Please excuse me while i hyperventilate into this brown paper bag.... (ahem)... So, if you ever feel so inclined to click on any of the ads on my site, that'd be pretty cool. (*Shameless plug, sigh)

I'm not going to lie, i am very stressed out about what this means for us. And i'm a little worried about finances - so...if you have a good recipe for Raman Noodles, send 'em my way. ;)

At least i have my Zentangles to keep my anxiety levels down.

upcoming year of unemployment?? Totally worth it.

Last week's challenge was so awesome. I have to tell you, i received so many wonderful heartfelt messages and emails this week from some amazing people (HELLOO!!) saying how much they enjoyed the challenge. i love getting mail... but when someone tells me they were moved by the challenge, that they got something out of it that surprised them... well, that really makes this all worth while! So, thanks for those letters.

Weekly Challenge #40 "String Theory v.VI: Pinwheels for Peace"

Following closely on last week's Love challenge, this week's challenge was suggested by Amy Broady, a CZT in TN (hi!!) - who reminded me that September 21 is the International Day of Peace
from the website:

Since its inception, Peace Day has marked our personal and planetary progress toward peace. It has grown to include millions of people in all parts of the world, and each year events are organized to commemorate and celebrate this day. Events range in scale from private gatherings to public concerts and forums where hundreds of thousands of people participate.

Anyone, anywhere can celebrate Peace Day. It can be as simple as lighting a candle at noon, or just sitting in silent meditation. [or in our case, creating Zentangle art - Laura] Or it can involve getting your co-workers, organization, community or government engaged in a large event. The impact if millions of people in all parts of the world, coming together for one day of peace, is immense.

Amy brought to my attention this great website called Pinwheels for Peace. Pinwheels for Peace originally started as an art installation organized by two high school teachers in Florida. They used the project as a way to teach kids how to express their feelings about the world and what's going on in it. Since then, it's grown from 500,000 pinwheels the first year to 3.5 million last year!!

So, this week's challenge is to create your own pinwheel for peace. You can do this in a few ways:

You can use this very simple pinwheel string i've created, or you can create your own pinwheel string, or you can create an actual tangled Pinwheel using the template from the Pinwheels for Peace website!

Keeping in mind that a pinwheel is a children's toy, i wanted to make my tangles pretty fun and childish. (FYI - All tangles used in this tile can be found in Sandy Steen Bartholemew's book: Yoga for the Brain)

Can't wait to see your pinwheels.

To be entered in the Zentangle Pocket Pagez giveaway, the rules are this:

1. You must have entered a tile or ZIA in this challenge

3. Leave a comment saying which number you are in the linkey machine

4. If you are emailing your submission, leave a comment saying your piece was emailed

and now the small-ish print:

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine.

I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. :(

2011-09-18T13:46:00.002-06:00

this is a sticky post

looking for the challenge? go here

some new slideshows

Weekly Challenge #31: "Fairyland" Slideshow

2011-09-14T09:25:00.000-06:00

What a magical slideshow...

Weekly Challenge #30: "String Theory v.V: Initialize" Slideshow

2011-09-13T09:43:00.000-06:00

What a great slideshow! Thanks Christina for hosting this challenge!!

Weekly Challenge #39

2011-09-12T05:30:00.040-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
Last week's challenge slideshow is late, my apologies. Oh dearie, I hope to have it up and running soon!!
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

Okay! Welcome back to this week's challenge. All is well on the home front at Casa Diva.

the boys enjoying the last few hot days

red leaves already

It's been super hot the past few days so we've been playing outside, making the best of the weather. The creeper on my back deck is all changing colour (red, green, orange and gold) - and the nights are cool... it's beginning to smell like fall... and i love fall. it's my favourite season, sadly its very short in The Skatch. My husband told me the other day that they're predicting the big S word (SNOW!) in October! sigh. oh well.

So, before we get going on this week's challenge - i have some exciting news! The challenge has a sponsor! WOOT WOOT!! what does that mean? well, it means PRIZES for you!!

i was contacted a while ago by the wonderful folks at CropStop! who sent me some their Zentangle Pocketz Pages to check out, and they're pretty great! Each page holds 6 3.5 x 3.5 inch square Zentangle tiles!!

Pocket Pagez!

i just popped the pages into a three ring binder and slid in my tiles, and PRESTO! storage and display, all in one. And because they are so wonderful at CropStop! i get to give away a set of pages to one lucky challenge participant for the next six weeks! WOO HOO!! **details and rules of the giveaway will follow the challenge...

Weekly Challenge #39: "Love is all you Need"
This weekend marked the Ten Year anniversary of the tragedy of 9/11 in New York City. Now, as you may know, i'm Canadian - but i don't think there was a soul on the planet who was not moved and struck by the act of sheer hatred that rocked us all. I remember where i was when i heard - i was home sick, and my mom called me from the University and said; "Laura, turn on the news. Something terrible happened." I watched them play and replay the footage of the first plane hitting the tower, and then someone screamed: "There's another plane!"

I couldn't believe it. I still can hardly believe it. Such devastation and loss and destruction, and for what? Hate.

But you can't fight hate with hate. It must be with love.

Hatred does not cease by hatred,

but only by love; this is the eternal rule

Buddha

A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.

Ghandi

He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love.

John 4:8

You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.

Henry Drummond

All you need is love. Love is all you need.
John Lennon

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral,
begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.
Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Through violence you may murder the liar,
but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.
Through violence you may murder the hater,
but you do not murder hate.
In fact, violence merely increases hate.
So it goes.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

And in the darkness of all that hatred, we did find love. We saw it in the brave and heroic men and women who first responded to the scene, we saw it in those who reached out, those who held perfect strangers hands, we saw it in the act of rebuilding.... Love is the ultimate force in the Universe. Love heals, love gives us hope, love endures...Love conquers all.

All you need is.....

So, this week the challenge is Love. Whatever it sparks in you, however you want to interpret it. As long as you do so with the spirit of love, because through love we have the ability to change the world.

To be entered in the Zentangle Pocket Pagez giveaway, the rules are this:

1. You must have entered a tile or ZIA in this challenge

2. You MUST enter a "SITE-SPECIFIC" URL in the linkey machine. Links to home pages or to past entries will not be accepted. If it ends in .com or the like, it's not site specific. (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

3. Leave a comment saying which number you are in the linkey machine

4. If you are emailing your submission, leave a comment saying your piece was emailed

This contest will close as of MIDNIGHT CST on Saturday. I will use a random number generator to select the winner from the comments on Sunday. I will announce the winner in next week's challenge! This contest is open to everyone, including overseas!! yay!!

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine.

I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. :(

**The contest is capped at participant #64 - but you may still participate in the challenge by adding your links. :)

Weekly Challenge #38

2011-09-06T05:30:00.003-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
Last week's challenge slideshow is late, my apologies. Oh dearie, I hope to have it up and running soon!!
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

Thank everyone for the delay in this week's challenge. It has been yet another exhausting week. We took Artoo in to the Emergency room on Wednesday afternoon because he was having some issues breathing... after a few hours, they sent us home saying if it gets worse, come back... well, at 4 am Thursday morning, it was worse.

We packed up Chewie into the car, B-rad drove Artoo and i to the hospital and dropped us off. We were in Emerg for almost 6 hours, with Artoo on oxygen, until they admitted us and sent us upstairs.

In the end, it was a viral infection - nothing we could do but wait it out and hope that he didn't breathe any mucous or saliva into his lungs which turn into pneumonias. luckily, he didn't. We got the orders to go home on Sunday morning.

oh hospitals.
sigh.

But we're home now. Artoo is still a little bit sniffly and has a bit of a cough, but his breathing is calm and steady and that makes a world of difference.

purple flowers

For our anniversary, b-rad bought me flowers and after we got the kiddos in bed we played a game of scrabble before i burnt out. (I won, but just barely) But, even so, it was a pretty sweet anniversary...so glad we were all together. Seven years... where does the time go?

7 years married to the man of my dreams, not too shabby!

Weekly Challenge #38 "Better than a Pair of Ducks"

So, while i was in the hospital, Maria Thomas emailed me and suggested this week's challenge... which was perfect...she suggested a monotangle* using the tangle Paradox

*monotangle - a Zentangle or ZIA using only one singular tangle for the design;

the tangle may be used in its "pure" form or in tangleations.

Maria says; "Maybe folks would take a stab at doing a whole tile in multi-paradoxical tangleations."

(Which can be found here in the February 2008 Newsletter).

Paradox is one of those tangles that you either love or hate... or fear... but it's definitely a trip once you 'get it'. i, myself, was under the impression that this was one of those tangles that i just wouldn't ever be able to do, cuz i couldn't get it... until i went down to Whitinsville to become a CZT and Rick Roberts demonstrated Paradox for the class... it was like a light bulb went off... of course!!

There's no mistaking, this tangle takes a bit more concentration than your average pattern. it's easy to get lost or forget which direction you're going - but one thing to remember is to always turn your tile. This will help you stay in the right direction, and to keep track of where you are.

And to further help you out, in case you missed it last week - my fellow Saskatonian Margaret Bremner, CZT posted a fabulous tutorial on using Paradox. You can see that here.

My first attempt

my second attempt, much more random


B-rad's contribution! Paradox is one of his favourite tangles... he's a big fan of geometry and math - he'd get along really well with Rick

Oh, and if you're wondering about the title of this challenge?? every time i hear the word Paradox i immediately think of a Pair of ducks. Don't know why. just do. ;)

Have fun!

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine.

I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. :(

Happy Labour Day

2011-09-04T21:01:00.000-06:00

Hey all,

i just wanted to let you know that the challenge for this week is being postponed until TUESDAY morning. Artoo and i just spent an exhausting five days in the hospital, he was discharged Sunday afternoon - which happens to be mine and B-rad's 7 year anniversary...

SO - come back Tuesday for the challenge.

Sorry for the delay! Hope you all have a great Labour Day

~Laura~

Weekly Challenge #37

2011-08-29T05:30:00.001-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
Last week's challenge slideshow is late, my apologies. Oh dearie, I hope to have it up and running soon!!
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

First of all, i want to say that i'm thinking of all of you Zentangly friends on the East Coast. I was watching some coverage of Hurricane Irene. I never know how to deal with Natural Disasters. It seems so random and so unfair when bad things happen to good people. We are thinking of you up here in Saskatchewan. I hope you get your power back soon and that everyone is safe!

Last week i managed to get TWO (count 'em TWO) slideshow's up!! Can you believe it? i can hardly believe it myself. If you missed them, you can see the Trip to Tripoli slideshow here and the String Theory v.IV: Creative Genesis (Guest post by Sue Jacobs) slideshow here! it's a work in progress, and i appreciate all of your patience! There are a few exciting things coming up for this challenge... i don't want to give anything away, just want to BUILD the excitement!! WOO!! is it building? good. There's a new feature in the works, as well as maybe /possibly a giveaway... who knows.... oooh, i can just TASTE the anticipation... tastes like candy. mmm. candy.

Can you believe that this is the last Monday of August? i mean, CAN YOU?? Somehow the summer has just slipped by, but we're doing the best we can to cram in some fun times. My grandmother happened to be in town this week for her 75th birthday. She's 75, my Mom is 53 and i'm 31...and Chewie is 3...,

so Grandma, Mom, the boys and I went to the zoo Monday afternoon. (Please note, when i say ZOO in Saskatchewan, i should mention it's the Zoo at the Forestry Farm, so it's animals like Deer, and Elk, and Cariboo, and Bison - while they do have two lions and a monkey house, the focus is on Prairie type animals). I've lived in Saskatchewan for 16 years or so, give or take, and i've never been to the zoo here before. It was pretty fun, but super hot out. Chewie liked riding the train and feeding the deer with great grandma. Artoo mostly slept.

Forestry Farm Fun

We also managed to get out to our community Fun Day, where Chewie and i stood in line half an hour for a balloon giraffe... and i had to be a tough guy and kick some kids to the back of the line. i'm sorry, but if my three year old can stand in line and wait his turn, then so can you.

As much as Chewie really wanted to stay up for the Fun Day fireworks, we managed to convince him to finish off the night with some ice cream - and head home. I put him to bed last night and he held my hand as he fell asleep - exhausted from his big day. sigh. it made me get all teary thinking that he won't want me to hold him like that for too much longer. aw.

Okay, enough of the mush - if you've made it this far, congratulations! let's get on with the THIRTY-SEVENTH weekly challenge!!

Weekly Challenge #37: "Kiss my Grids"
i have to give B-rad props because i was originally going to call this challenge "off the grid" but he said: "you should call it kiss my grids!" and so i did.

It brings back fond memories of that sitcom from the 70s about the Diner... what was that called? there was Mel the cook, and i think Alice... and that red-head Flo who's signature line was, "Mel, Kiss my grits." My brothers and i used to watch that show in syndication back in the 80s. we had no idea what grits were, but we loved Flo. (Come to think of it, i'm still not sure what grits are... perhaps one of you out there can enlightened my niave Canadian self?)

So the challenge is to use all Grid based tangles in your tile or Zentangle Inspired Art. And there's a whole bunch of 'em.

To do mine, i drew my string and then with my Micron i drew a grid across the entire tile - and chose two different grid based tangles to fill in the gaps.

Griddy Goodness

And there you have it. Grids! I was going to do another one with curvy grids, a la Maria Thomas style, but ran out of time. The point being that just because it's a grid based challenge doesn't mean your grid MUST be straight! Have fun!!

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine.

I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. :(

2011-08-28T20:48:00.002-06:00

this is a sticky post - if you're looking for the weekly challenge, find it here.
week 28's slideshow "Trip to Tripoli" can be found here!!
week 29's slideshow "String Theory v.IV Creative Genesis" can be found HERE

thanks for visiting!

Weekly Challenge #29 "String Theory v.IV: Creative Genesis" Slideshow

2011-08-25T11:39:00.002-06:00

if i missed you or spelled your name wrong, i apologize. There were a number of URLS in the linkey machine that did not work.

great slideshow!

weekly challenge #28: Trip to Tripoli Slideshow

2011-08-24T08:46:00.002-06:00

i'm totally back logged with slideshows, as per usual, but i'm on my way!! some of the submissions to this challenge are just absolutely stunning!! love it!! :)

Weekly Challenge #36

2011-08-22T05:30:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
Last week's challenge slideshow is late, my apologies. Oh dearie, I hope to have it up and running soon!!
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

I hope everyone's enjoying the summer! Can you believe it's practically the end of August already? where did the time go? On Monday the boys and i went to the park with my sister in law and my nephews - Chewie loves playing with his older boy cousins... and we went to the paddling pool on Wednesday afternoon - but Chewie was cranky and asked to go home after an hour of playing.

Super Chewie conquers the playground

Chewie had a hot date with his buddy E on Wednesday - it was the first time our WHOLE little family went to a restaurant. It was crazy, E and Chewie are 3 months apart, and Artoo and E's baby sister are 6 months apart... restaurant gong show.


Boys hugging

We also got more work done in our basement!! seems like we just need to do the finishing touches - it looks so nice. i'll have to post pictures when it's done.

Saturday i got to go as a very last minute date to a wedding with a friend.

It feels like we've been trying to get as much summer into these last weeks as possible.

Artoo loves beets - they really bring out his eyes...

I want to say a quick thank you to all the amazing ladies who helped me take a break this summer! Your guest posts were great!

Weekly Challenge #36: New Tangle Assunta

The challenge this week is to use the new tangle called Assunta that appeared in the latest Zentangle newsletter. It's a close relative to the tangle cadent, and it's pretty fun. You can see the instructions here - and your challenge is to delve in and try it out. There are many things you can do with this tangle, lots of variations or tanglations are possible!

it's a tile on tile!

and now - the fine print:

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine.

I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. :(

Weekly Challenge #35

2011-08-15T05:30:00.013-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
Last week's challenge slideshow is late, my apologies. Oh dearie, I hope to have it up and running soon!!
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

This was a big week in the diva household... we ACTUALLY left the house!! My mom convinced me, after a month of staying at home*, to get out and do something with what little is left of our Saskatchewan summer.

*For a while there it seemed that whenever we'd leave the house to do something fun, Artoo would find himself in the hospital with pneumonia. Needless to say, i was/am a little paranoid

Tuesday morning we went downtown set up some chairs and watched the Exhibition Parade - Saskatoon's answer to the fair/tradeshow.

Artoo and Grandma in deep thought

Old Timey bicycles are FUN

Chewie had a great time, he loved everything about it! the horses, the dancers, the marching bands, the cars, the fire engines, the old timey bicycle, the miniature ponies, the clowns... Three is a magical age for parades...

Chewie can haz flag!

Chewie liked the horses

we made it through the day without any terrible medical consequences... so the next day i took Chewie to my mom's and i joined a friend at the farmer's market with Artoo - where i purchased and sampled some delicious fruits and veggies... mmm.... and on Thursday i took Chewie to daycare then Artoo and i ran around town doing errands.

I also got some painting done (the house kind, not the art kind) in our basement, just in time for my dear friend Saviabella to arrive on Thursday night. She was in town because she magically scored some free Media tickets to the opening night of Wicked: The Musical - and she took me along as her date!! SQUEE!!!

wicked drinks

it was a full week!

today's challenge is the last guest post that i have lined up! (i'm back in the challenge biz as of next monday!) But it's a gooder - by one of my favourite Zentangle artists, and fellow Saskatooner, Margaret Bremner. She can be found in many places online, but she blogs at Enthusiastic Artist. She and i took our CZT training together in May of 2010 - and actually planned a Zentangle weekend retreat the following October that i didn't get to attend because Artoo made his debut 8 weeks early! I gave birth that day! ;)

Weekly Challenge #35: "Tile on a Tile"
Hi all! Margaret here, a.k.a the Enthusiastic Artist.

When every one in a Zentangle class has completed a tile it's great fun to have them place their tiles together and ooh and aah about this and that. This little exercise really demonstrates how we are all individual and unique. Even with the same string, same tangles and same instructions, everyone's creation is their personal interpretation. One thing I notice is the amount of border people decide to leave. Some leave a generous white area around the edge of the tile and others want to fill as much of the paper as possible while still leaving a little something.

A while ago I decided to do a tile with a REALLY generous border, and a string of course. It looked a tad empty. I began tangling the intended border area too. It started to look like a mini tile on a regular tile. That was interesting! I did more.

This week's challenge is to create a "Tile on a Tile". Place the dots way in from the corners and leave a very generous border. Add your pencil string over the entire tile. You'll need to think about which tangles are darker and which are lighter, to help define the mini-tile, although shading will help too. You may want a light mini-tile on a dark background, or a dark mini-tile on a light background. Here are two sample tiles, one of each variety. For more examples check out my Monday blog post too: www.enthusiasticartist.blogspot.com

Happy tangling! I can't wait to see what you create!

"shading" - Tangles: Betweed, Caviar, Cockles 'n' Musesels, Finery, Florez, Flukes, Keenees, Lotus Pods, Partay, Tripoli

"TonT BonW3" - Tangles: Beadlines, Coaster, Ogen, Striping, Strircles, and dots and lines

Margaret Bremner is an artist, illustrator, Certified Zentangle Teacher and occasional writer, as well as wife and mother. She's not much of a housekeeper. Margaret has been making art since she was very small and never seriously considered other career paths. Mandalas were her focus for over 15 years and she encountered Zentangle on the internet in early 2009 while living in China. It totally clicked with her love of detail, pattern and the graphic quality of drawing.

and now - the fine print:

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine.

I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. :(

Weekly Challenge #34

2011-08-08T05:30:00.002-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
Last week's challenge slideshow is late, my apologies. Oh dearie, I hope to have it up and running soon!!
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

This week at casa Diva was fairly non-eventful - which is awesome. I like it when there's no medical crises or drama... pretty hum drum. Chewie has been working hard at potty training - i won't say we're 100% of the way there, but we're pretty darn close! and that is soooo exciting. Who ever thought that potty training would give me so much happiness. Ha!

Artoo looking adorable as ever

Back when B-rad had time off from work, he didn't get much B-rad time, as he was working on the basement and looking after the kids while i got my back fixed up... so, to show my appreciation and to give him some much needed down time, i arranged with some friends of ours to send him out to their farm for the weekend.

No kids. No responsibilities. Just acre after acre of open prairies and swarms of giant mutant killer monster mosquitoes. He had a great time, and one of the text messages he sent me said, simply; "I AM a mosquito bite"... poor guy.

Chewie loves taking pictures on my phone

On the home front, my lovely sister in law offered to take Chewie to the lake with the family! So off he went with his brand new life jacket and his very exciting brand new Spiderman suitcase. i think he was almost MORE excited about the suitcase. hm.

So it was just Artoo and i this weekend... and i was BORED! i had these ideas of doing some painting (the art kind, not the house kind - although i DO hope to be doing the house kind THIS week) or getting some things done, but wouldn't y'know little mister has been teething all weekend. Hope that little tooth pops through soon! So, i didn't get as much done as i thought i would, but i did manage to make three batches of purees. I can't remember if i've written on this blog that we've started solids, but he eats like a champion! and i was so worried!!

Me and my boys

so that's pretty much the bulk of this week.

Well, i'm glad you all had a chance to dip your toes into the new tangle, Pendrills. Getting new tangles is like Christmas! I'll admit that i found it a challenge, but i think i'll give it a few more tries.

This week's challenge is a repeat guest-er! you may remember her from Week 30's Challenge (Found Here) - that's right! it's none other that the amazing Christina Vandervlist from the blog stART she was so generous to share TWO challenges!

So - i'll turn it over to Christina - Happy Challenge Monday everyone! ;)

Weekly Challenge #34: "Opposites Attract"

Hi again! It’s Christina, a.k.a. stART. The point of a challenge is to stretch our capacities. So guess what? This week, we stretch!

Create your string using EITHER straight lines alone, or solely curving shapes and then fill the string with its opposite!

If you used the straight-line string, fill it with curves and orbs and other soft tangles.
If you used the curvy string, try to fill it using only grid-based and angular tangles.

I’ve done it up both ways simply because it was so much fun!

I hope you enjoy this challenge, too.

Maybe you’ll notice some great tangles you haven’t been using when you choose them by their graphic qualities alone…

Christina is a CZT from southern Ontario, who is also an international designer, author and instructor of beadwork. Her blog provides not only a look into her Zentangle artwork, but also a Zentangle Glossary and instructions to the tangles she has designed. She teaches Zentangle to share the many benefits with her students and provide them with the means to explore their own creativity and access their potential.

and now - the fine print:

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine.

I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. :(

Weekly Challenge #33

2011-08-01T05:30:00.002-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
Last week's challenge slideshow is late, my apologies. Oh dearie, I hope to have it up and running soon!!
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

Well, i hope you've all been enjoying the amazing guest challenges - i know i have been!

It's been a crazy week of attempted potty training - of almost taking Artoo back to the hospital - the arrival of another tooth (hence the almost return to the hospital)...

This is a holiday monday up here in Canada - Civic Holiday! We have some wonderful company this weekend - B-rad's cousin from Winnipeg and her boyfriend came up for a wedding and they've been staying with us and we've been celebrating our Civic...ness... with beer or in my case red wine. Mmm. Tasty.

It's been a beautiful weekend, here, too. Hot and sunny days - Chewie and i got outside and made pictures on the sidewalk with chalk...


guess who had the chalk??

Then Sunday i drove to Regina, about 2.5 hours away, to go to my best friend's baby shower...
it was nice - just me, some tunes, and the open road...

Saskatchewan Highways

I stopped at these giant Tiger Lily's (Saskatchewan's flower) to buy some ice cream....


Mmm, tasty ice creamy goodness...

On the way home i stopped at this giant coffee pot to say hello...

all in all - it was a good day. it was a nice drive, a beautiful day and there was lots of singing at the top of my lungs. good times.

I have a few more lovely guest challenges waiting in the wings, but Rick and Maria have given us a new tangle to play with!

Weekly Challenge #33: "New Tangle: Pendrills"

You can find the directions for this new tangle here at their newsletter - if you haven't subscribed, you can HERE

it took me a few tries, but if you give it those few tries - this tangle starts to take on a life of it's own, winding and twisting through the tile.

This is such a fun tangle, and i can't wait to see where else this new tangle will take me. Where will it take you?

and now - the fine print:

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine.

I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. :(

Weekly Challenge #27: "DuoTangle; Dex + Verdigogh"

2011-07-26T17:54:00.001-06:00

sorry about the lateness of these slideshows....

this is such a great slideshow... it's amazing what can come out of a challenge like this... truly elegance of limits that Rick Roberts talks about.

Weekly Challenge #32

2011-07-25T05:30:00.011-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
Last week's challenge slideshow is late, my apologies. Oh dearie, I hope to have it up and running soon!!
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

Thirty two.... i can hardly believe it! I can also hardly believe that it's practically the end of July. Sigh. Where does the time go??

Last week i hurt my back. So i spent much of this week going to chiropractors and getting massaged. But not in anyway relaxing. My chiro literally had to jump on me! She told me to get myself to a massage therapist - who worked on my lower back/glutes and shoulders/neck for an HOUR and told me that of all the people she's seen, i'm the tightest. nice.

It was painful, but in the end, my back is feeling much better.

I managed to get out of the house quite a bit this week - thanks to my wonderful husband. I went for supper and had the most delicious margarita ever... last week i had the biggest half plate of nachos ever with another friend who was in town for a few days... i went with my Ladies Night Out group to a Succulent Pot Class (which was AWESOME!! Plants that thrive on neglect are my kind of plant!) I took Chewie to his very first movie in the big theatre to see Cars 2! which he loved, but the movie was 2 hours long and by the end, even Mater couldn't keep my three year old's attention, and we started Artoo on solids this week! This is a big deal! So happy he handled it well, and really enjoyed it. Every little milestone for him seems so monumental for us.

B-rad has been busy with renos in the basement, it's really coming together! i can't wait - the basement will be our studio/den/no kids allowed area for music and art and general mom and dad down time!!

oh, and I got a new Tattoo!

Isn't she beautiful? i call her Clementine. <3 I got it with my BFF who got a lovely flock of birds on her wrist at the same time. awww.

Holidays are coming to a close here at Casa Diva, but i still have some guest posts for you - Today's challenge is another wonderful Guest - the über talented Carole Ohl at Open Seed Arts! Another great thing about this Zentangle community - Carole and i are helping each other out this week! I needed a guest post, and she needs YOU!! :)

Weekly Challenge #32: Zentangle is for Everyone

Zentangle is for everyone!

I love that every week of the Diva challenge, we get to see each person’s unique and wonderful interpretation. It’s an stunning affirmation of the natural beauty that lives in all of us. I know, it’s kind of mushy, but it’s true.

I was recently asked to participate as an “Artist of the Month” by a new local restaurant. Each month Amicis gives their wall space to a local artist.

Instead of showing just my own work, it seemed like an opportunity to showcase that Zentangle truly is ‘art for everyone.’

One section of the show will feature a wall of Zentangle tiles that have been created by different artists, using the same four tangles.

This challenge contains an invitation to participate with me in this little show. (You can, of course, participate in the challenge even if you don’t want to be in the actual show.)

The challenge: Use a 3-1/2 x 3-1/2 inch tile. If you have an official Zentangle tile, great, if not, that’s ok too. The frames I will be using fit this size tile. Use any string you like with these four tangles: Pais (by Mikee Huber), Zedbra (by Laura Harms and Margaret Bremner), Keenees (by Donna Hornsby), and Baton (by moi) to create a response to this challenge.

If you are so inclined to participate in the actual show, please do them in black and white, send your tile to me, and I will hang it in the show.

Carole Ohl

Realistically, I can’t send your tile back to you (as I am not very adept at clerical tasks) and I’m not sure what fun they will see after the show, but I know they will find their way to wherever they belong in the world. Send your tile (by August 10) to: Carole Ohl, 2520 Evelyn Drive, Dayton OH, 45409. Have fun and thank you! Thanks, Laura, for letting me loose on your challenge this week.

Carole is a graphic designer by trade and is also a beadweaver who designs
and teaches beadweaving classes. She became a Certified Zentangle Teacher in
May, 2010, and teaches this “art for everyone” in the Dayton Ohio area.

and now - the fine print:

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine.

I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. :(

Weekly Challenge #26 "String Theory v.III: Spiral Out, Keep Going" Slideshow

2011-07-24T15:14:00.002-06:00

Better late than never....

Weekly Challenge #31

2011-07-18T05:30:00.002-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
Last week's challenge slideshow is late, my apologies. Oh dearie, I hope to have it up and running soon!!
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

Welcome back to another wonderful challenge - from another wonderful CZT!! I've been so fortunate to have such great pinch hitters while i take some much needed vaycay... (with a few more waiting in the dugout!!)

Artoo on the couch

Having B-rad home this past week has been great as Artoo was still recovering from his most recent bout of pneumonia. My dear husband slept in the rumpus room on the floor next to the baby a few nights in a row so he could keep a close eye on him and to administer some more night time meds - and so that i could get some much needed sleep...in a bed, instead of a hospital cot.... nice guy, that b-rad.
♥


Chewie at the beach

Grandma (my mom) has been super helpful this week too. She's a school teacher so she has the summer off and has been able to take Chewie to a near by lake a few times last week. Having Chewie gone meant that i could take care of Artoo while B-rad got some work done on our house from last summer's flood. It also meant that Chewie got to actually do something - to have a bit of a summer! It's hard to leave the house when your kid needs to be suctioned at any given moment. ah well.

Chewie splashing in the puddles

So, this week will be more of the same - i've been painting a bit, which has been nice... with Chewie - he LOVES making crafts and colouring and painting. ...wonder where he gets that from?

That's what's been going on here... and now, i turn the time over to Carol, today's guest blogger - she can be found regularly at Celebrate Possibilities

Weekly Challenge #31: "Fairyland"

Hello Zentangle challenge participants!

Ever since I was a little girl, fairies have been very special to me. I have had lots of fun giving fairy garden presentations to garden clubs all over N.E. Ohio, and have fairy gardens in my yard.

Making a fairy garden is simply creating an environment where fairies would like to visit.

Lately, fairies have been visiting my Zentangles.

My challenge to you is to create a Zentangle environment where fairies would feel at home. There are lots of tangles that have full fairy approval and affection! Have fun!

My name is Carol Bailey Floyd and I am the Director of Programs for Mental Health Recovery and WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan). I am also an Advanced Level WRAP facilitator. After becoming a Certified Zentangle Teacher, I started the Zentangle Club of N.E. Ohio in 2009, where we have lots of fun, Zentangle art shows, and workshops. I have also coordinated two Zentangle-O-Ramas and am looking forward to many more Zentangle adventures! Becoming a Certified Zentangle teacher is right at the top of my best life experiences, and I consider teaching Zentangles to be an honor and a privilege. Part of my mission is to spread the word about the many unexpected benefits of WRAP, specifically because I have arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and tremors and find that doing Zentangles helps relieve the pain along with the bonus of wonderful creative and meditative outcomes. Another gift is that I have met amazing people through Zentangles! My blog is celebratepossibilities.blogspot.com

and now - the fine print:

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine.

I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. :(

Weekly Challenge #30

2011-07-11T05:30:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
Last week's challenge slideshow is late, my apologies. Oh dearie, I hope to have it up and running soon!!
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

As you may have read, Artoo was back in the hospital this week... the joy of having a baby who's had pneumonia is that he's now susceptible to pneumonias. This is his third bout since February - with another stay in the hospital for bronchialitis.

We got sent home on Saturday morning - just in time for Chewie's third birthday party which was supposed to happen in a local park, but due to looming thunderclouds - got changed to our place at the last minute. i scrambled to get everything ready while B-rad looked after the baby keeping him close to the suction machine (we have our very own medical suction machine to help Artoo keep on top of colds and things... i can only imagine what a mess we'd be in if we didn't have that.)

anyway, the party was great - busy - hectic - chaotic - everything you'd expect from a 3 year old's birthday party... but last night, i suddenly felt awful. i don't know if it's just that my body wouldn't "LET" me be sick while in the hospital, or if i was just exhausted and my immune system just decided to quit...or what, but now *i'm* sick. sigh.

Luckily for me, i had already lined up some great guest posts because B-rad is off on holidays for the next two weeks...

so, without further adoo - i give you a wonderful guest post by Christina Vandervlist at stART CZT, a darling sweetheart and a fellow Canadian! Let's give her a big warm Diva Challenge welcome...

Weekly Challenge #30: "String Theory v.V :Initialize"

Hi! You may know me as Christina, or as stART, and I’ve been given this most wonderful opportunity to share with you all, thanks to the generosity of our lovely Diva. The Diva is sharing her podium whilst she spends some family time. Families matter. WE matter. So for the challenge this week I am going to ask you to bring a little of yourself into the artwork!

Many people seem to find creating a string quite a challenge.

In a way, this is yet another “String Theory” exercise; draw your first and last initials, overlapping, and use this as the string for your tangles. Either block letters or cursive, both work well, so use your favourite. I did up an example using each style to give you a bit of a jump start:

and now - the fine print:

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine.

I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. :(

Once again

2011-07-08T09:21:00.001-06:00

We are in the hospital again. Artoo is battling yet another pneumonia. Just wanted to let you all know.

Weekly Challenge #29

2011-07-04T05:30:00.024-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
Last week's challenge slideshow is late, my apologies. Oh dearie, I hope to have it up and running soon!!
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

Welcome back! i trust everyone had a fun Trip to Tripoli last week... i know i did! I also want to say a very happy Fourth of July to my Yankee friends as they celebrate their Independence today! And a very big "Take Off, Eh?" to my fellow Canucks up here! We celebrated our National Holiday last Friday on July first - Canada Day; commemorating the coming together of the British North American colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Province of Canada (which was on its way to becoming Ontario and Quebec). Otherwise more commonly called Canada's birthday.

There wasn't much in the way of festivities at Casa Diva - unless you count B-rad being home from work a cause for celebration (and i do). We pretty much just chilled for most of the day, having gone to some friends the night before for a Canada Day-Eve BBQ.

B-rad enjoying a brew!

It was nice to get out of the house and HANG OUT with friends! it felt...almost...normal.... if you can believe that.

Myself and Little E - smiling! Happy Day Before Canada Day!

Chewie and his Friend Little E had a great time playing with water guns and cherry bombs (with adult supervision, of course).

Chewie and Little E chillin' in the tent - give them 12 more years and we won't think it's so cute...

It was a fun BBQ followed by another amazing Saskatchewan sunset - which i caught with my phone...

The Beautiful Prairie sky - taken from my front yard

The rest of the weekend has been spent going for family walks to the spray park by the river, and to the slurpee store... Chewie practicing riding his tricycle... sidewalk chalk.... painting pine cones... it's been a good weekend.

Now it's Monday and it's challenge time - but i've been so very fortunate to have a few guests lined up for the month of July! Today's guest challenger is Sue Jacobs! I saw this posted on her blog and emailed her right away and said: "Do you think this post wants to be a weekly challenge when it grows up?" Luckily for us, it did!! So - everyone! Let's give a warm Diva welcome to the lovely and talented Sue Jacobs, CZT.

Weekly Challenge #29: "String Theory v. IV: Creative Genesis"

Strings in zentangles can be frustrating. I tend to draw the same string over and over. So the string theory challenges from the Diva have been enlightening. But creating new ones yourself is the challenge. And the zentangle philosophy is "unexpected results" and "unknown outcomes". So I think I came up with a way that I can't believe I haven't seen before.

Find a string around the house. Find a weight that has a hole in it. Tie your string to the weight. Set the weight on your tile and let the string slowly drop down onto your tile.

various strings - photo Sue Jacobs

Do this until you have a string that you find pleasing. Take a picture or get out your pencil and start drawing. TA-DA! Your own string! You can incorporate the shape of your weight into your string design or not. Your choice.

various weights - Photo Sue Jacobs

Now, the string can be a variety of things; cord, yarn, thread, ribbon, beads, etc. And the weight can be a variety of things too. A washer, a heavy button, a nut from a bolt, a ring (wedding or otherwise), a fishing weight, etc. You don't have to go out and buy something. There will be something, somewhere, laying around the house.

Weighted string - Photo Sue Jacobs

Then you can get creative. Try thicker ribbons and twisting them, try rubber bands knotted together, I'm sure you can come up with additional ideas.

Finished tile - photo Sue Jacobs

Also check out Lois Stokes' site on strings http://www.squidoo.com/oracles.
--

Sue Jacobs became a CZT in February. She teaches in The Chicago suburbs. Her blog at http://suejacobs.blogspot.com is the place for class information.

and now - the fine print:

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine.

I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. :(

2011-07-03T13:41:00.000-06:00

If you're looking for this week's challenge - you can find it HERE!

Weekly Challenge #25 "Zendala Magic" Slideshow

2011-06-28T16:55:00.000-06:00

Thanks again for hosting Genevieve!

Be sure to check out Genevieve's other available templates here - and her Zendala Magic Flickr stream here

2011-06-27T13:44:00.000-06:00

a few things - i'm slowly making my way through the previous week's challenges getting the slideshows prepared...

but while i have your attention, i wanted to direct your attention to the Fancy new Diva FAQs page! (you can see the tab there at the top of the page or you can follow this link)

that is all.

:)

Weekly Challenge #28

2011-06-27T05:30:00.031-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
Last week's challenge slideshow is late, my apologies. Oh dearie, I hope to have it up and running soon!!
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

Welcome back everyone, i hope you had a great week! I'm blown away by some of the Duo-Tangle submissions for last week... i knew you'd come up with something amazing.... i'm truly inspired!!

It was an interesting mix, for sure, trying to work the very structured tangle of DEX in with the graceful and organic tangle of VERDIGOGH - but you all managed to find a fabulous balance. That slideshow will blow your socks off (when i get to it...sigh)

taken from my phone while the car was moving... not too shabby if i do say so myself...

So - It's been raining like crazy the past few days...we've been alternating between hot hot heat and thunderstorms... With last year's flooding still fresh in our memories at Casa Diva, to say that we're a little nervous when the rains come down would be a bit of an understatement.

But so far, so good. Fingers Crossed!!

It's been a pretty fun week. We were lucky enough to have two of our very dear friends who were visiting from Victoria/Calgary in our home for a few days. We haven't seen them in a couple years - it was so very nice to catch up.

They are amazing people, Lisa - who is beautiful and gentle and kind and all kinds of crazy flexible, and Rand - who knows the answer to pretty much everything, has a great laugh, and is a big Zentangle fan. I started telling them a bit about this blog and the challenge and it turns out Rand has been following my blog!!

i felt a little bit famous.

Between that and Maria Thomas calling me a Rockstar this week - i might have to watch that i don't get an inflated ego!

Hi Lisa! Hi Rand! :)

Crayons are fun times!

It's getting close to summer holiday time for us over here. B-rad has the two middle weeks of July off from work this summer - so we hope to get out of the house a little, even if its just to the back yard or the lake nearby. We shall see... Luckily, though, we can go on a different trip - thanks to our Zentangle gurus, Rick and Maria...

Weekly Challenge #28: "Trip to Tripoli"

If you've been paying attention on the Zentangle Blog - you may have noticed Maria taunting us with tiles containing these simple and beautiful triangles... you can see some of those tiles here or here or here or here or here........or here

If you are as amazed and inspired by those as i am, do i have good news for you!! They've (finally) given us the know-how to do this tangle ourselves! It's called "Tripoli"- for three sided polygon! (Not to be confused with the capital of Libya)

You can see the instructions in their latest newsletter here! (if you haven't subscribed yet, what are you waiting for? Subscribe here!!)

I've been playing around with this tangle for the past couple of days, and i really feel like i've only scratched the surface of what is possible with this pattern! As Maria says, it's the New Grid in Town!

Tripoli! What a Trip.

So - get out your pens and explore the land of Tripoli! Where will it take you?

(If you need some help with this pattern, Suzanne Wilka has posted a great tutorial on her blog HERE)
the fine print:

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine.

I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. :(

Weekly Challenge #24 "String Theory: vII Stripes" Slideshow

2011-06-25T16:42:00.000-06:00

Once again, thanks for your patience....

please be gentle if i've spelled your name wrong or have missed your tile. I'm still catching up.

Weekly Challenge #27

2011-06-20T05:30:00.001-06:00

Happy Monday everyone!
First of all, as always - a few house keeping items:

If you're NEW here (and there've been a lot of new additions to the party!) I'm working on creating some tutorials to help you out. You can click on the links above or: See "Getting Started" and "Tutorials"
Last week's challenge slideshow is late, my apologies. Oh dearie, I hope to have it up and running soon!!
To see all the past weekly challenges - click the tab above, or follow this link
Please grab the button for the Weekly Challenge (on the right sidebar) to display on your blogs! share the fun!
The limit of submissions to the slideshow is TWO, but please feel free to post as many as you like to your blogs. I will take the first two presented to each challenge.
and i want to say a very extra special big heart felt thank you to everyone who donated funds last week. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of spirit of this wonderful community. HUGS!

It occured to me last week that we're halfway through the year!! holy cow! Can you believe it??

These last 26 weeks have been simultaneously the shortest and the longest of my life. ha! I think this is a common feeling for all moms of little babies... but Artoo is not the only little baby i'm proud of - this challenge has taken on a crazy life of its own, creating a community of support and inspiration... i'm one proud mama.

This week Artoo had a Modified Barium Swallow test which consisted of a chair like contraption, a bunch of lead aprons, a bottle filled with barium, an xray video camera, and video imaging of my little man's skull and throat. The doctors wondered if maybe he was aspirating on his formula... turns out he was, but luckily only a little - so we were able to thicken his formula a bit and he seems to be handling that fairly well.

Also, it was a long week of photo shoots.... you can see a shot from MY sexy pin-up photo shoot here, and also my adorable little Artoo's baby shoot here!

YEAH!!

Weekly Challenge #27: "Duo-tangle"

We've spent some time exploring strings these past few weeks - so i thought we'd switch it up this Monday and focus on some tangles.

Part of my problem, i find, is that it's so easy for me to fall into the same old patterns i always use. Like i've said before, part of the great thing about hosting your own challenge is that i can work on areas where i feel i need challenging! :)

This week's challenge is to do a tile or Zentangle inspired piece that uses only these two tangles; Dex and Verdigogh. Both of these patterns are official Zentangle Tangles, and the instructions for these patterns can be found in the Zentangle Newsletters - links below. (Click here to subscribe, if you haven't already)

Links to the Official Zentangle Patterns Dex and Verdigogh

While i was doing this tile, not only did i find using two patterns that were out of my regular rotation a bit to grapple with, but ONLY using these two was where i felt it to be the most challenging.

I also had to look at my tile differently, knowing i only had two patterns to fill it with.

I'm excited to see where you will all take these tangles, and what exciting new variations and tangleations will come of it... (I DO love the tangleations, they never cease to amaze and inspire me)

and now, the fine print:

If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here)

Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)

If you don't have a blog but still want to participate, you can email your tile to me and i will post it here. (See the contact tab above for my email address)

The deadline for each weekly challenge is Saturday night so that i can round everyone up by Sunday. What this means is that i will stop adding tiles to the slideshow on Sunday. You're still more than welcome to do the challenges and add your name to the linkey machine. **Sometimes, who am i kidding, my life gets in the way... i think it's probably fair to say if the slideshow isn't posted yet, its a good chance you'll still get in... ;)

I will be more diligent with the linkey machine - by editing out the ones that don't work, the doubles, the links that lead to nowhere, the links that go just to blog home pages (this is why we need those site specific urls), and the spam. And there is some spam. :(