Welcome Gentle Readers, The hubby and I have been enjoying our staycation with some nice restaurant visits and no cooking for me in between as we have high-end left overs! Plus, my "consolation prize" for not going on vacation (really, I'm not being petulant - this was HIS idea - he is the beneficiary...) is a new red VITAMIX BLENDER!!!! It came with a cookbook of over 300 pages, has all kinds of auto modes including hot soup and frozen desserts (yumyumyum...) and lots of potential good eating! Not this week, though - I'm not cooking until next week! ___________________________________________________________________________ THROWBACK POSSIBILITIES Should we start a "Throwback" feature? I pulled out an old tile (way below), that I did a couple years ago. I hope my work has improved since then, so I amped it up with some extra shading. Sorry I didn't take a shot of it before. It got me to thinking I could host a "Throwback" for my friends out there, where I'd have links to post your images of something you did maybe a year ago or whatever, and that you wanted to either compare with your newer "better" work or whatever. It could be "improve" an old tile, show your old work and re-do the same tangles now that you are armed with a new skill, take an old tile and add color, enhance an old tile with rounding, adding black to the background, something like that? Would you go for that? I'll try really hard to pick a consistent day to post my blog, and the natural inclination would be Thursday. What do you think ? _______________________________________________________________________ So, on to this week in tangling: _______________________________________________________________________ DIVA Challenge #236 The Diva has asked us to tangle on something unexpected. I chose a champagne cork, which I thought would be so easy! I used brown and black Identipens with white Gelly Roll accents. The regular Microns didn't work well at all because of the texture of the cork. Even with the Identipen, it was not as easy as I thought, but I had fun doing this and I like the result! It now resides in the basket with all the other reminders of our wine enhanced (induced?) good times. ________________________________________________________________________ That's New To Me #38 - "Z" This week I chose the tangles Z-Trik by Yamit Fridman and Zeta by Wayne Harlow. When I got the design drawn, I just kept seeing jewels (wishful thinking!), so I pulled out the Inktense pencils I used last week and did some more color exploration. The color works very well now that I know how to use the little water brush - no more flooding the paper! In looking at it on the screen now, I wonder if I should do something to shade or tangle some facets on the gem stone parts. Maybe I'll have an update here next week. _______________________________________________________________________ Square One: Purely Zentangle - Focus Meringue I piled up the Meringue and folded in some Pearlz ______________________________________________________________________________ New Tangle - OYBAY Back in late 2013 when I was still fairly new to Zentangle, but already loving it, my husband asked me to do a ZIA to put in our wine bar area in the kitchen. I took a piece of parchment look paper, printed a quote from Benjamin Franklin on it and tangled a wine bottle and glass. I burned the edges and mounted it on a really cool square plate charger from Pier One. It is a favorite piece in our home. I created a border using a "roller coaster" line and used a shell type motif on one side and filled in a variety of tangles on the opposite side of the line. I never had a name for it, but I loved it! Now I have named it and done a stepout to share with my Zentangle friends. It occurred to me that the shells are like oysters in a shallow pool, so it became Oybay. Hope you enjoy it!  __________________________________________________________________________ Just for fun... Some shading work including a Throwback I pulled out an old tile from 2013 and in a fit of "throwback" enthusiasm, I decided to add more shading to improve the sort of 3D element. This may not be the best tile to try this out on, but I think it did make a difference. Sorry I didn't post a photo of it before the changes. I added the "chop", as I must not have considered the work finished when I did it originally. I have been thinking of doing a throwback feature in my blog with links for others to share "before and after" on their old work. Would that work? Then I finished the shading on Narwal, which is my current obsession. After I finished this, I saw a tutorial on drawing Narwal by the incomparable Helen Williams. She is so good! Now I will need to do even more Narwal, because the method she uses is so much easier than the old one, and the result is really good. I know, Dear Readers, you may tire of this pattern, but indulge me. I love it! So, dear friends, another week, so many more tangles! Thank you for stopping by and know that I cherish all your thoughts and comments. Namaste, Antonine

"That's New TO ME" - W - Artist Focus: Anne Brooks Tangles: Wheelz and Warts and Wobbles (both new to me) and tangles by Anne Brooks: Fifolia and Fafolia.

It is 1977, the hubby and I have managed to get a babysitter and are out for a rare date night at the movies. We rarely do so, and it is partly because moviegoing has become so depressing. Everything is Rated "R" or nearly "X", even the comedies. "Family" films are animated or just plain silly boring claptrap. Off we went to see the latest and greatest, expecting maybe a smutty Sci-Fi. Whatever, we just needed a movie - NOW!! Star Wars had us spellbound, mouths hanging open in surprise, wholly entertained and delighted. What? This was a movie a grade school kid could enjoy, but mom and dad would love it too! Intelligent, exciting (Remember the flight into the mothership? Whoa!), and funny - what more could you ask? It was the beginning of a new era in moviemaking, and high time, indeed. Can you believe it is 38 years later and the franchise is still going strong? In the ultimate testament to the place Star Wars holds in all our lives, we find that the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. has as one of its gargoyles the head of Darth Vader. Yes, the Cathedral is a real operating church, not a set or theme park. It is the place that welcomes distinguished religious figures from around the world, where memorials are held for public figures, and the place where Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his final sermon. Yes, this venerable place of worship, that features tributes to our Nation's Founding Fathers, includes in its design a character that has become deeply rooted in our culture. Don't you love it? So, here is my take on this challenge. We are to include the UMT 'Brella, a fairly new Tangle that I just love! We have the option of bringing in the Star Wars theme (why wouldn't you want to?) I don't know if mine is exactly Star Wars or Pigs in Space with umbrellas, but here it is. I used a black Zendala tile with 'Brella, Star Map and Starwarn. I also did a take on "That's New To Me" Week 15. We were to choose tangles beginning with "W", and also include any pattern by Tangler Anne Marks. I chose her pattern "Camelia", but set it free from its grid. I added the pattern "Wired" by Suzanne McNeill. Wired Camelias - like a prom corsage! I think the two were enough for one tile! My scanner is down, so the photos are from my phone - hope they show well enough. Thank you for stopping by and for your comments. Antonine

#KeanuReeves #OrlandoBloom Alpinestars Day Socal Supermoto 6/28/15 http://t.co/MbPWYAZp2F http://t.co/ccTN64VAVm

I am. My own biggest lier ever. I- i just needed somewhere to dump these whacky cyberpunk concept ack- feast your eyes and burn them #rottmnt #RiseoftheTMNT #UnpauseRiseoftheTMNT Full designs? Later once i finish other works