I am the diva challenge #127

I haven't been around for a bit as I was have zentangle brainfreeze, every time I started something I hated it, nothing was working at all. So this morning I returned to one of the beginning zentangling books and thought I would use the beginner prompts to get me going again, and hey bingo a zentangle was in place.

I then got brave and attempted The Diva's duo challenge for this week, and despite a bit of uncertainty when I started I perservered and I like the outcome.

 I'm off on holiday now for 5/6 weeks so I have brought a smallish moleskine and watercoloured some pages, drawn a few strings on others and will use that little book throughout the six weeks. I will have internet so I will try and complete some challenges and post some pictures. There will be plenty of time to tangle as I am going to a tiny medieval town in the South of France where there isn't much to do other than read, doodle, sunbathe, eat duck and drink wine.

Diva Challenge #120

The Diva set the challenge this week to use the tangle Bales. Here is my entry:

 

 



I also found a place in the UK which sells 9cm by 9cm square paper tiles really cheaply - I'd love the official tiles but they are very expensive over here - these tiles are making tangling a lot quicker, before I was working in an 8x8 inch book so each tangle took up a far amount of time.

 

Looking around at zentangles I keep being drawn to flowers, here is one of my flower tangles on my new paper tiles.

Diva Challenge #118

This week was UMT week on the Diva's weekly challenge, we had to use the tangle Kuke which I had never used before. I was also taking part in a postcard swap at the yahoo ZIA group so I mixed the two. The Kukes ended up smaller than I had planned but they will definitely be a tangle I come back to again and again.
I also have included a picture of the other postcard I'm sending out for this challenge. I'm hoping as I'm a newbie the recipient won't be expecting any masterworks.

Monotangle Challenge #11

This week Roy challenged us to use the tangle Fengle. I had tried this tangle earlier in the week but couldn't get to grips with it so I was dreading this but after a few tries on scrap paper I had the hand of it.
This is an ATC for a swap, I started putting a little bit of water colour on it and then got a bit carried away.

 

I have a few more things I want to try with this tangle so I may have more to show later on (I think I say this every week!)

 

Happy tangling

Monotangle Challenge #10 HI-Cs

Roy at Mindful creation posted this monotangle challenge this week, HI-Cs, yet another tangle I got to learn from scratch.
Circles and a bit of colour this week.

Looking forward to seeing what other people have done with this tangle.

Monotangle challenge 'Nzeppel'

This week Roy set the tangle 'nzeppel' to tangle, as usual this is a new tangle to me so I had to get to grips with it first, I also decided to make my first sphere.

I had great fun with this one and love the way it turned out, the hardest part was drawing the grid. I think I'll be creating another Nzeppel monotangle as I've got lots of things I want to try out with it and expect to see it encorporated into many of my tiles.

Diva Challenge #116

This week the Diva sent us the 'Blind Sighted' challenge, to draw a string with my eyes closed. She is repeating a past challenge which everyone else did a few years ago but I only did last week.
My first attempt had way too many spaces to fill and I decided to find loads of new-to-me tangles. This took forever, it's still not finished and although I like sections I don't like it as a whole.
This is my second attempt, far simpler.

24 Hour Read-a-thon

 

 

Update 4: A bit late to update but just a final check in. I managed 9 hours in total. One book read, one audiobook which is half read and another book half read. It was great to be able to give myself some time to read and relax.

End of read-a-thon meme

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? I only read for 9 hours total, broken up over two days so things bever got too hairy
    
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? All three of my choosen books were great and would keep people gripped, I'm Not Scared, Of Love and Shadows & The Story of Lucy Gault
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? No it was great, I didn't take part in the challenges as I just wanted to concentrate on reading
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? Hourly updates
5. How many books did you read? 1 from start to finish, plus I ended up half-way through two books (one paper one audio)
6. What were the names of the books you read? I'm Not Scared, Of Love and Shadows & The Story of Lucy Gault
7. Which book did you enjoy most? I'm Not Scared
8. Which did you enjoy least? None
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? N/A
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I'm sure to participate again, if I have more time next time I'll be a cheerleader.

    

 

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Update 3: One book read! 5hours and 20 minutes reading achieved, and a swimming gala attended to top it off. I finished 'I'm Not Scared' a great Italian novel - I definitely think I'll be dreaming about be trapped and blindfolded tonight.  And it was a 1001 book so that's another one off of the mamouth list.

I hope everyone else is coping, I'm shattered. I'll probably go to bed in a few minutes and then get up in the morning to read, as I'm half way to my personal target of 10 hours. 

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Update 2: Dinner eaten, a very spicy vindaloo. I had to stop reading during this as I wasn't eating alone. I'm off to my school's swimming gala, so I'll be cheering on Gordon House Team whilst wishing to be back reading my book. I'm still reading 'I'm Not Scared' and listening to 'Lucy Gault' and loving them both. Total reading time 3 hours and 28 minutes - not as long as I had hoped for. 

 

Update 1: I've been reading now for 2 hours and 9 minutes. And a busy few hours those have been. I started reading, 'I'm Not Scared' in the bath, but since then I have been listening to 'The Story of Lucy Gault' an audiobook as I got ready, sorted washing, managed a few loads of washing and prepped my Chicken Vindaloo for later this evening. I'm loving both of these reads so much. I will now continue with 'I'm Not Scared'.

I hope everyone else has picked some great reads :)

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In a change from my normal posts I'm taking this bog over today to participate in Dewey's 24hour read-a-thon. Reading had been my most favourite thing to do forever, I have books spilling from bookshelves, pilled under the bed, stacked in the wardrobe and chocking my kindle and ipod.

I took part in this read-a-thon a few times years ago when I had a book blog but haven't participated for a while. Today I will kind of take part. I know I can't achieve 24 hours or anywhere close as I have a swimming gala to attend and work I have to mark tomorrow, so I'll need sleep, so I'm setting myself a target of 10 hours reading. In the past I've always enjoyed the community aspect of this read-a-thon but also the opportunity to ignore everything else and just read (this is particularly important this year when reading time has diminished due to work, study and relationship commitments, plus my new found love of zentangle).

I'm not creating a stack of books as I did in the past but I have a few in mind. I also have Lucy Galt on my ipod, and The French Lieutanant's Woman in the car on a tape (v.old skool!), my aim is two books but we will have to see.

The read-a-thon starts at 1pm for me, just over an hour to go. Good luck everyone partaking, I can't wait :) NOTE: I may have started an hour late, as the start times say 1pm for London but others seem to have started already.

Introductory Questionnaire:
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? I'm reading from a small village by the sea in England.  The weather is cloudy after a few warm beautiful days so perfect for staying indoors.
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? I don't have a stack, just a room full of books. I'm hoping to read 'I'm Not Scared' by Niccolo Ammaniti
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Chicken Vindaloo which I'll be cooking later, with chips, rice, mint sauce and chappatis
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I was an avid reader until last year, I'm now mid masters degree, plus a full time teacher so my reading time is tiny :(  I also enjoy zentangling - If you look at my other posts you'll see examples of my work (I'm new to it, others are much more sophisticated). My favourite thing is to zentangle whilst listening to an audio book - which I'll probably do later on.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? I haven't participated in a read-a-thon for a few years, this time I'm not making a stack of book as I found it distracting if I was getting slightly bored. With the exception of my first book, 'Dusklands' which I'm reading for university, the other books will be on a whim. I'm also aiming for 10 hours as I know I won't make 24, and I need to work tomorrow afternoon. My housemate will be joining me later on.

Right I'm off for a bath and starting Dusklands -apparently it's very gory!

Diva Challenge 'Amanda' Earth Day

I recieved a gift of Micron coloured pens today, perfect for The Diva's Earth Day (a.k.a Amanda Day) challenge. As with all my zentangles it didn't work out at all how I had planned, but I'm not unhappy with the finished result.

 

Challenge Update

I have had a manic few weeks - essay writing, assessment marking, exam marking, lesson observations etc. so today I allowed myself the time to catch up with my zentangles and various challenges.

Firstly I completed Roy's Monotangle #8 challenge which was Phicops, something I learnt in the first week or so of tangling and then completely forgot existed. I love this tangle, here is my attempt:

 

 

I also completed Roy's challenge from last week, Onamato a new tangle to me too. Which is in the red hand bottom corner of the page.

 

The other tangles on this page are old challenges from The Diva from way before I was even aware of zentangling. Top Left: Week 4's Starry Eyed Suprise, Top Right: Week 5's Orbs, Bottom Left: Week 6's Ixorus.

I also completed week 3's Eye's Wide Shut. When I drew my string with my eyes shut I couldn't see any potential and left it nearly a week and then I attacked it - it's one of my favourites. Here is before and after:

Finally I completed last week's Diva challenge: You with the star's in her eyes.

I'm still pondering this week's challenge.

 

Monotangle Challenge #6

Roy over at Mindful Creations set us a big challenge this week, to create a monotangle using the auraknot tangle. I had tried this tangle when I first started (a few weeks back) and thought I had it sussed, but as I watched the instruction video I made mistake after mistake. I again thought I had it sussed but made many mistakes - which resulted in pages torn from my journal. My biggest problem came in drawing the initial shape. I ended up creating this:

I also ended up with these attempts in my journal:

I think me and auraknot are now friends and I look forward to using it alondside some other tangles in the near future.

I an the Diva Challenge 113 and update

This week the Diva had us draw a square within a square within a square to act as the string. I did consider keeping it simple but some of the sections were quite big and I decided I would get bored so drew a cross through the whole thrig to divide the sections up.
I'm happy with parts of the final piece and got to try a few new tangles that I learnt this week.

 

I also decided to go back to the start of the Diva's challenges as I'm new to this and thought it would give me some ideas and inspiration. The first challenge was called 'Simplicity' and the plan was to keep it simple so I went for a monotangle. The page in my journal is cut into a triangle as this is how my journal is graduated at the moment.

 I also completed the second challenge which was called 'Two pencil string' where you had to hold two pencils in your hand to create the string. I'm really happy with this one as I like the flow and the whiteness in the background, I think it looks more confident than some of my other tangles.

 

 I'm tempted to start the next one now but it's 1 in the morning (which explains the stripy pyjamas) and I have marking to do all day tomorrow so should really go to bed.

Monotangles #5

Roy at Mindful Creations challenged us this week to create a monotangle using W2 another tangle I had never used before. This one was tricky in places, and I confess I messed up the first attempt. I have posted my second attempt which hasn't turned out quite as I imagined, but I like the idea it just needs a bit more practice for it to be successful. I also need to learn to create straight lines - or go and look for my ruler. I have another idea for this monotangle, if I get this finished this week (I have an essay due so I may not have much time) I'll post it here.

I'm the Diva Challenge 112 and update

This week the Diva posted a UMT, we had to use Tuxedo, a brand new tangle to me. When I first drew this I wasn't sure but once I coloursed it in I really liked it and will definitely be using it again (I also used Mooka from last week which I've fallen in love with). I want to try it with colour, if I do this before the end of the week I'll post a picture.

My entry from my journal:

I haven't had a great amount of time to tangle as I'm researching for an essay which is due next week, but I wanted to share my favourite tangle, a tassel. I haven't seen many examples of this, I saw it briefly on a CZT youtube video and had a go. It takes a lot of time but I love it.

This is how my journal is developing, I had graduated the pages so that you get a glimpse of what is behind, I really like this and think I'll do it throughout the journal. I added a few tangles which stretch across all the facing pages, and are encorporated into each page to try and connect everything. I'm happy with all of the righthand pages, but have had two attempts at the indy rella monotangle challenge which I really don't like on the left hand pages - I can't seem to get this as a whole zentangle, but like little bits of it. I will probably add more tangles onto these pages so I can disguise the mistakes.

Happy tangling x

I am the diva weekly challenge 111

So it is official, I am addicted. I saw this challenge at I am the diva and thought I would create it as a treat if I complted my university work and marked 10 books. The whole way through watching Coriolanus all I could think of was Mooka and wanting to create, in the end the DVD was paused and this was created. I loved this pattern and after googling it and seeing people hadn't just stuck to pods I felt much freer when I was drawing it. It made a great full page entry in my book. I'm sure I'll be playing with this monotangle all week. I have some ideas for flowers, page corners, etc.I'm not sure why but this picture is on its side - I still have no idea how to crop and rotate pictures on this site!

Edited to add in a second page - I've become Mooka obssessed!

All comments and tips welcome

One Zentangle a Day

I'm learning how to zentangle using A Tangle a Day:A 6-Week Course in Creative Drawing for Relaxation, Inspiration, and Fun . Each day you learn a few new tangles and a technique, like shading, and then create a little zentangle to practice these new tangles, different strings and technigues. I messed up the second square so cut it off and made the pages staggered, hopefully this will look good when the pages are filled in. These are my first 2 days work:

I also decided to do something about the back of the page where my copic pens bled through, I covered this with a sheet of paper and will be adding a tangle which I've learnt onto the page. So far I just have mooka on there, the page is a bit bumpy but I hope in a few weeks it will look great.

I hope by next week to have learnt many more tangles and kept up my new found love.

Monotangle Challenge 03

Roy at Mindful Creations posted his third Monotangle Challenge today, this was not just my first challenge but also the first page in my new book brought especially for zentangling. I decided that I would learn a new tangle for this challenge (as I don't know many that isn't hard), I used candleglow, and enjoyed experimenting - although you can see at the bottom of the page I made a big boo-boo and ended up hiding it behind an even uglier flower, but it was too late to start again and I've only been doing it a few days, so hey-ho.

I drew out the template then spent 20 minutes worrying about where and how to start, I had an original idea but the end result ended up nothing like it as I kept changing my mind as I worked.

What I learnt: Don't be scared of templates, my copic caoi markers bleed through the page but I love C-1, my pad is fairly large (maybe 20cm by 20cm) and therefore zentagles take a lot longer than 15 minutes.

Any comments and tips welcome.

Katrina

The Beginning

A few years ago I was introduced very briefly to zentangling. I saw a few pictures, created my own designs based on these and quickly grew bored as I was stuck unable to create the different patterns, and uninspired. I hadn't done my research and didn't realise there were website with instructions, and official zentangles, books etc. Then last week I joined Pinterest and noticed a few zentangles, this quickly reminded me that I loved tangling and sent me into research mode. I discovered some website where there are tutorials, some weekly dares and challenges. As it was mid-week I played with what I had, some old coloured luggage tags, a biro, cheap black pen. Gradually across the week I have discovered new patterns: I downloaded One Zentangle a Day: A six-week course in creative drawing for relaxation, inspiration and fun by Beckah Krahula. And then today my amazon order of grey copic ciao markers came in the post, and I got to the stationary shop in town 9who ever said this was a cheap hobby was lying): I created this blog so that I can join in with the challenges and dares, chart my improvements (I hope there are some) and hopefully get in contact with other zentanglers.