A New Card Design

Now I have a few Zentangle designs under my belt and looking a-ok, I think I can safely start making things to sell.
I bought some plain brown/natural cards to do my designs on.

My first card is of a flower and the edges cut out.
I love this first one I have done and have tried doing a second and third and they come out different each time! This is something I need to get past in my mind and deal with, each one will be individual! Yes!
I feel I can't let go of this first one as I am so pleased with it! But I am sure there will be plenty more awsome ones to come :-)

Zentangle a day......

I decided to buy the book Zentangle a day through amazon kindle. A great way to keep handy info on the go and access wherever I go as I have the kindle app on my phone, hurray for technology!

I bought the book as the next Zentangle workshop is not until September, so I really want to get to grips with it as soon as possible.
The content of the book is very clear and covers all the right information you need to know about this great art form.

I have been naughty and been flicking though ahead to get to the patterns. Some of the chapters cover lighting and shading, which is great for fundamentals of drawing. For me I am not a fan of the shading in my own work, I love patterns to be graphic and bold. Maybe the shading will come along later for me.

So here are my drawings, you can tell which ones I enjoyed and which ones I did not quite grasp, there is one I didn't grasp at first but I really like and will practice.
I do believe that not all patterns on offer are what I want to draw. Everyone has their own style and what makes them tick. It is the same with my lindy hop dancing, there are moves I just can't do or do not like personally, it doesn't make it a bad thing, more like personal taste which is absolutely fine.

Onwards and upwards!

Birthday card for Lisa who has Happy Feet!

It is a birthday of a fellow dancer Lisa, who I dance alongside with our dance troupe The Chee Chee Gals. I will be getting my fellow Chee Chees to sign it for her.
I am very pleased with this one.

I went to do a simple L for the envelope and got carried away! I don't mind it looks fab!

Calligraphy..... I want to be as good as this!

Sitting by 'The Canal' at Balls Park.

I am fortunate to live on a beautiful estate called Balls Park in Hertford, Hertfordshire. 63 acres of picturesque Grade II listed parkland I get to enjoy on a daily basis.
I forget sometimes that I have all this land to walk around on!
So I went for a little stroll and settled down by the very large pond which is called 'The Canal'.

I have been admiring a textile artist on Facebook called Anne Brooke. I love her sketchbook work and have a hankering to do something along similar lines. The problem I have is I put myself down for not feeling like I have the right words to write down. But I figured if I put myself in a place where things are happening then I have a reason to write notes down.
I relaxed looked about and thought what is happening here and started creatively writing little sentences.
I also looked around me to see what caught my eye and felt like drawing.
So what I created is a nice couple of pages of sketches along with writing.
Not bad for a first try!
A big thank you to Anne Brooke for being an inspiration!

Salt

Today my Zentangle was born from a salt shaker in my local branch of Belgique.

I used the base of the shaker as a stencil. It was nice to have large areas to work on instead of breaking down to small ones, as it became an opportunity to really practice some of the patterns I have recently learnt, having grid paper really helped too, hehehe.

I feel I am progressing and want to start practicing some new patterns as I feel a little limited. Quality not quantity as they say!.....

I have been using a Moleskine grid pocket book to do my Zentangles whilst on the go.

I was finding however that I was digging into the bottom of my handbag to grab my pens.

Solution! I cut two lines into the front cover of the book and I latch the pens onto the top of the cover and the cut out part keeps them in place! Voila! Much easier :-)

Happy Belated birthday mum!

I decided to have a go at doing a monogram on a blank card. I missed my mums birthday and feel terrible! So I think this very personal card will make up for it. I am sure a handmade card is much better than a shop bought one.
I know that my mum will treasure this forever.
Part of me wishes I had practiced the style I did on the inside as I changed the style of writing after doing Happy.
More practice I am sure before I will be better at making wording look beautiful!
Hmmmm I am thinking maybe a few tutorials on calligraphy may help....... I love learning new things!