Challenge and Handmade Art Journal

Diva's Challenge #169: String theory - Circles

The challenge this week (here) was to make your string out of circles, and then tangle.

I had fun with a couple of tiles, the top one is my favorite even though the circles are very crooked

Handmade Art Journal

A couple of weeks ago I made a mini art journal to test the pages, binding, and basic concept (you can see it in this post).  

My idea was to create a larger one for me to use once I start working full-time again.  Since I won't have that much uninterrupted time, it will be important to be able to pick it up and work for 10 or 15 minutes if that's all I have.  

So, I wanted to start with a journal already full of backgrounds I can just keep adding details or layers to, some empty pages, of course, and also lots of pockets to keep other work-in-progress pieces.  So, this is what I came up with.

Art Journal Cover and Binding

Pages and Closure

Some of the pages

One of the pockets with work-in-progress

I will probably make a quick video going through the journal pages, but wanted to post these pictures now.  I hope you enjoy them.

OH!  And the mini album has been given to my 4-year-old niece who promptly got some pens and watercolors and started using it.  She loves all the pockets and says she will keep it forever :)

Challenge and Carved Tree and Houses

Challenge

This week's Diva's Challenge (here) is to use variations or tangleations of Rain, an official Zentangle tangle.  You can find the step outs for Rain here.

I had a lot of fun playing around with variations in my sketchbook.  I then decided which of the variations to use and created my tile.  I added a background tangle and once I was done the Rain variation had blended so much into the background that it was all a big mess.  So, I decided to color the background with colored pencil, and that made Rain stand out a bit more.  

I'm probably going to do another one with the other variations I created, especially since I'm not so thrilled with this one.  Comment away !  :)

UPDATE:  I did create a new tile with a couple of other Rain tangleations

Carved Tree and Houses

In the carving workshop this week, I had fun with carving you-complete-me type of stamps.  I went for a tree and houses.  

So, these are the prints of the individual blocks. The house blocks were carved on cheap erasers; I just wanted to try it out.

Unfortunately I had so much fun with them, I haven't carved "real" ones yet :).  I started out with this one:

Then created another one with the tree and had a lot of fun adding in details :).

Before - with just the printed blocks

After - with details

Completely fun and funky :)

Duo Tangle Challenge - Well/Punzel - Shoe

After trying the purse for this week's challenge, I started thinking about making a shoe to match :).  So... I'm not thrilled with it, but I had a lot of fun creating it.  I think it came out a bit wonky (lol), and the Punzel kind of gets lost.

Duo Tangle challenge - Well/Punzel

This week's Diva Challenge (here) was to use only 2 tangles: Well and Punzel.  It was such a fun challenge!!! 

I messed up several times, but I'm going with the first tile (mistakes and all) just like the Diva :).  I really, really had a lot of fun with this one.  I grabbed this old purse shape from my sketchbook and just tangled Well and Punzel in.  I'm definitely going to have to try other purse shapes, and maybe even shoes to match :) 
          Update:  Here is the posting with the shoe.

I hope you enjoy it.

Diva's challenge, Tangled Panda, and Mini Art Journal

Diva's Challenge

This week the challenge was to try a new tangle created by the Diva herself :) - Laura Harms.  You can see the challenge and the steps for this challenge here.  

This is what I came up with - the new tangle (no name yet) is the one in the middle.  The tile came out really weird; I think it needs a shave :)

Tangled Panda

My son's birthday was on the 2nd and I wanted to make something for him.  Since he loves pandas (how could you not?!!), I went for a tangled panda :).  I think this was my first non-abstract Zentangle Inspired Art.  I know I have a lot to learn to become good at this, but it didn't turn out terrible, so... that's great!  Of course, I had to go over the really black areas with a black colored pencil because it just did not look black enough.

Mini Art Journal

Last year I started to look into art journals after seeing some amazing pages on blogs, Pinterest, and YouTube.  I made a couple of booklets with some art paper sometime last year and started to play and learn.  I must say I'm in the very beginning stages and definitely do not do it consistently... but, I always want to do better :)

So, a couple of weeks ago I thought that if I had a journal already with a bunch of backgrounds, it would probably be easier to do something every day, even if just a bit of doodling, or drawing, or stamping.  I also wanted to try to use recycled paper, and try binding the journal with different techniques I saw on YouTube.  So... this is my test journal with a bunch of painted pages from junk mail, magazines, envelopes, printing tests, and, of course, some blank pages.  Next time I will need a plain background... my work surface may be a bit distracting.