Zentangle Gift Box

I found this gift box to hold a bottle of wine or some other spirits on a clearance table at the LSS. It was solid white with just the black ribbon closure. I immediately thought it would make a great Zentangle project so I bought it and amazingly, the tangling got done within just a couple of weeks. But that's where the forward progress ended for a while. It took forever to get out the can of clear sealer and spray it. Then it took several more days to add the paper, ribbon and tag. I bought the box over Christmas break and finally completing this project on Spring break!
The paper at the bottom is by Queen and Co. and the pleated ribbon is SU!

I received the die to make the flower from a dear friend as an early birthday present. It's by Memory Box. They make some of the prettiest dies...so intricate and elegant!
Now, what to use it for? I decided to stamp the tag for a birthday gift. I wanted to take a photo of the box opened up, but I didn't want to leave it empty for the photo. Hubby and I don't drink (alcohol definitely comes under the heading of processed foods) so I found the only appropriate bottle I had in the house...a bottle of cane syrup from the a friend of the farm!! (Hubby's not off the processed foods)

Well, that's three incomplete projects that have been put to bed for me over Spring break so far. The other two are sets of cards I had started using Northwoods stamps. Both sets still needed the finishing touches of coloring and glitter added to them and I got that done yesterday. Today, I'm off to find the floor of my stamp room and maybe even the table!! Wish me luck!!

Zentangle Shrink Art

After teaching a class at the LSS, I hung around for a while with my friend who works there and played with some kid stuff. I had taken along some pens and an assortment of shrink plastic and this is what I came up with.....Zentangle on shrink plastic! I'm sure it's not an original idea, but sure had fun experimenting with different colors of plastic, spellbinder shapes, and inks. I'm thinking these would be cute on a necklace, charm bracelet, or key chain. The possibilities seem endless for this technique, so I am sure I will working with this some more. My friend Bonnie, who works at the store, does amazing things with her Zentangle (and anything else she works with), so I also want to show you my favorite piece that she did. It is my favorite piece of the day!

The photo does not do this beautiful pendant justice! The little red blings were done by coloring clear rhinestones with a Copic marker. Gorgeous!!!

Zentangle and Disney

Today I am adding a couple of pages from my Zentangle calendar that I have been working on. I really need to spend some time stamping, but Zentangle is so portable. I did the page with the tree one day while I was watching Kyli play on her swing set. The second one (still  needs shading) I did while sitting and chatting with a friend. She was doing the same thing, so she wasn't even thinking that I wasn't paying attention to her. It's good to have friends with common interests!
On a personal note, my son and daughter-in-law took Kyli to Disney for her fourth birthday. It was her first visit and she went non-stop for 14 hours without a stroller! Of course, she then slept for about 14 hours straight! Just she collected autographs from so many of the characters. She even got to dance with Goofy at one of the shows. Check out my son's wizard hat! I am sooooo going to snag it for the next hat day at school!!!

Another Addiction

October???? Seriously!!! I have completely neglected my blog!
I have been so busy lately. I started classes towards my Autism Spectrum Disorder endorsement. That happens most Saturdays and of course there is homework to go with it. Like the crazy woman that I am, I also signed on to do two nights a week for the Reach for the Stars after school program which puts me at work until at least 6:30 twice a week. I already stay late most days, but now I also have planning to do for this and the time I spend with kids after school means I have to find other time for the planning, grading, etc. that I used to do on those two days. I must be truly nuts!!
Anyway, I have managed to get in a little bit of creative time between all of the insanity. I started playing with Zentangle about a year ago and I made a tangle with my daughter-in-laws name as the basis for the design. I was going to frame it, but I cleaned my stamp room (again) over Christmas break. I even super-cleaned the closet and found a bunch of items I had collected to be altered. Soooo, I ended up attaching the tangle to the cover of a small journal. Since Linda loves to journal and write poetry, it seemed like the perfect way to present my artwork! So, here it is!!

Here is a closer view of the design:

Hopefully I will get back again sooner. Thanks for stopping in....I really miss sharing with my blog friends! I'll be around later (after granddaughter goes home) to see what you have all been up to!