Tangled Try-outs

In April I was introduced to the simple but fascinating art of Zentangle. I have always loved to draw-by-instruction, and there are plenty of patterns to choose from on the now favorited site I found, TanglePatterns.com, hosted by Linda Farmer.

 

After cutting a few cardstock squares, I grab a pen and go from there. Sometimes I am inspired to try the featured "tangle" from the free weekly email newsletter I signed up to receive, I'm not always impressed by my results, but often times, I am. My pen is not fancy, I've used everything from a blue Sound Credit Union handout to a pink Zig fine-tip marker to a red ball point, and the results are always the same... a small dose of creativity which requires me to flex my skills in a new direction.

 

I have found that the patience required to follow through with each step of the drawing can be challenging, as I generally prefer to spread my creativity over many projects simultaneously (I read more than 3 books at a time for the same reason- I get bored!)

 

I have found that I am more at peace with the possibility of a "mistake" than most. Score one point for the CraftWithAnna indoctrination table! For one thing, hardly anyone you present with a hand drawn item will notice, let alone comment on your boo-boo. Second, in a twisted mass of lines and shading, the distraction of an overdrawn line here or there is simply not relevant to the viewer. Heck, a lot of times, I can't believe I've drawn something so ethereal!

 

In a way, I don't really feel as though it is me that has done the drawing; I'm following the step-by-step patterns largely designed by others, my general array of tools are absent, and my mind sometimes successfully achieves the quiet and reflective mindlessness that Zentangle-ing should result in. Some cards, I can't wait to finish because I'm not enjoying the process, and other cards have to be extended as I just have to continue this adventurous form of  doodling :-) So, it's kind of like the internal, more inclined to follow directions to the letter instead of taking an idea and making it my own ME is at work on these little pieces of art.

 

With the support of Two Waters Arts Alliance, earlier this month I was able to take teach a Meditative Doodling class at my favorite spot to hang with the teens, Key Center's Red Barn Youth Center. Over three one hour sessions, we explored umpteen designs and created some really cool keepsakes including a birdhouse, flower pot, and picture frame. I encouraged the students to give their intriguing doodle-scapes away, but we all laughed about the suggestion each time it was made because, it is kind of hard to do. The overlapping scenes, organic flow of designs worked, rigid encapsulation of each expressed element; well they are all part of the our internal mind-flow, made visible. Except instead of being a jumble of unexpressed turmoil, these tangibly tantalizing tangles hint at the greatest executioner of artistic possibility that lies within each of us.

 

So go ahead, grab a moment, something to draw on, and a pen and try your hand at Zentangle-ing awhile. I can almost promise you, the moment will expand and fill you with a quiet rest that will reside in the future viewing of that attempt. And of course, if you happen to tag a pic of your try with a #CraftWithAnna, I'll be able to applaud you from afar!

 

Anatomy of a Late Night Scrap Sesh

Late at night when the kids are in bed, I like to have Ray select a few photos for some "Scrapbook Starts." That's my little nickname for these pages I start and don't usually complete right away. You'll notice these examples are pretty basic... they'll be spruced up sometime today, but here's a peek into my late night creative process!

I generally start with the photo itself. Thinking of a basic title, or the story I want the photo to tell helps me get into the mood to gather my supplies. The chosen photo or story may also influence the colors or theme of papers I'm shopping my stash for. It really helps to take the photo to the paper stored in our craft room; you can pretty easily tell what "goes" (and doesn't ) by holding the photo up to a few selections. There can be surprise pairings of patterns that emerge as my creative engines begin to turn over!

Next, I reach for add-ons like stickers or die cuts that I may have thought of while looking at the photo or searching for a background. The way I have my embellishments stored makes this a really easy thought to page process. Check out this tour of my craft room for a glimpse at one of the ways I've had my space organized. I look for either matching colors, a theme that fits, a phrase to use as a title, or maybe just something shiny that needs to be used.

I recently overhauled my die cut storage system, and along with my August Product of the Month Challenge and wanting to use more of my old stuff up this year, I'm hereby announcing that my product of the month will be... Die Cuts! On August 15th my fellow contributors to DieCutCrazy and I will be hosting another Blog Hop, so watch for that! Last night I got into my circa 2009 Storytellers collections and chose this "Delightful" set that went well with the photos and papers I'd chosen. The great thing about their die cuts is that they already look layered and embellished, so sprucing them up is not actually needed, but very easy to do. See how I layered photo corners over those already on the background patterned paper above? And in the layout below, I simply added paper flowers, and used my exact-o knife to cut out a small part of the design to layer on top for added dimension. There were more than enough pieces to spread across two pages that will go side by side in my album, so I put the extras into a new kit, made from papers I'd thought of using but didn't. I  mean, why put them away when I can use them for another late night crop session?! 

So sometimes, on simple pages like those two, I can add a few finishing touches that bring them nearly to "enter the album" stage. Touches like the brads in the centers of the flowers, or the hand drawn blackberry vines with custom blended ink splatter berries. Touches like the eyelets on those punched circles, or inking the edges to make the white core disappear.

On the page to the right, I chose a package of Glitz Design's cardstock stickers to embellish my layout. You can see the page is still lacking- nothing is holding the banner together, there is no title or journaling, and frankly, it's hard to tell what the story behind my holding a large gun with a gleeful smile is. And guess what, it's totally okay that the page is incomplete! I fully intend to go back in and put those finishing touches on sometime today or later this week.

In the meantime, I may think of a much better title (although, "Annie Get Your Gun" will be hard tobeat), I may change the angle of the story I want to tell, or add variegated yarn instead of black twine as I intended... the choices are all still there, but I can make them in the my actual craft room,during daylight hours easier than late in front of the tv, on a card table set up by the sofa at night. On the other hand, I sometimes find that I'm really okay with how it looks and I just add a quick dash of fiber and journaling to get it in the album pronto. These simple pages add a different visual element to albums that can almost become monotonous in all their embellishments and details. As long as those pictures are getting printed and/or our stories are being told, there's no "wrong" way to scrapbook!

So theres a peek into my late night creative process... now you know why I'm posting photos of my work to facebook at 12:23 am! Let me know, how do you maximize your creative energy? Do you have a little routine that makes it easier to craft in a jiffy? Leave a comment below, mark your calendar for August 15th's DieCutCrazy blog hop, and as always, thanks for reading!

Fathers Day Gift-Cards

Traditional gifts for dad this year in the form of a shirt from me and another shirt with tie from Rainier :-) in the form of handcrafted paper cards, of course! I saw this idea while surfing the web (working) last Saturday. We made them Sunday morning and I think that helped them look so crisp and fresh.
My card is on the left and used a six by six My Minds Eye sheet as the shirt base. Its a subtle dark grey pinstripe which paired beautifully with these dark greybuttons from an Sei album kit. There was no + sign in the glitter thickers, but a couple snips later it is barely noticeably pieced together.
Rainier has been using scissors since a very young age and I'm so proud to see her advanced skills in how closely she followed the outline of the tie on her card. I drew a line around the outside, which she cut around, then she cut closer to the line again, and finally, cut the line off. On the inside of the card (which she makes first for some reason, and I always leave for the end), she stamped DAD and drew her sister's name as well as her own, and some other...sentiments.
Dad loved his card and we love dad!