Double D is Double Done For

Double D is on the left

First let me explain the title of this entry. It comes from the goofy cartoon network (or was it Nickelodeon) show popular in the 90's: Ed, Edd, and Eddy. My kids loved that show and turned me on to it one afternoon when we were being lazy. Edd was the brainiac, Eddy was the doofus, and Ed was the scheming one. It was a wacky show, that is no lie. But lots of fun, and intelligent. Really. It was.



 Anyway, in one episode Edd (aka Double D) did something that got him in trouble, and Eddy said, in his doofus voice "Double D is double done for!" and...the family adopted that phrase.
If someone goofed or did wrong or made a boo boo, or pretty  much anything out of their usual angelic behavior (snork) one or the other of the kids...or I... would say "Double D is double done for"

well, can you guess which D tangle pattern I found and used in this week's SuzyMosh challenge? ha! that's right, Double D's. It actually is a lacy and girly-ish pattern, nothing like the cartoon show, but I couldn't help myself...while I was practicing it and playing around with it, that mantra was going over and over in my head "Double D is double done for!"

Well, with all that said, here is the tile I created.

I used several variations on Double D's, and then in the background I laid down some DL Labyrinth, which fits right in with the Diva challenge this week. It reminds me of something an old timey seamstress would have: a little box with scraps of ribbon in it.

Because my coworker needed black for her doodles (yes, there are two of us hooked on zentangle, right next to each other at work!) I lent her my 01 and 005 sakuras in black, and used my sepia 01 for this tile. I like it. Shaded with dark brown prisma pencil. I like how the DL Labyrinth sort of creates its own depth by how the lines are placed.

so with this challenge, I have two new patterns that I know I'll be using...DL Labyrinth and Double D's. 

RRRRRiverwalk

As I explained in my post for the Diva Challenge--- you can find it here  --- last week I was busy with moving and didn't participate in any challenges. This week, now that I'm almost done unpacking in my new place, I have been able to dive into a couple. My two favorite challenges, in fact. The Diva, and SuzyMosh's "new to me" challenge

This week Suzy challenges us to use R patterns that we've never used before. What a LOT of those there are! 

Roxi was the one I started with and it looked so much  like the smooth stones you find along the banks of rivers, I ran with that theme.

Doesn't it remind you of walking or hiking along a mountain river? In Salt Lake we have half a dozen canyons that empty into the Jordan River, and from there to the Great Salt Lake. The valley has a lot of really good walking places, through trees, near slow moving waters, some of them left wild and some improved with garden-y spots and even a workout trail or two.

I traced two ATC's on a page of my sketchbook and started with Roxi along the edge. Sand swirls, Crest, and Barney are in the top frame, too.
In the bottom frame, I used Ripples on a grid, with a column of Seevaw, along with a repeat of Roxi and SandSwirls. Also, notice that Nipa! A lovely pattern.

but the star of the show really is River. I've seen it but never used it before. Shading it gives it a lift, like it sort of rises off the page. I love that effect and like to use it on other patterns. Once you aura something, and then put shading around the edges, it really does something to the depth of the piece. That's what I like about how River looks here.

With this piece, it feels like my creativity flowed nicely. I have been dissatisfied with my work recently, and feeling dry and stilted in my tangling. But this one opened me up and I was able to choose patterns without second guessing myself, and put them on the paper without judging. It felt good.

So, the R patterns that are completely new to me in this are: Roxi (top and bottom edges of both frames); RiverRocks (between the two frames); Ripples; and River.

This piece brought me that zen calm that is emphasized with zentangle. Peaceful, flowing, open.

Now to tackle a few other R patterns. There are a lot that I don't know.

(oops, looks like I am making up for last  week after all! ha!)

A Labryinth, A Riverwalk, and Moving Day

Last week I missed all challenges because of Moving Day!

Here's the thing. I got a hankering for a new place along about the first week of March. Where I lived, though roomy, was sort of a slummy area (which was all I could afford on my salary, and just barely)... well, I got it in my head that I would start saving as much as possible every paycheck, to put aside enough for a down payment and buy my own house. Stay where I was for a few more years, and then just buy and move into Where I Am Going To Live Forever.

Then they raised the rent. And it was time right then and there, to MOVE. Long story short: a new apartment complex three blocks away has some HUD rent controlled units available, and I qualified. Almost $100 less per month, and a very much nicer place. Very much smaller, too. So instead of tangling, I packed and got my rear in gear, (and my mom's. And Wylie's---my feller---and a moving company thank you Mommy!) And let me tell you what: I never EVER moved so suddenly. I decided to move on April 1, and moving day was April 23. Whew!

Before

After

We got everything shifted on Thursday and I've been making this place homey ever since.
The top picture was taken at night, so you don't get the daylight in from the window, which is so dominant in the second picture. They are taken from the same angle.






Because my new space is about half the size of where I was, I have had to make some tough decisions, and culled things BRUTALLY.

This picture shows the box I used to have 20 years worth of pictures in, and the box I narrowed it down to (literally ha!)

My kitchen before >>>>>

 <<<<< and after/during.

 It feels really good to sit down and doodle a while, and I've already dived into the Diva Labyrinth Challenge 
(also, SuzyMosh, which I will post in another entry because this is already way long)

Walking a labyrinth is so eye opening. You go towards the center, and then curve away for a while. Sometimes the walk takes you for a long time, far from the center. You approach a few times, then curve away again. Walking a labyrinth is like life. Sometimes you are near, sometimes you are far, and you are always moving forward, and the center is where you will be eventually.

Going towards the heart.

 I shaded this with blue violet prisma pencil, and used a red micron pen to color the heart. The footsteps, and the pattern on the labyrinth are elements of Ditto. You see where it narrows, and the footsteps are single file?

Just for fun, I made the labyrinth string, and filled everything with Isochor (or Mr. E?) and it looks like a tunnel. It is so three dimensional! I thought it was very cool, especially after shading.

Maybe moving to this new place is a great big step towards my ultimate goal of buying my own place. Well, that's still the goal, now let's DO IT! Moving forward. Always moving forward.

X Marks the Spot: Objet d'string.

This week I ended up combining two challenges, because last week I never sat down and finished anything for the Q challenge from SuzyMosh and I really wanted to. I still want to play with the pattern X (which I LOVE...it is wonky and twisted and interesting to look at, fun to draw) So I know I shall play with X some more and probably post a second entry in the SuzyMosh challenge. Using X patterns we've never used before. X and Xplode are the ones I used here.

Meanwhile, the Diva has challenged us to use various objects, just from around the place, trace them, and use the tracings as our string. I was at work when I opened the challenge so I had to use what was at hand.

I have a fork that I carry in my bag...for lunch break, so I'm not contributing to the landfill by using plastic utensils...which I put in the lower right corner...you can barely see it. The circular bit is my "wisdom" stone (a polished stone of sodalite with the word "Wisdom" etched on it, that sits on my desk next to the snowflake obsidian stone that says "Laugh") Under the circle, I traced the cord that connects my headset to the computer, and the curved line is a corner of my Altoids box. In the upper left there are chopsticks. (which I also keep, mostly to stir my tea, but sometimes I bring noodle stir fry for lunch, and use my chop sticks. They live in my pen jar/mug up in the corner of my desk, with pens and a pair of scissors)

Looking at this string, I thought of the moon "caught" in the branches of a tree. So my first pattern was Crescent moon. I also used Xplode and Bead strings on the "moon."

The tines of the fork became floatfest, with prestwood and msst. Meer curves across, and above that is wud, with a modified chainlea coming out from the "branch" of wud. Check out the twisty, winding little thorn twigs coming out of there. I wonder if I created a pattern, and what I would call it.

I also put some tiny rice shapes in the crotch of the branch. I'm sure they are a pattern, I just don't know what it is called.
X is in the lower left corner. I filled the X's with tipple. And coming down from the upper right corner, some perlz, which arc under meer into onomato.

It doesn't look so much like the moon through the branches anymore hahahaha. Unless it's an enchanted night and the Fairies of Strange have been sprinkling their pixy dust into our eyes. It was a way fun thing, making our string out of stuff we have around the place. I'll be doing that again.

I'm a Fan(z)

The Diva this week has a UMT challenge. Yes. the first week of a month means we are using someone's tangle pattern, and this time it was Fanz by Susan Goetter.

It is a terrific pattern for filling spaces, with lots of potential for variations. Good play time, and quite relaxing to draw.

I ended up using a piece I had already started, putting Fanz into a large space, and then added some Fanz elements in a larger size. I did it in sepia pen, which is very nice. It is so pretty, and a bit of a break from the black.

Wedding Plans

The patterns from top left, clockwise:
Dyon, pokeleaf and pokeroot, fanz, flux, pozer with ribbons, maizey, drops, printemps, fans large, flux, fescu.
Msst and static, with a few printemps tucked in the corners, right up under the Dyon.

This reminds me of my daughter's wedding in 2013. It was outdoors, and that date had not had rain for 15 years or so...so she never had a plan B. Lo! and behold! if it wasn't overcast and damp when we woke up..but no rain. Not until we had gotten the tablecloths out on the reception tables in the yard...which we quickly got back off again and put in the dryer, while my poor girl started to cry.

We set up a portable canopy under the tree she had chosen for the ceremony site and packed the seating in under another canopy. And...just before the ceremony, the rain stopped. It did not start up again until late that night, as we were seeing off the newlyweds in their getaway car.

Adam's folks on his side; Abbie's people on her side. The little one in red is my granddaughter Nadia. She was the flower girl, and she literally laid sunflowers down before the feet of the bride, backing down the aisle, placing each flower as she went. It was SO cute! and so perfect.

Adam and Abbie.

Kiss the bride. Note the Tolkienesque cake. That is elven runes written on there.

Dancing in the Light.

THE prettiest, and THE MOST fun wedding I've ever been to.

Ahhh, that was a nice stroll down memory lane.

Lots of LLLLs

SuzyMosh's challenge this week is to create zentangle art using L patterns, which we have never used before.

I struggled with this, starting several pieces that I didn't like. BUT in my pecking around, I did discover a tangle that I love: Land Girlz. It takes some precision, but in the end you have a terrific, highly textured, three dimensional pattern that will make a terrific filler.

Shading really brings it out for LandGirlz.

I love patterns that you can "feel"

Another new tanglepattern for me is Lacy, which I loved. This one will be fun to put in places as a background.

Here, I have used only one column of Lacy, with the end sort of dangling.

And, Laced. I've practiced it, and I have seen it here and there, but I've never used it in any piece.

Notice there is a sprinkling of lazyeight and limpet around that corner where Lacy comes off of florz. I've never seen limpets or lazy eights before. They're nice for a light touch. 

Then of course, there is a tangleation of LanternPho/Leaflet...which are favorites that I use a lot.

I decided to leave the three "leaves" that are falling away empty of lines. I shaded them with the hope that they would look like it is "under" the paper. 

along the right edge of the Lantern Pho flow is a line of Shnek. 

  

 And here is the piece as a whole. From the upper left corner: Land Girlz, florz, lantern pho/leaflet, shnek, lazy eights and limpets, a strand of lacy, with Laced stitching it down.

Thanks to Suzanne Moshier for this challenge that makes me use new patterns every week. Stretch my horizons!

DustBunnies fun!

What a fun new tangle. I've never even herd of dust bunnies, and here Joey has a challenge using them...as an homage to spring cleaning (which I do need to do, badly...after I tangle a while hahahaha)

Well, once I had played with Dustbunnies for a bit, I used it in a ZIA, aura'ed and filled in dark, with some sparkle.

Dust bunnies, looking pretty solid nestling on top of a swoosh of meer. Can you see Dave Hunter's pinbawl there in the corner where dustbunnies and meer meet? 





 I liked this solid effect a lot, and decided to run with it.

It's cloudy looking, so I thought of springtime skies and wind...

I didn't like how the coloring turned out.

Now, I did think the idea of dustbunnies clouds was good, and I love trio as wind, but I couldn't get the coloring right...hey, that's what sketchbooks are for, right?






In the end, I went with the "solid" dustbunny look, as clouds...a lot of trio blowing along, and some flowers, too.

The zephyrs of spring

When I colored the purple and yellow dustbunnies, I was aiming for sunset clouds, but they ended up looking like fluffy flowers, which is perfect.
An enjoyable challenge.