A zentangle weekend

Below is my first and probably last Zentangle. Actually, it was more like doodle art than a Zentangle.

Patty at Magpie's Nest showed a bunch of her Zentangles this weekend. Now I know Patty works fast, but she led me to believe she whipped her six out in no time at all. This ONE piece took me nearly four hours and it was not fun at all. I didn't think I would ever finish it and it didn't even look good once I was done. The size is 3 X 5, and I probably should have started smaller.

I was impressed that Patty began with rubber stamps. Check out her post. You'll see where I got my ideas and how I sort of did the same doodles that Patty did. Since I had never done anything like this before (have I mentioned how much I don't like doodling?), I was surprised that I actually stuck with it as long as I did. I used a Micron black .03 pen and Staz-on ink for the stamp. I know you can tell by the rubber stamp, but you may be able to see the texture of the paper if you click to enlarge the scan. The paper is really nice, like watercolor, and has a definite raised pattern on it.

Lessons learned:

1. Start small.

2. Know what some common doodle designs are before beginning.

3. Take a break if your hand gets tired.

4. Loosen up. The object is to be flexible, not rigid, which you can see I never achieved.


I got some books from the Library this weekend and although they both cover similar materials, tools, and techniques, one is far superior to the other. Like a dodo, I forgot to get the proper information on these before I passed them on to Dana.

Twist and Loop, by Doris somebody (sorry), was a big disappointment. It was a book of instructions on crocheting and knitting wire. The photos were incredible, the projects were well designed, but the instructions and basic information were sorely lacking. The book began with projects, no instructions on how to knit or crochet, no basic stitches, no tools, no explanation of abbreviations. In the last part of the book, she discusses a few things, but the information is sorely lacking. It was the first book I read.

Felted, Fabric, and Fiber Jewelry by Sherri Haab, was a delight to read and see. Everything was well explained with lots of photos and explanations. Included with the felt, fabric, and fiber was a section on wire, which included using it in crochet and knitting.


As mentioned above, Twist and Loop had some very nice photos, all stylized and artsy. However, this photo, which is the only one associated with tools, didn't begin to cover the items listed. Since wire was so important in this book, I would have expected an explanation about gauges and how the larger the wire, the smaller the gauge number. No such explanation was given.


On the other hand, Felted, Fabric, and Fiber Jewelry's photos were basic, not stylized, but succinct. Every tool was pictured and explained, as were abbreviations. It was amazing the amount of information provided in this book, compared to the first one.

I totally forgot to look for a new blog yesterday, so that's why this post is so late. However, I think Carolyn Douglas at Come Clay with Me is just the ticket to color this grey dreary day I see out my window. Her work with fired clay is fun to see and read about. Since I just found her blog, it's as new to me as it may be to some of you.