Weekend Fun

My apologies for being absent for a while. Life and kids and stuff... you know how it goes. Sigh

I'm here to share with you some fabulous new Zen-Doodles. I hope you like them they're one of my favorite thing to do to pass the time on a rainy day, sitting having coffee, pretty much any time.

I was first introduced to the art of Zen-Doodling/Zentangling on the Milliande community art pages shared by other members. I was awe struck by how beautiful these creations were and how different and special each one was. I started searching the web for tutorials and found a good deal on YouTube. At first I was copying others (which is totally fine, you can use mine for inspiration is you like) and soon I was creating my own. I find my inspirations from men's ties, decorated boxes, clothing, books, etc. Designs are everywhere... just keep your eyes open.

The two main patterns here, the Zentangled Mooka (heart shapes) and the centre pattern I learned from YouTube videos courtesy of Rick Robert and Maria Thomas the founders of Zentangle. Their YouTube home is "Zentangle" and they have a lot of fantastic video's showing you how to create your own beautiful works. Many people find great peace and relaxation while doing this technique and use it as a form of Meditation... hence the name "Zen"-tangle. I know I could spend hours at my desk mindlessly creating Zendoodles, and I have. I find that the more I do the better I become at them... as with all art. The one area that I'm still not fantastic at with my Zendoodles is the shading in. But I will keep working on that. :D 

My second ZenDoodle is a combination of hearts, flowers and paisley's that are inspired by many amazing YouTube video's by "miraculousmosquito", her stuff blows me away. She has countless YouTube videos, "how to build" flowers, leaves, paisley... as well as some very interesting trees, and other shapes that are out of this world. I simply can't say enough about her... she is indeed "Miraculous". Along with Zentangles that I have picked up from "milliande" whom you can find on YouTube or at her art community site "milliande.ning.com" and share you work with others. :D Which I highly recommend by the way. The community is very encouraging and it has been wonderful getting to know other creative ppl from around the globe.

Lastly, my 'Flowers and Ribbon'. Yesterday I found a YouTube video by "rainbowelephant61" who, among other things, showed me how to create these fantastic ribbons. I wasn't sure what to do with them at first... so I thought, "Well, I love to do flowers" and that's what I did. I'm very happy with the results. I decided to do the ribbons in different colors and then keep to traditional black for the flowers. Just the thing I think. :D


So that's all. I hope you like them and check out the YouTubers and start creating some/more of your own. 
Cheers for now.
Danine

Kin

The Day 8 Seed Journal challenge for Milliande the on-line community I belong to is ~ "Seed Kin"
My first thought was Acorns or maybe Pine Cones... but after a bit more thought I settled on Cattails. I'm very drawn to and have a strange connection to Cattails. I love how velvety soft they are and how they bend in the wind, strong and flexible. They grow in clusters all along the ditches where I grew up, much like me and my large family of 9, standing strong as one unit. So simple, yet so profoundly complex. The Cattails have thousands of seeds that lay dormant till the fall, when the Cattail turns from brown to white and releases it's seeds. These seeds then  spread far and wide as the strong wind blows them free of the tall reeds they once called home and new life is born next spring. Simple, strong and yet so elegant.

Journal entry ~ I grew up poor. Really poor. So poor that I didn't even know I was poor. I grew up in the country, the 6th of 7 children, out in the country where my siblings and I had to make up our own entertainment. We had one TV with three channels... so needles to say we spent a great deal of time out doors, playing various ball games, tag or just hanging out. I remember going for long, long walks with one or more of my siblings down our dusty, gravel roads, kicking rocks, watching birds or the clouds flying by, and picking Cattails from the ditches. Summer time we were the Kings knights fighting off dragons or battling one another for the hand of a fair maiden. In the fall we would pluck the seeds from the Cattails and send them off into the wind to fly to far away places.

Those were much simpler times. We didn't have much but we had each other, lots of love, and the type of friendship that only blood, "Seed Kin" can have. All grown now, I too have been blown here and there by the winds of time taking root and creating my own life. I have many fond memories from my childhood. I still love going for long walks and spending time with my siblings. Life has been very good to me... Like the Cattail with it's abundance of seeds I feel I too have been blessed with abundance in life.

Always remember where you came from. Cherish it, learn from it and move on.
Cheers,
Danine