Diva Challenge #327, Made by Joey #176 and other stuff...

Diva Challenge #327

Guest Blogger: Henrike Bratz

Lisbon Fragment & Diva Dance

Henrike introduced us to her pattern Lisbon Fragment, inspired by tiles she'd encountered during her trip to Lisbon.

I chose a tile I'd made quite a while ago using art tissue transfer coloring thinking it would make a nice host to diva dance and capture the tile aspect of Henrike's inspiration. I'm using the Staedtler Triplus Fineliners I recently purchased. It didn't take me long to discover that these pens are water soluble and bleed...but that's ok. I'm now seeking ways to embrace that:

Using a straw, I added a few drops of water...

...and let it bleed

I had a lot of fun with this tile.

Made by Joey Challenge #127

Guest Blogger: Trudi Taylor

Trudi challenges us with a string she created using her variation of the pattern "Tropicana" as a string. The challenge is meant to be a vehicle for dimension and shading. I had so much fun with this one too! I had absolutely no plan as this was so far out of my comfort zone. I'd chosen an ATC I'd made a long time ago using tissue paper transfer coloring. It was in a weird combination of orange (a color I really don't use) and blue, then the murkiness that ensues when one combines complementary colors. I'd be lost without my colored pencils;-)

My most recent Eco-printed paper creation

I was looking up the pattern "Venetian" on Pinterest for one of the "92 Days" prompts and was inspired by all of the gorgeous Venice Carnival masks that appeared. Prior to that I had started this piece on the mirror imprint of this:

I'd used the green Staedtler pen to outline all of the green leaves and added a few big Mookas and after that I was stuck and put it aside. Later, I saw the mask! I wish I'd taken a picture of it at that point, but it was really a hot mess, with all the lines converging, sort of, into a...mess.
As I started playing around with the mask idea, I was sure I was going to abandon it. I watered down the the center of the splaying leaves and the bleeding created a very cool transparent effect. Anyhoo...this turned out to be my favorite piece to date. Lesson learned: Give a Hot Mess a Chance!

This is a swap I'm finishing up for the Tangled and Journaled Too! group, the masterminds behind my "92 Days" sketchbook series...which I'm totally behind on again. The parameters were to use any of the "92 Days" prompts as a theme, as many or as few as you liked. I had a lot of fun with the "Text" prompt and used it a couple of times in my journal. I had found an old and sadly dilapidated book of poetry on the bookshelf at the cafe I draw at in the morning.

kittypic of the week

For anyone interested in how the art tissue paper transfer technique works, here's the link to Susan Rink Olsen's tutorial.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Your thoughtful and generous comments delight and inspire me;-)

Diva Challenge #292, Made by Joey #138 and More Travelling Tangles...

Diva Challenge #292

Use My Tangle: "Eaxy"

The first Monday of the month is a Use My Tangle challenge, where The Diva chooses a pattern submitted by one of her many fans and followers. This is Nadine Roller's pattern "Eaxy", an easy pattern using X's. Easy in theory, but in practice?...well, I can't remember when a pattern vexed me so. I suspect most of you reading this feel my pain.

It's been an unsettling week and I've been trying really hard to get my Zen. I've found windows here and there but mostly my focus has been scattered. I practiced "Eaxy". A lot. I got frustrated. Took breaks. Practiced some more. Started an ATC. Got frustrated. Tossed it. Noodled around on Pinterest. A lot. Checked out other submissions. I was not alone.

Then two things happened within minutes of each other. I came across a gorgeous (is there any other kind?) Lily Moon tile and read Jennifer Sparrow's blog post. Jennifer posted of picture of a garden path and I immediately thought of cobblestones which always makes me think of 'Nzeppel. 

'Nzepple Eaxy! That was the solution to my frustration of the shabby cross-overs that I couldn't clean up. So, many thanks Lily and Jennifer!

Joey Challenge #138

Finish my Tile: Twile

Joey started us off this week with a ring filled with Twile in the center of a tile. I had some left over ATC's from the current Travelling Tangles swap...

... and in keeping with my personal challenge of adapting the Joey challenges to ATC's, I took a little artistic license with this.

Earlier in the week, I finished the last of my Travelling Tangles backlog to make way for new round starting to trickle in.
Here are two recent finishes to a tile and ATC sent by Sue Olsen.

I love these! They're so cool just on their own.

Sue is the inspiration behind my latest coloring technique obsession-tissue paper. Check out Sue's tutorial here. Sue recently posted some additional tissue paper play here where she overlays the white tissue for a really interesting effect. This is next on my To Do list. Thanks Sue!

A while back, I sent Margaret Bremner one of the first ATC's from my tissue paper trial run.

This is so freakin' awesome!

Margaret applied torn paper (orange) to the ATC and continued to work her magic. 

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club"-Jack London

Thanks so much for visiting my blog. Your thoughtful and generous comments delight and inspire me!