It's a String Thing #100 & Triumph!

It's a String Thing #100

a Zentennial Celebration

Congratulations to Adele on 100 Challenges! I've been in watercolor mode lately with some ATC's I'm preparing for a swap, and I thought that Adele's Zentennial Celebration was perfect for some festive color. Adele created this string and pattern especially for this challenge and it was so much fun.

The string challenges are special for a number of reasons. I find the prescribed strings and patterns eliminate the paralysis of choice. I'm the world's worst procrastinator, even when it involves something I love to do. I waste a lot of time searching and Pinteresting patterns to use in other challenges or blog surfing as I look at other interpretations of the challenges. It inspires but mostly  keeps me from the task at hand.

More often than not, fitting the patterns seamlessly within the string is my greatest hurdle and frustration ensues, but once vanquished the results bring satisfaction. I feel the greatest sense of triumph when I've completed the string challenge.

My favorite thing about It's a String Thing is that Adele collects the submissions via email and they are posted every Monday and include comments from both the artist and Adele. That's a lot of work! The results aren't visable until the challenge is over. I absolutely love opening my Monday email and the scrolling through the gallery of submissions. It's great to see how many different interpretations there are of the same perameters and also great to hear that others generally share common frustrations and triumphs. Way to go Adele!

These are some of the finished ATC's I'll be sending out this weekend for the Zentangle Artist Trading Card Swap Facebook group. I have to thank Suzy Mosh's That's New to Me Challenge for inspiring the bulk of these with her current challenge to focus on Michele Beauchamp's work and using a new H pattern. I discovered "Heartbeat" and absolutely love it as a border.

I don't do swirls particularly well so I chose to focus on Michele's "Mak-rah-mee" pattern and how she incorporates those beautiful bulbous swirls and curls and Flux's. Once I started getting the hang of it I couldn't stop. I ended up creating more ATC's than I need to send out. I'm a little OCD:-)

If there's anyone out there who wants to swap an ATC with me leave a comment and either email me at michelewynne1 (at) g mail dot com. or message me on Facebook.

Thank you so much for stopping by. Your generous comments always make my day!

I am the Diva Challenge #225 & That's New to Me #27

I am the Diva Challenge #225

"Color"

ATC using "Frost Flower" & "Soo Flowers"

The Diva is enjoying some much deserved vacay. This week's guest host~blogger, Jen Crutchfield's prompt is to go forth with some color, not a rainbow but 2 or 3. 

I'm currently working on some ATC's for the Facebook group, Zentangle Artists Trading Card Swap. The theme is watercolor. So I'm directing these two challenges into my ATC's today.

That's New to Me Week #27

a new "H" pattern and artist focus on 

Michele Beauchamp (aka Shelly Beauch)

Mak-rah-mee & Heartbeat

I decided it was time to learn Mak-rah-mee. I've made a few clumsy attempts at this pattern in my sketchbook in the past and it vexes me every time and I give up. Shelly's work is nothing short of amazing... so delicate and elegant. I had a hard time searching for an "H" pattern to go with it. I ended up going with "Heartbeat" and tried using it as a fill first. Not successful, but once I tried it as a border I loved it. I'm definitely keeping it in the repertoire. 

It was gorgeous today so I headed to the park to draw. More "Mak-rah-mee":

These are all works-in-progress that I will be sending out into the world within the next couple of months. I'm a little OCD, but each one got a little bit less crappy.


Thanks for stopping by. Your generous comments always make my day.