New Tangle 'Sprig'

I have a new tangle for you. I have called it Sprig in honor of it resembling rosemary and pine. 

I am not a Certified Zentangle Teacher but I wanted to share this tangle that I came up with. Using a cursive e or l repeatedly on a slant, or you can just call them loops, this one looks great. I adde the pine cones at the end for fun. Hope you enjoy. 

New Tangle 'Sleven'

I have a new tangle for you though I do not claim to be a Certified Zentangle Teacher. I wanted to share with you a tangle I created using the number '7'. 

Start with a grid, and add the appropriate lines to create a '7'. The variation uses the same method, but rotates and mirrors the number many times. You can fill in the '7' itself or you can fill in the background. Have fun with it. 

Zentangle Zendalas

I have a wonderful hubby who loves me very much and thought it would be sweet to buy me a pack of zendala tiles. Oh my goodness! So much fun. So I am just sharing some of my recent play here. Enjoy.

Not a zendala tile but a zendala I created using a stamp at the center and a compass to create my rings to tangle. Happy with the result. 

A fabulous tile. It took me a while to decide to tangle this one. The swirls were intimidating but I think I got it. 

St Croix inspired tangles. From butterflies, to palm trees, to ocean waves... Ah, St Croix, you have my heart. 

Several Zendalas done by compass. These are just so fun! 

And try this one, first fold and cut a snowflake. Use it as a stencil to create your own zendala. 

Whatever you do, have fun. 

Crafty Ideas Make Camp Fun

It's that time of year again. We are busy hiring our staff and planning for the summer ahead. My big thing this week has been working on camp crafts. I am pleased to say I have them all picked out. And guess what, we will be doing zentangle again but in a fun new way. 

Last year we did zentangle with leaves, charcoal, and tiles. This year I plan on getting some ATC's (artist trading cards 2-1/2" x 3-1/3") that are scratch-art. This eliminated the pens and markers that got destroyed over the course of the summer. Scratch-art cards only need a wood stylus. I am intrigued to see how this works out. 

My other crafts this summer will be a bottle cap bracelet:

A string art shape on a wood disc/tree slice (sorry no pic of this one yet. Check Pinterest tho! Lots of cool ones there) 

And a paper bag book the kids will assemble and embellish with papers, stickers, ribbons, etc. 

I have even included a pocket for stashing their new zentangles. These books will be great for the kids to take home and add pictures of camp later as well. 

As we prepare for the summer we always pray for the kids coming and for the staff as well. It's a crazy process and lots of work the rest of the year to make a couple months of the summer work out smoothly in programming for each week. Please consider adding us to your prayer list. We appreciate it immensely. 

Now, onward with preparations... Provided I don't get distracted by more crafty things. :)

Target Success!

As you probably have learned by now I am a bargain hunter. I shop the dollar bins at most stores looking for the ever elusive craft supplies on the cheap. I am also looking extra hard now because I am always keeping my eye out for neat things for my secret sister. Enter that lovely store called TARGET!

I went to Target yesterday with my family on the all incusive family Mega Bloks hunt. (My hubby likes to shop for the Halo Mega Bloks and yes we literally shop all stores for them. So going yesterday was his idea, not mine.) And as you all know when you walk into Target there in glorious array at the front of the store is the Dollar Bins. The angels sing and the heavens open up to shine a light on these lovely places. So while the hubs and the son went to the toys, the adorable daughter and myself gravitated towards the Dollar Bins.  We spent a lot of time there. We thoroughly searched each bin and made careful decisions. And we weren't done looking even when the hubs and son came back to the front of  the store in defeat for they had not been successful in their hunt for new toys. However, I was! 

Looking at the receipt you will see that I spent just under $20. This is glorious. I not only found a couple of headbands for my daughter, but I found washi tape, jars, bags, cards, and even a new little kit to grow basil (a much used herb in our house). 

Here is the breakdown: 

Hello Kitty Headband: $1.00

5 Washi Tape: $1.00

Set of 4 Pens: $1.00

24 Cards and Envelopes: $3.00

Purple Bow Headband: $1.00

Basil Kit: $1.00

6 Mini Bags: $1.00

2 Small Jars: $2.00

Tall Glass Jar: $3.00

I had such a blast picking this stuff out. I plan on putting together a little something for my secret sister out of this. Either a set of cards, pens, and washi tape, or a couple of jars of fun food stuffs like sprinkles or sugars and putting them in the handy dandy bags. I will keep you posted on what I ultimately do with it all but I just had to share. There are too many awesome things in the dollar bins to pass them by.