PLANT A TREE, CREATE A FOREST

I Am the Diva, CZT

Weekly Challenge #246

"Guest Post: Monotangle Tree"

with Dilip Patel

   I have been preoccupied with a many different things in my life, right now, and computer time is last on my list. (Unfortunately I haven't even had time to tangle,......big sigh of sadness....) Any who, I was able to read, briefly, last week of what the challenge was to be set before us. My heart filled with emotion!!!! "I LOVE TREES!!!!!"  On Pinterest, I have a board dedicated just to trees! Trees, even as silent as they are, speak volumes of Strength, Stability, Life, Future, Beauty, Purpose, Hope, New Beginnings ........and the list goes on! 

    Recently, I have been touched by sadness, concerning trees. With the progress of development and buildings going ALL around me, ALL the trees that have been here forever, are being cut down. Yes, the developers are planting some, new ones,.........but not as many as were here before.

A beautiful, mature Olive tree on my parent's property. (From which my Pops, cures delicious olives)

Many, many Citrus trees on my parent's property, also. All of which are getting ready to be ripened.

The front of my parent's home. Look at all of those mature trees!  

Across from the corner where I live. Pure destruction of homes and trees down to the ground!!!!

   This is why this challenge touched me so profoundly!!! Thank you Dilip for giving us such an awesome and purposeful challenge!! In California, we are in a drought right know too. So we are being asked to not water our trees. They've even gone as far as wanting us to move most if not all foliage, anywhere on our properties. (It doesn't make any sense to me. Trees help our environment so much, but,...... I won't go there.)

Go Plant a Tree and Create a Forest!!!!

Here are my trees, using tangle LoLo by CZT Hsin-Ya Hsu. She has deconstructed some of the most amazing patterns. LoLo is one of my 'mac n cheese' tangles. I just love it!

   Anyway, I have had so much that I have been wanting to share with you all but my hands and brain and computer intelligence get in my way of getting these posts done quickly. What probably takes some of you 5 minutes to do on a computer, takes me about 30 minutes. My thoughts and comprehension of technology just get in my way. :0/

   Sorry for the long and babbly post, but I always have so much that I want to say! (I'm known to babble :0)    )

   Have a blessed week and may you and your families be safe, wherever you are!<3

Go 

put some

Zen

into this

TaNgLeD

world

!!

:0)

JUST A TINY TASTE

I Am the Diva, CZT

Weekly Challenge #243

'Just a Tiny Taste'

Haha, and you thought it was going to be about eating,...........Nah!!

   This week's challenge, the Diva, Laura, has asked us to give just a sample of tangling on a tile (hence, just a taste of tangling').  I actually love having open space on tiles, so I enjoyed this challenge very much!!

    As a little girl, I would make my own stationary. (What little girl does not like pretty paper and pens?) So for stationary, I would always give some kind of border and then add a little something in a corner. Then on the envelop I would add a touch of, matching whatever it is was that went with the stationary. Before email, everything was snail mail (sorry Bijou, no offense). I think that is why stationary was such a hit. The prettier the better. Sometimes though, I would receive some as a gift and I wouldn't want to use it because it was too pretty. (Sound familiar, anyone?)

   So this week, I made stationary cards to hand out for Thanksgiving. I told each of my children that they had to think of someone that they wanted to 'Thank' in a special way, and we would send them a card. So for the challenge, I left off the words that will go in the center of each card. I had so much fun, that I know I will be making more! 

(feel free to click images to enlarge)

   I have been busy! But I wanted to give the kid's teachers something for Thanksgiving. They have such wonderful teachers and I am always so impressed with the way they inspire and feed my children wealths of knowledge!! A many thanks to all teachers!!!!

It was difficult to find the best lighting for these. My mother and I would make these kind of hanging trio eggs and give them at Easter. We would, mostly, do Pysanky Eggs.

Again, these are eggs that our chickens are laying. They are so pretty all in themselves, that I cannot crack them and throw them away. :0/

   

   Please, don't forget that it is Dans Friday, here at The Art Zenter! Click HERE to get your free download for November's coloring page, 'Give Thanks'.

   Have a wonderful weekend and may we all be reminded that there is always something to be thankful for!!! 

   Speaking of thanks,........THANK YOU,...for all the lovely rays of sunshine left on my blog last week. Hugs to all!! ((((hugs)))) :0)

Now,

go put

 some 

Zen

into this

TaNgLeD

world

!!

:0)

STONES and CEREMONY

I Am the Diva, CZT

Weekly Challenge #241

Guest Blogger: Paula Bramante with Strings and Auras CZT

Stones and Ceremonies

   I didn't think I would get to posting anything this week, as it is CRAZY busy. So it will be short. Love making stone pillars with an added name on bookmarks, and give them to people with gifts as a name tag. So that style is what came to mind for this challenge. And here you have it!

Click on image to enlarge.

   I'm hoping to add a bunch of pics to my blogpost next week. Lots of fun stuff happened this week in the Carlo calendar and more this weekend. So stay tuned and I will see you then! Not sure if I'm going to get to The Bright Owl's , Zendala Dare by Tues, but I'm gonna try! You should check out Erin's challenge, it is loads of fun!

   I enjoy reading all comments that are on my blog and thank you for them! Have an SPOOKtacular weekend!! 

Go put

some

Zen

into this

TaNgLeD

world

!!!

:0)

LEAVES, LEAVES, BEAUTIFUL LEAVES

I Am the Diva, CZT

Weekly Challenge #240

"Birthday Leaves for Artoo"

   "Happy 5th Birthday Artoo!!!" This passed weekend Laura, The Diva's youngest son had a 5th birthday celebration!!! It is always so nice to see her updates with her children and family, on her blog. I think with all that celebrating, though, Artoo ended up getting sick. So, lots of well wishes are going out to the birthday boy!!! Hope you feel better soon!!! :0)

   As a part of Artoo's birthday fun, he and his little celebrators were playing in the leaves outside. So that inspired Laura to give us a challenge surrounding leaves. Her challenge is to use colors of fall, tangles that look like leaves, tangled leaf zia's and/or anything that is fall inspired. I just love fall, and these kind of challenges just warm my heart. The colors, the smells, the feeling in the air,........everything about fall, I LOVE!!!! 

   Last year I had quite a lot of fun tangling on real leaves. I think I ended up flattening and drying out about 50 leaves from last year, to work on for future projects. (It's so hard to pass up a perfect leaf that has fallen on the ground, and not pick it up.) Anyway, if you'd like take a peak at my sister blog, Call it What You Quill, HERE, you will see leaves I tangled last year.

The background is actually handmade scrapbook paper that I have had stashed away.

   Here are the tools that I used for these leaves.

I just love brush pens. The black ink is from a Faber-Castell brush pen. (I forgot to add it to the pic.)

Hope all is well in everyone's neck of the woods! We've got Halloween, fast approaching! Yeeeeks!!! I think we have decided what we are going dressed as for the festivities. Easy year for me, no face painting and no making costumes. (Nice, but it doesn't help me get in the mood.) Have an awesome week and hope to see ya' all around, next week!!! :0) Hugs

Go put

some

Zen

into this

TaNgLeD

world

!!

 :0)

MUNCHIN PLAY

I Am the Diva, CZT

Weekly Challenge #239

'Munchin Play'

   This week the Diva (Laura) asked us to use 'Munchin' for our challenge. I like 'Munchin',... and it brings back memories of my CZT class. Molly Hollibough, has a Youtube video to demonstrate this fun tangle that she created. Molly has a way of creating such a zen experience whenever watching her tangle.

   I don't mind the black tiles but I do tend to grab white ones or white paper more than the black. I recently told myself to start using the Renaissance and or black tiles. Well, with this week's challenge the Diva put out a suggestion to use a black tile. As she gave her confession of how she feels about the black tiles,......she gave all of us such a wealth of new info of using an art medium called gesso. (I bet youtube had so many searches for 'How to use gesso', today). Wow, I want to go out and buy some now. Thank you Laura for the great info, and being honest! :0)

Tangles used: 'Munchin' , 'Printemps' 'Tri-bee', and 'Akoya'

   Thank you Laura, for always keeping us on our toes and challenged.

All of you challengers might also want to try giving a Zendala Dare a try at the Bright Owl. 

Have an awesome week and we'll see you next Monday! Thank you for stopping by! 

(((hugs)))

Go put

 some 

Zen

into this

TaNgLeD

world

!!

 :0)

GHOULISH TRI-BEE

I Am the Diva, CZT

Weekly Challenge #238

UMT (Use My Tangle): Tri-Bee

by

Beate Winkler CZT, @ Bea Bea Design

   

   Before I get straight to the challenge, I just wanted to show you a little bit of 'life as I know it', here at Casa deCarlo's. Back in April we bought chickies for the kids, (I mean the Easter Bunny brought chickies for the kids). So now that we're in September, we can definitely see which 'one' turned out to be rooster. (Thank goodness, it was only one!)  So we have 5 hens and one rooster. And as of this week, we are now benefiting from these little ladies. We are getting eggs! (I guess I should say, one of them is laying. One egg a day!) Beautiful brown eggs!!!!

The white ones are from the store. (I just added them in the photo shoot.)

Anybody want a rooster? We need to get rid of him now that there are eggs coming!  This is our mobile chicken coupe.

   And then we had a glorious rain!!! Oh, how I wish we would get a true 'Fall' like so many other states!

This is my view when I'm washing dishes! Oh how I would love to Tangle that wall!!!!  As soon as I find out that our house is in escrow and they will be tearing it down,......I'm gonna be tangling this whole house:0)

   So there is a bit of 'life as I know it'! Now on with the fun!!

Oh, how I love this new tangle by Beate Winkle, CZT. Thank you Beate for sharing it with us, and thank you Laura for choosing it for UMT! It's always exciting to see new tangles that everyone has created.

Ok, I wish I had taken a picture of the true shapes of Tri-bee, before I started turning them into Narwal.  But for step outs for Narwal, the pencil shape used, can be like that of what is used in Tri-bee. That is what inspired me to use Narwal. Turned this way, it looks a little like a wonky elephant.

I know,....... a little crazy and wild!!!!! But I tell you what, when I got started I just couldn't stop! I got so into my zen that I completely got lost!!

As I had finished the original, I kept thinking what would it look like if I colored it?  So my good friend Jean Chaney, gave me the perfect solution,.........Scan it and then print it and color the print! (now why didn't I think of that?) Thanks again, Jean :0)

   I also figured that since it is October and close to Halloween, I might as well spook it up even more.

Please remember to go to the Diva's website and check out how everyone else has used Tri-Bee. Also, if you like to tangle, why not give the Zendala Dare at The Bright Owl, a try. It's lots of fun, and this weeks' challenge is getting us ready for Halloween too!

   A big THANKS to all of you who visit and leave a message! Your words are always appreciated!

Ps, Please go to my page Dans Friday, for a free download coloring page. I add a new one every second Friday of every month. Download it and share it with others!!! <3

Have an awesome rest of the week!!

Go put

some

Zen 

into this

TaNgLeD

world

!!!

:0)

CHALLENGED BY CHARKAT'S CREATIVE INSANITY

I Am the Diva, CZT

Weekly Challenge #237

"Guest post- Charlotte Carpentier"

CharKat's Creative Insanity

   Hello one and all! Happy Tuesday to you!!! I'm quite happy today! As I was looking at some pics that I took yesterday, I just couldn't help smiling, and thinking how wonderful God's creations are in this world! It's the little things that help our days and remind us to be grateful and thankful!!! Thank You, God for butterflies!!!

Can you see the butterfly in there? 

Now can you see him in flight? He was huge! I don't know what kind of butterfly he was but what a glorious sight! He flew around this Kumquat tree for a good 5 minutes. Just fluttering!!
Click to enlarge

   Well, I just had to share that with you, because my little ones and I were in such amazement, over his size and how long he stayed to flutter!

   On with the challenge! Yesterday was just one of those days. I felt inspired! Oh did I mention that I taught my first 'Official' class yesterday? Oh my, we had soooooo much fun, and my ladies were just fabulous!!  (Thank you ladies for breaking the ice for me.) I still don't have a venue, (mainly because I'm lacking the time in my schedule to teach consistently right now). But what a joy it was for me, to see these beautiful women put the Zentangle method into practice. And most of them had never heard of Zentangle and when I showed them what they would be creating, the response was, "Oh there is no way I'll be able to do that!" And of course they did!! It was AWESOME! I so enjoyed teaching, and can't wait to do more of it!!

There were actual moments of solitude and Zen!!!! Brought memories of my CZT class.

They all took notes in the sketch pads I supplied.

Don't they look like they've done this before?

My set up! I taught this one at home since it was small and I knew one of the girls.

Here is their display of finished tiles!! YAY!!!! I was supposed to write on the black boards but didn't get a chance to.

Okay,........ I'm sorry I got carried away! The class was fun and I would say a success. A couple of the women asked if I would do another class or even teach a Girl Scout Troop!! So exciting!!! I guess I could've saved all of this for a post all by itself, but I just wanted to share with fellow Diva tanglers.

For reals now,..... on with the challenge!

I used colors for fall. I am sooooooooo ready for a change of weather! We have had nothing but really hot temperatures here! YUK!

Here are the supplies I used for this. I just felt inspired to play with different mediums.

   I used Sizzix die cuts for my leaf stencils. For color, I first sprayed with alcohol dies. And believe it or not, I did not use any black ink on this at all. It just didn't happen. If fact this whole thing was not thought out, I just played with colors and design, as it went. It was so much fun playing. I don't know if I'm 100% happy with it, but it was fun!

   Thank you Charlotte, for giving us a new and different challenge! I enjoyed it! Please do check out Charlotte's blog, CharKat's Creative Insanity, for many exciting art projects, and inspirations.

   Welp, enjoy your week and we'll see you next week!! Last week was so much fun to see how creative everybody got with the Diva's challenge, "The Unexpected"! Everything was just amazing!! 

Go 

put some

Zen

into this

TaNgLeD

world

!!

:0)

THE UNEXPECTED

I Am the Diva, CZT

Weekly Challenge #236

"Tangle the Unexpected"

   Oh, I had so much fun with this challenge! While on Instagram, (you can follow me HERE), I have seen some amazing artwork done on bananas. Mostly with Minions, cause they love bananas and they're yellow and soooooooo darn cute! Anyway, that was my inspiration for this challenge, and I had some perfectly ripened bananas on hand.

Here is my unexpected! I lightly drew my lettering and then created my string around it.
Remember to click on images to enlarge

BA A A A NAAAAA NA!!!!

Those lil' tomatoes you see are just some of the home grown goodness we have had this season! Yum!!!

This lil' (big) guy has been hanging out on my tomato plants along with two of his siblings!!!!!! As amazing as they look, they are so destructive. Kids want to keep them for pets :0/ Just look at the design on this guy. do you see some kind of tangle inspiration here?

   So there you have it! I tease my family that if they stand still long enough, I will tangle them!!! As Laura puts it, tangle the unexpected!!!! (Hmmmmmm, maybe I should try some tangling one of my family members) Try joining in on the fun! Visit Laura , to give your tangle a try!

   Thank you to all who visit and comment my blog!! Hope you all have an awesome week and a blessed day!! (((hugs))) Annette :0)

Go put

some 

Zen

into this

TaNgLeD

world

!!

:0) 

'I LIKE STRIPES'

I Am the Diva, CZT

Weekly Challenge #235

"String Theory: Stripes"

   I love stripes!!! I don't know what it is, but they make me smile!! So thank you, Laura, for that easy smile, because the Lord knows that I needed it this week!! :0)  (I'm not going to get into my woes, now but,......) 

   "But I do have to say I 'JUST' also got some very GREAT news that makes all my troubles just seem so minute, itsy bitsy tiny!!!! My niece, Katie, has been told by her doctor that she is in remission and she doesn't have to go in every month, but now only every other month!!!! THAT IS NEWS FOR CELEBRATION!!!!  I love you Katie, and I know you're gonna whip this!!!

<3

 These pictures are just a snip-it of what is happening to my world around me! Trees going down left and right and houses crumbling to nothing! "Life as I know it", is changing!!!! 

  

See that building over there on the other corner? 639,000 sq feet of building.

   So this is just a tiny, itty, bitty, bit of what has been going on in my world! (updates will be posted, as so called progress, in future posts)

Ooops! I guess I got carried away.,............... And for this week's Diva challenge,..........

Tangles used: 'Quickzly', 'X-Did', '120 Ribbons', ' Diva Dance,' 'Hollibaugh' and 'Cabana'

 
   May your weekend be filled with reasons to celebrate and SMILE!!!

Thank you for visiting and hope to see you next week!!! 

Go put

some

Zen

into this

TaNgLeD 

world

!!

:0) 

YES,....YOU CAN T

I Am the Diva, CZT

Weekly Challenge #234

UMT: CanT by Chris Titus, CZT

   When I first looked at this week's challenge, I did think to myself,......"oh but I can'ttttttt." This being a short week, I felt like I was not going to have the patience to sit down and get into my zen, (sad, huh? )with the new tangle 'CanT'. But then when I really looked at it, I realized just how simple and fun it could be. Yet it could also be made into something very complex too. So of course, I played with it a little. Then I challenged myself in ways that this tangle could possibly be done. I tried all of the samples that Chris gave and then I tried some more. Pretty soon, I was in my Zen and just had to do my tiles for this week. That is what I love so much about Zentangle. It can take my fast pace life and turn it into a relaxed peaceful one!! Thank you Zentangle and thank you, Chris Titus for such a lovely tangle. I know I will be using this quite a lot.!!!

I decided to use CanT in a mono tangle, only because there are so many possibilities with it.

   I'm hoping to get to The Bright Owl's,  Zendala Dare ,with Erin this week! We'll see if I get all of the laundry done,...................LOL,.....Did those words just come out of my mouth??? LOL LOL LOL... I should know better than to say that!!! LOL

Thank you for all the lovely comments last week! I'm hoping to make my rounds to everyone's blogs! 

Have a blessed week and see you soon! (that's if all of the laundry is done) heehee  (((hugs))) Annette

Go put

some

Zen

into this

TanGLeD

world

!!

:0)

'ZENITH' and "WELCOME BACK LAURA"

I Am the Diva, CZT

Weekly Challenge #233

Newest Official Tangle,

'Zenith'

   "Welcome back Laura, I missed you!!!!" Even though I follow Laura on Instagram, and she had some really AWESOME guest bloggers fill in for her, I did miss her crazy lil' pictures with crazy lil' captions to go with them. :0) Looks like she had one enjoyable summer! 

   So when I saw the challenge for this week, I got so excited and had a flashback to my CZT #20 seminar days, back in June. (It seems so long ago,........:0(  I wanna go back!!!!  ) Anyway, the wonderful Zentangle group taught us 'Zenith' while we were there. What a fun and beautiful tangle. I fell in love with it right away. (Plus I am partial to the name. My Grandfather worked for Zenith Televisions years ago. I don't know if any of you remember that name. Actually I don't even know if they still make tv's). 

   I really wanted to play with color this week. Mainly because I had time today to play and didn't feel rushed. (Yes, I am getting my time organization in progress.  Yay, me! ) so I drew my string with a thought in mind. Then it just unfolded from there. I was gifted an Amazon gift card and so I purchased Faber-Castell Gelatos. I am having so much fun with those!!!

   I was having so much fun with 'Zenith', that I did not want the party to end. So, I had seen a variation of it that Maria had done on the Zentangle website, where she shows the step outs. And I just wanted to give it a try. Hence the black and white section on my page. Then I had seen the new tangle, that Tina Hunziker, aka Akua had created, on Linda Farmer's, Tangle Patterns. I new I just had to give that one a try too. What a lovely tangle, Tina!!! She has shared soon many wonderful tangles with the tangle community. They are all so fun and amazing! Thank you Tina!!! So there you have it!

tangles: Hollibaugh, Orbs, Zenith

click on any image to enlarge

   I used my Prisma pencils for the bright colors and my Gelatos for the soft background.

   It feels so good to get the time to play a little. Once my daughter goes to full time kindergarten days, then play time will get to be even longer. (Oh, the things that I will do,................maybe some messy inks,..........hmmmmm!) 

   I hope that everyone can find some time to play or 'zen' out, in their week,.....!

   

   I just want to give a very special "THANK YOU" to some very special people that left such heartfelt and loving messages on my blog post last week! You know who you are!! YOU are wonderful, and I'm still trying to make my way to visit your blogs!! You are pure AWESOMENESS!!!!

((((hugs)))

to all

!

Now,

go put

some

Zen

into this

TaNgLeD

world

!!

:0)

AUDIO ZEN AND BETWEED

I am the Diva, CZT

Weekly Challenge #232

Guest Blogger, Holly Atwater, with Ha! Designs

Audio 1, 2, 3, and/or 'Betweed'

   Well, I have to say, I did not think I would be able to get to these audio Zen meditations. Life as you know it, is so demanding. But last night, I was sitting at my table trying to get into my Zen and do the 'Betweed' challenge, and I could here the TV from the other room. ( I really don't like TV and rarely will you find me sitting and watching it, but it is my husband's way to unwind at night. So as he watches it, I usually get the noise in the room where I am tangling.) Last night I could here on the news the awful broadcast about Planned Parenthood. I was so disturbed at what I was hearing, it really made me lose my Zen. My heart was sooooooo heavy, I thought, there is no way I am going to be able to produce anything beautiful, at this point. Then I remembered we had gotten some new headphones from the Apple store. So I put them on and listened to all 3 Audio Meditations by Holly.

It sure did help me, and I was able to create enjoyable Bijou tiles. But it did not completely get rid of my heavy heart. So today I wake up, thinking I need to express my sorrow. (I know that by drawing or writing about my sorrows or pain, will help free some of it, if not change my whole mood.) Well, let's just say, it has allowed me to show my expression and yet I don't really like to leave a blog post on a sad note,.................but that is completely how I feel. :0(

   Thank you Holly for a great challenge!

"Tears from Heaven" 'Listen to the heartbeat of the unborn.'

   Let us pray !!!!

Love to all!