I Want to Play - Zentangle

I miss having time for art, and I have these new shoes (see yesterday's post) and I really want to decorate the toes on them. But I don't want something crappy, and I know that if I just dive in without thought, the shoes will look horrible. So I started doing some on-line research - into Zentangle.

This piece combines several different tangles into a lovely whole. 

Zentangle is a method of drawing that is often mistakenly referred to as doodling. Tangles (you don't 'zentangle', you 'tangle' when working on this art) begin with light penciled abstract open shapes called 'strings' and then switch to permanent black ink fine point markers like Sakura Micron pens. Color is rarely used in a tangle.

One of the keys of Zentangle is that no secondary
tools are used - no guides, no rulers. But because
of the way the patterns build, complex patterns like
this can be created free-hand. 

Tangles build from a center point, growing evenly from the center, turning and twisting. Instead of trying to hit odd angles, you turn your media so that you can draw easily, meditatively. Traditionally, tangles are drawn onto tiles - fine grade paper measuring 3.5 inches square. They can take as little as 15 minutes to draw, or become very complex, taking much more time.

The key to a successful tangle is the progression
of the pattern. Here, the dots lead to the chevrons which
lead to the diamonds which lead to the embellishments. 

I want to put some tangles on the tips of my shoes. And I want to play with tangles because, when you look at the world around us, patterns are everywhere. From the earliest days of art and crafts, makers used pattern. Continuing to work in that vein just seems right to me.

Tangles are combined. Each section of this lovely star and
the background is a separate tangle. When you break each
element down into how they are made, the complexity becomes
more attainable and understandable. 

So as we enter another scorching day, I'll pack my Micron pens, grab one of my moleskin sketch books and some references and instructions on how to do tangles, and I'll start playing a bit after I finish my workout. One less digital jigsaw puzzle and one more tangle seems like a good compromise to me. Have a weekend of joy.

Unusual Materials

Last night's "Project Runway" challenge was their 'unusual materials' challenge, and no, I'm not going to tell you who won or who lost, just that (as usual) some of the designs were really horrid and others were fabulous. I didn't agree with who they pegged as worst and safe, so I didn't agree with who they sent home, but it's a competition. Eventually everyone except the three top designers will be sent home and only one of those final three will actually win.

My DH owns a Milwaukee Tools power drill, but it's
similar to this Black and Decker. I don't go half-way
when I need a drill. I use the one that could drill through
a thick board. 

Back to the subject at hand. Unusual materials. We've all had times when we used something unusual for a purpose it was never intended. As one example, I have used an ice pick to drill holes into leather belts for extending or pulling in a belt buckle to a new location. I have also used a power drill for that same purpose. Neither tool is actually meant to be used this way, they were handy and they did the job.

A kiss can be a medical miracle if given by the right person. 

Aren't relationships sometimes like that? A child falls and skins his/her knee. Often times the caregiver will not only clean and bandage the bleeding skin, but afterward will "kiss it and make it better". An unusual healing medication, but one that I remember as having been very effective in my own life.

The toes on my new Converse slip-on shoes are just crying out for
decoration. I may regret it, but I'm going to throw some
waterproof pens into my handbag and see if I have any spare time
to play later on today. 

Have you ever used something in a non-traditional way to cook with? To clean with? To make art with? On an art thought - I have a new pair of slip-on Converse shoes in a nice dusty grey. The toes on these shoes are just begging for decoration. Hmmm ... maybe time to grab a waterproof pen and start drawing... Have a great Friday!

Oooooh - Shiny!

Yesterday was a day of accomplishment - not everything got done, but a lot of it did. Pivotal on my schedule was a trip to the northwestern offices of my eye clinic to get my eyes checked out and an up-to-date prescription. Happily, the doctor said my eyes are better now than they were three years ago when I last had them checked, so HUZZAH! Now I possess a new up-to-date prescription so that I can get my current glasses relensed and look at possibly purchasing a new pair when I'm at the State Fair in a few weeks. My two original frames are more than ten years old now, have been relensed several times, and are still wonderfully unusual. I refuse to buy "normal" frames.

I have two pairs of eyeglasses that I wear, both from the Spectacle
Shoppe, and both extremely unusual, custom made frames. Not
a day passes without someone commenting on how unusual my
eyeglasses are. If you have to wear glasses, then treat them as
if they are face jewelry and get ones that really work for you. 

Of course, every up must have a down to balance, and my balancing act was driving and functioning after those darned drops dilated my pupils. I had freeway traffic to deal with getting back to my part of the city, and it was a sunny day. The clinic provided extra sunglasses that I wore, but it was still a bit dicey getting back. In fact, my vision was impacted for hours. *sigh*

With my pupils dilated, I felt like a cat - able to see well in
darkness. Of course, light was another matter, and it was a
sunny day with light flashing off the cars and mirrors every
direction I turned. Oook! 

I did go to the wallpaper store with my photo in-hand (along with my drapery sample and the sample of the other wallpaper we had already ordered). I looked through a lot of sample books and Aleeza also did, and we came up with ten possibilities. I have those small samples now mounted around the large swatch of the main paper to help DH and me choose which samples we want to see in a larger size. I'll try and get those ordered over the weekend. We're back to the drawing board, but one step ahead.

I was fighting my dilated pupils for more than three hours after
I had been medicated for the exam. It was one of the rare times
that I really wanted a cloudy day, and of course there wasn't a cloud
in the sky. 

I also was able to find the specialized fold that I wanted for this year's holiday cards and ordered a few samples of these to determine the weight and color I want. I need to get my materials for this year's card isolated and ready to go ASAP because the clock is ticking. I usually have already started physical work on the cards by the time of Le Tour de France. I'm running almost a month late this year. But I'm thrilled that I could get the type of fold I wanted, so this year's Solstice cards have the potential to be outstanding!

The thunder seems to be moving away. Maybe the outdoor swimmers
will have their shot at the pool after all. The outdoor pool will close
for the season on September 7th, and everyone is anxious to get whatever
time they can outdoors while the Olympic-size pool is still available. 

That's all for today. The thunder is rumbling in the background and all of the outdoor swimmers will be pushed to the indoor pool if there's any lightning. Fortunately, today is a machine day for me. Elliptical and recumbent bicycle, here I come!

Wednesday - Rushed Once Again

It's Wednesday, it's my day off, and my schedule is, as usual, absolutely insanely busy. Today I add a trip to the eye doctor to get an updated prescription to the mix. My last checkup was in June, 2012, so I think I'm due. I want to get my eyeglasses relensed once more and if I decide on a new pair, my favorite shop offers exceptional deals at the State Fair, so I need my prescription then. Unfortunately I have to drive to the far northern suburbs to get to the only doctor that had open time today. And I get the joy of fighting rush hour traffic once more to accomplish it. *sigh*

These Wildebeests are experiencing their own form of rush hour. I'm
not looking forward to the roads I have to travel today, but I really want
to get my eyes examined and an updated prescription. 

I was THIS close to ordering the second wallpaper yesterday, but held off. DH really isn't fond of what I chose for the hallway and entry area. He kept telling me to take a close look at the wallpaper in my dentist's office. Yesterday I was at my dentist for my semi-annual clean and check, and looked carefully at the wallpaper. I even took some pictures. I'm going to head out to the wallpaper store once again late this morning and look at the books with a different focus. Now I have a closer idea about what DH is looking for, so I'll see what I can do.

Dr B's wallpaper has a crackling look that DH really
likes. Putting it through filters in my photo programs,
I can see a lot of depth in it, as well as some interesting
color variety leading to the mottled look. It's quite nice. 

I figure that we can't get the paper installed for more than a month anyway, so I can take some time to find the perfect pattern - or at least try my best to do so. It's pretty - kind of crackly looking - and if I could find it in grey tones, it would perfectly offset the marbling paper I have already purchased for the living room. But looking through wallpaper books can be a bit daunting - there are so many of them.

The new line is called "Hidden Treasures".© It features a lot of beads
that we haven't had on the sales floor for years, things we found in
odd corners or that are discontinued, all mixed up into color
coordinated mixes. I think it will be run. 

So my list for the day isn't as bad as last week's list was, but it's packed for the morning. At some time I need to do some computer work for a new product mix I want to sell at the store. That will involve signage, pictures, and catchy text. I think the collection will be a popular alternative for some customers, but I can't sell it if it's not on the sales floor. Silly me! Have a wonderful Wednesday - I'm off to the pool for some guppy time.

Yes? No? Maybe? - How About All of the Above?

Busy! My Tuesdays are usually something I can handle fairly easily, but not today. After the gym (essential because yesterday's swimming didn't happen due to the lack of a life guard *sigh*), I'll be running at high speed to get to the south end of town in time for a 7:30 dental checkup appointment. Then, fight my way back in traffic to get the store opened on time.

Rush hour traffic - there's nothing fun about it, even if it
is dealing with sheep in Afghanistan. 

My patience with Chickie's current illness has just about run its course. I'm a pretty patient person, and she's been feeling really crappy, but enough is enough. I actually need work out of her, so time to buck up and actually show up in more than just body. She should be on her last day of her evil medication, so I have some hope there.

Brewster Wallcovering is an old, established US firm that
has both household and commercial wallcoverings available.
I want one of their commercial choices, with a second choice
being one of their household choices. The differences aren't
great, but enough to be picky. 

The wallpaper saga is getting a bit out of hand. One paper was successfully ordered on Sunday, so my living room wall will have paper. The second paper, I needed the equivalent of 18 single rolls for my hallway and entryway. The young lady helping me on Sunday mistakenly typed in 18 feet for the order, and it's a commercial wallpaper that comes on bolts (much larger than rolls). After not getting a call back in the morning (which was supposed to happen), I called the wallpaper store instead.

If I go by this chart, I'm totally screwed. Supposedly a bolt
from Brewster is 54" wide, 30 feet long. A single roll
of wallpaper is usually 21" wide by 16-1/2 feet long. I'll
have to do some of the math myself before calling back
the wallpaper store later this morning. 

The young man helping me finally managed to get in touch with the factory and found out why the order was rejected (yeah - they probably had a good laugh over an 18 foot order *sigh*). But, when he did the calculations from single roll square footage to bolt square footage, we came up sitting on a line. If I had wiggle room in my measurements, two bolts would probably do the job. But if the measurements were spot on without wiggle, I would need three bolts. At almost $400 a bolt, I wanted to save that extra $ if I didn't need to spend it.

I'm tangled in measurements and measuring tapes. *sigh* This
has to be accurate - the stock is low and I can't afford a $400 mistake. 

Calling my wallpaper install dude who had originally done the measurements, of course he was on a job and couldn't check his original notes. He'd get back to me as soon as he could - which he did, almost two hours later.

I need more time, and I'm not getting it. I also need to wrap my
mind around some numbers before I phone my wallpaper store
again later this morning. Anyone want my life? I'll trade for a while. 

So he says I can do two bolts (although I'm still going to check numbers once more). But the young man I worked with yesterday is off today and I will need to bring yet a third person up to date on what's happening with my wallpaper order. OMG! At least I got Sharon's flight information in a post yesterday so our annual crazy time at the State Fair and Ren Fest is once again happening. Now to get her room emptied, the small house cleaned up before the Fairgoers make parking impossible, and, and, and ... I need the Time Fairy to give me more time from her magic wand! Have a good Tuesday!

Sunday - Busy Gearing Up

Sunday turned into a very busy day after DH said he had no firm plans for the day. Following a breakfast of Mexican omelettes (salsa, chorizo sausage, herbs, sour cream and avocado), I went to the wall paper store to place our orders for wall coverings. I backed DH into a corner and told him he had to decide NOW. Thus, the order. So one has now been ordered, the second one will have to wait for finalization until the factory is open since they said their stock was limited. Hopefully they will have enough for our order, if not, we'll go with our second choice from the same factory.

Getting DH to agree on a wall covering was like pulling teeth. He's
still not happy with the secondary paper, but I gave him no choice.
I'd like this done before the snow falls once more. 

Getting home, DH was in the process of cleaning the library so that we could move the book boxes from the spare room into the library while Sharon is visiting. I got to work replacing our curios and collectibles into one of the living room cabinets. Lots of trips up and down the stairs. We put the bookcases along the hallway, but that's temporary. We'll discuss whether or not to re-install them later. I'm angling toward keeping the hallway open, DH wants the shelves replaced.

Our hallway bookshelves are quite nice, actually. DH built them
many years ago to accommodate our overflow of books. Since that
time we outgrew these also. I'll be taking quite a few books to sell
to Half Price Books over the next few weeks. 

Finally, after several hours of work, DH fired up the grill and we had steaks and charred corn for dinner. Nom! I saved half of my steak for tonight, so I'll double my nom - LOL.

With the exception of pasta instead of the potato at the right, this is almost
exactly what we had for dinner last night. So good! 

We ended the night with football (American football). It's really early in the preseason, but the Minnesota Vikings were playing the Pittsburgh Steelers for the Hall of Fame game. It's a good opportunity for the coaches to see how their new players are fitting in. There are four more preseason games before a final roster is required, so there will be lots of hopeful players trying their best to make the team.

So football is here once again, and DH's team actually won
this one. Of course, it is pre-season, and there's a long way
to go until Super Bowl next January. 

All of these cleaning and putting away, of course, will have to be reversed when the wall covering finally arrives and we get  Mike out here for the install. The story of my life - back and forth and back once more - LOL. I suppose it's only reasonable that I'll be swimming laps today. Back and forth and back once more. Happy Monday to all!