The Diva's Weekly Zentangle challenge #295

I'm posting last week's and this week's responses to the Diva's challenge. I was quite late doing last week's so decided to combine with this weeks. I didn't follow this week's instructions exactly. I designed a fragment and then randomly put it in each square so it wasn't exactly alternated. It was a lot of fun and a technique I'll be sure to use again.

The Diva's Weekly Zentangle Challenge #293

Last night I enjoyed doing some tangling while half watching Zootopia on the television . Here's my Keeko:

Keeko was the pattern for this week's challenge from The Diva. You can see other people's responses to the challenge at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com.

The Diva's Weekly Zentangle Challenge #287

Wow, it doesn't feel like 3 weeks since I last participated in the Diva's challenge. But here I am, better late than never. Just in time for the next one!

I just had a quick look at the challenge again while preparing for this post and was surprised to see how similar my tile was to the one posted by Laura. Before I did the tile I had a quick look and then went to Daniel's step outs. The similarity was quite unintentional! I'm pleased with how my tile turned out.

Shadow Shot Sunday - September 18th, 2016

I notice these shadows almost every Sunday at the moment. Glad I managed to get a photo and post on here.
The basil and chilli I planted a few weeks ago are growing well and look great in my kitchen window.

This is a Shadow Shot Sunday post. See more great shadows here.

The Diva's Weekly Zentangle Challenge #284

Back again for the Diva's weekly challenge. I was pleased when I saw this week's challenge was a monotangle, Tripoli. I really like Tripoli!

With life being particularly busy of late it was nice to sit down and tangle for a while.

The Diva's Weekly Zentangle Challenge #282

It's been ages since I've participated in the Diva's challenge. I took a peak during the week at this week's challenge and it looked like a lot of fun. The challenge was to spill something (beetroot juice, coffee, tea etc..) and then tangle.

I chose some green food colouring and impatiently waited for it to dry.

Tangle with D-C-A

Back again after an unintended break. I've been busy, making choices to do things other than tangling. Glad to do this one yesterday evening while watching some TV. This week's challenge from Diane and Carolien is to use tangles beginning with the letters D, C and A.
I chose D'rua by Mei Hua Teng (Damy), Capell by Anita Roby-Lavery and Aloha by Suzanne Fluhr.

The Diva's Weekly Challenge #269

Finally I had a chance to tangle this week. It's been a busy one!

It was my first meeting with the new official tangle, Ellish and it went well.

The Diva's Weekly Challenge #268

Another fun challenge this week! This week's task is to add a bit of black to the tile. I ended up adding quite a lot. I didn't get enough of Pokeroot last week and it crept its way into this week's tile. The way I do Tripoli always reminds me of Trivial Pursuit.

The Diva's Weekly Challenge #267

To tangle any time is a good thing I think, but to squeeze it in when you're super busy is super special and the slowing down that accompanies it magical.

This week's challenge is a duotangle with the tangles Drupe and Pokeroot. I haven't used Drupe in a while and I'm fairly sure Pokeroot is one I haven't used before. Pokeleaf I have but not Pokeroot, other than a little practice.

A late entry but here it is -

The Diva's Weekly Zentangle Challenge #266

Crux by Henrike Bratz is the tangle for the Use my tangle challenge this month over at the Diva's Weekly Challenge. Is it really May already?
I enjoyed this one. It does take a bit more concentration than some. I have a part-done tile to finish. I did too many diagonal lines on my first attempt!

Tangle with J-X-T

I'm back again for Diane and Carolien's weekly challenge. I'm not sure if I'll catch up on the one I missed or not.
I chose a couple of original tangles this week, mainly because it's been a while, particularly for Jetties.
J is for Jetties. X is for Xeni by Jacqueline Janssen and T is for Tipple (another original).

The Diva's Weekly Zentangle Challenge #264

I'm squeezing in my entry to the Diva's weekly challenge just before the next one comes out. With all the hustle and bustle of the last week (and people not feeling well around here) it was nice to sit down with tile and pen for a while the other night. This week's challenge was to draw a spring shape for a string and then tangle. I drew some Y-Chain by Mei Hua Teng (Damy) along the string and a background of Nzeppel.

The Diva's Weekly Zentangle Challenge #263

Fun with grid tangles for the Diva's challenge this week!

Tangle with H-S-O

Challenge number 50 from Diane and Carolien! It's been a busy week for me. I did this one over a week ago but it's taken me a while to post it. And now it's already time to sit down for challenge 51 tonight I think. Q-E-R Here I come!

For H-S-O I chose Helix by Suzanne McNeill, Sh'rock by Diane Lachance and O by Mei Hua Tang.

Tangle with L-Z-Y

It's time for Challenge #49 from Diane and Carolien.
L is for Lightning Bolt by Suzanne McNeill.
Z is for Zenplosion Folds by Danni O'Brien.
Y is for Y-Chain by Mei Hua Teng.

The Diva's Weekly Zentangle Challenge #260

A monotangle challenge (Shattock) from the Diva this week. I felt like keeping it fairly simple this week.

Tangle with T-P-D

I had fun with Diane and Carolien's challenge this week. I went to www.tanglepatterns.com and chose three patterns quickly then had fun putting them together on a tile. I'm happy with the outcome though there is a small change I'd like to make - making the Drip Drop down the tile bigger or perhaps leaving it out. Maybe I'll do another one later.

As well as Drip Drop by Debbie Perdue, there is Tamisolo by Hanny Waldburger and Pavonia by Angie Shade.

Take some positive steps...

This week I was surprised by some great artwork at the Adelaide Railway Station. On Monday I noticed the stairs had been transformed.

I thought it looked fantastic. From further back it is more landscape picture like. Close up you can see the little heart decorations on individual squares.

And a great message as well from The Heart Foundation - "You're taking positive steps". If I was going that way I may have used the stairs instead of the escalator next to them.

I was a little confused when I was in the city again on Wednesday and noticed half of the art was gone. Did I imagine that it went all the way across the stairs? Glad I took that photo so I could check! I wonder why half was removed?

It still looks great anyway. 

Tangle with A-#-X

Yay! Diane and Carolien's challenge is back. I've missed it while Diane's blog has been down. I completed this zentangle a while ago. Glad to be able to post it!

Tangles are Arukas, an original tangle, 4FUN by Mina Hsiao and X by Lila Popcheff.

The Diva's Weekly Zentangle Challenge #257

It's been a busy week for me and not as much tangling as has been usual lately. I wasn't sure if I would get time for the Diva's challenge this week but I have. It was great to sit down with pen and tile after a week of study at Uni (for the first time in years) and two days of relief teaching. I treated myself to a trip to the art store today too where I got the heart shaped paperclips which I've included in my tile.

The challenge this week (Oooh, Shiny!) is from guest blogger, Amy Broady CZT with the task of including a metallic feature of some sort.

Shadow Shot Sunday - February 28th, 2016

A late addition for Shadow Shot Sunday today. Bike shadows I noticed on the way to Writers' Week.

See other people's shadow shots at www.shadowshotsunday2.blogspot.com.

It's time for Writers' Week again!

We are very lucky in Adelaide to have a wonderful Writers' Week around early March every year and it's all free.

Today was the first day and what a great day it was. We were blessed with absolutely beautiful weather too. As always the stages looked fabulous. The backings are made of seedlings grown by Trees for Life.

I was there for almost the whole day. I arrived just after the first sessions began at 9:30am and there were already many people there. I left just before the final session at 5pm. I heard so many great writers and those facilitating the sessions.

I think the crowd for Magda Szubanski's session was the biggest I've ever seen at Writers' Week. Many people were standing at the back. Other writers' I heard today were Etgar Keret, Fiona McFarlane and Jim Shepard, Drusilla Modjeska, Beth Yahp, Jesse Ball, Anna Smaill, Laura Van Den Berg, Lisa Genova, Laura Thompson and Robert Wainwright. High on my list of new books to buy are Fiona McFarlanes book of short stories, The High Places and Lisa Genova's, Inside the O'Briens.

I'm planning to go back tomorrow, at least for the late afternoon sessions. I'm excited that I should be able to make the poetry reading on Monday afternoon. I need to wait and see how my week pans out to see whether I can make it to any more sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

I was enjoying the day so much that I didn't take many photos. I did get one of a new addition this year - a display of author portraits.

My six words for Six Word Saturday -

It's time for Writers' Week again!

The Diva's Weekly Zentangle Challenge #256

This week's challenge is to do a duotangle with the tangles, Boo*Kee and Artoo. You can find the stepouts to these tangles over at http://www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com.au/.

I loved my first meeting with these two!

Tangle with F-U-N

It is week 46 of Diane and Carolien's Weekly Challenge. From memory I'm pretty sure I've done all of them except for 1. It has been a great way to get to know different tangles and to practice lots.

It has also been a lot of F-U-N. This week for the letters F, U and N I chose Fish Net by Mariet Lustenhouwer, Undu by Daniel Lamothe and Nine Patch by Suzanne McNeill. Fish Net and Nine Patch were both new to me.

Shadow Shot Sunday - February 21st, 2016

Today's shot is actually from last night. Brianna and I went in to the city to see the buildings on North Terrace lit up. Fringe Illuminations is part of this year's Adelaide Fringe Festival. I didn't get to see a lot as we decided to rush to get the 9pm train home. As we were leaving I stopped and Brianna said, 'You're not going to take a photo of the shadows are you?' It was my plan. Some huge leaves were blowing in front of the projector and the shadows looked great (as did all the colours and pictures!)

The illuminations are on until next Sunday night. I'm hoping to get back next weekend without the 15 year old who really would have preferred to be at home. The story wall at the State Library looked particularly interesting.

The Diva's Weekly Zentangle Challenge #255

This week Laura (aka The Diva) challenged us to reproduce one of our early tiles. She has been tangling for six years and it was great to see her growth over that time. Though both of the tiles she showed us were fabulous!

Generally I get so immersed in the process while I am doing a tile. I will admit though that sometimes I look at other people's tiles and think what a lot of improving I have to do. I know it's not about comparison and we all have our own styles but ... 

This challenge was good for showing me the growth in my own style. Plus, it was fun.

I chose one of my very early tiles on which I used Arukas, Betweed, Cirquital, Chainlette and Tipple. Some of these tangles I haven't used much since I first started. 

10/4/15

17/2/16

Tangle with W-I-R

I really enjoyed this week's challenge from Diane and Carolien. I chose Esther Piszeczek's tangle, Waax for W, Carole Ohl's Inapod for I and Jane Monk's Raindotty for R. For the string I did an oversize Waax. I feel like I've got more experimenting to do with these tangles and string.

The Diva's Weekly Zentangle Challenge #254

This week's challenge from the Diva is to do a Valentangle - a tile with a Valentine's flair. Here's a monotangle of one of my favourite tangles, Printemps. Perhaps I'm cheating a little as I actually did this one for the Square One: Purely Zentangle group on Facebook but it just seems perfect for this challenge too!

Finding treasures while I'm tidying up

I've been doing some de-cluttering this week. It feels good to reduce a little the amount of stuff in the house. As usually happens I have been getting distracted fairly often. Especially when sorting out old paperwork and making decisions about what to keep and what should go there are so many things that trigger old memories. One of the things I've been going through are my daughter's old books. Finding a few books reminded me of how, at one stage, she wanted workbooks so she could do some practice at home. I showed one of them to her and she noticed something that gave us both a giggle. On the front cover were some problems where she had to write the name for the female next to the male animal. For dog she had written 'nate word' Translation - naughty word. For drake we couldn't work out what she had written but just now I've worked out it was 'dot now' for don't know.

Something else I found while sorting things out was a long stitch of Bananas in Pyjamas. I made it 1999 when my eldest daughter was 3 and loved the Bananas in Pyjamas. I had planned to put it in her room but never got that far. I find it every time I tidy up but never have the heart to throw it out. It has such a lot of memories attached to it. Plus it's the only long-stitch project I've ever completed. My children are long past the stage of liking the Bananas in Pyjamas so maybe it's time to pass it on to someone else. Or maybe not just yet ...

This is a Six Word Saturday post. Go to www.showmyface.com to see how other people describe their week or part of in six words.

Tangle with M-B-Z

M is for Molygon. I enjoyed playing with this newly released tangle some more.
B is for Basketweave by Suzanne McNeill. Lots of fun and concentration.
Z is for Zuan Shi by JJ LaBarbera. I find drawing really straight lines a real challenge. I kept it smallish to help myself out a bit.

Here's my tile for this week's challenge from Diane and Carolien.

The Diva's Weekly Zentangle Challenge #253

This week's challenge from the Diva is to use the newly released tangle, Molygon.  It certainly is a tangle with lots of possibilities. I enjoyed my first meeting and kept thinking of those little banana lollies as I was drawing.

My neighbour gave me some peaches

Last Sunday morning one of my neighbours brought over some peaches from their tree. They are really big ones and I'm sure they will be delicious. I'm just waiting for them to ripen a little more.

Unlike my apricots a few weeks ago, the birds didn't manage to get many of the peaches. I'm not sure that these ones will last long enough to make a cake!

This is a Six Word Saturday post. Go to www.showmyface.com to see how others describe their week or part of in six words or why not join in yourself.

Tangle with D-N-E

My niece chose the tangles for me this week for Diane and Carolien's challenge. She chose DL Nebula by Donna Hornsby, Nipa and Efilys by Sandra Strait. It was fun putting together three tangles chosen for me. After doing one I thought I'd have a go with the same tangles a different way.

The Diva's Weekly Zentangle Challenge #252

The challenge from The Diva this week is to tangle within a tangle by drawing a tangle quite large and then tangling inside it.

I chose Miander by Mimi Lampart for my large tangle. I've been using it a bit lately as it's so much fun. Then inside there are Tipple, Gingham (by Margaret Bremner), Printemps and some tiny Miander.

Shadow Shot Sunday - January 24th, 2016

A few photos from my week for Shadow Shot Sunday today.

After my First Aid training session on Monday I went for a walk to the Botanic Gardens. I had hoped to see one of the Sacred Lotus flowers but there were none in bloom that day. I went into the glasshouse and there were some Blue Lotus of Egypt flowers in bloom and I got a few great photos. Here's one with a fantastic shadow.

Yesterday I found my cat sitting quite comfortably in the washing basket and thinking it looked like an interesting photo I grabbed the camera (aka my phone!). It wasn't until afterwards that I noticed the great shadows.

A bit of a change for me for Shadow Shot Sunday today. Usually I post photos of shadows around my house on the actual day. So, in continuing with that tradition, here's a cute little shadow from a coat hanger.

Go to www.shadowshotsunday2.blogspot.com to see other people's shadow shots.

Nectarine upside-down cake - a new favourite!

I have a new favourite cake recipe. It's for a nectarine upside-down cake and I've made it a few times now. I came across it in the way that I've come across a few of my favourite recipes. I had quite a few nectarines just before Christmas and needed to use them up. As I was taking a dessert to share on Christmas day I decided to try and find a recipe to use them. A quick google search and I came across the recipe for nectarine upside-down cake. I made it and took it for lunch on Christmas day. Not much of it got eaten on the day; there was so much other food. I tried a small piece and it was quite yummy. I gave some away and took some home. The next day I had a piece and it was absolutely delicious. Even better after being in the fridge overnight. I bought more nectarines so I could make another one.

A couple of weeks later I had quite a few peaches so decided to give it a go substituting the peaches for the nectarines. Delicious again!

Peach upside-down cake

Yesterday I was given some lovely ripe nectarines from a friend's tree so I've just made another cake. I've just had a piece while it's still warm and I'll enjoy some cold tomorrow I'm sure. I'll be giving some away so I don't eat all of it.

A slice of warm nectarine cake

This is a Six Word Saturday post, the idea being to describe your week or part of in six words. My six words this week -

Nectarine upside-down cake - a new favourite!

Update: Thanks to one of my commenters I remembered I was going to put a link to the recipe. Another thing I love about it is that it is really easy!

http://recipes.coles.com.au/recipes/207/nectarine-upside-down-cake/

Tangle with I-J-G

The letters for Diane and Carolien's challenge this week are I, J and G. I is for Itsy-Twisty by Diana Sexton, J is for Jaws by Anneke Van Dam and G is for Gingham by Margaret Bremner. I also added some little extra tangles this week, some Tipple and some stripes. I enjoyed all three of these tangles but Itsy-Twisty is the one that I feel like I'll be exploring a lot more.

The Diva's Weekly Zentangle Challenge #251

What a fun challenge this week from the Diva, aka Laura Harms. This Sunday (24 Jan) is Moebius Syndrome Awareness Day and the challenge aims to raise awareness of Moebius Syndrome. Laura's youngest son has Moebius Syndrome. As Laura writes, "  Moebius Syndrome is a congenital nerve disorder affecting cranial VI and VII nerves controlling the lateral movement of his face ... we deal with delayed developmental milestones, eating/feeding issues, club feet, low muscle tone - just to name a few things, and of course - being unable to deal with viruses and bacterias, he gets very sick. very fast." It is a rare disorder. Out of every 1 million children born in the world, 1-2 have Moebius Syndrome.

The challenge for this week was to use the Moebius Syndrome Foundation Logo as a string. Laura suggested adding some purple as that is the colour for Moebius Syndrome Awareness Day. An alternative suggestion from Laura was to tangle on a Moebius Strip which also sounds like a lot of fun. Perhaps I'll do that later.

I drew the logo onto a tile, which was quite a challenge in itself. I chose the tangles Barberpole by Suzanne McNeill, Printemps (an original tangle) and Limpitz by Jo Newsham. Then a Derwent Inktense pencil for the purple background.