Decorative Thank You

At our last Certified Zentangle Teacher training, one of our students arrived by train. Nancy (who works with us) picked her up at the train station. At the end of training, Nancy again drove her to the station. The student, Suzanne Wilka, now a CZT in San Diego, California [email] offered to pay Nancy. Nancy declined and asked her to send a Christmas card instead.

Well . . . ! Yesterday, Nancy received a small package. Inside was . . .

. . . and inside that were these.

Suzanne had backed them with felt. In this next picture you can see the whole of the container next to a US nickel to give you a sense of size.

Nancy was thrilled to receive such a beautiful gift. She added the silk cord and they both grace her desk lamp.

Thank you Suzanne, for helping to make our studio an even more beautiful place.

Click images for larger view.

Bar Tangling (& P.S.)

This was too good a story not to share right away. MH emailed us this morning to say . . .

Rick & Maria,

So I'm at this bar last night downtown having a beer with my hubby and two step-sons. I get bored (usually happens to me in a bar) and pull out my Zentangle kit.

A guy sitting next to me at the bar starts watching me draw. I get about halfway through my Zentangle and he starts asking me questions. What is it? How long have I been doing it? He thought it was "really cool!". He continued to watch as I tangled on, sipping my beer.

As I'm finishing up the edges, he timidly taps me on the shoulder and asks if there is any way he could have the Zentangle when I'm finished. I say sure! I add some colored ink and shading and give it to him. He fairly glowed.

Another Zentangle Seed Planted! Thanks, Folks! And Keep On Tangling!

Thanks for that story, MH. We'll also use Zentangles in restaurants - sometimes as part of a tip - sometimes to send a note.

P.S.
Here is Maria's contribution to Laura Harms' second challenge . . .

. . . complete with a subtle tint of morning coffee.

Click image for larger view.

One More Star

This one is from Marie English, CZT.

What a cool variation of betweed. Thanks, Marie.

Neat Anecdote
When Marie registered for Certified Zentangle Teacher training (info), we enjoyed the symmetry of her and Maria's names. Maria's family name is "Langlais" which is French for "English"!

Click image for larger view.

Simplicity Challenge

Laura Harms, CZT, issued a challenge on her blog. Her challenge was "simplicity."

She's doing a weekly challenge on her blog if you're interested in playing.

Here's Maria's contribution to her Laura's simplicity challenge.

A string, some crescent moon, with a touch of fescu echoing her string.

Click image for larger view.

Do you see what I hear?

.

We are so grateful for this opportunity to have fun together with you in this wondrous playground of Zentangle. We wish for you everything good.

As our card this year says,

Wishing you a year all tangled in bliss!

About this card
Maria did the lettering. Maria and I tangled it. We worked on a large uncut sheet of our Zentangle tile paper. We used various sizes of Sakura® Pigma™ Micron black pens to create a suggestion of increased weighting from top to bottom. (This is the piece we described in our Work in Progress blog post.) This card is printed on off-white Lana print making paper.

I made this Native American style flute from cedar with peyote stitched Delica™ beads. It is one of the flutes I play on the instructional DVD that comes with our Zentangle Kit.

Our title is us having fun with the words to the Christmas song, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" The story behind this song is interesting to read. (Wikipedia link) (Lyrics) Now you know why we laughed when we received that last card in yesterday's post.

Click image for larger view, and click it again for even larger view.

Christmas Card Flood

Here are a few of the beautiful, emotional and thoughtful Christmas cards that we feel privileged to have received this season.

We had to laugh when we received this last card. You'll understand why when you see the card that we're sending out tomorrow.

Thank you every one!

Click images for larger view.

Tangle Colors

As a little girl, Maria had a recurring dream in which she discovered a new color. So you can appreciate why we enjoyed this iconic image that PB sent to us from South Africa.

Thanks, PB!

Click image for larger view.