Weekly Recap #2

Food

• My oldest niece posted on facebook a picture of Lance gluten free sandwich crackers and said "Take my money please!". Everyone, more or less, in the comments said Target had them. Well, Target was too far away for me to go looking. So, I went looking on Amazon. I found and ordered some of the sandwich crackers. My. people. were. NOT. kidding! These are delicious and I wanted to cry because they do not sell crackers only. But hey, I now have some delicious snacks to snack on. So, I am passing the word on about these excellent sandwich crackers that are also gluten free.

Books

• I started and finished Curse of the Bane (The Last Apprentice / Wardstone Chronicles, #2) . I gave it 4 (out of 5) stars on Goodreads. Surprisingly, I felt that this was a much better read than the first one in the series. In spite of this, I will not be getting nor reading any more books in this series. I have way too many books on the shelves that I have not read yet and would rather read. Ha!

DIY, Quilting, Crafts

• Finished making t-shirt wall art. The above picture is a sneak peek and I plan to blog a DIY (how-to) soon due to the fact a friend asked me too once she learned I was making some for the guest room.

• I discovered that I did not have enough batting to completely sandwich a quilt. Dan suggested that I get a roll (bolt) of batting to use on the "longarm" frame. So, I went shopping online and found Jo-Ann was having a 50% off sale on batting online only. I nearly had a heart attack discovering the regular price for a bolt of batting. 50% off helps out so much! Even then, I had to ask Dan because I do not think he was expecting it to be so much money. I ended up purchasing a bolt and am now anxiously waiting for it to be delivered at our house.

• Finished putting fabrics on "bolts" I purchased during our vacation. They are now residing on the fabric shelves in my room. That reminds me, I need to do a tour of my studio and blog it. But first, I need to tidy it up a bit and I have the perfect reason to do the next couple of weeks. Guests are coming to stay the last weekend of January and at least one will be sleeping in my room.

• Started a tangle challenge, It's a String Thing #127. The deadline is not a hard and fast rule for me. I tangle when I feel the need to tangle and calm myself (Axiety and worry is a problem of mine). I have been practicing Puchong and am ready to draw it on the string.

Miscellaneous

• We attended a Pet Adoption Event in a nearby city that waived adoption fees. If we adopted a pet, which we did not, we would have left a donation. There was only one dog appealed to my heart and he was a very calm puppy among a bunch of them. He just sat patiently gazing at us both while the rest were scrambling about and over one another, yipping and whatnot. But, the puppy would have been too much for me (us} and he most likely would have an easier time finding a home than the older ones. We are wanting a young dog but not a puppy either. So, we will continue looking.

Quotes

Yeah, I need to unstickify it.

(I said this in response to Dan not liking the residue left behind by a label on a jar).

Phone {Picture} Dump II

Camera {Picture} Dump I

It seems I was more into selfies with Abby during this period of time. I could never get a great selfie; so, I practiced taking horrid pictures.

:: Shaking My Head ::

My First Completed Tangle with Pencil. January 23, 2015

As seen at Target: A Sharpie Pen! January 29, 2015

{I adore all things Sharpie. I have highlighters and markers. I never had a pen. Snapped a picture and sent it to Dan as a hint for future gifts.}

Abby Gail and Moi. January 30, 2015

Abby Gail and Moi. February 2, 2015

Abby Gail and Moi. February 2, 2015

Abby’s Viewpoint. February 5, 2015

Gracie. February 5, 2015

Abby Gail and Moi. February 12, 2015

A DIY Drawer Organizer (I Made) Using Yardsticks. February 17, 2015

Inside a Drawer. February 17, 2015

”Leave Me Alone” {She Cries}. February 23, 2015

”You Are Nuts!” February 23, 2015

”Fine!” February 23, 2015

Jason Cameron at the San Antonio Home and Garden Show. February 28, 2015

{Hey, I was there! I love going to shows like these.}

First Bluebonnet I sighted on our Land. March 3, 2015

{Snapped and sent to Dan.}

Sunday Strings

It has been awhile since I posted some doodles of mine. I finished the Zendala Dare #97 (scroll down a little on that link) around April 2nd. I was going to post this sooner; but, I came down sick before I got a chance to write it up. I had posted an incomplete one on February 22 here.

I would just doodle a little here and there. I have been quite busy with other stuff including finishing up the guest room. There is still a lot of things left to do in there; but, at least, it is almost ready for guests to sleep. And, I can relax a little bit now due to the fact the major work in there is completed. I am still needing to get queen size sheets. Once I obtain those, our guest room will be open for "business". :-)

By the way, the picture is horrid because I did not use a flash. It is what it is.

I used Purk and the rest is random. If there is a name for the patterns (other than Bob from Veggietales), I do not know what they are. I do know that stippling is the name of one tangle in the quilting world.

Sunday Strings

It's a String Thing #81

using Fassett and Phroz

Mine is actually has a modified form of Phroz. I didn't want to completely draw Phroz in the areas I used it. I only did the first two steps of how to draw Phroz.

I kept seeing stars, crosses (or pluses), and diamonds. Some instinct told me to leave the four large corner white areas alone and I'm so glad I did. I think it's my prerogative on how I want it to look, correct? I am really liking this "tile".

I have purchased Made in the Shade: a Zentangle Workbook in hopes that I can teach myself how to shade in areas. A lot of people recommended this book on Zentangle's facebook group.

Sunday Strings

It's a String Thing #80
using Kozy, and Inaura

Completed 2/21/2015

Zendala Dare #97

I work on this when I want to doodle and have no other challenges to do/complete. I am using pencil as I am still learning to draw tangle patterns.

I do not know what the name of the center (border) pattern is. When I wanted something to fill in the center teardrop spaces, I glanced at my fabrics and noticed VeggieTales fabrics with Larry and Bob all over it. I attempted to draw Bob and fell short; but, I still think it is cute. I then picked up one of my Zentangle books and picked Purk to tangle the middle "teardrops". So far, I am liking my work...

Sunday Strings

It's a String Thing #79
using Buttercup, InaPod, Pozer, and Puf.

What did I learn? I learned that if you are unfocused, you will have spastic moments. I am not going to point out them out; but, there are three of them (mistakes). Oh well. live and learn! I also discovered that I am not a fan of Puf; but, I wanted to practice drawing the tangle.

Wordy Wednesday (String Thing #77)

Tickled to Tangle blog issued a It’s a String Thing Challenge #77 which I decided to attempt. This was my first time using pens instead of pencils. Here is my result that I completed just a day late.

Here are some results of tangles created by others and my goodness, they are awesome!

It’s a String Thing #77 Tiles

It’s a String Thing #77 Continued

Tickled to Tangle blog issued a a new string #79 yesterday that I may attempt. I skipped #78 as it just did not appealed to me. I guess you could say that I was sick of hearts! Ha!

Wordy Wednesday: On Tangles (Zentangles)

I follow a blog called Tweety Loves Quilting and recently the blog author sharing her “tangles”. By the way, her tangles are awesome.

The tangles, sketches, doodles, Zentangles or whatever you may call them reminded me of the doodles I did in my youth. I got excited! What I used to do was put down and laughed at is now mainstream. I remember whenever I did them, it brought me peace.

So, I resolved to see if “tangling” still worked for me. In my youth, I used a geometric compass and some small rulers to create some of my doodles. I did not have these items this time around. So, my first effort was all done freehand and on ordinary notebook paper and a pencil which is anathema to the art of Zentangling. I am not an artist (and never will I be one). So, I could care less about the “rules”. And besides, I have always used pencil.

{To see a larger image, go here. Click on the image when it comes up to see it larger.}

The more "tangling" I did, the more the stuff I did in my youth came back to me. I got tired of the exercises on the third day and went rogue with the last square (bottom left corner).

I have to say that there is just something wonderful about doing tangles. It is very meditative. You are forced to focus on being deliberative and whatnot about what you are doing. You forget all about the worries of the day and what is happening around you. Your mind does not wander too much either.

This one nice thing about tangles is that it most likely can be translated to the quilting world. In fact, there is a quilter who actually quilts using tangles. Pretty cool, huh? I can see myself doing this. You get tired of quilting one pattern; so, switch to another design.

I will be doing more tangles in my future. In fact, I purchased a student and geometric compass which included small rulers and protractors. I also purchased some cheap sketch pads. I will see if I can switch to pen(s) in the near future. In the meantime, I am just going to enjoy doodling my way again and who cares what others may think of the things I do!