Bunzo for Sandy

The storm has passed us by here in Delaware.  Luckily for us, we suffered nothing worse than a large branch down.  We didn't lose power or anything.  The weather closed school and work yesterday so I took advantage of the day and tangled.

The Diva's challenge was to use the newly released Bunzo.  I like this pattern but I see that I could do with some more exploration.  Like Allium, I have trouble keeping this pattern small.  Maybe I should challenge myself again and try for a tighter design.  Here is what I came up with.

 I just jumped in with Bunzo.  As I was working on it, Bunzo reminded me of Wirlz so naturally, I needed to use Wirlz.  Thing is, I just couldn't stop once I got going with the Wirlz.  I think they look nice together.

Sunday night I was playing with some Gelly pens and gave Bunzo a try with those.  I used pink and pink glitter to make this on some scrap paper.  I wanted to see what the design would look like with some variations in color.  It's fun if nothing else.

Along with the challenge I worked on ornaments.  I have them listed in my etsy and have sold some at the craft fairs I have been doing.  Several friends have placed some orders as gifts so I have been working on them when the mood takes me.  Lucky they are fun to make.  I have been making Zendalas with the snowflake shape but yesterday I thought, "Why not use Auraknot?"  So, I traced out the shape to make sure where I wanted my lines to go.  Once I had that figured out, I was off.  The center here is Fife with one step left out.  The second X in the center is too squished to use on the ornaments so I have been leaving it off.  It reminds me of a Poinsettia.  The ornament in the photo is unfinished here but is an example of how I spent the day.

I hope that all of you who were in the path of Sandy fared well.  Those who might be getting the snow from this crazy storm, I hope that you are warm.  The numbers coming out of West Virginia are crazy.  I'm continuing to be thankful that the storm was not worse for us and thinking of those who are still dealing with the after effects.  It will take a while to clean up after this I think.

Thanks to the Diva for making time for the challenge this week.  I hope that Artoo is feeling better and you are able to get some rest.  Hugs for you all.  I am thinking of you.

Fortune Teller Challenge

How to make a string on your tiles.  This is a constant challenge for me.  I always feel like I am making the same string or at the very least, a variation on the same one over and over again.  This is why I like when The Diva puts out a string challenge.  I get stuck in a rut and it's nice to have a new way of looking at strings.

This week the Challenge is to divide the space in a uniform way.  The challenge is called Fortune teller as the tile is divided much the same way that paper is folded for making those little fortune teller games we played with as kids.  Click the link for more on what the string looks like.

At first I was going to blur the lines in this challenge.  I tend to make a string and then confine myself to the sections drawn as if I were coloring a coloring book picture.  I didn't get very far.  I started with Chainging up the center but that is as far as I got.  Habits are hard to break but I carried that thought to a piece that I am currently working on. You'll see more on that later.

I decided to explore the triangles a bit instead.  You'll see on the right where I didn't "close off" the tangles there and instead allowed the tangles to spill over the edges.  I don't think this is a great tile.  Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with it.  It just didn't end where I thought it would go.  But that is the way of art isn't it?  My professors in college never accepted the idea that art could get messed up or go wrong.  Instead they advised to keep working and turn the mistake into a "Happy Accident".  I always try to keep that in mind when I hit a part that I don't like.  I try to push on through and see what kind of happy accident I can make.