My Journey Within Zentangle Art Journal Lesson & TWO giveaways for July

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Sadelle
Tangled Sanctuary Journal Lesson Sneak Peek for July, by Sadelle Wiltshire, TangleVermont

Tiny Peek of my July Journey Within 2016 journal page lesson

It feels funny to be writing this post so far away from home, but I’m in Minnesota getting ready to lead a weeklong Zentangle workshop (Ann is at home, sadly) at the upcoming Friends General Conference Gathering.   And July is the month my online lesson for The Journey Within 2016 – art journaling and journal making e-course goes live!

My July Journey Within Video Lesson
I’ve got a very special contribution for the July theme and I’m really excited to share it with folks who have signed up for the course (HINT: you can also sign up for the 3rd Quarter of the the course if you don’t want the whole year’s worth of lessons).   My lesson combines a few of my loves, and will

Hand shaped "Finger Labyrinth" (c) Sadelle Wiltshire, CZT, Tangle Vermont

Finger labyrinth journal page

include a special introduction, a short Zentangle beginners’ video, a video using a watercolor-like background and Zentangle in your art journal, and a mini introduction video to the labyrinth and making a finger labyrinth for your art journal cover or a page.

I won’t kid you, it was a bit of a learning curve to take on video editing, as well as putting myself and what I do on video, but I’m really happy with it, and am jazzed to share it! (AND I’m plotting some video courses of my own…)

To celebrate,  I’m offering TWO giveaways to our readers:

I'm teaching in The Journey Within, a year of handmade art journals with Kiala GivehandWin a 3RD QUARTER ENROLLMENT in The Journey Within – a year of handmade art journals with Kiala Givehand and 18 artists.  You’ll get 3 months of art journaling video lessons, prompts and instructions for 3 handmade journals.
-or-
Win a Silk Sari-Covered Art Journal with a surprise inside page inscription from me.

Watercolor labyrinth journal page and poem, (c) Sadelle Wiltshire, TangleVermont.com

Watercolor labyrinth journal page and poem

HOW TO ENTER?
You have lots of chances to win!
You’ll get entered EACH TIME for
any of the following  listed below:

  • Comment on this post below and tell me which giveaway you’d like to be entered in and or what other video art courses you’d like to see me create in the future.
  • Like & Comment on the TangleVermont Facebook Page
  • Pin one of the images above on Pinterest and post a link to your pin in the comments here.
  • Follow me or one or more of my boards on Pinterest and comment on one of my pins there.
  • Follow me on Instagram and comment on my hand labyrinth photo

WHEN?
The Drawing will be held for the FREE 3rd Quarter SLOT in Journey Within on Saturday Night JULY 9.
The Drawing for the Handmade Journal will be held Sunday night July 10.
Winners will be notified by email, so be sure to comment HERE if you opt for just Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram.

I can’t wait to share more with you!

Sadelle Wiltshire

 

Posted in Art Journal, Book Arts, Labyrinths, The Journey Within, Video | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments - Click to leave Comment Here

A Tangle Workout & a New Journal to Play With

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Sadelle
Skye monotangle tile, Sadelle Wiltshire, TangleVermont

‘Skye’ monotangle tile

I don’t know if this happens to you, but sometimes I get into a “tangle rut”.   You know, doing the same tangles over and over.  Yes, this happens to teachers too!  Since I’ve been teaching, facilitating and journaling alot and pouring more time into those activities than into what used to be a daily Zentangle practice, I found myself in somewhat of a rut lately.  And kind of like starting a new physical exercise routine, I needed some other motivation to “work out” my tangling…

So over the past week two fun things came along to inspire me:

The first was the fantastical tangle breakdown that the very clever Margaret Bremner, CZT figured out and shared with the rest of us, with a name that means alot to me:  Skye!  (More to come on the significance of the name to me later this year! 🙂  )

And seriously, she’s kind of hit the ‘holy grail’ of tangle break-downs in deconstructing this gorgeous Celtic knot!   I had so much fun (and it took a bit of practice, to find my way with it) learning and playing with this tangle!  I’m a huge fan of Celtic knotwork, and although I do know how to draw knotwork a bit, it certainly takes practice and patience and you usually DO need an eraser in regular knotwork.     Not so with this one…   it still will take some practice, but you won’t need an eraser!   It was a great tangle to break me out of my rut this week!

Musings Adventure JournalThe second thing was a chance to try out a new journal from Lisa deYoung of Mountain Mermaid (and one of my fellow teachers in The Journey Within bookmaking/journaling e-course).  Lisa makes these wonderful journals made of an 80lb paper with a little bit of tooth. Perfect for tangling AND journaling in!  The one I’ll be playing with is her 2016 Musings Adventure Journal.   I like that there are 7 open boxes per two page spread, but with plenty of extra room to draw around.

When I started journaling with it this week, it was an invitation to play with Margaret’s new tangle, and juxtapose it with another one of my favorite’s Mi2, by friend Mimi Lempart, CZT.    And then I thought,  hmm… what would I journal about?  All I could think of this week were all the tasks ahead of me over the next few weeks, so what better form to use than a ‘bullet journal’ format in a few boxes.      I liked that I could do a bit of Zentangle practice, AND plan my week at the same time!   Lisa calls the journal “a creative logbook (for your everyday magic moments)” and I can certainly see why!   It was perfect for what I ended up using it for and I like that I can either log, journal, draw or whatever in these small spaces for times I want to keep notes on the week, but also incorporate some Zentangle quiet time.

Here are a few pages from my playing with the Mini Musings Journal page.  I can’t wait till my full journal arrives!

Musings journal one side empty

musings zoom in         interior spread of musings

Join the Mini Musings Adventure!Lisa is blogging all week at mtnmermaid.wordpress.com to celebrate the launch of the Musings Adventure Journal  and is having a Mini Musings Adventure – a free e-adventure that includes a download of a blank spread like mine.

You can join in the fun by signing up here:  http://bit.ly/May2016MMA!   If you comment or send her some love, tell her I sent you!

 

I'm teaching in The Journey Within, a year of handmade art journals with Kiala GivehandAnd if you’re interested in checking out the online art journaling and bookmaking course that both Lisa and I are guest teachers in this year along with 16 others and our fabulous hostess Kiala Givehand, be sure to check out The Journey Within, a year of handmade art journals.  My lesson will be in July and Lisa’s will be later this year (she does wonderful lettering work)!

 

Posted in Blog Hop, The Journey Within, Zentangle® | Tagged , , | 4 Comments - Click to leave Comment Here

Journals and Paint and Tangles, oh my!

Posted on April 5, 2016 by Sadelle
Art journals made Jan. to Apr.

Art journals made Jan. to Apr.

I was hoping to get more art journaling done this year, and truth is, I’m a bit of a journal junkie, but half the time they don’t get touched. Not so this year!  I’ve been following along with The Journey Within yearlong e-course (also available by the quarter) and boy are the prompts, art journal lessons and bookmaking videos charging my engine!

January Journals

January Journals

The January journals were easy to make and required little adhesive and a great way to use up a variety of prints and papers I had hanging around. I love that learners are encouraged to make a prototype journal (for me that just means more journals!).  The little guy in the forefront is perfect for stashing in a purse and making impromptu sketches and Zentangle drawings.

January prototype mini journal for sketching and tangling

January prototype mini journal for sketching and tangling …

March accordian Journal

March accordian journal with Toned tan & grey pages

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve included some snapshots of some of the other journals from February and March, as well as a couple of the January journal pages.   Some of the pages were prompts or lessons from the Journey Within course,  and some, my own.  I loved the mini gallery project lesson from the January part of the course… what fun!   (BTW, if you sign up for the whole year, you get to go back and do those lessons and book structures too!)

As I created the March journal the second time, I had the idea that I wanted to play with the accordion structure when spread open, and continue a line or two from one page onto the next as a sort of visual prompt and a way to tie one page to the next. With the hand labyrinth, I continued two white lines off to the right onto the second page and let that then dictate what it wanted to be. The second page ended up being mostly a combo of the drawing lesson from Yuko combined with some organic tangles, but done in white.

I then continued a couple of the bubbles/circles onto the third page….

imageFirst page accordian spread, showing part of second page and continuing line prompt

First page accordion spread, showing part of second page and continuing line prompt

The April Journal

The April book promises to be fun to journal in, leather, sewn structure, lots of pages, yum!

Funny story, last night I went searching for some leather for this month’s book project, and after our move last year, could not find what I thought I’d had. Meanwhile a neighbor summoned for help with her printer. While I was there fixing the printer issue, I mentioned that I was looking for leather scraps. Lo and behold, she pulls down this old bag of scraps she’d been saving for years…. I love the black leather cover I made with the red tie and red waxed linen stitching! The leather structure is part of the April-June quarter, and you can sign up for just this quarter or for the whole course.

I’ll be teaching in the third quarter, in July!  Expect some Zentangle  journaling fun and a labyrinth or two in my July lesson….. 😉

Posted in Art Journal, Book Arts, Workshops, Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA) | Tagged | 8 Comments - Click to leave Comment Here

‘Ziphart’, a post-Valentine’s Valentine & Tangle

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Sadelle

It was a busy January and I’m JUST getting to a blog post again since the end of the 2015.  We taught 3 successful Zentangle workshops at the Immanuel Retreat Center in Bellows Falls and are looking forward to 3 more wonderful events coming up there this month thru April!

Meanwhile, I hope that everyone had a lovely Valentine’s this past weekend, whether with your cherished self or loved one/s!  Here chez TangleVermont we kept busy trying to keep us and our critters warm with the sub-zero temps!  That also meant lots of chocolate!

This year I chose not to offer a “Valentangle” workshop,  as we were finding our plates rather full with classes and workshops and life in the balance.   But the call to play in my art journal continued, now that the The Journey Within 2016 e-course that I’m participating in is yielding an abundant supply of new art journals to fill up!

Heart labyrinth on toned grey with "Ziphart" tangle, watercolor pencil and ink, by Sadelle Wiltshire, 2016

Heart labyrinth on toned grey with “Ziphart”, watercolor pencil and ink, Sadelle Wiltshire, 2016

I have been following a Facebook group called “Valentangle 2016” and while I haven’t had a chance to post really, between that and the Journey Within course I had plenty of inspiration for more creations.   I still had a few pages left in my January e-course handmade journal, which happened to have toned gray pages in it, and of course needed to make another heart labyrinth.  I love the multitude of heart -themed tangles out there, but as I was zipping up my coat to brave the elements this weekend, the thought came to me that my zipper kind of reminded me of staggered side by side  hearts, one row up and one row down…     I started digging into my Zentangle resources and didn’t find a tangle quite like what I had in mind,  so I birthed a new tangle this weekend, that I’ve named “Ziphart” (you pronounce it any way you like!)

Ziphart heart tangle by Sadelle Wiltshire - makes a good fill or border

This was a fun tangle to play with… I did the grey journal page above first, and used my Caran d’Ache Supracolor II pencils to add most of the color elements including some highlights and toning part of the gray back to white-ish.   I had to sneak in a “zen gem” in one of the hearts, just because! 🙂  I haven’t had a chance to fully fully explore this tangle other than the journal page and the step-out I created last night, but there a number of ways to make this tangle easier to execute:

First of all,  I recommend starting from the bottom to create your series of “hooks” or angled U-shapes.  Then, starting again at the bottom, create a mirrored row of hooks going up (you can also work downwards if you want to work without lifting your pen).  When I’m connecting the centers, I take the opportunity to extend the center dip of the heart while drawing my mirrored stroke.

Next,  FLIP your tile so you can start to work alongside the row you’ve just created.

 

Ziphart mirrored stroke closeupNotice that I am starting my hook here with the left side of the heart shape, and fitting along the slope of the first upside down heart.  You decide whether it’s more comfortable for you to make this stroke by drawing from the top or the bottom.

If you are right handed like me, I would suggest starting your first vertical row of hooks along the right side of your workspace rather than the way I did it.   That way, when you flip your tile to create the next set of hearts it you will be working alongside the right rather than the left which will likely be more comforable.  (This will make more sense when you do it, but I’ll try and get a video demo up in the next month!)

After making your series of nestled and flipped heart rows, one way to embellish it is to simply “round” off the central ditches and fill them in.  You can also opt to leave those alone and just shade the ditches.  I’ve included a few other ways to play with this pattern, but I know there are lots of other ways I’ve yet to explore…  maybe YOU’ll find something different to do with this!  If so, please do leave a comment and link!

I find the pattern to be a great fill as well as a border, and if you do just two vertical rows together and shade one side of the hearts, while filling in the empty spaces dark, it looks like a zipper!  (Hence the inspiration for the name!)

Have fun with this and do leave your links if you try this!   You can also post your tangled Ziphart art on our TangleVermont Facebook page, tag me @tanglevermont on Pinterest  or @sadiavt on Twitter or Instagram!

Have fun!
Sadelle Wiltshire, CZT

 

Posted in Art Journal, Book Arts, Challenges, Tangles, The Journey Within, Tutorial, Zentangle® | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Art Journaling Prompts with Mixed Media Inspiration cards

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Sadelle

The prompt was to add a piece of recycled art - I collaged a couple of pieces of cast off gelli prints onto the journal page to start. 2015 Sadelle Wiltshire www.tanglevermont.com/blog/Congrats to Ann-Lynn W on being the lucky winner of Kiala Givehand’s Mixed Media Inspiration Deck cards!

I thought I’d create a couple of journal pages in one of my #journeywithin2016 handmade art journals that were inspired by cards I pulled this week:

The prompt was to add a piece of recycled art – I collaged a couple of pieces of cast off gelli prints onto the journal page to start.

I added a fern stem to the collaged gelli prints with a couple of shades of green moonlight gelly roll pens and used more gelly roll pens including white and metallic gold, and an Accurit waterproof pen (similiar to Microns) to add some of the designs and tangles.

Finished dew inspired fern page, interpreted loosely, pen work on top of collaged gelli prints Added a fern stem to the collaged gelli prints with a couple of shades of green moonlight gelly roll pens, Sadelle Wiltshire, tanglevermont.com

Then last night I was inspired to pull another card. This time the prompt was to “drip and spray watered down paint” onto my page.  I was looking foward to playing with some new toys, so I grabbed a few Liquitex acrylic Ink bottles in metallic colors as well as an FW pearlescent liquid acrylic ink bottle and a small spray bottle with water.

MIxed Media Inspiration Deck and Acrylic Inks

Well this turned out to be WAY too much fun.  I dropped a few splotches of ink along the outside of the page,  spritzed with water, and turned the page this way and that.  I stopped a few times and used a silicone tool I’d picked up for my gelatin plate, and used that to move some of the inks around by flicking it through the larger splotches.

open to possibilities page 3open to possibilities page 4open to possibilities page 5

 

splotches of acrylic ink and sprayed water with a tool to move some of the bigger splotches - Sadelle Wiltshire 2015 TangleVermont.com

I’ve been considering a future with lots of changes and being open to the possibilities for development of my gifts,  so the phrase ‘be open to the possibilities’ came to me…  I grabbed a dip pen and used the FW pearlescent acrylic purple ink and wrote along the sides of the page and the middle.   The exercise in playing with the sprayed down acrylic inks definitely leaves one open to all kinds of possibilities on the journal page.  I used the dip pen to create the purple tangled embellishments as well which was an exercise in being patient and remembering to dip more often!   I ended up accenting the main words with correction fluid for the white.  Interesting possibilities with office supplies…

Open to Possibilities journal page with dripped and sprayed acrylic inks by Sadelle Wiltshire, with Kiala Givehand's Mixed Media Inspiration Deck
Kiala Givehand's Mixed Media Inspiration Deck Do you want to have an inspired year of making your own art journals, full of creative sparks for filling them up with your own yummy creative work?  

Sign up for an amazing and FUN adventure in making monthly handmade art journals, learning art journaling and mixed media art techniques, prompts, inspirations for making unique art and have your most creative year yet.
CLICK HERE to learn more and register.

Posted in Art Journal, Book Arts, Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA), Zentangle® | Tagged , , | 2 Comments - Click to leave Comment Here

Cultural Heritage Art Journal Prompt, Challenge & 2 Giveaways

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Sadelle

acrylic-collage-closeupHello tangling and artsy friends…  stay with me here: I’ve packed alot into today’s post!!

I’ve been so excited to be a guest teacher in
The Journey Within: A Year of Handmade Art Journals hosted by book maker, Kiala Givehand plus me and 17 other artists. The class begins January 1st* continues thru 2016. Every month, Kiala will teach you to make a new handmade art journal – a different one each month!

*Kiala is offering a December mini-course free with signups before January……

Ready to start now?  She’ll also give you prompts, tips, and techniques for filling the pages, and the guest artists will be sharing their take on the themes and prompts with plenty of videos, as well as their art journaling process and you get to make 12 of your own books.

To get the fun times started, Kiala created a Dos a Dos book structure for December and asked each guest artist to give her a challenge to complete.

And today was my turn! Here’s what I gave Kiala to do:

Prompt-sample-1-Russian inspired bird with Zentangle embellishments. Acrylic wash background over torn Russian newspaper pieces.The Journey Within Blog Hop Art Journal Prompt:
Cultural Heritage / Language

  • Create a page inspired by a foreign language or your cultural heritage.
  • Use any combination of words, fonts & letters, poetry, newspapers, art inspiration from the language or culture as collaged bits and/or painted or stamped layers.
  • Add some Zentangle inspired art or pattern art to highlight a section or shapes.

You can see how Kiala took on my challenge over on her blog hop page HERE….

DOWNLOAD:  And here’s a  Bonus resource pdf for you to download with a bit more story and language / Zentangle resources – then scroll down to read more!

Need more inspiration?  Here are some examples from me:

                          Prompt-sample-2b Russian-inspired Journal-Around-the-World 2014 right page  Prompt-sample-2a Russian-inspired Journal-Around-the-World 2014 left page

The three pages above were created over the last couple of years and were the inspiration for my challenge prompt.   Since I have some Russian in my ancestry and studied the language in college,  it was an easy choice!  I used bits of Russian newspaper as the starter background for the bird image, added acrylic paint, the bird stamp, hand drawn tree and house embellished with Zentangle.   The other two pages made use of Russian handwriting and poetry, lots of acrylic layers and gel/metallic pens with more Zentangle patterns.  Russian word for "Mirror", layered acrylic with some Zentangle inspired gel pen work - by Sadelle Wiltshire, 2015. Created as part of The Journey Within - year of handmade art journals with Kiala Givehand http://bit.ly/journalwithme

Then, I was so inspired to stretch myself a bit more for this month’s challenge, I created three new journal pages using the prompt, still sticking with Russian:  two using collage, acrylics with Zentangle gel pen work and one watercolor sketch with tangle patterns and journaling. The page to the left was inspired by one of the December Mini Course words, “Mirror”.  I played with mirrored swaddled jewel babies and mirrored colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel.  Here the Russian word for mirror was created in Photoshop, turned upside down for the mirror effect, printed out and then painted with acrylic and collaged in place. The other acrylic below left was created over torn Russian newspaper anticipating the new year.  Finally, my other love, playing with watercolor pencils,  a watercolor sketch inspired by a memory from travels in the USSR over 30 years ago and my love of Russian samovars and tea, with some actual real-like journaling :-).

                Happy New Year Russian themed art journal page, Sadelle Wiltshire Dec 2015                 Russian word for "Mirror", layered acrylic with some Zentangle inspired gel pen work - by Sadelle Wiltshire, 2015. Created as part of The Journey Within - year of handmade art journals with Kiala Givehand http://bit.ly/journalwithme

So how about YOU? Are you ready to take the challenge?  You don’t need to know another language to play.  Maybe collage in some elements from your own heritage, or a great grandparent’s language…   or even a culture that is not your own, but one you love.  Come join us for this amazing and FUN adventure and have your most creative year yet. CLICK HERE to learn more and sign up for the class.

SPECIAL GIVEAWAY:  Kiala Givehand's Mixed Media Inspiration DeckKiala Givehand's Mixed Media Inspiration Deck
(So yes, I do get a small benefit directly when you register for the class from this blog or site!  Thank you for helping a starving artist – and to sweeten the deal, if you purchase the class through my links above, I will put your name into a special drawing on Jan. 5**  to win a rare deck of Kiala Givehand’s Mixed Media Inspiration cards)
Congrats to Ann-Lynn W. of Georgia for winning the Mixed Media Cards! 

And if you do decide to try the challenge I gave Kiala,  I’d be delighted if you’d leave a comment with a link to your blog or to the page you completed so I can see YOUR lovely creative work!

Find us on Facebook! Follow me on Instagram! Google+ Follow Sadelle on Pinterest! Follow Sadelle on Twitter!
Bonus Giveaway - 2 quarter year slots in The Journey Within
Do you follow TangleVermont on Facebook?   Or on Pinterest or Twitter?

***AND THE WINNER FOR THE FIRST QUARTER SEAT HAS BEEN CHOSEN:
Congrats to Jane R. from Michigan!

I will be giving another seat for the summer quarter away in July. ***

If you would still like to share about the course, there are many ways….

  • Go to the TangleVermont Facebook page, Like Us and then Share my challenge post with your friends or in a group you participate in.
  • Find me on Pinterest,  or  share this pin >> on one or more of your Pinterest boards.
  • Share this blog post on Twitter, tag me @sadiavt, #JourneyWithin2016.

This giveaway ended on Dec 27th.

The Journey Within 2016, a year of handmade journals and art journalingAnd here is the rest of the blog hop list — make sure you check out each talented artist’s page and challenge:

December 1 — Mimi Bondi — http://mimibondi.com
December 2 — Cindy Gilstrap — http://junqueart.com
December 4 — Tiare Smith — http://tiaresmith.com
December 7 — Julie Baker — http://creativelyonward.com
December 8 — Amanda Trought — http://realityarts-creativity.blogspot.com/
December 9 — Andrea Gomoll — http://andrea-gomoll.de/
December 10 — Nicole Piar — http://ghostkitten.com
December 11 — Lisa DeYoung — http://mountainmermaidstudios.com/
December 15 — Kelly Johnson — http://wingswormsandwonder.com
December 16 — Tori Weyers — http://drawriot.com
December 17 — Sadelle Wiltshire — http://tanglevermont.com
December 18 — Barb Owen — http://howtogetcreative.com
December 21 — Hali Karla — http://halikarla.com
December 22 — Yuko Miki — http://honeyberrystudios.com
December 23 — Lisa McLoughlin — http://lisamcloughlinart.com
December 28 — Virginia Simpson-Magruder — http://kentuckygirldesigns.com
December 30 — iHanna — http://ihanna.nu

Sadelle Wiltshire, CZT

Posted in Art Journal, Art Workshops, Challenges, The Journey Within, Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA), Zentangle® | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments - Click to leave Comment Here

Sneak peek Art Journal Challenge and Drawing

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Sadelle

It’s almost Thursday!    I’m posting my challenge prompt for The Journey Within course and blog hop for December here on Thursday morning…..  and I can’t wait to show you what I’ve been up to!  I’ve combined some of my most favorite journaling themes for my prompt and challenge, so I’ll give you a sneak peek at a zoomed in area from one of my newly finished pages now:

Closeup of one of my prompt/challenge sample pages

Closeup sneak peak of page sample #2 for tomorrow’s blog hop

I’ll talk about my process a little tomorrow on the blog, show you the full images for this and the 2 other new pages I made for samples and include some extra photos and there will also be a downloadble pdf,  with helpful resources for following the challenge.

The Journey Within 2016, a year of handmade journals and art journalingSo how about YOU? Are you ready to take the challenge?   Come join us for this amazing and FUN adventure and have your most creative year yet. CLICK HERE to learn more about the year-long art-journaling and book-making course with 18 participating artists, and sign up for the class.

(And yes, I do get a small benefit directly when you register for the class from this blog or site!  Thank you for helping a starving artist –  I will enter anyone who purchases the class through my links above into a  special drawing on Jan. 5 at 6pm for a deck of art journaling cards!  And Thursday I’ll be offering yet another giveaway!)

And if you do decide to try the challenge I gave Kiala on the 17th,  I’d be delighted if you’d leave a comment to my blog post on Dec 17th with a link to your blog or to the page you completed so I can see YOUR lovely creative work!

Sadelle Wiltshire, CZT

Posted in Art Journal, Art Workshops, Book Arts, Challenges, Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA), Zentangle® | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

December Journaling Adventures – Part II

Posted on December 8, 2015 by Sadelle

December 2015 Book with first two pages

Watercolor splotch trees

Watercolor splotch trees with the lady of the labyrinth

I have been having fun playing along with Kiala Givehand’s Journey Within December Mini-Course and Blog Hop!  There’s nothing like some art journaling to get your creative juices flowing again (and of course, Zentangle!).   With two challenge pages under my belt, I’m hooked now, and I can’t wait to give you all AND Kiala the challenge/prompt for December 17!

Just when I thought I’d take a break for a couple of days,  Tiare Smith posted her Watercolor Splotch Challenge .  While I haven’t yet taken Tiare’s class, I thought I’d take a stab anyway, coz  I LOVE watercolor!   And it seemed a good excuse to sneak in some very subtle tangling as well, so here’s my very quickly and loosely done ‘flowery forest’.  I added in some loose bits of the Diva Dance tangle for the tree trunks and some Msst.  I still felt it needed something else.  Bring in my tiny lady of the labyrinth!

 

I'm teaching in The Journey Within, a year of handmade art journals with Kiala GivehandAre you looking for a year-long FUN way to art journal  all year long?
AND also make 12-13 of your own journals over the next year?  Then sign on up for the Journey Within 2016 online course with prompts and techniques from over 19 artists (including me!) HERE!

And  don’t forget to check MY Dec 17 blog hop prompt right here!  And there will be some GIVEAWAYS, so subscribe to the blog or the Facebook page!

Sadelle Wiltshire, CZT

Posted in Art Journal, Art Workshops, Book Arts, Challenges, Labyrinths, The Journey Within, Zentangle® | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments - Click to leave Comment Here

December Journaling Adventures 2015 – Part 1

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Sadelle

TJW December Mini CourseI’ve just started to follow along the December mini-course and blog hop for The Journey Within, a year long hand-made art journal online class with Kiala Givehand and 18 guest artists.   It’s a great way to warm up for the prompt I’ll be contributing right here on December 17, as well as my video/s and techniques I’ll be contributing for part of the July 2016 portion.

TJW Dec 2015 book structureHere’s my empty book I created for the December Mini-Course.
The mini-course is actually available to purchase right now, however if you sign up for the 2016 course, you get it for free!   I thought Kiala’s instructions via video AND print were done really really well.  Easy to follow, and she went over steps as she created the book. It’s the perfect journal structure for a month of prompts or if you’re following the blog hop!

Of course, I couldn’t leave it blank for too long, even if I haven’t had much time this week.  I decided to work on the first two blog hop prompts to start my journal.

Dec 1 2015 blog hop challenge              Dec 2 2015 blog hop challenge from Cindy Gilstrap

On the left is my attempt at Mimi Bondi‘s challenge.  I really enjoyed playing with the layers, stencils, and different paints as well as adding in vertical elements as interest. Her colors are really vibrant, but I had fun making this pop and following her video but with my own supply of paints and inks.

Finished Dec 2 handmade paper collage w paints, pen

Finished page, with pen, writing, highlights and a touch of tangling

On the right above was my in-progress look at my take on Cindy Gilstrap‘s challenge from Dec 2.   After viewing her video, I chose to concentrate on using some special bits of handmade paper I had laying around.  The center piece, corner pieces and bottom blades were from a gossamer thin piece of light green paper with lots of threads and inclusions that I first spritzed well with a red color spray which was then cut into various shapes.

These were glued down onto a background that was painted with scrapes of blue and yellow acrylic paint, some other handmade paper bits, and thin layer of gesso on top to tone it down.  I still intended to add the word “journey” somewhere on this piece, then add some extra colors and tease out some parts of the design with some ink work or even Zentangle. I’ll bet you all were wondering WHEN I was going to start adding in some tangles, eh?  Well just a touch… 

I loved playing with the handmade papers ripped into pieces, and collaged in place.  In the end it reminded me of a very hot cup of coffee from somewhere in the tropics, so I added my “journey” phrase :  “the journey begins with a good cup of COFFEE!” and tangled some of the edges with a gold gel pen (I’m a bit addicted to gold!).

December 2015 Book with first two pages

December 2015 Book with first two pages

I’m looking forward to doing a few more of the blog hop challenges as I can!

If you’re looking for a wonderful opportunity with art journalling and also to make 12-13 of your own journals over the next year, you can sign up for the Journey Within 2016 year of handmade art journal  course with prompts and techniques from over 19 artists HERE!

And keep your eyes out for MY Dec 17 blog hop prompt!  And there will be some giveaways, so subscribe the blog or the Facebook page!

Sadelle Wiltshire, CZT

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A time for celebration, creativity, reflection and renewal

Posted on December 1, 2015 by Sadelle

layered mixed media art journal exampleDecember used to be one of those months I dreaded,  the return of the cold, the least amount of light of the year, and the crazy commercialization of the season.   But ART and sharing art has really changed that perspective for me.  Staying centered and creative during this time really was key.  I use my art, especially at this time of year, for reflection and the end of the year has me thinking of renewal,  that making anew, which gets reflected back in my journaling and art.   When the darkness is getting me down, the colors and light and reflections from words and art bring me back out.
How are YOU staying creative?  What keeps you calm during this time of year? How are you practicing reflective work?  What helps you celebrate? 

For celebration I’m looking forward to making all of our holiday gifts in the next couple of weeks, including some fun DIY up-cycled projects.  We’ll share some of those next month!  I’m really looking forward to the family fun and creativity we share in the kitchen during the holidays, and our festivities on Dec 24th – being the family of cooks that we are. And I’m also looking forward to more reflective and introspective time, and will be leading some labyrinth walks locally, and going forward through the winter.

labyrinth-journal-with-journalsI also LOVE to make books, especially from flotsam and jetsam around the house, and more importantly, to JOURNAL in them,  especially visual, or art journaling!  For me this is an activity that inspires time and space for creativity and reflection.  This month and going into next year will involve alot of art journaling including personal work, teaching locally and online!

I'm teaching in The 2016 Journey Within

The 2016 Journey Within – A year of Handmade Art Journals, hosted by Kiala Givehand

And now for some news…
I’m jumping-through-the-roof excited to announce that I’m participating in a special online workshop starting today and running through 2016!   If you’re not yet familiar with Kiala Givehand, you will be soon:   she’s a talented art journaler, book maker and writer as well as a very clever creativity coach.  And for 2016 she’s offering a fantastical year-long online journaling and journal-making course, inspired by her previous Book-in-a-Day work called “The Journey Within: A Year of Handmade Art Journals“, and this time she’s invited 18 guest artists to share their art journaling process and techniques in the course….  including me!   I’ll also be sharing a journaling prompt for the Journey Within Blog Hop on December 17th, so stay tuned for that too!

The Journey Within 2016, a year of handmade journals and art journalingDO check out the course – I’ll let you read Kiala’s description.  If you love art journaling or want to have a fun journal-making and visual-journaling for the year, what she’s got in store is really compelling!   Join us for a fun year of journaling, challenges, bookmaking, videos and community HERE.  I can’t wait!
What a great way to celebrate, be creative, reflect and renew!

shading and highlights with colorFor the new year, Ann and I (plus a special guest) have got a series of great workshops coming up in southern VT:

  • A DIY Finger Labyrinth workshop in January,
  • I’ll be leading Monthly Labyrinth Walks in Bellows Falls (VT), and hopefully also Putney,
  • Zentangle, of course….
  • An all-day Art Journaling with Spirit workshop,
  • And a Labyrinth Art and Soul Retreat for spring!
  • Pop up Tangle Clinics…
  • More workshops coming in spring and summer, maybe near you?
    Subscribe to our newsletter to keep posted on changes and tangle clinics!

Check out the schedule – we’d love to see you!

Sadelle Wiltshire, CZT

 

 

 

 

Posted in Art Workshops, Book Arts, News, Workshops, Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA), Zentangle® | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment