Twinkling H2O's - A Short Review

I finally finally received my package of Twinkling H2O's. I had one set from a while ago which I never used, and because I was so fascinated by them, and wanted to find out what all the hype was all about I got another set.

 The concept is interesting. These little pots of sparkly paint, which are full of concentrated color, are great to add to any picture. But do they really twinkle?

My initial thought was no, not really what's all the hype about? But I later realized that in order for them to live up to the name twinkling you can't dilute them too much.

Once the light hits the colors some of them have a really nice sheen to them. Once they start to get a little watered down the sheen, or should I say, the "twinkle" disappears. You can see the sheen in the green (Spanish moss).

But there is something I found even more fascinating, and I saw this totally by accident. I used a black water bowl to rinse my brushes. After finishing with one color I just left the brush in the bowl while I opened another color pot. After using about 5 colors here is what I found in the bottom of the bowl:

The twinks shining in all of their glory

Instead of dissolving in the water like watercolors do, the left overs from the brush just settled themselves at the bottom which made it look like some cosmic colorful explosion.  

This then gave me the idea to use the twinks on a black background.

I found an unfinished black gesso primed page in my art journal, and added the yellow and blue twinks. Low and behold my suspicions were right. Using a loaded brush I painted  the lines and dots. The paint begins to look metallic against the black. But it all depends how much paint is in the brush. This is certainly something I would like to explore further. So stay tuned.

Zendala #67

Erin's template this week was weird. I had no idea what to do with it. I stared at it for a long time and asked it to speak to me. It didn't. I liked the template, It was different; quite a departure from the circular ones. But I guess it took me from a comfort zone and made me think a little harder.

I would have liked to do something extra special for the middle flower but nothing else seemed appropriate than just those lines. I am curious to see what others did. In the end I like what emerged. It looks like layers of paper tiles waiting to be peeled off one at a time.

Thanks for your visit.

Diva Challenge #128 - Two Pencil String

The Challenge was to use 2 pencils as the string. Very interesting indeed. I kept mine simple but then got carried away with the tangles. I finally finally received my new micron pens. Yes after all this time. I got the black ones and the sepia ones. The sepia ones are cool. So for this weeks challenge I did it in sepia ink with shading in light and burnt umber and sepia prisma colors.

Do you know when you start a tile and you get into a zone, and you sit there, one thing leads to another and boom you're done- surprised at the out come.

The string is filled with shattuck and bluebonnets. It looks like a piece of fabric cluttered with stuff.
Laura comes up with such cool ideas. I don't know how she does it.

Zendala #66

Our template challenge from Erin this week was shared by Mariet who tried her hand at designing a template. "You go girl"@ Mariet. She did a great job with this template. I really enjoyed working with it. Mariet is an amazing "tangler" and I enjoy her work. Thank you for sharing.

For this Zendala I used keeko, port holes and what's the flower thing in the middle? I have it in my book to zentangles but there is no reference at all. I used a grey pen and pencil for shading. But for some reason I don't like the tone of grey.  Perhaps the brown dosen't really go with the grey. I don't know. Something just seems off. What do you think?

Have a great week.

Diva Challenge #127 - A Duo Tangle

Hey there.....I hope everyone's week is moving along smoothly.
 In my neck of the woods, I am finally getting things done. I have lists of things to do, and I am slowly crossing things off. I've had a social media to do list and a blog up date to do list for well over a year now.  Social media still boggles my mind so I have had my girls helping me make accounts, and we are working on a possible blog redesign. Nothing to spectacular, just something a bit more colorful. 
If you look over to the side bar, you will see a set of social media buttons. At the time of writing this, I simply cannot remember which ones work or don't work. But for sure I know the twitter works because for the past few months I've been the proud follower of people like Justin Beiber, and such pop stars that young people like. I didn't set up my twitter account my daughter did. And just to make the account more mom friendly, she started me following networks like National Geographic, CNN and BBC. Yeah!!!!! The joys of having teenagers.

I have since stopped following the pop stars, and at the moment sticking to the things I know, and more interesting to me. I am still challenged on how to send a proper tweet. Hopefully if all goes according to plan I will have everything up and running next week. Right now I am just testing out things.

This weeks challenge from the diva is to use 2 tangles only; Cirquital and Opus wth Aura.

 

For some reason this reminds me of a day at the beach. When I look at it, I see white sand, picnic baskets, and kids running around. In the distance out in the sea there is a speed boat  with a water skiier doing tricks. Wow all of that just from Cirquital and Opus wth Aura.

Zendala Dare #65

The Holy month of Ramadan started almost one week ago. Good for Muslims but not so good for those of us who are not used to it. This is my third summer in Qatar, and I thought by now I would have grown accustomed to their customs and traditions. It's taking me a little longer to figure it out I suppose.

First of all its not only hot but it is also humid. So we don't do outside unless necessary. Secondly, during the days, ALL restaurants are closed until sunset. Malls are open for only a few hours in the mornings, then open again later in the afternoons. Each mall has its own timings. To make a long story short, there is nothing to do during the day in Doha. During the night the whole city comes to life. So do the roads with traffic jams, and restaurants with people breaking their fast. The malls will close way after midnight. Truly, I don't like to venture out then either; too much crazy driving, traffic and crowds of people every where.

Using it all to my advantage, I am moving full steam ahead with preparing art work for an exhibition I would like to take part in. I don't know when or where it will be but I'm preparing for it anyway.

 

For the challenge this week, I used purk, and bales. I also used a metallic copper pencil to fill in the spaces in bales but I expected the copper to be a little brighter.

Diva Challenge #126 -Use your own stencil

This was a fun challenge. We were asked to use our own stencils as the string. Even if you did not have a stencil, you could use something from around the house that can work as a stencil.

I got this from Martha Stewarts' craft collection a few years ago. Its not a real stencil but I use it as one.

 And this is what happened when I had my way with it. Of course I use zinger, and voly.

Diva Challenge #125 - Birdie Feet

This week is the use my tangle challenge, and we were to use Birdie feet from Owl Loving April.

I got carried away with this one, and the birdie feet could be more prominent here.

Along with birdie feet I used pop cloud, nzeppel, pais, and the beginnings of scrolled feather.

Zendala Dare #64

A rather interesting challenge this week. For this I uses cubine and the basic beginnings of Dugwud for the middle. Some simple frilly fans to garnish ooops (been watching to many cooking shows) perhaps embellish would be better used here.

And then one extra thing. I totally did not follow the challenge directions properly and did not use tangles beginning with the letters H.O.T or H.E.A.T - another oooops!. Think I'm going back to bed!

Stay cool people. The kids and I plan to fry eggs outside sometime this week. To actually see if it can be done.

Zendala Dare #63

Happy July everyone, and Happy Canada Day to our Canadian friends, and Happy 4th of July to our American friends when it comes around. Yes it's sure going to be a long hot summer and while many of us are looking forward to getting on with it, I am sure the heat is a deterrent for many, including me.

The template from Erin for this week seemed strange at first glance. Strange indeed. It took a while for me to figure out what would be right for it. It wasn't much of a struggle once I got the first set of lines flowing. I did want to try out SNUGZ again. I used it last week in another challenge, and it got sort of weird when I lost my concentration in the middle of doing it. If you notice, the 2 halves are inconsistent.

Here is SNUGZ again with Kuke

It was a little easier this time. Just don't know why I can't wrap my head around twisty thing like that.
Have a good week all.