Watercolour wash phase 1!

Been going through a watercolour wash phase! 1st few times I'm trying watercolour washes in my sketch book as opposed to on loose tiles.

Diva Challenge #362 feat. Somnee 

somnee.cruffle.moonrock

sakura koi watercolour wash

Joey's Challenge #215 feat. Whirlee

whirlee.neuron

Tried something a little bit different with the orbs, having chanced upon CZT Stephanie's tutorial on gems using watercolour markers. CZT Stephanie's tutorial features a pink gem with Tombow markers. I did mine using grey Sakura Koi markers. Thank you CZT Stephanie for a beautiful tutorial. If you haven't tried it you should check it out!

Having done the watercolour marker gems, I thought I'd revisit colour pencil gems.

These were done in omni intense colour pencils with a derwent blender. After all, Practice makes Perfect right? And at this juncture, I must show one of my recent purchases - I read an article online that says you are a true stationary geek if when you go overseas, your "souvenirs" are from the stationary shop.

Mea culpa!

One of my souvenirs from Ipoh! That I used to draw my gems of course!

Continued on my gemmy journey with Joey's Challenge #216 feat. Friendship

squid.friendship 

sakura koi watercolour wash 

uni-pin in black and blue 

omni intense colour pencils 

I love how my "friendship" kinda turned out like a row of smiling blue whales. LOL.

Diva's Challenge #363 - Laura's Auras - wasn't quite sure what it meant but I thought it had to do with auras. Lots and lots of auras.

caracole

sakura koi watercolur wash 

Tried to play  a bit with line weight with my Sakura PN on this one - I have the bad habit of pressing down too hard on my pens =(. 

And when I ran out of ideas for strings, I fell back on one of Ben Kwok's free templates.

printemps.zedbra.hibred.'nzeppel.onomato.bunzo.knightsbridge.leaflet.shattuck 

ben kwok's flamingo template 

staedtler fineliner in pink.sakura micron 

omni intense colour pencils

Have also been trying to egg myself to use tangles I wouldn't normally choose to use.

enyshou.pokeroot.pokeleaf.zinger.mooka

sakura koi watercolour wash 

sakura microns in black and green 

Yes I know it's weird that I avoid these planty tangles that I suspect are many people's go to tangles!

tonnes to share!

I've just realised that I haven't posted for a month. Wow. 

Just took a trip to Ipoh - think I needed the break more than I knew I did. Spent some time with friends and visited an Aunty that I hadn't seen in 5 years. Enjoyed the trip thoroughly and am now thinking whether I have the finances (and leave) to take another trip soon.

Sharing some sights (sadly no sounds) of Ipoh. 

I loved the wall art! 

And the nature sites were awesome!

Also showing off my Aunt's and Uncle's lovely garden!

Also sharing some of my recent tiles: 

Diva Challenge #358: Pickpocket - was thinking of wall graffiti when I was doing this tile. Done with Omni Intense Colour Pencils. 

pickpocket 

IAST #237 - featuring Kaboom:

kaboom.mooka

I did this in a Starbucks one day! With my flamingos and a lego man for company. Makes me smile just thinking about it.

Joey's Challenge #211- featuring Breach:

breach.kaboom.shattuck.primtemps.abacus

Joey's Challenge #212 - featuring Relly Telly One:

relly telly one.yincut.'nzeppel.sandswirl.knightsbridge.c-six

Diva Challenge #361:

Cut out this tile from the book depository packaging from my newly ordered book.

From this:

To this:

 knightsbridge.frunky.printemps.andante.hibred

This was a little challenging as my tile is kinda like corrugated cardboard so my lines were unintentionally squiggly! Was half afraid that my pen would poke right through the surface! 

Joey's Challenge #214 - featuring Spoken:

spoken.paradox.fife.widgets.ginli.mooka.jonqal.pokeleaf.stripling.amoeba.cubine.flux.tipple.tripoli.pokeroot

The speck in the centre is not a ink blot btw, it's the hole made by my compass cutter. A good thing to have to anyone who wants to cut / make their own zendala tiles! Mine was a gift from my father many years ago - a random crafty item he bought when he was on holiday with his friends. Yes, my Dad rocks. 

The last Joey's tile above was done with my new pen from my sister *drumroll*, a Rotring Rapidograph 0.2! How awesome is that. I've read about them (at places like Jetpens) but couldn't bear to shell out that kind of money for a pen! Blessed I am with awesome family members! 

But woohoo! My sister rocks and gifted me one!!! Tested it out on Mack, a tangle I read about on TickedToTangle (but never got around to doing the challenge) and it is so crisp it's amazing. Here it is side by side with my well used Micron. For those eagle eyed people out there, yes, it is a metal tipped pen. I thought it would be scratchy but it's not! 

Although, it kinda reminds me of an epi or insulin pen though *shudder*.

Last and perhaps not least, I still haven't heard from some of my giveaway winners =(. Not quite sure what to do. Any suggestions?

++edit: Ria, Lisa and Margaret please contact me over winning prizes on my giveaway! logically_thinking at yahoo dot co dot uk!!

Happy easter all!

Happy Easter All!

 

Spent a bit of time away from Zentangling making little gift tags for easter goodies for the office. Thank the joys of the internet for tutorials on how to draw a perfect egg as well as how to draw a ribbon. Coloured with my local brand colour pencils, Omni. Am liking my eggs although I do admit that my shading / light needs work. 

[In case you were wondering the white tails are so that I can thread the wire tie / ribbon holding the gift bag closed through a loop =).]

Sharing my challenge tiles for the week.

 

Joey's challenge #209 - also photographed another pencil that I've tried. The Staedtler Kakikata:

diva dance.funsin.auraknot

It's a lovely pencil... both for use as well as to look at. Smooth and easy to move. Possibly making me look more "professional" than my usual cutesy Japanese pencils (yes I'm a stationery addict - the silver lining is that it's a lot cheaper to be a stationery addict than say... a branded handbag addict... or at least that's what I like to try and tell myself :P). These pencils are available in various designs - 3 designs per colour range with a total of 3 colours in the range. These are those that I got in the blue range.

 

 

 

Diva Challenge #357:

 

paradox

IAST #236:

paisley.safflower

 

And by the way... Does this happen to anyone else?

 



 

Thankfully this has only happened to my black 01 micron so there's no confusion... yet...

 

As a parting note: to all the people who won a prize on my birthday giveaway please do drop me a line!

A wild birthday!

Celebrated my birthday last Friday... And it was probably the most glorious day I've had in a loooong time.

Took leave from work and spent the whole day doing happy things. Started with one of my favourite nasi lemak breakfasts :) followed by a trip to the new Japanese discount store (which I love) and woot woot they had the sharpener that I've wanted for yonks! The Sonic Ratchetta! For the last few months every time I've gone it's been out of stock! All I got to see was a picture of it hung on the empty display arm and it's price tag... UNTIL NOW! They cost S$6.00 each in the Japanese lifestyle store and only $3.50 at the discount store! There were two types and I just couldn't decide! 

I couldn't pass up on S$1.90 Winnie the Pooh and Donald Duck pencil caps either!

Then lunch at Shin Minori - a Japanese restaurant which I had never tried before... with a 1 for 1 birthday promo! Super worth it! [note to anyone else intending to go, I don't think it's quite worth it to pay full price... but that's just my humble opinion] 

Then a trip to River Safari - with another 1 for 1 birthday promo! Didn't manage to take much photos but I chose the River Safari over our Zoo because I LOVE FISH (and I had gone to the Aquarium last year for my birthday)! 

 I did not know piranas were sparkly... did you?

And to make it better my ticket entitled me to a 10% discount at the gift store which I found the new The Art Faculty flamingo pouch - my favourite design from The Art Faculty! I love them flamingos! It's now my new zentangle carry all! And check out the free pin they gave me to wear around the zoo. 

[Shameless advert: Please shop from The Art Faculty! It's for a good cause! It is a "platform that celebrates the abilities of people with autism and related challenges. We promote and showcase their special talents. For every sale of artwork and product, our differently-abled artists earn royalties to learn the value of work and financial independence..."]

Then dinner at a new food court!

This on top of lovely presents from my loved ones!
 

'twas a great day :) with everything happening at home, guess it's been a while that I've been this happy. Need to learn to "hold on" to the feeling... 

Also sharing my St Pats day IAST - I love how these challenges introduce new tangles for us to learn / try / use. 

luckiline.sh.rock

 

My tile for Joey's Challenge #208...

coil.abacus.drawings.'nzeppel.pokeleaf

Did this tile with a Pentel Fude Touch Brush pen. I quite liked the experience. I had to control my pen pressure (I press far too hard even when writing) and enjoy that on the few bits I managed to control the pen pressure somewhere, there's a clear line weight difference (see some of the beads and bits of the coil) The biggest downside? I can't draw on it with the Sakura white or the Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip white. I ended up drawing with a fine liquid paper pen! As an added benefit - am learning to love pokeleaf! 

Also sharing my Diva name tile for Diva Challenge #356

sandswirl.plume-ar.andromeda.patiences.florz.cubine 

And perhaps as a belated surprise, I was gifted with a second hand (but working) fish tank, with a pump and light and everything... for me to buy what I have always affectionately called "my guys" (they're actually balloon rams... these are electric blue balloon rams...). I always look for them in every fish shop that I enter (and I go into a lot of fish shops because I LOVE FISH) but never bought them for fear of killing them =(. I've taken the plunge! And so far... I LOVE MY GUYS. I hope nothing untoward happens to them though - fingers crossed! I've never had a real tank before! I'm taking forever to write this post because the tank is right next to me and I'm turning to stare and watch them a lot.

And of course (and I'm sure the long awaited for) results of my birthday giveaway! Thank you for participating! Congratulations to Ria, Lisa and Margaret! Please do drop me a line at logically_thinking at yahoo dot co dot uk so that I can get your gifts to you!

Playing with Sparkling Shadows

My contribution for Joey's weekly challenge #207 is a small home-cut bijou tile. 

In a little bit of fun I tried tangling with Diamine Shimmer Ink (Sparkling Shadows) and a smiley Pilot Kakuno (if you look closely at the nib, it's smiling at you =)).  

knightsbridge.ahh.pokeleaf

Had to angle the photo a little so that you could see some of the shimmer. Wasn't quite as smooth as a micron but the inconsistent lines give it a little bit of it's own character I think =).

Liked the outcome so much I tried it on my Diva Challenge #355 tile in my sketchbook.

verve.'nzeppel.YAF.huggins.purk.frunky.knightsbridge.rixty

Didn't bother to angle this photo so that the gold flakes can be seen. 

Interesting experience and outcome I must say. Surprised at what a difference the type of pen can cause. 

And in case you haven't yet... last call for my birthday giveaway here! Open to all! 

Dual challenge tile

I struggled with this one... you can kinda see where I inked out the bits I wasn't happy with... which resulted in this tile. Quite happy with it though. For Joey's Challenge #206 and Diva Challenge #354

moowa.fengle.siri

Remember to take part in my free international giveaway here!

Challenging challenges!

Sharing IAST #231

barney.luv-a

Diva Challenge #353 was quite a challenge for me. Did a heartstring zendala pattern with the help of a few random paper hearts cut from scrap.

Quite like the outcome (and this cute little tile sized easel I got from a local discount store!). Took me quite a few days to complete!

 

Also sharing my tile for Joey's Challenge #205. I loved Andromeda so much! Def on my favourite tangles list!

 

andromeda.'nzeppel

 

 

And if you want to partake in my birthday giveaway, check it out here!

'tis better to give than it is to receive

aquafleur.ahh.yuan.sandswirl

Happy Chinese New Year!

The above character is 福, the Chinese word for good luck or prosperity. Before you ask, no the tile is not upside down! During the festive season the character is commonly hung upside down, because the Chinese word for upside down sounds like "to come" in Mandarin... hence "come hither prosperity!"

Also sharing my tiles for this week's Diva Challenge and for Joey's Challenge as well!

stripling.dragonair.dyon.printemps.marasu.abacus 

hibred.printemps.shattuck.leaflet.y.a.f..rixty.'nzeppel.borbs



For those wondering about my subject title... my birthday is coming in mid-March and I've always liked gift giving. I used to do small giveaways and exchanges on my old tatting blog but I haven't done any here yet... So... to celebrate my birthday, I'm giving away three small gifts! 

First, a Disney Stitch Uni Kuru Toga pencil (the Kuru Toga is my choice of pencil when I'm in the mechanical pencil mood) and a selection of home cut tiles... and

... two more sets of home cut tiles, each with a snoopy pencil cap and a Mitsubishi 9800 2B pencil. Yes, Jetpens classifies these pencils as writing pencils but I have been using them on Zentangle tiles and I loving them... maybe you'd like to try them out too!

I am prepared to ship internationally (hopefully the shipping is not too scary!)!

If you'd like to have a chance to get any of these small gifts, please do leave a comment on this post =) with your email address! Or drop me an email at logically_thinking at yahoo dot co dot uk. Event runs till 15 March 2018! 

In addition, for every reader who signs up for this simple giveaway, I will make a small donation to Arc Children's Centre.

If you are interested, leave a comment today!

Hearts - hugs needed.

Sharing some previous tiles as well as the recent tiles that I have been doing this public holiday long weekend. Enjoying the process de-stressing from work and dealing with the parental unit's illnesses.

 

Hugs and prayers needed =(.

 

IAST #227 done on a home-cut 4-inch tile with together with a brown copic and a blue sakura micron. 

frunky.fife.knightsbridge.msst

IAST #228 combined with Diva Challenge #349 done in my fav. canson inspiration sketchbook. Was trying out a midrori notebook in the last few posts but they weren't pencil friendly and I started hating the process and outcomes. Gave up and reverted back to my cansons and refound my love for zentangle. Also discovered a new pencil at a local new "discount store" and am loving it.

rumpus.printemps.artoo.paradox

IAST #229  and Diva Challenge #350 quite like this one... somehow reminds me of Alice in Wonderland's Queen of Hearts.

ramy.florz

IAST #230 - am particularly pleased at how this one turned out.

funsin.frunky.huggins.'nzeppel 

Diva Challenge #351

 divadance rock 'n roll.snail.florz

Joey's Weekly Challenge #203 - my first attempt at a Joey's Challenge (and at tangle Eddyper)

rixty.eddyper

 

And perhaps last but not least...

 

 

Mom passed away more than 10 years ago when I was still in Uni. Had she still been with us, we would have celebrated her birthday last week. Still missing you 10 years on, Mom. Wish you were here.