Here is a Zentangled dragonfly colored with the Dual Brush Pens. The little dragonflies are made using the Tombow Tangle technique. These design and many more colorful creations are included, with step-by-step instructions and color charts for each design. You will soon be doodling these and your own creative designs – it’s easy, relaxing and sure to impress all your friends with this art technique. I will announce on the blog as soon as it’s available!

Next up? April!

Old Fashioned Picnic Invitation

The Paper Posie package arrived and I was immediately motivated by the sizable assortment of paper and superfluities – a beautiful collection of soft, romantic colors that quickly inspired a vintage project. With Independence Day coming up I thought an old fashioned picnic was called for, complete with a fun invitation.

The invitation includes a pocket in the front, held down firmly with MONO Adhesive Permanent. Place the i

nvitation, chipboard tickets or even a menu into the pocket.

The ruffled ribbon accent is super easy to make. Lay down the MONO Adhesive Power Bond and a very thin line of Mono Multi Liquid Glue onto your project. Take a length of ribbon (I usually work right off the roll), and pleat it down the adhesive in a back and forth fashion. Don’t worry about being perfect, the irregularities in the size and direction of the pleats are what make this embellishment so endearing. The adhesive holds the pleats in place as you work and the Multi Glue holds it forever, especially when working with wider ribbons.
The chipboard tickets were colored with the Dual Brush Pens, with the easiest and fastest way ever to finish ‘raw’ chipboard! I used #723 pink and #126 light olive to match the Paper Posie package. Scribble the colors onto a piece of plastic and spritz with water. Place the chipboard down into the color and lift. Repeat until it is covered with color. To give the antique edge, and while still wet, run a #977 saddle brown Brush tip around the edge. The brown will blend as the chipboard dries.

I finished the pieces by stamping details with brown ink.

The Paper Posie package was not even dented – so I created a page ready to add favorite photos and journaling after the picnic! I would most likely antique the photos before printing to match the theme of the page. I mirrored the pocket from the invitation and kept the design simple with a quad panel showing off the pretty papers. This would also make a fun gift for an honored guest at your picnic.

-Marie

I find inspiration in my tools and creative products; sorting through papers and sorting embellishments back into their place motivates me with their shapes, textures, colors and motifs. There’s nothing better than to see a wall of pretty ribbon or a mug full of colorful markers to get your creative juices going, it also helps to remind me what I have available to create with!

I also keep visual journals filled with magazine clippings, sketches, color swatches, fun sayings and any odd ephemera that I find interesting. No rules, no worries, just a visual mind dump of images I like. These always prove to be a great inspiration if I am stuck on a direction or theme for a project.

A sneak preview of what I have been working on – coloring Zentangles with Tombow Dual Brush Pens. What is a Zentangle®? It is basically a doodle – a doodle that reduces stress and improves your focus while you create a beautiful piece of art. Traditional Zentangles® were developed by Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts. They use Zentangles® as a ritual way to meditate and give you a sense of well being. Their mantra is “Anything is possible one stroke at a timeTM”

Although not a traditional zentangle technique, I love to color the Zentangles® with the Tombow Dual Brush Pens. Tombow offers 96 different colors and a colorless blending pen to provide an endless array of color combinations and shades. I used a permanent black pen to create the tangles and then choose my colors.

The Dual Brush Pen palette used in this Zentangle® are:

173 – Willow Green 195 – Light Green 245 – Sap Green 451 – Sky Blue 452 – Process Blue 493 – Reflex Blue 761- Carnation 723 – Pink 743 – Hot Pink N00 – Blender

All this week the design team will be posting their take on Zentangles and the many ways they were inspired by this simple, relaxing process so check back often, you’ll be amazed at all the different ways Zentangle can show up in your everyday creations!

PINK PAISLEE WEEK, keep the comments coming! I love clipboards! I tend to be a bit obsessed with having them hanging around my office so I can quickly grab them to use while taking garden notes outside or for planning, sketching or doodling on my lap when sitting out on the deck or watching TV.  When I saw the ravishing paper and embellishments from the Pink Paislee Queen Bee Collection I knew I wanted to embellish yet another clip board.

To cover a clipboard with decorative paper you need two essential tools; a sanding block and MONO MULTI Liquid Glue. A bone folder is also handy. I really like the wooden clipboards from Walnut Hollow. The hardware can be easily removed for easy covering of the board.  Cut the paper pieces slightly larger than the board and use the wide applicator end of the Liquid glue and cover the back of the paper lightly with glue. Use the bone folder to burnish down the layers of paper and crease the excess paper down at the edges. When dry, hold the sanding block at a 45° angle and ‘cut’ the excess paper away by sanding. This gives a beautiful flush edge. Replace the hardware and add decorative accents, gluing down with the MONO MULTI. The glue is very strong and even embellishments glued to the hardware hold fast, even with heavy use.

Marie, Where do you create? I have a large studio and an office. Although, I’ve just decided to downsize and combine the two spaces into one.

Do you listen/watch to music/tv while you work? I listen to music. My playlist right now is Barenaked Ladies, Coldplay, Enya, Il Divo and U2.

This is a quick project that you can place into a lunch bag or briefcase; a gift of a silly moment on April Fool’s day!

Tombow vellum adhesive, Dual Brush Pens and Imaginisce paper and embellishments were used along with some paper punches and vellum.

The card is to be hanged on your nose to view the scripted message on the other side – and to look silly while doing it! It will be fun to do, but also to share with others!

I liked the paper from the Imaginisce ‘Scooter’s Vacation’ and also added stickers, a stamped image and flowers from the same collection so everything matched.  The Tombow Dual Brush Pens that match the Imaginisce Scooter’s Vacation Line:

837 Wine Red. 969 Chocolate. 373 Sea Blue. 991 Light Ochre. 126 Light Olive

Everything was put together with Mono Adhesive Vellum.

I use an upside down vase punch for the nose opening, but cutting a triangle from the paper would also work well. On the front of the card place the following message:

To view your message, go to a mirror and hang this on your nose…

For the flip side, write this message on a piece of vellum:

Wishing you a goofy, funny and silly day! Love from Lirpa Sloof

Turn the vellum over and copy the letters. Adhere this side up on the card.

I decorated the card to make it look as goofy as I could – you could really go to town with this idea, big ears maybe? Silly hair?…have fun!

Have you figured out who Lirpa Sloof is yet? April Fools spelled backwards!

What about you? Do you play any April Fool’s day pranks at your house?