This month I joined the Yahoo Group, Zentangle® Inspired Art... The group offers a variety of monthly swaps that you can participate in if you would like. I signed up for my very first swap, EVER! This all goes hand in hand with my inspirational word of the year, cultivate. This was a step towards cultivating my art. (More on my word of the year in an upcoming post.) It has been inspirational to look at photos that other members of the group have posted and very nice to be so warmly welcomed...
I decided to sign up for the Beginner Swap as a newbie to Zentangle and this group. It felt like the perfect choice to get my feet wet. The requirement for this swap was to create an artist trading card. I so enjoyed creating the card. It was fun to incorporate a couple of new patterns I've been working on, Chillon and Bales. Here it is, "Mystic Swirls."
So... in reading the details of the swap I saw that it was a nice thought to also send the hostess of the swap some little extra. I decided to draw a second artist trading card as a gift. I wanted to work on my Fengle so I chose that pattern as my base for this card. I titled this one, "Stargazer."
While preparing these cards the group sent out a notification of a Bingo type game you could participate in during the month of February. The game is called, Zengo. Cute, huh?! The entry fee for this was to create an ATC or traditional Zentangle tile using a combination of black, white, pink, and/or red. I decided to complete this tile as well so I could ship everything all together. This is, "Tied Up in Knots."
After completing all three pieces I couldn't just stick them in an envelope without some special packaging. These are my little works of art after all! I wanted them to be showcased! (Plus the fact that I'm ALL about packaging!)
I can't wait for the recipients to get their art cards... :) It feels great to start the year by taking time to cultivate my art and share it with others.
Hi Holly! Jean Chaney from the Yahoo Group here. I tracked you down so I could follow your blog. You do beautiful work and I love your "packaging"! I am so looking forward to that Copic training! If you want to follow me back I am over at: http://tanglestreet.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteHi Jean! So lovely to see you here! Thanks for tracking me down... I so appreciate your kind comments! I visited your lovely blog and I am now following you as well! You're work is beautiful! I am looking forward to seeing more at the Yahoo Group and at your blog!
Deleteall of your work is very lovely!
ReplyDeleteI have signed up for the February swaps but I think it will be my first and last swap! The "etiquette" of the world of swaps seems like a minefield to me and I will no doubt get something wrong! I am just in the thinking of some nice packaging phase but could not produce anything as lovely as yours...well done I am sure they will be appreciated by the recipients!
Thank you so much for the compliment on my work!
DeleteI am so sorry if I made you think a swap needs to be as complicated as I made it... I have a tendency to over complicate most things... It's a definite issue I need to work on! Please don't feel like you'll do anything wrong... It's a very kind group of people and really the whole point of the swap is to exchange art with other like minded artists. It is supposed to be fun! As this was my first swap I do understand the feeling as if I wasn't following the proper rules or really didn't know what the rules were... I think that may be just part of the learning curve of trying something new! I hope you end up enjoying your experience and try it again at a future time. I know that I personally will not participate in every month's swaps. I'll join when I can! I know I'll learn a lot by collecting other artist's work (no matter how it's "packaged").
I visited your very LOVELY blog and am now following you! Thanks again for visiting me here and leaving a comment. Please, let me know how you feel about the swap when you've completed it!