a splash of colour

Here's my sketchbook page for this week's Joey and Diva Challenge. The Diva wanted us to use our hands to create a string, and Joey wanted us to use the tangle "Breach". I added Flux and Crescent Moon. The background was created using Finetec paints. The white pen is a Uni-ball Signo Broad.

  In a similar fashion, I created some Bijous with my Finetec paints to complete last week's of Joey challenge. We had to use Mak-Rah-Mee, which is a lovely tangle. I added lots and lots of Mooka to the tile, draping outwards and downwards.

  For Travelling Tangles, I completed a tile sent to me from Jules Mack.

  I added Fe-Ba as a background to try to echo her flowers. I think it worked well.

  I also sent out my tiles for April's Kite Swap. I created hand-made envelopes for this swap, and had a lot of fun with it.

(Addresses have been blurred out for privacy purposes.)

  Here's a mosaic from one of the classes I taught last week. :)

The bottom left tile that has no shading is mine.
The top right tile was done by an adult. The other two were done by kids.

  And lastly, here is a page from my sketchbook of a flower I drew in ballpoint (Biro) pen. Lots of fun.

giving the baby a shower

  Let's start this post off with a monotangle tile for Diva's weekly challenge. We were asked to use Paradox. Here's what I did:

Very simple.

  I also wanted to show you a little project I did with my students for the month of March. I started by creating little windows in watercolours....

  I then got my students to add Puff, Onamato, and Diva Dance Waltz onto the tile. Here's my example tile for the class, with an added coloured background:

  And here's what some of my students did:

  If you live in Singapore and would like to join a Zentangle class with me, I offer weekly classes at Bukit Batok East Zone 3 RC and Toa Payoh Central Community Club. Or you can arrange for a private class, too. Find out more via this link.

  I'd also like to share exciting news with you... My husband, Alex, and I are expecting a baby in mid-July! 

I'm currently at 24 weeks, but I've already gained 15kg (that's about 33 pounds).  

  It's a girl. She's healthy. And we are thrilled for this new addition to our family. We haven't quite settled on a name just yet. But I'm not too worried. Four months is still a way to go.

  The pregnancy is the reason why I dropped off from the online world towards the end of 2017, and that I haven't been updating my YouTube channel... I'm not sure what I will/will not be able to do after the birth of the child... I know for sure that I'll be taking my maternity leave from June onwards, so all of my Zentangle classes will stop then. I don't know when I'll start teaching again after, but teaching is my passion and I cannot see myself completely stopping even after having the child. I'm just taking things as they come, and reminding myself to not push myself too hard.

  I have plans to start converting my weekly classes into online courses. That way, if you're living outside of Singapore but would like to take a class with me, you could. Watch this space. You'll be the first to know when that happens.

In related news;

  My best friend is planning a baby shower for me to happen in June. We're ironing out logistics and I'm excited for the celebration. Some days it still feels surreal to know that I'm pregnant....

  I recently found this website called "Paperless Post" that creates personalised digital invitations. I've been thinking of creating invites to my baby shower using the site. I'll give you a full review of my experience with the website at a later date. :)

  Onwards!

  I started a new sketchbook to do ballpoint sketches, and more realistic pieces using my Caran D'ache Neocolor II. Here are some pages from the sketchbook so far.

A tomato with a cool colour scheme.

Some pears.

  I also drew a seashell. I showed it to you in my last post, but if you haven't seen it, you can click here.

  Thanks for dropping by. Maybe I'll see you next week. :) Until then... Keep tangling!

she sells seashells by the seashore

  Here's what I've been up to in the past weeks... First off, some tiles from the Travelling Tangles Project.

  Let's start with this beautiful circle tile from Elena Greer...

  A tiny Bijou from Yvette Campbell. 

Shading done using Peerless watercolours. White highlights done using a Uni-Ball Signo Broad pen.

  Joey van Oort sent this tile to me for the June 2017 Flower Swap.

I tried to have the tile look like a flower. It was coloured using Peerless watercolours, and the white highlights are from a Uni-Ball Signo Broad pen. 

  I did some prep-work for my Zentangle classes... Tiny coloured squares made using watercolours.

  Which I think inspired what I drew for this week's It's A String Thing #235 (top). My tile for the Diva challenge is below it. We were asked to use our name as a string.

  Lastly, here's a pretty seashell I drew using Caran D'ache's Neocolor II. I really like how it turned out and am looking forward to creating more of such painterly drawings using my Neocolors.

In case you were wondering: the ballpoint pen is included in the picture because that's what I used as the outline for the shell.

  Thanks for dropping by. I hope you're having a great weekend.

I'm doing swimmingly well.

  I have so many things to show you this week!

  I thought I'd spend February filming videos, and doing more personal projects... But I ended catching a terrible case of the flu that took me three weeks to recover from. :( 

  Other than the flu, February has treated me well enough. Chinese New Year happened. I had reunion dinners with both my in-laws, and at my mum's place. Here are some fishes I painted using Peerless watercolours to celebrate the holiday.

  I had a workshop at Bukit Batok East Community Club. The CC's staffs who attended the workshop were very creative and engaged in creating beautiful Zentangle art works.

  Here's their class mosaic. One of the tiles is mine. :)

  Group photo!

  I completed a couple of tiles for Travelling Tangles. Here's one from Jules Mack.

I had to black out the lower left circle because the watercolours made the black ink bleed.
I do like how the coaster turned out, though.

  Here's one from Sandie McClellan for the September Cadent Swap.

  And this lovely tile was from Debra Huff.

  I added watercolours for the background and then pushed the “bracelet” forward by adding Diva Dance Waltz. Subtle shading was added using Polychromos coloured pencils.

  Debra also sent me a tile for the Embedded Letter Swap.

  I was very tempted to add a frame around Debra’s tangles. But eventually decided to expand her work outwards. I thought about filling the tile out, edge-to-edge... but I chose to stop here. I’m very pleased with how it turned out. :)

  Over the week, I found a new gelato place at Bedok...

  Today also happens to be my first year wedding anniversary. ^-^

  Alex and I celebrated it early, last Sunday, by going to watch "Black Panther" at Cathay Platinum. The theatre had extra wide, plush seats, that could recline! The theatre's staffs also served us some finger food (directly to where we sat). And there was a little lamp that you could switch on if you needed to see what you were eating. It was a great experience.

  That day, I wore a peach-coloured vintage tulle dress that used to belong to Alex's grandmother. :)

  Lastly, here's a tile I did this morning for Diva's challenge. We were supposed to use a heart-shaped string on a Zendala.... I did do that, but I didn't exactly follow the string.

The background was created using Caran d'ache's Neocolor II.
I bought a set of 30 for $20! What a steal!

  Thanks for popping by. I hope the year of the dog has begun just as well for you as it has for me.

colours of the week

  Let's kick off this week's post with some tiles from Travelling Tangles Project...

  Firstly, here's a tile from Janet Shillam-Day sent to me in October 2017. She drew the tangles in white: Abundies, My Swing, and N’zeppel.

  I played around with the idea of extending N’zeppel to other areas of the tile, but ended up doing a watercolour wash of blue and then adding Fassett to the area. Shading was added using Derwent’s Coloursoft coloured pencils.

  Here’s a 3Z tile from Lin Laidler. I tried to make my Diva Dance sort of weave in and out between the other tangles.

Before....

  And here's the after. No matter how many 3Z tiles I complete, I’m always so surprised by how small they really are. They get completed so quickly!

This was a tile from Barb Mavraganis sent to me in APRIL LAST YEAR (!) How quickly time flies. Yesterday morning, it spoke to me and I finally got around to completing it. It's the orange tile in this picture.

I added extra colours using Derwent’s Art Bar, and Coloursoft coloured pencils. The white is from a Uni-Ball Signo Broad pen.

  Onwards, here are my tiles for this week's weekly challenges. Diva's challenge for Moebius Syndrome Awareness Day, featuring the colour purple.

  And a tile for Joey's challenge, featuring String #165 and the tangle Exeter.

  And a couple more tiles, just for fun. I found a new way to use Inktense blocks and Art Bars, so I'll probably be making a video tutorial soon. :)

Featuring Mooka, and my tangle, Naida.

Paradox-y thing, with Flux.

And to finish the week off, a tile featuring my simplified version of Diva Dance.

  Thanks for popping by. I'll see you next week!

Cold Weather Tangles

  Last week, Singapore had its coldest weather in a long time. Temperatures dipped to 22°C (72°F). Usually, our days hover at a warm 27°C to 35°C (80°F to 95°F).

  Here's what I've been up to lately...

A Bijou tile from Yvette Campbell for Travelling Tangles.
I used Flux, Printemps, and Tipple. Then added shading using Derwent's Coloursoft coloured pencils.

  I also completed some tiles for last week's weekly challenges.

The Diva asked us to do a duotangle tile using Phicops and Huggins.
My tile ended up looking like a seashell washed up on the beach. So I added Peerless watercolours to further push that image.

Joey wanted us to use Ta-Da and a string.
I really liked her tile for that challenge.

  And here are my tiles for this week's challenge...

Joey asked us to use the tangle "Didada" (which was new to me) and string #237.

The Diva asked us to create a string using found objects. I kept it simple and just used a scissors. You can see the initial string in pencil on the left of the picture.

  And here's one last tile for Travelling Tangles. A beautiful tile was sent from Raye Burnett (she drew the gem) to Debra Huff (she added the bezel. The tile was the sent to me. I added the blue background and echoed Deb’s lovely striping.

  And that's it for this week. Thanks for popping by. :)