Oh Christmas Tree...

This is a Zentangle Inspired Artwork note card I did yesterday. I'm not sure if I am done with the tree or not. I like the contrast, but I'm just not sure. What do you think? should I add some detail to some of the bulbs on the tree or leave it alone?

Therapy for winter woes...

Here is the Christmas Themed Zentangle Inspired art note card I finished last night. This time of the year is very hard... and doing these gives me some quiet time to just listen to music or an audio book, and get away from all our troubles. It's great therapy.

More Christmas Themed Zentangle Inspired Artwork & Greeting Card

This is a 9x12 inch Zentangle Inspired Christmas Themed Artwork I did. I will do a bunch of these to sell next year. I'm also doing some Greeting Cards. Here is the first one...

Christmas Themed Zentangle Inspired Artwork

I've been so thrilled with the way the Christmas Themed Zentangle Inspired Artworks have been coming out, that I decided to go out of my sketchbook/journal and do a few of them to sell. I am also going to do some greeting cards. This is the first in the series.

Christmas Rock Garden Zentangle Inspired Art

When I first started working on this, I thought it was going to look like Christmas Candies, but now that it's done, I think it looks more like a Christmas rock garden. I like the way it came out. My markers ran out when I was half way done with the circles with the red dots in the middle, but I don't mind that some are darker than the others. My blue marker also dried up, so I shaded with a derwent water-soluble ink pencil, then wet it, I really like the way the shading came out, so I might use this method again to shade with.

Christmas color schemed Zentangle Inspired Artwork

I added a couple of christmas color schemed Zentangle Inspired Artworks to my sketchbook this week. I like the way they turned out. If my scanner was working, I would try and make them into greeting card covers...

Back to my sketchbook....

A couple new additions to my Zentangle Inspired Art Sketchbook. I was busy with work last week, but I've had a couple of days with some me-time... I'm getting tired of these colors, so I switching it up in the one I am working on now. A local art friend is starting up a watercolor club, not sure when the first meeting will be, but I hope it is on a evening when I don't have a ton of work to do, so I can go check it out... and hopefully it won't be snowing! I can't believe we already have snow on the ground this year! Unfortunately, this is just the beginning.

50th Birthday Bash - Las Vegas

I've wanted to go to Las Vegas for quite some time, my friend Jan and her husband Bill talked us into going to celebrate my 50th birthday. We were there for 3 nights... long enough to lose all the money we brought with us to the casinos... but we had a great time!

Flying above the clouds...

 I thought it was really interesting that some of the fields are planted in circles.

First sight of the mountains...

That is one big sandbox...

It's amazing, when you stop and think about it, that you can get on a plane 

in South Bend Indiana, and 3 hours later you are in Sin City! 

Liberace's car... no doubt about it!

We talked Jeff into having his photo taken with these girls dressed as showgirls on the strip,

I don't know if they really are, or if they just dress up to earn money.

$10 for the photo, EVERYTHING IS EXPENSIVE in Las Vegas!

These photos were taken at the conservatory in the Bellagio. 

I bet the Christmas display would be grand to see,

the fall display was marvelous! Mums were everywhere!

 

These are made of blown glass and hang at the entrance to the conservatory.

This was actually inside the building... the sky is painted.

We had dinner at this burger joint the first evening.

I didn't get to see the "Welcome to Las Vegas" Sign,

but we did see other famous signs like this Circus Circus.

My Dad and Sharon gave us our accommodations for the trip, 

we stayed at the Marriot Grand Chateau 

(the tall building to the right of the Harley Davidson Cafe.)

Jan and I teased our men that this was the show we wanted to go see

while we were in Las Vegas. Every day we would see this sign on the

way to the Las Vegas Strip... Maybe next time! ;)

We did go to see Zarkana. 

It was a wonderfully weird show! Very entertaining...

Comedy, dance, acrobatics, art, it was amazing!

 It's official now... I am 50 years old, and one more of my bucket list items has been checked off.

New Toys for Zentangle Inspired Artwork

Two more additions to my Zentangle sketchbook. On the top one, my markers dried up, but I was able to get the "lower level of orbs and their auras" done by patiently coaxing the markers to give me just enough ink. I had to finish the drawing with Derwent Inktense Pencils. I got through over 30 Zentangles with that set of markers, so I am not complaining.

A new set of markers broken in on the second posted page. A New set of Faber-Castell - 6 Pitt artist pens (brush) - The Landscape set... Of course I had to play with "new toys".