Gloria J Zucaro's "Getting Ready"

Today I started the preparation for the Inspirational Card Deck Swap 2013.   I had not realized until I emailed Jessica Brogan, the hostess for this swap, that the quotes each artist puts on the cards actually have to be "inspirational".  I had collected some quotes by famous actors and actresses, and had gotten some photos of several of them to use on my cards.  But I went through and eliminated the quotes that weren't actually inspirational...only very funny!  I can use those quotes and photos for making other ATC cards on my own. I took some pages out of one of the paper selections by Melody Ross that I bought on sale and glued the cards onto various pages.  I had put glue on the pages first as I got to each page, so attached a few 2.5 x 3.5 extra cardboard pieces where I had already put the book binders adhesive.  I had done this with a wet wash brush, so the paper got too wet and ripped off some of the design when I picked it up to move to another place to dry.  But I am not worried it will add interest as I add another layer.  When I cut the cards apart, they will each have a different back. I plan on putting some Silks Acrylic Glaze  over these papers anyway and also my name and blog information, too.

I also did my journaling for the limited 10 minutes for "30 days in your journal" by Julie Fei Fan Balzer.  I must say that for the last two days I have not had the supplies that Julie has, which she said is perfectly okay and that I could substitute with what I have.  I did not have a transfer screen to do a screen printing effect, so I just used regular stencils and stamps. Some with my initials in a very scroll-y alphabet.  I did not have a "frame" so cut one out of my Steampunk book from Dover Press. Today's video showed her adding a photo of herself and circling it with watercolor crayons.  Again, I had no photo of myself so added puzzle pieces, some glitter and used my Derwent Inktense Watercolor Pencils to get a similar effect.

The last thing I did was paint a page in my smaller journal black.  I am going to do the 8th and last Fall Fearless & Fly journal page.  The colors for it are black with bright colors.  I will be using my "Hot Shots" neon paints over the black.  Have a good evening!

Card backing papers below.

My 3 days of journaling below.  New page tomorrow!

Gloria J Zucaro's "For Lucy" and "Aura2"

"For Lucy"

3.5" Square on Official Zentangle Tile.  140 lb. Watercolor Paper

Pen & Ink, Metallic Markers.

NFS

"Aura2"

3.5" Square on Official Zentangle Tile.  140 lb. Watercolor Paper

Pen & Ink

$3.00 free shipping for tile itself.  See examples of framing options below second design.

These two tangle designs are for Laura's " I am the Diva" challenge this week.  Last week Laura's darling baby, Artoo, was in the hospital with pneumonia, so no challenge last week.  I am so happy that Artoo is recouping at home now which is less stressful for them both as well as the rest of Laura's family.

The challenge design this week is doing auras around your basic design.  An aura is sort of like an echo, where the waves of sound keep flowing outward, or like throwing a pebble into water.  In my first design I did a tribute to my daughter, Lucy, as April 17 is her birthday.  I will frame this to give to her when we get together.  She works as an elementary education art teacher, so no nights out during the week! :-)  The design says April 17 2012 happy Birthday Lucy.

In my second design I went through my collection of designs and picked about 7 different designs and did my variations on them.  Then I began to make an aura around them.  As the lines flow outward they change as they bump into the other designs, so that you always have a change of shape.  I love the random nature of tangles because the end result is always a surprise.

An example of 8"H x 10"W Frame 

This framing option is $25. which includes two mats, glass, frame, back cover and hanging wire.

An example of 8" Square Frame,

 Available in natural (shown), darker wood finish, white or black painted finish.

This framing is $10. which includes frame, glass and hanger.