The Fine Art of Teaching Crafters

Earlier today I taught a class in Zentangle at a local scrapbook store. I was a bit trepidatious about the class because they'd invited another teacher some months ago, and she had not been very well received. Of course, the class went fine. We had a great time, and many of my students are off to a fine start in this new hobby.

Relazing after teaching my Zentangle class.

Last week I did a post for Elizabeth Spann Craig's excellent blog "Mystery Writing is Murder." I wrote about how to put more emotion in your writing. One of the commenters said, I love how you have broken down your tips into manageable, understandable steps."

That got me thinking: Why is it that some people can teach and some can't?

To me, the essence of teaching is breaking material down into discrete, manageable steps--and then give examples, using as many different explanations as possible.

When my mother taught ballet to small children, she would use chalk to draw a big circle on the floor of her dance studio. In the center of the circle, she drew fish. To teach youngsters to execute a "grand jete" (great leap), she would say, "Jump over the puddle and don't let the fishies bite your toes." It never failed to work.

Often, people who know a skill very well don't stop to break it down. They fail to realize the singular, separate steps one must take to get from A to Z. So here's my quickie guide to teaching:

TASK ONE: Create a learning environment (

1. Bring as many visual aids as possible.
2. Keep the project simple at the start. Progress to more difficult projects as you go.
3. Create a comfortable relaxed environment where students feel free to both  fail--and learn!
4. Limit the options and you limit the mistakes a student can make.
5. Be incredibly available and approachable so students can ask questions.
6. Watch your students carefully and if you see a puzzled look, investigate!
7. Praise students liberally.
8. Rephrase information in as many ways as possible.
9. Realize that you will have visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners and offer help for each.
10. NEVER, ever call negative attention to a student's efforts.

TASK TWO: Break down the process

1. Pretend you are explaining the task to a Martian. Get that detailed!
2. Create and define a vocabulary as you go along.
3. "Watch" yourself do the task and then list the steps.
4. Share tips, those shortcuts you personally have used.
5. Show the process in its various stages of completion.
6. Think through the ways a person could interpret your directions wrong--and head off those mistakes.
7. Offer a handout to accompany your class.

I know that some of you have also taught writing and crafts. What have you learned about teaching?

Why It's Important to Protect the Creative Process

I think you're absolutely wise to protect your fragile creative projects as they're being brought into the world. There are certain stages of a project when you really should choose very carefully who you share them with. 
                                                                       --Linda Dessau, Creativity Portal

Lately I've had several experiences that have reminded me exactly how fragile the creative process is. Last week, a friend from Washington, DC, confided that during National Novel Writing Month, she gave up on the memoir she was writing. "I have a whole new respect for you authors."

When I queried her, she admitted, "The dialogue. It just didn't come out right."

I explained to her that on a first pass, it probably wouldn't. I encouraged her to try again. "This time, don't judge your work. Just blurt it out onto paper or your screen. Writing is a process of discovery." I recommended that she read William Zinsser's Writing to Learn.

A young man in Pittsburgh who writes poetry told me, "I quit. I couldn't get a whole poem I liked. It seemed to take me forever."

This tangle pattern was inspired by the work of one of my students yesterday.

I told him that Carl Sandburg was known to carry scraps of poems in his pockets. A line or two. A word. "Don't judge your work while its in progress. You have to sit down and invite the muse, because unless she's invited and you wait for her, she won't make an appearance." I suggested he read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.

A couple of days later, here in Florida, I attended an art exhibit. All the work was done by local elementary school students. And the work was magnificent! Unfortunately, the evening was ruined by the woman in charge. She simpered around behind the microphone and explained that we were all present to view the efforts of "students trying hard to be artists." After more dismissive commentary, she suggested that the students should come up as she called their names to claim their "little awards." (Yes, LITTLE awards.)

People like that are natural born killers of the creative process. When my friend quit writing her memoir, it was because she heard that woman's voice in her head. That's also why the young man put aside his poetry.

Last night I taught my second class in Zentangle. As I moved from student to student, my heart was full of love for all of them. It takes courage to be creative! I felt so very, very lucky to witness these brave souls as they tried their hand at something new.

What do you think? Do you believe that creativity requires courage? Do you hear a voice of negativity in your head when you try something new?

The Juggling Act

This past couple of months I've been feeling overwhelmed. Unlike many of my illustrious blog sisters, I'm not accustomed to writing several series at once. There's this sensation of juggling--and the balls are moving faster than my hands.

Last night I finished writing my second book in my new Jane Eyre series--DEATH OF A DOWAGER LADY. In the midst of working on it, I needed to stop and write 50 pages of another series I've committed to doing.

I took the Zentangle training partially because I wanted to learn more and partially to have a neat skill to offer when I visit libraries and groups. Little did I know it would be so incredibly popular that I'm having trouble keeping up with the requests to teach classes.

To relax between projects, I stop and tangle a bit. The project above is a sampler. First I dabbed watercolor paint on a plastic template in the shape of a grid. When I had the colors I wanted, I sprinkled rock salt over the paint. Salt lifts the paint in splotches, making the most beautiful texture. The next day when it was dry, I rubbed all the salt off. Last of all, I tangled in each of the squares.

I've been putting all my tangles and bookcovers up on Pinterest. Go to www.Pinterest.com/JoannaSlan to view them. I love Pinterest!

See you all at Malice and Festival of Mystery this weekend and next Monday!

Come On, Get Happy!

The world is so full of a number of things/ I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings!
                         --Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses

When I was a kid, I had this Little Golden Book, A Child's Garden of Verses, by Robert Louis Stevenson. The cover grew tattered. The pages grubby. But gosh, I still recall many of the poems and their ideas. They made a great impression on me.

In particular, these days, I often find myself thinking about the art of being happy. As you have read from my blog sisters, there's a big, interesting world out there, full of food and flowers and friends. (Some are fur-covered and some aren't!) My sister, Jane, often remarks on the fact that I'm never bored--and I'm not! There aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do!

The hibiscus by my front door. Everyday is like a fiesta of color!

Recently Jane discovered this cool app called ToonCamera. It's all of 99 cents, and gosh, I've been wandering around taking photos of the silliest stuff and watching ToonCamera convert my images to cool cartoonish pics.

The wonky table that my friend Yvonne and I covered with seashells and resin.

I must have spent twenty minutes running around my house taking photos!

A Zentangle I did in color.

When I took pics of my Zentangle work, I was totally amazed at the new look of my familiar tangles.

Here's the deal: Nothing has ever been improved by unhappiness. Nothing. You can't right a wrong, fix a problem, or improve any situation by being unhappy. Honest! It serves no purpose to moan and whine.

Call me a Pollyanna, but maybe the whole world needs a ToonCamera app. Maybe if everyone saw the world through different lenses, there'd be a lot more happy people!

'Yes, and...' A Valuable Tool for Creative People

I've heard Chris Grabenstein's presentation on his days as part of an improv group twice now, and each time I come away inspired. One of the techniques the actors used was to tack on "Yes, and..." to anything their improv partners said. So if Chris and a pal were doing a skit about stuffed animals, and the second actor said, "My teddy bear owns an elephant," then Chris would reply, "Yes, and that elephant is purple. I love purple elephants." Or whatever.

When you're involved in the creative process, there're a lot of "Oops" moments. Times when things don't go according to plans. My sister, the art teacher, has counseled me not to give up too quickly on my artistic endeavors. Instead, Meg says I should see what I can do with what I've already done.

Chris uses the "Yes, and..." technique in his writing. I'm trying to do more of that. I'll admit it certainly adds to the unpredictability of any plot! I think it will, ultimately, make my work more lively and interesting.

Recently, I used the "Yes, and..." technique when working on my Zentangle designs. I tend to think of ink as permanent, don't you? Well, it's more maleable than you might think. I learned this while trying to correct a tangle with a white ink pen. You can use the white ink over black ink AFTER the black ink dries. Of course, you can't always tell when black ink IS dry, so that's a challenge. And then because I was so "into" what I was doing, I forgot I was working with ink and not with pencil! I tried to smear the ink the way I would graphite. And guess what? I had a "Yes, and..." moment! I learned that you can smear white and black ink!

Here's a sample of my process:

I was disappointed with this tangle. It's an attempt at "Punzel," a tangle that takes practice.




I defined the ribbons a bit more and added circles to the outside of "Punzel," the main tangle. I've started the shading process with those lines in the upper right circles.

Okay, now I put white ink over the black lines and smeared the two inks with the paper blender and my finger. I also used graphite to shade around the bottom of the circles and of Punzel. Finally, I thought the shading on the fourth ribbon from the bottom was too heavy so I went back over it with my white ink pen. Ta-da! Much better I think!

So I'm curious...can you think of ways you can use "Yes, and..."?

The Joy of Tangling

Ultimately what you offer the market is derived from how you live your life.
--Alasdhair Willis, Stella McCartney's husband, NYT Magazine, Feb. 26, 2012

Odd, isn't it? How the Universe works in synchronicity. Something or someone is called to your attention, and suddenly you hear/see that thing or person over and over. For example, I'd never heard of Max Planck, but last week I had a blow out on Highway 95. The only way I could describe my position to the nice lady at AAA was that I was on 95 near the Max Planck Florida Institute sign. Yesterday, while listening to "Says You," a public radio program, they mentioned Max Planck.

This week I joined 77 other people in Providence, Rhode Island, to attend a Zentangle® certification workshop. On the surface, we had little in common other than being a crowd mostly of women of a certain age. Over the next three days, we learned a lot about each other.

It started with a display table. People brought wonderful examples of their work to share. One lady tangled on gourds!

But the real magic happened when Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas assigned us homework: Come back tomorrow with your own new design and teach it to the group.

Oh, my! Above is a tangle--Kurtinz--and its phases (different looks) by Kate La Montagne.

Here is a grouping by Sampada Agarwal. As you can see, she used a notepad from our hotel to capture a variety of ideas. The one she presented is in the upper right corner, and she named it "Fandangle." Isn't it lovely?

Once our fellow tanglers shared their work, the connections between people began. "Teach me that!" we asked each other. From that point on, you would walk into the room and see a cluster of tanglers sharing ideas.

All this caused my head to kick into overdrive. You see, we're all "universes" unto ourselves. Until we share our cosmos with others, that world is hidden from view. But art allows us to be vulnerable. We capture the way we see the world and present it to others, who respond by saying, "Ah! Yes! Now I see the world that way, too!"

As authors, we incorporate this in our books as we create little worlds. As visual or fiber artists, we do the same. As Spock once said on Star Trek, it's a marvel how alone we humans are. But art builds bridges and that loneliness is vanquished. We meet each other in a new space. And of course, like the quotation above, we attract each other. Art allows our personalities to shine through--and who we are, how we live and see the world becomes clear to others. Then, if you sell your work, what people buy is that vision of the world, that reflection of how you live your life.
What was the last experience that set your brain on fire?

PS I'll be teaching Zentangle at Bouchercon 2012. I hope you'll come join me!

How to Turn Junk into Treasure

Once in a while, for reasons beyond my understanding, I have this urge to craft, to do a project, despite the fact that "now is not a good time." I mean, it's an almost physical compulsion to dive headfirst into a project even when the timing is COMPLETELY off.

Such an urge consumed me this weekend. I had remnants of Valentine's Day candy and cards, and before you could say, "Roses are red..." I was knee-deep making this "Love Box." (Partially inspired by Betty's awesome post about turning nothing into something.)

I started with an empty Truvia box. I love the slant of the lid. After I covered the box with paper, I glued ribbon around the top and on the inside lip. Finally, I gathered a piece of tulle from a bouquet of Valentine's Day roses, stuck a sparkly brad in the center and ta-da! I had my "Love Box." Only one problem: It was empty.

I decided to do a variation on a map-album, so called because it folds up like a road map. Using waste cardboard from packing, I cut out ten rectangles that would fit inside the box. Then I started working on "covers" or decorated rectangles that would fit over the brown, yucky side of the cardboard.

This pattern is called "Zin." To it, I added a simple blue heart, a sparkling foam flower, and a brad.

The plastic square was cut from packaging. I painted on a heart-shape with pink nail polish. Then I added sparkle/glitter and 3-dimensional clear glue to make the heart. A pink brad (bar shaped) attaches the heart to the "page."

This is the plastic covering for a bunch of flowers. At least, the rose portion was printed on plastic. Beneath the rose, which is transparent, is a Zentangle pattern called "Hurakan."

This is an overlay made, again, of clear packaging material. I colored it with alcohol inks. Beneath it is a Zentangle design. I have rotated the plastic here so you can see how it covers the tangle. Instead of a brad, I used a thumbtack in the center.

Once all the "covers" were finished, I sandwiched a long piece of blue ribbon (leftover from a gift, part of the packaging) between the "covers" and the cardstock to make "pages." When I finished, I had ten rectangles strung together. But you could flip these over and then you had ten rectangles on the REVERSE side, for a total of 20 "pages." I'll go back and add small photos and journaling to these "pages."

When "folded" up, the pages look like this. They all fit neatly inside the box.



See?

It took me the better part of two days, but I also did some writing, cleaned house, and spent time with my husband. I'm pretty pleased with the final result.

How about you? Ever get the urge to create? Do you give in? Or lie down until it passes?



It's Addictive: An Interview with Linda Farmer--and Your Chance to Win!

Note: As many of you know, I love Zentangle! So I asked an expert to explain some of the appeal. The tangle above was done by Linda Farmer. One lucky commenter will win a copy of AlphaTangle: A Truly Tangled Alphabet by Sandy Steen Bartholomew--so please, don't be shy!

1. How did you get involved with Zentangle®? What about it is so appealing to you?

I’m not quite sure how I became involved with Zentangle® because it was a few years ago and I wasn’t “into it” at the time. However, I suspect it was my interest in teaching myself calligraphy that led me to Zentangle through Maria Thomas’ website (http://mariathomasonline.com). Maria is probably the top lettering artist in the world - her work is unique, elegant and simply exquisite. She has set many trends in the lettering arts and together with her partner, Rick Roberts, created the Zentangle art form and method (http://zentangle.com/).

One of my favorite art forms is Persian miniatures so the size and beauty of Zentangle instantly appealed to me. I subscribed to Rick and Maria’s occasional newsletters and loved what I saw. For a couple of years Zentangle remained interesting eye candy for me through the newsletters as I pursued calligraphy and varied interests in art. I collected all kinds of art “how to” books and also taught myself about things like color theory and watercolor in my spare time. That was my outlet from my daily life as a business writer and computer geek in our public relations and marketing business.

For Christmas in 2009 my Mom sent me some money and I debated for some time what art supplies I wanted to get with her gift, finally deciding to order an Official Zentangle Kit.

I received my Official Kit  and its instructional DVD with Maria demonstrating the Zentangle process and showing how to draw several of the official tangles. That has turned out to be an amazing life-long gift from my Mom.

I’d never really drawn a lot before, but just as they say, anyone can do this “one stroke at a time”. I was astonished and thrilled at what I was able to create and that was it. I was hooked. As everyone who has tried it will tell you, it’s addictive.

2. On your blog, you have compiled the largest “glossary” of tangles that I’ve ever seen. What inspired you to do that?

I began collecting more tangle patterns and links to the instructions for all the ones I could find online. I’ve always been obsessed with organizing information – must have been a librarian in a former life. After a short while my database index had grown to quite a size so I figured it might be useful for others too. That was when I decided to share it by starting TanglePatterns.com and I launched the site at the beginning of May in 2010.

It’s interesting for me to see my development from my early drawings when I hadn’t had much experience. You definitely get better with practice as your fine motor skills become more honed.

I wasn’t a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT®) then, however it was my mission for my site to remain as true to the founders’ intentions as possible because I didn’t want to dilute this beautiful art form. I had seen very misleading videos on YouTube purporting to demonstrate Zentangle, and from studying the Kit and the Zentangle site I knew the videos were wrong. I didn’t want to make that mistake on TanglePatterns.

When I attended the certification seminar last October, I was relieved to learn I wasn’t mistaken about the YouTube videos. When you’re only going on what you find on the internet, it can be dicey to be sure you’re publishing accurate information.

3. How is "tangling" different from "doodling"? How do tangles get names? How do people submit tangles to you? What form does that take? (I’m trying to get at the process here.)

People submit patterns to me by email following the instructions on my “Submit Your Pattern” page where I also provide a form for them to use if they choose. However, the majority of the tangles on TanglePatterns are a result of my time sleuthing and tracking down patterns to add to the site. I look at every pattern I can find online to see if they qualify for the site. Tangles have pretty specific criteria related to the meditative aspects of Zentangle.

The idea behind Zentangle and its method is that it is specifically designed to eliminate left brain decision-making and shift one’s consciousness to the right brain, intuitive side. The shift to the meditative state happens as you become totally focused on each deliberate stroke of the pattern-making. For want of a better way to describe it, the Zentangle method short-circuits your monkey-mind. The outcome “unfolds one stroke at a time”.

One of the main characteristics of tangles is they are abstract designs. Generally speaking, if a pattern is an attempt to recreate “some thing” then it is a doodle not a tangle. There are many doodles mistakenly labeled as tangles online. Drawing something recognizable engages the thinking part of your brain and that’s not Zentangle. It’s easy to confuse the outcome of Zentangle with doodling, but they are quite different processes.

As far as names go, the person who creates the pattern names it and names can be based on anything, or no-thing. There are no “rules”. When I created my first tangles, I named them after wine varietals because I was enjoying a nice Zinfandel when my first one, Zin, “appeared”. Rick and Maria are very playful about naming their tangles. For example, Cadent is a combination of canine and dental, because the tangle reminded them of houndstooth. Hurry is named after a rush-woven chair.

5. When you aren’t working on your blog or tangling, what do you enjoy doing?

My husband Robert and I have lived in Florida for almost 30 years, most of that in South Florida but more recently in Northeast Florida (St. Augustine). We’re big Miami Heat basketball fans and we also love college football and the Miami Hurricanes. We enjoy dining at home, listening to music (mostly jazz), watching movies and sports, and reading.

When I was a very young teenager, my family lived in the Middle East and I spent two delightful years with my nose buried in mystery books – Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy Sayers, Marjorie Allingham, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Rex Stout … I’m what they call a vertical reader – I like to start at the beginning of an author’s bibliography and read chronologically. I remain an avid mystery reader to this day and right now I’m working my way through Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series.

One of my favorite websites is http://stopyourekillingme.com – the cataloging they do with mystery books, I do on a much more modest scale with tangles on TanglePatterns.com.

Thanks so much for the opportunity to be a guest on your delightful blog! You have a new subscriber.

**

Linda, we're delighted to have you! Thanks for the many hours of tangling fun you've provided us!
**The Zentangle® art form and method was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas and is copyrighted. Zentangle® is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

How to Host a Killer Blog

Little did we know, back in early 2007, when Deb Baker and I noodled around an idea, that five years later, Killer Hobbies blog would still be going strong. It seemed like a good idea at the time for us, two author newbies, to work together and create a blog home for crafters.

As of today, we have 300 an incredible followers--and 1672 posts logged. THREE HUNDRED followers! Oh, my gosh, how incredible is that?

We've been through a lot of changes, but we're still here. So I'm officially proclaiming February 9, 2012, as our five-year anniversary. I'm sure we can come up with something really special to thank all of you, our loyal readers.

CHANGES IN CAST

We'll miss Terri Thayer. Terri and I shared a ride from Malice Domestic up to Festival of Mystery a few years back. We yakked like crazy and had ourselves a grand road trip. But I understand that all of us have to change and adjust, so I wave a *virtual* goodbye to her and hope she visits often.

MEET OUR NEW BLOGGERS
To keep our blog filled with interesting posts about life's luscious pastimes, we're introducing two new bloggers: Mollie Cox Bryan (Thursdays) and Chrystle Fiedler (Saturdays).

Mollie has already been a guest here, and I'm confident she'll bring a truckload of energy and fun to this site. Oh, and pie recipes. (I'm "jones-ing" for some chocolate cream pie. Or banana. Or any kind! This dieting is getting old.) She's the author of Mrs. Rowe's Little Book of Southern Pies, Mrs. Rowe's Restaurant Cookbook, and the forthcoming Scrapbook of Secrets: A Cumberland Creek Mystery (Kensington Books, February 2012).

Like Mollie, Chrystle Fielder has already written several non-fiction works, including The Complete Idiot's Guide to Natural Remedies. (Hmmm. I wonder what she suggests for rampant allergies?). She's the author of Death Drops: A Natural Remedies Mystery (Gallery/Simon & Schuster, February 2012).

WHAT'S MY HOBBY?

In case you are wondering if this might turn into an all-scrapbooking blog, rest easy. I still love scrapbooking; however, as you know, I dabble in all sorts of hobbies. Recently, I became a cat-grandmother. Yes, an orange tabby named Keanu has joined our family.

Isn't he beautiful? He's a rescue cat whose prior owner couldn't keep him after her divorce. He's ten months old, and already a BIG cat.

When I'm not writing, chasing the cat, letting the dogs in and out, or scrapbooking, I'm doing Zentangles, or Zumba, or gluing seashells on surfaces. Speaking of gluing down shells, I just shipped a beautiful wreath to the Boynton Beach City Library for them to auction off.

I believe with all my heart that the urge to create is a powerful, healing desire that we can't afford to ignore. The Talmud says it's a sin to pass up a permissable pleasure. Life is full of joys, if you take the time to notice them.

Can you tell that I love my life? I'm pretty fond of my blog-osphere, too!

What changes are afoot for you in this New Year? What would you like to see more of in our blog? Please tell us!

Mark Your Calendars for Thursday Night!

We had so much fun at the online Halloween Party that I decided we had to do it again! So mark your calendars and join me on my Facebook Page on Thursday, December 22, from 9 p.m. EST to midnight EST. My guests will include blog sisters Monica Ferris and Betty Hechtman, Diana Orgain, Gloria Alvarez and national best-selling author Julie James. All the authors will be giving away an autographed copy of her book. In fact, I think that Diana is planning to give away a set of her series! Betty is offering a crocheted scarf. How cool is that?

I've never been here in South Florida for the entire fall. Since nothing has turned colors or dropped leaves, I'm having a sort of "out of body" experience where I know that Christmas is right around the corner, but it just doesn't feel real to me. Or more accurately, it didn't feel real until this afternoon when Joyce Roseman came off to drop off a few Christmas gifts for me. She's a whiz at homemade biscotti. (I'll have to see if I can cajole the recipe out of her.) So she kindly brought me some wonderful looking biscotti that I'm having later with a cup of coffee. And she brought me this...

It says, "Gone shellin'" and that's so appropriate for me!
All the shells, the one sea bean, the sea plant and the drift wood was washed up on my beach.

Isn't that absolutely delightful? She and her husband Glen worked together to make it for me. I know I'll treasure it for years to come.

Meanwhile, I'm putting the finishing touches on a "tangle" for my husband to hang in our loft apartment up in DC. Here's what I have so far...

I also did another rendering. It's finished...

I'm not sure which one he'll like best. I bought a frame that would work for either of them, and I'll let him choose. Or maybe he'll want both of them and put one in his store.

This year I was invited to three holiday parties, and every one of them got cancelled. So I'm really looking forward to my online holiday party. It'll be fun to get together with a lot of you. I hope you'll invite a friend!

See you there!

The Innumerable Grasshoppers--Or How I Spent My Weekend Crafting

The Jane Eyre Chronicles: Death of a Schoolgirl went to the editor on Monday. Yippee! I made my deadline! I don't know how my KillerHobbies blog sisters celebrate when they turn in a new book, but I decided to treate myself to a crafts weekend.

I started by finishing up a few projects that were half-done. I finished a "steampunk" bracelet designed by Tim Holtz. I dyed a white bedspread navy blue, sort of. The dye was a bit uneven so I'll have to do it again, but in the meantime, I can see how great that color will look in my bedroom.

On Saturday I took a playday and went to the home of my Zentangle teacher, Debbie Perdue. She and her pal Barb Fuller showed us how to do iris eye folding cards, collage cards, and cards that integrated Zentangle with other designs.

Today (Sunday, as I write this), I visited Beads Gone Wild, where Lisa taught a class in resin. You know resin. You've seen those tables in restaurants with baseball cards or other stuff sunk in a clear finish. You can also use resin to cast small items for jewelry or adornments.

Okay, true confessions. I've been happily killing those honking big grasshoppers and tearing off their wings after they're dead as trophies. I know! I know! I sound demented. But if you could see the damage they've done to my landscape, you'd be ticked at them, too. And I only tore off the wings after someone told me they're called "Georgia thumpers" or "Eastern Lubbers" and they have beautiful wings. Which is true. So I have this "trophy" strip of wings. And I decided to cast one of them in resin with a brilliant lime green piece of paper as the background. Okay, it's not a great picture, but you can see how beautiful the contrast is.

I think classes are a great way to get re-enthused about crafts. Good teachers re-awaken the creative spirit in you.

Anybody want a grasshopper wing?

A Creative Exchange

Last Thursday I invited my new friend Joyce Roseman and her three daughters to come over for a creative exchange. I would show them how to do Zentangle, and Joyce would show me how to wrap seaglass so it can be used as jewelry.

The Roseman roses--Kyrsten, Katie and Kourtney--are absolutely adorable! In no time at all, they and Joyce were tangling away like a quartet of Zentangle professionals. Kyrsten even "invented" a few wonderful new tangles that I captured for my use later. Then I showed the girls and Joyce some of the things I've made from seashells.

In particular, I've had a lot of fun decorating jar lids--and reusing jars otherwise headed for the recycling bin. The white jar lid is one I covered with crushed jingle shells. You grind the jingles up with a mortar and pestle, which causes the shells to flake. I used a glue gun and glued the entire jar lid with the flakes to get that white sparkle effect. The finishing touches are a lovely piece of blue-green seaglass and a land snail shell that I bleached white by boiling it in a pot of water and Chlorox,

The second jar lid (black background) was much simpler. I glued a broken shell in the center and added others around it. The center shell looks like a rose bud, doesn't it?

The third lid is in progress. I think I'll cover most of the lid with paper and then add the shells as I've indicated. I liked the juxtaposition of the shapes, colors and textures.

Joyce and I played with various combinations of shells I've collected. I plan to turn some pieces of broken, polished shells into pendants. So today, I made a trip to Michaels to buy wire and supplies.

Next Monday, I'll share a post by Joyce. It's one of the most inspiring stories I've read in a long time. We'll also give away a piece of Strung Up Jewelry to one lucky commenter. I've asked Joyce to pick something special for one of you! Be sure to put next Monday on your calendar and plan to comment!

Even though I took the night off to be creative with my new peeps, I still managed to finish Death of a Schoolgirl: The Jane Eyre Chronicles. I've sent it along to my beta readers for their comments. The first of these, my sister Jane, really enjoyed it. There's always this sadness when I finish a book. My arms feel a little empty like I've given up a baby. It's really bittersweet.
How about you? Do you ever feel a little sad after you finish a big project?

Expand Your Creativity with This Simple Tool--and the Jane Austen Book Goes to...

I asked Sue Grafton what she was going to do when she got to the end of the alphabet. As most of you know, she's famous for her A Is For Alibi,etc., mystery series. She said, "I just hope I can make it to the end of the alphabet. It gets harder and harder to come up with new ideas and I don't want to repeat myself."

All of us creative types get stuck in ruts. Scrapbookers use the same color combinations over and over. Stampers use the same inks. Authors create characters with the same or similar personalities, physical characteristics, or backgrounds. And those who love to Zentangle use the same patterns over and over. So my Zentangle teacher came up with a brilliant idea. She created a icosahedron, a twenty-faced "polyhedron" that can be rolled like a die. On each of the faces, she put a different "tangle," or Zentangle design. Now when she gets stumped or can't decide what to draw, she simply rolls her die.

I loved the idea so much that I made a pair of dice for myself with Zentangle designs on all the sides. In fact, I think the idea is so cool and creative that I plan to make a pair or more of dice with character traits. One might have physical characteristics. One might have backgrounds--ethnic, social, religious. One might have professions, and so on.

That's another reason I love crafting. Once your creative juices start flowing, you never know what ideas will come!

Want to make your own icosahedron? Here's a pattern.

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JANE AND THE MADNESS OF LORD BYRON

Our winner of this copy of Stephanie Barron's newest book is Liz V. Liz, if you'll email me at joannaslan@aol.com with your details, we'll get the book right out to you.

Godlike Qualities--and Difficult Moral Choices

"All novelists are godlike. Sovereign creators of worlds they populate with beings wrought from something less than dust and rib, they set events in motion and determine their consequences."
--Leah Hager Cohen, NYT Book Review, Sunday, June 26, 2011

Working away on my new Jane Eyre series, I find this quotation to be particularly apt. Authors bring to life people, give them names and personalities. It's part of the job to determine how their characters look and what habits they have. If the author is successful, then her readers will accept them as real. That's when the fun begins.

This weekend I came up to DC, taught a class on journaling, and sold books at the Great American Scrapbook Convention. A tiring weekend, to be sure, but also a gratifying one. The best part? When readers came to my table and started talking about Kiki Lowenstein and Detweiler and Mert as though these characters were living, breathing people that we knew in common. I delight in how my readers have distinct opinions about what should happen next in Kiki's life.

One woman came up, introduced herself and said, "I'm the only person in my book club who thinks Kiki should marry Ben. He's a good guy. Detweiler has too many issues. Everyone else disagrees with me, but I really like Ben and he'd make a good husband."

That says to me that I've made my characters realistic, because if readers don't care, I haven't fleshed out the people I create. Authors differ in their opinions on this, but I'm definitely in the character-driven fiction camp. If you don't care about the characters, you won't want to spend time with them, IMHO. Even a "bad guy" can be fascinating if he/she has redeeming qualities. Or if the "bad guy" is such a complex, rich study of the best and worst of what humanity has to offer. Case in point: Casey Anthony.

I've been following that case, and I've come to believe it's like watching a train wreck in slow mo. In particular, I found myself glued to the screen when her mother testified that she, not Casey, had googled "chloroform." My heart ached for the woman. She's lost her grandchild, and now faced with losing her daughter to the death penalty, she's decided that she'd rather lie and protect the child she has, rather than watch her child be sentenced to death. That's a powerful study in conflict, isn't it? Where does maternal love end and justice begin? Most of us would throw ourselves under a bus rather than have our children hurt, and that's exactly what Cindy Anthony is doing.

And yet, there's such a fascinating symmetry, an odd irony, because Cindy's love--while misguided--for her child is so powerful that she'll obviously do and say ANYTHING to protect her little girl.

But Casey didn't feel that way. Did she?

What do you think?

PS That's a Zentangle I did while at the Convention.

Zentangled Up and Kiki Is #49 on Amazon

On Saturday I took a beginning class in Zentangle. It's loosely defined as a method of using patterns to focus the mind and make art. While it looks a lot like doodling, there are key differences:

1. It's purposeful. You don't just let your pen or pencil meander.
2. It's focused. Because the strokes are often repetitive, you get this "zen-like" thing going.
3. It develops a finished product, so it's productive.

Actually, I was introduced to Zentangle by my pal Ann Farnen, owner of Scrapbook Factory Super Store, O'Fallon, Illinois. I walked into her store and saw this display case with all sorts of cool art and said, "Wow, I want to do that." So Ann showed me the basics. You start with a tile, a 3.5" square piece of paper. Using a pencil, put four dots on it, one in each corner. Connect the dots to make a border or frame.

Now here's the tricky part...make a "string," or a design in the middle of the tile. For example, you could draw a tic-tac-toe board, or your initials, or divide the tile into quarters. The purpose of the "string" is to break the tile into sections. This, in turn, makes approaching the patterns (or "tangles") easier because you have a small, defined space to conquer.

After you finish creating a "string," switch to ink. Sakura's Micron Pens are perfect. Find a pattern you like and start filling in sections of your tile. A tile can take an hour to do, or less, so it's a great craft to carry around in your purse. You can find a neat-o guide to patterns at the TanglePatterns website. Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts are the originators of this art form. It was designed to do in black and white, but I've seen colored zentangles that are gorgeous.

I hope to get certified to teach this! Last night I did the turtle above. I still have a little work to do, but gee, I had a great time doing it! This morning I woke up totally focused and ready to get to work on my Work-In-Progress, and I think that my zentangle experience helped clear my head.

KIKI NEWS

Need a great summer read? PAPER, SCISSORS, DEATH is now available for only 99 cents at Amazon. This last week, PSD climbed to #49 on the list of all Amazon Kindle books. Wow! I guess a lot of you are telling your friends. Kiki and I say, THANKS!