Zentangle ATCs using Stencils

I love making ATCs and now I love my new found art thingy called Zentangle.  While it can be overwhelming searching through all of the books and sites that have Zentangle patterns; it is non-the-less a fun and rewarding journey.  I have all three of the Zentangle books by Suzanne McNeill and Sandy Steen Bartholomew and have them 3-hole punched in a binder.  Along with the three books I also have tons of printed out sheets of paper with the patterns I have been collecting from other wonderful and inspiring Zentangle artists.

You can find all of the books with a Search of Amazon.com for zentangle!  Here is the Zentangle Basics book with a link to get started.














Here are 2 of the stencil Zentangles I did this weekend:

Bizarre Holidays - August

Sometimes, don't you just wish that there was a holiday for something special that YOU like?  I found this monthly thread over at ATCs For All that does Bizarre Holidays for each month.  There is a site that actually tracks these bizarre holidays for each month and you pick which holiday you want to make an ATC for and then use your imagination.  The site is Bizarre American Holidays and has a list for each month, as well as what that month is for.  Here is an example:  "January is . . . . National Careers in Cosmetology Month, National Eye Health Care Month, National Fiber Focus Month, National Hobby Month, National Soup Month, Hot Tea Month, Oatmeal Month, Prune Breakfast Month."  I cannot imagine having prunes everyday for breakfast!

Anyways, I started with July and this is for the month of August.  I made ATCs for the following holidays:

August 3rd - National Watermelon Day
August 6th - Wiggle Your Toes Day
August 14th - National Creamsicle Day
August 20th - National Radio Day

Gothic Dog Arch

I signed up to make someone a "Dog" arch and sat for a couple of days wondering what the heck I was going to do.  So, I broke open my hardly ever touched stamps and found three dog stamps!  Hmmm, what next?  Well, I cut a smaller arch to fit on the bigger one and then stamped away with the three stamps.

Next, I added a couple of Zentangle elements and then drew some paw prints and dog bones.  Finally, I colored it all in, adhered it to the really pretty paper for the background, and then zetti'd the outside of the larger arch.

I thought it turned out rather well and am kind of sad to see it go to its rightful owner. :0)

Black & White Zentangle Swap

I finally found a swap that i could do my new found love "Zentangle".  I made four cards, this includes one for the hostess, and I had a blast doing it.  There is so much to learn about Zentangle and there are tons of websites out there.  People are creating their own Zentangle patterns and I have a couple, but nothing like them.

Zentangle is defined as "an easy to learn method of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns." I find it relaxing as I can take my mind off of whatever is there and just concentrate on doing a pattern.  Zentangle is also supposed to help with concentration, which at this point in my life I need all the help I can get!

You can find out more about Zentangle at the official Zentangle website by Rick & Maria!  If you already do Zentangle and want to be a part of an artist trading card swap using it, then hop on over to ATCs For All and join the fun.

Here are the four Zentangle cards that I created: