I'm BACK!!! Didja miss me? A big amazing and wonderful thank you to all my guest bloggers this summer: Holly, Sharla, Erin, Sandy, Cari, Lee, Katie and Jen. It was really great to take the time off and to know that the challenge was in good hands. You guys were great!!
Now i have the task of catching you all up on how my summer went... and there's so much to share - and SOO many photos... so. Be prepared to be slammed with pictures. And if a picture's worth a thousand words there's probably a novel here...
If you're in a hurry, feel free to scroll down to the end for the challenge. i won't mind.
One of the BEST things about this summer was definitely speaking at CanTangle in July (A conference for CZTs in Regina, SK). but... I'll get to that in a minute...
When CanTangle was announced last year i emailed my amazing friend Elisa Murphy who i met when i was at CZT in Providence last June, and i did the old: "Y'know.... CanTangle is in Regina and Regina's only 2 hours away from Saskatoon... where i live... nudge nudge wink wink...come and visit!!!"
Wouldn't ya know - she took me up on the offer and she brought her amazing family with her to spend a few days in Saskatoon before heading to CanTangle! Honestly there's so much awesomeness that happened while she visited.
Here's a few highlights:
- Hannah loves pickles. Apparently Canada is sadly lacking in pickles.
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B-rad brought Hannah her very own bag of Dill Pickle chips to try... sadly they don't compare to the real dill (see what i did there?) Photo credit: Elisa Murphy |
Lego is the ultimate ice breaker - between children and grown men alike.
Putting children in water equals instant friendship. Artoo, Chewie, and Hannah are all friends now, and in fact my kids often talk about they stuff they want to do when Elisa, Frank and Hannah come back.
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Friends Photo credit: Elisa Murphy |
my adorable water baby |
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poutine. you're welcome. |
- Poutine is delicious.
- Selfies are always awesome.
My favourite. Elisa we should have and Frank and B-rad take a selfie together, haha Photo credit: Elisa Murphy |
- exploring cultural differences can be very fun, especially if those cultural differences involve testing Canadian Candy bars.
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om nom nom. We did a totally scientific experiment, devised by Miss Hannah herself, to decide which Canadian Candy bar is the best. (Hint: it's Aero) Photo credit: Elisa Murphy |
Murphy Family, you are Da Bomb. Please feel free to visit us, anytime. We love you. And should we ever find ourselves down Boston-way, we will be knockin' on your door.
So, CanTangle was the most fun i have ever had with the most hilarious ladies i've ever had the pleasure to meet.
I taught a workshop the first morning called Diva Dance, and let me just say that it was a blast. I've made a photo album on my Facebook page you can visit here if you're interested, but here's a few pics from CanTangle that i love.
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Cheers from Laura and THE Molly Hollibough! |
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Adorable Lisa Lehman |
Hey Hey!! From me and Lisa Heron - the mastermind behind CanTangle. So Great. And so funny. |
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always Dancin, always smiling - the lovely Cindy Hagen |
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Tangling is SERIOUS BUSINESS with Aleesha Sattva photo credit: Aleesha Sattva |
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trouble makers in the back row... y'know the ones. |
the whole crew photo credit: Hannah Murphy |
Sue Clark has completed EVERY SINGLE WEEKLY CHALLENGE....EVER!!! that's amazing to me. even *I* haven't done them all. You go girl. Photo credit: Sue Clark |
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these two lovely laughing ladies!! Brenda Shaver (she had an amazing class!) and Marty McCarter Photo Credit: Chris Titus |
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Chris Titus and Me - she made me laugh photo credit: Chris Titus |
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Contrary to popular belief, i did NOT drink all of these. Debra Castaldi in the back there, she's not innocent either. Photo Credit: Chris Titus |
Aw, Hannah. Kiss kiss. Photo Credit: Elisa Murphy |
It was one of the best weekends of my whole year. And that's no lie. Classes were taught by myself, Molly Hollibough, Brenda Shaver, Bette Abdu, Cris Letourneau (Cris did we get any pics together??) Margaret Bremner, and Lisa Heron. It was so fun.
Okay, so this post is already a million miles long - and the rest of the summer seemed to go by in a blur of weddings and bike riding and sidewalk chalk, lakes and beaches and endless fence building.
Tomorrow marks a HUGE day in our home as the boys begin school. Yes. Both Boys. My little baby Artoo begins his academic career tomorrow when he starts Kindergarten. Be still my heart. There will be tears. I would be lying if i said that with all his medical and physical needs i wasn't completely terrified. But i'm also excited for this new chapter. I know that we are entering a world of germs, so that makes me a little worried. But, i think he's going to do well. I really do. And i may, or may not, be that mom who reads a book in the park just outside the school with her cellphone in her lap... just in case.
So, if you're still with me - thanks for hangin in there.
AND NOW!!
Weekly Challenge #233: "New Official Tangle - Zenith"
One of the many cool things about Molly Hollibough teaching at CanTangle was when she showed us the new official tangle "Zenith" that was released to the newest CZTs at the last certification seminars.
The step outs for Zenith can be found HERE in the latest Zentangle newsletter.
Here's my CanTangle tile with a little splash of spirulina. i thought it looked a bit like a giant bird.
Zenith is quite fun and there's lots of room for variation.
I did this one on a Bijou tile this week:
This is a classic scenario of it looking a lot cooler in theory than in actual practice.
So, i did this to it.
Which was okay, i guess. but then i added this.
Sometimes instead of throwing the whole thing out, it's better to just keep on going and seeing where it takes you. I actually love this little tile now. I'm so glad i kept pushing through.
And here's the one i did Sunday morning.
It's a duotangle using Zenith and Arukuas... and i unintentionally created an eyeball in the centre there. So, for giggles i coloured it blue and really went with it. because why not? Always remember to have fun.
This week try your hand at the new tangle Zenith and see what you come up with!
Thanks for coming back here every Monday morning. And again, let's have a big round of applause for our amazing guest bloggers.
Have a great week everyone!
If you have a blog, add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here) Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)
If you have a blog or host your images on line (like on Flickr or Picassa or Pinterest), add the site-specific URL where your tile is posted to the linkey machine below! Don't forget to link back here so that others can join in the fun! (if you don't know how to find this, you can see my half assed tutorial here) Also, please feel free to come back often and visit the links of those people on the linkey machine - don't forget to leave a comment or feedback, everyone loves feedback. ;)
Yes, the guests were awesome, but I'm still very pleased to see you back!!!
ReplyDeleteGlad your summer was good, so off to school now those boys of yours. I do understand some tears BTW.
We just arrived to a small welness centere in the most beautiful part of the Netehrlands and will stay here for some days. I'll tangle the challenge outside while just hearing the wind and birds.
I was both surprised and pleased to see you back this week. It's still well over 100 degrees here in the Phoenix area, so to me it's still summer LOL! I sure wish I could have been with everyone at CanTangle. It looks like it was wonderful.
ReplyDeleteHello dear Laura. Good to "see" you again!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back - although all the guest blogger did a great job!
Thanks for continuing. Happy greetings from summertime Hamburg.
Welcome back. Your guest hosts did an excellent job keeping us challenged in your absence. First day of Kindergarten. Major life event for children and, of course, for Moms.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back Laura. You chose excellent guest Challengers but I missed you and your family. I hope you had a good Summer break. I enjoyed this challenge too, it's a surprisingly easy to use pattern.
ReplyDeleteIt was an honor and a pleasure to guest blog! Thank you! And yes, I really did miss you and I'm happy you're back!!! :)
ReplyDeleteWelcome back!! I LOVED seeing the photos and seeing your family and Elisa's family together! How cool. Come to Massachusetts! We welcome you with open arms. xo
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! I love seeing the pics of your 'adventures'. This was a fun challenge - I hadn't tried Zenith before, and enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteWhat fun! My latest favorite pattern, until I try another one I'm sure. Welcome back and glad you had a great time.
ReplyDeleteHi Laura, I started participating in the challenges while you were on vacation. The guest bloggers all did a great job of providing fun and varied challenges. Welcome back, and I'm glad that you had a nice time over the summer.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back. Sounds like you had an eventful and fun time with your family and other activities.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back!!!! I'm so glad that you had such an awesome summer!!! I missed seeing all of your pics with their cute lil' comments!!! Your guest bloggers did a really fabulous job while you were gone.Thank you for taking the time to line all of that up! Cause what would we do if we didn't have your challenge,.....?
ReplyDeleteAwesome pics! Now, you will have a tough few days when the kids go to school, but I'm realizing that I have a little breathing room, now that mine are all in school. My youngest started kinder this year too. (I'm sure you'll see quite a few moms hiding their tears in that first week) I'm so excited for Artoo! I hope his academic career will begin with lots and lots of great experiences!!! (good luck mom! :0)....)
Great happy photos....welcome back!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back Laura. I'm very happy you enjoyed your break. Thanks to all your guest bloggers for the nifty challenges. Wild new pattern - "Zenith". Whodathunk it would actually take the practice the step out suggested - hehe.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back Laura. I'm very happy you enjoyed your break. Thanks to all your guest bloggers for the nifty challenges. Wild new pattern - "Zenith". Whodathunk it would actually take the practice the step out suggested - hehe.
ReplyDeleteThe guest bloggers were wonderful!, but so happy to have you and your family back. I just need to clarify "I am totally innocent!"
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, Laura! :)
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, Laura! Great to see all of your wonderful pics, and I love your tiles! Thanks to all the wonderful guest CZT's too!
ReplyDeleteGosh, so many comments saying everything I wanted to say, but still I wanted to say one more time 'Welcome Back'
ReplyDelete:) Welcome back from me too in another part of the world! The zenith-challenge will not stop with this week! It is such a rich pattern! I like it very much, though I have to practice it again and again to find out which way I want it to go!
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you and your family back and you had a wonderful fun filled vacation. Thank you also for organising the guest bloggers. We have such a creative & helpful community out there. Thank you to them as well. Looking forward to the zenith challenge today.
ReplyDeleteWonderful pics of your family and friends, everyone looks so very happy. The first day of kindergarten I didn't cry because it was a half day, but when I had to leave my boys the first full day of first grade I cried.
ReplyDeleteI love the new Zenith tangle so many possibilities.
It looks like you had a marvelous summer. Welcome back! Maybe you can do one of the audio meditations from last week while you sit in that park across from the school....
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! Oh, I am so jealous of you creative and so fun Canadians! (Hi Aleesha!). Yet another thing you guys get right! Thanks for this Zenith challenge. I love this tangle!
ReplyDeleteThis second tile is in the Bijou-size. I wanted to try it once again after the challenge by Holly Atwater. I am so glad I tried it again though I thought the small size wasn´t for me. But Zenith made me do it!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this challenge.
ReplyDeleteLoved hearing about your life as always and yes we did all miss you Laura.
ReplyDeleteHope the kids have a great and healthy year in school! I hope to meet Chris Letourneau in Madison, WI next summer where she will be a presenter. I have her two books and love her work! So I hope you find a photo to post of her soon! Love this new tangle too!
Enjoyed reading about your exciting summer! Welcome back! Good luck with kindergarten. Be sure to en-joy every moment!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back Laura. Love the tiles you shared, especially the one with the stages of transformation, proving you never should give up on a tile!
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I join weekly challenge ^_^
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! Thank you for your awesome challenge! I wish I new about it earlier :)
ReplyDeleteI really like the tile showing the bird! ;-) and of course the one that you didn't give up on! Fingers crossed with school, you'll have lots of Zentangles to show us, or to give away... Thanks for keeping the Challenges going!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back Laura! Thank you do much for allowing me to by a guest blogger in July. You and your challenge followers are just an awesome group of people!
ReplyDeleteLee Darter
Welcome back!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but Crunchie is the best candy bar( I don't recognize any others in the small pix). I say this as an American who can longer find Violet Crumbles( well ok, ONE place in town has them $7) & can find Crunchies! ;)
ReplyDelete