Weekly Challenge #233

Good Monday Morning everyone!!

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. 

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.   

Friends
Photo credit: Elisa Murphy

my adorable water baby

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.   

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. 

Cheers from Laura and THE Molly Hollibough!

Adorable Lisa Lehman

Hey Hey!! From me and Lisa Heron - the mastermind behind CanTangle.
So Great. And so funny. 

always Dancin, always smiling - the lovely Cindy Hagen

Tangling is SERIOUS BUSINESS with Aleesha Sattva
photo credit: Aleesha Sattva

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

these two lovely laughing ladies!! Brenda Shaver (she had an amazing class!)
and Marty McCarter
Photo Credit: Chris Titus

Chris Titus and Me - she made me laugh
photo credit: Chris Titus

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.

much better.
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. ;)