View a YouTube, create beautiful Zentangle®-inspired decorations for Halloween and Thanksgiving, all you need is a few pumpkins and a paint pen.

     The holiday season is about to kick-off!  For me it always begins with Halloween and doesn't seem to slow down 'til the beginning of the year. One of the best things about the holidays is all the new crafts it inspires me to make.  When my children were little they loved Halloween, now I get to share with my grandchildren. 

     If you are expecting little goblins to knock on your door October 31st the mummy bowl is a perfect way to hand out those treats.  A very easy craft and fun for the kids. This one is made with small clay pots, however you can use any size you like.  A foam circle works very well to plug the hole in the bottom of the pot, just glue it in. This craft is from the Design Originals book 'Pots of Fun for Everyone'



    Don't get me wrong I still have fun decorating pumpkins and carving Jack-O-Lanterns but this year I had to decorate with Zentangle® in mind, besides it gives me another reason to tangle on something!  My husband swears I will Zentangle anything that stands still long enough... between you and me, he may be right.


Painted pumpkins from Design Originals book 'Pumpkin Patch'

     I found these pumpkins at the craft store, they are perfect for a little Zentangle inspired holiday fun.  Of course I had to buy one in every color white, black and orange.  These will be so much fun to decorate for Halloween and Thanksgiving.  The black one is my favorite, the glossy white of the marker on the glossy surface of the pumpkin is striking. They all seem to be made from a type of foam which is a great surface for a paint marker... and I can save them to decorate with next year too. 
 


     The holidays are a busy time for all of us, I will be doing some travel during the holidays this year beginning very soon.  Through the end of the year my blog posts will be every other week instead of weekly. 

     My first travel opportunity is Oct 27 thru Nov 9th. I'll be at Quilt Market and International Quilt Festival introducing my new book 'Zen-sational Stitches for Quilting'. Come visit me - I'm giving a 'Zentangle on Bags' class, and I am a presenter at the 'Quilting Forum', 'Applique Forum' and the 'Sampler' events.
 
    My next travel opportunity is November 10th thru November 12th.  I'm teaching three classes at the fabulous Art of the Carolinas Trade Show hosted by Jerry's Artarama.  This is the largest consumer art show in the country, jam packed with art supplies, workshops by some of your favorite artists, and bargains on hundreds of art supplies. In addition to teaching three classes, I'll be previewing my new 'Zentangle® for the Artist' DVD video.
     I will be teaching 'Zentangle and Watercolor' on November 10th, 'Zentangle Art Journals' on November 11th and 'Zentangle on Clayboard' November 12th. I am really excited to be attending and teaching again this year  and look forward to sharing Zentangle with my students.
     Hope to see you there!


Cindy Shepard and I drawing the names of the winners!!

     Many of you were able to correctly identify my tangle from all those pictured in the mandala created at the master's retreat...it was the hands!! From the correct answers a lucky 6 names were drawn.  That's right we did it the old fashioned way.... drew names from a hat. The winners are....C.J. Daniels, Blanche, Melissa Smith, P.J. Waldrop, Emie and Dianne T.  Thanks for playing everyone, not everyone left a last name, so I hope you know who you are.  If you won a copy of the book please email your mailing address to panda@suzannemcneill.com.  Your book will be in the mail, you should receive it in 7 to 10 days. Hope you enjoy your new 'Zen Mandalas' book.

Zentangle of the week, enjoy and create!!

                     Zentangle #91



Scallops

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.  and is used with permission. Learn more at  zentangle.com