Stand still.... I'm Zentangling!!!

There was a time when I used to say that if it stood still long enough I will stamp it . That statement eventually made way to this one: if it stands still long enough I will paint it with Lumiere paint but now I can add to that " if it stands still long enough I will Zentangle it!" Oh my..... I'm hooked! How can something so simple have such an addictive effect on you? I just can't explain, except to say that I'm now seeing patterns absolutely everywhere I look. I never noticed them before but now I see they are everywhere around me. And I just feel compelled to get them onto paper before I forget them. I have doodled so much over the last few weeks that I have run out of ink in my trusty Zig writer so it will be a trip to Officeworks this week to see what other suitable pens I can find to doodle with. So without a pen to doodle with I think I should share a couple of the things I've been up to. Firstly, a pendant. This is a slight variation of the o...

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Buttons Galore!

Have you ever run your hands through a big box of buttons? It's a really lovely feeling having all those smooth buttons running over your fingers. For me it brings back memories of my childhood. You see, my Mum was a great sewer and she had an extensive collection of buttons that she kept in old biscuit tins. Most of them were rescued from garments which had seen better days and many of them still had the thread attached to the back of them. Sometimes there was even a little tuft of fabric attached as well which identified the garment it was from. It was a pleasant way to spend a half hour rummaging through the tins, sorting the buttons into their colours, shapes and sizes. Ah.... the simple things in life! Recently I had the chance to play with a large stash of buttons courtesy of the fine folks at Blumenthal Lansing . No stray bits of thread or fabric attached to these buttons but as I emptied them out onto my bead mat, I couldn't resist scooping them up and letting those s...

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Zentangle Jewellery

It's Saturday.... yaaaaay! And I'm pleased to put this past week behind me. In fact, this past month and a half has been a shocker at work. It's just been one of those times when anything that could go wrong, did go wrong and anything that shouldn't have gone wrong, went wrong too. It seems like my little corner of the universe is out of kilter at present. But that usually means that it is about to turn about face and go the other way so I'm really looking forward to that happening! Good things usually result from these tumultuous events so I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next! So Zentangle has been my release this week and whilst I doodled away on my stash of wooden disks earlier in the week I took to paper and card later in the week. I'm nurturing my doodling skills at the moment and trying to learn some new patterns. And as I've combined different patterns I've begun to understand things like shadow, light, negative space and positive ...

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Zentangle - nourishment for the brain!

There is something very meditative about the art of Zentangle. I'm not much into doodling - never really have been but every time I put my pen to paper to Zentangle, I find myself totally engrossed in the repetitive nature of this art form. Maybe there is a doodler inside me after all! It is such an inexpensive and very portable hobby: I have Zentangled at the doctor's surgery, whilst waiting in the car to pick up DD from work and in planes (yippee! something to do other than watch movies and read magazines). In fact anywhere I find myself waiting for some one or some thing. All you need is a smooth white surface to work on, black permanent markers and a graphite pencil. So far, I've been skipping the pencil, preferring the cleaner, hard lines of the markers. I use Sakura's Microperm 01 for the detailed work and the IDenti Pen where I want the coverage to be heavier. I usually work on very small pieces like these disks from DIY Bangles that the patterns will fil...

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Resin Workshops for Beginners

Choc au Latte (from my Colour Burst collection) Do you love the look of resin jewellery? Want to make your own but feel intimidated by the process and not quite sure where to start? Well, why not take a resin jewellery course in Brisbane and try your hand at making your own resin bangles. I will demystify the process for you and walk you through every step of the process. You'll be making resin bangles confidently in no time at all! I hold resin workshops in my studio each month. We cover all aspects of working with a quick curing resin: safety precautions, colourants, best pouring methods, how to avoid bubbling, final finishing - absolutely everything you need to know to create your own handmade resin bangles and rings. Your class kit contains all the materials required to make your own including detailed written instructions to refer back to, a resin jewellery book for inspiration, a silicone bangle mould, enough resin to be able to continue casting at home after the wo...

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Ribbon Storage.... is there a perfect solution?

Since moving into my new studio last year I've spent a fair bit of time organising and sorting my supplies. Sometimes that has meant having to re-organise and re-sort if a system proved to be unworkable. My ribbon stash falls into this category and whilst it's not that extensive, I do seem to have enough that it's a problem to store. No matter how hard I try I just don't seem to be able to keep them straight..... I always end up in one giant tangle of ribbon. Ive been avoiding this task for a while but recently my satin ribbon got into such a state that I couldn't pull the colour I wanted out of the tangle. Once I eventually managed to unravel enough of it for my project I actually had to iron the creases out of the ribbon before I could use it! This was a definite call to action. A quick Google search for ribbon storage brought up a plethora of storage solutions, some of which I've even tried in the past. Ribbon rings seemed like such a great idea but this prov...

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Silver Candy Choker

On a recent bead shopping trip I came across some bright silver, metalized ceramic beads. Like all things shiny, they immediately attracted my attention but they were rather expensive and without a clear plan in my head as to how I would use them, I passed them by. But as I wound my way through the shop, I kept finding myself back at the table these little beauties were on and I decided that that was no coincidence - a little voice inside my head was telling me that I should take them home. Luckily, I listened to that little voice and I don't regret it for one moment. There's a 3 step process to making these beads. First, the ceramic beads are fired. Then they're dipped in copper and fired again and finally the silver coating is applied. It's a long process but the resulting beads are just gorgeous! On that same shopping expedition, I found a lovely selection of glass cane beads in shades of pink, orange and red. By now an idea was starting to in my head as to how I mi...

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Classy Silver!

After many months of waiting for them to come into stock I can finally announce that I am now able to make Friendly Plastic pens in classy silver. So here's the first one, hot off the production line and just in time for Mother's Day. This one is called Silvered Rose and it coordinates perfectly with this pendant. So if you'd like to spoil your Mum for Mother's Day with a really unique gift, why not pop into my Etsy shop and make this one hers. And if this one is not quite to your liking, check out the Friendly Plastic gallery at Mill Lane Studio for a selection of other colours. Watch this space as I add more over the coming days. 'Til next time..... Myléne...

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