Vote for Me!

 

My Zentangle for Kidz! blog was nominated for this blog award. That's pretty cool, right? I'll put the official info down below in case you like explanations and fine print... then go vote for me - I'd love to win something right about now.  :-)


It's finally here - voting starts today! The voting will continue to July 23 at 11:59 P.M. (EST). The site with the most votes will win the grand prize, a $100 restaurant gift card as well as permission to display the prestigious "Winner" emblem on their Website!

• To Vote:

1. Make sure you have upgraded to Google Plus. If not, you will find the Google Plus UPGRADE button on the top left of the page. Creating your profile will only take a few minutes.
2. Click on the double arrow in the Comments to view the entire list of nominees and look for your blog of choice. (ZTforKids.com is third from the bottom of the list)
3. If you hover your cursor at the end of the Blog URL, a red "+1" will appear that you can click on. It's on the same location where you can find the votes that have been cast for other blogs.
4. For blogs that already have some votes, the "+1" should be found immediately beside the vote count, to the right.

• Click here to view the voting page. Feel free to share this link in a blog post and on your facebook/twitter to maximize votes (and thank you!!!)

Interesting list of blogs, I've only heard of a few of these... now I need to go and check out each one of them....

http://atangledplace.wordpress.com

http://bonniebrowningblog.blogspot.in/

http://dicksallyjane.blogspot.in

http://dobriendesign.blogspot.in

http://enthusiasticartist.blogspot.in/

http://heinani.blogspot.in/

http://iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com/

http://inkidoodles.blogspot.in/

http://jazztangled.blogspot.in/

http://kalligrafix.blogspot.com/

http://katts-creations.blogspot.in

http://kerrlligraphy.blogspot.in/

http://mnartgal.blogspot.com/

http://moleskinex11.blogspot.in

http://openseedarts.blogspot.in/

http://preciousworker.blogspot.in/

http://quilttotheedge.blogspot.in/

http://sewtangled.blogspot.in/

http://shellybeauch.blogspot.in/

http://suzycucumber.blogspot.in/

http://tangledinkart.blogspot.in/

http://tangledupinart.blogspot.in/

http://thingsoftenspeaktome.blogspot.in/

http://thisorthatandmore.blogspot.in/

http://www.teezeetee.blogspot.in/

http://www.timetotangle.blogspot.in/

http://www.ztforkids.com/

http://xploreandxpress.blogspot.in/

http://zuliesshack.blogspot.in/

 

Ok, so I won't hate you or blame you if you decide to vote for one of these other blogs - there's some great stuff! It's kind of funny that the Kidz! site was nominated, but not Beez In the Belfry... but I write about more than just Zentangle here, so I probably disqualified myself. Honestly, I'm not competitive by nature... and I rarely win anything... so I'm looking at this as a great way to find some new blogs to check out. Although, I'm sure there was something I was supposed to be doing today? Oh well... 

Feel free to post your discoveries about these blogs in the comments below. An adventure!

The Lilah Bean Contest - Your Vote Counts!

My carved, art stamp Lilah Bean

The Lilah Bean Contest is On! I have all the entries that I have received posted individually on the Kidz blog: http://www.ztforkids.com/ and there is a Poll on the left hand side of the blog where you can choose your favorites. If you would like to nominate an entry for a special award, like "Best Hair" or something, put that in the Comments under that entry's post. If you are the artist and would like to add details about how you created your Lilah Bean, or a link to your own site, you can also add that to the Comments section.

I was really impressed with all the entries, from cardboard to glass, I love 'em all!! Go take a look... you have until Tuesday to vote.

(I will check at the post office tomorrow, Saturday, in case there are any late arrivals, and try to add them into the show on Sunday).

And She's Back! (Plus a book spoiler!)

I'm back from another pretend "vacation." I set my email and my Etsy shop to "Vacation Mode" and ran away to Maine... to work. How warped is that? It's twisted (tangled?) I know, but I actually really enjoy this sort of vacation. I get a lot accomplished AND I get to walk by the sea. Ah, life is good... then I come home and get WHOMPED to the side of the head with all the things that I had left behind and the email. Ohmigoodness.

I recently read an interview where Tim Ferriss, the author of the "4-hour Workweek", said that he had hired a VA - a Virtual Assistant - to read all his emails for him (over 1,000 a day!) and to deal with them. The idea is very tempting...

His blog is fun to peruse. Some of his ideas (all of them?) are over the top, extreme. That's his style and how he got really rich. But he does have a lot of good points, things that make you think. Or re-think. I am doing a lot of that lately.

Another author/person who will make you think is Hugh MacLeod. I had just finished reading his book "Evil Plans: Having Fun on the Road to World Domination" when his name, and artwork came up in conversation at an art gallery reception. The host had recently purchased one of Hugh's larger pieces. Larger being around 9x12". He usually draws his cartoons on the backs of business cards!

I have always felt sympathy for the evil villains in movies (Despicable Me! I mean, who DOESN'T want minions to help them take over the world. And they are so cute and cuddly... oh! More on that in a minute**) But Hugh's basic premise is that, if you are achieving your goals and doing things "right," people will be jealous and hate you, right? If you aren't succeeding, what's to be jealous of? So if you are pissing people off, you're on the right track. So forget the "goals" and go straight for the "evil plans"!


OK, back to the "minions"! I've changed my "Followers" to "Minions" but please don't be insulted. I say it with the greatest respect and love for all of you! It's part of my baby-step attempts to (take over the world!) get to that place where I don't care so much "what everybody else thinks." Yes, slow going. My goal...er...evil plan is to be a bit more like my avatar or the "personality" that seems to have been created through my books. I get the most amazing (and some very disturbing) emails from people who have been moved by my books. They seem to think of me as a very strong, topple-proof, super-creative, never have a bad day, tangle queen, super-achiever... stop me before I get sick! Needless to say, that's not really very accurate! But I think most of you folks know that already (just from reading my posts!)

Finally - the GOOD stuff...

New Book SPOILER

The new book has lots of "minions" in it. I just spent the last week in Maine "inking" the pages for the new book that I am working on. It's hard to know how much is OK to spill (ideas, not ink)... but I have never been good at keeping my devious plans to myself. You may be wondering "How could she possibly write ANOTHER Zentangle book?!" (Gosh, I hope you aren't really thinking that...?) But my publisher asked me to do a ZT book for kids. Since I am/was a kids' book illustrator, I freely misinterpreted her request and I'm doing a comic book to introduce kids to Zentangle!! I've had such a blast doing this one (it's my favorite!). My kids, Alex and Lilah, are the hosts/main characters. Lilah's tangle creations, the "Lilah Beans" from Totally Tangled are her minions (she calls them "onions") and they help explain things, hold things, and generally just stand around looking fabulous. I just ran and took a few quick shots of some pages to show you. These are just inked, no shading and no coloring yet. I don't know yet if they should be B&W, or some color, or all color... hmm... I'll put a little "poll" over on the edge of the blog and you all can give me your opinions, OK? At the very least, they need a subtle background color to help the panels stand out. I think I'd like to color the whole durn thing, except for the actual tangle steps. But, then, I really like to color things in. Coloring book, yes, that's a great idea! It's already on the to-do list. ;-D

Vote for Me Me ME!

I finished my entries for the Munny Munth contest and after trying to upload photos using FOUR different browsers - I succeeded! And just in time - the deadline is tomorrow. Phew! So now I need all of you folks to go and vote for my Munnys!! And don't look around because there are a ton of other amazing creations, but mine is covered with tangles so it's the best! Hee hee. Just kidding. You can vote for someone else's creature and I promise I won't hold it against you. Really. Go vote... right now.... I'm waiting!

OK, you're back. The picture crops off parts so I'll post the full pics here. It's a Superhero Family: Meg is mega at 20" or so, Minnie is mini at 7" and BooBoo is mini-mini. They all have "Squid" on their heads.

I love Meg's butt-crack and tattoo. Minnie wanted a tattoo, but she's too young, so she got a cape instead. Accessorize, baby!

Got an opinion?

Hey all, I need a really quick opinion on the book cover. I'll post a little survey poll thing over on the right side of the blog. I need to know which cover you prefer - the white background or the cream background. It almost sounds like wedding dresses or something. By the way, Suzanne, the publisher says she likes the book! Phew! :-) Now I just need to fix some spelling and pick the cover. Tell me what you think! (Thanks!)