"Oooh—Shiny!" Week: Thursday

So today I utilized the tip I gave you yesterday, and I tangled on a metallic sheet of paper. This pink paper with a pebbled metallic finish is from a short roll (7.5 inches tall!) of wrapping paper that I bought a long time ago when I was holding a jewelry sale at my home. I love that roll of wrapping paper, and wish I could get the exact same thing in lime green and turquoise or aqua, too.

In order to tangle on something with a bit more substance than just the paper, I cut a posterboard "tile" and adhered the pink paper to it, wrapping the edges to the back.

Before I tangled it, I tested pens on the paper. I was so disappointed with the way it looked tangled in black; I was about to get out a completely different metallic paper to work on (cardstock, actually). But then I grabbed a white paint pen. I liked it, though it looked thin and watery--like pale pink. So I tried my trust Posca Uni white paint pen, and BINGO! Wow. It popped. What a difference! Who knew that white on metallic pink would show up so much better than black? So the lesson here is to audition different colors and pens to see what works best on your surface. (Like you didn't already know that!) I did add some black accents at the end, and they really helped to add some definition. I am wondering if I want to add some black in the thickened part of the lines in the diva dance sections.

Here's my piece for the day:

I started with spuncstrada, one of my newest tangles. I added some zingers,
and then cadet in the lower right. bales in the upper left, and diva dance
in the upper right and lower left. I finished it with some tipple at the edges
of the cadent section. This piece is a 6-inch square.

I was utterly thrilled that I had two comments yesterday! I was beginning to lose my motivation, thinking that no one was stopping by. Thank you, Chrissie and Cheryl!

This week is flying by! I really thought I'd have more time to tangle this week and would be posting several things every day, but at this point, I accept that I might not get to as many ideas and examples as I'd hoped to this week. Oh well! I'm okay with saving some for later.

"Oooh—Shiny!" Week: Wednesday

I have about 10 minutes to sneak this in...and no tangled pieces from to share.

My suggestion of the day is to find some metallic paper or yardstick (correction: that should read "cardstock"!!!!!) to tangle on. I located some in my stash this evening, but did not get around to tangling on it. You see, I was caught up in an obsessive search for colored pencils.

It's not that I couldn't find any colored pencils, though. I have plenty! It's that a few of my sets have been missing pencils, and every now and then it BUGS me. Today was one of those days that it was driving me crazy, so I spent some time searching for them. And my diligence paid off!!! I found all the ones I was looking for . . . except one. ONE! One blue Intense pencil from my tin is STILL missing. Before tonight there were three missing; why was the third one not with the other two that I located??? I was also missing some pencils from two Prismacolor sets. Guess what. I found them, too!!! But that one elusive Inktense got the best of me tonight, and I just realized how late it is.

I wish I hadn't gotten so caught up in my search tonight. But I am glad I found the pencils that I did find. I hope that in my ongoing quest to set up and organize my dream studio, that one pencil will eventually show up. Deep down, I know that I don't really NEED it. I just hate knowing that it is not where it should be. Why do incomplete sets bother me so much?

P.S. Still laughing that my computer thinks your should tangle on a yardstick.

"Oooh—Shiny!" Week: Tuesday

I nearly didn't get any tangling in today. Yesterday was a long, busy day, and I think I wore myself out. I was grumpy and tired all day today! That should have been a sign for me to start tangling, but I waited until this evening (rather late!) for reasons I can't quite put my finger on.

I did not work on a tile today. I started with a rim tag (on the left in the photo below). I love rim tags! I especially love the larger rim tags, but the one I had hand was a smaller one. It was black on one side, kraft brown on the other. I only tangled the black one tonight, with a silver Sigma. The pen is too broad to tangle in small spaces with much detail.

Then I moved on to some brown kraft stickers that I bought on clearance last month when my nearby Michael's as getting ready to close its doors. (There is a brand new Michaels now in a different retail area that isn't far, but it's definitely not as convenient a location for me. Phooey.) I used my gold sigma, and started on the scalloped medallion. I began with a loopy tangle, eke, but there wasn't room to really develop it, so I added a spiral in the center. Then thickened the gold at the corner between the loops. Eventually I added some details with a black 005 Micron.

The other sticker is tangled with ving. I haven't decided how to finish it, but my tip for you is to outline your metallic pen strokes if there is not enough contrast for the lines to show up well. Again, I used my 005 Micron.

Finally, I got out a tool I have had for ages: the Inscriblio by EK Success. Have you seen this before? It is a crafter's engraving tool. I haven't used it in a long, long time. The batteries inside had corroded. Ugh! So I gave it to my son to clean up--he's really great with that sort of thing! And got out my . . . wait for it . . . back-up Inscriblio! Yes, I have two. And that one still had working batteries that had NOT corroded! YAY! So I found my metal ATCs that I've had for years, and engraved the metal ATC you see below. I'm not at all sure why I chose mooka. I do know why I employed indyrella at the top, though! Indyrella allowed me to work with the surface, not against it. As you might imagine, engraving is not nearly as easy as drawing with a pen; the metal seems to have a grain, and the tool does not always move in the manner you want it to.  Curves can be especially tricky. I knew this from years ago, the first time I engraved a metal ATC. I looked for that metal ATC from yesteryear, but since it did not turn up for me today, I figured it was time to make a new one.

I took some video of the metal ATC in my hand, turned different ways to catch the light, but I haven't yet figured out how to upload a video from my iPhone into Blogger. I can't seem to access videos, even though I can access photos. 

Well, whew! I got my Tuesday post in before midnight! I hope to get tomorrow's in earlier.