I've had loads of fun with Cat-kin by Mimi Lempart this week. I used it not only for Joey's Cat-kin challenge (find it here: http://madebyjoey.blogspot.com) but also in response to a new challenge site: http://www.dianeclancy.com/blog/.
To get inspired, I wanted to do an image search for the name of the real-world plant that inspired Cat-kin. But I was really hesitant to put that term in the search engines. Heaven knows what I would have found! But I got smart and used Start page -- my fave search engine -- searching first for "botanical." Then Start Page lets me "search within" the list of hits for an additional word or phrase. Voila! I got a lovely list of webpages with images of the gorgeous branches.
The reason I wanted to view these images was to see what other shapes and patterns might look nice with the Cat-kin. I realized quickly that the willow is most often showcased all by itself. Sometimes it's in a flower arrangement with lovely blooms, but overwhelmingly it is pictured by itself. And why not? It's so unique. To me, it's both rustic and elegant at the same time.
I started with string 37 on tanglepattern.com's list of strings. I added some Flux (Zentangle(r)) to the center section. Then I spent days, literally, trying to think what I could add to the tile that wouldn't compete too much with Cat-kin. Chillon (Zentangle) on just the right scale was my solution.
To get inspired, I wanted to do an image search for the name of the real-world plant that inspired Cat-kin. But I was really hesitant to put that term in the search engines. Heaven knows what I would have found! But I got smart and used Start page -- my fave search engine -- searching first for "botanical." Then Start Page lets me "search within" the list of hits for an additional word or phrase. Voila! I got a lovely list of webpages with images of the gorgeous branches.
The reason I wanted to view these images was to see what other shapes and patterns might look nice with the Cat-kin. I realized quickly that the willow is most often showcased all by itself. Sometimes it's in a flower arrangement with lovely blooms, but overwhelmingly it is pictured by itself. And why not? It's so unique. To me, it's both rustic and elegant at the same time.
I started with string 37 on tanglepattern.com's list of strings. I added some Flux (Zentangle(r)) to the center section. Then I spent days, literally, trying to think what I could add to the tile that wouldn't compete too much with Cat-kin. Chillon (Zentangle) on just the right scale was my solution.