Off to New Zealand

Unfortunately I've had no time to do Diva Challenges recently as I'm off on a cruise around New Zealand. I've been very stressed and nervous about it all, not having gone out of Australia since I arrived back in 1980. Going away is always a bit unsettling for us, being "Seniors", but this is a totally new scenario . I know I'll be fine once I meet up with my friend. She's glad to go as she comes from NZ, and has a daughter living there whom she'll be able to see. I won't be able to post again until I come back in two weeks. But I do have something to share.

I have continued to explore Betweed and watercolour pencils. I enjoy working on watercolour paper.

Another share..I took a friend just out here for two weeks from Manchester, UK, around our delightful Gippsland countryside. Previously she'd only seen cities, outback and Queensland. Its so green where I live, similar to England. She just loved the day. We headed for the mountains, where we have snow in the winter.

Spotted an alpaca as we drove by.

A view over to the Baw Baw mountains and the Tarago reservoir.

Discovered the Noojee tressle bridge. It was built many years ago for the trains to cart wood from the forests which were  being cut down. Its made from wood and bolts. No longer a train track but every year they have the longest breakfast right along it, yay!

Diva Challenge #193 "Trio"

This week's challenge is from guest Diva Holly Atwater is to use three tangle patterns:- Huggins, Trio and XYP.
I've been away and working in my small watercolour book, so decided to work in that for the challenge. I did the zentangle in the traditional manner first, then used watercolour pencils for the colour.

Our next swap on Facebook is to represent "Winter". At first I found this difficult, then started to look at images of bare trees, which became my inspiration. I created some watercolour backgrounds, some with luminous effect and went from there. Below is a selection of some of them.

Wondering what to do with old ZIAs, decided to use them for Christmas cards!

In Australia Spring continues to bless us with colour and more colour! I am continually amazed at the beauty of flowers. Here I have one of my rose bushes and some ground cover which, when the sun is directly on it, seems to glow with quite a brilliance.

I hope I have brought you some colour and inspiration today!

Diva Challenge #192

It's UMT week,  with guest challenger Chris Letourneaux giving us her tangle "Seton" to create a tangle-ation with. I loved the design but got too carried away with too many details. My final tile wasn't crash hot either but here it is.

Tangle: Seton, Onomato and Ennies

Also this week I kept working with Betweed. I did a mono tangle of it in a watercolour paper book, painting in watercolour paints. To get the intensity of colour I wanted I needed to work in layers, but I was pleased with the result.

We are in a lovely season of Spring right now and the roses are in full bloom. We were fortunate to have purchased a house which came with rows of rose bushes down the driveway. They are so delightful!

Many thanks for all the kind comments for last weeks blog, they are much appreciated.