give it away, give it away now.

Hope everybody had a wonderful Christmas! Mine was white... NBD. *jumping up and down*

Paul and I like to go out and drive around on the rare occasion when it snows. The roads were better today than yesterday, but people in Texas often appear to forget about the kind of ice you can't see... like this poor guy. See the red near the middle of the shot? That's a car.

well... maybe he's got flood insurance.

testing out my snow boots.

 a few houses in our 'hood...

  A cute little Mexican imports place on the way to my parents' house.

A pretty tree in a random neighborhood. 

  Normally this pond is loaded with quackers and turtles.

My parents' house... 

Christmas lights shining through the snow.

Now that Christmas is over, I can focus on the other things I have up my sleeve. I'm really looking forward to the coming year.

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SPOILER ALERT... if you are involved in Karen Izzi's bookmark swap or Patsy Monk's postcard swap, close this window now. Or you're gonna RUIN your surprise.

Don't say I didn't warn you... 

I *did* try. 

Yeah, I probably wouldn't have listened either.

My entries for Karen's Zentangle bookmark swap.

These bookmarks are blingy. If you believe in the tangle fairy, you should be able to see the sparkle in the pics. I punched holes and added some light blue organza ribbon after scanning them. 

A true Zentangle can be turned in any direction and still looks right. Because there is no up or down in Zentangle. But if there was... the bookmark on the right would be upside down. If you stand on your head or turn your monitor/mobile device upside down, then you shall be one with the bookmark.

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My entries for Patsy's (1.1.13 themed) postcard swap...

Alice was not technically on my list of people to send to, but I had an extra puzzle card and she's a friend o' mine, so she's getting one anyway. 

The names are written on the envelopes. After I scanned these I broke up the puzzles and sealed them...sure hope they travel well. One of them is going to Queensland.

I'll post the ones I get in the mail so y'all can see. I may or may not have opened the first one already (and it's lovely!). 

Here's wishing you a safe and happy new year's! See you next year! :o)

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Weekly Challenge #76: "Home"

The Diva's challenge this week: A home-themed tangle.

I did both an urban and a rural one. I was glad to see a lot of the entries this week were heavy on the whimsy, leaning full-tilt toward Zentangle-inspired art. Woohoo!

My favorite time here in Dallas is when it's (snowing... ha! In Texas! Aren't I hilarious? ...or) dumping buckets of rain, when I don't have anywhere to be but home in my art room or cozied up in my reading chair with my nook and my codependent cat. Whether I want him there or not.

After we get a good hard rain (providing it's not 110 degrees outside), the air smells fresh and clean, the sky gets really blue, and the clouds are all pumped up and puffy. On the *other* end of the sliding scale of happiness, we have the tornado I threw in for fun. I know it's not often you get 'tornado' and 'fun' in the same sentence, but tangling will do that for you.

The hot mess on the lower left represents Reunion Tower. In the summer, you can go up to the observation deck and watch everything shimmer from the heat of the day. That's what the flames are for... because if it's hot enough that things are looking shimmery up there on deck, you're about to discover what a toasted marshmallow feels like.

And for my rural tile, I give you a cactus playing with a beach ball. ;o)