The Diva Challenge #165 and Some Cool Walmart Finds!

 

This week’s challenge was to use the pattern Camelia. When I looked at the pattern it reminded me of the design on Coach bags/purses, so I decided use the pattern as if Camelia was a woman designer drawing a design to use to give to a manufacturer. I even signed it “Designs by Camelia”. It was fun! I love doing the Diva’s challenge. It’s a great prompt to get you tangling.

As I mentioned in last week’s blog, I have been exploring quite a few different art forms while I’ve been sick, and Zentangle has to be my #1. It gives me distraction from the chronic pain issues I have, and I am very grateful to have found this art form. It has also given me the confidence to attempt to draw and paint just about anything, in a variety of different mediums. It is because of this new found confidence and medical aid that I have decided to become a CZT (Certified Zentangle Teacher). I want to share this art form with as many people as I can, and I would like to develop a curriculum designed for people who suffer with chronic pain. I have signed up for a training conference in October and I am on a waiting list. The conference is already full, but I am hoping I will be able to come up with the money and go to Rhode Island. I am even willing to sell my car to go, but I am going to try to sell some of my polymer clay items, and maybe some of my drawings and paintings, so if you see something you like please let me know. Your purchase will be going to support a great cause!

Before I share my cool Walmart finds, I would respectfully ask that if you are reading this post, and you hate Walmart, please, please, please, don’t be hateful to me! I get it! I understand how Walmart pushes around the little guy, but right now it is really the only place I can afford unless I use a coupon at Michael’s or Joann’s. I am basically disabled, but I haven’t filed for disability. I have no other way to earn money other than selling what I make, so Walmart is one of my main options to make purchases. So please respect me and my post. Thank you!

Whenever I’m at Walmart to buy groceries I always try to sneak in at least one art or craft supply into my basket. This week on 2 separate shopping trips I found some absolutely wonderful items and I thought I’d share them with you.

 

 

My Walmart has recently started carrying this generic brand of markers. It doesn’t really have a brand name that I could find, but the above photo shows what the packaging looks like. I bought the metallic markers first  4 pens, and I think they were $2.98. They write wonderfully. I have decorated a picture frame, a mixed media painting and the inside lining of the purse above, and it is still as juicy as the day I bought it. The colors are smooth and shiny and I highly recommend them.

The package above contains 2 of each color of markers. They are similar to Sharpie and Bic Mark it markers, but the cost is much different. for 30 markers the cost was less than $7! They work exactly the same as the aforementioned brands and I recommend them!

I also wanted to let you know that Walmart is now carrying Prismacolor Markers. I bought a 4 pack which includes .005, .05, a chisel tip, and a brush tip. I love them! I think they work as good as Pigma Micron pens. The tips are very nice and write really smoothly. The cost on these is more like what you would pay at Michael’s or Hobby Lobby, they were $9.99, but that isn’t a bad price, and still I just think it’s cool that Walmart is carrying a Prismacolor product.

The second item I found of this generic Walmart brand was a journal.

 

If I could jump, I would literally jump for joy over this journal. It has 400 pages, a ribbon page marker and it is filled with…graph paper!!! They also carry journals like this in black and with lined pages, which I may buy, but This journal is going to be my Zentangle pattern “Bible”.

 

This book will allow me to create a nice pattern book which will look very nice and symmetrical because of the graph paper, and I will be able to use it to look up patterns anywhere at anytime, and later I will be able to use it to teach classes. I can’t tell you how happy this journal has made me. And the cost? $12.98. I think it is well worth it, and I can’t tell a difference in quality than if I were to buy a $30 or $40 journal at Hobby Lobby.

I promise my next post will be polymer clay related. I am working on two bangle bracelet prototypes to see if I want to make more to sell. One is decorated with polymer clay tiles (like a mosaic) and the other is a hand-painted Zentangle pattern. They are almost done so check back soon, or subscribe so that you don’t miss them!

And finally, I would like to add the Diva’s Challenge button to my page, but I don’t know how to do it. I know where to get the code on her page, but I don’t know where to go on my dashboard to add it here on WordPress, so if you know how to do this, please, please, please, leave me a comment with instructions or email me at jossetteholland@gmail.com

Thanks for reading!