Double Cross By DiAnn Miles

This book has all of the trademarks of DiAnn Mills' writing~~intelligent dialogue, suspenseful action, and clean romance. Even though this book is the second in the FBI: Houston series, it can be read as a stand alone book. You can tell that DiAnn has done her research on how the FBI operates. We are given insight to the inner workings of this agency. I love how she portrayed Daniel, the loving grandson. Even though he had a rough start in life, he developed into a compassionate, caring, adult. I could relate to the situation of Daniel being raised by his grandparents. My inlaws raised my niece and nephew when they lost both parents. It wasn't easy on my inlaws, but they did a great job. I also felt that DiAnn dealt with the pain of having a loved one being afflicted with Alzheimer's disease in such a way that you wanted to cry and laugh with Abby and Daniel.

This book is well thought out and put together. You get the sense that DiAnn paid close attention to every detail and didn't rush the process of publishing the next book. Thank you, DiAnn, for another great book.

I received an advanced copy for review from DiAnn Mills.

The Art Education Association of Indiana Fall Conference

This coming weekend I have the privilege of introducing Zentangle® to many of Indiana's art teachers.   We will all be participating in the Fall Conference of The Art Education Association of Indiana. The conference is being held at the beautiful Indianapolis Marriott East hotel. 

Sakura has partnered with me by providing many of the necessary supplies to make it a great two-hour workshop.  Hopefully, in my workshop, I'll have a door prize for EVERYONE! Yes, you read that right.  Everyone should get a door prize.  I will have all the supplies the students will need to successfully complete the class.  

This is the participant's pack of supplies.  I wonder what goodies are in it?  One thing is for sure, there will be plenty of fun and creativity come out of that bag.

I will also have a booth on Friday night and Saturday during the day.  Oh the wonders that I'll be bringing for people to purchase to take back to their schools or just for themselves.  Here are just a couple of my totes that are filled to the brim with supplies.

My class will be the first thing on Sunday morning.  Wow! What a full weekend of being creative and helping people explore new ideas and new ways of being mindful and expressive.

My wonderful husband will be assisting me and making me look so good.  Without him, many of the things I'm going to do would not be possible.  We make the best team!

Quilt Samples Done with Zentangle®

You will find the rest of the samples of Zentangle® done on blocks for quilting below.  These blocks could easily be incorporated into a larger quilt. Most of the blocks are 13.5" x 14.5".

Apples are such fun to do.  I love the apple fabric that goes with these apples.  Can you name the tangles?

These birdies would make a great table runner.  This piece measures 20" x 13.5".

These cherries are from Michigan.  They demonstrate how you can use fabric markers to enhance your creation.

Where is my cherry pie?

Owls seem to be the cool thing now.  I do believe my little fellow looks pretty smart.

We have another bird that will help you get up in the morning ~~ Mr Rooster

 He measures 18" x 18".

He's trying very hard to get to the edge to get some of that corn.

Valentine's Day is coming sooner than you might think.  But with this piece, you'd be prepared.

Not only did I use freehand stitching, but I also explored using the fancy stitches on my machine as part of the Zentangle patterns. This piece measures 18" x 18".

My favorite of all is my Zendala,

A Zendala is a mandala done with Zentangle.

This piece measures 26.5" x 26.5". It illustrates how the use of black fabric markers can enhance the Zendala.  Gray fabric markers are used to add shading to give it the needed depth.

Busy Summer Hopefully to Turn into a Even Busier Fall

I've been inspired by Suzanne McNeill to create my own trunk show of Zentangle Inspired quilted art.  I will be posting one a week for the next 10 weeks or so.  I hope you enjoy them.

Zentangles for Friends

This is for my friend Linda D.  She lost her friend, Dale.  I made her a tile using tangles that spell out his name: Drupe, Assunta, Looby Loo, and Ekk.

This one is for my friend Kathy D. who is going through some really tuff stuff.  I spelled her name using:  Krli Q, Auraknot, Tuftid, Heartvine, and Yincut.

My prayers go out for both of these fine ladies.

Too Good To Be Truman Book Review

This is a great read if you're wanting something that is funny with a touch of revenge against the arrogant.  Go to Amazon.com for a complete description of the book.  I was sent a copy by Chris Well for a fair and honest review.  The following is that review.  Thank you, Chris, for the book.  I look forward to the next one.

I enjoyed the story about this troubled newspaper columnist. The situations that were thrust upon him were very laughable. In the beginning of the book, I tired quickly of the predictable dialogue. But either the dialogue got better or I didn't mind it so much. If you like stories where revenge is played out against the arrogant, then you will enjoy this book. I enjoy mysteries and I enjoy humor. Though the humor here is mostly slapstick, that's ok. I'm a product of the 50's and 60's. When I first started reading this book, I was reminded of Sgt. Friday on Dragnet (The dialogue was just as corny there, too). Lately, I've been very disappointed in Kindle books. They either don't translate well from the paper version of the book or editing is hitting a new low. I will stop reading a book if there are too many errors. In this book, however, I think I only found a couple of errors. There was a missing word in the last chapter. That's what being a slow reader will do for you. All the errors jump out at you. All in all, this book was an enjoyable, easy read.

A Great Book about a Great Place ~ Mackinac Island

I know the focus of this blog is my Zentangle.  But when I read a good book, I like to share.  Go to amazon.com for the synaposis of the book.  My review is below.

I love Mackinac Island more that I like Historical Romance.  But this book has me loving both.  The descriptions of the island take me back there, even if it is another time period.  I can still see the Grand Hotel and imagine all the ladies in their finery.  I also found the descriptions of the time period interesting.  Society had certain rules for men and women to abide by.  I’m so glad I didn’t live back then.  I would constantly be in trouble for being a free thinker.

            In the last third of the book, Elena is properly introduced to the man her mother hopes she will marry to save the family from the poor house.  Elena and Chase had formed a friendship based on neither one revealing the whole truth about who they really were.  They each thought the other was in much lower station in life than they really were.  So, when they were properly introduced,  they both thought the other had deceived them.  They both vowed never to see each other again.  But deep in their hearts, they longed for the other.  The author could have drawn out this tension for a major part of the book, but she didn’t.  The resolution came about in a timely manner, and the ending was quite wonderful.  My favorite character was Chase’s mother.  She was the crème of society, yet very down to earth.  She was so different from the other women in that she would not tolerate gossip, which was the main entertainment for most women back in the day.  It was through her that a lot of healing between the characters took place.

            The other thing I like about this book was the fact that I didn’t find any errors.  It was so pleasant to not be jarred with a wrong word or misplaced sentence part.  When I consider a book, I look at the reviews.  If a review mentions that there were a lot of typos, I won’t read it~~even if it’s a great story.  My sunbonnet is off to Melanie Dobson and Summerside Press for a great read.