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Monday, April 30, 2018

Blogging From A to Z - 2018 - Z is for



Welcome to the letter Z in the A to Z Challenge for 2018.  This year I am making my way through the alphabet as seen in Michaels Arts and Crafts store.  We have reached the end of the road today with the letter Z.  It was one of the first letters that I looked around the store to find something to feature since I figured that if I could get a "Z" I'd have the alphabet licked.

Thank goodness for Zentangle!  The cover says "Drawing your way to increased creativity, focus and well-being."  I call it doodling and it totally would have fit in with my letter D for drawing, but I needed a Z so there you go.



Fortunately for me, they make Zentangle tool sets so I had some additional information.


I didn't research too much but there are apparently different types of tool sets.  The Apprentice set is for children.  


The Renaissance set is for drawing on old-looking papers.  The colors are more browns and tans.  


This is what is in the Renaissance set.  


They even make special "artist tiles" which are pieces of paper cut to a square.  These are 6 x 6 and the paper is black.


I have never tried Zentangle and oddly enough, I don't really doodle much.  You would think I'd be all over doodles but no.  Intimidated maybe?  I color great if someone else draws the thing. 


This one almost made it into the X-tras Friday but I decided to keep it here.  Michaels has zippers.  Not many, but you can get some.  


During my last round of picture taking for this A to Z as I was in the scrapbooking section taking a picture of the X-ron machine, I saw the Zips and Zots and had to add them.  

Zips and zots are small round bits of adhesive that you can use to hold your embellishments down.  I use them a lot when I am adding flowers to a project because the round shape is perfect to hold the middle of the flower down but leave the petals loose.  Sometimes they are raised a bit because the Zot is thick.  Even more dimension.  


The flowers on the front of this card 



and this Easter Mini-album are held on with Zots.  


You can see the dimension it adds and the petals are loose but the flower won't come off because the Zots are very strong.  




Well, I made it!  Last year I finished the A to Z but not on time as there were some of the entries I had to add in after the fact.  This year was much easier and once again I have to give a shout out to Jacqui Murray at Word Dreams for giving me the idea to base my A to Z on the things you could find at Michaels.  

As you exit the store, and my A to Z posts, I'll leave you with this:



I hope that you have enjoyed the journey through the store with me.  I found some interesting things during the six months I worked there (September 2017 through March 2018) both in the store and in the people I interacted with.  It was definitely a learning experience.  

Now I have to think about what to write for next year's A to Z.  Got any suggestions?  Did you like my Michaels series?  Learn anything?  Do you Zentangle?  Love to hear about it.   


(Note:  I decided I should add a disclaimer to these posts because I certainly don't want to give the idea that I am being paid by Michaels to do this or that they are furnishing me with material.  All pictures used in this blog series were taken by me at local Michaels stores, or are my personal pictures and every Michaels store may not have everything shown.)

16 comments:

  1. Well that was a creative way to end your series - I haven't seen Zentangles for ages - a blogger I used to follow made a few a week a couple of years ago. Lovely meeting you through the challenge and congrats to both of us for surviving! Now I just have my wrap up post next week and an e-book that I'm in the process of learning how to create - then I'm done!

    Leanne | www.crestingthehill.com.au
    Z for Zero in on your target

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    1. Yes, Leanne, nice meeting you too! Thanks for your comments. Zentangle was a big fad for a while. Are you making the E-book from your A to Z posts? That's a great idea.

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  2. Never heard of the Zentangle but then again, I'm not an artist looking for tools. But I do like the Zots and will think about them next time I do something crafty. You finished this challenge with Zest and Zeal. CongratulationZ!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Wendy. I'm glad we got to meet each other. Zots are a big help when you need stick but some flexibility as well.

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  3. Congratulations on finishing the challenge! That Zentangle actually looks like a lot of fun. I think I used to do something like that when I was bored in school, which was usually...

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    1. LOL John. I guess I wasn't bored enough in school because I never took up doodling. Thanks for dropping by!

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  4. Thanks for the month long tour round the store Janet, and now that it's finished, I have some time to do some Zentangle! Well done on completing the challenge.
    https://iainkellywriting.com/2018/04/30/z-is-for-zaragoza-spain/

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    1. You know, Iain, I might have to try one or two Zentangles just because. Thanks for stopping by.

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  5. I like your theme! I went backwards through the participants' list so only came to your blog today. I'll be back to check out your other A-Z posts. Best wishes to you.
    The View from the Top of the Ladder

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    1. Thanks for stopping by. I expect I'll be hitting some of the other participants as well now that the daily push is over. I'm gonna go check the view from the top of the ladder now!

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  6. Zips and Zots! Wow! Those are new to me and they sound very handy. Great finish for the challenge. Congratulations!

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    1. Thanks, Trudy. I use zots all the time but I hadn't heard of zips before. I see they have some that is for bling too. I may have to check that out. Thanks for stopping by!

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  7. Great finish to the Challenge! That was an impressive array of z things.

    Thanks for joining us again.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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    1. Thanks Arlee. Looking forward to next year's big 10.

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  8. Interesting challenge. Congratulations on finishing it!

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    1. Thanks David. I had more fun than I thought.

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I'd love to hear your thoughts!