I have read that a perfect Zentangle Tile holder is the old 3.5 floppy disk storage cases. Online they cost a lot because they people are tagging them “vintage”. You can find them occasionally in used goods stores. I was getting ready to buy one, but I first went over to paperboard boxes area and found a perfect Zentangle Tile storage box. It is a used Martha Stewart Crafts Ribbon Storage Box. The inner dimensions are just over 3.5″ x 3.5″ and the official tiles fit like they were made for it! Oh happy day! I also use Zentangle Apprentice Tiles and about 50 of them also fit sideways in the box with the lid closed.

Sometimes I can have a hectic day, or maybe I am in a sour mood and I have noticed that the process of tangling changes the way I am feeling. When I am tangling, I find myself breathing slower and deeper and I also get a sense of general well-being. For me, the benefits of tangling do not end as soon as I finish the tile or ZIA that I am working on.  I feel balanced and content for hours after I finish the session.

For grins and giggles, I am thinking about doing a series of tiles while riding public transit here in Portland, Oregon. 😉 How fun! It is a snap to take tangling on the road, and it can be done almost anywhere.Hmmm, I wonder which tangles to use? Ideas are welcomed, wanted and appreciated.

I am choosing a phone number for my teaching website of Do More Art (DoMoreArt.com) with an old one hit wonder song by Tommy Tutone, from 1982 kept playing over and over in my head… no, 867-5309 was not available, nor would I want it if it was!

I chose the phone number 503-897-9997 – it doesn’t spell anything, but it taps out on the phone all on one line and it is so easy to dial. So remember, scheduling your Zentangle Class for your company, private party, girls night out, or for a Basic Zentangle class or questions is just a call away…as they say on the radio…

Thats 503-897-9997…write it down, 503-897-9997, call today 503-897-9997!

Well, not really naming the band, but rather naming this business. My husband’s friend, Anthony Shore at Operative Words (www.operativewords.com) has named 3 of our 4 current businesses as well as businesses my husband has had in the past. My husband called Anthony who sent some suggestions for names. There were a couple of good ones there, but nothing that really clicked for me. I went through my list of names I had been collecting over the the past few weeks, and began checking for domain name availability. I had no luck at first.

I began reading Anths  great article, Five Ways to Create Great, Free Domain Names , and that helped a lot. I also visited a couple of  Web sites that were suggested to me. The Web site that was the most help to me was www.panabee.com. My husband and I also looked at nameboy.com. Panabee suggests using 2 word search criteria. I began combining 2 to 4 word phrases with good luck. I  made sure that the potential business names were available in Oregon first, and then Washington, as these are the states where I hope to someday do business. If the potential name passed muster,  I’d add them to a running list. If not, I would move them to a failed running list so that I did not search again for a name that had been ruled out.

I remembered some ‘naming guidelines’ that my husband has used over time, such as naming the business starting with the letter A, like several of his past businesses. That seemed old school today, because so many people are sticking an “A” onto the front of their business name. Limit business names to 2 or 3 words. Like RunBrainRun, Big Red Arrow, Portland Walking Tours and Hometown Advantage, our current businesses.

I was thinking about Nike’s “Just Do It” old campaign success, and the simple “Swoosh” Logo when I had the idea for “Do More Art”. Many  Tanglers want to Do More Art.  I believe most people in general would like to have time to “Do More Art” if they are the art inclined type of person. Using GoDaddy, I found that the name ‘DoMoreArt.com was available’. We got the Web site right away, and a similarly named one to sit on for a while to see which we like best. So now, I have my business license application filed and the .com web site along with the TangleClasses and a few others.

Now it is time to think of a simple logo and begin collecting photos for my sites. I am thankful we have a great camera and a scanner for taking shots of classes and art and posting them.

I am still very excited that I found the name of my first business by myself without having to pay for it. My husband and Anthony both approve of my choice.

Oh my! I was elated to see Maria Thomas’ incredible lettering on an envelope addressed to me! Because it is so special, I opened it carefully to find a lovely printed card for the CZT class I am attending. The card has a quote on it stating, “Every artist was first an Amateur”, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and that ‘…all art requires Courage’. That got me thinking…

I have found that it requires courage to say that I am an artist, so I have started calling myself an artist lately. Other people have been telling me that I am an artist for years, and I was usually surprised people said this. I am indeed an artist and I create art daily.

I think it is wonderful that Maria, took the time to hand letter and each envelope to the potential CZT’s – along those lines, doing something extra something special provides a ‘wow factor’ that is also so creative in our tangles such as adding shading, embellishments, creating our own tangleations, adding that special bit of ourselves that provides uniqueness.

P.S. Of course the envelope also included my invoice for CZT training. 😉 

Tangle on!