Diva Challenge: Hollibaugh (Plus a bonus tutorial!)

This week's challenge is simply to use hollibaugh, one of first tangles most of us learn.
I admit that I rarely use hollibaugh as such, although I do plenty of over-under tangling: I've always seen it as more of a technique than a tangle in and of itself - although all your artwork this week will most certainly show me short sighted!
Anyway, I started out with three quick and reasonably traditional treatments.

These are very small: 1 inch in diameter! 

The background is watercolor pencil, with micron pen and graphite shading. The paper is Canson multi-media (unless I got lazy and cut some circles out of something cheaper, which is always a possibility!) 

While I like the flower on the bottom, I definitely have a soft spot for the top one too, which is tangled in multiple senses of the word. :) 

These little guys have a higher purpose, too: I have been making them by the dozen to turn into magnets which I'll be giving to friends and family at Christmas. 

Here they are with some friends modge-podged to their glass gems and awaiting their magnets. 

If you want to do a similar project, stay tuned to the end of this post for a mini-tutorial!

I really have flowers on the brain lately in my tangling, and I liked my tiny hollibaugh flower, so I decided to do a larger one on a 3 inch circle.

This turned into a mandala without my really meaning it to, and I also realized after my first few hollibaugh-style "tendrils" that the negative space was clearly a leaf. And of course, I had to color it!
I used my new 24-count Staedtler watercolor pencils.

I'm still feeling my way through using this particular medium, but I'm really quite pleased with how this turned out. My kids are perhaps less impressed since I hid in my bedroom to do much of it. They were putting on a concert downstairs, and since the oldest is 6 and not one of them has any natural rhythm or innate musical talent... well, I was in the right place!


OK, and now if you'd like to make some little magnets of your own for Christmas time, here are some tips!
Supply List: 

• Good watercolor or multi-media paper. Mine was Canson Multi-Media. 
• Watercolors or watercolor pencils
• Waterproof black pens - i.e. Micron. Stabilos will run when modge podged! 
• Good quality circle punch like this one from Fiskars. 
• Glass Gems. These are usually found in the floral section of your craft store. After an extensive (and moderately expensive) search of two local craft stores and the Dollar Tree, I have determined the following: "Glass Drops" from Craft Warehouse are ideal for this project. (Regular price $4 for about 50 of them - today they were only $2!) The Ashland brand from Michael's Crafts Store ($3 for 12 oz, or about 20) will contain some usable gems in each bag, but more than 50% will be the wrong size, shape, or have too many flaws. The Dollar Tree's are also unevenly shaped and has a greenish tint which is unsuitable. I didn't check JoAnn's and there are no Hobby Lobbies in my state, sadly. :) Surprisingly, this item was one of the few craft supplies it doesn't seem possible to buy in bulk on Amazon or eBay for a substantial savings. 
• Modge Podge. A little dab'll do ya - get the small bottle! 
• E6000 glue 
• Quality (strong!) magnets. I ordered mine from Amazon. You can often find decent ones at the craft store, but in packs of 5 you'll go broke if you're making 50 of the silly things like me! 

Tips: 
1) Watercolor an entire sheet of paper to start with. Trying to do one circle at a time will drive you mad - and curl the edges!
2) Punch, punch, punch, then draw, draw, draw!

• I tried making larger drawings and selectively punching my favorite parts. This is fine, and a great way to use tiles you're not happy with in their entirety. But for mass production, I found I wanted to tangle on the punched circle - lots less guesswork!  

3) Modge-podge the flat side of a gem with a foam brush and firmly press the right side of your artwork to it. Add another layer of modge podge to the back and around the edges, but don't go crazy.

4) Let it dry for a few moments before using E6000 to attach the magnet. Be careful when making multiples: my magnets are so strong that they have to be placed several inches apart or they will pull on each other and sometimes rip the magnets right off the gem before the glue dries!