My Tangled Pantry

This spring, before our kitchen renovations began, I posted a picture of the fun I had tangling my soon-to-be-demolished counter top.  Fast forward four months and we are very near completion of our new space.

One huge bonus to our project is a walk-in pantry.  I was able to design the shelving placement and worked in a desk type counter area on the right side of the room.  This is what it looked like after a week of priming, sanding, painting, and cleaning ~

My fingers were itching to grab a Sakura Identi-pen and tangle some love onto the counter top, but for days I admired and studied the space.  Should I draw a random string, a border, write something? With so many tangles to choose from, which ones should I include?

Besides, it was so fresh, so new, so clean, so white.  Just thinking of tangling the surface, I must admit, was gratifying enough :)  

Then, two days ago, as I was standing in the doorway yet again admiring the space, my husband walked by and quipped, "Do you think we will ever put food in there?"

I laughed - and snapped out of my little trance.  It was meant to be a pantry, wasn't it?!  At last count, our food stuffs were in three different rooms of the house waiting to be moved into the single new space...

My focus on the available surface to be tangled narrowed as I pictured boxes, cans, baskets, and containers lining the shelves.

And it was a pantry after all, a room full of bounty that will feed our family.  I thought of a blessing and decided that I would include it across the space.

First, I began with a border ~

Once I doubled this, one of my daughters asked why I didn't draw straight lines.  Without hesitating, I replied, "I did my best."  That was a satisfying answer.   Don't get me wrong, I describe myself as a reformed perfectionist.   In my former life, I NEVER would have tackled this task without a straight edge, a ruler, penciled lines, blue painter's tape, etc.

Practicing the Zentangle® Method has freed me from those things when I need to be.  Armed with new Identi-pens and the freedom of knowing that I would only face creative opportunities, I plunged in.

There was the matter of the not-so-straight lines though.   Since I am right handed the closer my hand got to the wall on the right side, the less space I had and the lines got pretty shaky.

After I checkered the double lined border, I added some darker waves to the inner line and was satisfied with how it turned out.

As with all tangles, it is not a single line but the sum of all the lines that creates the magic ~

Next, and with "It's a String Thing" #89 fresh in my mind, I drew one of my favorite borders ~

I embellished it with aura, some detail lines, perfs, dots, and a bit of Betweed before adding the blessing and a single Ann ~

I sprayed three light coats of matte acrylic finish, wiping each lightly before adding the next.
Here is the finished project (for now!) ~

There is plenty of room for necessities without covering up the tangles.
Now I can honestly answer my husband and say, "Yes, we will put food in there."