I did some drawing and "zen"- type doodling while we were away. Here's a sketch I did of a gull, from a field guide (the real ones didn't stay still long enough for me to draw). When I got home, I scanned the sketch into PSE and filled it with a lacy pattern.

I drew this little mouse in the Paint program (an experiment), then filled it with a pale version of my black and white paisley design. I like him! Thanks, Bob, for suggesting the mouse idea.

Still inspired by Drawing Lab, I did a line drawing of a hummingbird (from a photo on the National Zoo website), scanned it into PSE and made a few refinements to it, then filled the spaces digitally with an alphabet image and a paisley pattern I had created for earlier projects. I love the way this one turned out!
Still inspired by Drawing Lab, I first I drew this bird in black pen, then filled it with my "zen-type" doodles, then filled the small spaces spaces digitally with colors and a pattern made from one of my scanned journal page backgrounds. I know that's probably a little hard to follow, but trust me...it's a very colorful way to spend a few summer hours.
I just bought a new book called Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists, by Carla Sonheim. This book is just plain fun. One of the exercises involves making quick little drawings of imaginary cats, and another suggests filling in similar sketches with doodling. So I tried drawing some cats, and later filled them with doodles similar to what I've been doing in my "Zentangle-inspired" work. Then (of course) I added some Photoshop Elements effects for extra fun. Here's one example-- this one must have been inspired by colors and costumes worn in India.

It won't be too long now...
(digitally altered photo of some of my many Outer Banks seashells)