Afghan # 6: It is finally done

This is not my usual blog post since so many of them have to do with my work with Zentangle®. For those that have explored a little further on my blog, you may remember that I had indicated that I had made afghans/blankets for each of my grandchildren. I had not yet been able to finish the one for granddaughter #6.  I figured that this would be as good a time as any as I am off work due to the holidays. All I had to do was the border and finish. This is a slight modification of a Leisure Arts pattern entitled Pastel Stripes. I do not have pictures of others but did a few others for some of the other granddaughters from the same publication, "Make One for Baby". I beat the deadline of getting it done before her 16th birthday. She will be     1 year old in a couple of months. Well here are a couple of pictures of the finished product.

Took this with a flash to hopefully help see the colors better.

This one was taken without a flash and a very slow shutter speed since there was not a lot of light except for the tree. Like the way this one looks better than the first one.

Colors of the stripes are pink, blue, yellow, green, peach, lavender and a variegated yarn. The pattern called for aqua but could not find any so had to substitute.

Not sure how many more of these I will need to make.  

Zendala Dare #37

Was not sure that I would get this finished. This is another one of those that I grew to like the further I went. The shading made a lot of difference. Helped break it up a little and did not get as dizzy looking at it.
I had a lot of things that I was thinking about doing, but decided to keep it simple. Overall I am pleased with the result, a statement I do not make often. Hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Fearcles, Knightsbridge, Indy-rella, Birds on a Wire, Hybrid (variation)

If you have not visited The Bright Owl to look at the other entries, would encourage you to so by clicking here. 

I am glad that you took the time to visit, particularly during such a busy time of the year. Here's wishing a very Merry and safe Christmas to you and your family. 

CZT Loves Heal Event: Additional Tiles

Got the first tile done for the CZT Love Heals Event for the people in Newtown CT. Really wanted to try to do more but was not sure if I would have time. I was finally able to complete two more. The first one is similar to the first one I did in that the first letter of each tangle spells out a word. This one is HOPE. My wish is that the people impacted by this event be able to regain a sense of hope, particularly the children. Hope for the future. My wish is also that they have a sense and belief that there is hope in the arms of their Savior whose birth, is the focus of our celebration at this time of year. If they do not currently have this, my hope is that this is something they can achieve as the days go by. Such acts have no understandable explanation. Our hope is that our Lord and Savior is faithful and as he promises will never leave us. He is with us always. A fellow tangler and blogger, Barbara Geer posted the poem Footprints along with a beautiful ZIA. Would encourage you to click here to view what she posted. Here is my second tile.

Tangles used (from upper left across) : Huggins, Onomato, Paradox, and Eenies  

The second is different in that I tried to express a sentiment through the tile. I do not think it needs much explanation. 

Tangles used: 'Nzeppel, Diva Dance, Flukes, Triangles, and Shattuck.

My hope is that they know that they remain in our thoughts and prayers as they go through the process of healing. 

Diva's Weekly Challenge #100!: New Tangle and a Diva Dance

This is the 100th Diva Challenge that Laura Harms has posted. I have only been participating in a small number of those, having only begun this year. I hope to participate in many more though. I do appreciate the challenges though because it does make me try new things and new tangles. Hopefully it also makes me more proficient in this art form. In honor of this momentous hallmark, the guest contributors are Maria Thomas and  Rick Roberts, founders of Zentangle®. A new tangle, the Diva Dance was introduced. The Challenge is to use it in this week's tiles.

Here is my attempt at using this new tangle. Hope you like it.

Tangles used: Diva Dance, Bales, Rain, Indy-rella, and Voxter

Through out the week go to I am the Diva and check out the different entries in this Challenge. I am sure they will be great as usual. 

As always, comments are welcomed and appreciated.

Zendala Dare #36

This weeks Zendala Dare from Erin at the Bright Owl used a different style of template than I am use to seeing. Can't say that I have seen a lot since have only been doing them since September. I had some ideas pretty quickly when I saw the template but there was a change. I usually do not make changes to the template. I try to find a way to fit what ever I am doing into the template. This time I modified the template a little. The change is only in the middle section as there was star-shape there that I omitted. Which is okay, as the string or template is only to be a guide. One of the nice things about Zentangle®.

Here is what I ended up with. Hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Sank Egg, Zander, Bunzo, Zinger

If you have not all ready been there, go to Erin's blog, The Bright Owl and look at what other people have done. Check back frequently as people make submissions throughout the week. 

CZT Love Heals - Response to the events in Connecticut

Denyse Jones, a CZT from Connecticut, put out a request for people to do Zentangle tiles, ZIAs, and Zendalas that would be sent to the school in Newtown, Connecticut. Her only requirement is that with each stroke your thoughts, prayers, and well wishes go into making your art. She is planning on delivering them in the next 2-3 weeks. If you are interested in participating, leave a comment and also a way to message you the address that they should be sent to. Do not want to publish it here to minimize the possibility of spammers getting a hold of it or it being used incorrectly somehow.

Here is my tile. Was not sure what to do. Decided to use tangles which the first letter of their name spelled PEACE. It is my hope that all the people impacted by this event will have the supports, treatment, and people around them that will lead them to a sense of peace. My heart aches for the children, teachers, first-responders, and families as they are grieving and trying to come to terms with what occurred.

Tangles used: Poke Root, Poke Leaf, Eyelet and Ribbon, Antidots, Cat-kin, Cruffle, and Eye-Wa.

Diva's Weekly Challenge #99: Guest Post- String Challenge v. XI "Looped Border String Challenge"

This was a fun challenge to do but just in case it was not enough of a challenge I decided to add a few of my own. I decided that I would use mostly new tangles or only tangles I had used infrequently. Most were new tangles. I also wanted to try to transition to each section in some way. Did pretty well with the latter until the last tangle I did, which was the middle tangle. As always, shading was the most difficult part of this challenge. Generally pleased except for Vitruvius. That was a challenge all its own. Here is the finished tile. Hope you like it.

If you have not all ready been there, go to I am the Diva and check out all the other submissions. Thanks to Laura and Margaret Bremner for the another great challenge.  Can check out some other examples of looped strings on Enthusiastic Artist .

Zendala Dare #35 - Where's My Template

This was an interesting Dare. I definitely like my templates. This has given me an even greater appreciation for the things that Erin does to sustain the Zendala Dare. I definitely was out of my comfort zone trying to make my own template.


                                                  Here is what my snowflake looked like

Here is the template that I created from the snowflake. As you can see I did not use all the different parts and I forgot to take a picture before I started tangles. Fortunately I only had completed one.

Here is the finished product. Did not turn out too bad, but I still like my templates!

Tangles used: Auraknot. Finery, Crescent Moon(variation), Scena, and Shing.

If you have not all ready been there, go to The Bright Owl and look at the other submissions. Should be quite a variety since there is not common template.

Diva Weekly Challenge #98: "UMT v. XI: Keenees"

As simple as this tangle is, I really struggled with a way to use it.  I have looked at it numerous times before and then decided not to use it. I went an entirely different way with this tile and thought of a way to show it. I also decided to have a little fun with it. Cannot say that is one of my favorite tiles but maybe it will grow on me. Hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Hybrid, Keenees, Partay

If you have not all ready gone to the Diva's blog, please go look at the other examples of using Keenees.

Zendala Dare #34

Have not been able to participate in the Zendala Dare for a couple of weeks because of other obligations. This is my first week back. Enjoyed the template that Erin used but took a while to get things finished. This was one of those that I grew to like more as it progressed. Did not really do a lot of planning on the tangles used. Used a lot of tangles that I like. Hope you like it.

Tangles used: Spiteria, Shattuck, Knightsbridge, Crescent Moon, Ennies, & 'Nzeppel

If you have not all ready done so, go to The Bright Owl and look at the other submissions.

Let The Show Begin!!

Maybe life will begin to get back to normal. Today was the first day of the Art & Gift show. Finally no more items to finish. Some folks asked me to post pictures of what I had so here they are. Did not take pictures of everything as I had about 60 ornaments. Most were ceramic shapes. But also had 4 6x6" tile trivets, 12 4x4"  stone coasters, and 12 wood burned cork coasters. That is the major items. There may have been a couple of other things. Were more lookers today than buyers. The Gift shop is open multiple days over the next 2 weeks so hopefully sales will pick up.

This is the general display. Was not enough room to get all the ornaments & tile coasters out.

Here are a fewer closer pictures of some of the ornaments.

Here are a few closer shot of the stone coasters and trivets.

Was interest in the classes but no one was committed enough to sign up for the classes. Since it is over the school break the lady from the Art Association is going to contact the art teachers at the schools and let them know about it. Thought it was a good suggestion. 

Looking forward to getting back to doing the Diva Challenge and the Zendala Dare.

Diva's Weekly Challenge #97:String Theory v. XX- "No Strings Attached"

This challenge was really pretty easy when I saw what it was about. Most of what I have been doing is without strings. Rather than take the time to do a new tile, decided to pick things that I had all ready done. Issue was picking which ones to use. Finally decided on these two, mostly because they are different.

The first one looks like it could have been done with a string but it was not. I started with Sankegg and then developed the others as I went along. Was thinking of using tangles to separate the different tangles.

Tangles used: Sankegg, Eyelet & Ribbon, and Opus. 

The second was one that I started with Purk and then just had the tangles morph into the next tangle. 

Tangles used: Purk, Laced(variation), Joy, Inapod, and Finery.  

If you have not all ready, go to The Diva's blog and look at all the submissions that have been done. As always there are many fine examples of tangles and ZIAs. Have a good week. 

Comments are always encouraged, welcomed, and appreciated.

New Tangle, an Embellishment, or Just a Pattern - Rugz

Taking a break from getting things ready for the Art/Gift Show. I may pay for it later but need a break. First want to say how surprised and humbled by the number of views that the step outs for Fearcles and Exed got.        Some of this is due to it being listed on Genivieve Crabe's Weekly Zentangle Round-up(thanks Sis). I also posted it on Flickr in the Freehand Doodles Group. Not sure how many duplicates there might have been but got over 400 views on them. Was surprised. Wish a few more had left comments though. Hope to see it showing up in some other peoples's work. This is about a new one which I am not really sure what to call it. It came about at the training. Took a lot of pictures of patterns that I saw while out for a walk, this one was right under my nose as it was in the hallway carpeting of the hotel. Here is what that looked like.

Here is the step-out I created on the pattern.

Here is an example of using it on one of the coasters that I am making for the Art/Gift Show.

Was really a nice fill pattern for this. The border around it is a variation of Hybrid. The tile is a 4x4" Field tile from Menard's. Was another CZT 10 that I shared part of the flight home with, who drew my attention to the similarity of this to another tangle. Also not sure that all patterns are tangles. 

Would be interested in hearing from others as to what they think. 

Have to get back to work on the things for the Art/Gift Show. Will try to post some pictures of some of the things I have done, or may just wait until I set the display up and take a picture of that. Hope to get back to the Zendala Dare and Diva Challenge soon. 

Diva Challenge #94: "UMT v. X: Socc"

Was not sure if I would be able to do any of the challenges/dares this week because of getting things ready for the craft/art show. Used this one as a break from doing all the Christmas things but was able to incorporate a little of both. I had seen Socc before but had never used it in any tangles. It was a little labor intensive because of the large space that I used but still fun to do. Getting this posted now because I will need to get back to doing ZIAs and other things for the show. Here is my tangle using Socc. Hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Socc, Flux, & Tipple. Not sure if the woven string is an official tangle or what its name is. If anyone knows please let me know.

I mentioned that I could was able to combine doing something for the challenge and also something for the gift shop. This is actually a combination of last week's and this week's challenge. 

Use Bunzo and Socc to complete this snowflake. Socc was a little difficult because it is in a smaller space but it is there.

If you haven't yet, please take the time to go and view all the other submissions by others at the Diva's blog .

Thanks for visiting and hope you enjoyed it. As always, comments are always welcomed and appreciated. 

New Tangle: Fearcles

While I had some time decided I may as well go ahead and post this one as well. This one was actually developed before Exed.. Was experimenting with a grid and possibilities and this is what developed. Is versatile in that can be used to fill a single space, a line, or as fill in a space. It is a  little intensive so cannot be used as well in small spaces with out some modifications. Went through the same process in trying to come up with a name. Nothing really seemed to really grab me. Thought at one time about settia as the one section reminded me of the poinsettia plants but opted not to use that. Came up with the name because the first lines reminded me of feathers and then the rest is finished off with circles, thus Fearcles.

There are a lot of possible ways to fill. Have never used without some type of fill. If you decide to use would love to let me know as I am curious to see how others might use this, fill it and any variations. Here is the step out.

Here are some examples of when I have used it

This one of the first attempts at using the black tiles. Did not attempt any shading. Still not comfortable with that part of it. Will have to do more of these to get the hang of using the white charcoal pencil.This though I think had too much fill to do much shading.

Here is an example of where I had to modify it because of space. I tried putting in the small circles in the center of the feathers with a white gel pen but did not like the way it looked so just put black over them.

Interested in any attempts to use and how it has worked for you. Have fun with it.

New Tangle: Exed

Have been meaning to get this posted for some time but just have not had time. This came about by accident as I was just making random marks and the pattern began to take shape. Have used in a variety of ways and also have filled it in. At other times I have just left it with no fill, almost like a screen. Here is the step out. Would be interested in seeing how others use it or other variations that people come up with.

Found that when using this it does help to keep the arcs as consistent as possible. Below are a couple of possibilities for filling it in. I am partial to the last one.

Here are some examples of where I used the tangle.

 I am not good at thinking of names. Part of the reason that I did not post this for a while is that I did not have a name for it. Finally decided on Exed as after the arcs, it is finished by making exes. Not too original or catchy but it works. Hope you have fun using this.

Weekly Challenge #93: New Official Tangle "Bunzo"

Did not think I was going to get this done this week. Started it on Tuesday and just finished up tonight. Has been hectic at work. Have been some other personal issues that have taken time and been taxing. Nothing directly happening to immediate family, but friends and extended family. Am glad that I was able to finish this and it is the weekend. Doing Bunzo was fun and finishing and shading it was fun also. Had a large part of it done before tonight but needed to do the fill and also shading. For as little thought as I gave it because I was under a time crunch to get it done and posted, I am pleased with the result. Hope that you like it.

Tangles used: "Nzeppel,Florz, Bales, and Bunzo

Part of the other reason that I it took me a while to complete this is that I am trying to get ready for a "Santa's Gift Shop" that the local Art Association is doing starting in the beginning of December. Been working on some things that will have on display and for sale. I k now this has nothing to do with the challenge but here is an example of one of the more recent things I completed. Still have a lot to do so may miss a couple of challenges. Will try to get them in.

Tangles used: Crescent Moon, Chard(variation)

This a ceramic blank from Hobby Lobby. Used Sharpie Pen, fine point.  Held up to the roughness to the ceramic surface without much damage to the tip. Have not sealed it yet but planning on using a Modge Podge product. If interested have a few others posted on my blog and may add others as I get other new shapes and other things done. Have a lot of ideas but not sure how many I will be able to get done in time for the gift shop. One neat thing is that I talked with the person in charge today and she is open and excited about me doing some demonstrations of Zentangle® during the shop. 

Zendala Dare #29

This was an interesting template. Many of the sections lent themselves do auras but was not sure about tangles. Was fun to do. As usual, started out with ideas about what I wanted to do but as it progressed made some changes. Nothing major, but felt that there were some better options. Another reminder that it is about the process. Was able to get this one done relatively early compared to when I completed the others. Hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Auraknot, Paradox, Tripoli, Mooka, Indyrella, Purk, and Tipple.

This may be the last Dare I will participate in for a couple of weeks. Is a Christmas Bazaar scheduled for the first week in December by the local Art Association. Hoping to get somethings done so can have a display and maybe even do some demonstrations. Hoping it will generate some interest for classes.

If you have not been to The Bright Owl click here to see other submissions and also to send a "Get Well" to Erin who is a little under the weather.

Diva Challenge #92 Second Submission: String Theory v. XIV Stripes

In my earlier post I indicated that I thought I would do another one. Some of this was motivated by my mixed feelings about the first one. This was not the only reason and I must admit I was taken a little by surprise by the very positive comments of people. Not that I expected people to criticize it or be negative, I just did not expect the extent of positive comments. I guess I should not have been surprised as the people I have met involved with zentangle tend to be very positive. The comments were very much appreciated and it did give me a different perspective on what I had done. That one being said while this one is a little more traditional, it is not completely so. It is however more pleasurable to my eyes. I'm not exactly sure why. I do not think it is possible or necessary to totally compare the two because they are quite different, and unique and pleasing in their own way.

Tangles used: Flux, Arckles, Fearcles, Scrawlz, Pearlz, Tipple

Go to I am the Diva, CZT to see all the other great submissions if you have not all ready done so. Hope you enjoyed your visit to my blog.

Diva Challenge #92: String Theory v. XIV "Stripes 2.0"

Was not participating in the challenge the last time this was done. Do remember seeing some of the things that were done. Took a little different approach than most of the ones I have seen so far. Okay, it is quite different. Not sure what took me in this direction. Not sure about how I feel about the final result. It is not your traditional stripes. The stripes are there, they are just woven with the black stripes. Oh well they can't all be gems. Even debated as to whether I should even post this and just start over. Decided not to do that but will probably take another shot at this challenge. Will probably be a little bit more traditional. Who knows for sure. Will have to wait and see where the tangling leads me.

If you haven't visited The Diva's site, go there and see all the other entries. There are some amazing things that people are doing.

Zendala Dare #28

Another lesson learned which will be helpful when I teach Zentangle® to either individuals or groups. Do not evaluate until you are done. It is good to put it at arms length to see what is occurring but the finished zentangle may surprise you. When I saw this template was excited because I saw a lot of possibilities. Started working on the "ring" with the teardrops/guitar picks. Before that I had put a tangle in only one of the sections in the other areas e.g.  zander, betweed, shattuck. This was probably not a good idea and also probably not in line with the Zentangle method. I choose to do that ring because it was the most intense. As I proceeded around the ring and there was so much dark, my excitement began to wane.  As I finished this and then proceeded to zander, I was pleased with the way this tangle looked but still so-so about the whole Zendala. I finished the center last. As I finished each section. my excitement began to return. I think the order had nothing to do with it, it was assessing before I had the whole picture.  The shading just added to my feelings. Shading is almost always the most difficult part for me. I had ideas about what I wanted to do before I even started and was pleased with the end result after I used the blending stump. Hope you like it.

Tangles used: Betweed, Shattuck, Fearcles, Zander 

As an aside, the teardrop/guitar pick section is not a named tangle as far as I know. My use of it resulted from taking pictures of patterns that I saw. While in the mall in Providence, there was a kiosk that had wind spinners. They were in this shape and this is what I deconstructed to represent that. It is a nice fill for this type of section but not sure about its usefulness to fill a different space. May have to experiment with it and see, but it worked well here. 

Diva Challenge #91 -Beads of Courage, Second Submission

In my earlier post I had stated that I had started another one but did not have time to finish it. Well I was finally able to finish it. This is more of a traditional zentangle as I did it in black and white. I used another symbol again, but for me this is a more traditional symbol of strength, courage, and hope. So I felt it was very appropriate for the theme of this challenge. The children dealing with chronic conditions show, and need, all of these.

 The hardest part about this tile was the shading. It would have been too easy to highlight the whole thing. I decided to try a few things that Sandy Bartholomew demonstrated in the recent shading Mini-clinic on tanglepatterns.com.  Have mixed feelings about the results, but over all for a first attempt at some things was satisfied. I keep repeating . "It is about the process."

Attempted to use some tangles on some of the beads but a lot are just embellishments.

Hope others enjoyed this challenge as much as I did. Enjoyed seeing quite a variety of things and some really unique presentations. If you have not been to the Diva's blog to see the other entries, encourage you to do so. Click on the highlighted words to go there.

Please feel free to make any comments. They are welcomed and appreciated.

Diva Challenge #91: Beads of Courage

I enjoyed this challenge, although it was time consuming. Made me appreciate the Zentangle® method of black and white. When I saw what the challenge was, could not really envision doing it without color. Although Laura's looked really good. I knew that I wanted to do beads but was not sure how I wanted to present them. After an internet search decided on this one. According to the search this is Celtic symbol for courage and strength. Seemed to fit for kids and families dealing with chronic conditions. Since it was in color was a challenge to decide what to do with shading. Decided to try to highlight the whole thing. Hope you like it, I did.

I am not even going to attempt to identify tangles that I used. Are some but most are embellishments.

I started a second one that did not have time to finish yet and since I had this one, wanted to get it posted. Will try to get it done and post later this week. 

Comments are encouraged and appreciated.

Zendala Dare #27

This was an interesting undertaking for me. When I first saw the template I was a little overwhelmed. I saw all the small, irregular sections and was a little baffled about what I was going to do. I knew I did not want to leave the center empty and started there and worked my way out. Once I started though it seemed like ideas just came. Before I started I had thought of some entirely different tangles to use. There were a couple that I had never done before. One is Helen Williams  twirl tangle. As I was thinking about what to do, I went to her blog and saw this posted. I really like the things that she does. I tend to do more grid tangles and her lines are so smooth and flowing. If you are not familiar with her I strongly encourage you to visit her blog and look at all the things that she does. I do not think you will be disappointed.  Click on her name to see this tangle. My use of twirl has a slight variation on the border that was due to my lack of familiarity with the tangle when I decided to make it go all the way around. Over all though I am pleased with the result. I enjoy detail work but this one took some time to finish.

Tangles used: N'zeppel, Puf, Chillon, Twirl

Now that this is done, I can move on to the Diva Challenge.

Your comments are welcomed and encouraged.

Bicycle Safety

For all my tangling friends, if you see this, I have not deserted Zentangle®.  While that is the bulk of my posts, I also have interest in cycling. In a newsletter I get from Bicycle Garage Indy, they had a link for a video about sharing the road. Watched it and felt it was important enough to re-post here to spread the message. It is short but contains some important information. Applies mainly to riding in a municipal area. Hope people get this message.

Click  here  to go to the video

Diva Challenge #90:String Theory v. XIII

I have mixed feelings about this Challenge. Was excited when I started out but then hit a block. Ended by choosing two tangles at random to finish. Don't think that there is anything wrong with it, just does not really grab me. I did try a few new things with shading. Sometimes when I try something new, I concentrate more on that than the total image. Oh well, it is what it is.

Tangles used: Eenies, Mooka, Quandary, Jonqal(variation). The line tangle as far as I know is unnamed. I got it from my cousin, Dianne Krumnow,a fellow CZT 10 Grad. I think this was the one that was based on a picture she took of a stained glass window. 

Zendala Dare #26

Well this was an interesting endeavor; mostly of my own making. When I saw the template I was excited because almost immediately I thought of some tangles that I could use. I copied the template and began tangling. During a break I decided to see if any others had posted anything. I was surprised by what I saw and then went back to her posting and took the time to read it. ( Yes, I am one of those that when presented with the paper that says read all the statements before doing anything, I figure why do it twice when I can just complete it as I go along, only to find out I did not really do what it said.) Needed to make some adjustments but was too far along to discard and start over. Decided to use more "autumn colors" than images. I was able to throw in a few though. This was my first major attempt at using color. Overall am pleased with the end result. Next time I'll try to remember to read things more thoroughly before I start .....
maybe!

   

Tangles: N'Zeppel, Paradox,  Pearlz, Beadz. The others were my attempts at webs and ears of corn.