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.

Diva Challenge #89 - Sankegg

I saw some earlier comments and expected to have problems with this challenge. I have to admit that I enjoyed doing these and like the results. I did one in traditional Zentangle style of putting a dot in each corner and then making a string. After that I decided which section I would use the Sankegg tangle and then just did the other sections. No real preconceived notions. The other I did a little more free-form. The Sankegg tangle was the string and then I added the others. Think maybe while I felt this one was not as hard was because the Zendala Dare that I completed a few days ago was hard. This seemed easy comparatively speaking.

The tangles that I used are Sankegg, 'Nzeppel, Hybrid, Eenies, Marasu, Beads, & Exed  

Tangles used are Sankegg, Flux, & Scrolled Feather

Zendala Dare #25

I have to admit that I am not comfortable with Zendalas I am not sure why but they are harder for me to visualize things. I am hoping that as I do them more that this will come a little easier. I plan on continuing to try the challenge to accomplish this. Here is my latest attempt at the "Dare". After viewing some of the other Zendalas submitted and others' comments, I guess I was not the only one that struggled with this one.

I ended up using Keeko, Paradox, In-a-pod, Hybrid, and Scrawlz