To color or shade, That is the question

I won this in a  blog give away a while ago. Had been meaning to work on but other things took precedent. It fits in a plastic ring and the center is either a mirror or a dry erase message board. Has magnets so it can hang on a locker. Here is a link if you want to see them. I did not take a long time to do this but when done my brain is a little foggy. Looking for some opinions about whether should use color or traditional black/white and shading. This is not a voting thing. I will make the final decision, but just looking for feedback. Here is the basic design that I have so far.

Thanks for visiting. As always your comments are welcome, encouraged, and appreciated. In this case also requested.

Go Tangle !!

Square One: Etude in Ahh

Did not think that I would get to try another tile using Ahh so quickly. Probably just as well as things will be busy for the next few days and I probably will not have much time to do any tangling. This was a fun tile to do. I wanted to do some thing that was not a traditional use of Ahh. I wanted to somehow make Ahh the star. I decided to go bigger with the tangle and then do things inside. I called it Etude in Ahh as one definition of etude is a study. I know that it is generally used in relation to music but I figured it still fit. I also thought about doing the background all in black but decided to try something different. I aura-ed a pencil line around the different variations of Ahh and then used a blending stump. Had not done this much pencil shading before. Overall I am pleased with the results. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

I included a few other tangles with Ahh. They are Betweed, Finery, & Tipple.

Shading was done with a 2B pencil.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !! 

Advent Journey 2014: Final version

Well, I said that I would post the final ZIA. This was more shading than I usually do. Of course this was probably bigger than what I usually do. Not going to say much about it. Will let you look at it and decide. I have my usual perspective. This was quite a task. I have to admit, it probably would have been better if I could have been really consistent and tangled a section a day. Was not able to do this. Here is what it looks like. I hope that your Christmas season was uplifting and fulfilling. I hope you enjoy this ZIA.

Some of the shading does not show up as well in the picture as it does in person. Mostly a function of my older camera.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Square One: Ahh

Interesting prompt this week at Square One. This is a tangle that I almost see as an embellishment rather than a main tangle. Kind of like a role player on a basketball team; important but  not the star.  So this ended up being a pretty traditional use of Ahh. If I feel so inspired I may try another one. I am sure that there will be many unique ways that people will use Ahh. But, there is nothing wrong with using it for what it is. Just like there is nothing wrong with what someone does on a tile, even though it may not look like someone else's. Enjoy what you have created. Learning from others does not mean you have to compare yourself negatively to them or their work.  Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Ahh, Fescu, Antidots, & Roxi

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Advent Journey 2014 : Week 4

I was able to beat my deadline of getting this done the day after Christmas. It is just a little after midnight on the 25th and just got done listening to a choral presentation on TV that concluded with Handel's Hallelujah Chorus.  Great piece. Had the opportunity a number of years ago to participate in a presentation of Messiah with a community choir. Was a lot of work, but enjoyed it. I digress though. Must be the way my brain functions late at night. Not 25 anymore.

I used the work done in the first sentence. That is inaccurate. I completed putting all the tangles in. I still have to do the shading. Cannot stay up tonight doing that. Have 6 granddaughters coming later this morning and will need all my energy to deal with them. Will be fun. Here is what I have done, sans the shading. I hope you enjoy it.

The final tangles added are: Quandry, Shattuck, Yuma, and Vache 1

Where ever you are, I hope that you take some time to reflect on things. I know that everyone does not share my beliefs. That is a personal choice that we all have to make. It is like any other gift, we have to chose to accept it. For myself and my family, it is a time to reflect on the birth of our Savior. Not because of what the birth itself represents but what it set in motion and how it culminated 30 some years later. For us that is the greatest gift.

How ever you celebrate this time of year, may you have an enjoyable time with family and friends and many blessing in the New Year.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Square One : Crescent Moon

This is one of those tiles where if I had evaluated it before I was done doing all the tangles, I would have discarded the tile. Not that I would really do that, as I have discarded very few tiles. I started out with the circle in the middle as a string and did the rounds of Crescent Moon. The last tangle I did was Florz. This is a fairly simple tangle, but when I was even partially done with it, my whole perspective on the tile changed dramatically. It went from it is okay to I really like this. When this happens even questions about shading don't exist much. That is saying a lot for me as shading is an area I struggle with still after about 3 ½ years of tangling. Cannot explain it, but it is one of the things that I like about Zentangle®.  I cannot count the number times this has happened with tiles and Zendalas. Well enough rambling. You did not visit to hear my ramblings. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used : Crescent Moon, Gneiss, Inapod, & Florz

Shading was done with HB and 4B pencils.

Am experimenting with my chop. May see a couple of different variations. If you have any thoughts, either way, about any of them, feel free to let me know. Some of what I have come up with lately reminds me too much of a bug.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated. 

Go Tangle !!

Advent Journey : Week 3 - Update

Quick update. I finished week 3 sections. Well almost. After I was looking at the pictures I took I realized that I had not filled in Bunzo. Oh well, you can see that in the final version. Am still behind. I still have 4 sections unfilled and should only have 2. Hopefully will get it done by Friday. If not will finish and post it later. Will probably post when I have completed some final shading as well. Not sure if I will add color or not. Here is what I have so far. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Trivolution, Sand Swirl, Yah, Diva Dance, Zailz, Meringue, and Bunzo.

As with the previous weeks, there were a number of tangles that I had not done before. Meringue, Zailz, and Yah definitely were challenges. will have to do some work in my journal to work on these a little. 

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated. 

Go Tangle !!

Advent Journey : Week 3

This will be a short post. Was a little undecided about posting as I have not completed all the sections for this week. Probably will not get all caught up until closer to Christmas so decided to post what I had done so far. This has been an interesting challenge. I have done better at staying up with my devotion than tangling in all the sections of this template. Maybe it has to do with the fact that the study is only 14 days and this is 25 days. Besides the time challenge, some of the suggested tangles have been difficult. Is surprised me a little as the strokes are not complicated, but have really had to concentrate. Not sure that I was successful in completing all the tangles. But as they say in Zentangle®, there are no mistakes, only unplanned opportunities. Here is what I have so far. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used (so far): Sand Swirl, Trivolution, Yah, and Diva Dance.

Tangles still to add : Meringue, Zailz, and Bunzo

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #198: "K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple, silly!) & Square One

I put off doing anything for Square One when the prompt was posted on Friday. Was not really sure what I wanted to do. I have seen some really nice pieces of art posted on this prompt, which was Indy-rella. I was also busy with vending at a local Maker's Market. Things really did not come together until I saw The Diva's Challenge for this week. Sometimes when are not sure what to do, have to be patient. Not a thing that I am particularly good at. I had done monotangles of Indy-rella and combined it with a couple of tangles before. It is an easy one to combine with other tangles. Here is what I came up with. I had combined these tangles before and liked the result. The nice thing about it is that it is simple and it will never look the same. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Indy-rella, Joy, and Scrawlz

Have not looked at what has been posted on I am the Diva. Have a busy week ahead but hoping to have some time to look at what is posted. Since this is the last post of the year, may not get to it until next week. If you have not done so all ready would encourage you to also look at what others have posted. Also try it yourself.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcome, encouraged and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

More projects: Bistro Mugs

Always looking for new things. This is not an original idea. I saw some that someone else had done. Not sure if these will end up as presents or they will be for sale at a show. Will have to wait and see. Only have this one done so far.

These are Bistro mugs that I bought at Meijers. I washed them first to get rid of any residue left on them for manufacturing and packaging. This seemed to help. used Identi-Pens and then set it by heating it in the oven for about 30 minutes at 350º. The gray shading is Fabrico gray marker. It held up well. Other thing I did was wear gloves when I was doing this. Was a little concerned that would rub off, but more concerned the oils on my skin would interfere with the pen. I could not find a single pair of white cotton gloves so used a lightweight glove with rubber on the hands. This was great because I did not have to worry about the mug slipping. May try to use these gloves next year when I work on the glass ball ornaments.

I did not want to do the whole mug. I did different style ZIAs on each side. Not sure exactly what I will do on the others, but like the idea of having one side organic and the other more traditional tangling.  Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used. In the top it is a cross between Mumsy and Arc Flower with a few Zingers. I kept it pretty simple. The lower one has Cadent, Bunzo, Bales, and 'Nzeppel. 

These are all favorite tangles of mine. If I have time, will post pictures of the others I finish later. 

Thanks for visiting,  As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Advent Journey : Week 2

This will be a short post. Had hoped to get this done sooner but have been busy with a number of things. I thought I would have been able to finish it last night but did not happen. This Advent journey is proving to be a challenge not just in terms of time, but also new tangles. I have not used very many of the tangles used so far. The one this week that I had used before, proved to be one of the more challenging. I am enjoying doing this though as it is different than most of the things that I usually do. Have only did minimal enhancements. Will do more later. Here is what I have done so far. I hope that you enjoy it.

Tangles for this week are: Sails, Whirlee,A-fog, Jajazz, Snail, Hurray, and Crux.

The template is from Living Well Resources. She has posted what she has done during the week. I have seen the suggested tangles for next week and I will continue to be challenged with new tangles. Not really the purpose of this, but it is happening. It has given me some meditative time during a very busy time. Will see how it ends, at least for this template. I know how what we are celebrating ends. Joins us if you can. If not, just follow along. 

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #197: "New Official Tangle - Arukas"

The Diva is back after a couple of weeks of guest posters. This week she chose to make the focus of the Challenge the new tangle released by Zentangle® headquarters. It was developed by Molly in appreciation of the many things that Sakura has done for, and with Zentangle.  I had recently used Arukas in a prompt for Square One. I also taught it in one of my classes so I was familiar with it.

I did want to do something different. I felt like I had gotten into a little bit of a rut in the type of tiles I did.  I think I was successful and probably for people who have seen more of my work, would agree. I really wanted something that was more free flowing and just doing different things. I was not trying to fill the entire tile. I just wanted to let things flow where they wanted to. While I felt I was successful with doing something different there are somethings that I am not sure about. Over all I am pleased with the results, I want to keep working on things like this. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Arukas, Purk, Betweed, Mak-Rah-Mee, Mooka, Tipple, Fescu

Have not looked at what others have done this week. Hoping to have some time during the rest of the week to get to see them. Would encourage you also to go to I am the Diva and look at what others have done. I would also encourage you to try it yourself. 

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Square One : Gneiss

This week's prompt on Square One is Gneiss. Have used this tangle some, almost as an embellishment. Have not done much with it to highlight this tangle. Reminds me of some of the things that would construct with your compass and straight edge in geometry class. Tried to combine it with a different tangles and effects to finish off. Here is what I came up with. Hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used : Gneiss, Keeko,

Some of the embellishments are Betweed and Finery 

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are encouraged, welcomed, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Square One, Purely Zentangle: Assunta and Ing

Did not get a chance to do anything with Assunta last week so decided to combine it with this week's prompt, Ing. There was an additional prompt which was to also focus on shading. I think for most non-art trained people, this is one of the more intimidating things to do. The fear is that you will ruin the tile after putting the work to do the tangles. I remember when I first started tangling I was told two things that helped. One was that the shading is not about light source or what you typically look at in art it is about highlighting the tangles. The other was to make copies of the tiles and try different things to see what different shading would look like and then pick the one that you liked the best. I have to admit that I do not do the later that much anymore. I also do not practice shading in different ways. I should really spend more time on this, but don't. One of the things I learned later is do not be afraid to put down graphite on the tile. there is always that concern about there being to much. I usually find myself adding more. That being said, the shading was the most difficult part of this tile. I was trying to get a little more rounding effect on the spokes of Assunta. Was not as successful as I would have liked. But as I said earlier, I do not practice this as much.

Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

After looking at the picture and the post, decided to go back and add a little more graphite to the Assunta. Not sure that it shows up that well in the picture, but looking at the original, even though it is just a little darker on the edged, I like the second one better.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Another tangled candle option

Had this for a while and had not gotten around to try it. In an earlier post had commented that people made comments that they would not burn the candles that had the tangled images on it because it would ruin the tangles. In an earlier post had tangled on glass candle holders that could put an electric tea candle inside it. While walking through Hobby Lobby saw these electric candles (battery) that are wax. Was not sure how they would hold up to being heated. Did not do a bad job. This is a smaller one but also have some larger pillar candles that I may try next. the advantage is that you do not have to worry about ruining the tangles but still get the effect of a lit candle. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

I included the votive candle on the left to give you an idea of the size of the pillar candle. For those of you not familiar with the process, you do the tangles on tissue paper and then using a heat gun you melt them into the wax on the candle. It takes some time and have to be careful to keep your fingers out of the way of the heat as it does get hot. It works best to wave the gun back and forth over the candle rather than leaving it in one area. On the votive candle I attached the one end and then wrapped a strip of wax paper over the top and then used the heat gun to set the strip. Need to make sure the strip is pulled taut so there are no wrinkles. Can without the wax paper on top. It partly depends on how the candle melts. On the electric candle I put three images on the candle, the other two images are below. On this I cut each image and attached it separately. I did not need to use the wax paper as the paper melted into the candle quickly.

Tried to get a picture of what it would like when lit. Took during the day so did not get the complete affect.

Thanks for visiting. as always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated. 

Go  Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #195: "Turning Old into New"

This week's Diva Challenge is courtesy of Sandy Hunter, whose blog is tanglebucket.blogspot.com. I first became aware of here blog through my sister. Sandy had developed some tangles but she also had a knack for combining two tangles into one pattern. She labeled this as her tangle remix. Was interesting. I cannot say that I tried to do too many, but I think I did try a few. They were fun but my brain does not think that way. This week's Challenge is to take favorite, or go to tangles and do them differently. If you picked a grid based tangle, do it free form and if you picked a free form tangle, use it a grid. I did the best I could with this. Not sure I was totally successful with this with both of the tangles that I chose. One tangle I chose was cadent. I use this a lot and like it. I usually use it in a structured way. It is not really grid based as I would define it, but I usually use it much like a grid. The other tangle I chose was Antidots. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it. Oh yeah, I used a Renaissance tile as that was the only tile that I had in the kit that I usually carry.

Tangles used: Cadent, Antidots

The shading was done with a white Prismacolor pencil and a Zenstone.

I did not get last week's Challenge, "Embracing the Yuck", done in time to post it. Am including it in this post only as it was some work. This is the second challenge I did using the non-dominant hand. I had started it and felt like I needed to finish. I have to admit that I did not really enjoy doing this. My idea was to start out with Knightsbridge to get a little practice. After I started it, there was such a large time gap before I could continue that it was not of much help. Here it is. I hope that somebody enjoys it.

Tangles used: Knightsbridge, Tripoli, Betweed, Ixorus, Paradox

I have not looked at many entries from either week's challenge. Not sure now much I will be able to look at #194 but definitely want to look at what people have done in this week's Challenge. Encourage you to go to I am the Diva and look at what others have done. Would also encourage you to try it yourself, even if you do not post it. Would encourage you to post it though if at all possible.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !! 

Square One, Purely Zentangle: Hurry

The latest prompt in Square One is Hurry. I got this one done in a hurry. I do not think that I I have completed one the day of the prompt before. Really did not hurry that much though. I have used this tangle before but not a lot. I just do not think about it. Not sure why. I tried to use it in a couple of different shapes rather than doing a monotangle. I think that is generally how I have used it before. Here is what I came up with. I hope you like it.

Tangles used: Hurry, Henna Drum, Swarm, and Tungruv

I find it a little ironic that a method that stresses focus and meditation names a tangle Hurry. Not sure now this one came to be named. Just random musings.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated. 

Go Tangle !!

Square One: Just for Fun

I like Square One because it does make me deal with the basics. They do not issue a challenge but a prompt. Every once in a while I like to go totally off on my own just to see what happens. That is what happened with this tile. I started with a random string and just went from there. As I was doing it, I was a little surprised by the different variety of tangles/styles involved in this tile. There are grid based, organic and just a tad of basic paisley pattern. It took me longer to finish than I anticipated, but it was fun to do it. Not sure why but I think because it was not a challenge or I was not doing something that I was looking at including in a sale. Maybe I should try this more even with the challenges. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Frondous, Scena, Scena with Diva Dance, Florz (variation), Curly Bracket Feather, and Scrolled Feather. The quasi paisley is just a tear drop shape filled with different tangles. 

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go  Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #193: TriTangle - Trio, Huggins, & Xyp (THX)

This week's Diva Challenge is courtesy of Holly Atwater. She tied it to Veterean's Day and upcoming Thanksgiving and chose three tangles that the first letters spell THX. I think that is text for thanks. The three tangles are Trio, Huggins, and Xyp. The last two I am familiar with. The first is new to me. It reminds me a little of Mooka but it is done differently. If I was more proficient, I might be able to do it with a  single stroke like Mooka but did not really worry about this. Not sure how I feel about this one. There are things that I like about it but to me Trio seems disconnected. Maybe it is just my initial reaction to it. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

I have not seen what others have done. I hope to be able to look at them over the next couple of days. I may have a little more time as I have some tests planned. Nothing major, just routine follow-up things because of family history. Hopefully I will not be too out of it to do a little web surfing.  Would encourage you to go to I am the Diva and look at the other posts. Would also encourage you to make comments on the tiles as most of the artists enjoy receiving comments on their work. Would also encourage you to try it yourself, even if you do not post it.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Ceramic Blanks : Tangled Treasure Boxes and Ovals

Earlier on a Facebook page another CZT, Gillian McAuliffe, posted pictures of some ceramic treasure boxes she was working on for her staff. She was kind enough to give out the information about where she had gotten the boxes.  I explored a little and decided to get some to work on. I have only completed 3 so far. Here is what I have done. Hope you enjoy them.

They are not the easiest to photo graph so you can see what is on them. They are pretty rough so you have to prep them before you start using pens on them. If not they will wear away your nibs. I used Modge products to prepare the surface and as a finish. The finish is Dimensional Magic. Not knowing a lot about things, I wonder if gesso might also be used. Not sure who to check with on this. The Modge Podge, I thinned out a little and brushed it on. The finish is really just suppose to be spread on from the bottle but because of he shapes, and not wanting to do one side at a time, I also brushed this on. For the tangles, I think I only used Identi-Pens. I may have used some Sharpie pens for the color on the circular one.  Since this was the first time I worked on these, I kept the designs pretty simple. 

There are other shapes available also. I think there is a star and a hexagon. I just got the circle and the squares. I did get one other things. There are also 1.5" ovals. I got 10 of these. I thought they would make neat pendants. Again they need some prep before you start tangling on them. I did the same on these as the boxes. The strap is 38" of Suede . I am pleased with the way that they turned out.  Here are a couple of pictures, Hope you enjoy them. 

The first 2 that I did were just black and white but I did not take pictures of them. 

For anyone interested, I got these through Ceramics by Donna on e-bay. If interested, here is a link to her store, http://stores.ebay.com/Dynamic-Ceramics-by-djnow

 Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Tangled Votive Candle holders

I had done some votive candles before where I used the technique of making the design on tissue paper and then used a heat gun to attach them to the candle. People would look at them and say how they liked them but they would not buy them because they were too pretty and they would not want to burn them. Kind of defeats the purpose of them. Wondered what else that I could do. Was in Hobby Lobby one day just looking at things. They have battery operated candles that have a wax covering. Thought that that would be too difficult to work with directly and did not know how the tissue paper technique would work. I may still try it. I was about to to look at other things and ran across these frosted votive candle holders. They came with battery operated tea candles. I decided to use an Identi-Pen to make tangles on the holders. Here is what they look like. I hope you enjoy them.

I kept the tangles simple on these first ones. The one on the right has different grid based tangles and the other is a monotangle using Fassett.  I guess that people would have the option of putting a real candle on the inside after the battery ran out if they did not want to replace the battery. They are the wafer type.

 I have a clear holder that I am going to try using the same technique. From working on clear glass ornaments, that presents some challenges as you see through as you are working on it. It can be difficult to keep track of the lines. 

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated. 

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #192 : UMT - Seton by Chris Letourneau" & Square One - Punzel/Chainging

Do not usually do this but did one tile for two different things. As busy as things have been I figured this was about the only way I was going to get some thing done for both of them. If you are a regular to the Diva Challenge, you know that the next couple of weeks are going to be done by guests as Laura is preparing for and dealing with her youngest son after his surgery. I am sure she and the family would appreciate any prayers and support during this time.

Chris Letourneau is the first guest poster and she made the challenge to use her tangle Seton. You may recognize Chris's name as a semi-regular poster to the challenge and also the author Made in the Shade and co-author of Pattern Play. The Square One prompt was to use the tangle Punzel/Chainging. They are different but closely related.  Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Seton & Punzel and a little Betweed

I primarily used the two tangles and added a little Betweed on the edges of Seton. As with a number of tiles, the shading is the most challenging part. I was not sure what to do with Seton. I am okay with the way it turned out, just not thrilled with it.

I have not looked at many of the things posted on the Diva's blog. Just a few that have shown up on my blog reader. I hope to have some time to look at what others have done. If you have not done so, would encourage you to visit I am the Diva and look at all the great art also. Give it a try your self, even if the only one that you share it with is yourself.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !! 

Diva Challenge #191: "Monotangle : Betweed"

Have not really had much time to post much of anything. I actually completed most of this earlier in the week but was out of town most of the week and would not have had a means to post it. So I procrastinated on doing the shading until tonight. Also trying to get things done for our local Art Association gift shop. That will be an on-going process during the month. Glad that I was able to finish. I also get an extra hour to post as this is the weekend that turn the clocks back on hour as we stop Daylight Savings time. This weeks challenge is a monotangle using Betweed. I have used this tangle a lot and had mixed results with it.  For this challenge I decided to just play a little. I played with different pens and color. Here is what I came up with. I hope that you enjoy it.

I used pink, purple, brown, and black microns. I also used green and blue Sakura Gel Starburst pens. They do show up better on the Renaissance tiles than the black tiles. The shading is done with colored pencils. 

This was a little hard to photograph. Not sure if it would have shown up better as a scan. The green colored pencil did not come through as strong on the photograph. Over all I am pleased with the results. As I stated in the beginning I was playing and really did not have a expectations. I wanted to use Betweed in different size and shape spaces. 

I know this is late, but if you have not, go to I am the Diva and look at all the other great pieces. I hope I have time to look at some of them. I usually try to comment on most of them. Has been harder lately as I do not like to look at what others have done until I have finished mine. 

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #190: " Pink for Ardath" second tile

Was able to get this finished sooner than I thought. Have not used my gel pens for a while and that is what I used mostly in this tile. Is not quite as free flowing as I imagined in my mind but it turned out okay. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Nebel, Cadent, Mooka, Zinger

Nebel is a tangle from Sandy Steen Bartholemew's book Totally Tangled. 

I used Sakura Metallic gel pens and Stardust pens. They were both pink but was disappointed that the Stardust color does not show up well on the black tiles. It does show on white paper. Have not tried it on the Renaissance tiles, but thinking it will show up at least a little on those. I also used a white Prismacolor pencil for the highlighting and shading. 

Go to I am the Diva to see all the other great pieces of art. 

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #190: "Pink for Ardath"

This week's Diva Challenge is a tribute to the Diva's grandmother and all the other women that have had to deal with breast cancer. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So the challenge is to use pink someway in your tile/ZIA.  Was not exactly sure what to do, but the first thing that I thought of was the pink ribbon that is the emblem for breast cancer.  Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: 'Nzeppel, Cubine, Joy

I do not remember the name of the tangle on the sides. I remember that it was a UMT Challenge a while ago. If anyone knows its name, let me know.

I used a combination of materials on this on. Used both a black and pink Micron. For the highlighting and shading I used a Cornell pink and a Tombow pink pencil. I like the color of he Cornell, but the wood kept breaking on the pencil so I switched. The Tombow is a nice color, but it is light. The Cornell's do not blend will so just left them. 

I have not looked at any of the other things posted for this week's challenge. I hope I have some time to do so. I have another tile started that I hope I can finish before the weekend. If you have not, would strongly recommend that you visit I am the Diva to look at all the different submissions on this challenge. You may even want to try your hand at it if you have been reluctant to do so thus far.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Square One, Purely Zentangle: Aquafleur

The prompt for this week is Aquafleur. This is relatively new tangle and many times has an aquatic nature to it. It however is one that has a lot of possible variations. I have not used it a lot but do like it. Mine tend to be a little more traditional. I have seen some really fantastic variations of this tangle. Maria Thomas has some in the newsletter on zentangle.com. Margaret Bremner has all ready posted a number of beautiful tiles on Square One on Facebook. You can view the pictures even if you are not a member. Here is what I came up  with. I am  pleased with it but as usual I can see areas that I would like to improve on . I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Aquafleur, Tipple, Boing (variation), Bunzo, and vines

Looking forward to seeing other great posts and maybe having time to complete tiles for the Diva Challenge.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, appreciated, and encouraged.

Go  Tangle !!

Diva Challenge # 189: UMT "Yuma" by Tina-AKUA, CZT

Has been a busy few couple or weeks. This is the first Diva Challenge I have participated in for about 3 weeks. In between two classes, and a couple of days of the flu, I also did a presentation at the Art Educators Association of Indiana Convention on the Zentangle® and ZAP ( Zentangle Apprentice Program). I am barely getting this is under the wire. This is an interesting tangle. There is not a lot of difficult lines to draw, but not sure that I got the hang of it. Had a little difficulty deciding how to finish the tile. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Yuma, Meer, Hi-Cs, and vine

Hopefully I will get a chance to look at what some others have done. If you have not all ready done so, would encourage you to go look at the great art that others have posted. click here to go to the Diva's blog. 

Still have lots to do before the end of the day and the start of the work week. Hoping to participate again regularly.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated. 

Go Tangle !!  

Square One, Purely Zentangle: Fengle

The recent prompt on the Square One Facebook page is Fengle. I remember this one from training. It is fun to do, but sometime can get too complicated. Not sure if this one is finished or not. Not sure what else I might add but was thinking of different things for a background. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated. 

Go Tangle !!

Square One: Purely Zentangle Pendrills

Going to be a short post. I finally got this done and wanted to post it. Since it is not a challenge, it is not late but the next prompt was released today. This one is on Pendrills. It is a tangle I have used before. It is a nice organic tangle. I kept it simple as I knew that I would not have a lot of time this week. Even with that I still did not get it done until today. Have been busy preparing things for a presentation and vending opportunity this weekend at the Art Educators Association of Indiana annual convention. I need to be up in about 7 hours. Still a couple of things to do before I can get to bed. Here is what I came with. Hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Pendrills, Verdigogh 

What took the most time on this was the shading.  Did not want to do a lot and chose to more of a shadow. Overall I was pleased with the result.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Playing with Betweed

This week's prompt on Square One is Betweed. I all ready did a tile but wanted to play with it a little more. did not really want to do it on a traditional tile. Saw some great examples of Betweed and wanted to try some different things. Used black and white but in this case I used a black Zendala tile with a white pen. Still did it more symmetrical. If I have time may try something that is with more random spaces. I just wanted to try different ways to do the lines. As is sometimes ( read most of the time), the case it did not turn out exactly the way I envisioned it in my head, but that is okay. Gave a chance to get some practice highlighting and shading the black tiles also. Here is what I ended up with.

This ended being a exercise with Betweed and Indy-rella. The shading was done with a Zenstone and a white Prismacolor pencil. The more I look at it the more comfortable I am with it. Have not used my white pens for a while and they seemed to be a little sticky. Did not cover quite the way I would have liked. Had to go over a number of the lines. I used the Uniball Angelic white gel pen and the Sakura white gel pen, medium point. The string is random radii. Then filled in the spaces with Betweed. Was not anything special.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !! 

Square One Purely Zentangle®: Betweed

This week's prompt on the Facebook page Square One: Purely Zentangle® is Betweed. This is not a challenge like a number of others. It is designed to focus on the basic Zentangle method. There are usually a lot of other nice tiles posted besides the one using the prompt.

I like this pattern. Have not used it a lot lately but it is versatile to fill in spaces and provide a little perspective. I am not sure about this tile. I may have attempted to do a little too much. What will probably happen, as does a lot of times, is that if I pull it out later I will find more I like about it. I think I need to pull out Made in the Shade or some other resources for a refresher. If for nothing else for me to feel more comfortable when I do a lot of shading.  Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Ennies, Meer, Marasu, Betweed, Quib

Thanks for visiting.  As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #186: "String Theory - Leaves! Leaves! Leaves! "

Was not sure I would be able to get anything done for this week's Challenge. I also probably should have rechecked her blog to make sure that I completely understood the challenge. I remember it was about leaves and I remember reading that could get real leaves or use leaf tangles. I chose the latter, but did not really think about using them as a string. I just did the tangles. I am pleased with the way it turned out, particularly since I had only used one of the tangles before. Verdigogh is the only one that I had used before. That surprises me as I have used more organic tangles than when I first started. I tended to stay away from them in the beginning as I did/do see them closer to drawing and I have never been comfortable with my skills in that area. I also chose to do it on a Renaissance Zendala tile. As is usually the case, shading, was also a challenge. Was not really sure what to do so just went with what I saw and seemed to fit. Over all was pleased with the end result. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it, even if it is not exactly what was intended.

Tangles used: Sampson, Oke, Kogin, Verdigogh

Kogin is a tangle from Sandy Bartholomew's Totally Tangled. It was developed by Melissa St. Pierre. The others can be found on tanglepatterns.com. 

I have not seen any other things posted so far. Hope to have time in between other things to look at what others have come up with. Would encourage you to go to I Am the Diva and look at the great pieces of art that others post. Would also encourage you to try your own, even if you do not post it on the blog.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Square One: Dex

The square one prompt for this week is the tangle Dex. I use to use this one a lot but have not used it recently. For some reason I usually do Dex by making a grid and then add the squares and diagonals. I do not know why, maybe it is because of the way I do my tangle Basquals, I started by making the squares. This is also the way that Zentangle® did the original step out and I did look at this before I did my tile. I think I will go back to using the grid as my Dex is a little wonkier than I had intended. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Dex, Zander, Zinger, Vine

Trying to get things organized for the ZAP presentation in Ft Wayne in a few weeks. Not sure that I will have a chance to get anything done for the Diva Challenge. If not hopefully I will be able to look at what others have posted.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #185: Duotangle - Phicops vs Diva Dance

This week's Diva Challenge used two fun tangles, Phicops and Diva Dance. I knew fairly quickly what I wanted to do. As is my usual practice, I do not look at other entries until I have almost finished mine. The exception to this is a couple of blogs I follow in my reader. What a surprise to open up blogger and see two post with similar ideas to what I did. They were different enough, that I did not think about changing what I was doing. It just happens that one of the posts was from my sister, Tinkered Art, and the other was Michelle Beauchamp's. I am sure that there will be others that are similar but these were the two that I saw. As is the case with a number of tiles, shading was a challenge. I almost did not shade it at all but decided against that. The real challenge was Diva Dance. In general this is a tangle that I am not sure how to shade. Over all I was pleased with the results. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Diva Dance and Phicops

I hope to have some time to look at all the other posts. The last time that I looked at the blog there were all ready a long list of posts. If you have not all ready done so, I would strongly encourage you to visit the Diva's blog to look at some amazing art. Try it your self since there are links to the stepouts for these tangles.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle!!

Diva Challenge #184: "New Official Tangle: ING by Molly" , 2nd Post

As I indicated in the earlier post for this challenge I wanted to do another tile. Part of the reason for this is that it gave me more time to experiment with this tile. I did not try to change the lines of it that much and focused more on trying different things inside and not just shading it. Here is what I came up with. It has a Hollibaugh effect to it. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: ING, Stripes, Knightsbridge, Fasset, Ahh, Beads, Paradox, and Scrawlz

I was not sure about using Paradox as was not sure how it would turn out. I like the way it whooshes across the page. 

I have only been able to see about half of the things posted so far so hope to see the rest soon. There have been some unique and creative things that people have done. Go visit by clicking on I am the Diva. Try it your self even if you are not up to posting your work on line. That is not necessary to participate.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Square One: September 5, 2014 - Quib & Diva Challenge # 184 - New Official Tangle - ING by Molly

The prompt on Square One this week is Quib. I have used this tangle before, but I think I have used it more in Zendalas than in regular square tiles. I do like it. I tried to do something a little different by combining it with the new tangle ING. That was a little more challenging than I thought mostly because of trying to come up with a way to distinguish the different strands of ING. This was made a little more difficult as I did not make the sections that large. Oh well, it is what it is. I was not sure what to do with the background. I did not like the way it looked just leaving the white space but was not sure about what tangle to use. I decided to use a wave, which mostly turned out like an "s" shape. The idea was similar to what you would use with Msst. The lines were just a lot shorter. It provided something as a background. Guess I could have used some thing like Florz that would have been more open.  Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Do not normally do this, but as I just finished this tile yesterday, will also use it for the Diva Challenge, even though I did not know ING was going to be the challenge. If time permits will try to do another one this week also.

Tangles used: Quib, ING

If you are on Facebook and want to see some other great uses of this tangle, put  Square One: Purely Zentangle® in the search box. Even if you are not a member of the group you will be able to see the things posted. 

To look at others as they are posted, go to I am the Diva. I am sure that there will be many great pieces of art posted.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged and appreciated. 

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #183: "Use My Tangle- X-Did" by Annette Carlo

As it is the first of the month this is a UMT (Use my Tangle) Challenge. You can see the step out for Annette's tangle X-Did by clicking HERE. As with many patterns it is one that she saw on someone's blouse. I hope she does not mind but I varied it a little. When linking them together, I alternated the pattern rather than having it completely stacked. (I think you will be able to understand when you look at the tile.) Was not sure exactly how I was going to finish it but it came out okay. I also chose to use the black/brown combination, but rather than do it on a Renaissance tile, I did it on the traditional white tile.  May play with it more, as there are some interesting possibilities. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: X-did, Shattuck, Crescent Moon

Have not seen what others have submitted so now am off to do that. Would encourage you do this also and even attempt your own tile. Even if you are not comfortable posting it. Can click here on  I am the Diva to see some great art. 

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged and appreciated.   

Go Tangle !!

Just for Me

I have been participating in different challenges for  a couple of years. I also make a number of different ZIAs for sale or to demonstrate something for a class. One of the things that I got away from from when I started was doing things for me. The excitement, satisfaction of doing something because I wanted to try it. One of the longest times I spent tangling after I got my CZT was at the CZT Hideaway this last April. That was fun, but I was still responding to prompts. Most were trying new things.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it and I did learn a number of things that I enjoy doing and sharing with others, but it was not something I did because I wanted to.

Two tangles that I enjoy, but are also a little challenging are Tripoli and Quandry. Tripoli, think was introduced just before I went to Providence and Quandry was the tangle introduced in out CZT seminar. I realized that I have not used them much. So I decided to do something about it. I did this tile, not because I it was part of a challenge or a prompt. I did it because I wanted to use these tangles. I did not get rid of all the old critical voices that roam around in my head sometimes, but I did enjoy doing this tile. I could list all the things that I thought about when I was done that I did not think were right or I could have done differently, but I am not going to. Here it is. I hope you enjoy it. I did creating it.

Tangles used: Quandry, Tripoli, Indy-rella

If it has been awhile since you created something just for you. Take some time to do it. And make it a practice to do it regularly. That is one of my goals. 

Thanks for visiting.  As always comments are welcomed, encouraged and appreciated.

Go Tangle!!

Square One: Ready " Auraknot"

The most recent prompt from the Square One Facebook page is the tangle Auraknot. This is one that has a lot of interesting possibilities. People tend to either like it or they struggle with it. I have not had a particular difficulty with it. I did look at the video from zentangle.com just a refresher since it has been a little while since I had used this tangle. You can view the video here. The problem after looking at it was deciding how I wanted to use it. So I decided to incorporate a number of different possibilities.  Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used. Auraknot, C-scape, Flux, Zinger, Tipple

While this may look complicated, it is like a lot of other tangles. You just have to keep track of the sequence. They are not easy to find, but there was one section where I did  not. I started with the 3 pointed clover like figure. I did 2 auras of this and then did the triangle. I did 2 auras of this and then did the curved lines that went through out the whole pattern. This I only did 1 aura before I went back and began auraing the different figures. Then you  just have to decide when you are going to stop.

If you are on Facebook go to the Square One: Purely Zentangle page and you can see other great pieces that people have created.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!