Diva Challenge #156: "Curvy Gridlock"

This week's challenge came from a comment the Diva received about doing grid based tangles. The person indicated that they were not very good at grid based tangles because she could not draw a straight line. The Diva's response was, who says grids have to be straight. I agree. It is fun to vary them and see what variations you can come up with. Some are probably easier to do than others. So she challenged people to come up with uneven or curvy grids. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Florz(variation), Puf, and 'Nzeppel

When I was doing this I thought the grid where I did Puf was a little more curvy. Doing the other two curvy was easier. I chose to use tangles that I enjoy using. 'Nzeppel is one of my favorites. Florz is a simple tangle and I enjoy looking for different ways to vary it. Puf is fun to do and is quite a surprise at the end from the way it starts out(thanks Carol Ohl!). 

If  you have not visited I am the Diva, would encourage you to do so and look at the other great things that others have posted. 

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

Go Tangle !!    

Diva Challenge #155: " A Little White Space"

I think as an indication of how I have progressed/improved in my work, my reaction to this dare was, okay I can do that. It was a little confusing though as the title was a "Little White Space" and in the text of the Dare Laura wrote to try leaving a big open white space. Hmm! Which to do?  A little white space or a big open white space. I almost just used my piece from the Zendala Dare as I have typically tended to use white space a little more regularly, and comfortably, in zendalas. Not sure why, but may be the nature of the templates make it easier for me to just see it. I had enough time to do another one so I put in a big open white space in this one. For those of you who are regular visitors to my blog you are now going to read something that you have not seen here much before. One of the challenges in any Zentangle® or ZIA that I do is the shading. When I got done with this one I was pleased with the shading in general and I was very satisfied with the way the shading of the negative space turned out. Okay, all you folks can either get up off the floor, or close your mouth. You look silly with your mouth hanging open. I cannot say how often I will be making comments like that, but it is nice to see something come together. Well enough rambling. I appreciate those of you who have read all this. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Keeko, Knightsbridge, Hybrid, Shattuck, Bales, 'Nzeppel, & Beads

For the shading I used a variety of graphite pencils from HB to 6B. The gray on the bales is done with a Fabrico Dual point marker. 

For those of you who do not participate in the Zendala Dare I am also posting this weeks Zendala. This shows a little white space rather than a big space.

If you have not all ready done so, strongly encourage you to visit I Am the Diva and look at all the other great pieces that people have created. You won't be disappointed. If you have not before, you may also want to give it a try yourself.

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

Go Tangle !!

Zendala Dare #92

This zendala turned out way different than I first imagined. Erin at The Bright Owl, posted how she usually approaches the zendala templates and how she did it differently this time. I rarely change the overall character of a template. Like a lot of  people, when I look at it, I think of tangles that might be able to be used in a particular space. I did start out this way but it quickly went in another direction. The "gifted tangle" this week is paradox. I knew that I wanted to use that. Began to look at how I could use it in a less traditional way. Then I decided to do something around the outer edge. I like Quib for this and it worked well. This really resulted in my having to look at some other ways to finish this. Overall I am comfortable with the end product. The process of creating this, even though not completely smooth, was still enjoyable. As typical for me the hardest part is the shading. Wanted to get some perspective/dimension created with this. Not sure how successful I was in doing that. I must admit though that since there has been some time between my completing this and posting, the more I look at it the better I like it. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Flora, Zander, Paradox, Quib

If you have not all ready, would encourage you to visit The Bright Owl and see the other pieces posted. I hope I can spend some time doing this. I have not decided yet whether this will serve a dual purpose this week. The Diva Challenge is using white space. Will have to see what time allows from me.

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

Go Tangle !! 

Zendala Dare #91

Getting this completed late in the week. Have mixed feelings about this one. I enjoyed doing most of the tangles but when got down to the finishing it was tough. I tend to fill in most spaces so am trying to leave some negative space. Was not sure if should just shade or put in some color, or just leave it entirely blank. If would have had more time could have copied this and tried all three to see which I liked best but decided to go with the shading. Did not turn out the way that I envisioned but is not bad. Hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Dragonair, Shattuck, Betweed, 

Used a 6B for the shading in the center, a 4B in the next and a 2HB on the outside. Evened it out with a blending stump.

Have not looked at any of the other posts, except for Erin's. Would encourage you to go to The Bright Owl and look at what others have done. 

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

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #154: " Valentangle"

Not feeling particularly creative with this Dare. I was experimenting with some things. It was a way to practice some things before a class this weekend. Kept it pretty simple with using heart shapes and some tangles. I have not looked at a lot others, I did peek at a few, and I am sure that there are some that are much more creative. This is the first time I used the Zenstone to shade or highlight. I got one at Christmas in a package from a fellow CZT, who also happens to be my sister. Just had not gotten around to using it yet. One thing that I notice whether it is the Zenstone or the charcoal pencil, not sure how to protect this as it rubs off very easily. Have not heard people say anything about this. Would welcome any comments from others who have used these tools and have solutions for this. Overall I was pleased with the result. I hope you enjoy it.

I did not use a lot of tangles in this one.The "6" swirl in the larger one may have a name but am not sure about that. The only one that I know that is a named pattern is Heartstrings. This is the one in red. It is a pattern developed by Helen Williams. You can see the step-out for this and her other patterns at a little lime.

I used a uniball Signo pen for the white hearts. I like the narrower line I get with this pen over the Sakura Gelly Roll pen, put sometimes the flow is not as smooth. Had to go back over a few places. The others were done with Metallic Gelly Roll pens. One is a red and the other is silver.

Now it is time for me to go to I am the Diva and take a closer look at the other tiles and ZIAs that others have posted. If you have not done so, would strongly recommend it.  

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

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #153: UMT v. 24 "Jailed Johnny - by Sadelle Wiltshire, CZT"

The first Diva Challenge of the month is a Use my Tangle challenge. This month's tangle is Jailed Johnny by Sadelle Wiltshire. You can find the step out for the tangle here. While I am familiar with this CZT from the internet, I was not familiar with this tangle. I really was not sure how I was going to use it. To me it looked like something that would be a border or a frame so that is what I decided to do. I used it as a string. I really was not sure what it would look like or what I would put with it. I completed it in Zentangle® fashion and just chose a few things. I stayed with tangles that I am comfortable with and have used a lot before. The only thing that I wanted to work on was connecting the tangles that I used. I had not done this for a while and will be using it in an upcoming class so I wanted some practice. I like the way that this tangle turned out. It reminds me of something that you would see in a carved wooden frame. I do not know how I will use it again, but it is a nice frame, border, or string. I hope that you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Jailed Johnny, Shattuck, Purk, & Msst.

I have not had much of a chance to look at a lot of the other tiles and ZIAs posted on I am the Diva, but I plan to spend some time the rest of the week doing so. Would encourage you to visit her blog and take in all the great posts. If you have not all ready, would encourage you to also participate, even if you do not post your work on line. If you can would also encourage you to take a class from a CZT.  If you have, you know what a valuable resource this person is and would encourage you to continue to avail yourself of them. I know that even though there are a lot of CZTs not everyone is close enough to take a class so would encourage you to continue using the online resources to continue your journey.   

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

Go Tangle !!

Zendella Dare #90: Happy Birthday

The first dare of the month from The Bright Owl contains an additional challenge besides the template. This year Erin tied it in with her birthday, Feb 3, and asked contributors to give her a gift of using their favorite tangle in the template. When I read that I felt the same way I usually do when the Music Director asks the Praise Team, what is your favorite Praise Song or Worship Song. There are so many.  What I usually think about is the one that we just did or did recently. There are so many great tangles, how do you pick a favorite. I also figured that there would be some that would be repeated by others and I wanted to come up with something that others maybe did not use. I have my go to tangles like everyone else, but was not sure I wanted to use them and then I had to look at the template and figure out if there was a way to incorporate it into the template. I finally narrowed it down to a few tangles and included them all in this zendala. Here is what I came up with. Happy Birthday Erin. I hope you enjoy your present. I also hope the rest of you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Betweed, Paradox, 'Nzeppel, Twirl

Twirl is a tangle developed by Helen Williams at A Little Lime. She has a lot of great patterns. A lot of them have an organic character but they usually have some nice flow and curves to them, even if they use a grid as a base. If you have not been to her web site would encourage you to do so. Can see the step out for Twirl and her other patterns by clicking here. You can scroll down to see all of here patterns and pick a few to try. Regular participants in the Diva Challenge are probably familiar with her work. 

If you have not visited The Bright Owl to look at the other posts, I would encourage you to do so. There are some great pieces of art posted.

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

Go Tangle !!