Mistaken Diva challenge: Bales sampler

I looked at the Diva Challenge and for some reason rather than remembering that it was a monotangle of Puf, I thought it was a monotangle of Bales.  Of course I did not go back and check until I had completed my tile. Oh well.  I like Bales as I see it as a base tangle.  You do the basic grid and then you an experiment with a lot of things.  There are a couple of tangles like this. Cadent is another one that comes to mind.  It is too late to complete another tile for the Challenge so am just posting this on my blog and will also post it in a couple of FB groups.  Here is what I came up with.  Hope you enjoy it.

The outer round is Puf , then is the way that I usually do Bales and then the last two are just variations. Shading done with HB pencil

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

Go Tangle !! 

Diva Challenge #316: String Theory - Stripes!

The Diva Challenges like this are fun to do and allow me to participate as they come together quicker than some others. I combined 2 different things in this. One is the theme of this challenge, stripes and the other is stacked. Was not sure how the negative space in the corners were going to turn out, but it is okay. Also not sure if the last "stripe"in the middle is really a stripe Can you have a stripe of one?
Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: From the outer edge to the middle, Bales, Paradox, Cubine, Puf, and Knightsbridge. I am having a senior moment. I do not remember the tangle between Bales and Paradox.

Did not do much shading. Used an HB pencil for all the shading

Have not looked at any of the entries at I am the Diva. If you have not been there. Would strongly encourage you to go look at all the different pieces of art that have been posted. 

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

Go Tangle !!

Mixing two techniques: Tangling and Pyrography

Have wanted to do more with combining these two before but have not had the materials or the time. I have some other materials but they are rounded. Figured was probably better to start with something that was flat. This, for me, takes more patience than just tangling with a Micron. I actually did do a couple of them with Microns first. The others are burned. The small ones are about 1.5 inches long and the larger ones are about 2.75 inches long.  Used Tung oil as a finish. I hope you enjoy them.

Decided to keep the tangles pretty simple and use ones that basically had straight lines. I did stray from this a little when I did Bales on one of the larger crosses. Figured that was a little more possible since it was a larger surface. Used a tipple effect on two of them. I like the one that is darker a little better. I think it is because of the contrast.

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

Go Tangle !!

Two for One: Diva Challenge #270-Skye by Margaret Bremner, CZT and Square One focus-Bales.

Had some time to do some tangling. Actually I made time. I probably should have been doing some other things. This week's Diva Challenge is to use Margaret Bremner's new tangle Skye. I saw it when it was first posted. I did not have time to try it then. Since the Diva made it the challenge, it was the push I needed to do it. It is a little tricky and there are a couple of spots that did not turn exactly as I had planned, but it is okay. To get a little more mileage from the tile I also included Bales which is the focus tangle on Square One. As with a lot of tiles, one of the biggest challenges is the shading. Not sure what is occurring as I had been feeling a little more comfortable with the shading that I had been doing. Finding it more difficult for some reason.  Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Skye, Girdy, Bales, and Tipple.

Shading done with HB and 2B pencils.

Have not looked at many of the other posts. If I am going to participate, I usually do not look at what others have done until I have completed mine. Occasionally I will see one that shows up in my blog reader.  If you have not visited I am the Diva yet, I would encourage you to do so. I would also encourage you to try your tile. It is fun and you do not have to post your work. Although people who participate are very supportive

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

Go Tangle !! 

Diva Challenge #253: "New Tangle: Molygon"

Although it was the first Monday of the month, the UMT challenge was an opportunity to focus on a new tangle from HQ. I actually got to teach this to a class before it was released to the public. I do not think that has ever happened before. I like this tangle just be cause it is open to so many variations. I have not looked at what others have done with it but am guessing there were a lot of interesting posts. The tangle is Molygon. It uses simple strokes but you can get complicated depending on what you do with it. I almost did not get this posted. I started it early in the week and then it just sat there, partially completed for most of the week. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Molygon, and Bales. Shading with 2B graphite pencil

This is one of those tiles that has grown on me. As I stated above, I started this early in the week but never seemed to have time to finish it. It got down to yesterday and I knew I was going to have to do something if I was going to get it posted. I struggled deciding what to do and finally decided to just do something and let it go where it wanted. Was not even sure how I wanted to shade Bales. Decided to just go with some simple shading.

I hope to get to look at as many of the posts as I can. Not sure how many I will be able to post a comment on their blogs. I try to as much as I can. If you have not all ready, would strongly recommend that you go to I am the Diva and look at the great post. I would also encourage you to try it yourself, even if you do not post it. This is a fun tangle to play with.

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

Go Tangle !! 

Diva Challenge #225: Guest Blogger Jen Crutchfield, CZT - Using color

The Diva is having guest bloggers over the summer as she is taking some time off this summer to spend more time with her family. This is the first week of a guest blogger and it is a fellow Indiana CZT. There are, I think, double the number of CZTs in the state from when I got my certification. I think the only area that does not have at least one is the northeast part of the state. But I digress.

The basic Zentangle® format is using black pen and a graphite pencil for shading. that is probably how most start but then they do venture out a little to try something with color. Usually, myself included, if the person does not have much (read any) art background using color is one of those things that causes a little increase in their anxiety. After 4 years of tangling I am more comfortable using color but it is still not something I am totally comfortable with doing. For this challenge I went back and visited one the techniques I first used to add color. This is Maria Browning's embossing technique that she included in her book, Time to Tangle with Color,  and also taught at  Tangle U.  I was not able to attend Tangle U but did talk with some people who did and I also found the brief explanation in her book. before when I used it I used a black tile. I have wanted to try it on other tiles to see how it worked but just have not done it. It seemed to fit well for this challenge. Enough rambling, here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used : Opsess, Shattuck, Bales

The color is done with Irojiten pencils. The colors are Lettuce Green, Lilac, & Sunset Orange.There is about three layers of each color.

The tangles are done using a Signo Uni-ball 207 Micro pen. I use these at work and when they have run out of ink, I have saved some to use for this purpose. It gives a finer line than the typical embossing tool. 

I have not seen a lot of other things posted yet for this challenge. I plan on going to I am the Diva to see the other pieces submitted. Would strongly encourage you to visit the site also and give the challenge a try, even if you do not decide to post what you do.

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

Go Tangle !!

Another adventure into Pyrography : Burned Door Hanger

It has been a while since I have tried any burning. This was good practice for me. The wood is probably not the best. Is some type of plywood. Thought that I had sanded it pretty well but based on how the shading sections burned, not sure that I did. Not sure that it shows up that well but the shading is not that smooth. There are a number of overburns. Considering that this is only the second piece that I did with this burner, I am okay with the way that it turned out. Hoping to get more practice before I do anything bigger. Have another door hanger that I will probably burn on. Enough explanation, here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used (from the bottom up): Shattuck, Chard (variation), Bales, & Hibred (variation)

Burner used: Razor tip SS - D10

Was able to get a second picture in natural light so some of the shading shows up better, particularly on the Shattuck at the bottom. That is one of the things that seemed to go well.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, 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 !!

Diva Challenge #182: "Stripes"

This week's Diva Challenge is to use stripes as a string. This was fun. It wasn't quite as easy I thought as I had to stop and think about a few tangles to use. Did not spend a lot of time but just browsed different tangles. I mostly used favorites for this. Not thrilled with the end result but it is okay. Is mostly the transitions between the different tangles. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Chainlea, Copada, Betweed, Shattuck, 'Nzeppel, Arckles, and Bales.

As I said above was not thrilled with it. Thought about a couple of things to try, including just shading between the different stripes. If I have time, may make copies and then experiment with a couple of things. 

Hopefully I will have some time to view all the different things that others have posted. I have only seen a few that have shown up in my reader. Would encourage you to visit I am the Diva to look at all the great works of art. 

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

Go Tangle !!

Embossed/Impressed Technique: On Black Tiles

I was not fortunate enough to go to Tangle U but I knew a few folks who did. I heard about the session that Maria Browning did on using color on the black tiles. I also saw a couple of examples, some on line and some in person. I then realized ( read discovered)  that Maria had included an example and brief explanation of this technique in her Time to Tangle with Color book. I had tried it once before but was not pleased with the results. Not sure if it was my pencils or what I used to make the tangles. On the first one, I did not have an old ball point pen so I used the stylus from my PDA. I think that that was mostly the issue. It might have worked but I would have had to really push harder than I did. To protect the screen, it has a soft cover on the point. Well awhile ago I purchased an embossing tool and recently I just purchased some of the Tombow Irojiten pencils. They were on sale for $.99 each. And guess what came today. I had been working on the tile for a couple of days. but when the pencils came today it was a stronger motivation to finish the tile and experiment a little with the new pencils. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

I only used a portion of the pencils that I received. The colors I used were Straw Yellow, Sunset Orange (Shattuck), Vigorous Green ( Printemps), Cameo Pink (Triangle), Lightning Yellow (Bales), and Horizon Blue ( Paradox).  The only color that I was disappointed with the way that it turned out was the Straw Yellow. I did not use it a lot and it may just not be a good choice for the black tiles. Will withhold judgement on this color until I have a chance to experiment with it on other things. 

As I mentioned earlier, I think the hardness of the embossing tool made a difference in how it turned out. I must say thought that the Irojiten pencils were nice to work with. The color went on very smoothly, much more than my generic colored pencils I used before. It was much easier to get a smoother cover and layer it with a lighter touch than what I could achieve with my generic pencils. I guess the quality of the tools that you use can make a difference. 

I am doing a class this Saturday on this and other techniques on the black tiles. I am glad I had a chance to practice this again.

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

Go Tangle !! 

Diva Challenge #169: String Theory - Circles

This week's Diva Challenge is to use circles as a string. You could do them anyway you wanted to. I chose to do mine free hand and have them intersecting. For a brief moment I thought about doing something similar to Michele Beauchamp's post earlier this week. She used the basic tripoli pattern to make circles and then filled them with various patterns and then also connected them. I did not think about it very long and decided against it when I saw her feed on my reader.  For this week's challenge she chose to continue with this theme.  I did not want to try to match her. After I did the string I just began filling the different sections with tangles. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Bales, Tipple, Fassett, Paradox, & Shattuck. 

There are a couple of patterns that do not have names as far as I know. They  came about when I was experimenting with some basic elements of Zentangle®. Some of them are a part of the "S" pattern post from before. The other originated from a pattern that I saw on a plate. I may get around to naming them someday. 

I hope I have some time to look at the other submissions on I am the Diva. I have a busy week. I have a class this weekend and have a show/display next Friday. Would encourage you to go look and also participate in the challenge. You can click here to go to her blog. 

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 !!

Diva Challenge #152: New Official Tangle Aquafleur

I was able to get both the Diva  Challenge and the Zendala Dare done relatively quickly this week. The Challenge this week was to use the tangle just released to the public by Rick and Maria. The tangle is Aquafleur. It is a fun tangle and it lends itself to many variations. I remember seeing a number of great examples of this tangle when it was first released to CZTs. As usual there were a lot of amazing uses of this tangle. I have not used it a lot but did use it on a card that I made. I will post a picture of this under the tile that I did for this challenge. Since I had the time, and I do not like to only post something that I had done in the past for these Challenges, I did come up with another one. To me this usually has a somewhat organic nature. I have seen some other variations that have not. You can see some examples of this at zentangle.com and A Little Lime. Here is what I did for this challenge. I hope you like it. 

Tangles used: Bales, Aquafleur, Zinger, Fescu, 

Here is the card I made where I used Aquafleur. The other tangles that I used were Zinger, Ahh, Tipple, Joy & Indy-rella.  

If you have not been to I am the Diva to look at the other posts, I would strongly recommend you do so during the week. You will be treated to some great art.

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

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #132: "Non-Domonotangle"

My first reaction when I saw what this challenge was, was to take a pass. I looked at the tangle that was chosen and thought a little more and decided that since it was a grid based tangle that might make it a little easier. Did not think I could tackle an organic flowing tile with my non-dominant hand. I may not have thought that through completely.  Drawing the string was challenging enough and maybe should have been enough to send me running for the hills. But I pushed ahead. I did remember from when I broke my wrist a number of years ago and I had to learn to print with my left hand that there were certain rotations that just seemed easier to do. So I set out and did have to focus and found myself turning the tile more than I usually do to be able to make the rotations. The more I continued, I was finding new challenges. The grid lines were a little tough. But in some ways I think that trying to do the fill was even tougher. It required a steady hand which I definitely do not have with my left hand. All that being said, I have to say that I was not disappointed with the end result. It definitely took longer to do than it would have with my dominant hand, but I am pleased with it. I hope that you enjoy it.

I have only looked at few other submissions, mostly from people whose blogs show up in my reader. I plan on going to I am the Diva and looking at all of the great art work. Would recommend that you do also.

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

Go Tangle !!  

Diva Challenge #120: "Tangleation Nation; Bales"

This weeks Diva Challenge is to use bales and experiment with it. I have to admit that while I like Bales and use it a lot I had a serious creativity block on this challenge. I looked at only a few examples of what others had done and stopped because it made it harder to start than help. I saw some fantastic ZIAs that were so unique that you had to really study them to see Bales. Some had very organic characteristics and seemed to flow all over the page. I ended up doing two tiles. The first is basic black on a white tile. It is pretty basic. Since I was still pretty blocked, I chose to have fun with the second and pulled out a black tile and my metallic Gelly Roll pens.  Here are the results. I hope that you enjoy them.

Decided to do a simple tangleation of Bales. 

This one has a few more variations but is still pretty basic. Doing this one with the white Sakura Gelly Roll helped me remember why I like this pen the best of the ones that I have used. It went on smoothly and it is not a broad nib. The interior lines are made with a Sakura Gelly Roll Clear Star pen. It does not show up real well in the picture as it does leave a fine line. The Gold Metallic  Gelly Roll covers up some of it. The gray looking lines is actually a black Metallic Gelly Roll pen. Was kind of surprised that it showed up this way on the black tile but like the color with the gold.

If you have not all ready done so I would strongly recommend that you visit I am the Diva and look at the other tiles. I plan on doing this now that I have finished my tile.

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

Go Tangle !!