Diva Challenge # 217: " Duotangle - Dex vs Bunzo... Thirty-five!!!

This week's Diva Challenge is a Duotangle, which is to use only two tangles. The one that she chose this time are Dex and Bunzo, which she chose for the number of letters in each tangles name. The significance of this is that yesterday was her 35th birthday. Did not do anything particularly creative. After I got done, I realized there is a similar format as the one that I did last week. Have to be careful I do not get into a rut. Here is what I came up with. I hope you like it.

Tangles used: Dex, Bunzo

Did not do any shading on this with graphite. I used stippling on the Dex instead of lines as it seemed easier to do with the the space available. 

I have looked at a few things that others have submitted, Most of them have been things that have shown up on my blog reader. I did not look though until I had almost finished mine so it was pretty well set.  If you have not done so, would encourage you to go to I am the Diva and check things out.

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

Go Tangle !!

Square One: Bunzo - Take 2

I really do like the tangle Bunzo. I think that the flow of the pen makes it easy for me to relax as I am not thinking about curves or where it needs to end. It is a stroke that flows easily from my pen. I started this last night when I was tired and also avoiding getting information together for taxes. I know I have to do it, but it is a lot more fun to tangle. Much like the last one I did not worry much about shading the tangles but more shading the total image. It is okay, I probably could have extended the shading around Bunzo out a little further. I did not want to take the time to add to it as I have a lot of things to get to. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it. I enjoyed creating it.

Tangles used: Bunzo, Quandary, Tripoli, &  a little Quib.

I used a #2 pencil for the shading, maybe should have used a 4B, and the white dots in the triangles in Quandary are with a white Gelly Roll pen. 

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

Go Tangle !!

Square One : Bunzo

The focus tile for this week at Square One is Bunzo. Have not used this one for a while. When it first came out, I did it a lot and used it as the centerpiece of a couple of cards. It is fun to see how you  can vary the size of it. Do not do a lot of other variations. This ended up being a tile with an organic nature. Was totally intended, but I did want to use Scroll Feather. This is another tangle that I enjoy using and have not used it for a while. That is really the only reason that I used it. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Bunzo, Featherfall, Scroll Feather, Tipple, & Ahh

Did something that I have not really done in a while. I did not do any shading on this tile. I thought about doing some for just a brief moment and decided against it. I was okay without it. May change my mind later and add some, but do not think so. 

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 !!

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 #102: "DuoTangle v. VI: Auraknot/Bunzo"

The Diva presented another great challenge. It was doing a DuoTangle. The two tangles that she chose are both tangles that I really like but had not really thought much about doing together. I was anticipating getting started but kept delaying because I was not exactly sure what I wanted to do. I even looked at more things other people submitted than I usually do because I was just having a hard time getting started. In true Zentangle® style, I took deep breath and began. I had a vague idea that I wanted the two to intertwine so I did have to think about how I was going to begin ( remember - no erasers). Once I started though it flowed very well. Isn't that the case with a lot of things when we are unsure. We focus on all the things that might go wrong or not work out and don't get started and just deal with what happens, trusting that we have the ability to deal with what happens. We have resources to deal with a less than perfect situation. Hopefully another lesson reinforced to tuck away for later.

My thoughts are a little heavy though as think of this and a family that I know, and their extended family, grieving the death a their 19 year old nephew, cousin, son, and brother. He was killed when his car hydroplaned, flipped over into a ditch filled with 4 to 5 feet of water and could not be freed soon enough to revive him. He was returning to college at Ball State. As I think of this I am mindful of what David wrote in Psalms 28:7, The Lord is my strength and my shield: in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped. We try so hard to arrange/control things in the way that we think is best and take care of people that are dear to us. We need to do what we can, but we still need to trust, because we are not in control. We can only "trust and be helped". I hope that is what his family is experiencing now.

For this Challenge, I chose to return to the basics and did a traditional Zentangle® style tile. It is on a square tile and only in black and white with shading. As hard as it was for me to get started I am pleased with the result. I tried some different things with the shading and for a first effort feel it turned out well. Not sure that it shows up as well in the picture as the real tile. Here it is. I hope you enjoy it.

If you have not all ready, I strongly encourage you to go to I am the Diva to look at the other great pieces that people have done. The variety and talent amazes me every week.

Almost forgot to mention a self-proclaimed benchmark for my blog as I surpassed 5,000 views this week. I appreciate all the Challenge, Dare, and Flickr participants, friends and family, and followers and other visitors for making it possible to reach this number in what I consider to be a short time since I only began this blog in August 2012. A big THANK YOU to you all.

I am glad that you visited. As always comments are encouraged, welcomed, and appreciated.