Diva Challenge #359: "String Theory - Finger Stringer"

This week's Diva Challenge presented different challenges to me than last weeks.  Last week's was what I consider "regular" tangling challenges of focus.  This week had to do more with my mood and reaction to recent events.  I will try to explain this without boring you too much.

 There are typical life events, like dealing with aging parents that have been dealing with for about a year.  There are probably events everyday that someone will have a reaction to.  This past week I guess they have been closer to me or people I know.  They are not unique, except to these individuals.  I know people who were affected by the terrible crash in Saskatchewan province that killed 15 members of the Humbolt Broncos hockey team. Then there was the devastating fire to the home, and death of fellow CZT Cris Letourneau's husband in the fire.

 I found my self with very strong reactions to this.  I wanted to do something as words didn't seem enough.  Was not sure what to do. When I saw what this week's challenge was, I began trying to think of a way I could use this art form that Cris is so much a part of it to honor her, her daughter Alexa,  and these other people.  I had a couple of ideas but was not sure that I would be able to do any of them.  I finally decided on something to try.  Not sure that I pulled it off, but this is what I came up with.  I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used:  Joy, Indy-rella, The border I do not think is an actual tangle.
Shading done with HB pencil

I was not sure that this really fit the challenge exactly.  I was able to draw around one hand, folded. I was unsure whether to tangle on the string itself and opted not to. I think it would have gotten lost in the rest or the tile.  On a regular tile I would not worry about this as much and actually prefer that the string get lost.  As I stated above, I am not sure that the double heart border is actually a tangle.  There are really two ways to do this.  One is you can make connecting hearts and then flip the tile and add the upper arcs of a heart in the space between them. The other is to make altenating "S" shapes.  By alternating I mean you do one and then do mirror images.  That does take some focus, at least for me.

Congratulations if you have managed to get all the way through this post and not just skipped to the picture. If you have not all ready done so would encourage you to go to I am the Diva and look at the art that others have submitted.  Just click on the link.  I got mine done earlier this week so am hoping I can spend time looking at  a few more than I have been able to lately.

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

Go Tangle !!

Another tangled pumpkin

The other two that I did have been sold so was trying to get others done. Here is one that is a mixture of free form and structured patterns.  Used a Sakura Microperm pen to do the tangles.  I am fond of the tangled tree myself.  Here are picture of the top and the different sections of the pumpkin.

The tangle dividing the different "scenes" is Shattuck. It is one of my go to tangles.  Other tangles used include Sea Wave, Aquafleur, Phicops, Diva Dance, Squid, Indy-rella, and Sanibelle to name a few.

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

Go Tangle !!

Last project before Christmas: Tangled Gift Bag

Nothing like working up to the last minute on things. I was going to finish this last night and got side tracked helping someone else finish some things. I thought they were going to help with them but it did not work out that way. Oh well, it all got done. This was the last thing I  needed for a present for a family member and finished it about 4:30 PM on December 24. Did  not have time to think about much and just went ahead on did it.

I used Shelly Beauchamp's tangleations of Drawing as my inspiration. If you have not seen them, click on this link,  to view her fantastic art work.  I saw the ensemble that she did and really liked it. Mine to do not have quite the flow of hers but I was pleased with the end result.  Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Not sure what happened with this picture but the bag is really a bright orange. It is not a brown.

Tangles used: Drawings, Stella, Nooms, & Indy-rella. Used a white PrismaColor pencil for the highlighting. If I would have had time, I should have taken a picture of what it looked like before I added the highlights. They made a significant difference.

Want to wish you all a Merry Christmas, and if you celebrate another holiday, Happy Holidays. I want to thank those of you who do follow and read my blog. The fact that people actually would find what I post and write about interesting is very humbling. I know I have not done as much here at the end of the year, but am hoping to be more consistent next year.

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

Go Tangle !! 

Some other new things: Ornaments using chalkmarkers

Here is something that I have been working on for the Winter Market that I am participating in. These are a couple of chalkboard style balls. I used Uchida Chalk Markers to do these. Working in the round is always a challenge but am pleased with the way that these turned out. Have one more ball and a couple of the rectangular ornaments to do. Hopefully I will get them done next week. If not there is always next year. I did not do any new ceramic ones this year. Figured that I had  enough. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy them.

The white is a Sampson-based snow flake with Msst and Ahh.  The purple is Stella with a little 

Indy-rella.

One thing about these chalk markers is that if you do not like what you have done you can wipe it off with a wet cloth and start over. I did use a Krylon matte  spray finish to seal it so it would not rub off or smear later.

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

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #269: "New Official Tangle: Ellish"

This week's Diva Challenge is almost like a UMT challenge. The Diva chose to highlight the newest tangle coming from Zentangle® HQ, Ellish. This is an interesting tangle. The basic pattern is not that challenging. Much like Paradox and Auraknot, it helps to keep track of where you are with the auras/lines.  For me one of the challenges was to come up with a way to connect and grow it. This served a dual purpose as I had taught the tangle to a class a couple of weeks ago but had not played much with it yet. I told them when I demonstrated it, I was not sure of how it could be grown. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Ellish, Tipple, Indy-rella. 

The shading was done with HB, 2B, and 4B pencils

One of the other challenges with this tile was how to shade it. The more I look at it, I am getting a little  more comfortable with it, but still a little uncertain. 

I have not looked at any of the other pieces posted. Hope to get to it soon. If you have not looked at the posts at I am the Diva, strongly recommend that you do so. Also would encourage you to try it yourself, even if you do not post it on the site.

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

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #221: " Beads of Courage"

This week's Diva Challenge is one that occurs yearly. It is to bring attention to the Beads of Courage program. I think that it originally started around kids with cancer but has been expanded to include any child that has a condition that necessitates numerous and ongoing medical evaluations and procedures. The Diva's youngest son has Moebius Syndrome, a neurological disorder that impacts facial muscles. Some things that we take for granted, can be difficult to do, like sucking. It also results in his system being prone to infections. Anyone that has read her blog knows the strain that this puts on her family as well as others.

The Beads of Courage gives these kids a glass bead for every medical procedure that they go through. These kids can have yards of beads. I have participated in this challenge a couple of times. I was not sure that I was going to get anything done this year. I happened to have some time at work today because of no show/cancelled appointments so I decided to start something. I did not plan on using a black zendala tile but when I opened my tote that I use to carry my pens and tiles, this was the only one unused tile I had. Luckily I also had my container that had my metallic gel pens in it. Kept it simple. Not sure if I will do another one or not. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

I forgot how you have to be careful with the gel pens as the ink does not dry as quickly as the Microns. Resulted in a few smudges until I finally was aware enough. In keeping with my practice of using the first tile I complete, I did not start over. Did not really use a lot of tangles. Did a few Cruffle and Printemp circles. Threw in a few Indy-rella for variety. The rest is just line work.

Will be interesting to see what others do. This usually results in some pretty cool tiles. I have not looked at any of them yet, and hope I have time to see them all. Not sure how much time I will have to comment on peoples' tiles. If you have not visited the Diva's blog click here so look at all the other great pieces of art.

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 !!

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 !! 

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!!

Diva Challenge #166: UMT Diva style

This week's Diva Challenge is another UMT (use my tangle) challenge. This is a little different in that she did not pick one that others had submitted but it is an unnamed tangle that she created. One of the things I like about it is that it uses a few of the basic strokes that Zentangle® is based on. I think it is fun to experiment with this. This tangle works well as a monotangle or with a few others. I am not sure how much I would use it as a fill in other tiles. I am sure though I will see  some very imaginative ways to use this tangle. I returned to Zentangle® roots this week using an original white tile and only using a Micron and graphite pencil. After experimenting a little more the last few weeks, it seemed a little odd only using these tools. I am satisfied with the way that it turned out. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Diva's unnamed tangle, Indy-rella, Flux, and Zinger

I am now off to look at what the other folks have posted. This tangle has so many possibilities that I am looking forward to seeing some really fantastic art. I would encourage you to visit I am the Diva and see it all also.

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

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #163: New Official Tangle - Rixty

This weeks Diva Challenge was to use the new tangle introduced by Zentangle®, Rixty. When we first got this in the new letter, I played with it on a Renaissance tile. It is fun to do but I tend to see it more as something that works well as a monotangle, or with just one or two other tangles. Will be interesting to see how others have incorporated it into their tiles. The only one that I have seen so far is the one that Laura did. She did a nice job of integrating it into her tile. This time I did it on one of the original tiles and uncharacteristically used color.  I did not do a monotangle, but combined it with one other tangle, or as The Diva calls it a Duotangle. Not exactly sure how I feel about this one. I completed it fairly quickly and I do not dislike it. It may be one the more I see, the more I will like it. That is many times the case when I try something that I do not use a lot, or am not entirely comfortable with it. Here is what I came up with. I hope that you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Rixty, Indy-rella.

The color was done with colored pencils and I did some shading with pencil.

The one below is the one I did on the Renaissance tile. I am including it here because I think when I had posted it before I had not added the white to the tile. I was not sure what to do and had some suggestions from others, but decided to do this.  I do like the brown and black together. 

If you have not all ready done so, I strongly suggest you head to I Am the Diva to look at what others have posted.  The next couple of days are going to be busy so I hope I have a chance to take them in and comment on them. 

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

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #160: "String Theory: Spiral out, Keep Going! (v.2)"

Was not sure if I was going to get this done before the deadline. I started a while ago but the week has been busy.  I have not even had a chance to look at things that others have submitted. I have not used spirals a lot although I like the ways that I have seen others use them, particularly Shelly Beauch. You can look at some great art by her by clicking on here to go to her blog. I think I got a little ambitious with the things that I tried to put in the spirals. Overall it turned out well. Here is what I came  up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Zander, Quib, Knot Ricks, Tripoli, Fengle, Betweed, Marasu, Printemps, Jetties, Indy-rella

I hope to have a little time now to look at what the others have posted on I am the Diva. 

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 #149: "Twenty-Fourteen"

Was not sure that I would be able to get anything done for this Dare but things were still slow at work today because of the weather. The end result is that I had some time that I had not planned for.  Besides getting some other things done, I had some time to attempt a tile for this Dare. I did not put a lot of thought into this one and was probably influenced a little by some of the ones that I looked at briefly. I chose what I did not just to indicate a celebration of the New Year but also excitement about things to come for the New Year. Either way it is a celebration. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used. Keeko, Mak-rah-Mee, Partay, Joy, Ahh, & Indy-rella

To color the numbers I used a Bronze Sharpie Metallic Marker.

If you have not all ready, would strongly encourage you to go to I am the Diva to look at all the other great things posted by other artists. They are always great and inspiring.

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

Go Tangle !!

They are finally done - Well almost. Travel mug inserts.

Earlier I had posted an unshaded ZIA that I was going to use as a travel mug insert. Received some comments that people wanted to see them when they were shaded. I finally finished the inserts. The reason that I said they are almost done is that I still need to do the final cropping and insert them in the mugs. Here are pictures of the 5 inserts that I did. They will be in travel mugs which will be Administrative Asst. Day gifts for the staff at my office. Hope you like them.

Tangles used: Hibred, Paradox, Sanabelle, In-a-Pod, Tierso, Keeko, Puf, Betweed, AHH, Shattuck, Crescent Moon, Cadent, Flux

Tangles used: "NZeppel, Eyelet & Ribbon, Twirl, Brayd, Daggerly, Fearcles, Beads, Hurry, Hollibaugh, Florz, Huggins, Sankegg, Vache, Meer 

Tangles used: Florz(variation), Arckles, Indy-rella, C-scape, Cadent, Vega, Diva Dance, Keeko, In-a-Pod, Munchin, Socc

Tangles used: Bales, Rain, Poke Root & Leaf, Chordin, Swarm, Fancy Nancy, Chillon, Hibred, Tripoli, Striping

Tangles used: Doodleedoo, Beeline, Japonica, Dansk, Ragz, Cubine, Copada, Pea-nuckle

This was my attempt to take a picture of the finished product. Only took one. Not the easiest to do and not get glare. Cannot see it, but this mug does have a handle. 

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

Adventures in Monotangle #4 - Indy-rella

Decided to completely play for this challenge. Have not used my gel pens for some time. Pulled out a black tile and just started doing Indy-rella and randomly chose colors. All the pens I used were glitter pens but that did not show up real well. One nice thing about this tile is that did not have to make any decisions about shading. Hope you enjoy it. It was fun for me.

Nice thing about Monotangles is that do not have to list the tangles that you used. Can see others' take on this challenge by going to Mindful Creations. Is always interesting to see what others do.

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