Combining tangling and Pyrography: Burned cross

 Trying to get a little more regular about posting things, but since I am out of the habit do not always think about it. I am working on inventory for a Winter Market that I will be participating in later this year. Here is an item that I recently finished. It combines two things that I like to do, tangling and wood burning. I do not do typical pyrography as I do not try do pictures. I would like to have more time to work on that but that will have to wait. I am also digressing.  I purchased the blank from a craft store. It is approximately 8" x 5". 

I use a Razer tip SS-D10 burner. I used a F9S pen for the words. It is listed as a pen for writing. This is the small size.  I used  an F14D Blunt Heel Knife to do the pattern. The small shading was done with a a F5S small spear. 

I thought about doing a little shading with the spear or another shader, on the Shattuck pattern but opted not to. 

I have a calligraphy pen that I have not tried yet. Before I try that will probably practice on some scrap wood to get the feel of it. 

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

Go Tangle !! 

First Post in a long while: Cheryl Moote's PAX dove

 I have woefully neglected my blog for quite some time.  I have also not done much tangling lately. this is the first thing I have done in quite some time. I had seen Cheryl Moote's PAX dove before but did not have time to do anything with it. Finally decided I needed to get back to some basic tangling. I ordered her template, which you can also get at mootepoints.com. There are 3 sizes. This is the smallest of the 3. I think it would make an interesting ornament. While it is 3-D, you can easily flatten it so it can be stored. 

I used Faber Castell Metallic Colored Ecopencils for most of the color. I also used Staedtler colored pencils for some of the colors. Did not do any blending. Would be something that I would probably do to finish it. The Tangles are made with an 01 Micron.  Here are a few pictures of what I came up with.

The above is to give you some idea of the size. 

Here is a front view

                                                                                    

Was trying to get both views

 

Here is the back of the wings

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

Go tangle !!

Completed cutting board: Burned tangled cow

After 20+ hours I finally finished the cutting board.  Most of the time was spent doing the shading/burning.  Did not realize would take that long.  Probably could have made the striping a little bigger.  That would have cut down on the number that I needed to shade.  Here are the pictures as it progressed.

I am not going to repost all the pictures from the original post but this is what it looked like in the begining. 

Here is the next step of tangling the hooves and creating the legs. Used the tangle Paradox for the hooves.  Only one more step but it was a large one. 

And here is the finished cutting board.  Thought about adding a bell to the collar but opted not to add this.  I am still a "newbie" when it comes to pyrography.   I still have a lot to learn. I could have spend a little more time preparing the wood. I thought I had it pretty smooth, but as was burning, there were a few rough spots.  Think it lead to some feathering, or over burns.  This was also probably due to not having the heat setting quite right. Have the same problem with water colors.  Get impatient.  Try to do things too quickly.  

Tangles used in this are: Tail-Shattuck: Horns-Fassett; Collar-Hybrid variation; Hooves-Paradox; Spot-Striping.  The end of the tail is just line work.  

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

Go Tangle !!  

Another pyrography project: Cutting board - Cow shaped

Now that I finished the wood cuff, have moved on to the next project.  I bought a couple of wood forms at Michael's a while ago. One is shaped like a turtle and the other is shaped like a cow.  Not sure why I chose to do the cow first.  Maybe is was because I did not know what I wanted to do on the turtle.  Of course I did not have a clear idea of what I wanted to do with the cow either.  This will be combination of tangles and just some shading.  Have a lot to do yet but here is what I have so far.

Wanted to take a picture of the blank form.  Almost forgot as I started on the tail a little  before I took the picture. 

I started with the tail.  The bottom is just line work and the tail uses the tangle Shattuck

Next I moved up to the ears and horn.  I used Fassett for he horns and some shading for the ears.

This was the hardest section so far.  Most is just shading and making it as dark as I could.  Had to go over it a lot.  The nose was not too hard to do.  The real problem was with the eyes.  I usually do not try to pencil in something but I had to with the eyes.  Tried a couple of things before I finally settled on this style.  I looked at a lot of pictures and tried a couple of different things.  This is the only thing that looked half way decent.  Made me realize why I do not like doing realistic art.  The collar is probably a little too high on the bottom but since I burned it, it has to stay.  Maybe will add something to it.

Will probably work on the feet next.  Have an idea of what I want to do on this. Then will work on the body.  Will probably be a lot of negative space.  Not sure how often I will post the progress on this.  May just do a series  to the end.  

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

Go Tangle !! 

Getting ready for a Pop-up Market : Tangled Whale Tail

I have not been real consistent about doing much tangling lately or about posting things.  Won't go into details but life has been chaotic in our house hold.  Our Farmer's Market did a Winter Market and they are also doing two Pop-up Markets. One is in February and one is in March.  They are run differently in that they run for 3 days and we do not have to be there. They are run more like a store.  I try to do some different things and I have had a number of items that I have wanted to do but have never gotten around to it.  Here is one thing that I finally got around to doing. It was on the clearance shelf at Hobby Lobby.  Hope that you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Diva Dance and Shattuck.  Used both ends of a black IdentiPen to do the tangles.  Not sure that is perceptible in the picture, also used a grey Fabrico marker for a little highlighting. 

Both sides are done in with the same tangles.

Have not done it yet but will probably use a spray matte sealer on it to protect the ink. The picture is a little dark. Tried to use the flash to take a picture but because of the material I got a glare on it and could not get rid of it.

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 !!

Special ZIA Update : Finally finished

Had earlier posted this ZIA when I was working on it. I finally finished it. just not as soon as I would have liked. As a reminder, this is what it looked like at the first post.

The actual drawing is about 6" x 10" 

I used various size Microns to do the outlining and the tangles. The color was done layering Prismacolor pencils. For blending I first used a white Prismacolor pencil and then also used the Prismacolor blender.  Here is the finished product. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used starting in the lower left corner: Paradox, Poke Root and Poke Leaf. 'Nzeppel, Fassett, & Shattuck.

In the original post I mentioned I was not sure what I was going to do with Paradox and Fassett. I decided to only do graphite for shading on these two tangles. 

It will soon be on it's way to Alabama. 

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

Go Tangle !!   

Larger ZIA for a special occasion.

Do not usually do large pieces and it is really unusual for me to do a special  piece. This one is for an anniversary. Had hoped to have it done before the date but will not make it. The other thing that is less often for me is using color, particularly coloring tangles.  I have used color washes more frequently.  Was not sure about using color at all and almost did it only in basic black and white. Decided to take a risk and add color.

Not sure if I will put color on all the tangles or will do a couple with just graphite shading. Thinking of using this on the Paradox and the Fassett. Still have not decided what I will do.

Did not measure this to get an exact size. It is done on an 11x14 sheet.  I am guessing it is about 10x7.5.  Will have to be custom framed when done. Will get to that later.

Open to any suggestions about this. Color is done using layered Prismacolor pencils.  Will post more on this when I post the finished work.

Here is what I have so far. I hope you enjoy it.

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


Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #321: "Non Dominant - Aura Challenge"

I have done these challenges before and the results are interesting. Not sure what the difference is and why they turn out so different. Whenever I do them though, it reminds me of the time a number of years ago when I broke my wrist and had to learn to write with my non-dominant hand. It was a challenge. That lasted about 8 weeks. Never did get the hang of doing cursive but except for a few rotations, was not too bad. That is what I found with this one. Had to think about the direction that I was doing things. Not sure why this one is so wobbly. I also realized that I am use to being able to see the line I am drawing better with my dominant hand. I like that. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Kunstler, Shattuck, Pixioze

Shading done with HB graphite pencil

I have not looked at what has been posted on I am the Diva. Would encourage anyone that has not, to go look at the different works of art that have been submitted.

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

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #308: " MacNCheese"

This week's challenge was really appropriate. The month of March has been stressful so far. Hoping that it calms down for the rest of the month. This chalenge really served two purposes. The MacNCheese part for me as I needed something that was less stressful and it allowed me to do a tile for someone else.  I like these challenges as it really allows me to get back to the basics. What I consider my MacNCheese tangle varies from time to time, but Shattuck has always been one. Cadent is also one that I use alot. I kept it simple here and did not do any embellishments. There are a lot of ways to vary this tangle. The touch of color was for the person I gave the tile to. Purple is there favorite color. I kept this simple also.   I used a Zendala tile for this really just because it was the first thing that I pulled out.  Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Shattuck, Cadent. Color and highlighting done with PrismaColor pencils.

Sorry for the quality of the photo, I usually take pictures with my digital camera and a tripod. I did not have these with me so took with my Ipad.

I have not had a chance to look at the other things posted on I am the .Diva . One other plus with challenges like this is that there can be quite a variety of tangles used. Is fun to see what people perceive to be their MacNCheese tangle.  If you have not been there all ready, click on the link above to see some great art.

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

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #300: " Moebius Syndrome Awareness Day"

I have participated in a number of Diva Challenges over the last five years. This is a repeating one as it is to increase awareness about a neurological disorder that her youngest son has. The challenge is to  use the Moebius Syndrome Foundation's logo and if you want, the color purple which is the their representative color. It is also significant in that is the 300th Diva Challenge. One usually learns different things when doing the challenges. Sometimes it is a new tangle, or technique. The one thing I learned in this challenge, after a number of times trying is a way to deconstruct the logo so I could use it as the string on the tile.  Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Printemps, Shattuck, Heartvine, Noom

Highlighting and color were done with Prismacolor pencils

I still need to work on using the colored pencils, The shading gradation did not turn out like I would have wished. I did use a layering effect to help with the smoothing and blending.  Overall I am pleased with the outcome.

I have not looked at any of the other submissions on I am the Diva. I hope to have some time to do so and would encourage any of you that have not all ready done so, to go and look at what is there. I would also encourage you to take the time to comment on the different art. It is greatly appreciated. You can click on the above link to go there directly.

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

Go Tangle

A Challenge Piece that did not get completed in time

I have not posted or participated in any challenges for quite some time. I won't bore you with any of the details/reasons for this. There were a couple of recent Diva Challenges that I wanted to participate in. One I did not even start. The other I just did not complete during the week of the challenge. Since I had not posted anything for a while, figured I would at least put it here since I finally got it done.

I combined the two challenges to come up with this piece. The first one that I wanted to do was the Tripoli challenge. I enjoy this tangle even though it does present certain issues. The second came from a FB post regarding the difference in how we may tangle depending on whether it is for a class or just for our own enjoyment. There were a number of folks who indicated they thought there were significant differences. I do not know if I would say that there are significant differences, but there are some. When doing for my own enjoyment/relaxation I tend to use tangles that use simple repetitive strokes and I do not have to refer multiple times to a step out. I also tend to fill most of the tile. I do not think about if it is cluttered. I also tend to try some new or different things when I am doing a tile just for me.

Enough information, here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Poke Root, Poke Leaf, Opsess, Shattuck, Dansk, Tripoli

Shading done with HB pencil

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

Go Tangle !! 

Diva Challenge #265: "Stripes"

I have not been able to participate in many of the recent Diva Challenges. When I saw this week's, I thought that this was doable with the time I had. Unfortunately, it was not until the weekend. I finally did get it finished. I have not looked at many of the other posts. Most of what I have seen are ones that show up in my blog reader. This is a fun challenge as there is a lot of opportunity for variation. Usually the results are very interesting.

At one point I thought of doing something a little different, like Huggins. Decided I did not really have the time to do this so I went with a more traditional approach. I did at least vary it a little by making the stripes curvy. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used (top to bottom): Tipple, Munchin, Cubine, Shattuck, Keys(?), Tropicana, & 'Nzeppel.

Shading was done with HB and 2B pencils.

 Put the question mark as I am not sure what the name of this pattern is. I have seen it used and wanted to try something different. 

As I said, I have not seen many of the other posts. I am hoping to get a chance to look at as many as I can. Would recommend that you take the opportunity to visit I am the Diva and look at the creative things that people have posted. 

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

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #260: " Monotangle : Shattuck"

It has been a while since I have had time to participate in the Diva Challenge. I have missed it. I have not totally been away from it, just not participating. I have usually checked out what the challenge is and also looked at a few of the posts. Have not had much time to do anything. When I saw this week's challenge, really wanted to participate as Shattuck is one of my "go to"tangles. I have always liked it. I have used it a lot. I am not sure exactly what the attraction is at is not a particularly difficult tangle. It is one that I find easy to get into that relaxation zone. I think it is the repetition of the same stroke that helps accomplish this.  I have used it in all kinds of ways. I have used it as a border, as fill, as part of other tangles....  This week's challenge is also a monotangle. If you look at my tile, you can see that maybe this is not a true monotangle as I did include a little Zander. I was not thinking about it and just started doing it as it seemed to fit. It is pretty minimal and I stopped when I realized that this did not fit with it being a monotangle. I still like the result. Here is what I came up with. I hope you like it.

I used a 2B pencil for the shading.

Here are only a few other examples of when I have used this tangle.

If you  have not all ready done so, I would encourage you to go to I am the Diva and look at the different pieces of art that others have posted. I am hoping to look at as many as I can. I hope I will be able to post a few comments as well.

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

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #235: "String Theory: Stripe"

Things have been busy so have not had much time to participate in any of the challenges that I normally do. It has also resulted in my neglecting my blog and not making many post. I have missed participating in them. When I saw what this week's challenge was, I first thought about skipping this one also. But I realized I really needed a break and do some tangling just to tangle. The challenges have a structure but not as much pressure as when am making something for sale or a display. Kept it simple except for one stripe. I will explain that later. Pulled out a Renaissance tile just for a little variety.  Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Shattuck, 'Nzeppel, Puff, Opsess, and Gingajava

Shading/highlighting done with HB graphite pencil and white Prismacolor pencil. Used a blender on the Prismacolor.

Said I kept it simple except for one stripe. Used a couple of old standards like Shattuck. That is one of my go-to tangles.  I could not decide whether to do large squares or smaller squares with Gingajava. I decided to use the smaller squares. Was too small a space for the detail inside. Oh well, it still turned out well.

Have not looked at any other posts so far. Hope I can get to some later. Have a lot going on until later in the week. Hope I have a chance to look at what others have posted and post a few comments. Would encourage you to go to I am the Diva and look at the great art work. Try it yourself, even it you do not post it.

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

Go Tangle !! 

Diva Challenge #233: "New Official Tangle - Zenith"

Guess I was a week ahead. I used Zenith in last week's challenge. May include that one in this post also. Do not like to use things that I have posted before. I wanted to do something different with it also. I was lazy and used what I had available so this is on a Renaissance tile. I wanted to try something different. It did not go as well as I planned. I got a little ambitious when I wanted to do two rows of circles instead of leaving it with one. That is where the problem occurred. In keeping with "no mistakes" and my practice of posting the first tile that I do, I pushed ahead. I really could not think of a way to incorporate what was there so I did the next best thing, Bronx Cheer. Even with that, it did not turn out too poorly. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Hollibaugh, Zenith, Shattuck, Mooka, & Bronx Cheer.

Shading and highlighting done by layering colored pencils and white Prismacolor pencil.

Have only briefly looked at what others have done. Do not usually get mine done this early in the week so will probably check back through out the week to see what others have posted. Would encourage you to check out the posts at I am the Diva. Try it your self, even if you do not post it. I can tell you that part of the fun of participating is reading the comments that others make on your post. Not everyone comments, but there are a number of people who do.

I mentioned earlier that I might post last week's tile also. Here it is. Saves you the time to go back to an earlier post.

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

Go Tangle !!

Two class lessons accomplished with one project: "Tangle play and There are no mistakes"

Really did not plan on posting this but things have a way of just happening sometimes. I have been busy getting things ready for a class on Saturday August 22. We are doing the 3D ZIA balls. Figured it would be a good project this early in case people wanted to use it for Christmas. Well in the process of making an example for them to look at, I ended up addressing two Zentangle® principles. They both occurred  because of the same thing.  I will show you the picture of what I was doing so I can refer to it.

I was working on the middle stripe and decided to use Sandra Strait's tangle Fohbraid. I checked her blog for the step out. I knew I was going to have to do some playing with it because of the shape of the tangle and the space that I was putting it in. Kind of putting a round peg in a square hole. Felt that for this, I needed to have minimal negative space. Well before I could really decide what to do after I had the main part of the tangle done, I changed one of the lines. The arc coming from the corner of the triangle is suppose to come down to the arc underneath it. OOPS!!

Now what to do. I really did not want to start over. I was not doing any of the embellishment inside the sections so I just continued what I started, not really being sure what I was going to do. I am not sure when I I decided what I was going to do. I looked at the spaces and just let it happen. I was pleased with the way that it turned out.

I made a copy of this so I can use it in some upcoming classes, as well as the one tomorrow. Figured one of the best ways to illustrate those two principles was my own examples.

In case you are interested, here is what the finished project looks like. Think it turned out well. Looking forward to class tomorrow.

Tangles used , from the top down: Flora, by Sandy Steen Bartholomew, sorry but I do not remember the name of the leaf-like tangle down the middle. Next is Tierso with the Fohbraid variation. Last is Japonica, also by Sandra Strait, with Shattuck (with highlights). 

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

Go Tangle !!  

Diva Challenge #229: "+/ - ", Guest Blogger Sandy Hunter,CZT

These week's Guest Blogger is Sandy Hunter. She may be best known for some of her tangles and her tangle remix. They are fun to do . Her challenge is not just to have some negative space, but to make it the focus of the tile. This was harder than I thought. I have not used strings for a while. I usually just pick a tangle and start. I though about doing this and seeing what negative space was left. I decided to not do this and settled for a string with a basic star/flower shape. I had some ideas of what I wanted to do but I am not sure that it ended up leaving the white space as the star of the tile. I decided to use the black/brown color combo and this may have taken away from having the negative space be the focus. The tile itself, I like but not sure that it was successful in addressing the challenge. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Zander, Shattuck, Merryweather

Shading done with HB, 4B graphite pencils. Color highlighting done with Prismacolor Pencils (Golden rod, Burnt Ochre, and White. 

When I decided to use Merryweather, did not realize that it was a tangle developed by the Sandy Hunter. Went to check the step-out and then saw it. Decided to keep it as it seemed to fit. If you  have not all ready done so, would encourage you to go to I am the Diva to look at the pieces of art that have been posted. 

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

Go Tangle !! 

Square One Focus Tangle: Hollibaugh

This week's focus tangle on the Square One FB page is Hollibaugh. This is an interesting tangle. It is usually one that I always teach in the Basic Class because of the drawing behind technique. Wanted to do something a little different with it.  Not sure when I did this before. Seems that maybe it was part of a challenge or maybe it was in response to a post in one of the FB pages. I like it because it adds a little flair to the tangle. Have been seeing Hollibaugh tangles that people have been doing at  Can-tangle. Not sure exactly what they were doing as there were just pictures with little information. Think that it is doing tangleations and trying to stretch tangles a little more. Because of the way that this is done was also able to include last week's focus tangle, Finery as I was not able to post a tile. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

 Tangles used: Hollibaugh, Paradox, Tipple, Finery, & Shattuck 

Shading done with 2B pencil

Have been a number of interesting things posted on the FB page. If you do not regularly follow this page, would encourage you to do so. You can see some great work and get some inspiriation about things to do. Is not really a site to post questions but can contact the poster in a private message with questions.

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

Go Tangle !! 

Zendala Dare # 102: Two in a Row & a New Job

The Bright Owl is on a roll posting two Zendala Dares in a row. She does have a reason to be pleased with her ability to do this as she is starting a new job which allows her to use her Nursing degree. Starting a new job while exciting is also stressful. Hopefully, creating her zendala allowed her to relax a little. This is an interesting template. Kind of fits in with this week's Diva Challenge on simplicity. Last week's template had a multitude of sections. This one had a lot of larger space. Simplicity and  easy are not always synonymous. I actually had more difficulty deciding what to do with this template. I finished this earlier but did not get around to posting it right away. That is probably a good thing as this is one of those tiles that my first reaction was so-so. After letting it set a while and then looking at it again, I am more pleased with it. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Betweed, Cubine, Flux, Shattuck, Blooming Butter with Mak-Rah-Mee, Cadent, Antidots, & Zander.

The shading is done with 2B and 4B pencils. 

The center ring is somewhat inspired by some stacked circles that I have seen on the FB Stacked and Tangled page. Did not really turn out exactly like I envisioned, but that is okay.  Have only looked at The Bright Owl's blog a little. The last I looked there were only a few things posted. I hope more take the time to  do something and post it. I know it is hard and there are more challenges now than when she first started the Zendala Dare. I enjoy doing them and it is different than the other challenges and FB page ideas/focus. Not sure that I will get to every one she posts and will probably have to rotate what I participate in a little. If you have time, check out what others have done at The Bright Owl and try it yourself. 

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

Go Tangle !!