Diva Weekly Challenge # 119: "Ebony and Ivory"

This weeks Challenge is an interesting one. I chose to do it by using a white gel pen rather than trying to do a negative image.  I agree with The Diva's comment about not finding a white pen that am satisfied with. Did not really read her post completely at first, but I also tried an Inktense Pen on this one. I have a Sakura Gelly Roll but wanted to try a different pen. One of the difficulties is the inconsistency in how the ink flows out of the pen. Seemed to occur even if I tried to slow down my strokes. Then there is the issues of nib size and that it just does not seem to cover as completely. I think that is why I like the ones that used a black Micron and used the negative space to create that tangle (noticed that so far no one has tried that with Paradox. That would be quite a challenge!!).  I tried waiting until the ink was dry and going back over it again, but this had mixed results. Shading on black tiles is always an issue. On this one I did try to use the gray Fabrico marker. It seemed to blur the ink a little. This may be an issue with the Inktense pen. Did not occur when I tried with other pens. All this being said, it sounds like maybe I really disliked the tile. In reality I am generally pleased with this tile. I tried to keep it to a few tangles. Here is what I came up with. I hope that you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Ahh, Meer, and Flux 

If you have not all ready done so, I would highly recommend visiting I Am the Diva to look at all the other great pieces submitted by other artists. There is some really great work. I have only had a chance to view a few so far. Plan on spending more time later to see all of them. 

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

Go Tangle!!

Zendala Dare #58

Not sure what was going on with this Dare. I do not know if I had Kuke on the brain because of last weeks Diva challenge. It could have been because I did not totally like the result of that tile. When I saw the template that Erin chose for this weeks Dare my eyes very quickly went to those great Y's in the outer ring. I figured this would give me an opportunity to do Kuke in a larger format. Since I was also thinking about things for Christmas I wanted to do something with color. I am more pleased with the overall result. I used a Micron, a Sharpie and an Inktense pencil on this one. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Knightsbridge, Kuke, Flux, Zinger, and Fescu. I am not sure what the center one is called. It is a variation of one that a CZT did in a line. If anyone knows its name I would appreciate them letting me know.

If you have not all ready done so, would strongly recommend that you go to The Bright Owl and look at all the other submissions.

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

Go Tangle !

Adventures in Monotangles #11 - Fengle

Finally got the last one done for this week. Wanted to do this one because I do like Fengle and I think it is one that lends itself well for a monotangle. I however do not use it a lot because I do not do a lot of monotangles. I think it would also  fit with a couple of others like Indy-rella, or tipple,  or maybe Joy. For that though I think I would want to use something bigger than the standard Zentangle® tile. Well, enough for my preferences. I was pleased with the way that this one turned out. I like the extended version of Fengle and wanted to intertwine them as much as I could. I used the gray Fabrico marker, as I had in another challenge, to do part of the fill. I like the way that it looked. I toyed with the idea of using color but liked the black, gray, white combination. Decided to leave it and just do a little shading. Theshading did not show up quite as well when I took the picture, but I was pleased with the effect. Here is what I came up with. Hope that you enjoy it.

Would encourage you to check out the other things that people submitted. Can do so at Mindful Creations.

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

Go Tangle !  

Diva Challenge #118: :UMT v. XVI - Kuke"

Been a busy week and getting to the Dares/Challenges has been a "challenge" itself". Have most of them done, but not getting them posted. I have to admit that while I like the way that Kuke looks it is not one of my favorite tangle. Not sure how much I will use it. May be something that will use as I get ready to do ornaments for Christmas.  But, I guess that that is what these challenges are all about; stretching one out of their comfort zone.Think it does work better as a monotangle or in a piece bigger than the standard Zentangle® tile. Was also a little unsure how to embellish it as I did not like the way that it looked with all that "white space".  The other thing that I tried with this tile is that I used the gray Fabrico marker as fill instead of just pencil. I used it on Batch. Gave a little different shade than just the graphite pencil. Added benefit is that do not have the smudge effect. Well enough musings. Here is the tile. I hope that you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Kuke, Batch, Chainlea, and Sindoo

I know that it is late in the week, but if you have not visited I am the Diva, would strongly recommend it to look at all the great submissions. I have only had a chance to look at a few. Hope to have more time later today to look at them, after I finish those mundane tasks like mowing the lawn. If I am really lucky, I may even get in a bike ride.

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

Go Tangle !!

Zendala Dare #57

This weeks Zendala Dare had a guest contributor. Genevieve Crabe, the lady that posts the Weekly Zentangle Roundup and has a blog Tangle Harmony, that has lots of neat things including the stencils that she uses to create Zendala templates. If you have not, go to her blog and check things out. While you are at it, do a Zendala using her template and enter the giveaway that Erin at The Bright Owl is having to win a set of the stencils.  There is a video on Erin's blog by Genevieve demonstrating how to use the stencils.

This template has a number of different sections. At first it seemed a little overwhelming. I looked at the the ones that Genevieve and Erin did but purposely did not look at the others until I started mine and had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do. One of my concerns was that the sections were pretty small. I guess that generally I do not think about changing the template that much so I pulled out my trusty 005 Micron and started in the center. I am generally pleased with the result. The only thing that I am unsure about, besides the shading which is always an issue with me, is the sections using verve. I had traced over the template with a pencil and  there were slight indentations showing these sections so I did not feel I could leave them blank. Although this was a consideration because I liked it with that white space. I also thought about using a little Flux, with Zingers in this area but it really had become a habit of finishing zendalas with these organic tangles. I really wanted to break away from that routine. I could not find a "lacy" tangle that I thought would fit that well. Finally decided on Verve. That does give it a little bit of a layered effect which the organic tangles would not have done. Well enough rambling. Here is the result. Hope that you enjoy it.

Tangles Used: Knightsbridge(variation), Paradox, Betweed, Verve, and Chainlea.

I have not used Chainlea a lot but really like the way it looks. I can see myself using it more often for borders and for areas in organic sections. If you have not all ready been to The Bright Owl and looked at the other submissions, please do so. I plan to try and look at them and when possible make any comments that seem appropriate. I think most people who post, like to receive comments about what you think about there work.  While you are at it, don't forget to check out Tangle Harmony and Amaryllis Creations to check out Genevieve Crabe's work. 

Now that I have got this done, in addition to looking at the other Zendalas, I hope to get to work on this week's Diva Dare. 

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

Go Tangle!!

Adventures in Monotangles #10 - Hi-C, tile 2

Sometimes you must have to do things to get them out of your head so other things can take their place. After struggling with the first tile for this challenge, when I was laying in bed ended up having a number of possibilities crop up. Not sure that this one looks quite the same way as it did in my mind, but is a different variation. The most difficult part about this one was deciding how to shade it. It is okay but think there would be some better options. Hope you enjoy it.

Was a little difficult deciding what I wanted to do with the center Square. Did not want to have it going in with one of the lines so tried to do Hi-C at a different angle. Turned out okay. I may go back and fill some of that in. 

Make sure that you check out Mindful Creations to see what others have done. This is definitely a challenging tangle. 

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

Go Tangle !!

Adventures in Monotangle #10 - Hi-C

This was a tough one. I do like this tangle but I really hit a block on how to use it as a monotangle. I toyed with a couple of ideas and none really seemed to go anywhere. Finally decided to just break out my Metallic Gelly Roll pens and vary it that way. Cannot really say much more about this one.

So far there have not been a lot of submissions of this one. To see what is there and to check back later in the week can go to Mindful Creations. 

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

Go Tangle!!