Another thing to tangle: Experimenting with leather

Always looking for new things to put tangles on. Saw some leather straps and thought I would give it a try. Did not use the pen on them. Have not tried that yet. Not sure how much it would bleed. Used a blade tool and a modeling spoon. Used a clear finish. May try something else next time.  Kept it pretty simple. The blade is not the easiest to use. Have some round leather blanks that could be used as coasters. May try to use  a pen on one of these to see how it handles the leather. If anyone has had experience with this would be interested in hearing from you. Here is a picture of two straps that I did and the blade tool.

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

Go Tangle !!

"S"-Plorations: Playing with a basic stroke

A couple of weeks ago I was "playing" during some down time. Was somewhat inspired by Rick and Maria's newsletter about grid seeds. Was thinking about what would occur if you took one of the basic strokes and began playing with it. Pea-nuckle is such a pattern. The " S" is the basis of the tangle. I thought what else could be done with this stroke. I began playing. Here are some of the things that I came up with. Don't know that some of these have not been done before. If someone knows that they have, please let me know. The one in the lower right corner looks like something I have seen before, but am not sure.

The above is a page from my journal. These are the ones that I was at least marginally satisfied with the way they turned out. There are a couple of other possibilities that I have not come together yet. Plan on playing with it more and seeing what I can come up with. I took a close up of the flower just because it was small and hard to see. Below is a tile where I used one of the patterns. It was for this week's, #136, Diva Challenge. 

    

Would really be interested in seeing what others can come up with. If you come up with something, post a comment and let me know where I can see what you have done. Have to give credit to my sister and fellow CZT for the "S"-Plorations term. I sent some of the early ones to  her and that is what she called it when she responded. You can see her work at Tinkered Art Studio.

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

Go Tangle !! 

Diva Challenge #136: "Colour Colour Everywhere"

This was an interesting challenge for a number of reasons. The color part was actually the easiest. I really liked the way that the water color wash came out. Unfortunately, it did not photograph well. The browns particularly did not come through as well. I also chose not to do any shading. That is unusual for me. I was thinking of doing more of an organic tile, but this did not end  up this way. There were a combination of tangles.  I think I over thought the tangles. Photographing was the biggest challenge. I think it would have done better with natural light, but there is not a lot of that at 9:30 PM, at least in the Midwest. Maybe if I lived in Alaska. Cannot scan things either. It may have come out better that way. Oh well, this is what I ended up with, I hope you enjoy it.

  

Tangles used: Keeko, Zander(variation), Tierso, Antidots, Cadent, Mooka,

I have not looked at the other things submitted on I am the Diva, but plan to do so. Probably are enough now that it will take me a couple of days to get through all of them. Would encourage you to also go look at all the great pieces that others have done.

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

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #135: New Official Tangle "Well"

This week's challenge is to use the new tangle Well. It is one that has a lot of possibilities and variations.  Was having one of those weeks that struggled trying to come up with something to do. Finally went to tangle patterns and looked at strings. Then started work on Well. Was not sure what I was going to do but then finally made a decision. It will be obvious to you when you see the tangles that I chose. Was overall pleased with this although the shading did not photograph real well. Is not as murky in person. Hope that you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Well, Eye-wa, Lanie, and Lucky

Have not looked at what others have submitted. Did notice that there were a lot. Hope that I have time to look at all of them. Would recommend that you go to I Am the Diva and enjoy them yourself.

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

Go Tangle !!

Zendala Dare #72 - Through thick and thin

This week's dare had the added challenge of using either an 005 or 08 micron for the entire zendala. This was an easy choice as I do not  have an 08. The largest I have is an 05. It actually would have been a more difficult challenge for me as I do use the 005 on a fairly regular basis. Would be interesting to see what I would have come up with with the larger nib. Was not interested enough however to go out and purchase an 08 just for this challenge. I usually do use one of the larger nibs for fill so that was a challenge to fill with the 005. Also had a little trouble with Midoosa. I did fairly well with math in school, but apparently I am not as good at counting. When I started I thought I counted 10 points. Since it was an even number thought it would be a good opportunity to try this tangle in the middle. Well it was not too far in when I realized that there were not an even number of points. Not being one to just discard a tile I persevered. Oh well. Other than this I was generally pleased with the outcome of this. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Midoosa, Genoa, Munchin, Trimonds, & Zander.

If you have not all ready done so would encourage you to go to The Bright Owl to see what others have submitted. There are always some great pieces. Check back often as things are posted throughout the week.

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

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #134: UMT #XX " Beamz - by Traci F"

Since it is the first Monday of the month the Diva's Challenge is a Use My Tangle challenge. The one that was chosen was Beamz by Traci  F. I remember seeing this tangle before. I am not sure if it was on Flickr or through The Weekly Zentangle Roundup. Either way it is not one that I have not used before. It was interesting to try and incorporate this into a tile. This was one of those tiles that grew on me as I completed more of it. It is not one I am thrilled with and the shading is a little shaky, but over all I am pleased with the process and the end result. I think I would work at making Beamz a little larger the next time that I use it.
I hope you enjoy it.

I ended up taking this with a flash as there was not much natural light by the time that I was finished. That one looked like it was sepia. Unfortunately with the flash, you get a little glare from the graphite. On some areas I used a gray Fabrico marker to give a different coloring than the graphite.

Tangles used: Florz (variation), BeamZ, and Fearcles.

Now I have to make time to go to I am the Diva to look at what others have submitted. Would recommend that you do this also if you have not all ready done so.

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

Go Tangle !!  

Zendala Dare #71

When I first saw the template posted for this week's Zendala Dare, I was intrigued.  I can't say I did not like the template it was just a lot different than what I had seen before. I began getting ideas quickly though as I looked at it. For me the difficulty with Zendalas is the amount of time that it takes to complete them. I can usually do a regular tile in a lot less time. I know that should not be that important a factor, but sometimes it is. This particular one took time because of the line work with very little fill.  It still was fun to do . Was able to work on it while listening to matches in the US Open tennis tournament. Cannot say I watched as I did very little of that as I was working on this. This template was fun to do.  I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Knightsbridge, Paradox, Tipple, Gneiss(variation)

I have not looked at any other Zendalas posted except those Erin had with here post. I can now go to look at what others have come up with. This is always an enjoyable activity. Would encourage you to visit her blog, The Bright Owl frequently  throughout the week to see the amazing things that people are doing.

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

Go Tangle !!