Bookmarks : Easy and fun

Has been awhile since I did any bookmarks. They are usually easy to do and do not take a lot of time. Had been working on a number of other things so wanted to do something just for fun. Other than the Knightsbridge at the bottom, none of the patterns have names as for as I know. They are the result of something a did a while back that I called S-plorations. I basically started with the basic element of an S and just tried to come up with different things to do. Can see these and some other examples by clicking on My Tangles tab on the top of the page and scroll down to the S-ploration  entry. There are some basic shapes and then some embellishments added. Here is what I did. I hope you enjoy it.

Have not really decided if I am going to add anything to the top. When I got done with the last one, noticed that it had gotten a little wonky. Not sure what to do to finish it off. May do some Tipple or maybe even Jetties.

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 !!

ZIA: Unfinished project completed - finally

I started this ZIA about two and a half years ago. I was just getting into using color and experimenting with water color washes. It was also my first attempt at working on a large piece of paper. I did it in small increments. It got put aside as I worked on other things. I would see it a lot and tell myself I needed to finish it but never really sat down and worked on it. It has been about 70% done for a while. Just needed to finish some of the fill on tangles and decide about shading and highlighting. That could have been a part of the delay as I was not sure what I wanted to do on this. Finally decided that I just needed to sit down and do it.

If I were starting on this now, I would have done some things differently. Mostly because I have learned a few things since I started this. Probably one of the main ones is that I would have used the different color washes as strings rather than having the tangles cross over so many of the different colors. I think it would have added a little more continuity to the piece. Also maybe would have used different colors. Not quite as much variety. That does not mean that I am not pleased with it. It forced me to do some things in a little bigger fashion than what I usually do and what I am comfortable with doing. Enough rambling. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Knightsbridge, Mooka, Msst, Cadent, Sanibelle, Marasu, 'Nzeppel, Eye-Wa, Shattuck, Purk, Quib, Tripoli, Striping, Finery, Chainlea, Onomato, Cubine, Meer, Zinger, Poke Leaf, & Zander.

Water color wash and highlighting was done with Derwent Inktense Pencils. Graphite shading done with a 4B pencil. The tangles were completed with Microns. Used black, brown, and sepia. 

The paper is 11" x 14"

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

Go Tangle !! 

Diva Challenge #220: "All Boxed Up by Alice Hedon, CZT"

This being the first of the month, the Diva Challenge is a UMT, use my tangle, challenge. This time it is a tangle by Alice Hendon, CZT called All Boxed Up. The uniqueness of this tangle comes out with the shading. This is true even though what it was based on did not have any shading it was wall art. There is a picture, along with the step outs and some great tiles using the tangle on her blog, The Creator's Leaf. I did not get to this as early as I had wished. It is late Thursday night and I am just getting it posted. Correction it is early Friday morning. The only reason I am still up is that I do not have to go into the office tomorrow.

Was not really sure what I wanted to do with this tangle. I decided to go with true Zentangle® method and just start with no planning and let this build on its own. Maybe that is why it took me longer to do. One thing that was a little more purposeful is that I wanted to try Narwal, a tangle that I had not tried yet. Enough rambling about things. This is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: All Boxed Up, Cadent, Florz(variation), Narwal, and Genoa.

There was a discussion on one of the groups about what the definition of a tangle is. Someone suggested that Narwal was not a tangle because it used a pencil string and tangles are not suppose to use grids or things to complete them. Not sure about that but wanted to see if I could do Narwal without the pencil string. I was able to accomplish it. I have to admit I did have to watch the video as I was doing it. I do not think it turned out too bad for a first attempt.

If you have not done so all ready, would strongly encourage you check out the tiles and ZIAs posted on I am the Diva. I have not had a chance to look at very many. Usually just ones that show up in my reader or when people have also posted them in one of the FB groups. 

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

Go Tangle !! 

Another adventure into Pyrography : Burned Door Hanger

It has been a while since I have tried any burning. This was good practice for me. The wood is probably not the best. Is some type of plywood. Thought that I had sanded it pretty well but based on how the shading sections burned, not sure that I did. Not sure that it shows up that well but the shading is not that smooth. There are a number of overburns. Considering that this is only the second piece that I did with this burner, I am okay with the way that it turned out. Hoping to get more practice before I do anything bigger. Have another door hanger that I will probably burn on. Enough explanation, here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used (from the bottom up): Shattuck, Chard (variation), Bales, & Hibred (variation)

Burner used: Razor tip SS - D10

Was able to get a second picture in natural light so some of the shading shows up better, particularly on the Shattuck at the bottom. That is one of the things that seemed to go well.

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

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #219: :Straight Lines all the Tines...er, Times"

Interesting challenge from the Diva this week. Think the only reason I was able to get to it this quickly is that our office was closed today in honor of Memorial Day. Others from Europe have mentioned similar days in their countries. It is the day set aside in the US to honor those who died during wars/conflicts or while serving in the military. Could not really think of a theme for this to include in the tile.

Now back to the challenge. It is to use only straight lines. Did not think that it would be that hard and it really wasn't but I did have to deal with my wanting to put in some organic tangles. Was not so much that I do not like the line tangles, I realized that I usually put in a couple of organic tangles to balance it. In this tile it probably would have been where the Hollibaugh is used. also could not imagine doing only straight lines without using Paradox. I am sure that others will use it also. Other thing that I noticed after I had taken the picture is that I did not fill spaces quite as well as I thought I had. Oh well, was not a big enough issue to go back and redo and take another picture. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used : Paradox, Cubine, Hollibaugh, & Basquals

Shading done with HB pencil

Not even sure how many things have been posted yet on I am the Diva. Hope to have time throughout the week to look at the great pieces posted there. I would encourage you to go there often as well.

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

Go Tangle !!

Square One : Focus Tangle - Purk, Photo

When I originally posted this tile I mentioned that I did not  have access to my camera. The scan really made everything "white-out" did not really show much of the shading. Did take a picture of it and this is what it looks like. Like the picture much  better.

 Tangles used: Purk, Quib (variation), Flux, Tripoli, and Zinger,

I know that Zinger was last week's focus tangle but I included it in this tile also. Kind of went along with the Flux.

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

Go Tangle