Project: Small Purse

I had a great day yesterday having a field trip to the craft store for inspiration.  I spent 2 hours wandering up and down each aisle picking up odds and ends and thinking of all sorts of projects I want to try out.  Here is my first.  It is a bag I tangled for my boss.  She has a BIG briefcase she takes with her everywhere and needed something small that she could fit in her briefcase and then put her phone and wallet in when she didn't need to take the BIG bag with her.  I have another one I bought that I will be including in a give away I will be doing in the very near future to celebrate my blog reaching 100,000 visitors.  Stay tuned!

Keep Tangling!!

Challenge 118: Kuke

This week's challenge was a "use my tangle" challenge and the tangle is Kuke.  This is a really great and versatile tangle that I even tried out in color.  Not my usual style, but I happened to pick up the sienna pen and decided to just go with it.  

Keep Tangling!

Challenge 117: UMT Schway

This is the first day I have felt normal since Friday. Yay! So nice to be able to move again. I was also able to get my challenge done for the week. I played around with the fill for Schway and really like how the arrows that stand out are different when you turn the tile or look away and look back at it. Keep tangling!

Black and White Zendalas and more...

It has been a rough and interesting few days. First, my mom is doing well and healing...so I was supposed to fly home on Friday and then head to Orlando for a very much needed vacation. I was packing and bent over Friday morning to plug in my cell phone and SNAP - I threw out my back and was resigned to laying on the floor for the next 8 hours or so. Needless to say I had to cancel my flight home and rescheduled for a flight straight to Florida. If you have done this to your back before you know there is excruciating pain trying to move and do anything normal. Well I made it down to Florida and have been taking it very easy since I arrived. This has left some time for tangling. The first two tiles were done on the plane. Tangling is awesome for distraction from pain AND for those of us who dislike flying. The second tile reminds me of the plant from Little Shop of Horrors so I decided to name it Seymour. I don't usually name my tiles but it felt apprpriate this time.

When I was back in RI last week I had the wonderful opportunity to visit with Maria and Rick and I got to pick up some of the brand new black zendala tiles. I decided to do two matching strings one on the black and one on the white and use the same tangles. I think I like them both equally. What do you think? Black zendala tiles are available through a CZT - I highly recommend them for some super tangling fun.

Keep Tangling!

New Tangle: Adente

This tangle came straight from my desk at work where I have been participating in many, many, many webinars lately.  I often find myself tangling on my notes or playing around with new tangles.  I found this new tangle in the teeth on my skull mug that holds my pens.  I started playing with it and tried it straight at first.  It really didn't do anything for me.  Then I tried it with some curves and instant fun!

Keep Tangling!

Tangle Organization

I have been tangling since 2004 and I guess it is fair to say that it has taken me almost about 8 years to find/develop a tangle organization system that works for me.  When tangling was brand new, it was pretty easy.  I had a nice print out of tangles given to me in my first class and from there I advanced to my kit.  Then zentangle kept growing and growing and in 2009 I attended the first CZT training.  There I received my CZT "bible" and I was super excited to have an organization system already made for me.  But the tangles didn't stop there.  Right there in that first CZT seminar we were asked to go out and create our own tangle pattern.  That is when I came up with Koryl and so I needed to figure out how to add all the wonderful new patterns that were appearing on blogs, the Zentangle Newsletter, the web and of course TANGLEPATTERNS.COM!!  How the heck was I going to keep track of all of these?  I won't drag you through the years, but it took many trials, reading about what others were doing and eventually creating my own system.  I am happy to report that after about a year of using this system, I am still using it and it really seems to work for me.  I needed to create a system where I could categorize the tangles and be able to easily see them.  I am pretty sure that my Virgo nature played a role in my need for categories.  So here is what I came up with, I have created four categories that I break out tangles into:

• Grid Patterns
• Border Patterns
• Filler Patterns
• Shapes Patterns

I find that I am able to fit every new tangle I encounter into one of these categories.  It doesn't mean I have to use a border pattern only as a border, but I know where to look....and with all the tangles displayed on baseball card size cards there is easy viewing for the next tangle I want to try.  On the back you can draw the step outs for the patterns.  

If this sounds like a system that might work for you, visit my Etsy shop where you can download the PDF files for the cards.  Then you can choose your own colors of cardstock and print as many as you like!  I have also added a 5th category as a separate download via request for an Original Zentangle Card that can also be downloaded.

There are lots of other ideas about organization out there.  A great resource is this post by Margaret Bremner, CZT where she includes her systems and links to others.  

Keep Tangling!

Challenge 116: Blind Sighted

I am spending the week back in Rhode Island to help my mom following surgery. She is doing well but her recovery will take some time. We have had a nice quiet evening for her first night home and I have had some time to tangle while relaxing and watching TV. This week's challenge from the Diva was to draw a blind string and then tangle. Well, my string turned out all squished up and I forgot to take a picture of the tiny tangled mess it was, but here is what I came up with and I am surprised at how many tangles I squished into this squishy space.  This is not one of my favorite tiles, but not sure if I will have time to do/post another so I just need to let go and let it be.  Please excuse the quality of my images for the next couple of weeks.  I will be away from my scanner and will be at the mercy of my IPad/Phone cameras.

Tangles: Ojo, Knightsbridge, Printemps,Mysteria,Msst, Scallops (variation), Ahh

Keep Tangling!