Challenge 100: Diva Dance

All caught up!  Yay!  Diva Dance is a great new tangle from Rick and Maria in honor of the Diva's 100th Challenge.  I decided to try the rock and roll version with the spirals and it was a lot of fun.  I definitely plan on using this one again.

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Catching Up

Happy holidays! I am finally finding some time to tangle and wanted to catch up on some of the Diva's challenges. Here are challenges 98 and 99. Visiting family up in Minneapolis so had to use the iPad to take the photos and crop instead of a nice crisp scan, but I think it turned out okay for posting purposes. Now if I can sneak in challenge 100 before e head home and back o the busy world.

Challenge 97: No Strings Attached

This week's challenge from the Diva was to create a tile without using a string.  This can be a very freeing exercise because often we can get stumped right at the very start with what string to use.  For this challenge you just start tangling and there you go.  I started with Pepper and from there I went to the corners and filled in.  I guess I kind of used the edge of the tile as my string.  Kind of an underwater microscopic feel to it.

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Challenge 94: UMT Socc

I was a bit skeptical about how this one would turn out.  Was a very good exercise for slowing down and focusing on each stroke to be able to get multiple lines close together in the spaces.  

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Challenge 92: String Theory (Stripes)

I call this one Stripes on a Plane.  It was a bit of a bumpy ride on my way from Indy to Boston last week when I took up this challenge.  Had me laughing though so it was lots of fun as I just let go and let it be.  I just focused on making the best stroke I could in the moment and sometimes that was a big bumpy stroke.  

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New Tangle: Baraboo

Here is my newest tangle that I have recently shared in my newsletter (link to sign up is on the right side).  I never thought I would come up with a grid pattern...I figured they were so abundant that there weren't any possible new ones.  It goes to show that the world is an amazing place and new possibilities are always around the corner or in the next carpet pattern you happen to see. :-)

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Challenge 91: Beads of Courage

Where does the time go?  Two weeks and two challenges have completely passed me by but I jumped right in when I got home from work last night to complete the Beads of Courage challenge from the Diva.  I have been so super busy with work and it seems too many social obligations that I did find it was a little challenging trying to decide which tangles to use in the beads.  I tried some that I wasn't sure would work, but in the end feel pretty good about how it turned out.  For example, I never would have thought to try Betweed in a bead, but it worked!  I decided to repeat the same set of tangles and space them with some black beads as spacers like I would in a real piece of jewelry.  

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Challenge 88: IX

This was the first time I have tried IX and I decided to just let it go where it wanted and see what happen.  Just letting go and letting the zentangle develop is always such a freeing process.  No expectations, no plan.  Just letting go and letting the tangle guide me.  I see lots of fun and possibilities with this one.  Thanks Rick and Maria!

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Challenge 87: Pinwheels for Peace

Still playing a little bit of catch-up.  I enjoyed this challenge last year and so I was glad to see it return.  I tried to add some movement in the tile with Printemps swirling in the background and Paradox on the folded edge of the pinwheel.  

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Challenge 86: Break Free

This is a week late, but it's done.  Wanted to share my "break free" with LinQ.

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Challenge 85: Copada

It's been a busy summer and now that September has arrived I feel like I need to pull myself back in and get back to the Challenges.  And what a great week to start over.  I love the tangle Copada by Margaret Bremner.  I remember checking it out a while ago and then because of my unorganized tangle keeping never got back to it.  Well luckily I am working on a really nifty new organization system that seems to be working for me and I now can hold onto and cherish Copada.  See you next week at the next Challenge!

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Tangled Jewelry: Jalouise Necklace

Here is a new necklace design I have come up with using the tangle Jalouise by Stephanie Kukla.  I have been creating domino jewelry for a while; bracelets, necklaces, hair pins (some pieces can be found in my Etsy Store). This is the first multi domino necklace.  I've had the dominoes completed for a while, but I wasn't sure how exactly I wanted to use them.  I am pretty happy with the results.  Has sort of an art deco meets tribal feel to it.

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New Tangle: Sparkool

Sparkool is my newest tangle and a labor of love.  I had been trying to come up with the steps to  this pattern for several months, but just couldn't get it quite right.  It always came out lopsided or it was WAY too many steps.  I would pick it up from time to time and give it a try - but it just wasn't working.  Oh well.  I decided it might be time to move on and so I started working on another pattern, that seemed totally unrelated at first and low and behold it gave me just what I needed to make Sparkool work!  Once I had it, it seemed like it was so easy.  That is the beauty of the tangles.  I thought that maybe this already existed and searched through Tanglepatterns.com to see if anyone else had already come up with it and couldn't find anything.   The first three steps are similar Sadelle Wilthshire's Bandola - the end result is very different.  So here it is.  It has so many variations that can be added to give your tile just what it may need.  

Sparkool

by Lara Williams, CZT

Keep Tangling!

Tangle Tip: Travel Case

I meant to put this post as an article in my latest newsletter, but somehow it slipped my mind what with the scanner not working properly, using a new newsletter email service and all.  


Having my zentangle supplies handy when I am out and about or traveling is a must for me.  When I first started I had a separate pencil case and then an old floppy disk holder that Rick and Maria gave to me.  I used that method for quite a while but somehow it just never felt quite right.  


Then I had the wonderful opportunity last year to meet Lesley Scott Gillilan and Barb Gill.  They were both gearing up to attend the CZT training and we met up to talk about what they could expect and share our tiles and other tangled works.  Lesley mentioned that she had purchased a hard drive case to carry her supplies in and brought it out and showed us and I instantly was in awe.  One place to carry everything!  And not only that - she had extras so I immediately bought one from her.  It has been awesome!  I can carry my tiles, all my various pens and pencils and my tangle pattern cards that I fill out for my new organization system I am working on.  


If you don't have a system in place to carry your supplies or if you have something you feel isn't quite working like I did, try a hard drive case. They are pretty inexpensive (around $10) and will last a long time.

Here is Hugo with the outside of the case (he looks mean but he is still a sweet kitten -
probably just mad that I was taking a picture of the case and not him)

The full inside of the case

Pocket on the side that holds a lot of tiles and perfect for pencils
+ I have my ATC size cards for new tangles 

Here is where all my pens fit and yes I tend to carry probably too many.
The white gelly roll pen even fits.

Challenge 78: Auraknot

It's been a while since I have been able to post due to the ever frustrating computer problems...but I am back!  And I am so excited about this week's challenge of Auraknot which is a new tangle from zentangle creators Rick and Maria.  It has endless possibilities, and then combining it with other tangles...WOW.  Here is my first attempt and I have to say I think it turned out pretty good.   Thanks Diva for a great challenge which helped me get back in the tangle game. 

Keep Tangling!

Mandala Monday: Zendala Dare #5

Here is my tile for the Zendala Dare from The Bright Owl.  Had to complete it pretty quickly with all the graduation activities this past weekend.  Loving the new tangle Shing from Margaret Bremner, CZT.  I want more time to play with that one.

Keep Tangling!

New Tangle: LinQ

I love this tangle!  I was surprised how it just sort of was born within 5 minutes of the first stroke.  I was working hard on trying to develop another tangle, that I still haven't quite gotten down and I took a break.  I made the first stroke and linked it up to the first and it just took off from there.  I think this is another very versatile tangle that allows you to take it further and has many possibilities for tangleations.  

Keep Tangling!

Mandala Monday...on Tardy Tuesday

I decided this week to combine the Diva's Challenge #69 with the Bright Owl's Zendala Dare #4 I call it "killing two tiles with one tangle."  But from the look of things, I wasn't the only one to do this and here I thought I was being creative and clever.  It was fun.  I hadn't tried out groovy yet.  I think I would like to try it on a larger scale than in the zendala.  I really like the look of it on some of the tiles I saw today - I think you get a lot more movement than in the confined spaces below.  

Keep Tangling!

Challenge 68: Duo Tangle Hybrid & Stircles

Another duo tangle challenge from the Diva and two tangles I haven't used (stircles) or used in a while (hybrid).  This was a fun challenge for me because I am really enjoying reconnecting with tangles I haven't used in a while which also helps me with my new project of creating an organizational system for my collection of tangles.  I have tried various different means of collecting and keeping them, but nothing has reached my expectations yet.  I think I am a very organized person (some people have some not so nice terms for my level of detail) but this did not really apply to my tangle collections.  I hate to admit it but I have a lot of tangles just stored on scraps of paper right now. Yikes!  Anyway - more on organization later when I have it worked out.  

Keep Tangling!

Mandala Monday: Zentangle Dare 3

What a great time to discover the new Zendala Dares from The Bright Owl when I have set my own zendala a week challenge.  This week I have two zendalas I have completed for the 2nd and 3rd dares.  I can't believe how completely different they turned out and feel.  The first is from dare 2 and was completed earlier in the week after work when I really needed some zen time.  The dare 3 zendala I completed today and seems to have much more energy and even a sort of circus or carnival feel to it.

Keep Tangling!!

Challenge 67: Amanda Day

The Challenge from the Diva this week was to create a tile inspired by Earth Day or as it now known at the Diva's as Amanda Day.  I thought what better to express the Earth than a string of "the Earth."  So my string is based on a Western Hemisphere view.  Once drawn, I realized how much water there is vs. land space on our lovely planet.  The space to draw the continents was tiny and I wanted more than one represented, but you can definitely see that my waves are the predominant tangle on this tile.  I tried to tie my tangles into the continents, not too sure how successful I was.  North America is represented by Baton which reminded me of the stripes on our flag.  Pais represents South America which is Spanish for country so I thought that might fit.  Africa is Wellinstil which has little flames in it and since Africa seems hot to me I thought that worked.  Then I was a little unsure for Europe and I thought of England and Aero candy bars so the bubbles are representing Europe. Greenland got some bubbles too.  It was a fun and challenging challenge this week.  Thanks Diva!

Mandala Monday

I am really enjoying the new Mandala tiles from Zentangle and have decided to complete one a week as I work my way through the 9 different pre-strung tiles.  If you haven't tried them yet, you really should.  The possibilities are endless!

Tangles:Knightsbridge, Antidots, Paradox, Organza, Poke Root, Pepper, Black Pearlz

Keep Tangling!!

Challenge 66: Auras

This week's challenge is to use auras with all the patterns on the tile.  There are already quite a few tangles and even some tangles that are just made up of auras.  It was fun to try some new tangles and to add auras to tangles I have been using for a while.

Tangles: Galoo, Antidots, Printemps, Rain, Scallops, Mooka

Keep Tangling!

New Tangle: Phansy

My April newsletter featured a contest to name my newest tangle.  So congratulations to Kara Monroe for the naming this tangle Phansy.  Kara said the tangle reminded her of her favorite flower the pansy and she also thought the tangle looked like a fan so she combined the two to come up with Phansy.  Thanks to everyone who sent in your awesome suggestions.  Kara won the painted stone below with the tangle Enyshou.  

Phansy 

by Lara Williams, CZT

Keep Tangling!!

New Tangle: Koryl

This new to my blog tangle, is actually the first tangle I ever came up with.  I haven't shared it with anyone except at my CZT training when we were all asked to go out and search for patterns and come up with our own tangle.  When I received this challenge I wasn't sure what I was going to do.  When I left the CZT training that night I actually had to go to work.  It was a really ridiculous week for me.  I was in the middle of working on three grant proposals for work and taking the CZT training at the same time.  Lucky for me the CZT training is so inspiring and full of positive energy or I might not have made it through.  Anyway, when I finally got home that night I spied my dish of sea glass and in it was this fossilized piece of coral that I had been wanting to do something with and it struck me - AH HA!  This could be your new tangle.  I had always loved looking at the intricate details of it and now was my chance to put it into my art.  So here for you is my first tangle, Koryl.

Koryl by Lara Williams, CZT

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Challenge: 65 Huggy Bear

This was a fun challenge.  I really like the tangleations and possibilities of this tangle.  Plus I just love trying new tangles.  Looking around for new tangles in the world is one of my favorite things to do on walks around downtown Indy.  The string for this tangle was actually inspired from a crest-like design I saw above a doorway on a walk this week.  I never thought to look for string inspirations!  

Tangles: Huggy Bear, Pepper, Bronx Cheer

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Challenge: 64 Fortune Teller

This week's challenge was to use a string reminiscent of the paper fortune tellers we used to make as kids.  My sections are clearly stand alone except where my Onamato tangleation seems to line up with my Baton but it was fun trying to figure what might fit nicely into the space.  I enjoyed pulling out some tangles I haven't used in a while trying to add some weight to some of the lines for a different effect.  Its a look I really like when I see it and have not really tried it until now.  It is definitely something I will be experimenting with more.

Tangles: Zedbra, Scallops, Coaster, Cadent, Purk, Courant, Onamato (tangleation),  Baton

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Challenge: 63 Fengle

I love this challenge.  As soon as I learned fengle I was immediately in love.  See my first tile here.  The fun lines and the many, many possibilities for variation.  I loved having the whole shapes as well as parts of arms.  

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Challenge 61 - Golven

This week's challenge is a "use my tangle" challenge that used the tangle Golven.  I tried out this tangle when it first appeared on tanglepatterns.com and loved it then!!  It was a lot of fun to get to play with again this week.

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Challenge #60

Happy March!!  Challenge #60 was an interesting challenge from the Diva.  Two tangles that I rarely or never use.  First off Cirquital - I've never seen this tangle before!!  Somehow I missed the newsletter it was in so I was super surprised when I found it...and I love it!!!  I had a lot of fun with this one.  Munchin I was familiar with but haven't used that much.  I really like how it worked in my tile this week.  

Keep Tangling!!

Challenge 59 - Mardi Gras!

This week's challenge from the Diva is in honor of Mardi Gras.  I have never been to Mardi Gras but know its all about fun and I definitely had fun creating this tangle.

Tangles: Pepper, Pais, Ahh, Pearlz

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New Tangle - Tuscadero

My newest tangle is called Tuscadero.  The name comes from my friend Carol who said she thought it would make a great name for a tangle, and she was RIGHT!  I found this tangle while perusing an art deco design book I have.  It immediately called to my inner child.  I love the playfulness of this tangle and the Dr. Suess quality of it.  I hope you have as much fun with it as I have.

Tuscadero

by Lara Williams, CZT

Keep Tangling!!

Challenge 58

This week's challenge from the Diva is a guest challenge from Diana Hirsch.  I decided to try a black tile for this challenge and reminded myself how much I really do enjoy using the white pen on the black tile.  

Tangles: Nzeppel, Paraxox, Tipple

Keep Tangling!!

Valentine's Day

Sending warm Valentine wishes!

Keep Tangling!!

Challenge 57 - Sanibelle

After a very fun week leading up to the Superbowl, going to the Superbowl - watching my team lose and then being sick all week I am finally starting to feel better. Although I still have no voice, at least I have the energy to tangle again. What a great new challenge. Sanibelle by Tricia Faraone is lots of fun!  Can't wait to try it some more.

Tangles: Spaanders,Bridgen, Ojo, Sanibelle, Warts and Wobbles

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Challenge 55 - String Theory VIII - Moebius Strip

Using a tangleation of Molossus' tangle Thlychum I really got some good 3D action on this tile. 

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Challenge 54 - Purple Haze

The Diva's Challenge this week is Purple Haze.  I added some purple accents with a Sakura Permapaque marker that I was able to grab quickly this morning before I ran out the door.  

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Fun with Fengle

Had a lunch time zentangle group to try out new tangles with a couple workers who have taken my classes. Very fun.  Showed them a new tangle called Fengle that was introduced to CZTs.

Keep Tangling!