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!