Challenge 130: UMT Henna Drum

Henna Drum is a tangle I have been using for a while and really love.  It was great fun to use it in a challenge.  I also used String #7 from tanglepatterns.com.  Love using my new string organizer to easily pick a string to use.  

Happy Tangling!

Challenge 129: String Theory XXV - String #4

So nice to have the day off and have time to do my weekly challenge.  After a very soggy weekend in Saugatuck, MI nice to be able to have a nice day to tangle with the windows open.  I decided to try a new way to choose tangles for this challenge and created a random selection using tanglepatterns.com.  By using my iPad I brought up the website and then randomly clicked on a letter A-Z at the top and then randomly chose one of the patterns that came up for the letter.  I sometimes have students ask me about how to choose tangles and do I balance them, etc.  Finding a random way to choose tangles is a great way to take away the pressure you can sometimes feel to choose "the right tangles"  Give it a try and see how it works for you.

Tangles: Loblolly, Queen's Crown, Dex, Japonica, Good Joss, Ninja Stars

Happy Tangling!

Challenge 127: Duo Tangle Cirquital & Opus

Duo tangle challenges are always fun and usually include tangles that I don't use too often.  This was true for this challenge as well.  I don't know that I ever had the chance to try out cirquital before this.  

Happy Tangling!

New Tangle: Fiddler

My newest tangle comes from a beautiful tie I saw at an event I went to recently.  I just had to take a picture and try to figure out how to make this into a tangle to share with everyone.  Fiddler is one of those tangles that really requires you to slow down and create each stroke deliberately.  It has really helped me to find focus in my super busy summer. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Here's the tie

Happy Tangling!

Challenge 123: Is it a zentangle?

This week's challenge was to get back to the zen of zentangle and not use any existing tangles or tangleations - really to get away from thinking about what tangle you are going to use next.  It was more difficult than I thought but once I got going with it I really did just take the next step and let it evolve.  Oh, I should also say that I used a pre-strung zendala to try help the process get started and take some of the thinking out of the equation from the get go.  It took a lot of time to complete over several different sessions and ended up being way more colorful than I ever would have imagined.  I started creating with a red micron, since I have been trying to use a little color lately, but once I started adding the colored pencil it really got lost.  That is when I just started going over all the red with white gelly roll pen.  It was an interesting experience and a nice change but I am ready to get back to my tangles.

Happy Tangling!

New Tangle: Hako

This is a tangle I discovered on a recent trip to Epcot in the Japanese Village.  There was a wooden box with a pattern I thought I had not yet seen in tangles.  It can be built one block at a time and allows for personal variation/tangleation.  I don't think it quite fits into the idea behind the grid (un)tangled as I first hoped, but I think it makes for a fun new tangle.  AND it easily allows the tangler to create depth within it as well with the aura'd boxes floating over the grid.  Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Happy Tangling!

Blue Rock

I decided I needed some more paperweights and had a few more rocks.  I tried one in blue and didn't like it till I added in the white highlights.  It was kind of blobby (is that a word?).  I think the white added some definition and helped make it more delicate and lace-like.

Happy Tangling!

Challenge 121: UMT Birds on a Wire

This week's Challenge from the Diva is a Use My Tangle Challenge.  This week it is Birds on a Wire from Mary Kissel, CZT.   It took me 3 days to find the time to complete it, but I got it done.  Yay!  I decided to try another zendala and this time to use a sienna colored pen. I used a white sakura gelly roll pen where I colored with the sienna pen.  I used colored pencils to shade and color in some areas.   

Tangles: Birds on a Wire, Printemps, Barber Pole, Tipple

Happy Tangling!!

'Nzeppel Stones

I have seen a lot of stones on Etsy that have a crochet covering over them and look like they would make funky paperweights.  There is simply no hope that I would ever be able to create one of those for myself, crocheting and knitting are two skills that seem to completely elude me.  My mom tried to teach me once and she was on the floor laughing at me.  This was the first and only time I have ever seen my mom rolling on the floor laughing.  Luckily for me though there is a lovely pattern from Rick and Maria that can mimic the crochet covered stones, 'Nzeppel.  I created these for my office one white rock with black identipen and one gray rock with white Sharpie oil based paint pen.

Happy Tangling!

Project: Zentangle Inspired Art - Tangled Tin Frame

I am a big fan of Mexican folk art, Especially Dia de los Muertos and I have been collecting it for quite a while.  One thing I don't have is any tin art from Mexico so I thought I might try to make some of my own.  I was inspired to try this way back at Christmas time when I saw my nephew's tinfoil art on the fridge at their house.  It looked like a stained glass window and was colored with Sharpies.  It reminded me that I had bought metal tape that is used for duct work (I think) at the hardware store and had done some tangle etching on it a few years ago.  At the time I had also bought alcohol inks (which I love) that I knew you could use to color the metal - but had never considered you could get the same results from Sharpies.   Here is my finished frame and the steps to get there.   

Start with a plain wood frame found at any craft store.  

Cover the frame with the metal tape and then use an empty ball point pen to etch your tangles onto the surface.

You can add color to your tangles to create a vibrant and colorful piece.

Here is the top colored with tangles: fringe, zinger, cyme, tipple

Here is the side colored with tangle ojo

Happy tangling!

Challenge 120: Tangleation Nation: Bales

Happy Memorial Day!  This week's challenge from the Diva is to experiment with Bales.  I decided to try it out on a pre-strung mandala that seemed just perfect for this challenge.  Although a few of the spaces were not square, I stuck to the same steps for bales and then had fun with all the variations.  

Keep Tangling!

Challenge 119: Ebony and Ivory

This week's challenge has us using equal parts black and white.  It is hard not to try to plan out what you are going to do as you try to create balance on the tile, or zendala in this case.  I have not used many of my zendala tiles and thought this might be a good challenge to try one on.  Challenge is appropriate this week because although I think I have a good presence of white and black I know it is not quite in balance.  Initial plans to black out areas to use white pens on were thwarted by three crescent shapes near the center instead of an even number.  So I turned my attention to the outside shapes and planned to complete three of each but got to the last one and felt like I needed to combine it with the last crescent.  I am pretty happy with how it turned out.  Hope you had a more zen experience with your challenge this week. 

Tangles: Sparkool, Tipple variation, Barber pole, Printemps

Keep Tangling!

Project: Elephant

Had a chance to work on another one of my finds from my craft store field trip this past weekend.  I found these cut out elephants that I thought would be fun.  I have had a project in mind with elephants and I thought I would practice on these.  I am pretty happy with how this one turned out.  Really enjoying using some color.

Keep Tangling!

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!

Challenge 115: "Amanda Day" - Earth Day

This week's challenge is in honor of Earth Day and it immediately made me think of the elements that make up our wonderful Earth: Water, Fire, Air and Earth.  So I set out on my quest to find a tangle that represented each and here is what I came up with:

Tangles: Lamar (Water), Flying Geese (Air), Candle Glow (Fire), Sand Swirls (Earth)

Keep Tangling!!

Tangle Trial: Kunstler

OMG! I love, love, love this tangle.  I remember seeing it when Margaret Bremner first posted it a while ago and of course life and work got in the way so I never got around to trying it.  So last night I finally had the opportunity to try it out and what fun!  It is so instantly rewarding and so much fun to draw.  I can't wait to use it on other pieces and try out a larger version.  Also thinking of finding the perfect object to tangle this on.  Might need to try it in glitter this weekend.  Try it out - click here to see the pattern on Margaret's blog.

Keep Tangling!

Tangle Trials: Piza and Tangles by Margaret Bremner

I have been very lucky this week and have had the opportunity to tangle when I got home from work every day this week!  There are so many tangles I have wanted to try out and just haven't been able to find the time.  I did a frame of Piza for this week's challenge, but really liked the contrasting columns I saw on Linda Farmer's example on tanglepatterns.com and I remembered the Diva's challenge from last week of the box, in a box, in a box and so I wanted to try Piza with that in mind.  Here is what resulted:

Tangles: Piza

Then I received a wonderful comment from Sue Jacobs saying she had completed a tile with my tangles, you can check it out here.  I thought this was a great idea and I had a list of some tangles from Margaret Bremner I wanted to try out so here is that tile (with some Pearlz added around the border):

Tangles: Lily Pads, Chebucto, Oakling, Pia

Keep Tangling!

Progress - Jewelry Box

Well it has taken a while but the jewelry box is now decorated on all sides. I am really enjoying using the white pen on the mint background.  Now it just needs to be sealed.  It should be available in my Etsy store soon! 

Tangles: Barber Pole, Fescu, Ahh, Linq, Henna Drum, Tipple Variation, Fringe, Perfs

Keep Tangling!

Challenge 114: Stars v.2

This week's challenge was to use a star shape for a string.  I decided to use the two triangle method that the Diva chose.    I also decided to try out the new tangle Piza for the border.

Tangles: Piza, Paradox, Keenees, Cockles and Mussels

Keep Tangling!

Challenge #113: UMT - Hip to be Square

This week's challenge from the Diva is to use squares inside one another to create the string.  This was fun and I got to use Galoo, a tangle from Carole Ohl that I really like but haven't used in a while.  

Tangles: Galoo, Baraboo, Koryl

Keep Tangling!

Jewelry Box: In Progress

Here is the lid for a jewelry box I am working on that I picked up at the Goodwill. Sanded, painted and now tangling.

New Tangle: Tringle

I hope you will enjoy Tringle as much as I do.  I can't seem to stop tangling with Tringle.  It has found its way into all my meetings and onto all my agendas.  I have been seeing a lot of triangle and geometric shapes in art in magazines, in books and online.  I  was really intrigued by how I could turn this into a new tangle and just started playing with it.  I then did the search to see if I was reinventing the wheel...had this tangle already been done.  I went to tanglepatterns.com and found close cousins in Tink and Munchin, but think Tringle and the completed product I intended is different enough to be its own tangle.  A completed shape with the varying sizes of triangles in side with some filled in and some not.  I also like adding in the third color (keeping things in 3's) with pencil.  Keep Tangling!

Challenge 112: UMT - Tuxedo

This week's challenge from the Diva is a use my tangle challenge.  I had not tried this tangle before.  I was a little skeptical it was going to turn out in a way I liked, but found it to be a great tangle with many possibilities for tangleations.  Hope you have a chance to try it this week.

Tangles: Tuxedo, Croon, Baton, Tringle

Keep Tangling!

Challenge 111: Monotangle - Mooka

The Challenge from the Diva this week is a monotangle (using only one tangle) for the tile or ZIA. The tangle of choice was Mooka.  This is a beautiful tangle created by the founders of zentangle, Rick and Maria.  Similar to the Diva, this is one I love, but rarely use because I just don't think it comes out the way I want it to.  I tried two tiles this week and the first, fit my usual profile of, ehh, I don't really like how it turned out.  But I tried again and I really liked how it turned out.  I slowed down and focused on creating smaller and thinner mooka.  Having seen all the beautiful pieces created by Maria Thomas with mooka, I tried filling in the tile with a lot of smaller mooka that were somewhat inter-tangled.  I think I will keep trying mooka, how about you?

Keep Tangling!

New Tangle: Eclipse

Eclipse is inspired from a pattern I saw on a fence on a walk along the Canal in downtown Indy.  When setting up the steps for the tangle I first drew the circle in the middle followed by the crescent shapes on top which made me think of an eclipse and so I named it.  

Keep Tangling!

Day 2 and Day 3

Here are Day 2 and Day 3 from One Zentangle A Day by Beckah Krahula.  Day 2 is combined with String 39 from tanglepatterns.com

Day 2 + String 39

Day 3

 Keep Tangling!