Zendala Dare. #59

This was a very quick tile done for this week's Zendala Dare by Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com. I LOVE this template and have immediately seen at least three things I want to do with it, so there will be at least one more posting from me for this Dare! I kept this tile simple with only two tangles but it is heavily reliant on shading. I saw croon in a recent entry and so wanted to try it, but I changed the fill to dots because I thought more lines would be too much. I can't wait to try my other ideas and follow those impulses, but it will have to wait until tomorrow or even Monday. (Sigh) Because it's Saturday, that means it's a busy social day for me. It's the time when my husband and I get together with family and friends. This weekend we have older relatives visiting from out of town, and we don't often get to spend time with them. Also today is first communion for our friends daughter - and that means a big party later in the day. Added to this, my husband and I are doing our first craft summer craft show on Monday at a local Farmers Market and a second show on Friday... so we have lots to do to prepare for this. I sell my stuffed owl pillows, and Don sells his leaded stained glass windows.

Zentangle Challenge #119 - Ebony and Ivory

This week's Zentangle Challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca is to use black and white, evenly distributed throughout the tile. I actually missed the part about "evenly distributed", though I think I ended up fairly balanced with white/black. I was at the local art store and found on sale some black card stock and a pretty ivory smaller card - probably meant for name tags, and had one of those "Ah hah" moments when I knew exactly how I was going to start this challenge. I taped the small ivory card off centre on the black card stock (which pre-folds in 1/2 to make a card...), then used kitchen glasses for the circles. I then wove a couple of bands through the circles and that was my "string". The white gel pen is definitely not my favourite - I'd like something with a finer line, and something that doesn't smudge if you don't let it dry a bit. However, I found that I really did like the result of using a white tile on a black tile and doing a sort of negative drawing of the tangles. I've decided to do a set of cards like these for those occasions when I can't find the right card at the store.... The other thought I had was to make the white piece elevated a bit from the black with a spring or sponge tape; maybe the next card! Thanks for looking, and I appreciate any comments.

Zendala Dare #58

For this week's Zendala Dare template go to www.thebrightowl.blogspot.ca. Thanks Erin for another great template. The center screamed out "Mumsy" to me. I haven't used this tangle in a long time, so it was great to be reminded of it because it's a cool tangle. I didn't like my overall look on this one at all until I started shading and adding a bit of colour, and now, though I don't love it, I'm surprised at how much better it looks. I should have taken a before and after scan. Thanks for taking the time to look, and if you feel so inclined, to comment. Have a good week!

Zentangle Challenge #118 - UMT - Kuke

The Zentangle Challenge this week from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca is an "UMT" (Use My Tangle), and the tangle is Kuke. Such a pretty tangle! I can't wait to see how others have used it, which I'll do after I've submitted mine. I used one of the pre-printed Zendala tiles. Twile was a challenge to me - getting it to fit into the triangular curves, but I'm ok with the way it turned out. ...and I rather wish I'd used the sepia for Kuke and black for Archer and Hybrid so that Kuke would be more of the focus. Another great challenge Laura, thanks!

Zendala Dare #57 - Tangled Time #3 - It's five o'clock somewhere (second entry)

This is my second entry to this week's Zendala Dare. I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds that once I start to tangle, time takes on a new dimension and usually flies by. I also find that other things that needed doing seem suddenly less important. So, I am working on a series of "Tangled Time" clock Zendala's that indicate that time becomes confused and or elastic once I put pen to paper. This is my third, and there is an added twist to this one. The three tangles at the 5, 6, and 7 o'clock placement are in honour of cocktail hour (it's five o'clock somewhere, as Jimmy Buffet sings). The tangles I've used in these positions are wine inspired tangles created by Linda Farmer: Chard, Rose, and Gewurtz. (I'm still waiting for Merlot to be created...). This was fun and maybe will inspire those of you out there who are good at coming up with new tangles to design tangles for some cocktails like martini's, gimlets, mojito's... ha, ha!

Zendala Dare #57

Oh, I love this week's Dare from guest Genevieve Crabe via Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.ca! This entry went fairly quickly for me - two tangles (cadent and facets) were obvious choices for me, though I have to admit that it took two tries to trace out the template in such a way that the outer lines were "guidelines". Unfortunately, my tile got a bit dirty from the kitchen table - not the best place to tangle, but I had to watch something on the stove while I did it. It looks a lot worse on the scan than it actually is - maybe I should clean the scanner too. I like the flow of this one, but feel like it's missing something. However, I'm not going to spend any more time on it BECAUSE, as I was doing it, I realized it has 12 points.... That means I'm going to do a larger one as part of my series of "Tangled Time" which is sort of mixed up clocks that represent how time becomes quite elastic when I start to tangle - if you know what I mean ;). So hopefully I'll have another entry before next Sat. Thanks for viewing, and have a good week.

Zentangle Challenge #117 - New Official Tangle: Schway

It took me a long time to do this week's Zentangle Challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca! Partly, it was my birthday this week so I've been pretty busy socially, but mostly because it's 6"x6", and I took my time choosing the other tangles, and putting it all together. I did map out Schway in pencil first but was actually surprised at how little adjusting I had to do - it's a fabulous tangle! I'm really pleased with the way this ZIA turned out and am going to put it in a plain black frame. It's supposed to be cooler, and rainy off and on for the next couple of days, so I'll have a chance to view the other entries (instead of puttering in the garden). I can't wait to see what others have done! Have a good weekend.

Zendala Dare #56 - in pencil

I had time this beautiful weekend to do two entries for Erin's Zendala Dare which has the added challenge of doing the zendala in pencil. (Go to www.thebrightowl.blogspot.ca to see the Zendala Dares, and her wonderful blog.) Not sure I like working in just pencil - mainly because I found that I smudged it a lot. However, it was new to me, and I learned a lot. I started by using a 3B pencil, but ended up going back and relining with a B, and adding a bit more with a 4B. Thanks yet again Erin for taking me further out of my comfort zone and pushing me to do something I would never have considered. And thanks to everyone who takes the time to look (and comment) - I learn almost as much from looking at what others have done and said as I do from trying new things myself. And now to look at what the rest of you have submitted....

Zendala Dare #55

I had fun doing this week's Zendala Dare, in fact, I did two! This template called out to put in Auraknot so I had to do one with it, but I also wanted to do one without. I tried to keep them both fairly simple and used all tangles I love and am familiar with.

Zentangle Challenge #55 - Blind Sighted (and late, #54 - Earth Day)

This week's Zentangle Challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca is to draw our string "blind sighted". The first one I drew I really disliked, so I went with straight lines at various angles. I used 2 "new to me" tangles. I liked this challenge because it was quick, and gave me time to catch up on some other projects, for example, last week's challenge: Earth Day. (So I'm also sorry I didn't get a chance to view and comment on many of last weeks entries.) I didn't get it done in time because things kept coming up that kept me away from drawing. Anyway, a cousin brought me a bug house from Scotland not long ago... and it was calling out to be tangled, so it was a perfect project for Earth Day (week).