Zentangle Challenge #286 - Straight to it

The challenge this week from Laura (www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca) is to use straight lines. I chose tangles from one of my step out booklets, but chose tangles that to me also implied some sort of movement. I'm happy with the way this fun challenge turned out - as usual, totally not what I had envisioned when I started with Afterglow! My apologies to those who don't get comments from me. I am looking at most entries when time permits, but I'm not able to comment on Flickr or Instagram photo's, and sometimes don't comment when there is a blog post that covers several challenges. I am looking, and I am enjoying, and I do try to comment when I can.

Zentangle Challenge #219 - Straight lines - tile #3

This is my third tile done for this week's Zentangle Challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com. In my first submission I used Hollibaugh as a string and filled in the bands with tangles; this time I've left the bands empty and filled in the spaces behind. I also used two tangles I've never attempted before - Zuan Shi and Juke. I'm having fun with this challenge!

Zentangle Challenge #157 - UMT - Charlie

This weeks Zentangle Challenge from Laura at iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com is to use the Tangle: Charlie. I like this tangle - I like the boldness. I decided to pair it with other bold tangles and came up with this. I haven't used Charlie much, but am going to use it again today in my Tangle a Day Calendar. It's a fun one!

Zendala Dare #76

Well I sure enjoyed this particular template from Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.ca! I made a few changes to the template, and used a new to me tangle from Sue Jacobs - Zaturn, which I LOVE! I hope I did it justice! Moving Day is another of my favourites though I think it is more effective on a larger scale than broken into the diamonds here. I don't often use colour, but it was crying out for something and "blue" seemed to add just the subtle tone I wanted. I'm quite happy with this one.

Zentangle Challenge #122 - Grid (Un) Locked

I went through a lot of conflict with this week's Zentangle Challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca. And I'm still not so sure I "get" it. The challenge was based on the newsletter from Rick and Maria where they used grid "seeds" to create grid patterns. Maybe it's the way I think, but I thought that's in essence what we were doing all along? The other conflict I've been mulling over is: when does a tangelation become a new tangle? Sigh.... maybe you can answer, or maybe I'll find out more when I go to the CZT seminars in the fall... What I did in the end was just let the pen go to paper and see where it went (which often works out in surprising ways). I started by using a scrap of watercolor paper that I've been saving for bookmarks. I used I1 from the grid Rick and Maria posted and when I had drawn the main stream, didn't like it at all! I had also tried their neat "trick" of doing a line of grids on the outer edge 1/2 width to emphasize curves... so I started to fill in alternate lines, shaded it, and wow, what a change! Then I added a stream of Hi-C's (because I love what this tangle does when it's flipped). The bookmark was too empty, so I added another stream of the original I1 pattern, but alternated thicker and thinner lines in each grid and filled in the triangles (diamonds) instead. Totally different look. I loved this exercise which really showed me how grid patterns can change with fills, direction etc. I'm quite happy with it. My second tile was done with a lot less worry and planning - I divided it up into 4 sections and chose 4 tangles. Crescent Moon and Ving look really neat when they are flipped from grid to grid. I've loved Moving Day since I first saw it and though I tried on scrap to flip it around, it wasn't nearly so effective, so I just did it as it's "supposed" to be. Verve wasn't quite the effect I expected either, but... So, here they are, and now I can go look at what others have done, and maybe I'll find I wasn't the only one having a bit of difficulty with this one. (But in the end, when I push myself, I always learn and am astounded by the results, so thank you Laura! and Rick and Maria!)

Zentangle Dare #10

This is my contribution to Erin's Zendala Dare of the week (see www.thebrightowl.blogspot.ca). I enjoyed this one, even though I "rushed" through it because it's a very busy week. As usual when I'm hurrying, I wanted to make it simple, but got caught up in all the fabulous tangles - couldn't decide which to use - so used as many as I could :) I made a few mistakes along the way, but that's ok, it's all part of the process. (Starting outside, clockwise from the top: wisket, nightsbridge, jonqual, chard, jalousie, bitten, stax, gewurtz, and moving day; then inside: facets, zedbra, voxter, footlights, slink, and crescent moon) Thanks again Erin for a fun template!

Zendala Dare #5

Erin from "The Bright Owl" creates a mandala for us to tangle each week - creating a Zendala. (Still can't figure out how to do a direct link - you can find her blog at: www.thebrightowl.blogspot.ca) I really had fun with this one - it was tough going though as it's a beautiful day and the garden beckons so I was back and forth between the porch, drawing, and digging in the earth. I started out with Punzel which is a tangle I love, but have trouble with. I was determined that it had to go into this one and I confess, I did it in pencil first. Another of my favorites, Moving Day, had to go in as it's such a crazy random yet still a grid pattern. The rest just sort of came together. Thanks Erin for putting together such a great dare each week, and I particularly like the shape this week so may try another! I enjoy reading comments, so please let me know what your thoughts are. Have a wonderful day.