Zentangle Challenge #347: String Theory - Traced Objects

This week's challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca is to trace found objects for our string. I used an oddly shaped coaster, scissors, a fridge magnet and a bottle cap. This was fun!

Zendala Dare #116

I did two Zendala's for this week's Dare from Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com. Though it doesn't show, the first one was done on a regular Zendala tile, and the second on an 8.5 inch circle. I like the second better because it gave me the opportunity to showcase some tangles that work well in circular spaces. I wanted something to balance the detail of the central orbs and I think Zplode works well. I'm happy with both of these!

Zentangle Challenge #218 - White on black or found

wI haven't posted for a while, nor have I tangled very much. But just this past week I was preparing a Zentangle display board for a Holistic Health Fair and had done several different tiles using 4 tangles on each with different strings, just to demonstrate how different, yet similar they could be. I was happy with all the tiles I did, except the white on black. I don't have a lot of experience with these and frankly avoid them. This week's challenge motivated me to really step out of my comfort zone!! I still don't love white on black, and would dearly love to have some lessons on them, but once I got started, I didn't want to stop. So here are the 5 tiles I did today ...

Zendala Dare #99

My entry for this week's Zendala Dare from Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com. I'm down with a cold after spending a fabulous week in Cuba, but really wanted to participate in this week's Dare. Why is it that I often get sick after a week in the sun? Could it be coming back to colder weather? Or maybe airport germs? Oh well. So I decided to keep it simple, and to choose tangles that are in my comfort zone. I think it needs a bit of something else… maybe colour? I'm going to leave it as it is because I don't have the energy right now to carry on, but maybe I'll look at it again tomorrow.

Zentangle Challenge #182 - Stripes

I LOVE stripes! Especially when they twine or knot. This is my entry (two tiles) for this week's Zentangle Challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivazct.blogspot.ca. I haven't blogged my entries for the past while, though I have been doing them. Maybe it's the end of summer blues, but this week I have been back in the zone, catching up on missed new tangles, updating my notes and illustrations of "how to's", and trying tangles that I either haven't used before, or haven't used in a while. (I've also started an exercise program that includes yoga, Zumba, and Pilates… and that helps!)

Zentangle Challenge, #176 - B.Y.O.B. (Bring your own Beverage)

Love this week's Zentangle Challenge to use something Beverage related… Well, I had ordered a beer in an outside patio and it came with a nearly blank coaster (just the Stella glass with beer pouring into it), just calling out for tangles! It was so much fun to tangle on a beautiful afternoon in an outside patio! I picked up a e few more coasters for another day thinking that my husband and I, and some friends could tangle in the back yard while we have a beer! (Now I'm on the hunt for different coasters to tangle, unfortunately most seem too dark or filled with brand detail.) Cheers!

Zendala Dare # 70

This my entry for this week's Zendala Dare from Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.ca. Another great template and I was able to try the new tangle Ciceron - not all together successfully, but definitely a learning experience. Last week several people mentioned that there had been a tutorial or "how to" on how to do balls or orbs and really make them appear 3D. I think it was supposed to have been something from Margaret Bremner... but search as I might, I can't find it. I would really appreciate it if someone could send me a link or prompt me how to find it.... Thanks for viewing, and your comments are always appreciated!

Zendala Dare #42

I wanted to keep this week's Zendala Dare simple (from Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.ca) - that is, using 2 or 3 tangles. I like this template because it can be soft or very structured, and I've copied out a couple more tiles that I might get to later in the week. Thanks again Erin, and to everyone, have a wonderful week.

Zendala Dare #28

My entry for this weeks Zendala Dare by Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.ca - I'm very happy with the center (pepper), but the rest... well, not so much but only because I had anticipated a different look. I spent way too much time searching for "the perfect" tangles instead of just letting my hand and heart go with the zen flow and so got frustrated. I keep doing this - does anyone else?

Zentangle Challenge #91 - Beads of Courage

This week's Zentangle Challenge (from www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca) is for the charity Beads for Courage. Children collect beads that they get for getting through things like doctor's appointments, needles, tests, achievements... What a wonderful visual way of seeing how much they've been through. This challenge reminded that at one time (actually, 3-4 decades ago) I had wanted to create a wall - hanging that was made with macrame and would be a sort of a diary. I had envisioned that each string would be a day, each knot would represent something like weather or how I was feeling, and I would also add beads to represent events such as a date or an outing with friends. The wall hanging never got done, and I had forgotten all about it until I read Diva's post. That was the inspiration for my design using "Beads of Courage".

Zendala Dare #23

Thanks Erin for another great template for this week's Zendala Dare (thebrightowl.blogspot.ca). Seems like this is a time of changes - the weather, activities, careers, whatever... and so I decided to do tangles that sort of represented pathways from one thing to another - all intersecting, and with little "bumps" on the way. All circled by the ying/yang of life. Not that I'm particularly spiritual, but I do believe that change can be a good thing if approached with a positive attitude, and if it doesn't work out, well, you've learned from it and can often go back, or, further ahead. I just finished reading a fabulous book that sort of ties into all this: "Hector and the Search for Happiness" by Francois Lelord. If you have read and liked "The Petit Prince" and "The Alchemist" - it's sort of along those lines - but about Happiness.

Zendala Dare #12

Thanks again Erin (www.thebrightowl.blogspot.ca) for another great zendala template. I knew I wouldn't want to do just one of this design so I've put 3, plus separate parts, together as a ZIA (Zentangle Inspired Art). Tangles I used: H2O Lilly, Prestwood, "C" scape, Linq, Daggerly, Echoism (I loved what you did Erin in your example, so I hope you don't mind, but I copied you...), Coil, Tipple, Golven, Hybrid, Squid, Arches, Chainlea, Pepper, and another that I think is called TH@ by Margaret Bremner. Now I want to work on this week's Zentangle Challenge, and check out all the entries for the past week for both the Dare and Challenge as I haven't had much free time to browse.... I love looking at what other people have done, and reading the comments! Such a wonderful Zentangle community!!

Zentangle Challenge #74 - Eccentric Circles

The Zentangle Challenge (www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca) for this week is to draw "eccentric" circles for our string. I decided that instead of drawing irregular circles, I would draw circles (ovals) in one direction, then draw some others in another direction. This led me to wanting to "weave' the lines. I've used two new to me tangles, Purk and Wartz. I'm not entirely happy with this, especially Bilt which didn't turn out or float the way I wanted it to; and it's rather hard to see how the circles interweave. Oh well - at least I learned two new tangles. Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to post comments - they are much appreciated. Have a good rest of the week.

Zendala Dare #9

Every Friday, Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.ca posts a zendala template for us to tangle and submit. This week is #9, and here is my entry. I was inspired by her use of some tangle I'd never seen, so I went into Pinterest and found H2O Flowers by Lori Howe - fell in love with it! That was the beginning of what my pens led me into - a koi pond. I wasn't going to try to make this look like anything in particular, but it just fell together, as tangling tends to do. It looked a bit bare without color, so once I started... again it took on a life of it's own, and I even had a go at some watercolor pencils. This was fun, but took way more time than I had expected (again, the way of tangling). I love looking at others contributions, and I love that people take the time to make comments. Hope everyone is having a terrific weekend. (I did my first craft sale this weekend - see my owl post - and was pleasantly surprised at how much I sold and how much positive feedback I got.)

ZIA - ovals, squares, circles - Zentangle challenge #65

The string for this ZIA was created using three things from the kitchen - a coaster, a martini shaker, and an olive dish - I thought about calling it "wasted martini's", but will save that catchy title for another ZIA. I had barely started when Zentangle Weekly Challenge #65 from "I am the Diva" came out asking us to use the tangle "Huggy Bear". I'd never used it before. I did a traditional tile and submitted that, but though it made me try some variations of Huggy Bear, I wasn't too happy with it. So I added it into this ZIA, and I'm much happier with how it turned out. I didn't try to be too original in variations - I'm working on learning and practicing tangles, rather than stretching creativity. Sometimes when I see how creative others are, I think "why didn't I think of that?". Hopefully that will come after I get better at technique. Love to hear any comments....