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 #219 - Straight Lines

This week's challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca is to use only straight lines. FUN! It's been ages since I've made the time on a Monday to do the challenge, and I'm hoping to get back in the habit. The first tile I'm calling "Two Hurry'd" (ha, ha). And I did do it in a bit of a hurry so some of the lines weren't very straight so I thickened them… Still, I had fun.

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 #126 - Stencil

This week's challenge from Laura at www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com is to use a stencil for our string. Well, I know have a couple of cake decorating stencils... somewhere... but I couldn't find them so they are probably packed in a box in the cupboard. So, I resorted to my protractor set and used the triangle, ruler, and thing you make circles with. Then I added a cookie cutter heart. Brax, Orbs-la-Dee and Por Fin are new to me, and I made a mistake with Maelstrom so just went with it. I am loving Por Fin!!!! This was another fun challenge and I might just go to the dollar store tomorrow to see what stencils I can find to try another.

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.

Zendala Dare #51

This is my entry for this week's Zendala Dare #51 from Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.ca. I really like using her templates, and try to challenge myself with each one, attempting something new to me or something I find difficult. In this one, I used three "new to me" tangles: Knase, Gneiss, and Snugz. I don't often play with color either, but Snugz was calling out for sepia ... and then the rest was history. I think Snugz is my new favorite tangle!

Zendala Dare #39 - ZenDon't

This week's Zendala Dare (#39) from Erin at www.thebrightowl.blogspot.com is a brilliant way to start the new year challenges! I love that she has challenged us to further step out of our comfort zone by NOT doing the processes we usually do. For example is we usually do our zendala in black and white - Don't - use color; if we use favorite tangles - Don't - try something different... and so on. So for this first Zendala, I used lots of color (staedtler pens, and watercolor pencils) (which I don't usually because color intimidates me). And the big thing for me on this Zendala was to not follow the exact template, so I adapted it, even if it was just a bit. I'm also a stickler for using official tangles but when I saw all the diamonds in this template, I really, really wanted to do "gems". I found a deconstruction of a gem on google images (no name given that I can give credit to, sorry).

This second Zendala was also stepping out of my comfort zone because: 1. as soon as I see 12 obvious sections, I want to do a clock to add to my Tangled Time series (because time seems to take on another dimension when tangling...). Because Erin mentioned the 12 months in her blog, I realized that I have been Zentangling for just over a year, so it was time to acknowledge the 12 months. 2. I usually try to do a new tangle or two... Don't - so I used one I'm familiar with but haven't used much lately. 3. I usually do black and white - Don't - so I added the sepia which I love when I see it, though rarely use. 4. And I never put in words - so the rhyme about the number of days in each month was appropriate here. Great Dare Erin, thanks for making those New Year Resolutions more approachable by looking at it from a different perspective. (I may still have to use this template do a clock for my Tangled Time series though - 12 sections don't happen that often!)

Zentangle Celtic Challenge #10

This is my first time doing the Celtic Challenge (www.creativedoodlingwithjudy.blogspot.ca). I loved this template and so I added another copy of the template and one more ring to make a ZIA... The original template is the two squares and one circle in the lower right hand corner. You can see her original template, and the 9 other celtic templates she has done so far by visiting her blog.

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 #27 - 2nd try

This is my second try, and I'm much happier with this one. I had to make another attempt and now I can move on to the Zentangle Challenge! (Yep, the housework and cleaning up the garden can wait a bit longer :)...)

Zendala Dare #24 - 2nd try

This is my second try using Erin's fabulous template for this week's Zentangle Dare (www.thebrightowl.blogspot.ca). What I really wanted to do was have the tangles "morph" into another tangle where the corners overlapped, but it didn't work out quite the way I wanted to. I didn't intend to use color either, but it was too hard to see the overlapping corners in just black/white. I put way too much thought and planning into this one, and got to the point that I was putting too much pressure on myself and wasn't enjoying the process. I'm not unhappy with it, but it isn't what I had envisioned.

Zentangle Challenge #87: "String Theory v. XII: Pinwheels for Peace v.II"

This week's Zentangle Challenge (www.iamthedivaczt.blogspot.ca) was to use a pinwheel for our string - in celebration of International Day of Peace, Sept. 21, 2012. My first pinwheel string (or pattern) is a quilt pinwheel... it turned out fussier than I would have liked. Tangles used are: H2O Lilly, Facets, Trimonds and Rose (Rose is supposed to have the accent over the e, like the blush colored wine, but I can't figure out how to do that on my computer).

My second pinwheel is simpler - two tangles: Tortuga, and Efilys

The third is from a pattern I found by browsing through google images of pinwheel coloring pages. This was my favorite to do, and out of the three tiles, I managed to do four new to me tangles. I've had a lot of fun with this week's challenge! The tangles I used in this third tile: MI2, Archer, Golven, Lokomotive, Yabbut and Huggins (and woodgrain for the post)

Zendala Dare #13 - Play with paper

This weeks Zendala Dare from Erin of www.thebrightowl.blogspot.ca, is to use her template on a surface that is something other than what we would usually tangle on. The timing couldn't be better for me because I just bought some blackout drapery material that I wanted to try sewing into a Zentangle chair cover. Well, the material does bleed a bit, doesn't shade with pencil so I had to get creative and try shading with the pen, and I don't think it's going to be very color fast. Oh well, I'm sure I'll find another use for it. The first example is the on the blackout material. Today was record heat temperatures in Toronto so I spent most of the day in the back yard, in a kiddie pool cooling down and enjoying an otherwise beautiful day. Between dips, I did my second tile on some colored texture craft paper. It has a sort of tie-dye stripe in blue and pink so I used blue and pink ink. I'm happy with the first, but the second looks (and was) rushed.

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!