Diva Challenge #112 UMT: Tuxedo

This week's Diva Challenge is another UMT (use my tangle) and we are trying LeeAnn Denzer's tangle, Tuxedo.  I had never tried this tangle before and I found it pretty easy and has so many options when it comes to filling it in.  Thanks, LeeAnn for another fun tangle.  Thanks, Laura for this monthly "Use My Tangle" feature. 

Diva Challenge 111 Mooka Monotangle

This week's challenge from the DIVA is to use the tangle, Mooka in a monotangle.  If you haven't seen the video of Maria drawing Mooka, you really must take a look.  You can link to it from my right side bar, or from Laura's (the Diva) post.  Maria makes it look effortless, keeping the lines all the same uniform distance apart.  If it's new for you, keep on practicing....it really does get better with practice.   I love Mooka and I use it a lot! 




I am so ready for spring...I used watercolor pencils.

New Tangle: Ceebee

Over the weekend, I saw a pattern on the background of a poster and decided that it needed to be a tangle.  So here is Ceebee..........

 

 

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Note:  If this pattern has been developed before, please let me know.  Thanks!

 

Diva Challenge #110 Get rid of the box

This week's challenge from the DIVA is to think outside the box, or try something you haven't tried yet.  I have tangled on a lot of different surfaces, and still have some more projects I want to try once the weather warms up.  For now I decided to try some color.  I have played a little with colored pencils, watercolor, and blending Tombow markers in the past, but my ventures have been small and I am not really comfortable with color yet. 
For my first tile I used Tombow markers in their full color (without blending).  I made a string with bright bold colors and then tangled.  I then used a white charcoal pencil for highlighting.  I surprised myself and actually like the brightness of it.

 

For my second & third tiles I wanted to try the watercolor technique of applying a watercolor wash   and then salt. That was fun to see how the salt changed the look of the color.  Next time I would get    my paper even wetter then I did this time.  The paper the tiles are made out of really takes water well.  They curled up when wet, but flattened right out when dry.  For the purple tile I used a regular  Micron for the tangles and for the blue tile I used Sakura Gelly roll pens and highlighted both with a white charcoal pencil.   The color on both looks so much better in person then in the photo.              

           

Thanks, Laura!  It's always fun to try new things!

 

                                                                                                                                    

 

 

Moments to Treasure with the Hawaiian CZT's

A wise person once told me that it only takes a moment to make someone smile....I love that! 

My husband and I recently had the opportunity to take a 14 day cruise to Hawaii.  It was a last minute (6 weeks out) 1/2 price deal the we couldn't refuse, and are so glad we didn't.  We had never been to the islands before and we knew that while it may not be the best way to see Hawaii, instead of a week on one island,  we did get to spend a day on each of the 4 islands (Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island of Hawaii, and we both love cruising.  So we checked out books from the library and did our research and picked the places we wanted to see that were within distance of our ports.  We made the most of every day, and really every moment.  Each night we got back on the ship we were so blown away by all the beauty of the islands! 

I sent an email to the Hawaiian CZT's (Lois & Earl Stokes and Julie Evans) who all live on the Big Island asking for suggestions of things to see while there, and if there was any way we could meet, even just for a few moments, to share a cup of coffee or tea or whatever we could work out.   All of them were so great in responding and giving us wonderful suggestions.  It turned out that they both live close to two attractions we wanted to see, so we rented a car when we got to Hilo.  As it turned out our ship was an hour late getting into port and there was quite a wait getting to the airport to rent the car. (Is it a good thing, is it a bad thing....who's to say! We love this way of thinking that Maria shared on the zentangle blog that you can read about here.)   So while we didn't have the time to share that cup of coffee or tea, we did get to meet each other for a few moments, share some conversation and hugs, and we were all smiling! 

We met Lois & Earl at their beautiful home.  They live in the middle of a tropical rain forest that is just incredible.  We got to enjoy their home, yard, studio, and work they are doing.  Earl is recovering from a stroke and has such a great attitude about taking it one stroke, one step, one day at a time (sound familiar).  Lois has that soft and peaceful voice that she sends all of us her wonderful whispers with.  Mahalo, Lois & Earl!

After see Lois & Earl we did a quick tour of Volcano National Park and then headed the other direction to Akaka Falls, where Julie was kind enough to meet us. We again were able to have a short conversation, with hugs and smiles!    Julie said that Akaka Falls was like being in the movie, "Honey, I shrunk the kids", and she was right.  The beauty of the falls and the size of the trees and plants in the park were incredible.  Mahalo, Julie!

 

 

 My picture with Julie was accidently deleted from my PC.

 

 

It's so great to meet other CZT's!  In just a few short moments you can feel the love and energy that Zentangle has brought to our lives. 

Diva Challenge #109 Zentangle Quest

This week our one and only DIVA, Laura Harms came up with another great challenge!  We are to explore a new technique that Maria Thomas developed.  You can read all about at the link to Laura's blog or by going to the zentangle blog and viewing all the eye candy that Maria created.  Maria continues to teach us new and fantastic techniques to use in our zentangle creations, and I love this one!  It creates such a great 3D effect and is just plain fun!  I look forward to trying out this technique some more.  Thanks, Laura and Maria! 

Diva Challenge #108 UMT: Whyz

I've been gone on a 2 week cruise to Hawaii (more to come on the trip later), but for now I am trying to catch up on the DIVA challenge  that I missed.  Yes, the housework, laundry, and bills can wait, but the Diva challenge is a must! 

This challenge is a UMT (use my tangle) challenge from CZT, Jane MacKugler.  We are to use her tangle, Whyz.  I have never used this one before, and it's always fun to try out a new tangle.  I found you really have to concentrate with this one, and it has so many variations, depending on how you alternate the "Y's" and how you color it in.  Thanks, Jane for the fun tangle!  Thanks, Laura for another challenge!

 

Diva Challenge #107: Quandary

The Diva Challenge this week is to use the new official tangle, Quandary!  I had a little trouble when I first tried using this tangle because I wanted to keep making sure the flowers lined up, but if you keep on practicing it and use the tip that Laura gives (One tip i have - i find it easier if you don't concentrate on building the flower, but instead concentrate on building triangles off of triangles, similar to Tripoli.) it is a lot easier!   I also found that making bigger rice shapes on a sheet of paper helped get the flow going and then I could do it on a smaller size.  So keep on practicing, it does get easier, and you will find it's a wonderful tangle pattern with so many possibilities.  Thanks, Rick & Maria for the new tangle!  Thanks, Laura for another challenge! 

Diva Challenge #106: The Year of the Snake

Once again, Laura Harms (the Diva) has come up with another fun weekly challenge!  To celebrate the start of the Chinese New Year, we are to be inspired by the year of the snake.  Here are a few facts I found out about the year of the snake, for those of you born in those years.....

The Snake

Ancient Chinese wisdom says a Snake in the house is a good omen because it means your family will not starve. This could be taken metaphorically to mean that a Snake could never have a problem with his family starving because he is such a great mediator, making him good at business. Or it could mean that a Snake would be willing to sacrifice his possessions, something the Snake has a lot of, in order to pay for his family’s food. Any way it is interpreted is representative of the Snake’s character and is a measure of the value he puts on his material wealth. The Snake is keen and cunning, quite intelligent and wise.

Years of the Snake

Snake Years are sixth in the cycle, following the Dragon Years, and recur every twelfth year. The Chinese New Year does not fall on a specific date, so it is essential to check the calendar to find the exact date on which each Snake Year actually begins.

1905*1917*1929*1941*1953*1965*1977*1989*2001

THE SIGN OF THE SNAKE

The Snake is the intuitive, introspective, refined and collected of the Animal Signs. They are attractive people who take cries with ease and do not become flustered easily. They are graceful people, exciting and dark at the same time.

Contemplative and private, the Snake is not outwardly emotional. He can appear cunning and reticent and works very modestly in the business environment. The Snake will plot and scheme to make certain things turn out exactly as they want them to. They are not great communicators and can become quite possessive when they set their minds on achieving the interest of a partner.

I found this shape online and thought it made a really nice string!

 



 

 

New Tangles: FALZ & XENSO

It has been a long time since I've created a new tangle and while playing around with my paper and pen the other night, I created two new tangles to share.  They both start out with the same first two steps, but vary enough that they don't look anything alike when done.  Also, when completed they each can have many different looks, depending on what spaces you decide to color in (if any) and how you shade them.   I hope you like Falz & Xenso.......tangle on!

In the ever increasing volume of tangles that are created each week, it's hard to know if these have been done before or if these names have been used.  If you see that they have, and I've missed them,  please let me know. Thanks!




CLICK TO ENLARGE

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XENSO AND FALZ




 

 

 

 

 

Challenge #105 UMT/Dansk

It's time for the UMT (Use My Tangle) feature at Laura's, I Am The Diva Blog.  This week's challenge is to use CZT Margaret Bremner's tangle: Dansk.  Dansk is a fun tangle to draw and shade.  Laura is also giving away one of Carole Ohl's Tangle*A*Day calendar's on her blog and her facebook page (see the link above for all the info).  If you don't have Carole's calendar yet, make sure to enter....it's great! 

And the winners are.................

On 1/23/2013 I posted a blog giveaway to celebrate having 250 followers.  The deadline was midnight on 1/31/2013.  The blog post shows I had 61 entries, but I had to delete two of them because they were duplicates and I did not count them when doing the random number generator.  Well, enough with the details, let's get on to the winners!

Prize #1:  The original zendala/zentangle inspired art piece goes to:
                 Tammy!  (stvan3@comcast.net)

PHOTOS UNAVAILABLE

Prize #2:   A zentangle inspired glass pendant with matching earrings goes to:
                 emGoodnight!   (emgoodnight71@gmail.com)

 

 

 Prize #3:  A zentangle inspired small pink canvas bag & package of  6 note cards goes to:   Char!  (char@charanderson.com)

Congratulations to all the winners!  I will be sending you an email to obtain your mailing addresses so I can get your prizes shipped off as soon as possible. 

Thanks to all of you who entered the giveaway and for all of the wonderful comments you left!  Once again, it shows me what a kind and caring group tanglers are.

Tangle On!
Sue

P.S.  I still have not heard from the 250th follower, Jane M with the cute little white fluffy dog picture.  I would like to send you a package of 6 note cards.  Email me with your address:
tangledinkart@yahoo.com


 

Challenge #104/Tangle Patterns String #3

Another fun weekly challenge over at the I Am The Diva blog.  This week, Laura has us trying out a string from the growing collection at Linda Farmer's Tangle Patterns site.  Check it out and join in the fun!

Challenge #103 Moebius Syndrome Awareness

This week's challenge from the DIVA, is to use the Moebius Syndrome Foundation's logo as our string.  If you are new to the DIVA challenges, you can read all about Moebius Syndrome on Laura's blog with the link.  Her adorable little son, Artoo, has this congenital nerve disorder so Laura is raising awareness of this condition.  Sending love & hugs to little Artoo, and the entire Harms family!



Celebrate 250 blog followers GIVEAWAY!

WOW!!! 250 followers on my little blog about Zentangle that I started in 7/2010!  At that time, I had no idea how to create a blog or really anything about the blogging world, but I just jumped in with both feet and learned on my own.   I am so amazed and grateful to all of you that follow my blog and take the time to leave me comments. Thanks to each and every one of you!!!

To celebrate, I am hosting my very 1st giveaway! 

THE RULES:

Giveaway starts:  1/23/2013
                 ends:  1/31/2013 (midnight)

To enter:  Leave a comment in this post with your contact info (ex. email address). 

Only one entry per person.  It is NOT a requirement that you follow this blog to enter the giveaway.  Everyone is welcome, including international entrants.

On 2/1/2013, I will use the random number generator to select 3 winners.  I will announce the winners on my blog, and notify each of you by email to obtain your mailing information. 

THE PRIZES:   (All created by me)   PHOTOS UNAVAILABLE

1)  An originial zendala/zentangle inspired art piece (mat size 8 x 10).

2)  A zentangle inspired glass pendant (light purple with punzel and crescent moon tangles) and matching colored earring, and a black organza necklace strap. 

3)  A zentangle inspired small pink canvas bag (approx 8 1/2 x 10 1/2) and a package of 6 note cards with multi-color envelopes. 

Also, the 250th follower (Jane M with a really cute little white fluffy dog picture) automatically wins a package of 6 note cards w/envelopes.  Please leave me a comment with your contact info so I can mail you your prize!

Thanks once again for following my blog! 

Diva Challenge #102 Auraknot & Bunzo

Another duo tangle challenge from the diva this week.  This time it is to use the tangles Auraknot and Bunzo together.  As I have stated before, I love the duo tangle challenges!  They are often two tangles that you don't think of putting together, so these challenges are always fun to see what everyone comes up with.  Thanks again, Laura for stretching our creativity with another fun challenge!

Challenge #101: PHICOPS

How exciting....the first challenge of the new year, the first Monday of the month for the UMT (use my tangle) feature, and the first tangle from B-rad!  It just so happens to be his birthday too...Happy Birthday, B-rad!  I hope you have a fun filled day!  This is a pretty tangle that is so easy to do.  I look forward to using this one more.  Thanks, B-rad and Laura!

Zenspirations Dangle

If you have been following my blog for awhile, you know that I am a fan of Joanne Fink's Zenspirations book.  I saw on Facebook that she will be releasing another book called Zenspirations Dangle Designs.  Yay, another book I will look forward to buying!  In celebration, I just had to play with another dangle and try out my new colors of Tombow markers that I got for Christmas.  You can check out Joanne's website at zenspirations.com.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year 2012

Wishing all of you a joyous & peaceful Merry Christmas and a happy & healthly New Year!

Challenge 100!!! Diva Dance

Congratulations, Laura!  100 weeks of Diva Challenges is something to celebrate!!! I love the Diva challenges and I don't think I missed one out of the 100 (I've told you in the past that I am a Zentangle geek).   In celebration, Rick and Maria announced a new tangle named Diva Dance.  You can read all about the celebration and get the steps to the Diva Dance tangle here, at Laura's blog.  This is another great tangle that has so many possibilities and I can't wait to play with it more.  So, give the new tangle a try and if you haven't join in on the weekly challenges yet, jump on board for the next 100! 

Challenge #99 Looped Border String

This week The Diva, Laura Harms has a guest contibutor, CZT Margaret Bremner.  Margaret discovered yet another fun string idea.  While drawing your border, on all 4 sides put a loop in facing toward the middle of the tile.  I love this string because it will be different each time depending on the size of the loops and if they overlap or not.  Great string idea, Margaret!  Fun challenge, Laura! 

My favorite new tangle this year has been Mi2, so I started with it in different variations all around the outside, then tangled my loops with Hollibaugh, Flux, Striping, Florz, and Isochor. 

Zendala Dare #35 Where's My Template

It has been a long time since I've done one of the Zendala Dare's from Erin, at The Bright Owl blog.  I always love seeing the templates she comes up with and I wish I had the time to complete more of them.  This one intrigued me because it was to use a snowflake that you cut out yourself as the template.  I haven't cut out a snowflake for awhile and it sounded like fun.  See the link above for an excellent tutorial from Erin.  Once you cut out your snowflake, you trace in on your paper, add some lines (if you wish), and tangle.  I'm not really excited about how mine turned out....maybe I added too many lines to the original snowflake.  It just seems to busy and dark to me.  Maybe using colors would have been better.  None the less, it was fun and it is amazing how it doesn't look anything like the original snowflake pattern.  I will definitely try this dare again!

Challenge #98 UMT: Keenees

This week it is once again the first Monday of the month and UMT (use my tangle) at I Am The Diva's blog.  The featured tangle is Keenees, by CZT Donna Hornsby.  I have always liked this tangle because it's easy and fits in anywhere.  I was in a round circle mood yesterday when I did my tile and just kept drawing those beautiful orbs (as Maria Thomas would say).    Thank You, Laura & Donna!

Another fun class

I love sharing the art of Zentangle with new students!  I also love the fact that through teaching classes I have met some truly wonderful people.  One of those is Holly, who took my Basic and Beyond the Basics classes and meets with me once a month in our little Tangle Talk group.  I am so lucky to say that we are becoming friends who seem to have a lot in common.  How great is that!  Holly has become a Zentangle fan and wanted to share it with some of the teachers at her pre-school.  She invited me down to Denver last Thursday afternoon to teach a class in her pre-school classroom.  We had a total of 8 lovely ladies learn Zentangle.  Holly also got to share some of her beautiful work with the class.  It was so nice to meet Judy, Cindy, Antoinette, Tami, Cheri, Michelle, and Wanda.  I had a lot of fun and hope all of you did too.  Thanks Holly, for all the work you did getting this class together, and I look forward to seeing you soon!

Wonderful group!

 

Their 1st beautiful tiles!

Their 2nd beautiful tiles!

Challenge #97 No Strings Attached

This week's Diva Challenge is to create a tile without a string. Can you really escape from a string totally?  Once you make your first tangle, in a sense you have part of a string...something to work off of.  How do you keep it looking like a zentangle or does it  become free flowing zentangle inspired art?  I am one who really likes the comfort of a string.  I usually always start with a string, even if I end up ignoring parts of  it and taking my tangles in a different direction, I like to start out with one.  I find that starting without a string makes me think too much... what can I do next, what tangle will flow good here, which direction should I go in, etc.  It starts to feel so planned out and it takes the "zen" part out of tangling, where you just draw your string, pick tangles at random, and let the end result surprise you. 

I started with Fengle in the corner, added Betweed inside, and rounded out the ends with Knightsbridge.  Then I proceeded with Flux and Tipple.  Next was Rain, then some Mysteria.  Ended with some Paradox and Onamato.  So, even if I didn't have a string drawn on my tile, I was still creating one in my mind before I drew the next tangle....interesting!  Good challenge, Laura...but bring back my string!  LOL!