Auraknot Challenge

At last!  I am back to the Diva's Challenge.  I have been too busy to finish or do the challenge for a little bit now and I am glad to be back at it.

Auraknot.  I must confess, I was intimidated by this tangle pattern.  It has so many steps and looks so complicated but I am glad I bit the bullet and tried it for this challenge.  I have to say, I found it MUCH easier than it looks.  I must also confess, that my star shape was traced from a cookie cutter.  A big part of my fear of this pattern is the beginning outline.  Starting with the outline done really helped me a lot.  I think that I can do it without one next time.

Now that my confessions are over, I have to say that I am looking forward to using this again.  I think that Auraknot will be a lot of fun to use.  Creating this tile went quickly, aside from kid interruptions that is.

This one was done on a 6"X6" watercolor paper square.  I found these at Dick Blick on Sunday and I HAD to buy some.  I am not good a cutting a straight line so finding these was very exciting.  They also have them in 8"X8" size.  Whoo Hoo!  The final size is more around 4" though.  I want to take it and see if I can find frames and mats that these would fit into.

After getting Auraknot finished, I added the tangles around the out side.  Please ignore the tangle on the lower right.  It was to be one tangle but I messed it up so horribly, that i just had to flub my way through.  It doesn't look too bad but still...

Thanks for stopping by and I can't wait to see what everyone else has done!

Trying on a new size

A long time ago I picked up some artist trading cards at the craft store.  At the time I didn't know what they were.  I just thought the little 2 ½ X 3 ½ inches cards were cute.  They also come in a variety of papers so I thought it would be a great way to try out paper without a big investment.  Last week I tucked a package into my purse along with a micron.  My thinking was that I could pull them out at work when/if I get caught up and need something to keep busy.  I am interrupted often at work so an ATC is great.  A smaller size gives me smaller sections to work on, so I can fill them quicker and not worry about forgetting where I was.

So far I have finished one and am halfway through another.  I love these little tiles because they are a great way to practice patterns, or try out new ideas.  I know people trade these with each other but I have no idea where.  If you would like to trade or can advise me where to post for trading, I would love to know!

Earth Day Zentangles

Sunday was Earth Day and I must confess that I was unable to celebrate it in an Earth friendly way.  We spent the day driving home from a wedding in Virginia.  It pleased me though to see that the challenge this week was to create a tile that celebrates our home planet.

I wasn't sure what I was going to create when I read the challenge, but I knew that I was going to use blue and green ink to draw.  Really, a challenge inspired by Earth just called for color to me.

Patterns used: Shattuck, Tripoli, Keeko

When I sat down to start my first tile, I decided that I wanted to draw the Earth in space.  I contemplated  tracing out a map or image of the Earth but then decided that I would just go for a suggestion of Earth rather than a literal translation.  Because I started while sitting in the waiting room at the orthodontist my circle is a bit wonky but no matter.  I added a few shapes to represent land and I was off.  I made my blue section first and then went and added my green.  I think that I should have stopped and not added the black, however. I think that I liked the tile better before.  I added the "stars" with the Sakura glitter pen to break up the darkness.  Plus, if we were looking at Earth from space we'd see stars too.

Patterns used: Tagh, Hibred, Baton, Pokeroot, Paradox, Organza

After finishing my first tile, I wanted to do another one.  Since I found some 4" canvases at Michaels, I've been a bit obsessed with them.  This second Earth is done on a 4" canvas "tile".  I say tile as it is solid all the way through.  It is some hard material (cardboard maybe) covered in canvas.  The tile is thin and pretty easy to work with.  I will be doing a post on the canvas and pens that I use next so check back if you'd like to see more.

I decided that I wanted this one to be more of a suggestion of Earth.  I started with a circle and then added Organza to divide the circle.  For this tile I used Bic Mark-It pens with the ultra fine tip.  The green that I have is very light and I ended up going over my lines several times to get them as dark as they are.  I am still working out the shading on the canvas though.  In some places, I think that the grey pen is successful but in others not so much.  I find that the Bic pen kind of "puddles" at the tip so that a spot of extra ink can be left when you pick your pen up.  You can see this best in the green sections.  I find though, that it I end my gray lines on a black one, that the dot blends into the black and is no longer an issue.

I like this tile and think that I will use the divided circle again.  I really like how it looks.

Thanks to Laura for another great challenge.  I hope that your foot is doing much better.

Fengle flam

This week a new zentangle pattern came out.  It is called Fengle.  As with many tangle patterns that are curved and "free flowing", Fengle presented a bit of a challenge to me.  So many of you are seemingly able to produce these lovely effortless swirls and curves and I will confess, I am jealous.  Anything that is more than a ) shape taunts me to no end.  I need to work on curves rather than allow them to have this power over me.

With this in mind, I did this week's challenge from the Diva.  I wasn't going to do this one and use a wedding gift I am working on as an excuse not to try.  But, I bit the bullet and jumped in.  I ended up with more than 5 "arms" on this tangle.  One of my problems with this is my spacing.  Some seem too close together while other have a Grand Canyon of space between.  So, I filled the canyon with another S.

I was going to stop and leave Fengle on the tile alone but I couldn't leave it alone.  I love the idea of a pattern in the "open" space of Fengle.  I added the stripe and am pretty pleased as to how it turned out.  The "arms" aren't so separate here as they are in the work of others.  I'll need to keep working on that.  I decided to add some small tangles in the spaces between the arms.  Just to keep it from being too blank more than anything.

Zentangle Cats



5X7 on watercolor paper done with a purple micron .01, grey watercolor pencil, and pencil for shading.


I mentioned in an earlier post that I had some gifts that I was working on but had to keep secret.  This is one of them!  This was done as a Christmas gift for a family member.  We don't get to see each
other at Christmas so when we did get to see one another at Thanksgiving, we exchanged our gifts.

I am pleased to report that she loved her tangle.  I framed it in a 8X10 black frame I found at Michaels.  I think that I came out nicely.

Birthday Gifts

Red Velvet cake.  So yummy!

Fall is a busy time of year for me and birthdays.  Not only do many of my family members turn a year older but also do many of my friends.  This year, I have made zentangles for several people.  I can't post them all yet on the off chance that they may see them.  This weekend though, I was able to gift a few and now I can share them with you.



5X5 on watercolor paper with 0.1 and 0.005 micron pens and pencil.

This is a zendala that I made for my friend Cheryl.  I found this mandala pattern on 102 Free Mandalas to download.  This is a nice place to find many different mandalas.  This one was a little different than what I used but I really liked the shape.  You can download the patterns as .jpeg or PDF files.

I really enjoyed making this and am surprised at how quickly it went.  I framed it in a 10X10 float frame, with a black piece of scrapbooking paper to fill the empty space.  I had hoped to put it in a 10X10 with a 5X5 square cutout to frame it but I made the zendala too big and none of the premade frames would work.  I waited too late to have it framed professionally.  I was quite pleased with how it came out though.  The paper had a black on black pattern on it and with the zendala in the middle it looked quite nice.  The pattern on the paper was just enough to give it interest but not too busy to distract the eye.




5X7 on watercolor paper with 0.1 micron and gold gel pen

This one is for my friend Kent.  While I didn't plan it, this one works double time as Kent is a New Orleans Saints fan and their colors are black and gold.  This photo is of the tangle in the frame so there is a little glare in the glass but not much.

I tried to alternate the dark and light patterns in this one.  I tried a new pattern Golven and I really like it a lot. It isn't difficult to do and looks great.  I look forward to using it again and again.

I am glad to report that both Cheryl and Kent enjoyed their tangles as much as I did making them.  I hope that you enjoy looking at them too.

All Hallows Eve Challenge

It's a new week and lots of goings on around here.  Not only is/was it Halloween but we have also become the host to an Italian exchange student.  She may be here for just a short while but maybe longer.  It is still up in the air at this point.  We have tried to be welcoming but not overwhelming, I hope.  My 5 year old can demand a lot of time when he is excited.  If you are ever in the mood for a tour of his hot wheels cars, just come on by! :)

I had to work this year on Halloween and sadly missed all the fun.  But, I do get to enjoy the candy while skipping the long walk to get it.  The challenge this week was to do a Halloween tile.  I confess, I quite enjoyed this one.  I enjoy them all but this one was fun to explore.  Which image to put forward? Which tangles are "scary"?  I started looking over Halloween themed clip art for my image and went from there.  I couldn't choose which I wanted to do more so I did them both.

The eyes came out great I think.  I had to fight myself to leave the white space.  They don't float out of the space as I had imagined them to but I don't mind.  While working on this one, the pattern for Pweeko came across my feed and I tried it out.  I like it.  I've already added it to my tangle "stash".

Next, I wanted to do something a bit more obviously Halloween and went with a skeleton.  I now think that it is a bit more Grateful Dead than Halloween but I don't mind.  That is why it's called "Grateful Tangle".

I really left more white space than I have been lately and I'm really glad that I did.  I'm not sure what the background tangle is called.  It reminds me of Nzepple.  It hints at spider webs to me.

I hope that you all had a fun, safe and Happy Halloween.  The busy time of the year is about to kick off for me at work so I hope to still work on the challenges.  I really look forward to them each Monday morning and it's nice to have a direction to head in when I pick up my pens.

Blue Owl for the Boy

While I was making the zentangle owl for my internet friend, my 4 year old asked for his own owl but he wanted his to be blue.  I had several different owls he could choose from but he wanted the same owl.  It took me a little while to get this owl done, I kept getting distracted, but he is all done.  My son loves it and we're going to hang it up in his room.

Tangled on the Inside

This was a fun challenge.  The Diva and Jo had us use one tangle pattern as the string and then fill the string with different patterns.  I had done something similar with Bales in a previous challenge, so I wanted to try something different this time.  I ended up using OOF as my string tangle and then went crazy inside.

Hopefully it isn't too busy to see OOF in there.  I like the stripe on the sides of the tile itself as well as framing each tangle.

Breast Cancer Awareness

October is National Breast Cancer awareness month.  Did you know?  I didn't until this week's challenge from The Diva.  I have had 3 women in my life to battle breast cancer.  One was my Godmother Cam.  She fought bravely but sadly was taken by the disease in the late 1980's.  Another is my Aunt who has successfully battled breast cancer with a minimum of side effects.  The last is someone I met on the Internet and who I think is truly the definition of hope, strength and courage.  Julie is battling cancer currently and I have every hope for the best possible outcome.  She is a beautiful person and I am proud to call her a friend.

It is these three women who I thought of as I drew my zentangles for this week's challenge.  I will get to send Julie and my Aunt their zentangles, and will keep the one I drew for my Godmother as a reminder of her and her strength and love.

I started each of these tiles with on outline of a ribbon. After deciding on what tangle I wanted to put on the ribbon, I divided the remainder of the space behind and finished the tangle.  I used the micron pen, a white and pink gel pen and pink colored pencils.



Tangle for Cam




Tangle for Aunt Susie



Tangle for Julie

Pinwheels for Peace

Today is the International Day of Peace!  Get out there and spread the peace because we sure could use it.

In honor of this day and the Pinwheels for Peace project, The Diva has challenged us all to create our own pinwheel.  I was afraid that I was going to miss the deadline but I got in just under the wire!  This was a fun and new way to create some zentangle.  I chose to actually create a pinwheel and I found myself thinking more about what patterns to put together and how they would translate to a 3D page.

I ended up cutting a square of watercolor paper to tangle on.  I am happy to report that my pinwheel even spins!  I took it outside on this cloudy day to try and get a photo and the pinwheel kept spinning in the breeze.  I just wish I had an outside pinwheel to tangle now.



Finished and all put together!




The inside.




Outside flaps



Happy Birthday Friend!

This year I turn 40 as do many of my friends.  To mark the occasion many of us have thrown ourselves a birthday party.  I love it.  It has been great to be with my wonderful friends and to celebrate this milestone with each other.  I also love that almost all of them will be 40 before me.  ;)

For my friend Steph's birthday, I decided that I would make her a Zentangle.  I chose to do one in a 5X7 size.  I waited until the last minute and wanted to use a standard size to make the VERY last minute framing go smoothly.  I totally lucked out on the framing as they not only had one I liked, but Michael's was having a BOGO sale on the frame that I liked.  I should have bought more as when I went back the sale was over.  Oh well, I'll have to keep an eye out for next time they have one.  I know know what frames to pick up.

Happy Birthday Steph!  I love you my awesome friend!

Steph's tangle unframed



All framed up.  The edges were lost as I didn't leave enough room but, I don't think that it looks too bad.



Kingfisher in Sassafras

My Husband requested that I make him a ZIA of a Kingfisher.  Kingfishers are one of his favorite birds.  I couldn't refuse his request. He is so patient with me and my constant drawing.  It was fun to do. I enjoyed making this piece and he is quite happy with it.

I started with the bird and then added Sassafras leaves.  I was trying to decide how to treat the background when my Husband requested that I add sassafras leaves.  Originally I was going to fill the background with leaves but after I got started, I decided I didn't want the piece to get too busy.

On the big leaf is my new pattern Zuan Shi.  I was less free hand with the pattern this time.  I'm still exploring it.  Zuan Shi looked really different after I shaded the diamonds. 

I tagged most of the patterns that I used in the labels.  There are a few I have to go back and look up.  I can't remember the names right now.

Making a Legend

Last week I got the official zentangle kit.  Along with the kit, comes a numbered legend of tangles and an icosahedron to assist you in choosing which tangle to use.  One might not think that choosing which tangle to draw would be that hard but there are a LOT of patterns and more each day so having a little help is welcome sometimes.  Often I sit and stare at a blank spot trying to decide what tangle to use next so, trying out the die and legend was a nice change.  Yesterday I got to thinking and thought "Why not make your own legend to use?"  So, I decided to give it a go.  Not only will this bee a nice way to help get over "tangle block" but I can also catalog which tangles I use and who created them.

Often I feel like I use the same tangle patterns over and over again.  I have my favorites, surely everyone does, but I want to show myself that I can do more patterns and that I know more patterns than I think I do.  Plus, it's time I learned the name of those that I use and who shared them.  If I'm going to tag patterns here on this blog, I had better know what I'm tagging. (WOW, that's a lot of I in here.)

Grabbing a 6X8 drawing pad, I divided the space into squares and left space at the bottom to note the name of the tangle and who the tangle is by.  So far, I have this:

I've decided to skip the shading.  I was thinking that just getting the patterns on paper is the primary effort at this point.  I can shade later or just skip it.  This is just for my reference and for a bit of practice.

Working on this has led me to wonder what other people do when working and I have two questions.

1. How do you reference patterns when working?

2. How do you choose which patterns to use in a tangle?

For example, I have Totally Tangled and Yoga for Your Brain by Sandy Steen Bartholomew.  I keep her books nearby when drawing as a reference and as inspiration.  If I get stuck, I can flip through and see how Sandy has handled shapes, patterns, shading ect.  I will also check out different blogs and flickr for inspiration too. 

When it comes to having a place to keep tangle steps though, I confess I cheat a little.  There are some that keep notebooks, or cards with tangle pattern steps on them.  I think that is a great idea but not for me.  A notebook would be one more thing for me to move about and well, some days just getting my head from one place to another is a success.  However, I ALWAYS have my iPod touch with me.  It is in a pocket or attached to me by the ears at all times.  (I probably need an intervention but that is another post for another day.)  And since I can keep photographs on the touch, I decided to set up a file and keep tangle patterns in it.  When I see a pattern I'd like to learn or use, I save a picture to the file and synch it to my iPod.  Now I have a small picture reference file at my finger tips when I need them.  I don't have to find the page on the desk top, print, or copy anything out.  I can pull it up in just a few flicks.  Now, I can't do this with every pattern.  Some are protected and I cannot save an image and well, there are just too many!  But, I can rotate them out as I learn the steps and as my own legend grows, I won't need to keep them as a reminder. 

This is a screen shot of what the patterns look like on the iPod. I keep these images as a reference for myself and not for anyone else so I don't think I'm breaking any copyright laws.  I just save them as a way to remind myself of the steps and what is available to use.  I just touch the tangle that I want to see and the steps are all laid out there for me.  I am pretty proud of myself for thinking of it I must confess.  It is so nice to have them with me.  When I have down time at work, I pull out some scrap paper or my moleskine and give it a whirl. 

So, what do you do?  I'd love to know!