This Tangled Den

The Letter A

2011-12-13T14:28:00.000Z

Read yesterday on Molossus's Blog, that Sue has a little alphabet challenge going on. Got hold of the wrong end of the stick and had a lovely time working on and around the letter A lol.

This is actually black and white but the camera picked up the colour of the coffee table and reflected it back. Having checked and now seen what the challenge is all about hope to dip in and out as time permits.

Taking a moment to send positive thoughts to Laura and her family.

Diva's challenge 48 - String theory VII

2011-11-19T12:57:00.000Z

If you only know me from here than you will not know that 2 days after my last post I decided to move. Sold my house and brought another 250 miles away with the hope that it will be easier to find work here. The move happened in October over 3 days move out, move in then go back and get the cats.

We are all pretty settled now, still no job but that will come. Finally I feel like tangling again, there have been a couple of starts but with so much going on they were abandoned.

Last evening popped over to I am the diva to see what's what. The challenge is to use just a square, a circle and a triangle for your string. My square is more rectangle and my circle more oval but you get the idea. For extra kudos the suggestion is to use new to us tangles. Had a great time last evening checking out the official site and blog and Linda's Tangle Patterns. Discovered Fescu, Fern, Connector, Chainging and fell in love with Dragonair. There were others but these are the ones used today.

Nice to be tangling again.

Playing with Pendrill

2011-08-02T22:29:00.000+01:00

You have probably popped in because like me you follow Laura's I am a Diva challenges. If so you have seen the fabulous pavement art she did with her older son Chewie. What a fabulous fun freeing thing to do with your boy.

Laura is back in charge again this week and Maria and Rick have introduced us to a new tangle Pendrill. It is intended that the stems are straight lines with curvy links as the the design spreads. Perhaps I didn't do so well on the straight bits. Will have to practice this one a little no a lot more.

This tangle was drawn in my smaller note book, had to go to an appointment today and while waiting for my turn took the book out of my bag and started doodling. When my name was called closed the book and looked up, it seemed everyone else waiting was watching me! What do you do sit and wait or find something to occupy yourself while waiting?

I am the Diva No. 31

2011-07-19T10:12:00.000+01:00

Laura is taking some family time and leaving her 'I am a Diva' challenge in the hands of friends. Enjoy your quality time Laura.

This week the CZT entrusted to challenge us is Carol Bailey Floyd. If you visit Carol's if you visit Carol's site you will find her to be multi layered and a interesting caring sharing person. Carol's choice of tangle this week is a bit different and certainly not a string challenge.

Carol is looking for places where faeries will feel at home. Right up my street it give me the excuse to go all curvy wavy lines and use some the prettiest tangles I know, but then I only know a few! Lots of nooks to tuck into here and shadows to hide behind and then when the coast is clear a fairy can flitter up and slide down this or that for fun! Yep it's official I'm away with them.

Thank you Carol for a different style of fun challenge.

My initials are GZS

2011-07-13T13:32:00.000+01:00

If you are a follower of Laura, I am a Diva, then you will know that amoung other things she is a wonderful Mother to two young lads, one of whom is impaired and has been in hospital again recently. Positive thoughts and blue healing light to Artoo, Laura and family.

Fortunately Laura has many CZT friends ready and willing to help out with the weekly challenge. This week Christina is leading the way. Still exploring different approaches to laying down a string. Christina has invited us use our first and last initials, as Zoe is my middle name so to rather than explain all three initials have been used.

Thanks Christina this was fun.

Tangle challenge 29

2011-07-07T12:25:00.000+01:00

Strings are intended to be the foundation of a tangle but they are kinda hard. Imagining a wiggly line with twists turns and loops without pre-disposition to a shape is hard, well I think it is. This week Laura has a guest CZT setting on our tangle for this week's challenge.

Sue Jacobs shows us a neat idea for generating the string. She has instructed us to add something the end of a piece of string and then slowly allow it to fall onto the tile or in my case page. I had a couple of goes this is the second try much busier than I am inclined to draw but interesting.

This is my finished tangle. The washer inspired the organic pokeroot like design. All the other patterns are established fun ones and I'm still drawing boxes.

Think I'll use the string as my string again the randomness of it is just so much fun.

Tripoli

2011-07-01T22:40:00.000+01:00

In the interest of sharing honestly this is my take incorporating the new grid design Tripoli. Not happy with this not sure how to use it. So this became heavy and clumsy and laboured. Like the idea of the design just not grown into it yet.

Still I'm sharing it with Laura of I am a Diva fame. Looking forward now to seeing what everyone else has done it is always so inspiring.

Betweed

2011-06-26T16:29:00.000+01:00

A few months back I came across and joined a Yahoo Group Zentangle Inspired Art, a great place to share experiences and swap's with other tangles. There are also some open ended challenges to try.

Looking for some inspiration and opportunity to learn more I've been taking a look at these challenges. Entries are in the group photo albums a fascinating collection of styles and tangles. The first of the challenge's is to use the pattern Betweed in colour. Not knowing the pattern watched a brilliant You Tube video by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, creators of Zentangle®.

I do not usually draw a frame on the page and do not always draw a string. Clearly influenced by the video did both this time. Once the white page has been marked the pattern starts to flow. Have an on off relationship with colouring tangles mostly off but this challenge is to use colour and also if you wish rubber stamps, papers anything at all. That side of my creative need is catered for with the paper crafting, happy then just to colour and use colour to practice shading.

I am the Diva No. 27

2011-06-24T12:35:00.001+01:00

Two tangles one theme one week! Didn't know I had it in me. Funny thing ZIA first appealed to me as a way of not drawing boxes, they made me feel hemmed in!

Having already completed a tangle for this week's challenge I had a look at some of the other responses and what an eye opener the way some of the Verdigogh just flowed love them. So now my boxes are over powered by organic growth.

Here then is a second entry this week to http://iamthedivaczt.blogspot.com/ 27 - Duo tangle.

Diva's challenge 27 - duo-tangle

2011-06-21T23:28:00.000+01:00

Really wanted to join in lasts week's challenge which was to use a spiral string. Even got the spiral down but then got distracted!

This week the challenge is to use just 2 tangles both original official tangles Dex and Verdigogh. Seemed a shame to waste the spiral the patterns seem to fit it working in and out.

The challenge The Diva's of course.

Going to look at some of the other entries now and see how this should be done.

Postcard

2011-06-16T00:01:00.011+01:00

it is my turn to set the challenge at Just for Fun and it is an easy one all you have to do is get pen and paper out and have a bit of a doodle. You might know that ZIA is one of the things I enjoy. As with just about every hobby there is a Yahoo Group Zentangle Inspired Art. In June we have a Post Card swap. Our Tangled postcard's all have the sun as their core inspiration. This is my card and is on its way if not already received.

You do not to have ever tried this before just scribble away, come back and show us what you did and see what the rest of the Just for Fun team made of my challenge.

Diva's challenge 24 - String theory II

2011-06-03T18:46:00.000+01:00

Really happy to have been able to join the challenge this week. Laura is still playing the string this time suggesting that our string is just straight lines and we see where the rows take us.

My rows are not imaginative they are just diagonal across the page. At first what to put in them was a problem but as is always the way once you start you just keep going and the ideas flow. Left one row blank rather like it filled with just white.

Thank you Laura this was a good game. Positive vibes to Artoo.

With a Little help

2011-05-21T12:35:00.000+01:00

Cannot believe how long it has been since I tangled just been very busy with the paper craft side of my life that busyness shows I think in my tangle today.

Having not joined in Laura's challenge despite the best of intentions when I saw that this week's challenge is to used a string drawn by a friend I thought I was stumped. Living along with friends scattered around the world not so easy to ask for a string. Christina has been such a kind and generous virtual friend as well as being an amazing Zentangle (Copy right protected brand) CZT. Feeling a bit cheeky I wrote and asked Christina for a string and although she was at work Christina took the time to draw a tile, with string scan it and send it to me. Thank you very much Christina.

Well after that I had to tangle, so many little spaces it seemed to me that this is a Picasso face! This was a good opening up exercise need to make cards and stuff now but might return to the string have other ideas now! Always the way.

This Tangled Egg

2011-04-23T23:10:00.000+01:00

Should tangling or doodling tax the brain? should you have to sit and think about what you are drawing and how, leafing through pattern cards to find a fitting design for that bit of space there? I donno but its what happened.

Laura said Tangle an egg, then she talked about Ukrainian Easter Eggs! enough its hard enough to just get the basic egg shape. Still over two evenings I've hatched this up (sorry its late and I'm tired). So here in stunning black and white is my Eggtangle for this weeks challenge over at I am the Diva.

Happy Easter to all of you fellow tanglers visiting here.

Vases with tangles tumbling out of them

2011-04-21T13:29:00.000+01:00

There is a swap going on at ZIA yahoo group, well actually there are several but for me tangling on inchies or even ATCs is just a bit to small. These two are on 3.5" squares probably the smallest I am comfortable with!

The theme of the swap is Tangled vases with something growing spilling out of the vases and use at least some colour. The tangle on the right is pure imagination the vase has no drawn sides only the lip is a solid line. The orange leafy tangle is just something I like to draw and the bull rushes behind represent just that bull rushes. The Green tangle is of course Artoo and resting in front is featherfall.

On the left the design is half still life, I have the vase on my sideboard with the Apple Blossom in it and half tangle. The yellow is an adaption of Pokeroot and the black is an adaption of those lines like branches or cracks I so love this time with willow like dangly bits.

Will pop these to the post office on Saturday. Happy Easter everyone.

A 15 minute tangle

2011-04-14T12:39:00.000+01:00

Gosh just 15 Minute's to tangle! Laura this is a near impossible task! I know the Zentangle system is to tangle quickly but thats not me I like to take my time and let the image grow feel it out. I'm not very good at tangling perhaps thats why I need more time to make it the best I can. Heck of a lot of I's in this guess its going to be one of those very personal postings sorry.

Anyway recently came across Toonzeez reminds me of waves rather like Japanese art style. So trying to figure out a 15 minute tile this idea came to mind.

So set myself the 15 minutes and this is the result.

Well could not stop there could I? No it was not a finished piece by any means had to carry on! The top scribble is something I've been playing with do not know if it is already a registered pattern. Easy to duplicate just scribble a very jagged line and add a few drops falling off it!

More Mooka

2011-04-07T20:09:00.000+01:00

Been playing a little more with this new pattern, there are 4 Mooka's here but you can probably only see 3 of them. Was not at all sure about this one so left it overnight looking at it again feel it has more merit than the last one!

Still loving Laura's Artoo as well it just flows. Laura, I am the Diva, is limiting entries to her weekly challenge to just 4! this is just my second.

Mooka

2011-04-06T19:40:00.000+01:00

A beautiful new pattern has been developed by the official Zentangle team called Mooka. It is the pattern chosen by Laura for this week's challenge.

It really is a lovely flowing pattern and looks easy, believe me its not going to have to do a lot of practice with this and lots of other tangles so to see good examples pop over to Laura's challenge and check out the entries some fabulous artists there.

I have used it here on a bookmark for a craft swap.

Turquoise and Brown

2011-03-29T22:50:00.000+01:00

These two ATC sized tangles are for the Turquoise and Brown swap at Zentangle Inspired Art Group. The card is Turquoise, all the line work drawn in Brown pen.

Feel the curves

2011-03-29T22:36:00.000+01:00

The Diva's challenge this week is all about loving your curves. After making us keep to straight line last week this time they are banished all lines to be curvy. This first piece is based on Featherfall and that is pretty much all there is to it.

This second piece is just doodling really and I've called it Pear drops.

Both of these are 3.5" squares, do not have any actual tangle tiles so have cut down 4" squares of paper. Both tangles are going into the swap at Zentangle inspired art. This is a smashing and growing group of tanglers chatting and sharing ZIA art.

Versa

2011-03-26T14:29:00.000Z

Laura (I am a Diva) has come up with a new pattern this week and has invited us to try it out giving it our own twists.

It is a lovely pattern flows easily and it really was all I wanted to draw took a 10 hour break before I was able to expand on it and probably not very well. I've used Laura's Artoo pattern here as well just below th Versa and nest to Paradox.

All these known and shared patterns are wonderful but now I have to climb out of the exploration and get back to just tangling.

just because

2011-03-25T11:39:00.000Z

Settled down last evening thinking of having a play with Laura's new Versa pattern. Guess I got side traced by a Pais (have i spelt that right?)

Guess Versa will have to wait for another day LOL

Diva's challenge 14

2011-03-22T13:28:00.001Z

Recently I discovered this great weekly challenge. Each week Laura sets a challenge for a tangle and she does not make it easy. This week the challenge is to only use striaght lines no nice curves or circles or swirls.

My doodles used to be very boxed in full of lines and boxes all tight and closed in. Nowadays they have curves and swirls and open space, well maybe open space is something I'm working on but they are nolonger boxed in. This then took me back but if you look at a pattern long enough you'll see how to bend it.

This Tangled Den

2011-03-22T11:00:00.000Z

As I get more and more into Tangling thought it would be nice to have a blog dedicated to tangling so here it is!