"It's a String Thing" #20 Tiles

Annie Taylor described this challenge as a "lovely and quite wintery String Thing".  I agree and must say that it felt like Christmas each time an email arrived for this week's challenge.  The tiles are all so festive.  Let's take a look -

This is from Ingrid Coventon from the Netherlands:

Ingrid wrote that she suffered a stroke years ago at an early age and is still recovering.  Aside from having limited energy she says, "My head is still in chaos, my hands are shaking.  It's difficult to focus and I feel very off center, but I felt the need to tangle and rediscover myself.  I just had to start, and this is the result." 

Now, this truly is a Christmas gift to the rest of us - to hear your story, see your work, and to be inspired by your tenacity and talent.  Thank you Ingrid. 

 

Vicky Brison outlined the string and tangled from there -

She said that she "originally did one (using Afterglo) that stayed behind the string" but she didn't like the way it "restricted the 'star' quality" of the tangle so she "did it again and let the star have some leg room...much better!"   She alternated light and dark spaces in the center of the tangle as well - a really nice touch.  

 

Audrie Wiesenfelder sent in two tiles:

 

Audrie also featured her tiles on her blog.  You can click here to see her lovely work!  Audrie closed her email with this greeting that made me smile.  Read it, smile, and pass it on -

 

Have a Healthy, Happy, Peaceful (and Prosperous wouldn't hurt) New Year, and may the worst day of this coming year be no worse than the best day of this past one.

Thank you, Audrie.
 

Annie Taylor said that the string reminded her of a mountain top -

 

Annie described her work as "a rather half-hearted attempt" (though that doesn't show) but she felt she had to do something after loosing her precious dog just before Christmas.  She said that she "found the calm of Zentangle has been good" for her.  It is a lovely tile and especially good to know that tangling brought comfort to you.

You can click here to view Annie's beautiful blog.

 

Annemarie - also from the Netherlands - sent this:

 

She also has a wonderful blog and you can click here to view this tile on her site.  She said that she initially use a different tangle - AA's by Judy Murphy instead of  Ahh, but was able to go back and insert them.  It made for a wonderful tile as well as a reminder that in Zentagle there are no mistakes - just creative opportunities - and this is very creative!
 

Joan Delony submitted this pretty tile -

She created a very delicate look to both patterns and the shading along the rounded string line and border make the tile glow.

 

Sue Green created a winter wonderland with her tile:

She said that she tried "a lot of Afterglos together" and "kept returning to a single one adorned with Ahh's".  Working on a black tile with white pen she achieved such a beautiful, wintery feel.

 

Sue Agnew said that she doesn't remember on who's blog she first read about tangle mash-ups, but one of the examples combined Afterglo and Cadent.  She liked it so much that she rarely uses one pattern without the other.  So she said that she "mashed Afterglo and Ahh and came up with this..."

 

I think you may have to give it a name, Sue.  It's fabulous!

Sue followed up a few days later with this tile:

 She said that this one "looks more like evergreen and snowflakes!  No spiders!" - too funny!

 

Jackie Becker's email echoed many a reader's thoughts:  "Things have been so busy and hectic...but today I needed a rest..."  And so she tangled!

What a wonderful effect she created by adapting Afterglo to the string line.  It appears magnified against the rest of the tangles - so very nice!

 

CZT Brenda Urbanik created this fanciful tile -

It's so light and airy and pretty!

You can click here to see this posted on her creative blog.

Deanna Spence created this pretty tile:

It's so festive and by shading the 'valleys' of Afterglo the tangle took on a beautiful sense of dimension.  The darkened center of the tangle is a nice touch too.

CZT Sue Jacobs sent two tiles.  For the first one she inserted Ahh into a larger Afterglo:

 

She said she wasn't very happy with it - it was just kind of 'meh' she said, so she tangled again.  This time she used "multiple Afterglo's".

                                     

Sue said that she was much happier with the second tile - "Plus, I love the shading of course."  She too shaded the 'valleys' of Afterglo and the effect is just beautiful!

 

CZT Kim Winebrenner sent in this lovely tile:

What a magical feel she created here.  She used several variations of the tangles and varied her shading on Afterglo - details that add to the wintery beauty of her work.

 

CZT Cheryl Rotnem said that she always has loved Ahh...

but this was the first time she used Afterglo and it gave her "some fits"!  Well, it doesn't show because both tangles came together very nicely on her tile.

 

Cathy Cusson sent in these two wonderful tiles:

She writes, "Believe it or not the string was there!  I used it merely for a guide then took off in my own direction."  HURRAY for Cathy!  That is the purpose of strings - thank you for the lovely reminder!

 

And the tile set aside for honors this week was submitted by

CZT Diana Schreur - 

She said that she loves the pattern Ahh, used it in her Christams cards, and said that she was "still in the Ahh-mood so this tile was a lot of fun to do." 

Notice how she added the tangles to her sting lines - the delicate Ahh as well as the more weighted Afterglo.  It's so light, airy and festive.
Thank you, Diana, for keeping us all in an Ahh-mood :)

I have a little some thing coming in the mail for you.
 

 

Many thanks again to:
Anne Marks via Linda Farmer for String 028
Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts for Ahh
and
Carole Ohl for Afterglo

AND especially for all of the talented tanglers who submitted their glorious work and heartfelt notes. 

Check back tomorrow for "It's a String Thing" #21!  


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