"It's a String Thing" #28 Tiles

This week's challenge entries are chock full of tangle deliciousness - one more yummy than the next.  The string line was loopy and most of the tangles were grid based - a challenge indeed!


CZT Anna Houston said that it "was a challenge for sure."  She added a few tangleations of her own and managed a beautiful blend.

She said that her tile was "a very bland, flat tile" until she started shading.  "Then it came to life a bit.  Funny how that happens, isn't it?", she added.

Yes, it is - especially when a tile is shaded by Anna.

Cheryl Anne Day-Swallow sent in a very colorful tile - 

She described it this way:

The little plants provide shelter for the little snail and spider. In life, we have rain, or difficulties, but there always seems to be a silver lining from the Lord. So I named this completed challenge piece, Silver Lining during the Storm.
The raindrops, snail, spider and border all have silver highlights which stand up off the paper a little and shines when the light hits it just right. (sorry, its hard to see that part via email).

The patterns take on a new look with her lively colors.

CZT Anne Hathaway dubbed this her "Learn New Things" tile!

She said that she loves Jetties but had never tried the other patterns.  She got so absorbed in Jetties that she went right into Aquafluer.  Realizing the tangles were prescribed, she dubbed that tangle "Jeauquafleur" - now that's a prime example of a "creative opportunity:!!

You can find this tile and other beautiful work of Ann's here on her blog.

Ann closed her note with this sweet sentiment -
"Thanks for the Sting Thing! I love it, and always look and ooh and ahh even when I can't participate!"


Debra Phillips said that she has been following the weekly submissions and enjoys "seeing such diversity and creativity."  This is the first time she has had a chance to participate.

She said she loves to Zentangle because, unlike her other artistic interests that take a lot of time, she is "able to work on it a little at a time and still feel creative."  

Welcome Debra - and may I add that a friend of Sue Agnew's is a friend of ours :)

Joan Delony worked on several tiles this week - and this was her favorite:

Her Jetties have beautiful dimension, sparkle, and shading.  The varied size creates the feel of distance as well.

A very warm welcome to Sherrill Herron.  This is her first submission too - 

Her ribbon-like Jessicup string line along with the smattering of Jelly Roll and Jetties makes for a wonderful tile.

CZT Sue Jacobs, in working with Jemz, came up with a beautiful variation.  She writes:

It was fun finding some tangles I hadn't used before. I also had some fun with the Jemz pattern. When I had it started I realized my squares where the lines crossed wasn't big enough. So I went back and made those shapes bigger. As I was doing it I noticed that I seemed to be creating more gems within the Jems. So I left it and didn't fill it in as it shows in the step out.

Isn't that fabulous?!  Her Jetties and Jelly Roll have a 'gravity free' look to them, happily floating here and there.


Sharyn said that her tile looked all "medium" to her...but there is a very nice balance of contrasts here - 

She added a just a touch of sepia ink.  The way she nestled Jetties and Jelly Roll in the loopy sections of her string is really lovely - especially where they are huddled together.  She also included thin and thick lines on her along her Jessicup string line.

Jenna Wheatman has a knack for blending tangles like none other.  Although her note said that she "could not get these tangles to gel at all" - her finished tile tells a different tale:

It takes a few long looks to see how she combined her patterns into this lovely outcome.  It is just amazing.

Cathy Cusson took this opportunity to concentrate on three of the tangles that she hasn't used "all that much, if at all."

She not only use Jessicup on her string line, but she added rows of it and Jeewels.  She added lines, dots, and shading to her wonderful creation.


Charlotte Carpentier said that she loves her "little pops of color (metallic Gelly Roll pens).

Oh, this is lovely indeed!  The shades of blue and green compliment the black and white of her tile.  Shaded just so, her Jelly Rolls and Jetties pop off the page!

Anne Marie said that she liked this challenge a lot - and it shows...

Her Jessicup, used in an over-sized fashion, look almost nautical, especially as they flow over the darkened areas surrounding Jelly Roll.  She added great interest by leaving that white space right in the middle of all those happy Jetties.
Annemarie also pictured her tile here on her blog.

Ingrid Covington sent along this terrific tile -

She described it as "messy" and "not very balanced in patterns and black and white."
A case can be made for just the opposite.  She achieved a lovely balance with the grey the shading provides. It is a very energetic piece as her patterns seem to be moving and almost blowing in the wind.


Annie Taylor said that she really liked the tangles and the string but had a harder time getting them to mesh together.

Again, the finished product is happier than the tangler realizes!  Her rows of Jessicup, shaded where they meet are lovely.  And what a great idea to use three single, large Jetties.

Celeste Hickey said that she just let her mind go and did what she "felt was right in each space."  She also likes to add color to her tiles, but this time it seemed "just right without it."

It's gorgeous!  Her kind note ended with these words - "Thank you for the challenges.  It helps me push myself further and discover that I can create some pretty cool art :)" - VERY cool art, Celeste!


Rhonda Koplin's tile is very eye-catching.

The clusters of Jetties and Jelly Roll with the added green really stand out.  She cleverly tucked Jetties into Jeewels  too.
Rhonda, though not as happy with her tile as she wanted to be, sent it along anyway.  She wrote:

There's no such thing as mistakes in Zentangle, so I've decided to send my tangles even though it's not my favorite. Love the tangles, just not my layout. But this feeling reminds me to put myself in my students' place!

Thank you for leading by example!


Brenda Urbanik said that this was the first time she tangled a string line itself...

She really liked the tangles and accented them beautifully with a bit of sepia.  She decided there "was a little too much white space and added auras."  She also added shading to her auras and the finished tile is very striking!

Audrie Wiesenfelder tangled along her string line as well -

She filled in her loops and darkened the negative spaces.  She boldly left the outer white spaces alone.  The result is very dynamic and dimensional.  Her string line looks almost as though it is on end, standing tall.
Audrie's tile is also posted here on her blog.

When Vicky Brison first wrote this week, she was so busy in her yarn shop with projects and deadlines that she didn't think she would be able to finish a tile for the challenge.

She sent these photos of her knitting project, adding that it was a bit ZIA in nature -

And it is!

By the end of the week Vicky wrote to say that she "had to put the knitting down" and she tangled - a "nice rest from marathon knitting" she said...

She describes this as "quite dynamic" - and it is!!  Her camera did not capture the depth of it she said, but it can easily be imagined.  So many variations of tangles - and the white spaces left (a nod to the Diva's challenge this week) all add up to magnificent!


Cheryl Rotnem said that she loved this challenge -

She had never worked with Jemz before and really had fun with it.  She added lovely details and shading to her tile too.


Joyce Evans quietly slipped this pretty tile in -

She has some really nice details in her work, especially the single large Jelly Roll with the inner scalloped trim and the sparkle on Jetties - delightful!  A very warm welcome to you Joyce.


Peggy Khormann said that all of the tangles this week were new to her.  She also said that she noticed the use of "open space" in other tiles from last week's challenge.  She added, "I felt like open space was appropriate for me."

(This is especially good to hear because Peggy - without the benefit of a CZT in her area - is self taught. Studying the work of others through this challenge is very helpful - to Peggy and to all of us!)

What wonderful white space she has here too.  Her take on Jemz, using a singular line of them, is a great idea.

Peggy also sent this photo that I just had to post despite it being out of focus.  She was at a business meeting and one of the women there was wearing this "gorgeous dress".  Peggy writes, "Yep, it's Paradox."  How fun is that?!!

Lonett said that this string reminded her of swinging ribbon - "Therefore I used Jessicup and Jeewels as swinging ribbons here."

Thanks to her wonderful shading, the Jessicup string loop rises from the Jemz 'floor' and Jetties seem to be falling off the ribbon line and piling up.
Lonett also has her tile pictured here on her blog.


A N D now...after all of that tangled goodness... 
the tile honored this week was submitted by Ragged Ray.
                                       

She writes:

After playing with the tangles for a bit it was Jemz that I kept coming back to, and so I went with a monotangle - laying Jemz over my entire tile, and then just filling it differently in the various string sections. I liked the idea of the string looking like a string - just dropped onto a tiled floor - but perhaps a magic string, with everything it touches becoming slightly altered! I like the result - although it's clearly hard to get those fine parallels lines for the string even throughout!

It is a marvelous monotangle.

She has a second tile pictured here on her eloquently written blog.

Congratulations to you.  I have a little some thing coming in the mail to commemorate the day.

Thank you to all of the talented tanglers for your inspiring stories and work.



Thank you to the creative minds behind the string and tangle patterns used in this challenge.

String 014 by Joyce Blodgett, kindness of Linda Farmer at TanglePatterns.com

Jeewels by Livia Chua
Jelly Roll by Suzanne McNiell, CZT
Jemz by Maragret Bremner
Jessicup by Connie Taylor
Jetties, an official Zentangle® pattern
Check back tomorrow for "It's a String Thing" #29 !!