"It's a String Thing" #34 TIles

Happy Monday!

"It's a String Thing" #34 featured a curvy string line and some tangles that everyone loved.  Let's take a look~

Angela Carstensen said that she was a "bit stressed" and thought she had no time to tangle.  That is until she decided that "a bit of zen" was just what she needed.  She said, "This time I really felt the flow, even though the result may not be spectacular.
Thank you very much for letting me have such a lovely breather. And an opportunity to practice sparkle a bit ;)"

It is spectacular and the "flow" is very evident looking at her tile.  It's even more wonderful to view knowing that it gave Angela the time to de-stress.

Colette Horsburgh used the string line and tangles she chose for her tile.  It has such a nice balance.  She also posted it here on her blog.

Sherrill Herron said that this is the second time she used this particular string - 

She added, "I really enjoy using these patterns. Once I started I could not stop until I completed it." Again, the flow of the tangles is evident in her lovely work.

Charlotte Carpentier said that she is happy to report that she and her white pen are "getting along much better."

She added:

I tried some different shading with this, using dark grey and light grey along with white. I use the General's Pastel Chalk pencils, and I love how they blend on official Zentangle tiles. And when that didn't quite pop enough, I may or may not have gotten carried away with my glitter pen...again...

A sense of humor is a bonus when tangling - and in all of life :)  Charlotte's comment about her white pen ring true with many of us and her practice shows!


Jenna Wheatman returned this week after recovering from a training injury.  She said that she is slowly getting back to normal and is tangling again.  That is good news for her and for us!

She "loved the look of this week's string and tangles" and when she started, she "couldn't stop drawing."

Ever the masterful tangleation maker, she "used Sandswirl and Sanibelle to make a variation of Shattuck" -

Here she used "a variation of Snag to start off Sandswirl" -

Has your jaw dropped too?  These are stunning.

Dorothy Allison took a bold step this week.  She wrote, "I usually love doing black and white, so stepped out of my comfort zone to make this pop!"

And pop it does - in color and in her placement and choice of tangles.

Lily Moon made her string line appear three dimensional - 

She neatly wove her tangles in each of the sections and added incredible shading.  She also posted her tile

here on her blog.

Joyce Evans sent along this crisp tile - 

Note how she shaded along the string line and left white space around her tangles.  What a fabulous effect.  As with many of the tanglers this week, she added nice line work to Sanibelle giving the pattern a feeling of movement.  The darkened single Snag is very pretty.


Ragged Ray  (aka the creator of Snag!) wrote:

My humble Snag is in good company this week. I adore Shattuck and have done since I first learned it - it's one that works beautifully large or really eye-wateringly small. Sanibelle and Sand Swirl were both new to me - but are both wonderful. Sanibelle works well when kept small and even or more loosely. Sand Swirl also has the potential to fill and area or just work as one or two coils joining areas - although keeping those lines parallel is a challenge. I know I'll use both tangles often from here.
I couldn't resist doing two tiles this week and hoped to just pick one to send to you, but couldn't decide which, so I'll let you take your pick! There's another of my Faberge eggs on the first, and a rather strange creature lurking in the second! And those black pearls were begging to be scattered liberally through both.

 Her work is all that she writes about it - and more.  Her tiles have a dainty, airy look and the black pearls she mentioned "scattered liberally" add just a touch of weight.  I pick BOTH :)



Claudia (Beewatch) said she had fun with this but was "not so pleased" with her tile - and then added, "but it was fun to tangle."

There is so much here to be pleased with - especially her layering and shading.  Of particular note is the single Snag.  It is angled and the added lines give it even more depth.

Cheryl Rotnem also said that she "enjoyed this challenge a lot."  

She used the various tangles in the loops of the string line and alternated light and dark spaces of Snag - very, very nice touches.


Peggy Kohrmann said of this tile -

The string was colored with brown and then Snag in the background. Shattuck just had to have the curls. Love the triangle shapes with Sand Swirls.
A very fun and quite surprising result on both of the tiles.

Of her second she wrote -

I began with Sand Swirl and the shading is so important to make it three dimensional. I was having difficulty with Sanibelle not looking like shells so made only the little triangle a part of it. I enjoyed the changes of the two variations of Snag and making the edges of the central figure from all edges of the outer snags.

Peggy's comments add even more interest to her work after getting a glimpse of her process as she tangled.  Snag does look exceptionally nice the way she used it in the center of an area and then as a border in the surrounding areas.  Both of these are just fabulous.

Kylie Vitnell said this was another fun challenge.  She added, "I'm loving having a goal to aim for when I'm tangling. Feels more meaningful."
She beautifully tucked and curved and blended her tangles together.
She also posted her tile here on her blog.

Brenda Urbanik wrote to say, "I enjoyed the organic feel of this one, my tile is quite light and airy, it makes a change from all the heavy 'black' ink."

She also said that she was relaxing at the beach.  Her inspiration shows.  It is a light and lovely composition!
Note the perfs she added to Shattuck.

Catherine Wells wrote:

I had several attempts at this one and this was the only one I was satisfied with.I did enjoy learning Snag but found it difficult to incorporate with the other tangles...so it will be interesting to see how everyone else met the challenge.Snag also seemed to takeover my other attempts to the exclusion of the other tangles!

That is quite a thought - that one tangle could "takeover" her other attempts.  And further proof that patterns do assume a life of their own as we tangle - as they should.  It adds to the "zen" feeling as you give into the unexpected and are pleasantly surprised by the outcome.
Catherine added lovely details to her tangles especially the delicate dots.

Annemarie is back this week -

 and with so many curves and swirls and pretty shading.  Snag has a marvelous medieval feel to it.
She also posted her tile here on her blog.

Juul writes, "Bonjour Adèle."
She did not know which tile to choose and so sent both - 

Juul varied the size of her tangles for a really wonderful effect.  Her light and dark compliments are lovely too.
She closed her note with -
"Je vous souhaite tous une excellente semaine."  Thank you, we will :)

Cathy Cusson said:

Several months ago when I first discovered sanibelle, I fell in love with it and over used it on everything! Then it sort got lost the way some tangles do when you "meet" new ones. Thanks for bringing my old favorite back to mind. I love this tangle. I also love sand swirl - it reminds me of verve which I am crazy about.

Cathy added wonderful shading to the tangles she loves too.

A very warm welcome to Jane Glotzer!  

This is her first Zentangle submission.  She is mainly a mosaic artist and works mostly with reclaimed materials.  She discovered Zentangle "year or so ago and has been hooked ever since."

She wrote:

I used Sanibelle, Sand Swirl and Shattuck. Was thinking I'd work in some Snag in those triangular spaces, but ended up really liking keeping them white and empty. I have a tendency to use a lot of black, filling in any and all white space, so this was a new approach for me.

The white spaces do compliment the black so well.  The darkened background of Sanibelle is really striking - a great idea.

Jane said, "Thanks for the weekly motivation and also to the amazing, overwhelmingly generous Zentangle community--I'm so very glad I found all of you!"
To visit her website and view her beautiful mosaic work, click here.



Sue Green submitted this wonderful tile -

She created that star effect with Snag as others have, but notice the way she used it in the center as well.  That is pretty!  She wrote, "There are so many ways to adapt Snag. I look forward to using it more."

Cheryl Anne Day-Swallow called this piece Butterfly in the Sky -

She wrote:

The moon was made using Sand Swirl
The butterfly's wings were made using Sanibelle
The butterfly's center body was made using Shattuck
The stars were made using Snag 

The interesting learning experience I encountered this week is that the butterfly and the moon started out being the same color tone. ( I used the same color pencils on both). I had read that you can use a white colored pencil to blend colors nicely together. So I did just that, I colored on top of the entire moon, and it changed the mood and color tone of the moon greatly. It gave the moon a very muted look. I don't like or dislike the results, but I thought it might help someone in the future.

That is very interesting and so good of her to pass along.

Cheryl's finished piece glows, especially against the backdrop of that deep, deep blue. Each tangle has its own collection of glowing golden balls.

Ingrid Coventon emailed:

O I loved this weeks tangle patterns. They all were my favorites except for snag which I have not drawn before, but has also become a favorite tangle now.

Ingrid's tangles catch your eye and move up and outward effortlessly.  Shattuck explodes into Sanibelle.  She achieved wonderful depth with shading too - just lovely.

Chrissie Murphy said that she was "absolutely challenged this week!!

"The tangle choices were interesting and I struggled to achieve harmony in my tile. The end result is one I'm happy with and it's proof that the 11 steps of zentangling need to take place to allow the tile to flow.
Another great challenge, keep them coming!"

Now that is the spirit!  Take on the challenge and conquer it - and she did in royal fashion.

LonettA sent this note with her tile -

Here is my tile for this weekly challenge! It was a wonderful challenge with a wonderful string and wonderful tangles.
Great flow and relaxation during tangling this time!
For me Sanibelle was the only new tangle and I love it

This is a very happy tile - so many graceful curves and bends, just a touch of darkened lines, and very pretty shading.

Judy Wanner's comment is sure to bring smiles as she wrote:  "YEE IKES, stars, a bell.....all I can say is I have never been early for Christmas!"

Now that is a happy comment.  Judy said while she is learning, her challenges are leaving pencil lines and reaching a balance with white space - things all of us can relate to.
Her tile has a really lovely lightness about it.  Judy added, "I am having fun!  Loads of fun!"


Sue Agnew described her experience:

Here's the next one. I enjoyed Snag and look forward to "getting to know it better." I'm looking forward to seeing what others do with Sand Swirl because I haven't quite figured it out. They end up kind of interweaving, which maybe is the point? Anyway, after practicing, I opted for "less is more" and went with Sanibelle (wow it's hard to do parallel lines that lengthy without wobbling!) and Snag (Shattuck is another one I really like what others do but haven't figured it out for myself).

What a wonderful take on this challenge - it has great impact, packs "quite a punch"!

Deanna Spence is back!  She said that she really liked these "swirly, curvy tangles!"

And she tangled them to move and churn.  A wonderful detail is the shadow under the dark lines of Shattuck.


Sharyn Penna said:

 I really liked the tangles combination this week...so many options. And the string just told me to use Aquafleur. I've been playing with Shattuck infused with Mooka and included two varieties. In the end, I think the tile looks sort of Easter-like. Thanks for another fun string thing week! 

Shattuck infused with Mooka - that is brilliant.  This takes some time to savor as there are many, many interesting details!

Val Brandon described her process:

I have only used Shattuck before so it is lovely to try new tangles.
I tried them out and then filled in the string very quickly and thought it was rather scrappy.
The next morning I thought it looked OK so last night I finished it off and I am quite pleased with it now.

Quite pleased, for sure.  Val strikes a beautiful balance between her light and heavy dark spaces here.

Sue Jacobs said it well when she wrote, "Back to Basics. Respecting the string but not worrying about 'staying in the lines'." 

She added, "Sand swirl was fun as I tried to 'weave' the shapes together."
So much loveliness in a small space!  At the top of her tile, with the tangles Shattuck and Sanibelle, note how Sue stopped short of connecting some of the down strokes - what a neat effect!


A very warm welcome to brand new tangler Melissa Lemmons!  She wrote:

I just learned about Zentangle less than a week ago and have been having a lot of fun with it. I'm loving trying out the challenges that I'm finding because it makes me try out lots of different tangles.

Less than a week ago! Melissa used a variety of tangles, swirled the lines of Shattuck, and even added some shading- very impressive.  

A N D now, the tile selected for honors this week was created by
Melanie R!

Melanie's lines are clear and crisp and they glow on the black tile.  Her tangles have the look of lace, so very delicate.  The white charcoal shading highlights and softens.  It is simply beautiful.

Melanie said that she called this "At the Park" and she also posted it here on her blog where she goes by BlackScorpio.

This is the very first time Melanie sent in a tile for "It's a String Thing".  It is also the first time a white on black tile has been honored - even more cause to celebrate!

Congratulations, Melanie!
I have a little something coming in the mail for you to commemorate the day.

Many thanks to the talented tanglers who sent in their tiles for the rest of us to enjoy and emulate.

A special note of thanks to Linda Farmer and Sue Zanker for String 029
and the creative minds behind the tangles used this week:

Sand Swirl by Karry Heun
Sanibelle by CZT Tricia Faraone
Snag by Jem Miller
Shattuck an official Zentangle® pattern

Stop back tomorrow for "It's a String Thing" #35!