"It's a String Thing" #45 Tiles

Congratulations to all the new CZTs from Seminar 14 and those just finishing up at Seminar 15!

This week's string was straight lined and geometric.  For the most part, tanglers said that they were able to have a lot of fun while tangling through the challenge.  Let's take a look ~

Jocelyn Pigeion-Bernier, however, said that she found this one "difficult" with the given string and tangles.

Difficult, but not impossible as she illustrates here.  Shading and dots are lovely details.

Joey van Oort wrote ~
I am excited that I actually finished this challenge before the deadline...Thanks for continuing to inspire us, I hope to be participating more this summer!

It is impressive and exciting to see her submission because Joey is a busy blogger herself.  Click here to see her happy blog. Diva Dance looks especially festive in color.

Cathy Cusson sent this note and tile ~

Great string! Great tangles! Wow! You really picked a winner this week! Seriously, I love all the tangles you chose. I wasn't sure how to work doodleo in to such a grid looking string at first, but then it sort of all fell together... 

It really did fall together.  Diva Dance corners and alternating spaces for line detail in Dex are wonderful ideas.  

Sharyn Penna said - 

Funny that Dex was part of this week's prompt...I kept thinking of Dex while drawing Navaho last week.
Here's my "slant" on this week's prompt...I decided to really play up the diagonals. I added a metallic gold pencil with a bit of green highlights to Dex and Doodleedoo, although it photos in a shade of brown. There's very little added shading.

Her 'slant' is a very clever take and beautifully executed.

Ragged Ray said ~

A great string, but somehow I struggled a bit to make the tangles gel this week. I think I find the tangles with lots of black and white contrast can make the tile look a bit flat? Perhaps if I tried drawing them larger there would be more scope for shading... who knows. Dooleedo was a great one to learn - love the one line back and forth of it - a great alternative to Flux for meandering across the paper. I like to draw my Dex with a hollow centre - it lightens it a bit and allows for a bit of tweaking if it isn't that straight! I demonstrated the 'no mistakes' rule this week by messing up on the right hand side but covering it with a dark branch of Dooleedo. Another colonial style tile - perhaps a bar in old Bombay - can you taste the gin and tonic?

 Yes, that makes me thirsty!  Several things stand out here.  First,  Doodleedo springs from the middle.  Then Diva Dance finds its way into other tangles and her take on Dex is fabulous.   She also created Doodledo Bronx Cheer - very clever!

A very warm welcome to Sara from Switzerland - how exciting!

Sara, by changing the angle of her grid lines, created the illusion of depth.  Shading and her fine lines in Doodledo are wonderful.  Sara posted her tile here on her blog as well.

Carmela said that she found this one difficult - "too much squares", she said...

There are many squares, but just look how nicely they turned out.   She used a circle and a square variation of Demi - very good compliments.  Her tile is posted here on her blog as well.

CZT Sue Jacobs said that she wasn't sure about the string at first, but then quickly realized "how it worked perfectly with the grid tangles."  She "got into the 'zen' of tangling with no problem"!

The Diva Dance corners and frame and see how she left a white space around Doodledo?  The square grid tangles are balanced so well with the free form Diva Dance.  Just lovely.  Sue also posted her tile here on her blog.

CZT Margaret Bremner wrote ~

This one was interesting with all the square grid, diagonal lines, just black and white elements. I can't decide if this looks more like a nice place to sit in a public aquarium, or Moses' burning bush!

What great visuals!  And what a wonderful tile.  Margaret gave Diamonds and Squares an entirely new look with her alternating dark, light, and lines spaces - and see how Diva Dance oozes into its space?  When Margaret shades it is very much like a baker adding icing to a cake - marvelous.

Cheryl Anne Day-Swallow wrote, "The inter part of the kite was created using Dex
The flowers leaves were created using Dooledo."

Flowers from Doodledo is an ingenious use of the tangle as is her color choice for Dex.   Cheryl again graced her tile with a creative poem:

A square kite, flying high, for all to see,
Flew right by, you and me
Just to show us, just how cool Zentangling can be

Annemarie said, "Thanks for another great challenge. I really enjoyed making this tile with mainly new tangles."

She alternated the square and round centers of Demi and varied Dex and Diamonds and Squares, carrying one into the other.  See the 'bud' of Pokeroot springing from Doodledo?  Annemarie posted her tile here on her blog, too.

Freshly minted CZT, Joan Delony - yes, the creator of the string this week - sent this note:

This is not my best work---especially with this string. In my defense, I am working on the road :). Driving through Maine is beautiful. Diva Dance reminds me of the rocky shore and beautiful ocean. Demi is like all the beautiful, huge, New England homes along the shore. Doodeloo(can't remember the spelling) reminds me of the gorgeous purple stalk like flowers everywhere!
Thank you for honoring me by using the string I designed. I can't wait to see the wonderful creations everyone else submits.
BTW; CZT training was absolutely awesome. Anyone interested in Zentangle should really try to go. It is well worth it.

Great thoughts, great tile, and especially wonderful sentiments about the Seminar.  Congratulations, Joan.

Lily Moon sent her "solution" to the weekly challenge ~

Many details to note, especially the aura-ing of Doodledo, the red dots of Diamonds and Squares, and the dramatic white space that compliments Dex so very well.   Lily also posted this on here on her blog.

Ingrid Coventon was a bit uncertain about her tile.  She said, "After finishing I discovered that a focuspoint in this tile is missing. Therefore, looking at this tile doesn't feel comfortable and keeps the eye wandering."

Yet, this is an example that while it may be desired, it is not necessary to have a focus point.  Just to tangle for the sake of doing it and being surprised by the outcome is part of the joy of it all.  So thank you, Ingrid, for sending your tile along for us to enjoy.

Annie Taylor wrote ~

Not sure it was a good idea to do it whilst watching the football though.....I kept getting distracted and not in a good way!

However, I will add it to the pile for good measure. The rather wonky grids are deliberate, honestly!

It looks like football was a distraction and an inspiration - wonky grids, and all!  Note the lovely lines in Doodledo.  Annie also posted her tile here on her blog.

Sal's growing tile is next ~

She wrote, "I’m practicing restraint as I think that I have a tendency to overtangle!"  Hmmmmm, is there such a thing I wonder?
This is so beautifully simplistic with just two tangles and a gorgeous growth of green.


Melanie Ringler said that she calls her piece "The Blue Room" ~

It is a Beautiful Blue Room at that.  I read about her tile on her blog and found out that it was inspired by a home renovation project - how fun.  Melanie varied her grid size and orientation and topped them with a 'vine' of Doodledo, using both versions of the tangle.

Sue Agnew wrote -

Dex is one of my very favorite tangles, always has been ... so it was really tempting to do a Dex monotangle ... but I decided to stretch a little bit and add in some others. I did "play it safe" and stick to the grids, though. It's very calming to draw all those little lines!

That brings a smile, doesn't it?  Grid lines that disappear and dark spaces that turn to lined ones with just a pop of Diva Dance in the middle - so much fun in one little space!

Linda Bladen sent a newsy note -

Here is my entry for this week's challenge.
This week I seem to have been busy every day with very little tangle time. I picked up and put down the challenge a number of times as I couldn’t seem to come up with an idea for where to start to use the tangles.
Anyway on Thursday I spent most of the day behind the driver’s wheel and whilst travelling through the beautiful countryside on the edge of the Peak District I found myself imagining how I could do the challenge. I saw the light as it were.
Because apart from Dooleedo all the tangles are grid based and at first I struggled to see how they could work together. The light came on when I thought about only using one or perhaps two of them. In the end I merged a little bit of Demi into Diamonds & Squares. The flag shape must have come from watching too much World Cup football (the less said about that the better now though from an England perspective!!).

This is inspired - the merging of the two tangles with Doodledo in the foreground and shaded just so.

CZT Kate Aherns wrote ~

This week the string was a very straight-line string, and a challenge as I normally go for ones that are a bit curvier.
Lots of grid based tangles here, and unless I morph them, curve them, or do something so I don’t have to be really even, they are not really my favorites. I like the more organic ones better. That being said it was good for me to have to figure out using them in this straight and grid like string.

This is strangely soothing to study - the bold blocks make a wall and window for the curvier tangles.  It is mesmerizing - well done!  Kate posted it here on her blog as well.  

Holly Dodson supplies us with the WOW factor this week ~

How very unique!  Holly darkened the string line and then added spheres of patterns that change where string lines pass through - fun, fun, fun!

Caroline Moore said this was a "Fun one!" ~

It brings a smile, too.  The hearts in Diva Dance and added curls to Doodledo are very FUN.  

Jane Glotzer wrote ~

Boy, so many grids in so many square spaces...I used 4 out of the 5 suggested patterns, but finding room for one more proved elusive--:) Diamonds and Squares just could not make it in...
I really do love working on these challenges each week because it gives me the opportunity to explore old favorite tangles, but even more importantly, to find new patterns to play with. I had learned Dooleedo a while ago, but never did much with it, but how fun...and even Diva Dance, which I know many Zentangle artists use quite a bit, was not one that initially drew me, but I like very much how it came out.

Notice how she alternated the direction of Demi and gave it that 'V' - very nice.

 Sherrill Herron sent along her tile with wishes for a blessed week ~

She said that tangling has gotten her "juices flowing" to do her quilt work.  It is wonderful how tangling carries over into other creative ventures.

Suzanne Wilka wrote ~

Fun string this week - as soon as I saw the string I saw it as a woodburned piece. Dooleedo is one of my favorite tangles but it took a bit of exploration as to how I would work it in with all the other straight line tangles.

As someone who loved our woodburning set as a child - and bought one for my children, I would agree:)
The dark border is striking as is the variation of browns.

Deanna Spence sent in this tile ~

Dex on an angle with a grid for shading - great idea.  And using Diva Dance in Doodledo is so clever!

Colette Horsburg said she had fun with this too ~

Note how she added line detail and dots to Doodledo to create a new variation.

Fresh out of Seminar 14, brand new CZT Charlotte Carpentier sent in her tile ~

She said that she splashed a bit of color on this after concentrating on basics at the seminar.  She added:

Cool thing I learned from my step-daughter...the gold and silver lined Gelly Roll pens are really versatile. if you use them on straight lines, or even if you fill a little, you can go back in with an eraser (gasp, yes, I have one) and it will take off the gold or silver and leave whatever other color the pen was behind. Makes for some cool highlights, although I am not sure they showed up good with my little pearls here.

What a great tip - and tile.  Thank you and congratulations, Charlotte!

Jackie Becker wrote ~

It took me awhile to decide. I wasn't sure I wanted to submit this one as I wasn't happy with the small border. But, it was fun to bring diva dance out from behind demi. Happy summer to everyone.

The border words really well with the larger grid beside it.  And yes, Diva Dance emerging from the tangles is really pretty, especially shaded like that - beautiful!

Just as I was wrapping up this post, Joan Delony sent another tile.  She said that she had some time while waiting for a tour bus on her trip ~

Doodledo through the whole tile is lovely!




A N D now....the tile for honors this week was sent in by
Lucy Banta from New Jersey ~


Lucy's tile has a delightful Doodledo border -

It is wispy and serves as a perfect frame for her pretty tangles and shading.
Lucy also posted it here on her new blog.

CONGRATULATIONS, Lucy!

I have a little something coming in the mail for you to commemorate the day.

Many thanks to the talented tanglers for sending in your tiles this week. 

Thank you to the creative minds behind the string and tangles used in the challenge -

Joan Delony, CZT via Linda Farmer at TanglePatterns for String 108

Diva Dance
and
Dex - official Zentangle® patterns
Demi by Genevieve Crabe
Diamonds & Squares by Deanne Stewart-Mills
Dooledo by Ksenija Vojisavlijevic

Stop back on tomorrow for "It's a String Thing" #46!