"It's a String Thing" #49 "Zenth" Anniversary Tiles

This was a wonderful challenge - a tribute to the tenth anniversary of the first public class taught by Zentangle® co-founders Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas.

Tanglers used my string line shaped with the numeral ten in mind and their favorite patterns - what fun!

This first tile submitted was from Misty Buchanan ~

She said that she chose, "Finery,Floatfest,Ahh, and Afterglow."
Misty wrapped and wove Floatfest around the oval string line, and filled it in with perfs, lines, and stipple.  Ahh adds to the celebration!


Henrike Bratz sent this lovely tile ~

She used her favorites Well, N'Zeppel and Purk, along with Tootle.  Note the look she achieved with N'Zeppel by darkening in the spaces along and around the grid lines and then shading the shapes in between them.
Henrike also posted her tile here on her blog.


CZT Joan Delony wrote ~

I found this Watercolored Zentangle tile in my "stash" and decided to use it for this week's challenge.
I used H2O watercolor paints which have a shimmer to them. Unfortunately, you don't really see it in the picture.
Betweed is not necessarily my favorite tangle, but It just came about as I was drawing AHH around the watercolor
spots. I drew the perf on the string first, then "viola!" out came Betweed. Go figure.

Now, that is a gorgeous party!  Joan also posted it here on her new and cleverly named blog.


From Lori Byerly  ~

She said that she enjoyed using her favorite tangle pattern because it was "nice to play with something familiar that you like."
Her use of Beadle Joos as it plays against the stark black back drop is striking and simply sensational!
She posted it here on her blog along with some wonderful quotes form Dr. Suess.

From Lily Moon ~

She wrote, "Here's my tile for your anniversary challenge. I used my favorite tangles: Mooka, Bunzo, Shattuck, Betweed and Henna Drum.  Thanks to you for this great challenge :)"

Thanks for a great response, Lily!

The sepia tone added to Betweed makes the tangle gives it an organic feel - a plant, a tree, even woven leather - just gorgeous.
Note too, her amazing blend of Bunzo and Mooka.
Lily also posted her tile here on her blog.

Carmela wrote ~

Thanks for this beautiful 10 string, and you asked to fill it in with our favorite patterns.
Well I've had many, but there is only one that stands head and shoulders above sticks out for me and that's betweed.
Normally I often make it into a round shape and become a kind of star, but now I have made ​​it into the edges of the 0 and it looks nice. to me.
The 1 I have filled with Heart Rope, one of my favorites but I do not often use, and because I am so happy that Rick and Maria have made zentangle public to the world, and I've discovered it, I made ​​a background Joy.
I think it has become a beautiful tribute and I am happy with my result.

And it is all of that - wrapped into a beautiful tribute, indeed.
Carmela also posted her tile here on her blog.


Meridiana wrote ~

To celebrate, I wanted to use tangles that were particularly associated with Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, the creators of the Zentangle method, so I used Rick's Paradox (he came up with it, so it's named after him), and Zinger, which is a favorite tangle that Maria has used for years and it associated with her. I threw in a few other random decorations and also a bit of Knase and of Swarm. There's even a tad bit of Crescent Moon disguised as a sun in each corner. 

She is one of two tanglers this week who used multiple string lines to create their own - what fun!  It is a very thoughtful tribute to Rick and Maria.  She also posted her tile here on her blog.  

Sharyn Penna said ~

A Zenniversary milestone and your string was so much fun. My favorite tangle(s) remains my mash-up of Well and Mooka ... I call it Well-Mooka-Z to give the tangles of origin a nod of appreciation. This can be a pattern fill, but it also makes a wonderful textured ribbon.
Thanks for offering us all a great string and for reminding us of the many ways so many tanglers inspire us. Ten cheers for Maria, Rick and Zentangle Inc. Happy Zenniversary! 

Sharyn's tangle pattern is one of my favorites as well and it looks lovely against the Florz.

Ragged Ray, ever eloquent, wrote ~

Ten years of Zentangle - what a wonderful anniversary to reach. To think that it's been that long since Rick and Maria invented this simple but limitless wonder!
I drew my first tile on 18th June 2013. One year and one month later I drew this tile for your challenge. I used the same three tangles as on my first tile - Static, Tipple and Crescent Moon. The idea of a favourite tangle is still one I struggle with - every week I seem to have a new favourite! And yet again Static tried to get away with me - but I've learnt not to worry as much. I've learnt that better pens and paper help, but far more important is community, sharing with like-minded people, taking inspiration and hopefully giving it back.
Thanks to Rick and Maria and to you Adele - and here's to another ten years of tangling!

This is certainly inspiration for the beholder - the collections of Tipple, colored in red, are sensational.

From Donna Flynn ~

This challenge was fun! I used N'zeppel, Maryhill, Fiore, and Tipple. Zentangle has been truly transformative !!! I am very grateful to Rick and Maria for their incredible creativity and vision. A very happy 10th anniversary!

How pretty the dark Tipple with a bit of sparkle!  It frames her other pretty tangles so beautifully.

Sal broke away from her minimalist look this week.  She took the string line and turned it into a zendala ~

A zendala!   That is ingenious.  She tangled  fishface, tipple, suckee and meer, and finished with just a touch of color - fabulous!

Sal also posted her template here on her blog - you will have to give it a try too.

Juul said, "Bonjour chère Adèle.  Here is my tile. So much fun to do,but impossible to determine my favorit tangles....I like soooo many of them!"

These are drawn like favorites :)  Lovely detail lines and vivid contrast with dark and light - just beautiful.

Annie Taylor was on a plane flight when she tangled this.  She said that she drew the string from memory (good job!) and then used the first tangles she learned from the Zentangle® website ~

That will make Rick and Maria very proud.

Kia Richardson wrote, "Here is my entry for your sting thing #49 celebrating the 10th anniversary of zentangle. I used the tangles Pais, Brayd, Arial View, Lace Curtain and Neuron. Thanks for the opportunity to tangle."

That is a really wonderful collection of favorites.  

Asja used her favorite tangles Purk, 4 Corners, Crux, and Hollibaugh ~

This is very crisp of line.  The dark thick spaces of Hollibaugh make her other tangles appear even more delicate and that touch of blue is beautiful.
Asja posted her tile here on her blog as well.  

Linda Bladen wrote ~

Loved your string. I like that this challenge usually prescribes tangles which makes me try ones that I may not ordinarily be drawn towards, so I included a couple of new tangles to me, they were Quib and Ona. I also used Crescent Moon, Quandary, Prestwood, and Fassett.

Linda blended familiar and not so familiar tangles to create her pretty tile - that was a wonderful idea.
She also posted it here on her blog.

Margaret Bremner sent this with a quick note - and a link to her blog ~

After admiring this gorgeous tile, do visit her blog to see another tile she cleverly tangled for the occasion.


Sue Agnew

I thought it would be fun to use only official tangles ... so the 10 is Verdigogh and Zander, the corners are Flukes, Cubine, and Dex, and of course my pal Bucky in the center of the zero. Fun to dig out some of these old favorites! If I have time tomorrow I want to do one with my favorite un-official tangles...Happy 10th!

And she did! ~

Yesterday I sent you a tile using all official tangles. Here are a couple using non- official tangles. The first is Inapod and Mi2 with a little Footlites and Aaaaah. The second is just Socc.

That is a trio of fabulous tiles - complete with the sparkle of Sue :)

Cheryl Anne Day-Swallow wrote, "The frame was created by using Cubine. The 10 filled in using Basilica."

...and the color is all Cheryl Anne -  beautiful!



Audrie Weisenfelder sent in this orange beauty ~

Audrie posted her tile here on her blog along with her notes about her Ahh accented tile.


From Jane Glotzer ~

She wrote:

Happy Zenth to the inspirational, talented, and uber-generous tangling community!
Here's my submission in honor of the 10th anniversary...I used some favorite tangles. I began with Kuke in the middle of the zero, and then filled the one with Pokeleaf, and a few Jetties floating around, chose Jessicup to surround the Kuke and finished with N'Zeppel for the background. Simple, but sweet...thanks for a fun string--:)

It truly is simple and sweet AND shaded beautifully, too.


Cathy Cusson said ~

Here is my string challenge for this week. i loved the string and had fun playing with the tangles for it. My choices were golven (Mariet Lustenhouwer), chainging (Z), tootsie moon (Alice Hendon), and keeko (z). They are just a few of my favorites. I have so many I love, it is hard to narrow it down to a favorite. Have a great week!

The tangles compliment each other so well and the grey and just a bit of color add to its beauty.

Robin Gosland wrote~

When I look at a string sometimes I immediately know what I want to do with it and sometimes it takes a while. This was one of the immediate times. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted the number 10 to be negative space.
I started looking through my pattern book. I wasn't planning to use favorites, just what I thought fit well. As it turns out, I did use three of my favorites because they were the ones that fit. This is the first time I've used Rain with the aura only on one side.

It's also the first time I've added sparkle afterward by adding white instead of just leaving white as I tangled in the first place. I really like how the sparkle turned out and am grateful to have that option. Too often I get done with a piece and then decide I should have put sparkle here or there. This way, I still can.
I'm very much a fan of free-form N'Zeppel. I almost never use it in a straight grid anymore. I love the way it seems to go under the 1 space. Isn't it cool the difference shading makes?

Robin gave the string a whole new look by leaving the white space as she did.  And yes, it is really cool the difference shading makes!
She also posted it here on her blog.

Lonett A said...

your celebratory string is really wonderful for this great event!
Ten years ago Maria´s and Rick´s first official Zentangle class was held! I can only agree with you ... what a fantastic development for this art form!
Here is my tile for this week. I used some of my favorite tangles (Onamato, Quib, Flukes, Zinger anda touch of N´zeppel in the background) and added some colour in honour of the occasion!

Flukes makes a wonderful border while N'Zeppel peaks from underneath.  So much loveliness in one space!

Deanna Spence said, "...Once again, this was fun. It was hard to pick my favorite tangles to use, though -- I have too many! I used Bales, Barberpole, Coil, and Purk."

Deanna has wonderful versions of these patterns - see the dots on Coil?  Shading and that beautiful touch of Beadline give a fine finish.

Peggy Kohrmann wrote ~

Happy "Zenth" to all this week. I had such fun. This little string was fun to make in a continuous line and then I just had to do Pepper for the zero!!! One of my faves. I made a list of official Zentangle patterns that I have learned in the last six months and also some of my favorites from others. I looked over all the great patterns and all my patterns this week are from Maria and Rick except Beadlines which was a last minute add.
I began with Ricks Paradox but had a challenge since I had never done a triangle before. Knew I wanted Hibred for the "one" and Pepper for the "zero". Since Huggins goes back to my weaving basket weave roots I added that as background. It was too airy and light so I placed Hibred in the center of the horizontal weave. Then the other verticals looked too plain and out of sorts so I changed to width of the three sections and grayed the outer ones. Paradox looked too light so I chose Beadlines around some of the outer lines and corners.
It is much more balanced and I had a blast doing it!

Peggy's commentary is as fun as the tile itself - wonderful, wonderful work!

From Melanie  ~

It is beautiful!  Layer upon layer of pretty tanlges, dark and light space, and her signature detail all wrapped up with a touch of pink.



From CZT Samantha Wunderlich ~

She used her two favorite patterns, Paradox and Tripoli - a gorgeous combination of tangles.  She also posted it here on her blog.

Jenna Wheatman treated us to two tiles this week.  She wrote~

I had a bit more time to spare to add to this challenge. Attached you will find my first tile I sent you but with added shading, it definately makes it better I think. The second tile is my favourite it includes the gorgeous aquafluer and mooka together and the shading really made it pop. Loved this challenge.

Yes to everything Jenna wrote and then some :)  Her Mooka is so elegant and she give Aquafluer such life.

A great big THANK YOU to all of the talented tanglers for sending in their marvelous tiles.

As an special treat, I am emailing a little something to everyone who participated.

Congratulations to Rick and Maria and a debt of gratitude to them from all of us who get to share in the joy of their marvelous creation.  
Happy Zenth!