"It's a String Thing" #69 Tiles

This week's string, created by CZT Sue Jacobs, featured three basic geometrical shapes and tangles that gave us mix of sand and snow and flowers with a lovely grid based pattern for good measure.
Let's take a look~


The first tile arrived from Carmela (Netherlands) who described the string as "playful."  She added, "Sandswirl and Sooflowers are cheerful patterns and I enjoyed it."  She also posted it here on her blog.

Carmela used three variations of Screen along her string lines.  Very cheerful Sand Swirl and Sooflowers fill in the background.

CZT Joan Delony wrote ~

When I started drawing, I had no intentions of drawing this challenge like this, but this is how it came out and I really like it! I immediately thought of "Dancing on the Rooftops"!
Well, then I got inspired and thought I would draw the string again only this time I would do more Snowzags in the same style.
The funny thing about this challenge is that included one of my favorite tangles, Sand Swirl by Karry Heun. I couldn't wait to draw it. Notice that Sand Swirl is not in either tile! See them both on my blog..

Don't you love when that happens?  Some times, and with the most satisfying results, tangles take on a life of their own.  Notice how Joan used a line of Snowzags on either end of her piece - one rounded and the other angular - both free of the mid line.



Lori Byerly said ~

What a fun challenge. Geometric shapes, grids, swirls and more. There were so many options I might have to try this challenge a few more times. Here's my first go at it.
You can also see it here. 

The angular Screen and the curves of Sand Swirl compliment each other perfectly.  Lori created incredible depth through shading.



Kristen Kostelnik Killips who will be a CZT next year (YAY!) said, "... I discovered a couple of new tangles to add to two of my favorites (Sooflowers and Sand Swirl)."

Kristen's tangles are light and lovely.  Notice how she shaded the background of Sooflowers - it makes the tangles stand out.



Janice L Johnson said, "This was a fun challenge this week. I have used these patterns before but not a lot. It was nice to get a chance to play with them a little bit."

Snooflower in Sand Swirl - what a great idea.  Notice, too, how Janice tangled Snowzags on a three sided line - very nice.

From Sandra S. ~

...I really love this string and so I did two tiles this time because I had so much fun with it :-)
I used three of the patterns for both tiles but in a very different way. I only used sand swirl before and the other patterns were new to me. And what can I say - Sooflowers and Snowzags are really wonderful and I will use them again!
I posted my tiles in my blog too:

Sandra gave us a tangle party here - what fun.  Her tiles feature small and large versions of the tangles, wonderful shading, dainty dots, and dark spaces that anchor the lighter areas.  

Christine Forrester said that she is reminded of "presents by the tree" ~

That is very festive.  Note how Christine changed the look of Screen and Snowzags with shading.


From Ragged Ray ~

I took a few liberties with the string, and the tangles this week. Stripping them back to basic elements and then fusing them together. Not that much ink, but lots of shading to differentiate the three shapes. And a surprisingly summery result for these dark English winter days. Which is perfect because it reminded me that it's not winter everywhere, and it won't always be winter here. There's always another day, another tile!

Her "basic elements" are clean and crisp, shaded in and around, and shine with sparkle - truly a touch of summer on a wintry day.

Ilse Lukken said ~

Here's my contribution from this week. It was quite a challenge to me to make a nice composition of these patterns, but I think I've found one ;-)
It's on my blog as well:

Yes, she definitely found a nice composition.  The single string of Snowzags, the large Sooflower and the daintily drawn smaller ones, are just a few of the finer details.

Mother/daughter tanglers, Kathryn White and Tonya Marie, exchanged tiles by text before submitting them - how fun!
This is Tonya's (also found here on Kathryn's blog) ~

Tonia's Screen with the diagonal line and shading make it a stand out.  Sooflower in layers is lovely.

And this is Kathryn's tile - also found here on her blog ~

Notice her rows of Snowzags - each one is different.  She used Sooflower on a string line and as a filler.  

With Advent greetings from Germany, Heike Mosebach sent in this tile ~

Notice how Heike cleverly repeated the Sand Swirl scrolls in the other three tangles.  The lines playfully break away in Screen, curl up and out from Snowzags, and accent Sooflowers  - so much fun in one little space.


Sharyn Penna said that this challenge resurfaced sweet memories.  She wrote ~

I gave a curve to the grid of Screen...that made working with the grid so much fun. Snowzag melted out of Screen.
Screen makes me smile from a favorite memory of when my oldest daughter was a toddler. When it would rain she would pull her rocking chair next to a window. She'd sit with a pad of graph paper in her lap and color pencils in her left hand. She'd look at the wet window screen and scatter colorful boxes across the paper similar to the many rain drops on the screen. She learned counting, colors, shapes and patience. She taught me a new way to see her world. 

Notice the circular grid Sharyn gave to Screen and how, as she said, "Snowzag melted" out of it.  Sand Swirl with darkened centers and spaces between is very dramatic and is a wonderful compliment to the neighboring Sooflowers.

Annemarie wrote about her tile here on her blog.  Here is an excerpt ~

...I tangled on a white tile with black pen and after finishing I saw that it was very busy indeed (not to say 'chaotic'). I decided to color the Screen background soft purple with my Derwent inktence pencils and the string in the same color with a Sakura metallic pen. This last thing is not visible in a scan, that's always a pity.

It must sparkle and shine in person.  Annemarie added Screen to her entire background and chose smaller sections for the other two tangles.  Notice how she wove her string line under and over.

Linda Bladen said she has taken a bit of a break from tangling, but a good friend encouraged her to begin again.  She said, "Makes you realise how precious good friends are."

Yes, they are very precious.  And so is the time spent tangling as Linda shows through her work.
Sooflower looks wonderful with Tipple between them.  Her beautiful tangles are accented by the shaded white spaces.

Natasja Rijsbergen wrote, "The tangles were lovely. I made a few variations and used all the tangles."

A few tremendous variations, that is.  Sooflowers along the border and Screen on a global grid with thick dark boxes are very dramatic.

Ingrid Coventon wrote ~

In the attachment my ST # 69 tile. Sand swirl, which I like very much, already was familiar to me, the other patterns were new and I had fun learning them. I like this tile.

There is so much to like about it - the cascade of Sooflowers, the double lines of Snowzags, and the very pretty variation of Screen, just to name a few.


Christiane Plate said, "...it was joy to tangle again after a long "summer" break".

And it is a joy to see her tile.  Notice how her tangles and variations of them change where they meet the string line.  She shaded Snowzags to the same side of each jagged line and look how that changed the tangles appearance.


Lucy Banta said that she knew Sand Swirl already and had fun learning three new tangles ~

Lucy used Sooflowers in Screen and Sand Swirl in Sooflowers - that is fun.  Snowzags makes a great border here, especially the way Lucy shaded it.
 Here's the link to the post on her blog.


From Felicity Strohfeldt ~

Here’s my tile no.69! After much contemplation of the four tangles and several efforts, it finally gelled. I experimented with several version of this string and the tangles. To me each one was busier than the next. Screen has so many possibilities, that it was overwhelming, wasn’t too keen on Snowzag and so I eventually settled on three out of four and went also for a simpler versions of Screen. Sooflower was new and gorgeous to do. I combined it with Printemps and the result is rather floral and almost perfumed, don’t you think? I love the flow of Sand Swirl, and great for shading. And all of this I composed on a simple background of Screen.

Sooflower is just gorgeous tangled along the string line and spilling into its bouquet.  Sand Swirl shines as both patterns' curvy lines play well against the grid of Screen.  

Kay Owens said, "The color was fun to work with on a gloomy - rainy day."

It looks as though it was fun to tangle and it certainly brightened up a rainy day here.  Kay layered her tangles in an arc fashion and Snowzags looks very sunny that way!



Jane Glotzer describes her tile ~

I started with the Sand Swirl, a tangle I absolutely love. The lines came out so clean--the benefit of a new micron!! I combined some of the sections that were defined by the string, but still left a couple of open, white areas. I continued with a variation of Screen--I used a double line for the grid and a circle in the middle, instead of a square and then decided the centers were calling out for a little color. Afterwards, I also added the red to the centers of the swirls. I used a very light touch with the shading and I am quite pleased with the feel and openness of the final piece.

Add to that delightful description the darkened spaces around Sand Swirl and the way Jane shaded the center circles of Screen and that is one wonderful tile.

(And there certainly is something magical in a new Micron ;)


Kelly Rickert said, "I call this "Space exploration" because I explored uses of negative space :)"

What a great name, dramatic white space, and swirls that fill and fade.  Notice how Kelly's shading where Sand Swirls meets Screen adds great depth.


Susan Theron said that she "enjoys each challenge."  Her enjoyment shows here ~

Susan's tile is light and airy, nicely shaded, and set off wonderfully with Screen as a background



From Lily Moon ~

Layers of Sooflowers - I should say spirals of Sooflowers - grace her tile.  Black, brown, and touches of gold and white - all beautifully shaded - make her tile shine.  

Lily also posted her tile here on her blog.


CZT Margaret Bremner who brought Screen to us, wrote ~

Attached is a tile I did using the tri-shape string. I really like that string and use it in one of my classes. Snowzags was new to me, and I made a few... umm... opportunities for me! I also did some variations on Screen and Sand Swirl.

Margaret has so many things to soak up here - striped Sand Swirl, Screen meets Moving Day, Sooflower with light and dark backgrounds, and fabulous shading, just to name a few.

Peggy Kohrmann wrote ~

Sand Swirl is a favorite but the others were new. Screen was rather interesting to make with variations. Snowzags is not as easy as it looked and of course a corner was difficult. I did a slight variation to include the center of Sooflowers in brown. The triangle of Sooflowers and it's edge variation was enhanced with brown and I really like it.

An elegant edge of Sooflower, and brown does make it come alive all the more.  Peggy's tangles are beautiful as is her shading.



AND now, the tile for honors this week was sent in by
Portia Hyde of Michigan ~

Despite feeling under the weather, Portia took time to tangle this beautiful tile ~

There is something magical about Sooflower  when it is used on a string line or border as it tucks over and under.  Portia did that here and she added variations of the tangle - a double treat.   Notice how she layered the flowers over Sand Swirl and used a thick outer line.
With shading and lines, she also created pretty versions of Snowzags and Screen.

Congratulations, Portia, I have a little something coming in the mail for you.

Many thanks to the creative minds behind the string and tangles used this week:

TanglePatterns String 067 by CZT Sue Jacobs

Sand Swirl by Karry Heun
Screen  by CZT Margaret Bremner
Snowzags by Lori Howe
Sooflowers by Livia Chua

Stop back Tuesday afternoon for "It's a String Thing" #70 !