"It's a String Thing" #100 Zentennial Tiles

Are you ready for a celebration?

This week marked the 100th consecutive "It's a String Thing" weekly adventure.  We used my string and new tangle, both inspired by the number 100 - a Zentennial Monotangle as Joyce Evans coined it.

Since I posted the details last Tuesday, I have been absolutely overwhelmed with the warm responses and extraordinary tiles.  I have laughed and cried reading your kind words and updates and I am still soaking up all of the good wishes and expressions of gratitude.

Instead of writing my usual Tangled Tidbits after each post, I responded to each email personally. The entries are listed below with the notes that accompanied them.  Where I was able, I included the state/country of the artist as well as the number of the first "It's a String Thing" they participated in.

The lucky winner of my new frame is announced at the end - can you stand the anticipation?!

Grab a cup of tea, a glass of wine, a friend or two, and enjoy the show ~

The first tile arrived from Juul (France) #31 ~

Chère Adèle
FELICITATIONS!!!
Thank you so much for everything you do. I admire your generosity.

From Ilse Lukken (The Netherlands) #53 ~

Congratulations with this milestone you've reached: 100 challenges! Thanks for all the work you do for us tanglers :-))
Love your new tangle as well!
My tile is on my blog 

From Sandra (Germany) #63 ~

​c​ongratulation, dear Adele,
​to the zentennial of your challenge!!! Your String-Thing-challenge is a very special one!!!
Many thanks for your creative ideas and the energy that you spend in the challenge every week!
​This special zentennial challenge was wonderful and I had a lot of fun to tangle it :-)​
In my blog

From CZT Cheryl Rotnem (California) #6 ~

What a fun tangle. So many possibilities! Hope everyone is inspired by this. Just a touch of red to set it off!

From Sarah Antoinette (Michigan) #87 ~

Congratulations!
Used the fun new tangle 100 in celebration of challenge 100! Just did a study of it rather than get too experimental. I did color and shine it up pretty for the occasion!
[my blog]  

From Joanne Faherty (England) #79 ~

Joanne Faherty from uk celebrating adele bruno's 100th it's a string thing with a 100 inspired string, plus her new tangle 100 :)
The new tangle is so much fun.
I loved doing the aquafleur one and the big one across the middle they are my 2 favourites and then they all discided to have a party at the bottom with as many variations as I could fit in ( they broke out of line too!)
Till next week. Have fun and keep tangling  [my blog] 

From Ann (Denmark) #76 ~

I love your 100 tangle. Quick and easy, yet with endless possibilities!
This was one of those tiles that just drew it self. I love when that happens.
Congratulations on your 100th challenge, that is quite an achievement!

From Joyce Evans (British Columbia, Canada) #31 ~

This is my entry for It’s a String Thing # 100. The Zentennial Monotangle.
I wanted to try out my new Derwent Inktense Pencils that I got 2 days ago so added some colour.
Thank you for doing this challenge 100 times. Congratulations!

From Jai, AKA the Yorkshire Tortoise (Dublin, Ireland) #96 ~

Congratulations Adele, what a wonderful treat you have given us this week. I think I have said most of what I wanted to in my blog hereI remain amazed at your creativity, I hope you enjoy each and every tile people send you this week.

From Lynne Harvey #96 ~

I have attached 2 pictures as I couldn't decide which position I like it in the best - I will let you decide. (Lynne used my tangles - a tear jerker - and I love both!)
I wanted to do something special since this marks the 100th (zentennial) string challenge. I chose a black 4.5" tile and gold and silver metallic pens. After a bit of research I decided to make an Adele Sampler! You can read more about this tile on my blog -
I am anxious to see how others met this challenge. It was a pleasure to participate in this week and I look forward to the next 100!

From Jessie Plouffe (Connecticut) #95 ~

Congratulations on 100 challenges, and what a great new tangle! I used
some of your tangleations, as well as combining it with Mooka and
O-Cee.

From Michele Wynne (California) #74 ~

Congratulations on such a monumental achievement! I had such a fun time with this challenge. I love the string and the pattern and all of it's variations.
I've been in watercolor mode and thought this challenge deserved some festive color.
I've gone into more detail on my blog about how special these challenges are but for me, what sets It's a String Thing apart from other challenges I participate in is the anticipation and joy I get from the Monday email gallery and all of the work you do to make that happen.
You are a gem!
Thank you for all that you do.

From Lucy Banta (New Jersey) #35 ~

Congratulations Adele! I'm happy and honored to contribute to your 100th string thing challenge! I contribute my love of Zentangle art to your string challenges -- you got me started and gave me a weekly goal (even if I missed a few!). Thank you for your generosity, and for your beautiful Zentangle art.
Attached is my contribution to this monumental occasion. And here's the link to my blog

A very warm welcome to Sabrina Kirjavainen - and the first tile to arrive from Lammi, Finland ~

congrats on the 100!!
I am taking part for the first time and I hope all is ok. I had fun with it!!

From Tina Kirchhübel (Germany ) #91 ~

String Thing #100! ! ! That's awesome. I really wanted to accept this challenge. But this time it wasn't as easy as I thought before and I am not perfectly satisfied with the result. But there is no right or wrong in Zentangle and so - here is my tile for the Zentennial.

From Portia Hyde (Michigan) #64 ~

Happy 100!

From Dorothy Allison (Adelaide, South Australia) #33 ~

Thank you Adele for your invitation to contribute to your #100 "It's a String Thing". I have still been tangling, and enjoying your posts even though I haven't submitted anything for a while. I especially like your Wednesday Words. The challenge to do your "100" Monotangle was fun - congratulations on your achievement and for your encouragement to all who visit your site.

From Lori Byerly (Washington) #48 ~

Congratulations, Adele, for reaching 100 in your It's a String Thing challenges! Thanks so much for sharing your time and talents to give us all hours of tangling fun and the added gift of seeing so many tiles from tanglers around the world.
You may also see my tile here.

From Karin Sauerbier (Hagen, Germany) #97 ~

congratulation to the zentennial!!!
Thank you for the weekly adventures! This time it was a very relaxing new pattern and an interesting string. I really enjoyed it.
Because of the jubilee I decided to add some fireworks to the monotangle.
Hope you received many beautiful tiles!

From Cathy Cusson (USA) #17 ~

I love the new tangle! I have been playing with it in my journal for hours. It has so many cool variations. Great job! Also congrats on our 100th challenge!

From Cheryl Stocks (Arizona) #52 ~

For your 100th String Thing, I was drawn to week 99 and Tripoli. Using all the various responses as inspiration, I created this bouquet in your honor. I read that the proper modern gift for a 100th anniversary is a ten-carat diamond. While I am sure you are worthy, it's just a little bit out of my budget at this time.
These simple flowers don't require a vase or water. I hope to post them on my blog before the big event.

From Emily Shelton (Kentucky) #77 ~

Congrats on 100! I know it’s a lot of work. Thanks so much.
Sorry – your string kinda got lost.

From Sidney Kapinos (Virginia) #89 ~

Congratulations on the Zentennial round of "It's A String Thing"! This is quite an important milestone. Thank you as always for the opportunity to participate in the challenge. It's especially fun this time due to the commemorative new pattern and string, and also the giveaway. Can't wait to see the results and announcement on Monday!
[Here is the] link to my blog 

From Heidi Sue W (Utah) # 75 ~

First of all, congratulations on hitting 100! That's pretty nifty. And what a fun pattern to tangle with. I did play with your 100 a LOT, but in the end, what the string told me to do, was a ribbon of 100, sort of twisting around the shapes of the 0's. And it ended up looking like columns, not twisty winding ribbons. Very solid and sober looking, indeed. :)
I used tan and blue/black micron pens in 05, and some blue and gray shading in prismacolor pencil.
Fun challenge, this 100!

From Beth Gaughan (North Carolina) #91 ~

Congratulations on reaching your 100 milestone and on your new tangle pattern!
I only began tangling earlier this year and "Tangle Tuesday" has quickly become a highlight each week. I look forward to the next 100!
I realized after I finished this tile that I had turned it sideways to tangle it, but I liked the result so here it is anyway.

From Miriam G (California) #94 ~

This one was so much fun that I actually did two before I could stop myself...am only sending the second one, as I am sure you will have more than enough to post!
I tried to stick pretty tightly with your string design, but incorporated every circular tangle pattern I could recall, along with your variations.  Too much fun!
Thank you once again for an enchanting challenge.
(Can you spot my 'whoops'? got a little bleary-eyed after doing all those circles)

From Sue Agnew (Arizona) #3 ~

Congratulations on your 100th challenge, and thank you for all the fun and connections you have brought to so many people.
Your new tangle, 100, was full of possibilities for decoration. All those circles (if I were really Zentangley I'd call them "orbs") just begged to be filled in various ways.
Although perhaps I stretched the definition of monotangle, I am going to claim that this is one ... I repeated the 100 motif numerous times ... and just decorated it variously. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

(Sue tangled each of the circles in one of my original patterns - now, that made me cry!)

From Anna Houston (British Columbia, Cananda) #22 ~

I'm not sure I've done your string or tangle much justice but it was fun and done with love and appreciation for your hard work and dedication in bringing us these challenges.
I hope you have a wonderful celebration in your own way for this great accomplishment!

From Linda Bladen (The United Kingdom) #43 ~

Thank you for the nudge have attached my tangle, I'm away from home at the moment and borrowed some pens so it feels a little rough and ready. Sneaked in a roman numeral too.
Congratulations on this significant milestone, looking forward to the next 100

From Annie Taylor (Spain) #15 ~

Congratulation, Adele - a lot of hard work goes into maintaining a blog, never mind a weekly challenge and you're doing a fantastic job. Thank you!
I did two tiles this week. The first one I did whilst 'watching' the latest Mad Max film...it ended up kind of steampunked, too! Wonder why?
The second one I did yesterday and I kept it very simple.
They're definitely not the best I've ever done, but I enjoyed them and for a little while, they managed to distract me from the suffocating heat we have had here for the past few weeks. It's set to last a bit longer, (lol, and then summer REALLY starts) so I am looking forward to more distractions in the shape of String Thing 101!
I'm sure you'll be kept very busy loading up all the entries for this week's challenge - and I'm sure they will be as varied and as interesting as usual.

From Jem - AKA Ragged Ray- (The United Kingdom) #7 ~

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to your wonderful weekly challenge! I'm so pleased I've been with you since the very early days. I remember it all so fondly and it's entirely transformed my Zentangle journey!
I've loved playing about with your new tangle and have filled a page with variations to try. I think it will look wonderful played out over long and wandering ribbons. For now, three variations in the chosen string. I'm not sure it's come out quite how I imagined, but I don't think that matters. The joy and the love it was drawn with are what matter!
Thank you for all your time and effort for creating and curating this space for us to share our tangled outpourings. Here's to the next 100!

From Magdalene Lee (Singapore) #74 ~

Congratulations on reaching your 100th challenge! You've put in so much effort into this challenge, giving people something to look forward to every week and then blessing us with personalized words of encouragement and praise.
...I haven't tangled for over 2 months...I became a final year medical student. Life just got busy overnight and while trying to prioritize my time I unfortunately haven't had much time for Zentangle. I have missed it though, and when I saw your email, I knew I had to participate.
I'm rather rusty, so this tile is not one of my best. I did, however, enjoy the tangling process very much. I used to try to achieve perfection with my tiles, but with this one I just let myself have fun with it. You've created a tangle with lots of possibility for exploration, and I look forward to seeing what others do with it.

From Deb Jacobs (Wisconsin) #90 ~

Thanks for your insptration. Here is my rise to the 100 challenge. Carpe Diem!

From Alex (Germany) #93 ~

enclosed you find my entry for the #100! It was really fun to tangle away with all those numbers and I really tried to come up with a tile that does justice to this special event. Thus I incorporated balloons, a candle, a fastoon and lots of color...
Happy Zentennial and warm greetings from
Alex, Germany

From CZT Tracey Lyon (Florida) ~

Congratulations on such an auspicious occasion as a Zentennial. Blessings on your 100th challenge, may the response exceed all of your expectations!

From Tracey McDonald #98 ~

I learned a lot about shading this time. 1. One does not need as much graphite as one would expect. 2. After smoothing with a Q-tip, I realized that shadows generally have strong chrisp edges, unless the item is round. After smoothing my center piece was a bit too dark. But other than that I did get the effect I wanted. Somehow it ended up looking like a "one" though, rather than a "zero". I used a bit of red to liven it up a bit. Hope you enjoy it.

From Jeanine Berry #90 ~

I've only started doing zentangles recently but these challenges have taught me so much. Congratulations on your 100th. I only had time to do this once and would certainly simplify the second time around. Looking forward to retirement soon when I can play more. It's always a great to see so many creative takes on a tangle.

From Ingrid Coventon (The Netherlands) #20 ~

Congratulations with the String Thing Challenge # 100!!!!! and with your new tangle 100!
Wow, what a milestone! and I hope there will be a lot more to follow.
A big, big thank you for all the work you do to provide us week after week with a new string to tangle in. Thank you for the tangling tips, Wednesday Words of Wisdom and of course your Artwork which is always so beautiful and a candy to the eye! Your comments to every tile that has been send and lined up are always so positive.
Enclosed my ST #100 tile that I started in France and finished in The Netherlands.
I wanted to make a festive, colorful and memorable tile, and I hope I succeeded.
To take part in the ST challenges, this past year, [taught] me a lot. In the beginning I was judging my tiles not very positive, and there were a lot of times that I did not wanted to send them in because I felt very ashamed of them. But despite my feelings about the tile, I did not want to be a coward and sent them in week after week. And in recent months, I started to be more and more positive about what I made. They are definitely not masterpieces but I think they are ok and I work with pleasure.
So thank you also for this experience!
I am looking forward to see all the other festive tiles!
With lots of love!

From Becky Welty (North Carolina) #89 ~

Congratulations on #100! I decided to add the celebration into my tangle. You can see party hats, streamers, and confetti. Looking forward to 100 more!

From Linda Goncalves #98 ~

I just wanted to practice the background from Wednesday's inspiration. Happy 100th!

From Jenny Hopkins (Australia) #91 ~

Congratulations on this fantastic achievement of dedication and passion. So many of us are so appreciative of what you have done.
It may be a Zentennial for you but it is a first for me. My first monotangle. It took me a while to get my head around using only one tangle. Nestled in the giant 100 in the background is one tiny 100 that decided to deconstruct itself into a smile, to represent the many hundreds of people you have given smiles to over the last 100 challenges :)
Thanks for all that you do.

From Sally Sheldon (Massachusetts) # 91 ~

This week's string challenge was done as I sat on the deck enjoying the peace and quiet as dusk approached. I continued to tangle happily until some areas did not go together as well as I would have liked. Since it was dusk and I couldn't see too well by then it was easiest to make the areas black. The result was as you can see a marked contrast between the black and white, which I decided to keep without shading since I could still see it. By daylight the next day I decided to leave well enough alone. I had very much enjoyed my evening tangling on the deck and decided not to change what I had done. Thank you for your challenges each week. I hope to be able to complete more in the future. Congratulations on reaching 100!

From Rhonda Roy (Vancouver Island, BC, Cananda) # 92 ~

Thanks for your weekly challenges and especially for this Zentennial challenge!

From CZT Dorian Eng (Florida) ~

A very fun tangle…thank you Adele!

From Sharyn Penna (Massachusetts) #27 ~

Loved the string ... the simplicity of the tangle offers so many variations ... I can't wait to see all the responses to this prompt!
I had a blast celebration your first 100 ... Looking forward to the next 100! Sending you 100 cheers!

From Beverly Gotthardt #95 ~

Congrats Adele on all your accomplishments. Love the frame, such a cool idea.
Wish I had a steadier hand to do your new tangle 100 better justice.
Here's the link to my blog

A very warm welcome to Rae Smith (Queensland, Australia) ~

This is my first try on your challenge and I may be too late, but congratulations anyway on presenting 100 challenges.

From Jackie Becker (Washington) #4 ~ 

...Even though I haven't lifted a Micron pen for quite a long time, I have continued to follow your posts every week and have enjoyed seeing your participants grow quite a bit since I sent you my first attempt. I could not let this #100 go by without extending my heartfelt congratulations. I still thank you for encouraging me to break out the "real" tiles and give them a try! ...I am sending this tile to recognize and be a part of your wonderful milestone. I have to admit that after so long being away from pen to paper, I feel like I am back at square one...Your new frame looks great! Love the corners matching the tiles. I am such a fan of metal, basic "black" and "minimalist" architecture/decor. I am so excited for you to have this new product. I'm also looking forward to seeing what you have coming up with your new website. 

From Marla Mendenhall (California) #97 ~

Glass, granite, marble, all withstand the test of time - as has Tickled To Tangle's String Challenge, with best wishes for many more centangles to come. Congratulations, Adele. You and your site are a tangler's treasure. Let's Par-Tay!!!
The second tile was just for fun. The strings in the middle of two balloons was supposed to be the 1 - didn't quite happen the way I envisioned; oh well. The colored version was made from a copy onto parchment. 

From Audrie Weisenfelder (Arizona) #8 ~

Mazel Tov, Adele. Happy 100 challenge. I wouldn't have missed this one for the world.
It was a fun one to do. I like all the variations of your tangle pattern. So again, congratulations. Here it is:
Also on my blog

From Charlotte Carpenter, CZT (California) #33 ~

…and here is a tile for your 100th!
Created especially for you, it has an Akuras Bunzo in the middle, and your tangles of 100 and Pauline’s Pigtail. This was a lot of fun, and I wish you all the best!

From Susan Theron (South Africa) #55 ~

I SO wanted to participate in your big milestone challenge, but with moving I did not really have time. I still send you my "I-wonder-what-it-would-look-like-if-I-try-this" tile. Hopefully you can see that I tried to use Uncorked and MelMel. A BIG Congratulations. I do enjoy your challenges because it lets me think outside the box and I learn a lot from my fellow tanglers.

A very warm welcome to  Anita Aspfors Westin (Sweden) ~

Hello there!
I got into the zentanglemethod in the beginning of this year and now I found your challenges with the String Thing, which I like very much... I´ve tried to do the anniversary-challenge and it is posted in my blog, so I send the link hereAll the best and congratulations to you for a nice work!

From Felicity Strohfeldt (South Africa) #65 ~

Hope you are well and enjoying Summer. Now for ZENTENNIEL CHALLENGE 100!! Hmm! Zenpiration, Zenuthusiasm, and Zenvariety seem to Zenwhelm me and I landed up with 3 tiles!! The first has a close connection with Adele’s String 100 and I varied tangle 100 within each band. I incorporated over 12 official tangles like Cayke, Cruffle, Yang,Onamato,Moonpie, Croon and Fire works as I moved along. For the background, I deconstructed 100’s, giving the tile a festive, happy look. Tile 2 the Tangle 100 loosely echoes String 100 and I continued with the Zenvariety method and used Hollibaugh bands using a different version of the tangle as I continued. Still Zenspired, I did Tile 3! Not so Zentisfied with the result, but I thought, take a leap of Zenate and include it. 100 tangle zenvarities as a background and then I “attempted” a Zenshadow of 100. Hmm? Zentastic?? Also on my blog.
Thank you for a fabulous Zenchallenge 100!! Hope you have a peaceful week.

From Donna Symons (Pennsylvania and Idaho) #87 ~

Hope this can still make it in.We are in the Sawtooth Mts. in Idaho and had to drive 15 miles to Stanley to get cell reception to send this!! It tickled me that after I was done and looked at my tile it not only included your new tangle but the trails we hike!! Congratulations and many thanks for being such a creative and positive voice in the Zentangle community!!!!

From CZT Brenda Urbanik (South Africa) #4 ~

Thank you so much for this invitation! Of course I will participate. I have put my entry on my blog, which you can find here.
You have been such great motivation on my Zentangle journey. I wish I could have played in every challenge, but time did not allow it...
Happy 100th sweet lady, you have been the greatest challenge host.

From CZT Margaret Bremner (Saskatchewan, Canada) #41 ~

Well, hearty congratulations! It takes dedication to keep something like this going for so long! I'm attaching two tiles. The first one is the one where I forgot to remember "Oh, it's a STRING thing" and just used a string I had handy. The second one is the one I did properly, following instructions. Yay me!

From Joya (Germany) #52 ~

hearty congratulations on your centennial ♥ 

From CZT Sindy P (Florida) #30 ~

Hope this represents the excitement I have for your accomplishment !!

From CZT Joan Delony (Florida) #7 ~

(I spy her tile displayed on one of my frames :)

And now...the drum roll please...To determine the winner of my new frame...

I wrote out each of your names on slips of paper, folded them once, and placed them in a beautiful ZIA dish by Su D'Alessio.

Next, I placed the dish on my kitchen counter and had my sweet granddaughter - who turned one this week - choose the winner.   With the daintiest of touches, she reached in...

and selected one name...

And the winner is...

CONGRATULATIONS, Lori!

In closing, please know that I am eternally grateful to all of you for your willingness to share your tangled journeys with me.  To quote Ragged Ray, "Thanks for the never-ending warmth of a shared passion."

Here's to the next 100!