SAND - My Newest Tangle

On our most recent stay on the Gulf of Mexico,  my daughter Elena asked if I was going to come up with a new tangle while we were there.  "You always do," she said.

And she was right.  And so I did...

This new pattern is based on a diagonal, or diamond shaped dot grid.  It is distinguished by the pearls that it forms as well as its secondary grid.

I've named it Sand in honor of our oldest daughter and her husband who celebrate their seventh and ever so happy wedding anniversary next week:
S for Sarah, AND for Andrew.

It wasn't until I named the tangle, that the connection between sand and pearls become evident.
Little pearls are formed when you tangle SAND.  Pearls are formed by oysters from little grains of sand.  Don't you just love when things come together like that?

Here is my new tangle ~

A single row of Sand creates a beautiful border.  You can use just one section of the grid, or many. The possibilities for variations are endless - just imagine what adding aura would do...

I must thank my fellow Knuckleballers and my Fall Fractals class at Sam Flax this past week for being my pattern guinea pigs. Your feedback was invaluable.  Special thanks to my dear friend Sindy P, CZT for providing the finishing touch to the tangle - and for the inspiration to illustrate it on a Renaissance tile ~

Sand monotangle by Sindy P, CZT
photo effect applied with MarbleCam app

Enjoy!

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Every leaf speaks bliss to me,

Fluttering from the autumn tree...

                                                                         ~Emily Brontë

Renaissance Tile by Adele Bruno, CZT 

This is from my last Renaissance Tile class.  I used brown and black Micron 01 pens, white charcoal pencil for highlights and pencil for shading.  The tangle is Sampson by Zentangle® co-founder Maria Thomas.

"It's a String Thing" #116

It's Tuesday, your good news day!

This Saturday is All Hallows' Eve, or Halloween as we celebrate it here in the States.
Along with all things spooky, it is also packed with candy, candy, and more candy.

One of the most noted sweets of the season is candy corn - or cannie corns as my children dubbed them in their adorable toddler days.  As a matter of fact, October 30 is National Candy Corn Day.

Since we tangled a challenge in celebration of it last year, let's start a tradition and do the same this year.

To begin we will revisit TanglePatterns String 095 by Sandra Hart ~

Copyrighted image used with permission by TanglePatterns.com

This time, we will use tangles that begin with the letter "C".  They include:

Chartz and
Cadent both by Maria Thomas, Zentangle® co-founder
Cracked by Lori Howe
Confettus by Angie Shade

There is a nice balance here ~ bold, light, wispy...use as many or as few as you wish.

While the string lines resemble candy corn, your end result is not meant to look like any one thing in particular - tangles are non-representational.  
On the other hand, Zentangle Inspired Art often is representational, so please feel free to do either.

For my readers from other lands, here is a photograph of candy corn and a few candy corn themed things...

Bowl of "Cannie Corns" on my kitchen counter 

Candy Corn Candle - a gift from my friend Kathy

Candy Corn printed pants I saw at a local store - can you imagine?!

Step outs for the patterns can be found by clicking their names above and/or TanglePatterns.

Simply pencil the string line onto your tile and tangle away! Keep in mind that string lines are suggestions and let the patterns lead the way.

Here are the (Not so) Official Guidelines:
* Challenges are posted on Tuesdays.
*Use the string posted for the week and patterns that begin or contain the letter(s) indicated
* Submit a photo of your tile saved as jpg or scan your tile (300 dpi or higher) and save as a jpg
*Email your jpg file as an attachment to - brunoadelem@gmail.com
*Entries are to be submitted by Saturday evenings.
*Photos and 'Best of Show' are posted on Mondays.

Send in your photos - you will encourage and inspire fellow Zentangle® enthusiasts all over the world. WHEN YOU SIGN YOUR NAME, FEEL FREE TO INCLUDE YOUR STATE/COUNTRY.
FOR EXAMPLE: ADELE BRUNO (FLORIDA)

PLEASE NOTE: It is not necessary for you to have a blog or website to participate.

If you do have a blog or website, I will add a link upon request.
Please include the site specific URL.

I look forward to your emails.
HAVE FUN!

"It's a String Thing" #115 Tiles

Did you ever hear the saying that describes a challenges as trying to fit a square peg into a round hole?
Our task this week can be similarly described as we tried to fit triangular pattens into a round string.

While we did use Cruffle, a round tangle, the other two patterns were triangular in shape.  When they were paired with the circular string, it made for quite a challenge.  You will see that our tanglers rose to the occasion and the tiles are just beautiful.

Let's take a look ~

The first tile arrived form Anita A Westin (Dalarna, Sweden) ~

Here is mine. When I saw the string my first thought was: I cannot make this. But as I started to work with the patterns they made it themselves. Beautiful patterns! I will try this string again I think, because it wasn´t that impossible as I first thought.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Amazing how that happens when tangling, isn't it? - just as the Zentangle® motto says, "Anything is possible one stroke at a time."®
*two variations of Fandance
*swarms of Swarm and pops of Cruffle

This is my tile ~

Tangled Tidbits - 

*three variations of Fandance
*Swarm in the center circle and outer crescent
*just a bit of Cruffle, leaving some white space

From Sara Belmont-Kleingeld (Western Australia) ~

Tangled Tidbits - 

*a spiral of Swarm
*Cruffle center and corners
*stippled background

From Smgg (Taiwan) ~

Tangled Tidbits - 

*stippled Cruffle
*two variations of Cruffle
*super Swarm

From Lily (Hungary) with "Zenhugs" - 

Tangled Tidbits - 

*her tile is photographed on a fan - pretty compliment to Fandance
*highlights and white dots make the tangles shine
*three variations of Cruffle

From Juul (France) with "lots of love" ~

Tangled Tidbits - 

*contrast with bold black and white spaces
*center burst of Fandance
*sun-like arc of Swarm

From Brenda Urbanik (South Africa) ~

Here is my entry for this week. You can also find it on my blog
I find Swarm a bit challenging, just because I think I prefer it looking "neat". So, because I wanted to use it in a border type shape, I actually drew a zig-zag but not letting the points meet, and then I went back and filled the lines. Almost like a "Shattuck" I suppose.
I tried my hand again at a Renaissance Tile. I always love looking at the work other's are doing with these but I do find the paper a bit too soft and almost "hairy", making shading and blending a bit hair raising!
Thank you for being my motivation to continue tangling. Looking forward to the next challenge!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*highlighted and shaded outer Swarm shines
*use of black, brown, and white on the Renaissance tile is beautifully balanced
*two variations of Fandance

From Joanne Faherty (United Kingdom)~

After looking at this for a day and pondering the string, I got stuck in. As I was turning my tile to draw the swarm tangle the stacked moons jumped out at me so that's how i left it. With cruffles nesting in the bottom. I tried both versions of Fandance I think I like the rounded edge ones more.
Happy tangling ( and a very late birthday wishes)

Tangled Tidbits - 

*wonderful use of white space
*shadow and shading add depth
*nesting Cruffle

From Lori Byerly (Washington) ~

Another great challenge! Thanks so much for encouraging us to try out new patterns.
You may see my tile here.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*clever use of the string lines as Cruffle
*wisps of Fandance
*super shading and bits of dark space

From Sarah and Teigr, the corgi ~

Hello from hungrycorgistudio. We've been a bit under the weather but wanted to participate and was feeling the Halloween fun, so we modified the string to one big circle and one small one. I tried the original string and it was a terrible result. So here is our happy contribution. Boo!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*string line converted into Cruffle
*a surprise of  Halloween fun
*white tangles shaded with color

From CZT Jennifer Sparrow (North Carolina) ~

In all my zenness over String #114, I completely forgot to send my birthday wishes! Glad to hear you had a wonderful celebration!
I had to trace this week's lovely string to finally get it right. I love the crescent shapes. I especially enjoyed shading and highlighting at the end.
This is also on my blog.
Thanks again for your challenges and your thoughtful comments.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*dark to lighter arcs of the tangles
*black centers and background for Cruffle
*touch of highlight for Fandance

From Esther (Switzerland) ~

First of all and a little belated Happy Birthday to you. Best wishes and good luck for the future year with Sunshine and Happy Hours.
Me too, I celebrated my birthday on 18th October. I’ve been one week in Italy, Gardasee, for walking. It was wonderful. That’s why I jump to the String # 115, which you find enclosed.
Thank you for the warm welcome on your Blog at String # 112.
It is only my second String and I’m not quite sure, how to fill the string. Hope to get some feedback from the other participants. This would be very helpful for me.
The tile is published on my Zentangle-BlogThank you for this interesting assignment.

Tangled Tidbits - and a very Happy Birthday to you!
*two variations of Fandance
*shaded background for Cruffle
*dots border the string

From Karina (Perth, Australia) ~

I struggled with this one but I am happy with the results.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*varied line weight on the string lines
*center circle of Swarm
*light and airy Cruffle

From Deb Jacobs (Wisconsin) ~

...thanks for posting this fun challenge. I have not seen or used 2 of the tangles. Loved the rythm of Swarm. Happy Fall!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*aura-ed Swarm
*dark, sparkled orbs between Cruffle
*outer border of Fandance

From Karin (Germany) ~

here is my entry to challenge 115. This time it was a very difficult one for me. Somehow the tile did not come up as I expected.
Maybe the string had too many small spaces that I wanted to fill.
Perhaps I will be pleased a few days later. I am really curious about the other entries you get!
Greetings from Germany!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*pretty Cruffle border
*dark and dashed string lines
*separate orbs of Swarm

From Becky Welty (North Carolina) ~

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Fandance pops out of its grid
*Fandance corners
*Cruffled string sections

From Bhamathi (Bangalore, India) ~

Hi and Thanks for another fun String challenge!
I pick up some new tangles every time I do one of your challenges. I loved Fandance and Swarm..
I put Cruffle in center and Fandance around it. Fandance is a nice and easy tangle to pick.
However, my Swarm didn't come out correctly.. i kept forgetting to turn the tile the correct way.. it sort of went in all directions.. But then nothing's wrong in zentangle.
And this is the link to my blog

Tangled Tidbits - 

*yes, there are only creative opportunities :) and Fandance is glorious in two variations
*doubled string lines
*soft background of Swarm

From Beth G (North Carolina) ~

When I first saw this week's string I thought it looked like a beautiful rose. My daughter and I think my finished tile looks like a spiral galaxy. Funny how that works. Also, I believe I drew Frost Flowers without the sparkle instead of Swarm.

 Tangled Tidbits -
*Swarm shaded in the center - lovely lines, too
*dark background of Cruffle compliments the darker Fandance
*free floating Swarm


From Elspeth (Wyoming) ~

Here are a couple versions of this week's challenge. They are attempt 2 and 3. Number one was just too busy! I found this very challenging. It took 3 tries to get Fandance 'right'. The string was actually a bigger challenge for me than the Tangles. But I enjoyed the challenge!!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*fabulous Fandance variations
*aura-ed scalloped edge of Fandance
*circles of Cruffle

From Cathy Cusson ~

This string reminded me of a rose, but I couldn't seem to make the tangles fit the way I had hoped.

Tangled Tidbits -
*delicate Fandance
*floating tangles

*shaded white space

From Sue Agnew (Tucson, Arizona) ~

That was fun! I don't usually get Swarm to "come out even" ... so it was fun to practice, and then I ended up using it in a line instead of a circular shape, oh well. While I was doing Fandance I kind of got into that '60s rock poster lettering style where you distort the letters to fill the space. Cruffle is one of my favorites because it automatically creates a 3-D effect. In Sandy's step-out she shows an example with cute little dangling beads and springy swirls, so I copied that for a finishing touch.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*"springy swirls" - great description and pretty result
*lined and sparkled Fandance
*tapered Cruffle

From CZT Lucy Banta (New Jersey) ~

Here's my tile for this week's challenge. Thanks for the opportunity.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*beautiful blending of Fandance and Swarm
*Cruffle center and string sections
*sparkle and shading

From Irina Romanovsky (Russia) ~
Thank you so much for your challenge!
This string associates with a lovely flower for me, and Cruffle is one of my favourites, so I tried to combine it in my tile.
I hope you like it!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*a lovely ZIA indeed !
*Cruffle petals on the outside and Swarm on the inside
*Fandance graces the leaves center

From Joy (State College, Pennsylvania)~

Loved the endless wrapping of circles and crescents in this string

 Tangled Tidbits -
*"endless" is wonderfully descriptive
*alternating black and white aura in Cruffle
*Fandance details alternate as well



From Joya (Germany) ~

here's my tile for your great challenge. Greetings from germany

Tangled Tidbits -
*Cruffle lined border of Fandance and Swarm - notice how Swarm morphs into Fandance
*darkened string line flows into Swarm
*beautiful shading


From Jane Glotzer (Colorado) ~

Some minor bumps along the road to completing this challenge, but here it is...
I changed up the string a touch and had it go outside the borderline of my "tile" on the left side...started with the probably too obvious Cruffle in the center circle area, but it is one of my all time favorite patterns, too...worked my way to the outer areas, first by adding the light variation of Fandance...my first oops on the right side--:)...then put in the circles for some more Cruffle below, but filled in the Swarm directly above the center first...second oops...didn't leave enough space where the lines meet the next triangular section so my Swarm looks more like Hibred(?) or some other pattern I can't remember the name of...completed the line of Cruffle variations...added the dark (more typical) Fandance, but without the dividing lines, and finished up with my oops version of Swarm--:) (I'll have to go back and give that one another whirl!) Hmmm...shading was a struggle with this one, too...looking forward to seeing what others did...
But actually, in the end, I am happy with how it came out overall! The magic of Zentangle...no mistakes--:)
Have a wonderful week...fall has finally settled in around here and it has been quite beautiful! Love all your tangled pumpkins...hoping to get to some of that myself, too! And wishes for a very Happy Halloween!!

Tangled Tidbits -
*great look to Fandance without the initial triangles
*softly shaded Swarm (Baton is the tangle that keeps coming to mind in its similarity to Swarm)
*pleasing balance of light and dark tangles


From Linda Goncalves (Pennsylvania) ~

I liked working with all three but am not happy with the composition
and the dark to light, even after several tries. I would have to work
with this string some more. I do have ideas for more attempts so that
is good. It was not frustrating. I just could not "see" how to put it
together.

Tangled Tidbits -
*fans of Fandance
*dark lined grid for Swarm
*Cruffled center
All pictured on a Tickled to Tangle frame :) - thank you, Linda!


From Michelle Wynne (California) ~

Thanks for another fun challenge. Loved the string and loved the patterns.

Tangled Tidbits -
*black on white and white on black tangles
*curve of Fandance adds dimension to the outer string arc
*superb shading


From Sharyn Penna (Massachusetts) ~

I have to say, all the pumpkins you've decorated are just so stunning. My husband had a very good year in his garden and we've had several rounds of pumpkin in chili, ice cream, bread, etc. Our pumpkins don't have a chance to be tangled!
This weeks prompt showings will be a great lesson for me as I am still working on finding that balance of light, medium and dark. Swarm is one of those tangles that remains on my meh list ... I will use it, but there are so many other Official Tangles that My hand is more comfortable with. Can't wait to see the menagerie of tiles! 

Tangled Tidbits -
*even if it is on your meh list - it is tangled beautifully
*alternating light and dark of Fandance
*light sections of Cruffle


From Jessie Plouffe (Connecticut) ~

Here is the tile for this week. My first thought about the string was
that it would be very difficult (especially since I had a hard time
drawing it, haha), but I think it makes a very interesting
composition. I was not intending to use brown, but didn't realize I'd
picked up the wrong pen until it was too late!

Tangled Tidbits -
*center brown Cruffle
*Swarm corners with ample white spaces between neighboring Swarm
*sparkled Fandance


From Jenny Hopkins (Australia) ~

Thanks again for another mind-bending challenge. This week I felt rather like I was trying to put a triangular peg in a round hole. I didn't feel that any of the tangles were obviously wanting to go into any of the string spaces. It really came down to putting pen to paper and seeing what happened, in true Zentangle style. And, in true Zentangle style, it is nice to sit back and look at what happened without any planning. Once again, I find myself looking forward to seeing what everybody else came up with.
Thanks for providing such a great forum for sharing. Your dedication is incredible.

Tangled Tidbits -
*Jenny's words made me smile as I read them - very similar to my introduction to this post - and yes, it is always pleasantly surprising to see what unfolds without planning - the magic of this method!
*scalloped edges of Fandance
*beautiful black accents of the Cruffle and Fandance


From Audrie Weisenfelder (Arizona) ~

Hope all is well. We are finally getting some more temperate weather. I have really had it with the heat.
Sending along my tile for #115. As you can see, I only used 2 of the tangles that were offered. I couldn't fit in Swarm no matter what I tried. So I just used Cruffle, and a couple of tangleations of Fandance.
As usual, it's on my blog; Purple Butterfly

Tangled Tidbits -
*two variations of Fandance - wonderfully diverse
*weighted lines of the string line
*Cruffle center and top arc with a shaded background


From Marla Mendenhall (California) ~

I have no words risible nor eloquent for this week's challenge. I simply couldn't see beyond my assumption of what I perceived to be the obvious, and there you have it. I do however want to offer effusive praise and gratitude to all the most talented contributors here who inspire me each week to reach farther and refine my craft (with a special shout-out to Adele and Lily). This is my joy and bliss.

Tangled Tidbits -
*A picture speaks a thousand words, as you know :)
*Cruffle center orb
*alternating string arcs of Fandance and Swarm along with shading give fabulous sense of dimension



From CZT Midori (Florida) ~

... instead of rendering on a smooth, pure white bristol paper sized to apprentice tile (4.5"), i decided to switch to the 'official' zentangle 3.5" tile. i have always preferred a crisp white, smooth surface to draw on as the micron slides effortlessly. BUT, change is good, so i will continue to practice on the standard, toothed tiles...these fabriano tiles are beautiful.
~~~ description:
this week's challenge has been an exercise on angles and spheres.
for 'fan dance' i chose a variation with simple straight lines to echo the lines of 'swarm.' the swirls within the spheres of 'cruffle' also seems to mimic the surrounding linear strokes in its own organic, curvy fashion, perhaps some slightly reminiscent of 'antidots.'

Tangled Tidbits - 

*arua-ed arcs trail off to dotted lines that connect Swam and Cruffle
*marbled Cruffle
*weighted triangular grid of Fandance

From K.Bish (Michigan) ~

Enclosed please find my newest Tangle "Marble World!"
What a fun challenge!
I especially enjoyed learning SWARM a tangle that I hadn't encountered as of yet. FANDANCE is a pretty little tangle, and CURFFLE is always a fun tangle to do!
Thanks for all you do!

Tangled Tidbits -
*more marvelously marbled Cruffle
*alternating black and white versions of Fandance
*light field of Swarm


From Felicity Strohfeldt (South Africa) ~

Hope you are well. Thank you for a great challenge. When I first had a look at the challenge, the first thought was: I love Cruffle by Sandy Hunt and it will work in this week’s string, but how to Fandance and where to Swarm. Decision draw the string and jump in with the favourite Cruffle, such a versatile pattern and the centre of the string enticed me to start there with a big one and a run of half Cruffles on their backs on a black background and a row dancing one after the other. Finished off with a set of full Cruffles on the bottom section of the string. Suddenly it all came together. Fandance by Diane Knauff fanning along the outer band and Swarm by Maria Thomas fitted in perfectly in the band arched over the focus Cruffle. Filled with Tipple and the last touch was some much needed shading. Happy with the end result. Also on my blog.

Tangled Tidbits -
*Cruffle takes center stage - tippled between ever so delicately
*dangling Cruffle
*Fandance and Swarm compliment with their straighter lines


From Elisa (Paris, France) ~

Thanks again for your challenge : it's a great way to discover and practice new patterns. I love Fandance and also enjoyed playing with Swarm. I like Cruffle too but find it more difficult to draw as I don't manage to make my circles round...

Tangled Tidbits -
*what a fun result for Fandance - alternating black and white in mirrored sections
*shaded background of Cruffle
*light and airy Swarm


And now, the tile for honors this week was sent in by
Susan Theron of South Africa ~

What Susan wrote will make you smile ~

My contribution attached. As said on my blog, I got a bit fed up with drawing Swarm, but I think I should have drawn it bigger from the start. Otherwise I've enjoyed the experience. Also on my blog

Tangled Tidbits -
*"Fed up" or not, Swarm makes a lovely lighter background for the tangle-filled string
*Cruffle center circle flows into Fandance
*Fandance is tangled in each of the string's arcs creating very interesting, almost star-like, shapes

Congratulations, Susan!

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 ~

Fandance by CZT Diane Knauff
Swarm by Maria Thomas, Zentangle co-founder
TanglePatterns String 116 and Cruffle by CZT Sandy Hunter

To all of our participants this week, a huge thank you for your wonderful artwork.

Check back tomorrow for "It's a String Thing" #116!

More Tangled Pun'kins

These pun'kins are just too much fun.  Here is another ~

Tangled Pun'kin by Adele Bruno, CZT

Tangled Pun'kin by Adele Bruno, CZT

A Sakura Identi-pen works beautifully on this plastic surface.  I also find that tangles show up well when drawn larger and I tend to alternate straight lined and curved patterns.

Have a wonderful weekend!

"It's a String Thing" #114 Tiles

With apologies for the delay, here are the tiles for the 114th "It's a String Thing" challenge.

It was "all about" the number 14 and turned out to be quite a happy celebration.  My heartfelt thanks for the many birthday wishes.

The first tile arrived from Sara Belmont-Kleingeld ~

Thanks for another great challenge. Three firsts for me... hadn't used any of these tangles before. Loved the Ta-Da tangle, I will have to have a bit more of a play with that one...

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Teenos spring from Ta-da
*symmetrical, shadowed Ahh

From Ilse Lukken ~

Happy birthday! I wish you many happy and healthy years to come!
For the challenge, I used all three patterns, Teenos was new to me. The result of that tangle is much nicer than I would have thought. Nice!! :-)
My tile is on my blog as well:

Tangled Tidbits - 

*sparkled Teenos
*festive Ahh

From Sarah Antoinette ~

I liked the patterns as always. Have a great birthday.

Tangled Tidbits -
*Teenos changes from black to white along the color line
*alternating black and white Ta-da

From Juul (France) ~

Bonne anniversaire Adèle !!!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Teenos in the string circle moves out from there
*flowing lines of Ta-da

A very warm welcome to  smgg (Taiwan) ~

I am smgg from Taiwan.
It's my first time joining the "it's a String Thing".
I am so happy I found this challenge.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*aura-ed Ahh and Teenos
*mid lines of Ta-da line up

From Michele Wynne - 

It's a celebration! Happy Birthday Adele!
This was a fun challenge. I love how the choices of 14 represented patterns that were like fireworks.
I am celebrating my unprompted use of a black tile ;-)
I also write about it in my blog.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*starry look created with white on black
*burst of Teenos

From Joanne Faherty ~

Here is my entry for this weeks fun. Well I was tangling away and imaging my surprise when I looked at it and saw fireworks. So I thought maybe id add bright colours to them using my inktense pencils.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Teeno/Ta-da tangleation
*dark background for Ahh

From Anita A Westin (Dalarna, Sweden) ~

What a wonderful story around the number 14! And wonderful patterns! Here comes my entry. I had a great time working with this. I haven´t tried Ta-Da and Teenos before. Teenos remids me of some cute little creatures from a fairytale or something like that! Love it!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*grid of Ta-da
*dots repeat on all three tangles

From Jennifer Sparrow (North Carolina) ~

Thanks for another fun challenge this week. It always takes me a bit to get into them, but then, I get my zen on and lose myself! This week, I got so lost that I included Afterglo, which happens to be on the same page as your step-outs for Ahh. (I had struggled with Afterglo when I first started doing Zentangle, and eventually just gave up on it. I couldn't believe how easy and fun it was with your notes. Bravo!) I will now add it to my repertoire! I've posted my tile on my blog.
Thanks for your challenges, and your support of our growing community.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*diamond grid with alternating Ta-da and Teenos
*softly shaded Ahh and Afterglow

From Midori, CZT (Florida) ~

this week's challenge with 'ahh', 'ta-da' and 'teenos' has been a playful melange of lines, circles, curves. these strokes created unexpected nooks for morphed 'ahh's to stretch and to practice with shading.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*dark spaces of Teenos and just a bit of sparkle
*love that tangleation of Ahh!

From Beth Gaughan (North Carolina), whose pumpkins we admired on last Wednesday's post ~

Here is my tile for this week. What a fun set of patterns! And thank you so much for showing the love for my tangled pumpkins on your blog!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*an aura-ed Teeno/Ahh tangleation - fabulous!
*all lines of Ta-da line up

From Cathy Cusson ~

I thought this week’s string and tangles were loads of fun! I used teenos to merge with ta-da. That was interesting.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*tangleation of Teenos and Ta-da
*aura-ed Teenos

From Joy (State College, Pennsylvania) ~

Lots of circles and spirals inspired webs, dreamcatchers, and mystery.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*swirls of tangles form the string's center
*Teenos filled Ta-da

This is my tile - slipping it in here as the 14th entry ~

Tangled Notes -
I began with Ta-da in the string's circle and found it sheer joy to draw.  I added Teenos and finished with sparks of Ahh.

From Beverly G (N. Texas) ~

Four new to me tangles this week. I started with a plan, the Teenos around the edge, but after that the string kind of dissolved when I was trying out Ta-Da. There seem to be some interesting versions of Ta-Da so I may have to do some practicing on that tangle.
Another great challenge, I look forward to seeing what the other entrants came up with.

Here's my link: Gott Heart Art: It's A String Thing #114

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Teenos border
*Ahh burst surrounded by Ta-da

From Meridiana, CZT (Massachusetts) ~

Here’s my String Thing #114, an example of what happens when the best intentions go wrong! LOL. I usually like my tiles, but am not liking this one. I used a black micron, a rose metallic colored pencil, and a gold metallic colored pencil, along with Aha! (modified by some Teenos), Teenos itself, and Ta-Da. I wasn’t too keen on the composition within this string, but things went awry when I tried blending/shading the metallic gold colored pencil with a new type of shading stump called Fantastix. I’m not blaming it on the stump, which I intend to try again in other contexts, but on this tile it ripped up the surface of the paper and also muddied the gold so that it just looks like a dirty smudge.


But then, that’s why we do these challenges—to try things out! Ya win some, ya lose some. I learned a lot from doing this, even if I’m not thrilled with it, so I’m very glad I did it. A humbling experience. Despite it all, I had fun.

Tangled Tidbits -
*Teenos tipped Ahh
*oval in the center lines of Ta-da


From Audrie Weisenfelder (Arizona) ~

When I first saw the string and patterns for this challenge, I was at a total loss as to how to combine them. But once I laid down the first pattern the rest easily fell into place. All in all, I'm pretty happy with it.
As usual, it's also on my blog: Purple Butterfly

Tangled Tidbits -
*rounded edges of Ta-da
*sensational shading


A very warm welcome to  Karen L aka The Creative Miss L (Canberra, Australia) ~

I’ve had a couple of goes at your challenge this week. I’ve attached the best one.
I blog under the name of ‘The Creative Miss L’ and I live in Canberra, Australia.
...my blog post about this challenge.
I enjoyed your challenge as I learnt two new tangles and used a style of string that I wouldn’t normally use.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*all three tangles burst from a center point
*dark string circle contrasts with lighter areas

From Karin (Germany) ~

first of all: belated best wishes to your birthday. I hope you enjoyed your very special day.
I was on holidays for two weeks and now I am happy to join the challenge again!
I really had a lot of fun with the three patterns you choose and it was “Ahh-fireworks” again Tangling “teenos” I really came into a flow! Thank you very much for creating this pattern!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*two Teeno variations with lovely aura
*long and short lines, sparkled dots of Ahh

From Jane Glotzer (Boulder, Colorado) ~

Happy, happy birthday, Adele! (and belated greetings to Isabella, too!)
Sincere wishes for a wonderful celebration and all good things in the year ahead!
So...this was interesting--:) A new approach for me, but I really like it!!
I started with Teenos in the upper left corner--that triangle space seemed to cry out to be filled with one largeTeenos--which was the perfect place to start! Then I followed suit with the large motif idea and filled in the two Ta-Das...those huge orbs needed something, so I aura-ed inside...then the last burning question was do I stay big with my Ahh, or fill that space with lots of little ones? You can see my final decision and I'm quite pleased with the results! I added that last little Teenos to fill the bottom half of the empty circle, so that the negative space above it would stand out. Some shading completed the piece...and when I perused the final outcome...I saw "Snails in Space." :)

Tangled Tidbits - 

*aura-ed circles in Ta-da
*dark spaces between Teenos

From AngelEggroll (Taipei, Taiwan) ~

Happy Birthday to Adele! Also thanks to everyone who joined the challenge last week. I learned a lot from you guys’ sharing. I guess the challenge of this week is about celebrating, so I used “Teenos” as a firework launcher. By the way, “Ta-Da” is one of my favorites.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*gorgeous black space for Ahh
*small perfs on either side of the orbs in Ta-da

From Ingrid (The Netherlands) ~

I hope you had a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY.
Enclosed my ST #114 tile.
Two focus points in this tile. That is always a bit tricky for the eye. It keeps wandering from one point to the other and back. The shading is too light. There was no time/energy to draw another tile. Learned two very nice tangles: Teenos and TaDa.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Teeno/Ahh tangleation
*diamond Ta-da grid

From Susan Theron (South Africa) ~

Hi, I enjoyed this challenge a lot. Also on my blog

Tangled Tidbits - 

*two variations of aura-ed Teenos
*shadowed Ahh and shaded Ta-da

From Becky Welty (North Carolina) ~

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Teeno center spiral
*alternating sections of Ta-da and Teenos with Ahh

From Lucy Banta, CZT (New Jersey) ~

Happy Birthday Adele!
Congratulations on your big day and for all things 14. What fun. I'm not sure if you realized, but the string shows a lower case H and B sitting on the line. Even more appropriate for the occasion!
Here's the link to my blog with my tile

Tangled Tidbits - 

*wonderful morphing of all three tangles
*shaded perfs and sparkled dark ones

A very warm welcome to  Susan M (Alaska) ~

This is my first time submitting to your weekly challenge. I really enjoyed playing with this combination of string and tangles! Thank you for sparking the creativity of so many tanglers!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*two versions of each of the three tangles
*great use of black and white in in the two versions of Ta-da

From Sue Agnew (Tucson, Arizona) ~

I ended up doing two this week. After I finished the first one yesterday I decided I'd do another if I had time because I didn't like the sparkle I'd used with Ta-Da, and it ended up reminding me of a moth (or two actually). I liked it much better today (as is often the case) but I did have time to play some more. I wanted to try doing Teenos as a sort-of grid, and I wanted to do the circles in Ta-Da like one of my favorite tangles, Inapod.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Ahh in orbs of Ta-da
*alternating directions and black and white for Teenos
*Sue's sensational, signature sparkle

From Tonya Marie, CZT (Illinois)~

I love the challenges because they keep me trying something new. I thought this was a fun one! And btw my favorite number is 64.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Betweed aura for Ta-da
*orb-ed string lines

From Jenny Hopkins (Australia) ~

Happy Birthday! I hope the celebration was spectacular.
Thanks again for a great challenge. I loved all the components this week but found it difficult to put together. Still, it is the process that is important and I look forward to seeing what everyone else has managed.

Tangled Tidbits ~
*Ahh centered Teenos
*checkered Ta-da with two variations

From Jessie Plouffe (Connecticut) ~

Here's my tile for this week. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about
it, but it was a good challenge. Looking forward to the next
challenge!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Teenos along the string lines
*Ahh dot topped lines repeated in Ta-da

From Elspeth (Wyoming) ~

Hi! Here is my attempt at String 114. Every tangle was new to me and I look forward to using them more. I love the challenges because sometimes I want to draw but I don't know where to start. The string and list of tangles takes care of that problem!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*free floating, aura-ed Teenos

*string lines are the orb-ed lines of Ta-da

From Lily (Hungary) with Zenhugs ~

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Ahh floats in orbs of Ta-da and on aura-ed lines

*Teeno center string circle

From Marla Mendenhall (California) ~

Hope you had a happy birthday week, Adele.
This week's challenge ... wow. The string, the patterns. Hum. First I drew a blank. Then I drew a tile, then another, then another. In Tile #3 I think Ta-Da kind of morphed into a different pattern - the name of which I can't remember - but I liked the way it turned out so much I sent it along any way. Even so, I couldn't get out of 'big', but I guess that's the zen my psyche needed this week. Once again, Adele, your instincts have conjured a genius combination. All I can say is ... Ahh!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Teenos string lines

*Ahh in orbs of Ta-da

*center burst of Teenos

*Ahh sparkle in Ta-da - brilliant!

From Felicity Strohfeldt (South Africa) ~

Ahh! I hear you celebrate your birthday this week. Ta-Da, a fanfare to wish a very happy and joyous new birth year. Your pattern Teenos says it all about you. Young at heart and obviously just as on the go as a young lady. Thank you for a great challenge to fit all the 14’s in your life. Thanks to Dorothy Allison, Linda Farmer and Margaret McKerihan, who contributed their string and lovely tangle patterns.
I enjoyed the challenge and I’m happier with result. Furthermore itangled this party mood zentangle especially for you. Also on my blog.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Teenos in Ahh and Ta-da!

*lovely tangleations of Teenos and shading, too

From Annie Taylor (Spain) ~

Here's hoping you had a lovely birthday. I quite agree about celebrating each one nowadays... I hope we both have many more!
Unusually for me, as soon as I saw String and tangles for this week, my tile drew itself in my head. As I've recently had a most interesting discussion about 'seeing ' things in the mind's eye with a friend.... who cannot and does not have the ability to 'see' things in her head... this was clear evidence that my inner eye is very active. It is rare for someone not to be able to visualise but turns out I have two friends who simply don't do it. And one of them said she thought this was why she couldn't draw. But of course, I reassured her that Zentangle offered her a perfect opportunity to be artistic WITHOUT needing a guiding internal image. This is a potentially very interesting area if study, I'm sure.
So, there... are there any tanglers out there who don't have the ability to see images in their heads but who enjoy Zentangle?

Tangled Tidbits - 

*aura-ed Teenos and Ahh

*dark orbs of Ta-da

*weighted down strokes in the center of Teenos

From Karina (Perth, Australia) ~

Tangled Tidbits - 

*string lines of Teenos
*Ahh bursts from center

From Brenda Urbanik, CZT (South Africa) ~

 On her blog...

I started with this and realised that I tend to stay away from tangles I have no idea what to do with.  While sitting on the beach watching Natasha and her friend playing with a dead "Pyjama Shark" and a live Octopus and some live Sea Urchins (gasp!!!) I realised that life is like this for many people, one of them me, that we stay away from things that make us uncomfortable!  In most cases what is the worst thing that can happen, well, simply that WE FEEL uncomfortable, surely in your 50's why should that actually matter, and quite frankly perhaps being in ones 50's has nothing to do with it anyway!So I thought I would try another tile, this time an ATC, and actually use the third tangle that had been suggested, "Aah".  It's not that I don't like that tangle, it's just that for me it's one of those tangles I simply have no idea how or when to use or how to vary it.  So although I did use it, you'll see that I used it in a very minimalistic way, but I used it, and that's what counts.  I allowed myself to feel uncomfortable for a little while, and look, I am still alive and breathing!!!

Tangled Tidbits -

*gorgeous Ta-da intersecting, blending with Teenos center

*Ta-da tipped with Teenos and Ahh - ingenious!

From Joya

here's my tile for the String Thing Challenge #114. I've never used this STring before and it was really fun :)

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Teenos border

*long lined Ahh

From Elisa (Paris, France) ~

Please find my tile for this week's IAST challenge. All patterns were new to me: I enjoyed finding a place to fit each of them in the suggested string. And more importantly, I had a nice relaxing moment drawing this tile.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Teenos from the string circle

*two variations of Ahh

From Linda Goncalves (Pennsylvania) ~

I just want to wish you a very happy birthday. I think of this as
little glow worms celebrating with you.

Linda photographed her tile on one of my frames :)

Tangled Tidbits - 

*sparkled Teenos
*festive Ahh

From HeidSue (Germany) ~

Just hoping this entry isn't too late for this week's It's a String Thing challenge.
The string really led this one for me. I enjoyed making it "disappear" into my design. haven't used any of these tangles before, though I've seen Aah here and there. I'm going to love playing with teenos. It reminds me of Cat in the Hat :) and TaDa is loads of fun too.
Every time I do a tile, even though I don't try to make it look like anything, it always ends up reminding me of something. This one reminds me of the flow of creation at the beginning of time. Trilobites and single cell organisms, and energy pinpointing then bursting out in teeming life.
thanks for a fun challenge!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Teenos fills the string circle and moves outward
*swirl of Ta-da

From Sharyn Penna (Massachusetts) ~

A celebration of your lucky number was a great prompt this week. I love morphing patterns ... Teenos blended seamlessly with Ta-Da.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*gorgeous curves of Ta-da line up with neighboring lines
*Teenos infused Ta-da

From Talia Maynard (London, United Kingdom) ~

Tangled Tidbits - 

*sensational shading
*five lined Ta-da - great idea!

From Irina Romanovsky (Russia) ~

I hope I'm not too late with the challenge :) This time it was even more exiting to combine the tangles. Thank you for interesting tasks and great pictures this week!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*gorgeous half moon of Teenos
*lovely lines of Ta-da - added orbs of Ta-da to the string lines

And now, the tile for honors this week was sent in by
 Lisa Preston of Marietta, Georgia!  
Lisa wrote ~

I thoroughly enjoyed this challenge! I love Ta Da, and thought Teenos was terrific! What a GREAT selection of tangles this week! As it happens, my 14th wedding anniversary was Oct 14. There is definitely something magical about that date!
This one reminded me of fireworks.
Happy (slightly belated) birthday to you!

Tangled Tidbits -
*center concentration of tangles burst into Ahh
*Ta-da mid lines connect with neighboring ones
*sparkled Teenos
*soft shading accents the tangles beautifully

Congratulations, Lisa, and Happy Anniversary!
I have a little some thing coming in the mail for you.

Thank you to the creative minds behind the string and patterns we used along with my Teenos ~

TanglePatterns String 114 by Dorothy Allison
Ahh  - the 14th pattern listed on TanglePatterns, by Maria Thomas
Ta-Da - by Margaret McKerihan, the 14th pattern listed under the 'grid' tab on TanglePatterns

To all of our participants this week, a huge thank you for your wonderful artwork. patience with my later post, and  your sweet birthday wishes.

Click here for the details of "It's a String Thing" #115!