The reviews were mixed as to how the tangles and string behaved together. For some, the combination was very inviting. For others, it was a bit busy to work through.
I fell into the latter category. In an effort to keep all of the string sections distinct(which I don't often do), I blackened a few of them in and used a white gel pen when lines crossed into those areas. The addition of little black dots added a just a touch of roundness to all of the angles and lines.
The first email arrived from Joanne Faherty (Bedfordshire, United Kingdom) ~
Here's my weeks string thing entry. Glad its 3 tangles I know already I have a sinus headache for nearly a week. So at least I didn't have to think to much.
Its quite a busy one despite leaving white areas bit like my sore head
Tangled Tidbits -
*deeply shaded centers of Fife
*great white space and Flukes fitted into the string's triangular sections
From Juul (France) ~
here is my (very modest) contribution for this weeks stringthing....
*three pretty versions of Yincut
*solid black Flukes
From smgg (Taiwan) and here on her Instagram ~
Have a nice day!!!
*Flukes squares
*Yincut and Flukes share a grid in neighboring string sections
From Sandra (Germany) and here on her blog ~
I'm so happy that I found the time to tangle your new string thing challenge :-)
I loved the string but usually I prefer non-grid patterns so this tile was really a big challenge for me...
But once I started I liked to tangle the three patterns and enjoyed the process very much - so thanks a lot for this wonderful challenge :-)
Tangled Tidbits -
*symmetrical Tipple fills Fife
*dark backgrounds define the string's triangles
From Anita A Westin (Dalarna, Sweden) ~
I love Geometry! This challenge was really fun! I had not tried Fife Before and that is a pattern I will use again! Flukes was one of the first patterns I learned starting my zentangle journey.
Tangled Tidbits -
*large Yincut and Flukes
*shading adds wonderful depth
*shading adds wonderful depth
From Karen (Canberra, Australia), The Creative Miss L, and here on her blog ~
I’m looking forward to seeing how other Tanglers handle Fife. I’m never happy with how it turns out on my own tiles so have stopped using it. It was interesting trying to compose this tile given that all three Tangles use similar shaped grid patterns.
Tangled Tidbits -
*large Fife with deep black background
*smaller grids for Flukes and Yincut
From Linda Bladen (United Kingdom) ~
This morning I had time on my hands so thought I'd try to do a grid pattern which needed a lot of concentration. Not too fond of tangles which need black colouring (I think it's because I'm thinking of how much expensive ink I'm using up!!!) but anyway I thought I'd cracked it and I decided it was time for pencil shading. That's when I realized that there are at least two blips, but what the heck, I'm 98% pleased with the result
*elongated, curved Flukes and Fife yield fabulous movement
*triangular sting sections in white and black
From Lily Moon (Hungary) with a "zenhug" ~
*N'Zeppel filled Fife
*Cubine looking Flukes achieved with white and black lines
*beautiful balance of black, white, and brown
From Ilse Lukken (The Netherlands) and here on her blog ~
Another nice challenge, thank you for all the work you put in these challenges!
*white spaces look folded back over the tangles
*black background of Fife and shading on overlapping lines
From Sarah (Michigan) and here on her blog ~
Lots of angles in this string. A bit intimidating at first but once a saw the tangles it all made more sense! It was doable! I can do it! Yay!
I used all three tangles, some of which had frustrated me in the past, but now I gave it another go. And it was okay.
Thanks for another great week!
*very doable - and hooray for you!
*shading added to either side of each Yincut highlight
From Michele Wynne (California) ~
I've been on a bit of a Renaissance tile kick lately just trying to learn it's nuances. The biggest lesson learned so far is nothing really happens until the highlight and shadow appear.
It took me a couple of fits and starts to figure out how to use the spaces effectively until little frames began to emerge.
Thanks again for another wonderful challenge. I've never used Fife before and I love it.
*String lines of Yincut-like lines
*multiple looks achieved with the tangles through the use of white, black, brown, as well as shading and highlights
From Jean Beckstrom (Alabama) ~
...Interesting string....! A bit busy for my taste, but a challenge always welcome. I did one right, which will be the first attachment. The second is one which I started with a different tangle than I meant to. I completed it anyway.
*string's triangles feature large Flukes
*wavy lined Fife
*variety of grid sizes for the tangles
From Dorrit Tompkins (Punta Gorda, Florida) ~
This week the tangles were really fun. Thank you
*Tipple filled Fife
*Flukes shaded from the bottom point of the inside black squares through the intersections of the aura-ed lines
A very warm welcome to Ruth O'Neil ~
*black perfs for Flukes and multiple directions for the black squares
*four different sized grids for Fife
A very warm welcome to Debra Huff (San Diego, California) ~
I've been doing your challenges for quite a while but this is my first posting.
*aura, sparkle, and dark perfs for Fife
*curved corners and different directions for Fife (similar to Ruth's above)
From Susan (United Kingdom) ~
Had a go at this week's challenge but wasn't too happy with the result as I
found the string a bit busy. So, I got out some Bijou tiles and did three
tiny (and still busy!) monotangles. I think they make a neat set. I'm now
going to try making some patchwork bijou.
Tangled Tidbits -
*lovely ensemble of monotangles
*large sparkled areas of Yincut
*smaller grid of Flukes in the center of larger ones
From Ragged Ray (United Kingdom) ~
I've played about with the last few weeks challenges in my sketchbook, but nothing's quite come together onto a tile. But always a joy to look at the results from others - I struggled with using Tattle, but when I saw Robin's Tile of Honour it was like a light bulb coming on!
This week's string was a bit of a crazy one. Hard not to get lost in all those sections and angles. Tempting to fill every bit of blank paper! Great tangles though - and thanks to your encouragement to accept the wobbles I really loved drawing Flukes. At one point during drawing the tile just wasn't working, all looking a bit flat, but then I started darkening certain parts and that did the trick!
Tangled Tidbits -
*neat, uniform, angular lines
*sparkle, and detail lines make the tangles glow
*single lines of Fife run along the string lines
Be sure to check out Ragged Ray's (Jem's) latest tangle on TanglePatterns. It is a lovely one called
Sati. (Click here to view.)
From Hilary Merola (Illinois) ~
After so many weeks, I felt I had to finally complete a string thing! Grids are definitely not my favorite things, but your extra tips for doing Flukes really helped.
Tangled Tidbits -
*doubled, mirrored Flukes yield diamond shapes
*different directions for the detail lines give a very curved look to Yincut
From Jennifer Sparrow (North Carolina) ~
I really enjoyed this week's Words of Wisdom [link]. Your Bijou quilt is adorable and versatile! Here's my response to your challenge. I've been doing lots of freehand, loopy strings lately, so this angular one was different. I was so happy to use ZT original patterns. Flukes is a personal fav. I draw the auras one at a time rather than filling in a whole box and then moving on. I find that helps me to keep them lined up better. Having said that, and now seeing my enlarged drawing, I realize that I didn't always put 3 auras! LOL! Thanks for your time and leadership!
Tangled Tidbits -
*Yincut filled Flukes
*strands of Fife break free and float into the white space
*strands of Fife break free and float into the white space
From Beth Gaughan (North Carolina) ~
Here is my tile for IAST 133. I'm a fan of grid-based patterns so I enjoyed this challenge. I meant to leave some white space but somehow the entire tile got filled up.
Tangled Tidbits -
*large grid of Fife blends into a smaller one
*three different sizes of Flukes, shaded to add depth
From Tina Kirchhübel (Germany) ~
The challenge this week was very difficult for me. I began with no idea and the result is a bit too full, I think. But I really like the patterns and enjoyed tangling.
Tangled Tidbits -
*black and white Fife, both shaded for depth
*softly shaded, light lined Yincut
From Jeannette Quinn Bisbee (Ontario, Canada) ~
I liked all of the tangles this week very much, although, I wish that I had let them shine through better by leaving some negative space. But, I hadn't worked on a Renaissance tile in a long time, and I thought these Tangles worked together fairly well using those techniques. I particularly liked Flukes. Each week is one week away from being certified at CZT #24, so I like seeing each week what all of us do with the same strings and patterns. My eye learns new things from my fellow Tanglers each time. Thanks, Adele, for putting this together each week for all of us...
Tangled Tidbits -
*Fife filled triangles of the string
*dense fields of Fife and Yincut - with pretty shading. highlights. and alternating colors
From Linda Helfer (Florida) ~
I loved your Bijou quilt. What a neat idea and a beautiful result. Thanks for your latest challenge #133. As you can see from my tile I pretty much lost the string but I totally enjoyed drawing the three tangles and being in that zen zone.
Tangled Tidbits -
*It is a treat to get lost in the string and tangles and the results show it.
*Yincut lines appear in Fife
*center Flukes more in four directions
AND I spy a Tickled to Tangle frame :)
From Ingrid (The Netherlands) ~
O dear, this string was a tough one.
After drawing the string I had some headbreaking time about how to do it.
The only possible way, for me, was to skip several lines, which I did, and this is the result.
Curious what others did with this challenge.
Tangled Tidbits -
*Now, this is FUN. Sandra from Germany, Dorrit from Florida, and now Ingrid all used Tipple inside Fife in that same symmetrical, circular way - amazing, isn't it?!
*large and lovely tangles are shading beautifully
From Karin (Germany) ~
thank you for another great challenge. It was the first time that I already knew all the patterns to be used! But when I saw your “Tips for tangling Flukes” [link] I realized that I have always done it in another way… Your method is much easier and brings better results.
I like those symmetrical patterns and this time I am very pleased with my tile
Tangled Tidbits -
*one large underlying field of Fife with a pretty scalloped edge
*Flukes and Yincut fill in the string's smaller sections
From Simone Menzel (Germany) and here on her blog ~
This week I was very busy at work and since thursday evening I have been on a short holiday trip at the Baltic Sea.
So I took my tiles and some pens with me and I drew the tile in my hotel room, because I did not want to miss your challenge.
Many Greetings from the winterly, beautiful Baltic Sea!
Tangled Tidbits -
*plumb Fife changes from light to dark as it moves through the string lines
*Flukes runs positive and negative - great look for it with the white square corners
What a fun challenge this was! It combines all of the things I love about Zentangle ... official tangles, three dimensions, grids ... I "distorted" the string line because I decided I wanted to use a regular (non-wonky) grid. I darkened it so you can see I really did follow it (sorta). I don't think Fife needs a dot grid ... I just draw parallel rows of rice shapes. I left off the outer rice shapes so the edge could be more open. And I varied which diagonal shape was on "top" because I liked that effect. Thanks for the tip about working Flukes from the outside in ... it helped make the large squares consistent!
Thank you!
Tangled Tidbits -
*Flukes morphs into Yincut
*string line is defined with darker Fife lines
*sparkle shines through it all
From Trish O'Leary, CZT (Florida) ~
This was another good one! String was a challenge and fun to work through.
Tangled Tidbits -
*small grids, and detailed tangles
*highlights compliment the shading to add dimension
From Robin Bort (Nevada) ~
I really had fun with this week’s string and tangles. I had never tried any of these tangles and it was fun learning them. Thank you for the opportunity! I especially like Fife. I can see myself using it a lot in the future.
Tangled Tidbits -
*grids for Fife and Flux seem to pull into the center
*intricately tangled patterns
*small triangles of the string are filled with larger versions of the tangles
From Talia Maynard (London, United Kingdom) ~
Here's my tile for this week's challenge. I tried to make it quite basic to fit with the theme this week but I felt it really needed a couple of white spaces to stop it getting too crowded. It kinda works.
Tangled Tidbits -
*curved grid and shading of Flukes add lovely layering
*two sizes of Flukes, both with deep black backgrounds
From Jessie Plouffe (Connecticut) ~
Here is my submission for this week's challenge. I wasn't sure about
this one at first (I'm not a huge fan of geometric/grid-based
tangles), but now I think I like it!
*simply fabulous variation of Flukes filled with large Tipple and shaded through the points
*concentration of a uniquely elegant take on Fife
*N'Zeppel and Tipple filled Fife
From midori, CZT (Florida) ~
i do admire the myriad of beautiful, fun tangles created by zentangle enthusiasts worldwide. but, i have to admit...i am partial to the so-called 'classic' tangles! so, thank you for having 'flukes', 'yincut',
'fife' this time.
Tangled Tidbits -
*black horizontal lines of Fife
*Yincut and Flukes share a grid, as do Fife and Yincut
*black and white Tipple
here is my 'additional' 133 submission:
i decided to play with one of the tiles that i had used for a string theory session. some 'flux' was already rendered on it. it was fun finishing this old tile with 'fife' and 'flukes.'
Tangled Tidbits -
*Flux makes for a wonderful addition to the given tangles
*curved, narrow grid for Flukes
From Jane Glotzer (Boulder, Colorado) ~
...what a fabulous bunch of tangles!! Didn't know how they were all going to play nice together (I know you hear that a lot) so, at first, I thought I might just end up with a monotangle of Fife because there is so much you can do with just that one beautiful pattern (I barely scratched the surface here!) But I actually ended up approaching it a little more "zen-ly" by not really planning anything out beforehand. I did start with Fife in the upper left...and then without much thought--:) I tried something new (for me)--I used the same diagonal grid over more than one space in the string on the right side and then alternated Flukes and Yincut...I think it kind of works...finished with the little Fife in the top corner and balanced with the striped Fife in the lower left. I've been into leaving a lot of empty space around, to really emphasize the lines that aren't there (love that!) and shading really makes all of these patterns jump off the paper...
*Fife lines peek out into the white space
*Yincut lines repeat in Fife
*wonderful gird sharing :)
From Linda (Pennsylvania) ~
I loved working with all three this week.
*string's triangles filled with sections of Fife - a unique idea!
*densely lined Yincut and Fife
From Anna Mega (Greece) ~
Tangled Tidbits -
*line of Fife follows the string line and trails off the tile
*Flukes with one and then two aura lines - bold and beautiful
From Felicity Strohfeldt (South Africa) and here on her blog ~
Seemed to have quiet a struggle this week. Firstly String 133 was a bit unusual and then there were three, new to me, tangles to cope with.
I’m not so comfortable with grid patterns, but I decided to get to grips with it. So here’s the result. Looking forward to seeing every one else’s.
Have a good week all.
*tangles switch from light to dark as they pass through the string sections
*multiple variations of fabulous Fife
From Sharyn Penna (Massachusetts) ~
Grids ... they don't make me grit my teeth like they used to.
So, this week your tangling tips helped me with Flukes. I usually go small to large on the filler. I also pick the corner of the cube where the corners of the design will be and put a series of 3 dots before I draw the fill. I can't remember if I read that somewhere. The dots sort of ground the line formation and help balance the division of the design uniformly for me. But my dots are clearly visible. This was a fun prompt and a reminder for me to practice grids more often to find my comfort zone. Thanks for another great prompt!
*That is a fabulous tip for drawing Flukes - it keeps the points in line. Thank you for that, Sharyn.
*Curved grid and detail lines for Yincut add movement, as does the circular look to Flukes
From Mary Helmers ~
This is the most difficult tile I have dealt with so far--not that I have been tangling for all that long anyhow. Keeping everything going in the right direction was quite a challenge, but I did learn three new tangles, and it was certainly worth the time and trials!
I am enjoying doing the challenges, and seeing how the other entrants interpret the string and tangles.
*another wonderful take that has Flukes centers creating one large square
*center of the small triangle features a point where three Yincut intersect
From Susan Theron (South Africa) and here on her blog ~
My contribution. Would like to see that the others did.
*blackened lines on either side of the overlapping Flukes lines creates amazing depth
*Flukes spins in three directions
*elongated diamond grid for Yincut
From Deepti Jois (Bangalore, India) ~
Please find attached my entry for this week's challenge.
Tangled Tidbits -
*solid black Fife
*black and white background for Fife
*sparkled detail lines create a curved look to Fife
And now...
the tile for honors this week...
was sent in by...
Ann Barbro Dahl who names two places of origin - Norway and Portugal ~
Tangled Tidbits -
*three lovely versions of Fife- sparkle and aura
- dark triangular centers
- black, sparkled perf centers
*Flukes in three variations and orientations
Congratulations, Ann!
I have a little something coming in the mail for you.
Thank you to everyone who sent in their works of art for the rest of us to learn from and enjoy.
Special thanks to the creative minds behind the string and tangles used this week ~
TanglePatterns String 133 by Barbara Finwall
Fife by Molly Hollibaugh, CZT
Yincut and
Flukes both by Zentangle® co-founder, Maria Thomas
Stop by tomorrow for "It's a String Thing" #134!
