Wednesday, March 9, 2016

"It's a String Thing" #134 Tiles

Below is the delayed post from earlier this week...

Happy Monday!

My husband and I have just returned from a fabulous weekend with the newlyweds, our son John and his bride Melissa.  The South Carolina weather was a bit chilly, but sunny and clear.  The trees were still in winter mode, but the daffodils and the pansies were in full bloom with the promise of Spring.

The emails and tiles for this week's "It's a String Thing" softened the re-entry to our day-to-day routines at home - a great blessing.

We used three new tangles and a string with rounded spaces.  The results are quite elegant.
We were joined by several newcomers, the string's - as well as Sati's - creator, and were treated to a Dr. Suess inspired rhyme.  Curious?!  Let's take a look ~

The first tile arrived from Joanne Faherty (Bedfordshire, United Kingdom) ~
Here's this weeks contribution. All new tangles although I was practising Sati yesterday, happy to say sati came out better than yesterdays efforts I. Like how my black tamisolo looks. I'm calling this one the fairy mushroom, as when I started shading I noticed that sati looked like a mushroom and the fission looks like fairy dust.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*dark centers of Fission
*two variations of both Sati and Tamisolo
*glorious single black and white, sparkled and dotted Tamisolo


From Adri van Wyk (South Africa) ~


Tangled Tidbits -
*gorgeous gemstone filled Sati with sparkled aura
*Pookroot tips for Fission

...and a few days later, Adri sent this ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*elegant sparkled swirls of Tamisolo
*star centered Sati


 Joey van Oort (MadebyJoey, Canada) ~
Thank you so much for a very fun challenge! The string immediately made me think of a toadstool and this whimsical tile is what emerged. Light and fun and thinking of Spring!

Tangled Tidbits - 
*curls and dots accent Tamisolo
*free floating Sati 


From Anita A Westin (Dalarna, Sweden) ~


Tangled Tidbits - 
*aura-ed Sait and Fission
*lined and black variations of Tamisolo


From Hilary Merola (Rome) ~
As usual your challenges really push me out of my comfort zone. I have pages of practicing Sati and I still can't get the flower petal parts of it to look good. Not sure why I decided to darken those troublesome parts! On the other hand, I had a lot of fun with Tamisolo and tried different directions and different ways of shading it.
Thanks for all your hard work with this.

Tangled Tidbits - 
*lovely variations of Tamisolo - varied line widths and shading
*Tamisolo flows along the border


A very warm welcome to Linda Bouldon (NSW Australia) ~
...I found tangling by accident in December when buying gifts. I picked up Zentangle by Jane Marbaix as an interesting gift for my daughter. Turns out it was a gift to myself :).
Thankyou for the challenge. I really enjoyed learning these 3 new tangles. I love love love Tamisolo. I felt like they were gnome smiles while drawing them (I freely admit and embrace my weird. Lol) and I love the flow of single line tangles. I kept the shading on Sati simple because I kinda like the imperfect shapes. I did add a little bit of white Signo gel pen to Fission just to lift it.
Thanks again. Looking forward to more challenges.

Tangled Tidbits -
*outlined and shaded string sections
*Tamisolo shaded in the outer sections between shapes



From Karen, The Creative Miss L (Australia) and here on her blog ~
Thanks for introducing us to these new Tangles. I can see so many possibilities for including each of them in my drawing. I was surprised at how hard Tamisolo was to get right. I guess it will get better and easier with practice. Sati is a gem. It looks like replacing Cadent and Bales as my go to for grid-based spaces.

Tangled Tidbits -
*branches of Tamisolo
*colorful, dotted Sati


From Lily Moon (Hungary) and here on her blog with a Zen hug :) ~


Tangled Tidbits -
*Sati reaches across the tile to touch
*rounded, pointed, striped, sparkeld, shaded, glorious Tamisolo
*snowflake-like Fission


From Christiane (Germany) ~
These are beautiful patterns, Adele! I made it very simple and added a bit color. Thank you for this nice challenge!
Greetings from Germany
 Tangled Tidbits -
*Fission gathered with the string line
*light and airy Tamisolo



From Susan (United Kingdom) ~
Nice selection of tangles this week. Sati is new to me but has lots of possibilities. I combined it with one of my favourite tangles “Laced”. I also used an idea from one of last week’s tiles by continuing the design over the string line but changing the background colour.

Tangled Tidbits -
*delicate look to both the Tamisolo border and Fission
*continuous line of Tamisolo in the string loop


From Ragged Ray (United Kingdom) ~
Firstly thank you so much for noticing my new tangle, mentioning it in your summary for last week's challenge, picking it for this week's challenge, and for saying such lovely things about it. The thrill of seeing what others will do with it totally offsets any nerves I feel about using it myself. Funny that, but I always get more edgy using my own tangles!
I struggled to get the tangles to work well together this week - they were determined to stick to separate sections of the string - and who am I to argue with willful tangles! And I set myself up for an eye-watering time by choosing to do Sati so small. It's the sort of string / tangle combo that I'd like to revisit again to see how a different mix would come out.
I hope you enjoy the tiles and show of appreciation for your Sati :)
Tangled Tidbits -
*uniform field of Sati - detail lines and soft shading
*string sections outlined with pops of Fission
*Tamisolo variation - weighted lines, detail lines, dots, and shading


A very warm welcome to Jenna Black (North Carolina) ~
I've been following the It's A String Thing challenges for a while, but this is my first time participating. I took you at your word and only used the string lines as suggestions. Also, I would ordinarily erase string lines that were so visible on the finished piece, but I figured that would be against the spirit of the challenge.

Tangled Tidbits -
*multiple, pretty variations of Sati flow into Fission
*light and dark Tamisolo



From Katrina Handson ~
this weeks zentangle challenge was fun. i love the floral components in these patterns! :)
Tangled Tidbits -
*Fission centered cluster of Tamisolo
*Sati in single file along the string lines
*dense  softly shaded Tamisolo accentuates the rounded string sections



From Cheryl Stocks (Arizona)and here on her blog ~


Tangled Tidbits -
*black rice shapes for Sati and aura between sections
*shading adds depth
*black dots repeat in all three tangles


From Jean Beckstrom (Alabama) ~
I had fun with the tangles again, but I did not like the way I did them with the string 134. Soooo..I did them again more freely and enjoyed it more the second time. Sending both. I really enjoy seeing everyone's ideas each week and look forward the viewing them as soon as they arrive.
Tangled Tidbits -
*fabulous Fission fills the background
*light and dark balance in Tamisolo
*dotted string lines carry over from Sati


From Tina Kirchhübel and here on her blog ~
The challenge is great. I like to try the new patterns but I could not really enjoy the process this week because my daughter had some problems to fall asleep and so my concentration was not completely at the tile and I'm not really satisfied with the result.
The idea for my tile was to let the tangled sections look like stones.
So here is my tile
Greetings from Germany

Tangled Tidbits -
*striking black background of Sati
*Fission pieces float off
*aura-ed thick, dark Tamisolo


From smgg (Tawain) and on her Instagram ~


Tangled Tidbits -
*four variations of Sati
*shaded centered curls of Tamisolo


A very warm welcome to Amy Place (Coffs Harbour, Australia) ~
This is my first ever attempt at one of the challenges and I am very new to Zentangling, having done my first ever one in pencil in September 2015.
I have taught myself by scouring the internet and following many of you very talented tanglers.
I hope this tile is what it is meant to be, as I found it quite difficult to use patterns I had never used before and try to find a way to fit them into a string that was unfamiliar.
If I have done the entry the wrong way, please let me know. Thanks for the opportunity to practise and hone my developing skills.
It warms my heart to know that you have learned much from the talented tanglers of "It's a String Thing" - welcome to our community!
Tangled Tidbits -
*fabulous background of Sati
*aura-ed swirls of Tamisolo


From Annie Taylor (Spain) ~
I may have lost something in the string size this time - I copied and recopied it so that I could do it without reference to your actual post - internet problems on top of everything else.
Despite the rather shrunken version of the string, I really enjoyed this challenge - all three tangles were new to me. Sati, as you can probably tell, was irresistible for me! And I found Fission really pretty and incredibly simple. I need to practice Tamisolo...
Wishing you all the best as steam ahead towards Easter....!!
Tangled Tidbits - 
*superb variation of Sati with Crescent Moon-like aura in each dip of the curved inner lines
*Tamisolo filled string section points inward
*light and darkly shaded sections 


From Ingrid (The Netherlands) ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*Tamisolo flows in a circular fashion from a midpoint
*Sati free of a grid, lined, and shaded just so
*detailed shading of Fission


From Dorrit Tompkins (Punta Gorda, Florida) ~
Fun to do the new tangles. How do you decide which ones to choose?

I choose tangles for a multiple of reasons - many that I state under the names of each pattern in the challenge posts.  I look for a balance of light and dark, dense and airy, new and not-so-new, rounded and straight lined, etc...
Tangled Tidbits -
*rice shapes of Sati appear three-dimensional
*shaded centers of Fission


From Sarah (Michigan) and here on her blog ~
A rounded string would have scared me as much as an angular one before. But by using some great tangles I've learned so much about how things can flow. And most importantly I enjoy doing it! It may not be as technically involved as it could but the fact I was able and allowed myself to create something that made me happy is a wonderful thing. Thanks!
That is a wonderful description of the process of tangling, thank you Sarah.
Tangled Tidbits -
*flowing curls of Tamisolo
*darkened aura of Fission


From Karin (Germany) ~
first I thought that I would not participate in the challenge this week because I absolutely had no idea how to fill in the tangles into the string… for me it looks like speech bubbles of a Comic
But than I had time for my own and thought that tangling would be the only way to calm down and relax on a saturday evening.
What should I say… I was right and I really like the “airy” result.
Greetings from Germany!
Tangled Tidbits -
*simple and elegant tangles
*shading distinguishes the string sections


From Jane (Colorado) ~
Hmmm...interesting...not much planning with this one, which I think is one can tell by looking at it--:)
I am usually such a "respect the string" tangler...never varying it, even to the point of celebrating those "suggested" pencil lines by really delineating my boundaries...and I always love how the patterns meet in interesting ways at those places, but for some reason, this time around, I pretty much ignored the string--:)
Actually, I did start out with Tamisolo in the large circular area on top, but I was having so much fun, I just kept going and before I knew it, the entire top half was covered! I played around with the darks and lights with not much forethought...I love Fission and it's Queen Anne's Lace look (it's all over my yard) so I threw some of that in on the bottom--started out in the bottom left circle, but that took over its space too--:) Added just one little piece of Sati and shaded all around...
It looks kind of interesting...but I think I would like to try it again, with more string respect--:)
Thanks, as always Adele, for providing this wonderful arena for trying out new ideas, strings and tangles!
Don't you just love when the tangles lead the way?
Tangled Tidbits -
*beautiful field of bold Tamisolo
*Fission bursts from a central one



From Beth Gaughan (North Carolina) ~
Here is my tile for this week's challenge. I call it the flaming Easter egg. ;)


Tangled Tidbits - 
*two variations of Sati with a plain middle section
*a touch of Sati in two corners


From Jessie Plouffe (Connecticut) ~
Here's my submission for this week's challenge!  Thank you!

Tangled Tidbits - 
*Tamisolo in very striking, swirled, sparkled stripes
*beautifully shaded Sati and Fission



From Jennifer Sparrow (North Carolina) ~
Not wanting to disappoint you, I'm sending my attempt at String #134, which will probably disappoint you anyway!!! Way too busy. Ugh. I couldn't find my way out of this one, and just kept adding more and more! Once I've started a piece, I never start over or throw it out. This was almost an exception! I'm looking forward to seeing others' results.
On a happier note, I was wandering around your site this week and discovered the sparkle tutorial. What a wonderful lesson! It really brightened my ZT day! It was so interesting seeing the different patterns with a sparkle, and following Sue's assessments on each. (CLICK HERE TO VIEW the post Jennifer refers to)
Thanks for the challenge!
Please know I am never disappointed but always intrigued and grateful to see your work :)
Tangled Tidbits -
*aura of Sati and dots intersect
*Sati rice shapes morph into woven strings
*Tipple filled Tamisolo


From Jenny Hopkins (Australia) ~
I had a go at the thing,
Where Adele sets us all a string.
It all begins on a Tuesday,
Which is known as our Good News Day!
I tried the challenge of making Sati,
Look neat and tidy and somewhat arty.
I tried the same with Tamisolo.
(I've got more chance with water polo.)
Then I made it my new mission
To master Fission, a failed vision.
But they say it's the process to wrangle
And wangle and spangle (and mangle!)
That makes it Zentangle.
-definitely not by Dr Seuss


Happy Birthday, Dr Seuss and thank you, Adele.
Jenny Hopkins (Australia)
That, Jenny, was a royal treat.  Dr. Suess would be very proud!
 Tangled Tidbits -
*shading defines the string's sections
*Tamisolo climbs upward
*sparkled Sati fills the background


From Cat Trask (Oregon) ~
Imagine my surprise when I saw this weeks challenge featuring one of my strings! Thank you so very much! And along with this string were three tangles that I have never used before. What fun I had with this week's challenge!
Fission was fun, and reminded me of some of the wildflowers I see when I take my latest rescue, Gunnar, for a walk... Now our four cats have a tripawed big brother. 
My favorite Tangle this week was Sati. So many variations and possibilities, from a border to a fill to a background.I struggled with Tamisolo. I am still not happy with how it turned out, but it is what it is.
ANYWAY~it's been a while since I've said thank you for taking the time to provide "It's a String Thing" weekly challenge for us all to enjoy. And again, thanks for using my [string]. I am embarrassed and honored (strange combination of feelings). Have a great weekend!
Tangled Tidbits -
*Sati curves in the string section
*round, sparkled Tamisolo
*multiple arua of Fission


From Sue Agnew (Tucson, Arizona) ~
Here's #134. I really liked Sati. Although I just used one of the variations Jem showed, I can see a number of ways it could be played with to create various effects. It kind of reminded me of Mi2. Last week I thought my grid looked extremely regular, so this week I vowed to use a curved grid to fit Sati into the curved spaces ... but it still came out looking pretty darn regular. Oh well, I guess that is what I enjoy about Zentangle, being precise and regular. After the high-concentration Sati I just whipped in an homage to Tamisolo and Fission.
Tangled Tidbits -
*an equal treat - to read Sue's description and see her pretty tile :)
*dark circles around the tips of Sati rice shapes make the tangle pieces appear woven together
*singular Tamisolo curl


From HeidiSue (Salt Lake City, Utah) ~
Here is my entry for this week's string thing challenge. I got pretty sick over the past couple of weeks and haven't had the energy for any challenges, but I did spend some time playing around with the new patterns from tanglepatterns.com, the same ones you have in this challenge...so how could I not! and besides, I'm starting to feel better. I was surprised to find how much I enjoy Fission. I have a page in my sketchbook with a lot of Fission play
anyway, here is my entry. I call it
Tumbleweed Bouquet.
thanks for a fun challenge
 Tangled Tidbits -
*pops of Sati in the corners (like Beth's above)
*fabulous concentrations of Fission
*shadowed Tamisolo



From Robin Bort (Nevada) ~
Another challenging string, for me at least! And, three new-to-me patterns. Thank you so much for providing these challenges, it has been so much fun!
 Tangled Tidbits -
*line width variation, detail lines, and shading add wonderful dimension
*tiny dots repeat in all three tangles
*free floating Sati


From Becky Welty (North Carolina) ~
Tangled Tidbits -
*small rice shapes of Sati give the tangle a new look
*shaded tips of Tamisolo and sting line around Fission



From Jeanette Quinn Bisbee (Ontario, Canada) ~
This week's challenge is the first one I've been dissatisfied with; I had an idea of a different way to do the tile in a 2nd version, but time ran out in my week before I got to do it. The Tamisolo pattern looked beautiful, but just refused to do what my mind envisioned. However, there are no mistakes, and, as always, I enjoyed my time doing the tile. Hope all of you enjoyed your time as well. I always look forward to seeing everyone's; next week I know will be better!
Tangled Tidbits -
*Fission centered string sections surrounded by clusters of Tamisolo
*black rice shapes for Sati


A very warm welcome to Debbie (Ohio) ~
I enjoy your weekly challenges. This is the first time I have finished on a Saturday.
Tangled Tidbits -
*the string lines morph into Fission lines
*black curved lines of Sati - with x's and dots in the centers
*great shading


From Susan Theron (Velddrif, South Africa) and here on her blog ~
Loved this challenge. I've read Ina Sonnenmoser's tangling tips about using the string only as a guide line. I tend to rigidly follow the string line and this time I tried to use it only as a guide! I like the outcome of this tile. Will as always like to see what my fellow tanglers did. Love your challenges!

Tangled Tidbits -
*Tamisolo, tight curls that push beautifully passed the string lines
*elongated single Sati that tips a single Tamisolo


From Felicity Strohfeldt (South Africa) and here on her blog ~
...challenge 134 nearly had me in despair. Beautiful tangles all three, but I attempted several versions, until I gave up and only returned to the drawing board this morning after, believe it or not, a night filled with tangles in different shapes and sizes flitting through my dreams.
Finally it came together and the result is a lacy bouquet bordered here and there with deconstructed Sati (by Jem) which kept me puzzling as to what to do with this pattern in this particular String by cat. Fission by Andy is truly a delicate pattern and Tamisolo by Hanny became my bouquet’s beautiful wrap.
In the end it all worked as it always does.
Thank you for the challenge. 
 I do believe you about your dreams - and I know we can all relate :)
Tangled Tidbits -
*absolutely creative use of Sati, halved as a border
*black and white orbs for Fission


From Sharyn Penna (Massachusetts) ~
So, this was a prompt with a surprise ... the light in the attic finally lit up.
When I played with Sati in my journal I had a time of it. I tried straight and curvy grids, but I couldn't get it together. With time ticking away I pulled out a tile and Sati came to life.
I had an epiphany ... maybe practicing a grid pattern on a large blank journal page is the reason I've been confounded by grid patterns. Grid patterns simply need a home in a space within a tile rather than being drawn all sprawled out on a page without a purpose. Sigh ... how long have I rumbled and grumbled on about grids?
Thank you for a prompt that helped me realize grids are linear patterns not linear thoughts.
We learn from each other - many thanks for sharing your inspirations.
Tangled Tidbits -
*delicate shading of Sati, Fission, and the Tamisolo filled string section
*weighted lines in Tamisolo and the orbs of Fission



From midori, CZT (Florida) ~
for this submission, i decided to tangle 'tamisolo' and 'fission'...without 'sati.' while tangling 'tamisolo' it reminded me so much of 'mooka.' perhaps my interpretation of 'fission' is different?! after 'spilling out' the tangles on tile...the string really disappeared...

I love the words "spilling out the tangles" - thank you for that thought.
Tangled Tidbits -
*dark spaces of Tamisolo accent the tight curls
*Fission forms from the tips of Tamisolo and intertwines throughout


And now...
the tile for honors this week
was sent in by Talia Maynard from London, United Kingdom ~

Talia wrote:
I really enjoyed this week's challenge. I really enjoyed filling all the space in the tile and absolutely loved Sati and how many variations you can make with it. It really did seem to lend itself to singular buds rather than as a filler. And Fission is really fun too. Plus, I got to fill in lots of black which always makes me happy!
Tangled Tidbits -
*simple and bold tangles
*three free floating variations of Sati, delightfully detailed and shaded
*interlocking Fission
*black inner curls of Tamisolo spill into the background and accent the shaded white curls



Congratulations, Talia !
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 131 by Cat Trask, CZT

Sati by Jem Miller

Tamisolo by Hanny Waldburger, CZT 

Fission by Richard Anderson


Click here for the details of "It's a String Thing" #135!




















1 comment:

  1. It has been an absolute delight to read through this post, very slowly, looking for a long time at each and every tile. I'm so thrilled at how much people like my Sati tangle, and am astounded at all the amazing variations that people have come up with, many that hadn't occurred to me at all! This is the best feeling ever. Thank you Adele, and thank you fellow tanglers!

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