"It's a String Thing" #201 Tiles

Admittedly, I am still basking in the wave of lovely tiles and good wishes from last week's 200th celebration.  

Not surprisingly, we have begun this next century with a bang - very appropriate for Canada's 150th Celebration and our 241st Fourth of July Celebration here in the United States.

The first tile arrived from Vonnie Schneider (St. Paul, Minnesota) ~

I apparently was channeling a rainbow as I created this tile on a cool rainy afternoon! Some of the darker colors took over my line work and a mix up on my 05 and 005 pens gave my lines a little thicker that intended look. I love it all the same.

Tangled Tidbits -
*lovely line weight and coloring
*rounded edges of Leaflet


From Lisette (Switzerland) ~

I'm a bit in a hurry as we are leaving for our vacation. But I managed to participate in this challenge! BeeBug was new to me and I couldn't get really familiar with it (as you can see). But I certainly will give it another try.

Tangled Tidbits -
*fabulous dew drops on Leaflet
*two variations of Beebug


From Debbie Raaen (Trondheim, Norway) ~

After doing last weeks challenge and enjoying it so much I decided to try again. Such fun! Have had problems using strings before but find now that I am looking at the possibilities they present in a whole new way.Thank you!

Tangled Tidbits -
That is wonderful to hear, Debbie!
*rounded lines of a graceful Leaflet
*opened and closed 'eyes' in Beebug


From Shirley Wohlsen (Queensland, Australia) ~

Thank you, Adele, for another set of lovely Tangles.
Attached is my Tile for ‘It’s A String Thing #201’ challenge.

Tangled Tidbits -
*Leaflet ends in curls and orbs that morph into Beebug
*shaded grid lines add depth to all three tangles


From Hilary (Chicago) ~

Here's my efforts for this week's challenge. Once again it was definitely a challenge. I had a heck of a time with HekZee. It took me forever to get from step 5 to step 6, and just when I thought I'd figured it out, I messed up again! So don't look too carefully.

Tangled Tidbits -
*rounded, thick dark spaces, fine lines, and shading transform Leaflet
*ribbons of Beebug wrap around the border


A very warm welcome to Priscilla DeConti, CZT (New York) ~

...This is my first time sending in a tile. Trying to stretch my skills now that I am a CZT...
Thank you for having these challenges. I look forward to doing more.

Tangled Tidbits -
*mirrored triangles of HekZee
*stacks of orbs fill Beebug curves
Welcome, Priscilla, and welcome to our tangled map ~

From Lynn Gotham (Florida) ~

I really had fun with Beebug. Thanks for another challenging challenge.

Tangled Tidbits -
*glowing white orbs of Beebug
*each section of Leaflet is shaded light and dark - gives the illusion of a turning leaf


A very warm welcome to Margarete Gilge (Germany) and here on her blog ~

Congratulations on your 200th Challenge! I enjoy looking at your site for a long time.
My favorite work is watercolor painting and drawing, but I am excited of tangling since about three years. In February of this year I myself created an own blog “Malerisches Franken”.
Now, at the beginning of the third hundred, I would like to participate in your new challenge. I send you my tile in black and white.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*stripes, sparkle, perfs, and detail lines hightlight Leaflet

*dark centers of HekZee flow into the darkened background of Leaflet

Welcome to our community and to our tangled map, Margarete!

From Lin H, CZT (Florida) ~

Thanks for the challenge, Adele. HekZee and BeeBug were both new for me. I found I really had to take my time with HekZee. BeeBug came a little easier to me. I've always liked Leaflet and had a zenful time putting them all together on the tile. As always, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's work.

Tangled Tidbits -
*darkening in the surrounding areas of the orbs in Beebug created a cobblestone look
*vertical direction for Leaflet, rounded lines, and repeated Beebug orbs - fabulous!


From Sra (India) ~

Here's my entry for IAST 201.
I found this very easy to do, in that I didn't think much where to place which tangle, they lent themselves very naturally to the string. I'm sure there will be many tiles similar to mine in this round. :)
Despite that, I didn't like my tile much initially but when I see it now, I feel better about it.

Tangled Tidbits -
*rich middle section of HekZee
*Leaflet filled corners


From Susan (United Kingdom) ~

I really liked BeeBug, it was very jolly to draw.

Tangled Tidbits -
*two similarly shaded variations of Beebug
*vertical channels for alternating Leaflet and HekZee


From Ingrid (The Netherlands) ~

In the attachment my IAST # 102 tile for this week.
I read the IAST # 200 congratulations of the other IAST participants and I agree with all of them. I couldn't have said it better myself.

Tangled Tidbits -
*flowing lines of Leaflet - contrast so well with the straight ones of HekZee
*Beebug flows from Leaflet


From Susie (Thailand) ~

Beebug! Really? But then I saw it without the cartoonish circle in the middle of each blob and my eyes got big. Wow, that is so much better. Although it is really simple I didn’t think I got it just the way I wanted it, but at least I didn’t had to ban it minimized into corner and out of sight.
Loved the challenge through and through! Great tangles and great string. Thanks, Adele.

Tangled Tidbits -
...sometimes the simplest ideas for tangles become the most captivating.
*striped and sparkled Leaflet
*golden hue 'drips from one tangle to the next - like honey!


From Jutta Gladnigg, CZT (NRW, Germany) ~

My dearest congratulations to the newlyweds Catherine and Oswald! What a beautiful couple!
And congratulations, Sarah, for your cool pattern being published on tanglepatterns.com and being part of this week's challenge!
Somehow this tile has accidentally turned into a comfortable American armchair...

Tangled Tidbits -
*wonderful imagery and 'comfortable' tangles!
*elongated orbs in Beebug and wonderfully deep shading for all the tangles


From Jody Genovese, CZT (New York) ~

I was so excited to see BeeBug by Sarah Fowler. She is a friend from Mosaic and part of a group we call The Tangle Team. There are six of us from 3 countries who do traveling tangle projects together and then post on Mosaic. Makes it extra special for me. Loved the other tangles too..all of them were new to me!

Tangled Tidbits - 

...what fun to participate in such a creative group!

*channel grids run diagonally

*C-Perfs echoes in Beebug

From Sabine (Germany) ~

It's late, but first I would like to say congratulation to 200 IAST and many thanks to you for making this challenge every week.
Here is my contribution for this week. Beebug and Hekzee are new to me and I try my best. At the end I'm satisfy with the result.
Many greetings from Germany

Tangled Tidbits - 

This is remarkable - look back at Jody's and Sra's tile and now to Sabine's and notice how the pattern placement as well as the direction is so similar.  

*curved border lines

*Beebug and Leaflet morph

From Mariam G (Port Hueneme, California) ~

Happy that you selected Helen's 'Leaflet' for this challenge. (Her patterns are just lovely!) Am still working on
'HekZee'...a little more practice needed. A great start for the next one hundred IAST's!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Leaflet detailed to one side

*lovely rounding of HekZee created with shading

From Trudi (Woodview, Ontario, Canada) ~

Was that ever a great celebration of your 200th so many lovely tiles and it was so gracious of you to send each of us an email! I find doing Challenges so hard I can't imagine doing it each week and finding something to say about each one??? Man you are The Woman!
Today July 1st is Canada Day it's our 150th birthday and I almost forgot to check back to get my entry in.

Tangled Tidbits - 

Thank you for the smiles!

*center concentration of Leaflet lines gives sense of depth

*HekZee darkened along horizontal grid lines

From Beth Gaughan (North Carolina) ~

Here is my tile for IAST 201. This was a fun string and tangle combination! I always like channel patterns, and two of these were new to me.

Tangled Tidbits - 

...our fourth similar tile!

*two happy variations of Beebug

*elegant shading

A very warm welcome to Sue Leslie, CZT (New Mexico) - and the first from the "Land of Enchantment" ~

Just found your site and the IAST challenges a few days ago. Thanks for including me. Here is my first one and it got me through a tough medical day this week too. I found Zentangle about 2 ½ years ago after having open heart surgery and needing something calm to get me through some rough spots. And Zentangle does do that. Feel in love with it so much, I went on to do the CZT 22 seminar and I’m now teaching it a little.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Leaflet and Beebug glide over a HekZee background

*Leaflet sections filled with aura

Congratulations, welcome to our tangled map, and all the best on your tangled journey, Sue.

From Jane (California) ~

I am so happy to become part of your IAST family. I will have quite the collection of notecards
by the time you have to think up a string for 300! Two birds/one stone and all that.
So here’s to your next 100 challenges.
May your 4th of July be full of lots of red, white and blue good times.

Tangled Tidbits -
*HekZee tipped with Beebug
*single Leaflet lines, beautiful coloring

From Lisa Preston (Marietta, Georgia) ~

Two weeks in a row for me is pretty impressive these days. I just fell in love with the three tangles and told myself I had to find time. :)
I really loved this challenge. The way the string and the tangles all played so well together was very inspiring. The thing I'm worst at is finding tangles that "live" well together. Your ability to find tangles that do really helps me get started!
Here's to the next "century"!

Tangled Tidbits -
...and our fifth similar tile - what a happy coincidence!
*dots and shading accent Beebug
*corner pops of Leaflet


From Susie (St. Louis, Missouri) ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*weighted lines of Leaflet and soft shading
*one intersection of HekZee finished with curls


From Jenny Hopkins (Australia) ~

What a wonderful week of tiles and good wishes for IAST 200. You certainly deserve all the good wishes.
This week's challenge was fun. I enjoyed all of the tangles and trying to make them work together.
Thank you.

Tangled Tidbits -
*similar sized Beebug and Leaflet
*light, dark, thick, and thin lines and overlapping tangles



From Sharyn Penna, CZT (Massachusetts) ~

Yikes! As IAST enters a new century, Canada celebrates their 150th anniversary, and we begin the second half of 2017 ... and I'm still writing 1989 for the date!
These curvy- and straight-lined ogee-type tangles blended together so well. I mashed together the curvies ... Bee Bug and Leaflet then rustled a bit with HekZee.
Then I discovered if I put a dot in the center lines of the triangles, it was easier to connect the dots then aura to the point. My lines were so wonky I decided to accentuate the wobbles with uneven weighted lines. I'm not going to point out my oopsies, but there are a few. A couple were remedied with a white pen.
Thank you for such a fun prompt ...
Happy 4th ... Happy Canada Day!

Tangled Tidbits -
*glorious combination of Leaflet and HekZee
*weighted lines repeat in HekZee and Leaflet


From Sharon Fite (California) ~

Three fun tangles! I was only familiar with Leaflet, but like the other two very much. Beebug is jazzy with a Shadduck fill, and perfs adorn Leaflet. HekZee makes the "quilt" in the background. I am listening to the fireworks display at the local baseball park and want to wish everyone stateside a Happy Fourth!

Tangled Tidbits -
*lighter version of HekZee
*a very 'jazzy' version of Beebug, striped and sparkled


From Henrike Bratz, CZT (Germany) ~

yesterday I read your Fabriano VII-post. You are really appreciating every moment of your days in Italy and the precious hours at Fabriano by writing things down for us, thereby making every moment happen again.
I still revel in the patterns of Lisbon. Above all, of course, the patterns that can be seen on the tiles everywhere in town. (I wrote a blogpost yesterday about a fragment I found in the museum of tiles in Lisbon. I called it “Lisbon fragment”. In my blogpost I show some variations in arrangement and embellishment) But I also took a picture of a tourist’s skirt. Look here! Isn’t this just LEAFLET? How funny…. You can see in my tile, that I took some inspiration from that skirt!

I tangled HEKZEE very much in a reticula and fragment feeling and found this very helpful. A lot of grid-tangles we’ve been knowing and using for a long time ( like dex, flukes, well and lots of others) can be seen and interpreted as reticula and fragments of course. I think this sometimes allows a new perspective and opens the mind for new variations of the patterns.

Tangled Tidbits -
*fabulous Leaflet - love the inspiration!
*double lined channel for Beebug


From Marla Mendenhall (Califronia) ~

Well, it was one of those weeks for me. Boy did I have a problem with fully grasping the process of replicating HekZee, and worse still was that I knew it shouldn't be as difficult as I was making it. Synaptic misfires, I guess,because I even had problems with Leaflet, which I use frequently, and don't even get me started on Bee Bug. I sure used up a bunch of my smaller sketch tiles trying to get happy with the rendering ... which led me to the idea of showing separate test tiles for two of the patterns, and using the string "ribbon" for the third. I do try to avoid the obvious when I'm filling spaces with patterns, and this was certainly "trying!" Gotta love those personal challenges too, right?

Tangled Tidbits -
*curved lines in alternating sections of HekZee create a bulging look
*weighted lines and filled in spaces of Beebug orbs


From Simone (Germany) ~

Congratulations to the beautiful contributions to your IAST anniversary last week! I enjoyed to see all the great tiles with the C-Perfs!
Hopefully I am not too late this week, I could not finish the tile earlier, but I liked the chosen tangles and the string as much that I needed to finish and send you now.

Tangled Tidbits -
*doubled lines and light, dark, and Printemps orbs of Beebug
*shading along all grid lines of the three tangles


From Charlene Peterson, CZT (Florida) ~

I found the channel line grid tangles to be very zenful. And your string added to the zenfulness. Really enjoyed this challenge, Adele.

Tangled Tidbits -
*shaded inner curves of Leaflet
*Beebug orbs spill into Leaflet



From Brenda Urbanik, CZT 13 (Knysna, Western Cape, South Africa) ~

After realizing late in the game last week that I actually totally forgot to even look at the string you offered for IAST #200, I decided to be more attentive this week and actually try to use the string.
I love HekZee, so meditative repeating those lines over and over again. Lots of black in my tile today but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you for helping keep me inspired over this time with your challenges.

Tangled Tidbits -
*thick, dark, sparkled curves in Beebug
*shaded grid lines of HekZee and Leaflet


From Shelley (South Australia) ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*grid free Beebug
*soft colors and shading emphasize Leaflet's waves


And now...

the tile for honors this week...

was sent in by...

Gabriela Garcia from Alberta, Canada - and her husband, too!

This was a fun challenge! We were very busy here preparing for Canada's Day celebrations, so I was drawing this tile between little free moments. I guess something about summer and Canada Day inspired me to add green to "leaflet" and red to all the little circles in "Beebug" . I had almost finished when I had to leave the tile aside for a moment, when I came back to it my husband had added a few legs and antennas creating an "ant" with Beebug circles! funny he didn't know anything about the pattern's name, he just saw the red circles and thought of busy ants and played a joke on me!... I liked it so I finished off creating more ants and adding a little bit of brown simulating hills or cracks on the ground.
Greetings from Canada!

Tangled Tidbits -
*very clever and creative smiling Beebug ants
*highlights, shading, touches of color
*weighted line ends of Leaflet
*Beebug and Leaflet share grid lines

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

Many thanks to everyone for sending in your precious tiles.  You inspire all of us and help build this wonderfully supportive IAST community.

Kudos to the artists behind our featured tangles:

Beebug by Sarah Fowler

HekZee by Carole Ohl, CZT 

Leaflet by Helen Williams 

Continued thanks for the compliments on the posts of my "Paper Pilgrimage" to Fabriano, Italy.  Part VIII is coming on Thursday ♡.

Check back Tuesday afternoon for "It's a String Thing" #202!