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Monday, December 25, 2017

A Christmas Cup of Cheer

My Printemps inspired cookies and a cup of cheer to wish everyone a blessed
Christmas Day

At the conclusion of each Sunday's Mass in the month of December, a beautiful blessing was proclaimed that in part said:

As you run the race of this current life,
may you be firm in faith,
joyful in hope,
and
active in charity.

It is my wish for all of us this happy Christmas season.  Have yourself a very merry one!






Friday, December 22, 2017

Candy House

This little house just might make you hungry for something sweet...

Candy House by Adele Bruno, CZT
Tangles:  Cadent, Peppermint, Mumsy, Diva Dance, Festune
Beadline, Cruffle, CO2, Twizted, Florz, 

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Wednesday's Word of Wisdom

The ornament of a house are the friends who frequent it.
                                                               
                                                            ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


Tiny Tangle House by Lynn Gotham (front)

Tiny Tangled House by Lynn Gotham (back)

This tiny tangled house was sent in by Lynn Gotham who lives just north of me in Florida. 
Isn't it lovely?




Tuesday, December 19, 2017

"It's a String Thing" #223 Tiles

This post is a "day late and a dollar short" as my grandmother was fond of saying, but I think you will agree that the the wait was worth it when you see the beautiful display of tiles below.

We used star inspired tangles for this festive time of year. 
There are Christmas greetings here from all over the world - Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, South Africa, Switzerland, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, and a dozen states - truly a universal celebration.

One tangler completed her goal of participating in every IAST this year - read on to find out who made this remarkable resolution.

Be sure to check the end of the post to see who wins the random drawing for my new eBook written in collaboration with Dorian Eng, CZT (Click on the photo to the right for more information.)

Now, let's take a look ~

The first tile arrived from Lily (Hungary) ~
...here is my rsponse for your weekly challenge. I used chocolate brown colored paper for this piece.
Zenhug:


From Sandra (Germany) and here on her blog ~
once again such a wonderful challenge :-) I like patterns looking like stars and so I really loved this challenge a lot!
I combined Widgets to Stella and Aah and tangled on a black tile.
Have a wonderful week and a contemplative pre-christmas period,
many greetings from germany,


From Ria Matheussen, CZT (Belgium) ~
Thank you for another beautiful seasonal challenge with the beautiful tangles Stella and AHH.
Again, I have made my entry on one of my eco-dyed tiles. and enjoyed making this drawing very much.
My husband and I are living in the south of Belgium but our sons in the north. Next week we are going to spend some days with them and there, I will not have time for tangling. So this was my last challenge of the year. Again I wanna thank you for so many interesting challenges and I hope to join also many times in the New Year.
Greetings from the heart from Belgium


From Gale Sherman (Tucson, Arizona) ~
Though I haven't participated in recent months I've been enjoying all your beautiful and creative tiles. And from your comments I find it interesting how individually we are REALLY challenged by different string and pattern challenges. I know I'm challenged by straight lines so usually I bend/curve them to suit by fancy. However today I say the opportunity to make a big #Stella (I've never used this before) creating cells in which I could include other tangles. Hence, you have #betweed. #zinger, and #flux with some #ahh and one #starawan flying around. I used a bit of GellyRoll Metalic gold, and yellow watercolor in addition to our regular tools. 'Twas fun! Happy Holidays, Adele and other Worldwide Tanglers!



From Shirley Wohlsen (Queensland, Autralia) ~
Attached is my Tile for ‘ It’s A String Thing #223’ challenge.
I love Jana’s ‘Tangle ‘Stella’ and ‘Fiore’ has been a favourite of mine from the first time I used it.
This week’s challenge was a joy to Tangle.
I have just purchased Tiny Tangled Houses, haven’t as yet read it all, but it looks like a lot of fun, so I’m about to start cutting the tiles to build my little houses.
Then onto the joy of tangling them, Thank you Dorian and Adele for coming up with this lovely idea.


A very warm welcome to Michelle Wood (California) ~


Welcome to our IAST community and to our Tangled Map (right near Garađź’—), Michelle!


From Lisette (Switzerland) ~
This is my contribution to IAST# 223. Stella is a wonderful pattern. I tangled a Shnek-border around it. Ahh (like CO2) always amazes me. How can such a simple form be so expressive!? But there are so many Zentangle secrets...


From Dani (Semarang, Indonesia) and here on her blog ~
The last IAST challenge for this year, 2017. Thank you Adele. Happy holiday.



From Lynn G (Florida) ~
Thank you Adele for another fun challenge. Stella is one of my favorite tangles.


From Hilary (Chicago) ~
When I first saw Stella, I thought what a wonderful pattern, so many possibilities! And that's true, but it took me several notebook practice pages and three videos to understand how to draw it. Quite the learning experience! Ahh is one of those great "never-fail" patterns that's easy with so many variations. After my rough start I really enjoyed this one.
So thanks again and all best wishes for this wonderful season!



From Jody Genovese, CZT (New York) ~
I want to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Thank you so much for all of your amazing challenges this year. I look so forward to them.
Attached is my tile. Stella is one of my favorites so a great way to end the year.
Wishing all of my fellow tanglers a very warm and wonderful holiday season!
See you next year!!


From Pat (Washington State) ~
Wishing you and your family a joyous, healthy, happy and blessed Christmas.


From Mariam G (Port Hueneme, California) ~
Hard to believe we have reached the end of 2017 already - this year has flown by for sure! Here in Ventura county we are not having a wonderful end to it, unfortunately. We are all praying for the families impacted by the fire and for the brave souls risking their lives everyday on the front lines. Sadly, we lost one of them yesterday. Such a tragic loss; perhaps everyone could say a little prayer for his family this season.
 (Note:  Mariam lives near the raging wildfires in California.  Her note refers to a fireman killed while bravely fighting the fires.  Please do keep all in your prayers.)
I did not want to miss the final IAST, so I made certain to set aside some time to complete a tile. Simple seemed the way to go on this one, and I'm happy with the result (I have been playing with General's MultiPastels and am loving the colors and the blending capabilities).



From Thekla (Germany) ~
I wish us wonderful Christmas and a happy peaceful new year!!


From Priscilla DeConti, CZT (New York) ~
To Adele and all..May you have a wonderful and blessed Christmas and a happy joyous New Year...
Thanks Adele for these challenges that keep me on my toes and encourage me to try new harder tangles.
Love your houses and hope to get them soon...
God Bless





From Simone Menzel, CZT (Germany) ~
Thank you for the lots of beautiful IAST challenges over the year! Even if I do not take part every week I explore every single challenge and watch all the beautiful contributons.
I like the tangle of this week very much and wanted to draw it already for a long time. So I took this chance of the IAST challenge.
Here is my tile - I used a renaissance tile...
I wish you a very happy Christmas time and all the best for 2018. I hope to attend to many more IAST Challenges next year


From Ulrike (Germany) and here on Flickr ~
I´m so glad to found your blog and challenge. Thank you for your great work! It is so nice to have a place, where can meet other Zentangle friends and look at their works and learn.
I wish you, your family and all Zentangle friends a merry, peaceful Christmas and a healthy, happy new (Tangle) year!
Kind regards from Germany.



From Verena (Germany) ~
Wish you wonderful Christmas days.



From Ingrid Coventon (The Netherlands) ~
In the attachment my IAST # 223 tile for this week.
How could I let this challenge pass? I love Stella. So here is my tile .
Much much love, have a blessed last two weeks of this year 2017 and enjoy your holiday season.
Your gingerbread houses are so gorgeous. Love them.
Congratulations to you and your friend Dorian with your e-book with the little houses.




From Zhou Yanli (China) ~
This work looks like Christmas decorations, and wishes all the friends to have a happy Christmas!



From Margarete Gilge (Germany) and here on her blog ~
your challenge brought a wonderful holiday feeling. I enjoyed tangling two Christmas cards. The second you can find on my blog
I wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season, merry Christmas and a happy healthy new year!
Best wishes from Germany,



From VenaC (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) ~
I really enjoyed doing Stella. It is such and elegant tangle. It can be used as a star, a snowflake, a flower, or simply just a pattern as in my contribution. Our weather is snowy and overcast, so I needed some colour. I wish you and your family lots of fun together over the festive season. Once again, thank you so much for putting this challenge together. It is really much appreciated.



From Lori Byerly (Washington State) and here on her website ~
Thanks so much for all you do. Each week I'm challenged to stay creative, try new patterns, and more. You are a gift to the Zentangle community.
Here is my tile for this week's challenge.



From Sra (India) ~
I drew several Stellas but was satisfied only after the eighth or ninth attempt. In the process, I ended up with tangelations (?) of both Stella and Ahh. The Ahh tangelation is a result of attempting perfection! :-P - And see what happened! ;-)
I'm actually very proud that MY tile looks as good as this!
The Stella motif is very common in a South Indian system of decorating front yards of homes with rice flour powder/paste. We call it the 'lotus' motif but the dots scheme is the same as the step-out. In that system, we join the dots to form the pattern or draw around them, using them as a guide and a decoration. You can see more of what I mean here.
Have a great week!



From Lin H, CZT (Florida) ~
Happy Holidays, Adele! I had not drawn Stella in a while and placed my initial dots so close to my border, I ended up having to kind of squeeze the rest of the pattern in. I really like shading white charcoal on black and the gold seemed to fit in with the stars of Ahh. So it turns out I’m okay with my tile. It looks Christmas-y to me!



From Karen Herstowski (Atlanta, Georgia) ~
This is the most wonderful time of the year and this was the best tangle yet! Such a delicate accent to and astoundingly dramatic pattern. Thanks go to Maria and Jana for these patterns. Thank you Adele for bringing us all together with design.
Have a wonderful holiday season.
See you next year…………



From Susan (United Kingdom) ~
Seasons Greetings to tanglers all over the world.



From Sue Leslie (New Mexico) ~
Hi and Happy Holidays.
This was a fun string and a festive one too. Ahh has always been one of my winter favorite tangles. Stella was a more recent tangle for me and I am enjoying it. Thanks for giving us some challenges during the year. Merry Christmas to all.



From Susie (St. Louis, Missouri) ~
I wish everyone happy holiday season.



From Susan Theron (Velddrif, South Africa) ~
A merry Christmas and a happy new year to all.



From Sharon Fite (California) ~
Great tangles, Adele! I kept it simple this time. The lance shape in Stella always reminds me of heraldry, thus the Knightsbridge treatment. I have to tell you that this finishes a year of contributing for me. I made a resolution last January to participate in every IAST challenge you posted, and I did! That may be a first for me --actually keeping a resolution! I love learning new tangles and using them in challenging strings. Thank you, Adele, for putting it out there and encouraging this incredible community. Happy Holidays!



From Robin (Reno, Nevada) ~
Here you go! I really loved the two tangles you put forward for this week, and wanted to participate, but I hurt my back. So, instead of sitting in a chair bending over my tile on a table in front of me, I stood at the kitchen counter and placed my tile on a shoebox so that the tile was just a few inches from my face. Voila! No bending necessary.
I hope you like it, I had fun with it! I especially needed a distraction this week. Thank you for the challenge!



From Renee (Tennessee) and on Instagram ~



From Felicity Strohfeldt (South Africa) and here on her blog ~
...First of all, thank you dear Adele for all the creative and lovely challenges this year, also for all the personal snippets and family highlights. Thank you for your love and positivity towards all who participate in your weekly challenges. Your informative comments teach me much about the lovely art of zentangle and I look forward to every week.
Some news from my side: I celebrated my birthday on the 13th and guess what I received from Susan Theron, my friend who also lives in my town and is also the one who introduced me to zentangle four years ago? An electronic copy of Tiny Tangled Houses! Isn’t that great? What a wonderful surprise. I can’t wait for peace and quiet after the festive season to settle down to building and drawing...
Tile 223 was a lovely festive challenge. Stella by Jana Rogers is a magnificent tangle pattern. I love it and Ahh by Maria Thomas,,pure Simplicity, was just the right companion for sophisticated Stella. Turned out as I intended. If you look carefully you’ll see a hint of gold dust applied. Great last tangle for this year!
Merry Christmas dear Adele and extended family. Enjoy them all. May 2018 be good to one and all.



And now...

the winner of the random drawing...

for my new eBook, Tiny Tangled Houses, is...

Mariam G from Port Hueneme, California!

Congratulations, Mariam.


Thank you to Maria Thomas for Ahh and to Jana Rogers, CZT for Stella - the two tangles we thoroughly enjoyed this week.

Thank you all for your lovely tiles, sweet greetings, and for sharing this passion for all things tangled.

IAST will return with #224 on January 2, 2018!

In the meantime, check back often as I will post some stories and artwork to celebrate this most wonderful time of the year.




Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Holiday House #3

To spread some Christmas cheer, here is my third house for the holidays.   

I combined one square and one 3z Renaissance tile and used red, green, brown, and black Micron 01 pens, a white Gelly Roll 10, a touch of shading, and white chalk pencil highlights.

"Oh what fun!", as the merry song goes...

Gumdrop Inn by Adele Bruno, CZT

Tangles: Ahh, Candleglow, Opus, Wud, Antidots, Queens Crown,
Peppermint, Meriberries, Printemps, Florz, Shing 

"It's a String Thing" #223

It's Tuesday, your good news day!

This challenge marks our last of 2017.  In this month of December we have tangled trees, evergreens, and now we are going to entertain stars.  We begin with this string ~

IAST String #223 by Adele Bruno, CZT

The tangles we will use include ~

Stella by Jana Rogers, CZT

Ahh by Maria Thomas
Below are my original notes from a long time ago :)

The string is merely a suggestion, let the tangles lead the way.

Remember that one lucky tangler will win my new eBook written with Dorian Eng, CZT (click on the photo above) in a random drawing from the list of participants.  Send in your tile for a chance to win!

Here are the (Not so) Official Guidelines: 
* Challenges are posted on Tuesdays.
*Use the string posted for the week and some or all of the suggested patterns
* 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 for IAST #219 are to be submitted by Saturday evening of the week issued 

*Photos, notes, and the 'Tile for Honors' will be posted on the following Monday 


Send in your photos - you will encourage and inspire fellow Zentangle® enthusiasts all over the world.  WHEN YOU SIGN YOUR NAME, PLEASE INCLUDE WHERE YOU LIVE.  
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.

Monday, December 11, 2017

"It's a String Thing" #222 Tiles

It's another banner day at IAST - we are now represented in 34 countries!
Take a guess as to where our new tangler is from and then read on to find out.  I think you will be amazed. Our second new artist hails from the United States.  See if you can guess her state.

This week we worked with just one, very elegant tangle:  Marie Thomas' Verdigogh.
Inspired by the evergreens of the season, the tiles are just magnificent.

Let's take a look ~

The first tile arrived from Amy Barnickel (Florida) ~
I know I haven't been able to do much Zentangling lately, but when I saw that this week was #222, I had to do at least a quickie. #2 is my lucky number. I have never added color to a tangle before so I ventured out a little bit with the green in honor of Christmastime.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*white mixed with glorious green 'needles'
*sparkled black berries


From Miriam Gresnigt (The Netherlands) ~
Here's my contribution to this weeks challenge.
It was fun to draw Verdigogh.
Best wishes from the Netherlands,
with zenhug,
Tangled Tidbits -
*square tipped needles
*a stem of rosy berries


From Jody Genovese, CZT (New York) ~
This may be a new record for me…I absolutely loved this week’s project. It felt so Christmas-y to me.
Hope you are doing well. LOVE your new ebook with Dorian, beyond adorable. I have mine constructed, but not tangled yet.
Sending warm wishes your way.
Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you and please send a photo of your completed house.  I'd love to write a post and include everyone's creation.
*thick needles in three variations of color
*blue, black, and red sparkled berries


From Shirley Wohlsen (Queensland, Australia) ~
Attached is my tile for this week’s ‘ It’s A String Thing #222 ‘ challenge
Thank you Adele, for this challenge, it was a lot of fun.
Tangled Tidbits -
*dot tipped pretty green needles
*shadow shading


From Verena (Germany) ~
Best wishes from Germany.
Tangled Tidbits -
*lovely accent tangles
*berry filled branches


From Dani (Semarang, Indonesia) and here on her blog ~
Hi, I join your challenge again. Here is my entry for your challenge. I draw at cloudy Friday afternoon. Feels like I wanna go home soon, meet the kids and forget the work deadline. Tomorrow is weekend. Lets meet Monday with new energy.

Tangled Tidbits -
*lots of energy here! - stippled accents and lovely border
*overlapping needles create depth


From Lily (Hungary) ~
Dear Adele, here is my tile with Verdigogh for your weekly challenge.
Zenhug:
Tangled Tidbits -
*wondrous variation in Verdigogh needles
*Tipple filled spaces and border corners


A very warm welcome to Zhou Yanli from China ~
This is my work on this week's challenge. Thank you!
 Tangled Tidbits -
*rounded and weighted lines
*Bijou makes a guest appearance
Welcome to our Tangled Map and to our IAST community.  China, along with your name and red pin, have been added to our map.  There are now a total of 34 countries represented here!



From Lin H, CZT (Florida) ~
Hi, Adele, I hope you are enjoying this holiday season. I loved your latest challenge with Verdigogh. I was in a Zentangle class where we were given a sprig of rosemary and told to first savor the sight and smell of the herb (easy to do). Then as a deconstruction lesson, we drew Verdigogh in the shape of the rosemary sprig. I’ve loved the tangle pattern ever since. I ended up putting my tile onto a Christmas card for a special friend. Thanks so much for this challenge.
 Tangled Tidbits -
You were so fortunate to have that experience in class.
*berries balance beautifully among the needles
*shading and touch of green accent the tangle



From Lynn G (Florida) ~
Thank you for another fun challenge Adele. I just kept Verdigogh simple as I love the tangle for what it is.
I also want to thank you and Dorian for your FANTASTIC e-Book on Tiny Tangled Houses. Just finished the holiday version, candy canes and all. Such fun!
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you on the book compliments - please send a picture when you can!
*wispy branches and long needles
*clusters of rosy red berries


From VenaC (Whitby, Ontario) ~
Wasn't too sure what to do with this so I added a ribbon.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*multi-colored berries on a single stem
*shading and highlights on a flowing red ribbon


From Ria Matheussen, CZT (Belgium) ~
Thank you for this wonderful seasonal challenge.
For the first time, I have made my entry on an eco-dyed papertile. I like the special effects , created by using this technique. It was a real challenge to work on such a tile.
I have only drawn one Verdigogh but followed the two other strings with the lovely pattern CO2.
Congratulations with your book and I wish you success!
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you, Ria!
*Verdigogh glows on the hand crafted paper
*lovely white, black, green, and a touch of red


From Priscilla DeConti, CZT (Kingston, New York) ~
Verdigogh in red and green for the holidays!
On a watercolor background,,...simple but effective..
 Tangled Tidbits -
*both red and green fill the tangle
*pretty, softly colored background


From Roseann Popa (Washington State) ~
Well this Zentangle didn’t turn out as I had imagined at first! I started it and realized that my initial vision wouldn’t work. I almost scrapped it to start over, but then remembered there are no mistakes in Zentangling ;-) I’m glad I stuck with it as I’m pleased with it!
I used Verdigough, Morf, Tipple, Hollibaugh, Shattuck, and a Chartz adaptation.
Cheers!
 Tangled Tidbits -
Good for you!
*multiple tangles flow from Verdigogh
*beautiful edge created with aura


From Ulrike (Germany) and here on Flickr ~
Here is my entry for the weekly challenge.
I never tangled Verdigough before. But I like it, and I used also Jetties.
Best wishes from Germany
 Tangled Tidbits -
*split branch Veridogh
*sparkled Jetties decorations


From Lisette (Switzerland) ~
Dear Adele, thank you for this new challenge. In the beginning of my “tangle-time” I didn’t like Verdigogh but (with many others) I love it by now. I turned the tile on the corner and hope that’s ok for you. I added twisted rope and sandswirl, some pearls and some fading tira in a distance. At the moment I’m in a blue mood - but not figuratively :-)
In Europe we wish each other a happy Advent season at this time of year. I don’t know if you do this in the States. But nevertheless, enjoy the Advent season.
Hugs from snow-covered Switzerland
Tangled Tidbits -
Yes, it is a very happy Advent season here - thank you for your good wishes and many more to you!
*graceful lines in beautiful shades of blue
*pearl-like berries


From Laural D, CZT (New York) ~
I was inspired by the recent Project Pack, with the new Gellyroll pens, to just keep it simple, with a white on black tile.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*simple and elegant tangle
*touch of highlight for each stem and along the border


From Margarete Gilge (Germany)  and here on her blog ~
your sweeping string formed the branches of my first drawing and reminded of pine branches. My addition with stars and moon is very Christmassy. As a contrast to the Christmas tile, I send you my second version with organic and flowery looking patterns.
Thank you again for this interesting challenge!
Best wishes from Germany
Tangled Tidbits - 
*creative combination of organic tangles
*deep background and shading add sense of depth



From Sra (India) ~
The spokes in my Verdigogh just didn't get the bushiness or the elegance I saw on the Internet. After several tries, I felt somewhat better about it and got on with it. Among the many renderings of it that I saw, there was one with a fragment-reticula background that seems to have lodged itself in my sub-conscious. I took out the papers from the F-R class that we did and decided on this fragment because I could tweak the rounds to look like the berries in the Verdigogh.
I had done the main central Verdigogh and done one side of the squares on the tile and gone off to a movie. Sometime during the movie, I remembered that the string had two more string lines, one on either side of the central one. So I retrofitted the one on the left and drew the other before filling in the squares on the right. It just struck me that the one on the left looks rather like a candy cane! Or a horseshoe!
Cheers
 Tangled Tidbits -
*such a fun combination of concepts - all integrated with Veridogh
*detail lines, weighted lines, shading, sparkle, white space - grand details


From Pat (Washington State) ~
Thanks again for a great challenge. Verdigogh is one of my favorite patterns.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*elegantly tapered needles
*wonderful color, crosshatching, weighted lines, and shading


From Susan (Tennessee) ~
Hi Adele! I grew up in North Carolina in Duke Forest. This tangle brought me memories of walking the beds of pine needles and finding berries in the bushes. I became so entranced in this exercise that I was finished before I could think again! Thank you for the respite in North Carolina.

Tangled Tidbits -
What a sweet respite that must have been!
*aura sets the center branch apart
*larger tangle creates an interesting background


From Susie (St. Louis) ~
Tangled Tidbits -
*striking berry colors accent the branches
*rounded edges of the main stem and branches


From Karen Herstowski (Atlanta, Georgia) ~
This is a nice wintertime pattern. I love the simplicity of it as well as the opportunity to use Hollibaugh effects. This led me to a simplistic theme of a pine sprig - sort of “realism" - rather than a traditional Zentangle pattern. The dusting of snow, aura and shading was an after-thought, but It does make it stand out on the tile a bit.
Happy holidays to all.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*beautiful "dusting of snow"
*pine cone, aura, shading, touches of color - wonderful details


From Tonia C (Rhode Island) ~
Tangled Tidbits -
*three pretty versions of the tangle
*aura and darkened spaces emphasize the middle branch



From Sharon Fite (California) ~
First, your little houses are adorable! I wish you lots of success with your book. Thanks for this fun challenge! At this busy time of year, it is great to sit quietly for a bit and be mindful, one stroke at a time!
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you - your compliments are much appreciated!
*delightful decorations tip the tangle
*green shading and bright red berries


From Felicity Strohfeldt (Velddrif, South Africa) and here on her blog ~
I'm a bit out of the loop. Congratulations with the newly published e-Book,
sounds awesome. Also, I unfortunately did not participate in challenge 221,
but tried my hand at it this week so I've included it.
Tile 222 with Verdigough by Maria Thomas, immediately had me including
Cruffle again this week. Both Patterns immediately bring Christmas to mind.
I love the possibilities that Cruffle has in its bag, so most of my bobbles
are variations of the original Cruffle pattern by Wayne Harlow. Of course,
Christmas also means plenty of colour, so I went wild with my Christmasy
decorated Verdigough. What a fascinating challenge with, I'm sure many
delights to enjoy from the participants this week.
Happy holidays to you and all the creative artists who may take part this
week.
 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you for your good wishes on the ebook - and for sending in both of your beautiful tiles.
*creatively colorful Cruffle baubles
*overlapping and intertwining Verdigogh


A very warm welcome to Donna Matoi (Long Beach, California) ~
I love your string challenges, I do not consider myself an artist as in drawing, but, I'm happy with my tiles as I do enjoy the process and how I feel when drawing tangles! Thank you so much for making my life a bit more interesting with with your IAST! I know it is a lot of hard work and I appreciate it!
Lastly, I purchased your e-book that you and Dorian Eng published together! It is amazing! I love and admire both of your works of art! Also, thank you for all of your tips!
Happy Holidays!

Tangled Tidbits - 
And we thank you for your kind compliments - enjoy the book!
*lovely overlapping - even along the doubled border
*sparkled black berries add depth

Welcome to our tangled map and to this wonderful IAST community, Donna ~




From Susan Theron (Velddrif, South Africa) ~
My contribution. Me and Verdigogh are not friends. My tile looks so empty, but I did not know what to do to give it a bit of oomp.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*overlapping stems shaded to one side
*uniform strokes create an elegant look



From Aileen (Singapore) and here on her blog ~
Thanks for another challenge. I really needed it.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*aura-ed Verdigogh
*festive Tipple background, shaded inward


These are my tiles ~
After days of decorating the house for Christmas, this exercise was especially relaxing.  Verdigogh - and Maria's ingenious step out for drawing it - have always fascinated me.  I thought to tangle it in three mediums.  The first, in the traditional way.  I tangled the main stem first, then the left one, and lastly the right one.  After filling the first two so tightly, I decided to leave the last one a bit sparse.  Adding the black berries covered up some spots I felt needed a little extra weight.

Using Maria's step out, I completed this second tile with Prismacolor pencils - three shades of brown and and six shades of green.  Since I didn't plan for the berries, I added blue as they showed up against the green.


The third tile I completed with Tombow markers.  After outlining  the stems and berries with a black Micron, I filled in the stems and berries first.  I chose eight glorious shades of green and using the brush tip, used a flicking motion to create the needles.  




And now...

the winner of the random drawing this week is...

Lisette from Switzerland.


Congratulations, Lisette!


Lisette will receive a copy of my new eBook written with Dorian Eng, CZT - Tiny Tangled Houses.

By the way, exemplary reviews are coming in daily for our book.
To order your copy, click on the photo to the top right and tangle away!

Stop by Tuesday afternoon for "It's a String Thing" #223 -
Our last one for the year 2017!