Monday, March 26, 2018

"It's a String Thing" #235 Tiles

We returned to the basics this week and what a good time we had.  Simple, classic tangles and a string inspired by Maria Thomas' style...

Let's take a look ~

The first tile arrived from Tina Kirchhübel (Germany) ~
This was just what I`ve needed today. Back to the roots with some of my favorite patterns. Thank you for this challenge.
Greetings from Germany
 Tangled Tidbits -
*lovely shaded tangles and string lines
*sparkled Crescent Moon aura


From Trudi (Woodview, Ontario, Canada) ~
...Thank you Adele I really enjoyed doing these Tangles. 
 Tangled Tidbits -
*aura yields pretty variations of Bales and Crescent Moon
*Fescu pops in large white space



From Shirley Wohlsen (Queensland, Australia) ~
The weeks seem to roll around very quickly, so here I am with my tile for
This week’s ‘ It’s A String Thing # 235 ‘ challenge.
I really enjoyed these tangles, easy to draw and heaps of fun.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*awesome aura and shading for the lines of touching Crescent Moon
*Hollibaugh string lines - how fun!



From Gale Sherman (Arizona) ~
I'm a bit behind in working with the emerging trends, but I finally got to #tissuepaper staining. Fun! I pondered the string for awhile. But I loved the little picture frame in the center and thought it was perfect for what's growing with spring's arrival- fescue it is, a lovely grass. I thought I would put Bales in the upper left corner, but then decided it would look to busy. I could hear my favorite watercolor teacher saying, "Leave it! Leave it!" Thanks, Linda and thank you Adele. Cheers!!!
 Tangled Tidbits -
*Fescu in its own Hollibaugh fashion
*layered aura, beautiful color


From Baafke (The Netherlands) ~
Here is my contribution for this week.
Thanks for another nice challenge!
Tangled Tidbits -
*penned and penciled tangles
*fabulous aura


From Susie (St. Louis, Missouri) ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*fancy Bales variation shaded on the horizontal lines
*layered Crescent Moon


From Hilary (Chicago, Illinois) ~
What a great idea to go back to basics with this beautiful string and great choice of patterns! I hope everyone else had as much fun as I did with this.
I doubled the string lines and drew them with a bit of over-and-under Hollibaugh style, and I included bits of Fescue, but I wanted the Crescent Moon and Bales variations to be the stars of this tile.
Tangled Tidbits - 
*multiple "stars" in the tangle variations
*Hollibaugh incorporated in the string


From Lynn G (Florida) ~
Fun to get back to the basics. Thanks for another great challenge.
Tangled Tidbits -
*fancy Bales (like Susie) and multi-lined Hollibaugh
*weighted Fescu and sparkled aura for Crescent Moon



From Ria Mathuessen, CZT (Belgium) ~
What a wonderful challenge with only original tangles. (As you can see, I used wholly Hollibaugh instead of the ordinary Hollibaugh)
The tile is made on grey paper and I have used black/blue colourpencils and pens. To finish, I always need my white charcoal and white gellypen.
I enjoyed this drawing this very much. Thank you very much for this pleasant experience.
Wish you the best and send you warm regards from Belgium
Tangled Tidbits -
*beautiful blues and tangles
*layered Crescent Moon along curved string lines creates lovely roundness and depth


From Jutta Gladnigg, CZT (NRW, Germany) ~
Thank you so much for this cool challenge. It reminded me of my 'early days' of tangling when I started with crescent moon, hollibaugh and fescu and it caused me opening my very first file with my very first tiles…
Tangled Tidbits -
*fabulous detail and variation - love the repeating dots and orbs
*layering and shading create wonderful dimension


From Lisette (Switzerland) ~
Hi Adele and Tangle-Friends
I love going back to the roots, just black and white and “old friends-patterns”. It was really a pleasure to tangle this tile.
Tangled Tidbits -
*perfs and wonderful aura for Crescent Moon
*ribbon like string line and beautiful Bales variations



From VenaC (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) ~
I decided to try Wholly Hollibaugh. It was fun. Last week I bought two Sharpie pens on sale so I just had to try them too. They remind me of the colours of tulips which have come on sale in the stores. tried to make the curly string sit on top. Not sure if I succeeded. Have a lovely week.
Tangled Tidbits -
*spring colors, light spaces, highlights, sparkle, and touches of tangles
*awesome layering


From Jody Genovese, CZT (New York) ~
I love that we went back to original tangles this week. Thanks for always keeping this fresh.
Tangled Tidbits -
*perf and aura filled Bales
*lovely layers of Crescent Moon and rounded Hollibaugh border - notice how some of those lines weave through Crescent Moon


From Sue Leslie (New Mexico) ~
A very fun string with just the basics. Loved it and thanks for the weekly challenges even if I don’t get to do them all. And a big shout out to those who share their work every week. Love seeing all the variations everyone comes up with. Happy Spring to all here in the northern hemisphere.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*spring-like bunch of Fescu
*tangles darken as they layer upward


From Simone B. (Germany) ~
this week I like the tangles very much. Thank you for your nice ideas.

Tangled Tidbits -
*doubled string line
*border lines open in string sections and in Hollibaugh - light and airy


From Lily (Hungary) ~
...here is my tile for your weekly challenge!
Thank you for the challenge and zenhug:
 Tangled Tidbits -
*darkened, rounded corners of Bales
*fabulous Fescu features aura and shading


From Margarete Gilge (Germany) and here on her blog ~
this week I drew three versions for your challenge. First I draw only the patterns because I didn’t really know how to combine them with the given string. But then I spontaneously drew two similar tiles in which I integrated the patterns quite well. Drawing made a lot of fun again.
The two first tiles you can find on my blog...
Thank you for the nice challenge and your effort!
Best wishes from Germany!
 Tangled Tidbits -
*Fescu and Bales blend
*'full moons' created with Crescent Moon include pretty details


From Susie (Thailand) ~
Attached my IAST 235 version. When this challenge with its intense string and many tangles came out, we weren't friendly. I had no idea what on earth I can do with 235. I didn't push it. I waited. I let my subconscious mind get used to the problem, play with it and hopefully let an idea grow. I knew when the time comes, I will have a solution (or not). As they say, 'Time will Tell' and it did so Friday night. The rest was easy.
Many thanks, Adele. It was a challenging challenge for me, but I am glad I conquered the urge to quit.
Tangled Tidbits - Wonderful description of your process, thank you.
*Fescu string lines, string spaces curl back around them
*wonderful tangles vary in size and weight


From Sabine (Germany) ~
after a little time out I decided this week to take part on the challenge and I had very much fun with the best known tangles. Thank you , Adele for another great challenge.
Many greetings from Germany
Tangled Tidbits -
*Bales detailed in alternating sections, light and dark
*a touch of Crescent Moon and Fescu against a softly shaded Hollibaugh and border


From Marjan Heemskerk (The Netherlands) ~
The challenge for me, this week, was what to do with the curly lines in the middle of the string. I ended up with two, not so curly as yours. But I like the result. It was fun to do.

Tangled Tidbits -
*woven Hollibaugh, deep Crescent Moon, and lovely lines of Fescu
*dense field of Bales, shaded around the perimeter, creates roundness


From Laurel Davis, CZT (New York) ~
It was good to get back to basics with some of my old favorites. Thanks, Adele!
Tangled Tidbits -
*gorgeous light/dark contrasts in spaces and tangles
*stripes, shading, aura - wonderful details


From Stephanie Jennifer, CZT 21 (Singapore) ~
Here is my entry for this week's It's a String Thing. I really liked the possibilities that this string provided. I have recently taught a Zentangle class where I led my students through an exercise on how to expand their tangles from an inner tiny box... So I think that might have had some influence on what I came up with for this week's challenge.
 Tangled Tidbits -
That is a wonderful class idea - and result here, too!
*Hollibaugh emerges from the string lines
*sparkles aura and soft shading throughout


From Ingrid (The Netherlands) ~
Attached my #235 tile for this week. I used only half of the string. That worked for me the best. I'm sorry.
With lots of love and have a blessed and wonderful week ahead
 Tangled Tidbits -
No apologies necessary - strings are just suggestions :)
*fabulous Fescu/Bales variation
*Crescent Moon filled Hollibaugh spaces


From Marian G (Port Hueneme, California) ~
Not sure why, but this challenge truly did challenge me! I went through several iterations on white tile and just could not seem to find any balance. The black tile seemed to help, but I'm still not sure it works. At least it felt more like it was leading me, rather than me trying to force it to happen. Thanks for taking me outside my comfort zone!
Tangled Tidbits -
*sparkling white on black tangles
*Hollibaugh layered above Bales and Crescent Moon


From HeidiSue (Salt Lake City, Utah) ~
Here is my entry for this week! I had fun with this and the final product makes me giggle...looking like pineapples with funky hairdos peeking through the curtains Hahahaha!
But it was a treat, that string and these old classics. Thanks!
Tangled Tidbits -
That imagery will make everyone smile!
*luscious layers of Hollibaugh and Crescent Moon
*super shading


From Susan (United Kingdom) ~
Great fun re-visiting old favourites this week.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*wonderful Bales variations
*layered, aura-ed Crescent Moon and a star burst of Fescu


From Jane (Dorking, Surrey, United Kingdom) ~
...thank you so much for this return to basics tile. I rarely draw #bales but was interested to see your variations and use a couple of them here. Thanks for another great challenge!
 Tangled Tidbits -
*beautiful Bales variations
*dark sections of Hollibaugh and Crescent Moon along with shading, accent the white spaces


From Karen Herstowski (Atlanta, Georgia) ~
I could write volumes about this pattern combo! It is jam-packed with detail. I am still not sure whether it would speak louder if it was done in black, gray, and white or if coloring is the ticket. It makes me think of spring/Easter, therefore the springy Easter egg palette.
Hollibaugh is used frequently in the ribbons as they wind around the frames.
Here’s a tip I ran across by accident - I was so pleased with the result, I thought it worth sharing. I did a variation of Bales in the center (yellow/green). I wanted to shade and highlight the pointed rice shape fragments, so I used olive green Prismacolor pencil for the shadow on the bottom and white for the highlight above the olive green. After I colored the highlight in General’s Charcoal white pencil, I found it didn’t stand out very much. I went back over it with a Sharpie, white OIL based pen marker. You can’t see it in the photo, but in real life it left a beautiful shiny finish. It is a perfect touch to the highlight I was looking for! Jumps off the page when the light hits it. It adds another dimension to the piece: shiny rather than matte finish.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this design. Challenging and very rewarding. A learning experience, indeed!
 Tangled Tidbits -
*delightful details throughout - weighted aura lines, sparkle, highlights...
*interwoven ribbon string lines, border


From Lori Byerly (Washington State) and here on her website ~
Very lovely artsy string and fun patterns to choose from. I went very simple and used only a couple of them.
You may see my tile here also.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*graceful and elegant lines
*glimpses of the tangles, beautifully shaded


From Sharon Fite (California) ~
Thank you, Adele, for bringing us back to our roots! A standard size tile, micron 1.0, familiar, loved tangles, four dots and way we go! So much fun! Wishing everyone who celebrates a blessed Easter!
Tangled Tidbits -
*tangles as light and fun as the description!
*Hollibaugh lines run from Crescent Moon and into Bales


From Lisa (Oaklahoma) and here on her blog ~
Here is my tile for Challenge 235. I’ve added Diva Dance and left out the Crescent Moon... Hope you’ve had a nice first week of spring :)
Tangled Tidbits - 
*stunning gems, deep shading
*fantastic Fescu filled spaces - such a pleasing balance of tangled and white spaces


From Jane (Boulder, Colorado) ~
A quick note since it's late here and even later there!
Well...since I missed the last one, I wanted to send this week's in, but yikes...
Started off great with some Crescent Moon in the center and liked where that was going...but then it just got totally out of hand--:) Didn't plan too much, obviously, and just kept adding things here and there...some pieces of Bales, some Hollibaugh variation, Fescu all around...but it really it doesn't have much of a composition...there are some pieces/parts I do like, but overall, one for the process as opposed to the product--:)
Tangled Tidbits -
Tangles do have a mind of their own - and these took you in a wonderful direction.
*multiple lines for Hollibaugh and Bales tie into Crescent Moon aura lines
*pops of Fescu, dark spaces, shading


From Susan Theron (Velddrif, South Africa) ~
Tangled Tidbits - 
*Hollibaugh lines change direction in each of the four sections
*touch of Fescu and dotted Bales


From Verena (Germnay) ~
Tangled Tidbits - 
*cascading Crescent Moon
*dark Hollibaugh spaces, shading, add depth


From Nor'dzin (Wales, United Kingdom) ~
The tangles were very much in charge for this one, and I just followed their lead. Nice to revisit ‘beginners’ tangles. The yellow was a surprise as it is not a colour I would usually use - perhaps it is the influence of the daffodils that are blooming at last after such a cold March.
Best wishes to you and the community. 
Tangled Tidbits - 
Don't you just love daffodils?
*billowing Crescent Moon
*Fescu tipped Bales with embellishments to one side of the grid



From Felicity Strohfeldt (Velddrif, South Africa) and here on her blog ~
Here we are having a coolish, overcast Sunday. It rained a little during the night. Seems just gives us a sprinkling to remind us what rain looks and feels like. Our area is now really close to disaster as the river has dried up even more seriously and our Day Zero is now targeted for 15 May. We’ll keep living in hope and belief that the rains will arrive soon.
Enjoyed this week’s challenge. Was great getting back to some of one’s golden zen oldies. All these patterns feature strongly at the beginning of my Zentangle journey. How perfectly they come together in your challenge this week and meld perfectly with your string, Adele.
Looking forward to seeing what all the other participants come up with...Happy week to all.
 Tangled Tidbits -
...surely more will come in the next few weeks...
*so many pretty variations of Hollibaugh - stripes, sparkle, Tipple...
*Fescu in all directions, sizes, and sparkle


From Aileen (Singapore) ~
Thank you for another challenging challenge! Thoroughly confused myself swapping pens throughout the tile but love the outcome!
Rainbows and raindrops in sunny Singapore
 Tangled Tidbits -
Great fun!
*Hollibaugh lines flow from border to border
*Diva Dance changes color from one string section to another


A very warm welcome to Sheryl White (Texas) ~
Just found your Blog.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*Bales along string lines
*dark Hollibagh and Crescent Moon sections compliment lighter ones of Fescu

Welcome to our Tangle Map and to our IAST community, Shiryl!


From Sharyn Penna, CZT (Massachusetts) ~
I simply loved this prompt! And I can’t believe I nearly forgot to send you my tile.
Happy Holy Week! And cheers to hints of spring!
 Tangled Tidbits -
*long and lovely lines of Bales - stuffed happily with layers of Crescent Moon - notice again the 'full moons'
*Fescu springs up behind Hollibaugh

And now...

the tile for honors this week...

was sent in by...

Ragged Ray - a.k.a. Jem - (United Kingdom) !
Of her tile, she wrote:
I took the 'returning to our roots' theme to heart this week.
Nothing but an official tile, a Micron 01, and an HB pencil, a stump. No plans, intentions, practice pieces. No attempts to try new things. No need to think about options, colour, or other tricks.
Just time spent letting my pen fill sections, breach sections. Simple versions of well known tangles. A few times when something unexpected happened - a chance to remember 'no mistakes' - just carry on and see where you end up. The velvety surface of the tile, the slight drag of the pen whispering 'slow down, no rush'. The need to go so carefully with the stump, especially near the inks parts.
A welcome reminder that this is a process not a product. Thank you for the reminder!
Tangled Tidbits -
*single line of Bales - or is that a mirrored Crescent Moon along the string lines? - what fun!
*Hollibaugh tucks around and under the border
*feathery finish of Fescu
*sparkle, shading, rounded corners...


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


Endless thanks to Rick and Maria for their beautiful tangles that we enjoyed this week:

HollibaughCrescent MoonBales, and Fescu.


Check back Tuesday afternoon for "It's a String Thing" #236!


3 comments:

  1. Wonderful tiles! Each one as enchanting as the other.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful tiles! Congratulations everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  3. These tiles are Absolutely Beautiful & Stunning

    Thank you for the Welcome.

    ReplyDelete