Isn't this a treat to have back-to-back IAST Tiles posted?
Yesterday our Mother's Day tiles were displayed (
Click here to view if you missed them.) and today our batch of buttons - zenbuttons to be exact. Like me, I am sure you will be amazed at the beauty of each and the variety among them.
Let's take a look ~
The first tile arrived from Lynn G. (Florida) ~
Thought I would put a little Royal flair on this weeks challenge
Tangled Tidbits -
*a beautiful red Royal nod :)
*mid line curves follow the string curves
From Baafke (The Netherlands) ~
This -Iast- was so much fun to do.
I made a few and they were all different.
That's what I like about zentangle.
It is always a surprise how the final result will be!
Tangled Tidbits -
*diagonal fragments add dimension
*pretty pop of color and shimmery highlight
From Hilary (Rome, Italy) ~
I’m so glad you “made” us do this, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have been brave enough to try! Mine turned out a bit wobbly, but I still like it. It’s a great technique, and I’m eager to try some more of these.
Tangled Tidbits -
*alternating colors, curved and straight lined fragments
*thick bands of highlights and deep shading
Following Hilary's note, I've got a confession. Sometimes I put a challenge up knowing that it will nudge me to try something new as well. Such was the case with these remarkable zenbuttons.
Sindy P, CZT gave me the start of one a few weeks ago. It was created on a spinning disc with markers - perfect for this IAST ~
Marguerite's zenbutton directions were very detailed and I found it quite amazing that once I let go of trying too hard to make it 'just so' and got into the usual rhythm of tangling, I was hooked. The only thing I added to the finished piece was a bit of white charcoal pencil highlight.
From Jutta Gladnigg, CZT (NRW, Germany) ~
It was in the fall of 2017 that I drew my first ‚Zenbutton‘. I was attending the European CZT Gathering (ECZTG 2017) in an awesome castle in Montabaur, Germany. One of the classes was held by Marguerite Samama, who introduced us into her beautiful ‚Zenbuttons‘. Her class and the final mosaic of all the tiles were great. So it’s cool that now her famous buttons and her tutorial have found entry into tanglepatterns.com and into your IAST challenge. Thank you again, Marguerite, and thank you, Adele!
Tangled Tidbits -
How exciting to have learned from Marguerite herself and in a lovely castle! If you have her contact information, perhaps you could send her the link here to our zenbuttons. Thank you for telling us about your time there.
*beautiful fragment and background colors
*cone shaped fragments add depth and roundness
From Sally Whiteman (New Zealand) ~
Attached is my tile for the 243 challenge.
I used a white charcoal pencil for highlighting which I wasn't really happy with. I would try an ordinary white pencil next time.
I found this challenge very interesting.
Many thanks for the weekly challenge, it is much appreciated.
Tangled Tidbits -
*lovely contrasts of light and dark
*triangular spaces in outer ring create a star effect
Tip: I found that the white charcoal pencil took very little blending. You may want to try adding one un-blended line in the middle of each of the highlights.
From Lisette (Switzerland) ~
I just love Zenbuttons, therefore this challenge was a pure pleasure. Thank you so much!
Tangled Tidbits -
*pretty color combinations and fragments
*gem center and wisps of color to surround
From
Aileen (Singapore) ~
Thank you for another amazing challenge. I've never heard of zen buttons till reading your post and I'm glad I now have! Thank you!
Tangled Tidbits -
*beautiful mix of tangles and fragments
*sections darken from light center outward
From Trudi (Woodview, Ontario, Canada) ~
Greetings Adele! I can't believe how much I enjoyed this Challenge for one of the first times it turned out better than in my head! Although I've got to admit I really didn't have a lot in my head to start other than the little mooka like sort of cross between C5 and F4, the F4 which I used in the outside ring as well as more mookas. It just felt very zen as it just grew. I used coloured pencils and gel pens with my micron pen.
Thanks for making me try things I might not have. :)
Tangled Tidbits -
*a glorious start to your zenbutton collection!
*curved lines, color and sparkle add great dimension
From Jody Genovese, CZT (New York) ~
So this week’s entry is acting as double duty. I received a Traveling Tangles Project tile from Anoeska Waardenburg, a fellow CZT from the Netherlands, with something she called a spundala as she ‘spun’ the colors onto the tile with ecoline markers somehow. I thought that would make a great start for a zenbutton. She tangled the centerpiece, which I embellished a little and then I followed Marguerite’s instructions to add the breaks to the yellow and orange rings for the fragments. This is really a fun thing to do and I knocked off two birds with one stone as they say :o)
Tangled Tidbits -
*each circle is anchored by a darker fragment or line
*highlights follow the curved center lines in the outer fragments
From Shirley Wohlsen (Queensland, Australia) ~
Attached is my Tile for ‘It’s A String Thing #243” Challenge
Wonderful idea for a Tile, excited to see all the different Zenbuttons.
Tangled Tidbits -
*curvy fragments, deep middle ring, visible cross lines - fabulous details
*highlights add even more curvy-ness
From Marloes Vis van Heemst (The Netherlands) ~
What a pleasure to draw this challenge! My first zenbutton, but I'm sure there will follow more! And how nice it was to draw my with lines on black. I used, beside a white one, a black colorpensil for shading.
Tangled Tidbits -
*a stunning look - white on black
*highlight shines on the white tangles
From Margarete Gilge (Germany) and
here on her blog ~
again I enjoyed your last challenge very much. I never drew a zenbutton before. It was very interesting to look after fitting patterns. My second version you can find on my blog ...Thank you very much for your comittement, your great ideas and this wonderful experience!
Happy Pentecost days and best wishes from Germany
Tangled Tidbits -
...and to you and yours, as well!
*intricate fragments and coloring
*Printemp filled perfs in the outer circle
From Susie (Thailand) ~
I send you 2 buttons because just sending you the one with the shine (all Zenbuttons have a shine, don't they) would be cheating. I made the mistake using colored pencils on my toilet roll paper, which rendered my white charcoal pen and my white color pencil ineffective. Lesson learnt!
Thanks for this all round great challenge, Adele.
Enjoy watching the wedding.
Attached 1 shiny Zenbutton assisted by Photoshop and 1 rather bleak looking Zenbutton without the shine.
Tangled Tidbits -
I did enjoy watching the wedding, didn't you?! Thank you for the recycling idea, too!
*white highlight lines for each fragment provide great contrast
*added shine makes an already pretty zenbutton glow
From Ragged Ray (United Kingdom) ~
I love the Zenbutton thing - I discovered it just before the Easter weekend and spent a few happy days making mini ones while I practiced the technique. But here for you is my first full size Zenbutton - done in Renaissance colours. If we ever needed proof of the power of shading there truly is a magic transformation when you add the pencil and chalk to these!
Tangled Tidbits -
That is very well said - "there truly is a magic transformation."
*beautifully mirrored, aura-ed and line filled spaces in the outer circle - nice touch with the bump-outs
*shading in the very center for added depth
From Susan (United Kingdom) ~
What a great challenge. I love drawing Zendalas but I haven’t seen Zenbuttons before. I drew it quite big and used a thick pen for my first attempt. Also pleased you liked my Hollibaugh photo, and thanks for sharing it on your blog.
Tangled Tidbits -
Yes, that tree was a find, thank you for sharing it with us.
*pretty perf outlines
*weighted lines
From Sra (India) ~
I went a bit crazy over the Zenbuttons. In the tan tile, the inking of the circles seem to have prevented the appearance of the separation/tucking in of the middle circle into the biggest one. So I did a white tile and that seemed more successful but the white pencil didn’t work there so did a blue shading. Then I did yet another to see where it would take me. I feel I haven’t achieved a raised and rounded effect despite using curvy and wavy fragments. Any tips!?
Thanks and have a nice week ahead!
Tangled Tidbits -
*lovely fragment selections and combinations
*beautiful variety of paper and color
A few Tips: Shade in proportion to the highlights. i.e. If your outer edges are darkened a bit more, the highlights will stand out as well. Highlight in the very middle of each circle, blend very lightly if at all.
From Ria Matheussen, CZT (Belgium) and
here on her blog ~
After a short break in wonderful Switserland, I'm glad to be back home. (in my next blogpost of June, I will publish a few pictures of this beautiful and safe country in the heart of Europe)
In my post of Mai, I have drawn already a zenbuttom on a tan tile, filled with the fragments F16, B15, H1, D23 and my own Zimba. A white charcoal gives a nice glance but I find out that it is difficult to do on spaces, coloured with ordinary colourpencils. That is why I kept it simple and used only pens. I have to buy a few more coloured pens to bring more variation...
Anyway, working with reticula and fragments is a different way of drawing but I'm a great fan and I thank you for this pleasant challenge.
I'm very curious to see the other entries, but I'm sure, they all will look great!...
Greetings from sunny Belgium
Tangled Tidbits -
*outer circle fragments have a mid line that flows with the curve - notice how the highlight runs in line with it
*alternating brown and black spaces are striking
I look forward to your photos of Switzerland!
From Ingrid (The Netherlands) ~
Here is my IAST # 243 tile for this week.
This was great fun to do. After drawing the zenbutton it all looked very flat. Then, after shading with the graphite pencil and the highlights with the white pencil, the magic happened. Wow.
Thank you Adele so much for this wonderful challenge.
Tangled Tidbits -
*your deep shading and bright highlights accent that magic
*gorgeous coloring of the fragments
From VenaC (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) ~
I'm not sure if the patterns I used can be classed as fragments, but I hope so. The patterns I have used starting in the middle ... Citrus (Adele Bruno). Next ring ... Trimond (Beth Snoderly), Jalousie (Stephanie Kukla), Trelina (Eni Oken). Outer ring ... Trimonds (Jane Monk), Kiss (Katie Booth), Ozzie (Linda Dawson), 4 Corner Corolla (Susie Ng). I enjoyed looking for and then doing all these patterns. I meant to mention your table last week but sent my tile off before I looked at your blog. It is a beautiful table. I too use a door as my art table but is it just a flat hollow core door which now has legs. It is amazing what a lot of lovely usable space a door provides. Glad you had all kinds of celebrations for Mother's Day, Adele. Sounded like a fun time.
Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you, Vena. I am happy to know that we both work on a door-able :)
*fabulous mix of tangles for each section - love that middle one!
*deep shading compliments the highlights
From Gale Sherman (Arizona) ~
I'm not very good at following directions. When I read your challenge I was already working on a squared variation of Zenbuttons which Deb Huntington had inspired me to make after her post on the Mosaic app. And then I was inspired by Lynn Mead to make a "Crazy Zenbutton" by one of her posts. And now the time to send you my entry for this week's challenge is fast approaching. I want to thank both of those artists and Marguerite Samama for getting us going on a new branch of Zentangle. I love using reticulas and fragments and all of these structural variation are great fun to work with! And, of course, thank you for all you do.
Tangled Tidbits -
This is fun because you are not the only squared button today!
*Crescent Moon and aura in each of the three sections
*pretty mix of pink, purple, and black and varied line weight
From Jane Rhea (Indiana) ~
My very first zenbutton! I figured I’d stick to black and white this first time out of the gate. Thank you, Marguerite S., for the wonderful directions, to Linda F. for making them easy to find, and to you, Adele, for your enthusiasm and continuing to give us opportunities to grow. Smiles all around!
Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you for the smiles!
*denser line concentration in the middle section accents the middle and outer circles
*bold fragment designs
From Thekla (Germany) ~
this was a suprising Challenge this week. I used first time the pink micron and a inspiration I get from the mosaic app when I saw a tile of Susan Yeo. So I tangle a bit out of the box and you see here my result...
Thanks for your Inspirations to do something different from daily experiences.
Tangled Tidbits -
*lines wrap around and over - so very pretty in pink
*center fragment lines run through to the middle section
From Jane (Dorking, United Kingdom) ~
I absolutely love drawing zenbuttons so I couldn't let the opportunity to do another pass me by! These are such fun to draw, a welcome challenge! Thank you.
Tangled Tidbits -
*bold Flukes fragment repeats in two sections
*pretty touches of brown and blue
From Susie (St. Louis, Missouri) ~
When it comes to shading, I never know when to quit. I shouldn’t have put any blue on
anything except the center and I shouldn’t have outlined the outside.
Tangled Tidbits -
But it is wonderful as is!
*glowing gem center, blue accents carry through
*sparkled aura
From Karen Herstowski (Atlanta, Georgia) ~
This was so much fun. I love the “Button” idea.
I chose 3 patterns:
Center: Tripoli by Rick & Maria
Middle ring: Monotangle5 - creator unknown. Each diagonal line in the center is one pattern, I used them back-to-back to get the triangle look.
Outside ring: ??? I can’t find any info in this one………
Thanks to all who created these Tangles and to Adele for this wonderful idea!
Tangled Tidbits -
*yummy combination of line and pattern
*stunning design in the outer circle
From Pat (Washington State) ~
I think this is my second zenbutton. While it came out a little too dark, I had a lot of fun with it! Will definitely do more of these.
Tangled Tidbits -
*deeply colored spaces, beautifully highlighted
*gorgeous gem center and metallic dotted aura
From ARHuelsenbeck (Arizona) ~
Fun challenge! I tried out some patterns suggested in Alice Hendon’s Zentangle All Around FB group: Button, Tonga, and Soul Star. I think my zenbutton looks like fine china!
Tangled Tidbits -
*detailed tangles (like fine china!)
*large Button center - very appropriate
From Cyndee Pelley (Oklahoma) and
here on her blog ~
Hello Adele from Oklahoma, Where the ugly heat and humidity have arrived! With tornadoes at night and the heat in the day, misery is my name! Luckily, indoor tanglling is the perfect sport for me! I thoroughly enjoyed the Zenbutton challenge! I have so many versions I'm working on! I need one of Genevieve Crabbe's wonderful mandala stencils!
Here are my 2 tiles, because one was not enough!
Tangled Tidbits -
Stay cool and safe up there!
*beautifully colored buttons feature light and heavier highlighting
*green gem center and four accent triangular gems to match - lovely highlighting
From Sharon Fite (California) ~
Thank you for this wonderful challenge, Adele! Even if I had found Marguerite Samama's tutorial on my own, I'm not sure I would have had the confidence to try it on my own. And I love it! So many variations possible. Planning to try a blue on white version that will look like a piece of beautiful delftware.
Tangled Tidbits -
The blue would be beautiful.
*shades of gray, pops of deep red
*center fragment cluster repeats outward
From Sue Leslie (New Mexico) ~
Happy Mid May and yea to zenbutton tutorials with Marguerite. Was inspired to try a square one, so here it is. Even tho you suggested the round string I couldn’t help but play with a new one after reading the tutorials. I did this one on a very pale lavender textured card stock so created a little different shading texture too. Thanks for what you, Linda, and all the others do for inspiring so many of us to explore more in the wonderful world of Zentangle. Love seeing all the variations of the IAST’s every week and know this one will be amazing.
Tangled Tidbits -
*wonderfully large center, small middle, and medium sized outer square
*rounded corner fragments
From Ute (East Frisia, Germany) and
here on her blog ~
here is my submission to your It’s a String Thing challenge.
For me it was the first time making a Zenbutton.
It was a long time ago, that I contributed something to your challenge. However I did create some tiles (especially remembering the gratitude tile on thanksgiving … ) with your suggestions over the last months but didn’t publish it. Thanks again for your inspiration.
Happy Pentecost to you and your family.
Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you, and to you too! Welcome back :)
*light and lovely fragments, pretty touches of highlight
*Printemps center spiral
From Nor'dzin (Wales, United Kingdom) ~
Thank you for the challenge this week. I had seen these circular zentangles and thought how brilliant they were, so it is great to now know how they are created.
Tangled Tidbits -
*rounded aura lines repeat in each section - great use of white space, too
*similar, yet unique fragments in each section
From Felicity Strohfeldt (South Africa) and
here on her blog ~
Hope all are well. Here the skies threaten us every now and again, but all we get is sprinkling or two.
Anyway, to this week’s Zenbutton. A lovely creative idea and it was an enjoyable creative interlude. I watched the fairy tale wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle all Saturdaylong, so I decided to dedicate my Zenbutton effort to the happy couple and their beautiful ceremony. Sincere congratulation to them and here’s wishing them a long and happy life together. I chose Diamond Heart by Ginny Lu, Knightsbridge by Donna Lacey, Queen’s Crown by Suzanne McNeill, Cayke by Rose Brown Heartfully by Helen Williams and D5 Seed grid. Obviously the first five tangles are about royalty, love and enjoying cake (cayke). All very celebratory tangles and ideal to celebrate the Royal Wedding.
Tangled Tidbits -
Wasn't that the most beautiful royal wedding?
*wonderfully thought out and detailed tangles for the occasion
*octagonal center with bright white spaces
From Nova Belle (Texas) ~
...I don't have any kind of white pen to overlay, so I did it without a shine, then added a bit of shine with an editing program. I'm not really sure which I like better, but the tile itself looks just fine hanging up with the others.
Thanks for all your hard work! I hope you had a good week, and a great mother's day.
Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you for the good wishes - and to you too.
*fragment lines flow in and around other fragments
*positive and negative versions of the same fragment (center section)
Thanks for sending in both versions.
From Karen Buse (Califronia) ~
Radial symmetry is my comfort mode so this one was right up my alley. I used fragments of Well, Inapod, Olluan, Maria's Flux and a fan-thingy. It seemed to be acceptable to use tools on this challenge so I constructed the concentric circles and the radial eighths. I ended up using three different pen weights: 005, 01 and 03. I also did a second tile where I was trying to use a wavy line as the reticulum for the outer ring but got carried away and lost the layers of the button. You can see that one here - (link).
Tangled Tidbits -
*gorgeous finishes to the fragments using the different pen sizes - adds so much depth
*dark, sparkled perfs, dots, and detail lines throughout
From Sharyn Penna, CZT (Massachusetts) ~
Marguerite Samama shared a joyful circle in her zenbutton tutorial ... it is very timely.
My mandala is dedicated to CZT Cris Letourneau, her daughter Birdie, and their close family friend, CZT Sonya Yencer, my zenbutton features the following tangles …
CENTER: Soul Star by Sonya Yencer, CZT featured in a video created 5/8/18 by Melinda Barlow, CZT (Link)
SQUARE FRAGMENTS: Hideaway by CZT Cris Letourneau (Link)
TRIANGLE FRAGMENTS: Undiala by Birdie Letourneau (Link)
When I saw Melinda’s video, and learned of the origin and meaning of Soul Star, I knew I had to create a tile to offer my support to Cris, Birdie, and Sonya; I have followed and been inspired by Cris’ blog and books for quite a few years.
I am always comforted from my favorite quote on joy and sorrow by Khalil Gibran:
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
May Cris, Birdie, and Sonya find strength and comfort in their circle of joy: family ties, close friendships, healing hearts, and the heart-felt tangle that is Soul Star.
Tangled Tidbits -
Amen. And thank you for that, Sharyn.
*mid line of the fragment follows the arc of the circle - highlights run along it
*white dots repeat in all fragments and the center tangle
From Di (Western, Australia) ~
Please forgive me that I'm late with this tile. It's for my dear Dad, who passed away a few days ago. I drew it for him and it will go with him in his grave. Dad occasionally liked to draw but never had enough time for it, amongst his commitments and other hobbies.
Wishing you all the very best from Australia,
Tangled Tidbits -
So very sorry for your loss, Di. This is a lovely tribute for your dad.
*alternating tangle, fragments, and tangle filled circles
*deep shading in graphite and in red
From Judy Wanner, CZT (Pennsylvania) ~
Zenbutton sure was fun, very fun! No, I did not use a purple pen, just a dark brown one. Surprised me!
Tangled Tidbits -
*bright highlights and deep coloring - wonderful contrasts
*large perf center complimented by the smaller perf outline
And now...
the tile for honors this week...
was sent in by...
Lily from Hungary ~
Dear Adele here is my tile for your weekly challenge.
Zenhug:
Tangled Tidbits -
*lovely curves, shading, highlight, and center pearl make this rise up from the paper
*wonderful balance of brown and black in aura-ed line sections - the highlights give them a lacquered finish
Congratulations, Lily!
Many thanks to CZT Marguerite Samama (The Netherlands) for generously sharing her zenbutton idea and to Lina Farmer for spreading the word on TanglePatterns. (
Click here to view.)
Check back on Tuesday afternoon for "It's a String Thing" #244!
