"It's a String Thing" #247 Tiles

This week's IAST was a nod to this year's Father's Day (June 17th here in the United States). 

Our string was based after a loopy capital letter 'D' and the first letters of the tangles we used (Dex, A-dalfa, and D'rua) spelled DAD.

Let's take a look ~

This is my tile -
I am a fan of Dex but find it much more fluent to tangle when I start with a grid. 
My finished tile was a gift for my dad, presented on one of my frames.

From Nor'dzin (Wales, United Kingdom) ~

I lost my dad when I was 23 and still feel that gap in my life 40 years later. I hope you and your zentangle community enjoy Father’s Day.
Thank you for another lovely challenge.

From Lori Byerly (Washington State) and here on her site ~

Thanks so much for all your hard work in creating challenges and for honoring dads everywhere. This is my first Father's Day without my Dad. It's rather sweet for me to be able to create a piece of art in honor of him. He was a great dad and the memories I have of him make me smile.

From Sally Whiteman (New Zealand) ~

I really enjoyed these tangles. This is a great way to learn. Thanks for all the time you must put into this.

From Ria Matheussen, CZT (Belgium) ~

Thank you for a wonderful fluent string in which the tangles looks very nice. I enjoyed this challenge very much!
Warm regards from Belgium

From Shirley Wohlsen (Queensland, Australia) ~

Australia celebrates Father’s Day in September,
but I’m more than pleased to participate in the Celebrations of Father’s Day in your Country,
Happy Father’s Day! to all the Dad’s.

From Lily (Hungary) ~

...here is my tile for your weekly challenge.

From Baafke (The Netherlands) ~

Today I had planned to send the first tile I made.
My fingers were itching to make one more, but no this is and will remain my entry for this time

From Lisette (Switzerland) ~

My entry for the new challenge. A’Dalfa is one of my favourits, the other patterns were new to me. I like the two flowers which are formed with the A-Dalfa-petals.
Thank you one more for the challenge, the patterns, the string and everything!
A big hug

From VenaC (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) ~

I didn't use the random little black square step-outs in Maria's example for Dex. I instead drew lines to make squares. Then I messed up a bit by using a ruler across the corners only to find that i had put it across the wrong corners so some of the boxes were not right. So white jelly roll to the rescue. Then I made X's in each square and then drew the little black square where the X crossed. Not perfect, but OK. When I looked at the nearly completed piece it reminded me of a basket of flowers. So I then shaded the "handle" like the zenbuttons we did a couple of weeks ago. I think dad's also like flowers. So, happy Dad's day to all Dads.

From Jutta Gladnigg, CZT (NRW, Germany) ~

I have recently been watching ‘Blue Planet II’, a 2017 British nature documentary series on marine life produced by the BBC Natural History Unit, following the series ‘The Blue Planet’ of 2001. I was mostly fascinated by the second episode ‘The Deep’ (Sea)... what a miraculous world! So your D-string inspired me to dive deep...

From Margarete Gilge (Germany) and here on her blog ~

thank you very much for the interesting combination of string and patterns in your last challenge in honor of Father's Day. In Germany this day is in the month of May.
If my dad were still alive, he would be happy about my lot of tangles I have drawn in recent years. He liked drawing graphically himself. He had many honorary posts and has designed some logos for good purpose. Often, he integrated patterns that reminded of today's tangle patterns. If my father were still alive, he would surely be an enthusiastic tangle-fan.
This time again I draw two versions for your challenge. The second one you can find on my blog under the link.
Best wishes from Germany

From Hilary (Chicago) ~

You found a great way to honor the dads that are celebrating this Sunday. I chose to do this in shades of brown which I thought might fit a masculine theme.
I hope you have a nice Fathers Day with your dad and husband!

From Lin H, CZT (Florida) ~

Happy Fathers Day to all those dads out there! Thanks for your challenge, Adele.

From Susie (St. Louis, Missouri) ~

From Lynn G (Florida) ~

Thank you for another interesting challenge. Dex is one of my favorites.

From Laurel Davis, CZT (New York) ~

Always nice to revisit some favorites!

From Marjan Heemskerk (The Netherlands) ~

Finally found the time to pick up Zentangle again. I love D'rua, couldn't stop tangling it.

From Trudi (Woodview, Ontario, Canada) ~

Last week I got so into Helen Williams string I never took any pictures I just kept doing them, lots of fun. My father has been gone many years now but he built the cottage I now call Home and I think he would be very proud of what we have done with it so he was on my mind all week. Hope all the dad's had a great day.

From Anita A Westin (Dalarna, Sweden) and here on her blog ~

Thank´s for this nice string-challenge! Two of my favourite pattern, A´Dalfa and Dex! And to me a new pattern, D´Rua which I liked a lot to try! In my blog I write a Little more about this adventure.

From Susan (United Kingdom) ~

Three tangles that I haven’t seen before. Thank you for the challenge.

From Karen Herstowski (Atlanta, Georgia) ~

This is a wonderful tribute to Dad’s on their special commemoration day. I included a couple of balloons in the scape for the celebration.
This is the first time I have worked with D’rua. Very nice tangle! Has so many options for fitting into any space. A-dalpha and Dex are familiar and wonderful tangles
Thanks to all!

From Cat Trask (Oregon) ~

There is a part of me is embarrassed to send this. I’m not happy with the results because I rushed to get it send. However, it’s been so very long since I submitted, and I’m trying to get back on track, so here goes!!! I’ll have to get started earlier in the week so I can get better tiles done to send.
Thanks for always doing this for us, Adele. Even when I don’t submit, I enjoy looking at everyone’s tiles! Such talent!!!

From Kate (United Kingdom) ~

Thank you Adele, after a few false starts I very much enjoyed this week's challenge!

From Sharon Fite (California) ~

Not much time this week for tangling, so I hit the challenge cold. That is, no practicing tangles, no working things out in a sketch book, no draft tiles. Just four dots and away we go! Worked out pretty well. Three different green pens plus green colored pencils, because green was Dad's favorite color! Happy Father's Day to all!

From Cyndee Pelley (Oklahoma) and here on her blog ~

Another great challenge this week! I learned and practiced 2 new to me tangles, Dex and A-dalpha. Drua was an old friend! How interesting it will be to see everyone's tiles! Here's mine!

A very warm welcome to Stephanie Christenson (Lexington, Missouri) ~

This is my first submission and I hope I am not too late to participate this week. I am from Lexington, MO, which is about 50 miles northeast of Kansas City, MO. Thank you for offering IAST. I look forward to it every week. I enjoyed these tangles. D'rua was new to me and it was fun to try it out.

Welcome to our IAST community and to our Tangled Map, Stephanie!

From Isle Lukken (The Netherlands) and here on her blog ~

I don’t think you’ll still recognize your curvy capital D string ;-)

From Lovelygiraffe (Japan) and on Intagram ~

Here is my tile for your weekly challenge.

From Felicity Strohfeldt (Valddrif, South Africa) ~

...Happiest news! We are finally having good rains on the West Coast and in the Westerncape. Halleluja! Stormy weather last week, rained from Thursday. None so far today but it’s evening now and the weather is threatening to give us a stormy night. Wonderful to see the waterfalls and rivers flowing at last. Dams benefiting, but will take some time before they are at full capacity. Water restrictions remain a daily occurrence.


Thanks to you for the Father’s Day Challenge. The pattern D’rua by Mei hua Teng worked brilliantly as ribbons, outlining the D String. In the middle of the tile it might suggest strong comforting fatherly hugs. Was interesting to give them dimension by shading and using variations of pattern. A-alfa by Bunny Wright was a puzzle until I decided to use it in the spaces of the D. In the end it was a satisfying pattern. Dex by Maria and Rick – I decided that it could easily overwhelm the my work, so I went back to the trusty pencil, opting for a softer background. All- in- all a satisfying experience.
Happy week to you and all the other participants.

Bring on the rain! Oh, Felicity, that is wonderful news and so many prayers answered.



From Donna Matoi (Long Beach, California) ~

I have been out of the Zentangle world due to some medical issues, but, I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. But, I have been admiring as always, everyone's beautiful tiles, even though, I haven't been able to participate.
So, thinking of my sweet dad, who I lost 23 years ago, I had to jump in and try out all these new tangles to me. I really enjoyed the process, even though, my tile went in a total different direction!
Thank you for your wonderful weekly challenges! Hope you and your family have a great weekend and Father's Day!

From Shelly St. John (Redwood City, California) ~

I enjoyed learning new tangles again this week plus using one of my favorites, Dex.

Special thanks to the creators of the tangles we used this week along with my string ~

D’rua by CZT Mei Hua Teng’s 

A-dalfa by CZT Bunny Wright.

Dex by Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts

Many blessings to dads around the world and for those who live on in our hearts and memories.

Thank you to all of the fabulous tanglers who participated this week and for your gracious notes.  I treasure them - and you!

Tangled Tidbits will return next week.

Check back Tuesday afternoon for "It's a String Thing" #248!