"It's a String Thing" #264 Tiles

Please note:  The results of the last two challenges were posted together.  Click here if you missed viewing the tiles for IAST #263.

Thank you for thinking of us during the recent hurricane.  The storm and subsequent devastation occurred about 300 miles northwest of where we are here in central Florida. We were very fortunate to escape the worst of it.
It will be a long road for the many, many people the storm did effect, though...

For some uplifting news, in this challenge we used tangles that celebrated new life and a wonderful birthday - happy times!

The first tile arrived from Sally Whiteman (New Zealand) ~

Congratulations on your new granddaughter. I love her name.
Best wishes also to Isabella on her 20th birthday.
Attached is my tile for challenge 264. I didn't use B-leaf as I had enough going on in the tile.
Thank you

Thank you for all the good wishes, Sally.
Tangled Tidbit -
*both tangles finishes with curls and a touch of red


From Amy L (Connecticut) ~

Congrats on your new granddaughter and on Iza’s birthday! What a fun set of tangles. They were so leafy and organic that I decided to do a renaissance tile. Figuring out how best to shade them was a challenge, but what an enjoyable one! Mazel tov on the baby and the birthday!

Thank you, Amy!
Tangled Tidbit -
*wonderful bits of glowing white and highlights


From Joanne (New Brunswick, Canada) ~

Tangled Tidbit -
*striped and sparkled Iza and Heartswell


From Lin H, CZT (Florida) ~

First of all, congratulations on your new granddaughter. How wonderful your family continues to grow. Isabella must feel honored to have a challenge in honor of her 20th birthday. This was a fun challenge, Adele!

Thank you, Lin, Isabella was surprised and happy.
*pretty Iza variation - multicolored, sparkled, highlighted, and shaded


From  Dani (Indonesia) and here on her blog ~

This is for challenge #264. Welcome to the world baby Ada. And happy birthday Isabella. Best wishes for whole family.

Thank you Dani and best wishes to your family, too.
Tangled Tidbit -
*pretty shading adds softness and depth to the tangles and white spaces, too



From Henrike Bratz, CZT (Germany) ~

So here comes my contribution for your IAST#264. I loved drawing this somehow chaotic mass of leafshapes and hearts, merging into one another. The structures remind me of what you might find in the woods with fallen leaves between growing weeds.
All the best wishes

Tangled Tidbit -
*aura of Heartswell add wonderful dimension
*fabulous B-Leaf variations

From Marjan Heemskerk (The Netherlands) ~

Happy birthday to Isabella and Ada. What a joyful moments in your family!
I added Ada too as a welcome for her to this world.

Thank you, Marjan, that is a keepsake to have her name styled so beautifully.

Tangled Tidbit - 

*lovely Heartswell and B-Leaf combination

From Maike (Germany) ~

Warm greetings from Dresden, Germany. Congratulations to your newborn grandchild Ada.
And here is my tile for IAST#264. I liked Isa and Heartswell very much and all three tangles were new to me. But I had some difficulties with B-leaf. That‘s why I tangled only a litte one.

Thank you, Maike.
Tangled Tidbit-
*three wonderful variations of Iza


From Lisette (Switzerland) ~

I almost forgot to send in my tile and when I looked at it today I didn’t like it anymore. Why? I looked at it twice - It was the lower right corner which didn’t please me. I colored the background with black and now I’m happy. Therefore I’m sending both versions.
May Michael not cause too much harm! I’m with you in my thoughts.

Yes!  That added just enough contrast.
Tangled Tidbit -
*Knightsbridge filled Heartswell - so festive!


From Ria Matheussen, CZT (Belgium) ~

First of all congratulations for the whole family, especially for the
parents of Ada and thank you for a lovely challenge.
Immediately, when I saw the string, I thought about making a ribbon and
filled it with B-Leaf. Unfortunately by colouring and using my white
gellypen, this tangle disappeared a bit...
I enjoyed this wonderful challenge very much, I'm glad you all are safe
and I wish you and your family lots of pleasure with the new member of
the family!!!
Take care and send you warm regards from Belgium

Thank you for the congratulations, Ria!
Tangled Tidbit -
*beautiful B-Leaf filled ribbon twists to show the underside


From Sue Leslie, CZT (New Mexico) ~

What a special week for you, a 20th Birthday and a new granddaughter! Congrats to all of you. I had fun with the 20 and heartswell. Poked the other two in there just because I could.

Thank you, Sue.
Tangled Tidbit -
*Heartswell lined string - and a touch of pretty pink for all three tangles


From Baafke (The Netherlands) ~

This one is for your granddaughter, congratulations!
In Dutch we say: we're sitting on a pink cloud.

Ooh!  I like that!  Thank you, Baafke.

Tangled Tidbit - 

*sparkled black perfs repeat in all three tangles

 From Simone (Germany) ~

it was a long summer break, but now I startet again with Zentangles.
I love your weekly challenge and I showed it to my daughter. Now we are sitting on the same table in our living room and we are both doing your zentangle exercise. It´s a lot of fun for us.

I am so very happy to know that you find the time to tangle IAST together.
Tangled Tidbit -
*large, graceful Heartswell string loop
And from Simone's daughter, Nadina (Germany) ~

here is my picture for this week. Happy birthday Isabella.
Grettings from Germany

Thank you, Nadina!
Tangled Tidbit -
*shades of green aura for Heartswell as it loops along the string line


From Nor'dzin (Wales, United Kingdom) and here on her blog ~

Many congratulations on the safe arrival of Ada. I hope Isabella had a lovely birthday. I have just used Heartswell this time, so that I could piggyback it on my Inktober contribution for October 12th. For Inktober I am making all my tiles monotangles, and just using black ink and pencil. I’m posting them on Facebook and Instagram, as well as on my blog.

That is a great idea - you are sure to have a very creative month.
Tangled Tidbit -
*alternating black and white sections of Heartswell and tapered aura


From Anselm (Germany) ~

congratulations to your whole family. A new child, a 20th birthday. And a cute picture of your hands. Beautiful.
For the tile i took the suggested patterns Iza and B-Leaf. I prefered to add a Phicops to the loop of the 2. A little bit of black, some shading and your great task was finished.
Greetings from the sunny Berlin. In mid-october we have sunlight and a temperature of 25 °C here. We will have a walk in one of the berlin woods and enjoy the beautiful weather.
Best from Berlin

Thank you, Anslem.  Enjoy that beautiful weather.
*light and dark spaces balanced with lovely shading


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

Congratulations to your newborn granddaughter and your adult daughter. I wish you and your family all the best for the future!
When I was 20 years old, flower power was everywhere around. Your given patterns are wonderful organic and flowery. So I draw a flower power tile for celebration of your daughters 20th birthday.
You can find it on my blog...
Because I love to draw flowery tiles I enjoyed your challenge very much! Thank you for your wonderful idea!

"Flower Power" brings back so many memories, thank you for that and for your good wishes, Margarete.
Tangled Tidbit -
*a beautiful bouquet of fabulously flowery tangles


From Hilary (Chicago) ~

First of all congratulations on your family milestones, and best wishes to both your new granddaughter and your daughter! Much happiness to them both.
Here’s my tile for #264. I did it on Wednesday morning and I can’t remember if I had anything particular to say about it, just that I prefer it upside down!

Thank you for you good wishes, Hilary.
Tangled Tidbit -
*alternating light and dark spaces for the tangles add contrast as does the bright pink background


From VenaC (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) ~

Hope you didn't have any damage when the hurricane went through. Lovely being there for the birth of your granddaughter and your daughter's birthday. Your Hallowe'en houses are cute. Like the luminous jelly-roll pens. Heartswell and B-leaf were both new to me.

Thank you, Vena, there really is so much to be thankful for.  So glad to know you like the book, too.
Tangled Tidbit -
*pops of red, sparkled aura, and shading - heavenly Heartswell!


From Susie (St. Louis, Missouri) ~

Tangled Tidbit -
*lovely B-Leaf lined string with aura and shading


From Lynn G (Florida) ~

Happy Birthday to Isabella and welcome Ada.

Thank you, Lynn.
Tangled Tidbit -
*weighted lines, lovely green touches, make B-Leaf shine


From Trudi Taylor (Woodview, Ontario, Canada) ~

Sorry I didn't have a chance to finish last week's challenge it was just too busy traveling to see our kids and grandkids to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. I hope you weathered the storm Michael ok!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Tangled Tidbit -
*Iza filled red Heartswell string loops


From Lynn F (Florida) ~

Congratulations on the arrival of your new grand baby and the celebration of your daughter’s 20th birthday!
What a busy week for you.
I had lots of fun with this week’s challenge.

Thank you, Lynn, I love this kind of busy.
Tangled Tidbit -
*multiple variations of Iza and Heartswell - happy 'halo' for a green Iza


From Judy Wanner, CZT (Pennsylvania) ~

just because of sweet Iza! I love that girl️. So happy to have met her!
Happy Birthday to you too my dear Adele! Surely you do not look old enough to have a 20 year old. Have a wonderful day tomorrow and do not work. Wine and cake it!!! We all can wait!

Thank you, Judy, that permission made me relax - and pour a glass :)
*Iza bursts from behind the striped, doubled string - love the red!


A very warm welcome to Ginger from California ~

My first submission to you. I am a beginner, and just getting my feet wet.
20th birthdays are a celebration!

So happy you found your way here!  Your tile is lovely.
Welcome to our IAST community, Ginger, and welcome to our Tangled Map!

From Sue Agnew (Tucson, Arizona) ~

First of all, congratulations on a new grandbaby and an "old" daughter! (I can't remember, is Isabella your youngest?) When my older brother turned 40, I remember hearing my mother say "I'm not old enough to have a 40-year-old son!" I'm sure you're going through a bit of that!
Also — between South Carolina and Florida, I hope you and yours have managed to come through TWO hurricanes relatively unscathed (though traumatized, I'm sure)!
I just now re-read your instructions for this week and saw "I realize it may be challenging to use all three." Well, what was challenging was that Iza really wanted to morph with HeartSwell. I'm sure you've learned from raising teenagers that sometimes you have to just go with the flow. (I didn't put in all the auras because I thought it might become too busy, so I tried using pencil to suggest it, and then didn't feel like erasing it.) The thing I enjoyed most about B-Leaf was the "twistedness" of it, kind of like when you draw a folded ribbon. Not sure I got it exactly, but that's what I was playing with. So then I tried to morph one into a heart shape in the hopes of tying it to the HeartSwell/Iza half of the tile. (Oh, and the string is upside down.)
Thanks for another fun challenge! Oh, also congratulations on yet another book!

Thank you, Sue - I can relate to your mother's comment as Isabella is our youngest.
Tangled Tidbits -
*twists on B-Leaf (thought you'd like that, Sue!) and marvelous morphing of Iza and Heartswell


From Sharon Fite (California) ~

Congratulations on your new grandbaby and to Isabella on her birthday! Here's a snapshot directly out of my sketchbook. One and done!

Thank you, Sharon.
*wonderful flow to the tangles, wonderful Heartswell


From Ingrid (The Netherlands) ~

Here is my (belated) tile # 264 for this week with a lot of congratulations this time.
Congratulations on the birth of your granddaughter Ada
Happy Birthday to you
A belated Happy Birthday to your daughter Isabella
Congratulations on your and Dorian's newest e-book with the spooky tiny houses
You must be very proud and happy with all these milestones. I am so happy for you.
I run out of time and I am late(again) so,
Have a blessed week,
with much much love

Thank you for your happy wishes, dear Ingrid.
Happy Birthday to you, too!
Tangled Tidbit -
*glorious colors, lovely tangles - Heartswell auras inward adding great dimension


From Susan Theron (Velddrif, South Africa) ~

The string was not a suggestion, because it is in honor of your daughter's age. I am a big fan of Thomas Padros and Helen Williams and of course of you as well!

You made me smile, thank you, Susan.
Tangled Tidbit -
*aura-d B-Leaf flows into a stippled loop for Iza


From JoAnne (Canada) ~

This is my submission for IAST#264. I added the tangle, Copada, because I am little behind on my Inktober tangles!

I am happy to know that the one tile can be used for both.
Tangled Tidbit -
*pretty tangles, beautiful colors


From Ute Andresen (East Frisia, Germany) ~

... thanks for this nice challenge. I was thinking about you because I heard of a new hurricane in Florida. But these are better news! What a joy! Best wishes and congratulations for your family! Welcome to the new born little Ada. And Happy birthday to Isabella. And I hope that you are all ok and healthy.

Thank you for spreading the joy, Ute.
Tangled Tidbit -
*Heartswell stack topped with a single heart and curls


From Sharyn Penna, CZT (Massachusetts) ~

Congrats on a new baby grand and expanding family! Best wishes to Ada’s mom and dad. And may your daughter enjoy every minute of her 20s decade.
I couldn’t add Heartswell to my tile ... once I completed an Iza vine with B-Leaf my tile said “this is it”. I don’t use colors often on my tiles but ... I had some dressmakers chalk nearby and I wondered how it would work on my tile ... it was fast, easy, blended well. I used graphite first, then added the color and blended with the same tortillon ... chalk is a little dusty and probably won’t stand up to time, but it was fun to experiment.
So, cheers to births and birthdays and all that we are blessed with.

Yes, cheers to all of that for each and every one of us!  Thank you, Sharon.
Tangled Tidbit -
*intertwining Iza and B-Leaf leaves - lovely chalk colorings

This is my tile ~

I began with the names of our honorees, Ada and Isa, and then just followed the tangles. It has been too long since I took the time to concentrate on a tile, so I added more and more detail. Finally, I had to stop myself before I got too carried away.                    Cheers to my October girls!

From Felicity Strohfeldt (Velddrif, South Africa) ~

Congratulations, Adele and Family on the birth of a brand new, little girl in the family. May she bring infinite joy and happiness as she takes on her life’s journey. Congratulations also with your brand new twenty- something youngest daughter, Isabella. May she be wise and spread love wherever she goes.
Tile 264 is a fitting celebration of all the new excitement you’re all having. I began at the back so to speak with your lovely versatile Iza, and then Heartswell fitted well as the spring from which Iza sprang and finally B-leaf floated about reminding me of your Autumn time (Fall) leaves gently floating to earth. The touch of pink is for Ada of course, and blue and green for Isabella’s youthfulness. Wish you all the best in this happy time.

Felicity, that is a fitting wrap up to all of the best wishes from around the world, thank you, thank you.
Tangled Tidbit -
*gorgeous tangle variations and details


Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your good wishes - Ada and Isabella are well celebrated!

Many thanks to the creators of the tangles we used this week along with my Iza ~

B-Leaf by Tomàs Padrós

Heartswell by Helen Williams


The very next post will be "It's a String Thing" #265!