"It's a String Thing" #289

It's Tuesday, your good news day!

I trust everyone had a joyous Easter time and thank you all for your beautiful tiles for IAST #288.
The notes and tiles will be posted tomorrow as our family celebrations carried over into this week 😊

Today is the very last day of the month of April.  Most of you will be reading this on the very first day of May.  Since May Day is a festive date, and "April showers bring May flowers" let us begin with a string inspired by my flowery tangle, Mel Mel ~

IAST #289 String by Adele Bruno, CZT

The tangles we will use include ~

ONE OR TWO OF YOUR FAVORITE tangles along with...

Rain by Maria Thomas
This tangle is very fun to draw, can be worked into any space, used along a single line or stacked, and  can be finished as light or as bold as you prefer. 
Besides, where would flowers be without the rain?!

Happy May Day everyone!  I look forward to your emails.


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 are to be submitted by Saturday evening
*Photos and notes are (usually) 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.

"It's a String Thing" #288

It's Tuesday, your good news day!

We will use a full two weeks to complete this challenge to give us plenty of time for family celebrations.  The deadline for emailing your tiles will be adjusted to April 27th with the results posted on Monday, April 29th.

After last week's egg-cellent challenge, we still have wonderful things to celebrate as the hopefulness of Easter surrounds us.

Let's begin with this string ~

IAST #288 String by Adele Bruno, CZT

The tangles we will use include:

Tulipa by Simone Manzel, CZT
This is a brand new tangle by our long time friend, Simone.  It is a simply elegant tangle and invites color if you are in the mood.

Javic by Ria Matheussen, CZT
This tangle slipped by me or I would have included it sooner.  Any tangle of Ria's is a tangle of mine 😊

Mooka by Maria Thomas
Click here for Tangle List resources


I realize that these tangles are all organic in nature.  Please feel free to include any other tangle that suits your mood/needs as you tangle.  If you are more comfortable with grid patterns, by all means add one.


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 are to be submitted by Saturday evening, April 27
*Photos and notes are (usually) 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.

Happy Easter week!

"It's a String Thing" #287 Tiles

Happy Easter week!

What better way to celebrate that with these egg-cellent tiles ~

The first arrived from Allison (California) ~

I have been so surprised to find that it is Monday and I didn’t get to my IAST so here is my entry very early for me. I had fun with the black and white.

 Tangled Tidbits -
*pretty effect with alternating black and white tangles
*shared grid for Hemp and Queen B


From Gale Sherman, CZT (Tucson, Arizona) ~

Cooled with Ken Oliver COLOR BURST and gold gelly roll pen. Both #3YHemp and #QueenB were new to me. The color stain had already made the tile busy so I used those two patterns sparingly. I have a couple of active dove nests and I think some quail are working up to egg laying. Wishing my birds and you a happy spring. Thank you Adele for what you do for us! Hugs to you.

 Tangled Tidbits -
And to you!
*string center accentuated with shading and color
*free floating Hemp


From Vena Calver (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) ~

I did henna drum a long time ago. The other two were new to me. I should have practised both before I did my tile but time always runs away with me so I just had to do them as best I could. It is raining today and it is overcast and misty. We did hear the bald eagles and peacocks calling. We will be back in Ontario for my next tile. Enjoy your spring.

 Tangled Tidbits -
*dainty Henna Drum
*bold black for Hemp


From Mariam G. (Port Hueneme, California) ~

This was just plain fun! Thank you :-)

 Tangled Tidbits -
*pretty Easter background colors
*tangles shine in the middle string sections



From Shirley Wohlsen (Queensland, Australia) ~

Thank you, Adele, for the alternate step out for the Tangle ‘Hemp’
I think I would have struggled with out them.

 Tangled Tidbits -
I am so happy they helped.
*lovely Henna Drum pushes passed the border
*wonderful shading adds depth


From Ingrid Coventon (The Netherlands) ~

In the attachment my IAST tile # 287 for this week.
A very light and airy tile this time, not so much contrast.
Your tips for tangling Hemp were very helpful. Thank you.

 Tangled Tidbits -
So good to know, thank you.
*aura-ed Henna Drum finished with shading and pretty details
*string 'egg' outlined and softly shaded


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

in the Easter time I love to draw on Easter eggs. That's why your Challenge fits perfectly with my Easter preparations. Again, I made two versions with your given patterns. Both I show on my blog at the link .
I send you another picture with a small selection of my Easter eggs this year.
I wish you and your family happy Easter holidays.
Greetings from Germany

 Tangled Tidbits -
Magarete, your eggs are beautiful!  Thank you for sending the photo of them.
*multiple details for Hemp
*touch of Knightsbridge adds great depth



From Hilary (Chicago) ~

Once again I’m so thankful for your tips, there’s no way I could have done Hemp without them. Usually it’s one word in your explanation that clarifies everything for me. This time it was the word “corners”. Being careful to draw the lines to the corners of the triangles made all the difference!
My plan here was to keep everything light both in color and in use of patterns.
Happy Easter to you and your family.

 Tangled Tidbits -
Oh, so happy to know, thank you!
*alternating Spring colors for Hemp surround the white string space
*delicate Henna Drum


From Gabi (Germany) ~

What a lovely idea! And so I tried to hide an easter egg behind a ribbon of HENNA DRUM.

 Tangled Tidbits -
And it looks like the golden egg!
*dark Henna Drum with colorful tangles behind
*bursts of blue Queen B


From Laurel Davis, CZT #28 (New York) ~

Saw a post on FB where someone used color on color. It looked cool, so I wanted to give it a try!

 Tangled Tidbits -
*Spring-y colors and backdrop
*white dots and highlights show off the colorful tangles


From Ria Matheussen, CZT (Belgium) ~

For this challenge I have drawn just a big egg on a white tile and glued
it on a card. Therefore I have shortened the given string a bit and
Henna drum is drawn on the card.
Thank you very much for this lovely Eastern idea.
Looking forward to see the other entries.
Send you warm regards from Belgium

 Tangled Tidbits -
*lovely take on the tangles
*waves of the string filled with patterns over the center egg shape


From Talia Maynard (London, United Kingdom) ~

Here's my tile for Easter challenge. Nice and bright with spring colours. Wishing you and your family a wonderful Easter.

 Tangled Tidbits -
And yours, too!
*happy tangles and colors
*Henna Drum curls repeat from each corner


From Moblue (Bremen, Germany) ~

See my tile for IAST#287 here enclosed.
All patterns were totally new to me. In the beginning, your string was not mine and I was almost going to skip this round although the single pattern flew well from my pen. And as it sometimes happen, suddenly everything fell at its place.
Nevertheless I messed up with 'Queen B', all bees fly in the wrong direction... So what's the heck, this is just my personal note.
So let's just see, what the others made of it.
Thank you, Adele, it was a fun as always.
Happy tangling from Moblue, Bremen, Germany

 Tangled Tidbits -
Oh!  I loved your thought process, thank you :)
*Henna Drum framed Easter egg
*white, black, and gray spaces unite the tangles


From Susan (United Kingdom) ~

Three very interesting tangles this week. I spent a lot of time practising them in my notebook, and maybe not enough time on my tile, but fun anyway. Happy Easter everyone.

 Tangled Tidbits -
*wispy Henna Drum along the string waves
*darkened spaces tie all three tangles together


From Ginger (California) ~

Springtime speaks of pink! Here's my entry for number 287. Something simple because spring is so complex! Thanks for your hints on trying out hemp; it works so slick.

 Tangled Tidbits -



From T. ~

This week both grid patterns (Hemp & Queen B) were new to me and somewhat daunting to start drawing.
I appreciated your tips for drawing Hemp. They also helped me set up the base lines for the intricacies of Queen B.
When I finished drawing the patterns all I saw on the tile was a jumble of black lines.
As has been the case in recent weeks, adding colour gave this piece unexpected life and I really love the result.
Although it may not be in the class of a Fabergé egg, I think it fits the Easter theme.
Thanks for another fun challenge.

 Tangled Tidbits -
A very fine Easter theme, indeed.
*long and lovely Henna Drum
*Queen B and Hemp shine in the foreground


From Lynn G (Florida) ~

Thank you Adele.

 Tangled Tidbits -
*soft colors, dainty tangles
*mid section left white, compliments the surrounding tangles


From Lynn F. (Florida) ~

I think Queen B got the best of me but I find that sometimes it helps to go overboard and just try things to see what happens.
Thanks for another fun challenge.

 Tangled Tidbits -
Well, said.
*weighted lines and wonderful details for Hemp
*darkened spaces of Queen B accent the string 'egg'



From Sra (India) ~

Here’s my entry for the latest IAST!
Have a nice and festive week!

 Tangled Tidbits -
*dainty Hemp curls
*Tipple filled spaces and lovely white space


From Susie (Thailand) ~

In case this email catches you still in bed...you not having checked your emails yet...then I am just in time. [heavy breathing]
I tried to hide my Easter egg as much as I could, so please do not look too closely. It likes to remain incognito.
Thanks so much for a wonderful challenge once again.
Greetings from a very hot Thailand

 Tangled Tidbits -
I spy a "made in Thailand" egg...
*gorgeous coloring and tangles
*bits of Hemp floating free



From Sharyn Penna, CZT (Massachusetts) ~

The thick green lines are made with a brush pen ... a new to me tool. The green ink didn’t dry as quickly as an 01 micron ... when I added graphite the ink tinted the shading ... a happy oops to the tile. And I like that the tendrils give a crackled look to the egg shape. I omitted the horizontal wavy line and opted for a cartouche approach.
For the Hemp ribbon I used your alternative step out for Hemp ... super helpful!!!!
Such a great prompt to lead us into Holy Week!
Cheers to you (and your friend Tracey Nicholson) for sharing such helpful tips for tangling, and to Rick’s and Marie’s new Project Pack videos (and the older ones, too!).

 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you, Sharyn.  I could serve Easter dinner on a platter with your design!
*beautiful border accented with Hemp
*pretty pink Hemp blossoms


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

What a lovely Easter string and perfect tangles this week! Mine was a little bit darker than I intended but I still like the outcome! Spring has arrived!

 Tangled Tidbits -
*gorgeous shades, highlights, and tangles
*Hemp variation creates fabulous flowers


From Susie (St. Louis, Missouri) ~

I know the grid in the middle of the tile isn’t right, but I just couldn’t get it even after practicing. Hopefully being small disguises it!

 Tangled Tidbits -
It's always "right" in Zentangle :)
*Henna Drum vines
*aura and shading accent string "egg"


From JoAnne (Ontario, Canada) ~

Happy Easter! This tile is a little busy! I had a hard time incorporating the 3 patterns.

 Tangled Tidbits -
*beautiful blues and tangles
*larger dots create a wonderful Hemp variation



From Rebecca I. (Stamford, Connecticut) ~

After a few attempts, I was about to give up on this string and these Tangles, as the tiles just weren’t coming together in the way I envisioned. Then I decided to do the complete opposite of what I had been doing — tangle locations, sizes, etc — and voila! Not perfect but much happier. :-) Maybe I should try that more often! Happy holiday everyone.

 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you for a good reminder to let the tangles lead the way...
*pretty spring colored tangles
*touch of shading adds layered look


From Felicity Strohfeldt (Velddrif, South Africa) ~

Enjoyed the Easter challenge. Hope you all have a blessed Easter.

 Tangled Tidbits -
*lovely contrast of black/white and color
*happy Henna Drum in spring bloom


Thank you all for the festive tiles.  They are a glorious tribute to Easter time.

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

Hemp by Sandy Bartholomew, CZT

Queen B by Helen Williams

Henna Drum by Jane MacKugler, CZT

Have a very happy Monday, a wonderful Holy Week,  and please check back Tuesday afternoon for 
"It's a String Thing" #288!

Tips for Tangling HEMP - An Alternate Step Out

This week for "It's a String Thing" #287 (click here for all of the delightful details), one of the tangles we get to enjoy is CZT Sandy Bartholomew's Hemp.  

While TanglePatterns lists several step out options and related tangles (Link), it was my friend CZT Tracey Nicholson that made a breakthrough for me.  Tracey's method of beginning with a series of lines, followed by mirrored zigzags, made the tangle quite simple and adaptable.  Thank you, Tracey!

Below, my Tips for Tangling Hemp begin with Tracey's inspiration along with a touch of my own.

The dots really do help.  I found it surprisingly easy to loose track of which triangles still needed the three center lines.

The initial lines can vary in direction, angle, width, etc.  Here are just a few examples ~

Enjoy!

"It's a String Thing" #287

It's Tuesday, your good news day!

Easter is just around the corner, so let's create our own egg hunt and begin with this string ~

IAST #287 String by Adele Bruno, CZT

The tangles we will use include:

Hemp by Sandy Bartholomew, CZT
This tangle is fun to draw and beautiful to behold.  I will publish my Tips for Tangling Hemp on Thursday.  Be sure to check back!

Queen B by Helen Williams
This tangle also begins on a diagonal grid yet it is just different enough to work well with Hemp.

Henna Drum by Jane MacKugler, CZT
Curls, little Crescent Moons, and flowers - what fun!


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 are to be submitted by Saturday evening of the week issued
*Photos and notes are (usually) 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.

"It's a String Thing" #286 Tiles

Happy one day after the final NCAA Tournament game and congratulations to the University of Virginia for their exciting victory.

We tangled some of our own March Madness (well into April !) with some very fun tangles.  Let's take a look ~

The first tile arrived from Angie Gittles (Maryland) and creator of Scape! ~

Well, that was fun! Mr. E just didn’t speak to me, so I used Sand Swirl to accompany Scape and TunnelVizion.

From Marjan Heemskerk (The Netherlands) ~

My contribution for this week. All tangles were new for me and I loved them.
Dank je wel! (thank you)

From Sue Leslie, CZT (New Mexico) ~

Thanks for another fun snowy afternoon with this IAST. Was certainly an interesting play with tunnalvision and Mr. E. Kinda the same but yet different. And I love scape as had done it several times before. A happy spring to all here in the northern hemisphere. And to all down under people as you head into your winter enjoy the change of seasons. I’ll be back in a few weeks as on vacation and business meetings for the rest of the month of April. Here’s to April showers bringing May flowers when I return.

From Baafke (The Netherlands) ~

This challenge was really fun!

 From Jody Genovese, CZT (New York) and creator of TunnelVizion! ~

Thank you so much for including TunnelVizion this week. It has been so much fun to read the comments on Tangle Patterns and see all of the tiles coming out.
It’s an easy pattern and in great company with Mr. E and Scape, two patterns I love. I really enjoyed this tile. So whimsical and fun.
I can’t wait to see what everyone does. The escapeez can be rather mischievous!

From Moblue (Bremen, Germany) ~

here we are with IAST #286. I do love 'scape', it was so relaxing drawing this stroke by stroke. And so pretty to look at in he end.
I could have filled the complete tile with it. On the other side, it was impossible to me to draw 'Mr. E'. I tried hard, but none of the results could convince me. I know, there is no wrong with Zentangle, but it felt wrong to me.
I decided to add a little 'Paradox' instead and will continue trying 'Mr. E' from time to time.....
Thanks Adele for the nice challenge.
Happy Tangling from Moblue, Bremen Germany.

From Kathy Millard (Prince George, British Columbia, Canada) ~

Wonderful inspiration again, so enjoying this group. Again this week, all new tangles to me.

From Sally Whiteman (New Zealand) ~

Thanks for the wonderful challenge. I really enjoyed it. My first time posting this year as there has been so much going on and not enough time to fit everything in. Lots of grand children minding which I am making the most of as they grow up so quickly.

Welcome back!  There is no better reason to have been away :)

From Shirley Wohlsen (Australia) ~

Fun tangles, I really enjoyed playing with them, Thanks Adele.
Attached is my Tile for ‘It’s A String Thing #286’ Challenge.

From Gale Sherman, CZT (Tucson, Arizona) ~

I’ve been addicted to #tunnelvizion since I first saw it, but swore to go straight after featuring it in 3 tiles. THANK YOU for requiring me to use it again!!! # MrE and #scape certainly worked well with it. I use Tombow markers in the purple family. Unfortunately, the tunnelvizion eyes look black, not dark purple in my photo. To be honest about how old I am, once I started coloring in the tunnelvizion eyes the PURPLE PEOPLE EATER song from 1958 kept circling my brain. Can you guess the words?
“It was a one-eyed, one-horned purple people eater
(repeat this line twice...)
Sure looks strangle to me (one eye?)...”
By the way, it flies!

Oh, that is great!


From Lisette, CZT 32 (Switzerland) ~

I fell in love with Scape, such a beautiful pattern… until I found no space for Tunnelvizion. I hope you don’t mind.
Thank you and lots of love

From Susan (United Kingdom) ~

Just bought some black tiles and a new white pen so had to try them out.

From JoAnne (Ontario, Canada) ~

Good morning, Adele,
This was a fun one!

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

thank you for this interesting challenge. I would never have chosen the pattern combination myself. I interpreted the task once freely without and once with your string. Both versions can be found on my blog under the link .

From Susie (St. Louis, Missouri) ~

From VenaC (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) ~

I had never done any of these patterns before. Three nice patterns. It was a challenge finding time in between visiting and sightseeing. Here in BC there are blossoms and daffodils in bloom unlike in Ontario where there is still some snow and ice and no flowers yet.

From Yorkshire Tortoise (Ireland) and here on her blog ~

Here is my tile for this week’s ‘It’s a String Thing’. It was quite fun mixing Tunnel Vizion alongside Mr E! I recently had a bit of a craze on Tunnel Vizion which I wrote about on my blog ... I thought I had finished with it for a while but it has cropped up a few times since and here we are again lol.

From Christelle Faggi (South of France) ~

Here is my participation for this week's challenge.

From Ria Matheussen, CZT (Belguim) ~

This week was a real challenge for me.
At first instance, the combination of these three tangles was not easy
for me. I didin' know where to start but finally I chose to begin with
Tunnelvizion and then I saw how to go further...
After using a little bit of my colourpencils the result is okay for me
and I'm glad I joined this special challenge and learned to draw two new
patterns.
Thanks for this interesting challenge.
After drawing, it is now time for a long walk with the doggies to stay
in a good condition!

From Sra (India) ~

Here's my entry for IAST 286.
I haven't tried so hard in recent times. All I can say is I tried. :) I didn't want to send them but after spending two days on them, I had to.
But it's in small resolution, as I want to contain the shock.

Well done!


From Ingrid Coventon (The Netherlands) ~

Here is my Tile # 286 for this week.
So nice to do this challenge. I love Tunnelvision.
These little creatures are so funny, they communicate without words .

From Lynn G. (Florida) ~

with thanks...

From Jane (Dorking, United Kingdom) ~

thanks for an amusing set of tangles to play with!

From Lynn F (Florida) ~

These were all new to me and I loved them all!
Hope everyone is starting to see spring at their doorsteps.

From Ginger (California) ~

My husband kept saying the eyes from Tunnelvizion were watching him. Got to laugh at that! I really liked the Scape pattern will be playing around with that more. Thanks again for the weekly challenges.

From T. ~

I hope you enjoyed your visit with your granddaughter.
I definitely enjoyed drawing the patterns you chose for this week’s challenge.
Mr. E is a favourite that I haven’t drawn in a while, so it was nice to work with it again.
TunnelVizion is now a new favourite. It reminded me of drawing Hypnotic without the constraints of a grid.
As always, thanks for another fun challenge.

From Sharyn Penna, CZT (Massachusetts) ~

Whimsy meets structured grid ... The minute I saw Scape I knew I wanted to see it on a curved grid. And a half curve make it look like a rising sun. I can see it in many zenbuttons and zendalas.
Tunnelvizion is fun ... whimsy meets structure... but Mr. E ...
I thought if added a border of Inapod by CZT Carole Ohl it might buffer the chaotic nature of Mr. E. ... it didn’t.
I think next time I’ll put Mr. E in a grid. He has an invasive nature, much like planting mint ... in a container it’s lush and happy, as a border it just spreads and invades the entire garden.
Cheers to the many personalities of tangles and the emotions they evoke.

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

My amusement while completing this week's challenge was endless! I couldn't be more in love with Tunnelvizion by my friend Jody Genovese! I incorporated it into my 100 day project prompts for today and couldn't stop laughing during my video this morning! I will grant you, I may be a bit unhinged...lol but all of the tangles played together well beneath my pen this week which is reason enough for laughter. Scape was lovely and I found it interesting how much Mr. E reminded me of crescent moon at the end. Awesome challenge as always! Hug those grand babies every second you can before they are teenagers and out grow snuggling!!

From Felicity Strohfeldt (Velddrif, South Africa) ~

Hope you are well. Apologies for silence for some weeks and late arrival of tile 286. Here we’ve had a major pc crisis and clean up, as well as an overall update, so no scanner until now. Even that’s not as it looked before. I hope the attachment is useable...things are chaotic here. Luckily a little bit of zen was experienced this weekend. Thank goodness.

What a fabulous show of tiles.  Thank you all for generously sharing your work.

Many thank to the creators of the tangles we used for this challenge ~

Tunnelvizion by CZT Jody Genovese

Mr. E by CZT Shawn Hayden

Scape by CZT Angie Gittles


The very next post will be "It's a String Thing" #287!