"It's a String Thing" #262

It's Tuesday, your good news day!

Sometime last week, Fall returned with little fanfare here in central Florida.
Because September is typically one of our hottest months, the season never seems to get its just due.

To remedy a bit of lost fanfare, let's tangle with Maria Thomas' Gourdgeous and

for a seasonal compliment,  Wooooooo! by Joan Stark.

We begin with this string ~

IAST #262 by Adele Bruno, CZT

Keep in mind that strings are merely suggestions. As with all IAST adventures, simply pencil in the string and let the tangles lead the way. 

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, notes, and the 'Tile for Honors' 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.

Enjoy!

Happy One Day After Thanksgiving

This is not a tangled turkey, I know, but I wanted to post the rolls my daughters and I make every year for our Thanksgiving feast.  Not only are they cute, they taste really yummy.

If you celebrated yesterday, I pray your time was very blessed. There is an abundance in life to be grateful for and in the words of a prayer uttered at Mass yesterday, "Even as we thank God for our many blessings, we are confident that He will bless us with even more."

Have a wonderful weekend.

A Tale of White Pumpkins (Real White Pumpkins!)

A few weeks ago, my brother Matt text me this photo with the words "tangle anyone?" ~

He was shopping near his home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and spied these glorious white pumpkins. I dismissed his offer to send some to me - just couldn't imagine what it would take to mail them nearly 1,000 miles to my home in Florida.


A few days later,  and much to my surprise, a UPS truck pulled up to the front of my house.  The driver delivered a huge and very heavy box.  "It could only be one thing", I thought as I tore open the carton.  The gourds looked like gold to me!  What a gift ~

I picked the roundest, whitest one and tangled it for Matt.  I used a glossy black paint pen with a broad nib and kept the tangles fairly large.

I cradled it carefully in some of the bubble wrap from Matt's packaging, gingerly packed it into a smaller box, and shipped it off to him.

A few days later, he sent this photo of it on his kitchen table.

While all of this was transpiring, I received an email from Annie Buckley in Colorado, a student and blog follower, about beautifully painted MacKenzie-Childs inspired pumpkins.  She sent me this link with photos on how to create these look a like masterpieces.

I raided my paint cabinet, found sumptuous shades of yellow, gold, and purple, and accented a pumpkin that I tangled in Knightsbridge.

CZT Sindy P is a fanatic for anything MacKenzie-Childs, so I delivered this to her:

A few days later, she sent this photo of it on her kitchen table ~

I never could have imagined what would come of that first photo Matt sent.  How fun!

After all that excitement, I tangled one for our kitchen table ~

I've got three more white beauties staring at me, begging for some pretty patterning.  Right now though, I am in the midst of getting ready for a December studio tour in our county. (More details will follow in future posts.)
I've moved on to the Christmas holiday already, but will most likely carve the last three just before Halloween.

With gratitude to my brother Matt, and to quote Annie in the closing sentence of her email, "Thanks again for starting this so-satisfying little odyssey!"

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Drawing is rather like playing chess: 

your mind races ahead of the moves 

that you eventually make.

                                                                                                                              ~ David Hockney

Tangled White Craft Pumpkin  by Adele Bruno, CZT

Project Particulars:
White craft pumpkin approx. 6" x 6 1/2"
Sharpie Extreme marker

This saying reminded me of how I approach - and thoroughly enjoy - tangling pumpkins.  I mark one section of the pumpkin off at a time and as I begin one pattern, I am already thinking of what the next one will be.  Great fun!

More Tangled Pun'kins

These pun'kins are just too much fun.  Here is another ~

Tangled Pun'kin by Adele Bruno, CZT

Tangled Pun'kin by Adele Bruno, CZT

A Sakura Identi-pen works beautifully on this plastic surface.  I also find that tangles show up well when drawn larger and I tend to alternate straight lined and curved patterns.

Have a wonderful weekend!

More Tangled Pumpkins

Today's treat comes by way of North Carolina and tangler Beth Gaughan.  She wrote ~

You created a monster when you shared your tangled pumpkin a couple of weeks ago. I can't stop making them! I turned a couple into wreaths. Thanks for the inspiration!

Tangled Pumpkins by Beth Gaughan

Aren't her creations just beautiful?

Beth's gallery provides quite a variety of pumpkin possibilities.  She tangled white on black, black on orange, black on white, and white on orange.  

Notice that she tangled larger versions of the patterns.  She also alternated grid and free flowing patterns - good tips to remember when tangling these artificial pumpkins.

Many thanks to Beth for permission to share her masterpieces.

Happy Fall!