Trick or Treat! Our New eBook is Here!

Dorian Eng and I have just released the latest eBook in our "Tiny Tangled Houses" series - "Spooktacular Houses".

I know, I know...I usually provide much more fanfare and warm up to the big day, but this one slipped in like a goblin in the night.  A good goblin, mind you! 
We have worked feverishly on it while juggling our happy, crazy lives and are now so pleased to present it.

Here is the front cover ~

Dorian devised yet another ingenious house design, this time using Zentangle®ATC and 3Z tiles.  Coupled with my tangled illustrations, these little gems are spooktacularly fun to create. 

Houses can be themed or simply tangled.  The back cover features Dorian's tangled houses using (among other supplies) Sakura Moonlight Gelly Roll® pens that glow under a black light ~ 

In between the covers of the book are step-by-step instructions, multiple house ideas for inspiration, "Tips for Tangling", tangle step outs, and a few more surprises.

To order your copy, click here. 

Please let us know how you enjoy the book and do send in pictures of your Spooktacular house(s) for posting.

Thank you in advance for supporting us in our latest creative endeavor.

Happy Halloween Haunted Houses

I couldn't let this festive week come to an end without a little 'show and tell' from my class last Saturday.

We began with black square and 3z tiles and tangled with the new Sakura Gelly Roll 10 pens.
This was my example tile ~

Haunted House by Adele Bruno, CZT
Diva Dance, Wired, Fescu, Knightsbridge, Flukes
- white chalk pencil highlights and a bit of colored pencil

 And this is our class mosaic ~

Happy Halloween Haunted Houses by Gara Hundson, Julianne Lopes,
and CZTs Sindy P, Brian Crimmins, Tracey Nicholson, Pam Marian, and Donnie Adamczyk

Tracey Nicholson added a bit of Metallic Gold and Red Gelly Roll to finish hers ~

by Tracey Nicholson, CZT

Isn't it adorable?

These were great fun.  We also began creating Christmas houses and I will start posting those after Thanksgiving. 

Stay tuned!

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!

Happy National Candy Corn Day

Adele Bruno, CZT ~ In Celebration of Candy Corn
Ahh, Amaze, Patena, and Nipa  

When I mentioned candy corn in Tuesday's "It's a String Thing" 64 - click here for all of the delightful details - I did not realize that today, October 30th is National Candy Corn Day in the United States.  Oh, how I love an excuse to celebrate!

Heike from Germany sent one of the first tiles in for the challenge (check back on Monday to see all of the results!) and she mentioned in her email that she had to research candy corn since Halloween is  a relatively new celebration in Germany.

That lead to some research of my own and here are some interesting facts about candy corn as found on the
Better Homes and Gardens website ~


The Story Behind Candy Corn

Every Halloween countless party-throwers, party-goers, and trick-or-treaters hit the streets to harvest candy corn. The little yellow, orange, and white treat is an icon among the holiday candies and has a legacy that goes back more than a century.

According to oral tradition, George Renninger, a candymaker at the Wunderlee Candy Company in Philadelphia, invented the revolutionary tri-color candy in the 1880s. The Goelitz Confectionery Company brought the candy to the masses at the turn of the 20th century. The company, now called Jelly Belly Candy Co., has the longest history in the industry of making candy corn -- although the method has changed, it still uses the original recipe.


Fun Facts About Candy Corn

When the Goelitz Confectionery Company first produced candy corn, it was called "Chicken Feed."

The boxes were illustrated with a colorful rooster logo and a tag line that read "Something worth crowing for."

You don't have to wait for Halloween to indulge in the mellow creme candies -- celebrate National Candy Corn Day on October 30.

According to the National Confectioners Association, more than 35 million pounds (or nine billion pieces) of candy corn will be produced this year.

Candy corn is one of the healthier candies of the Halloween season. It contains roughly 28 grams of sugar and only 140 calories per heaping handful -- and it's fat free!

In 1950, the price of candy corn was just 25 cents per pound.

In honor of their Goelitz roots, Jelly Belly developed a candy corn-flavor jelly bean.

Once opened, store candy corn covered and away from heat and light at room temperature; it should last approximately three to six months. If unopened, the packaged candy corn will last about nine months.


Best of all it is delicious!  
Enjoy your celebration and have a Happy Halloween!