My Heartfelt Thank You

IAST Thank You Zendala by Adele Bruno, CZT
The names of 466 IASThingers from around the world who have kindly contributed over the years.

I hope you have as much fun looking for your names as I did writing them in this sea of fellow gifted tanglers.

G.K. Chesterton wrote, "I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought;
and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder."

My heart is filled with gratitude for all of you, for making these six years of IAST possible, for keeping my enthusiasm for "all things tangled" keen, and for building up this positive and encouraging community.

While I intend to blog from time to time, I must take leave of moderating and conducting our weekly challenges.  I am as sad to say this as I was elated to begin IAST in August of 2013 - but just think of the lasting library we have collectively created.

On the pink header above you can find a wealth of quick references to past years' IASTs, so please make use of them if you need a spark to tangle.

I will be present and I welcome your comments and ongoing communication.  You can reach me through the email slot on the right side of this page or at brunoadelem@gmail.com 

Looking forward to more tangling together!

"It's a String Thing" #302 Happy Sixth Birthday Tiles

It is ironic that weather has much to do about this tardy post.

Here in Florida we are as prepared as possible for the uncertain weather that Dorian, the latest hurricane, is due to bring.  Lots and lots of prayers are needed for those already feeling its wrath.

I have been "under the weather" as the saying goes with some uncertain health challenges, but am confident that I will be back in good health very soon.

Today, though, we have a celebration of birthday tiles and greetings to share so we will stay focused on all that is positive - as we always do!

Let's take a look ~

The first tile arrived from Jane (Surrey, United Kingdom) IASThinger since #231~

Many congratulations on reaching the six year anniversary of IAST, although I’ve only been participating for a couple of years or so your friendly regular blog and a chance to tangle these strings and tangles is a great pleasure. Here’s to many more!

From Moblue (Bremen, Germany) IASThinger since #274 ~

Happy Anniversary to you, Adele and to all of us “It’s a String Thingers”. I confess I’m a proud one! So let’s just celebrate with this nice pattern combination which I added an ADA base. To let it sparkle some lines are doubled with the golden Gellyroll.
Cheers to us and a drum roll to you Adele to keep it all together.
Happy tangling from Moblue, Bremen

From Ingrid (The Netherlands) IASThinger since #20 ~

Happy congratulations with 6 years of IAST.
It has been a pleasure to have been a member of your IAST community from challenge no 20.
Thank you for all the love and effort that you have given to this community.
With much much love and many more years with IAST.

From VenaC (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) IASThinger since #204 ~

Happy Birthday to IAST! 6 years old already. Isn't it amazing how time goes by.

From T., IASThinger since #275 ~

Congratulations on reaching such a wonderful milestone!
Six years is a long time to commit to helping others connect to and grow their creativity, while receiving only our thanks in return. I’m looking forward to participating in more of your weekly challenges.
I really enjoyed this week’s challenge.
Three of the four patterns were new to me (Decoo, Firecracker, Joy), but thankfully, none of them were difficult to learn.
Jonqal was one of the earliest patterns I learned when I connected to this method of creating, so it gets used A LOT in the art I create.
I continue to use the same limited colour palette with only a small variation of colours added to the flames of the candles.
I wasn’t able to get my tiles to you for the last two challenges because I was away from home, but I thought I’d send them to you anyway in case you decide to do one of your catch up posts sometime in the near future.
As always, thank you for all you do to help so many of us explore our creativity.

From Lynn G. (Florida) IASThinger since #154 ~

A very Happy Birth of IAST! With all the candles I had to use a Apprentice tile :) Thanks for all your work.

From Ria Matheussen, CZT (Belgium) IASThinger since #178 ~

First of all congratulations for the 6 th birthday of I.A.S.T., for all
the fantastic work you do, for the wonderful presentations and for
suggesting Decoo as one of the tangles in this special challenge!
I have seen absolutely gorgeous tiles, passing on your site and I have
learned so much by joining. I hope to go on following, as much as
possible in the future, as I said before, it is always a great pleasure.
I kept it simple and used all the patterns in the candles, drawn wit a
pen and finished with ordinary colourpencils.

From Hilary (Chicago) IASThinger since #122 ~

Another week and another celebration! Congratulations once again! You have so much to be proud of, and I know I’m one of many who really appreciate all your hard work.

From Laurel Davis, CZT #28 (New York) IASThinger since #202 ~

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Adele and IAST, Happy Birthday to you!

From Margarete Gilge (Germany) IASThinger since #201 and here on her blog ~

congratulations on the 6th (not the 5th)anniversary of IAST!
Unfortunately, I lost a candle during my first drawing. It was still visible on my preliminary drawing, but there were only five left on the end result. A dear Tangle colleague pointed this out to me on my blog.
Now I have just drawn a second tile for the 6th anniversary of IAST and send it to you a little late.
Now one can find both tiles on my blog under the link...
Thanks again for your great dedication to bringing fun and joy to so many Tangle enthusiasts around the world.

From Ragged Ray (United Kingdom) IASThinger since #7 ~

Imagine a town, in a faraway kingdom, see its 6 tall towers. In one of the towers, 6 cakes with multiple tiers, drizzled with the sweetest icing. And on each cake 6 candles, dribbled with melting wax. And in their flickering candlelight, what better place to gather and celebrate another birthday of your wonderful challenge. Happy Birthday IAST! Thank you for bringing us all together, week after week.

From Ginger White (California) IASThinger since #264 ~

Happy birthday! So glad you decided to do this weekly-or-so challenge.

From Sara (Australia) IASThinger since #48 ~

Another week... another celebration! Congratulations and happy 6th birthday!

From Gale Sherman, CZT (Tucson, Arizona) IASThinger since #212 ~

I hope I’m not late with my submission! What a celebration -6 years and 302 challenges!!! I used watercolors, colored pencils, graphite, white chalk and a gold gelly roll in addition to my black pen. Why hold back for a big celebration? Though I like firecracker it just didn’t work with my composition and I went freewheeling with Joy for my flames. That’s Zentangle for you. Thanks for all you do Adele.

From Lynn F. (Florida) IASThinger since #253 ~

Congratulations on 6 years!
Here’s my tile.

From Shirley Wohlsen (Queensland, Australia) IASThinger since #172 ~

Congratulations! on the 6th Birthday of ‘ It’s A String Thing ’
I’m very happy to join you to celebrate this 6th Birthday with my tile.
Attached is my tile for It’s A String Thing # 302

From Susie (Thailand) IASThinger since #182 ~

A super huge congratulations to you and your weekly IAST challenge, Adele!!! That is indeed a milestone you can be proud of. You are a pillar for many tanglers, me included. I started following you end of January 2017 or, to be more precise, 121 tiles ago. Now I sincerely hope you keep up the good work for many more birthdays to come so my "tiles ago" number grows indefinitely.

From Amy L, CZT (Connecticut) IASThinger since #237 ~

A very happy birthday! This is the second IAST birthday tangle I have done. I really wanted to squeeze it in, so I hope I’m not too late. Joy was a joy, and I liked practicing jonqal and learning decoo. Firecracker eluded me, so I left it off. But it was so much fun, thanks as always for doing this! I hope you like it.

From Allison (California)  IASThinger since #250~

Hi Adele, here my contribution to the party. I love how festive it came out. I am thinking something similar would look really great as a Christmas card. Anyway, thanks for including me.

From Sra (India)  IASThinger since #136 ~

Here's my entry for IAST 302. Thanks for keeping it going all these years and I hope it does for many more years to come. Have a wonderful week!

From Joyce Evans (Port Alberni, B.C., Canada)  IASThinger since #31 ~

Here is my entry. I hope you can use it as I only use an iPad.

From Susan (United Kingdom)  IASThinger since #127 ~

Happy 6th Birthday. Congratulations and many, many thanks for all you do.

From JoAnne (Ontario, Canada)  IASThinger since #255 ~

Happy 6th Birthday!! I think I started at IAST 255 just over a year ago! Thanks for all you do to make tangling fun! It’s so much fun to see everyone’s tiles!

From Sue Agnew (Tucson, Arizona)  IASThinger since #3 ~

I had upsetting news yesterday, the death of a friend. He was only 63 and it was unexpected. I felt uninspired to be very imaginative with my rendition but as I persevered I found it comforting to draw lines over and over. Also (here's a "profound" observation lol) in Jonqal the wider/narrower alternation of spaces was difficult, like they wanted to move toward equilibrium. I remember you said something similar about Nipa, that the wiggly lines want to straighten out. So I reflected on equilibrium and how we feel when it's shaken.
It has been a fun 6 years. Thank you for all you do!

From Susie (St. Louis, Missouri)  IASThinger since #57 ~

From Sharyn Penna, CZT (Massachusetts)  IASThinger since #27 ~

Happy IAST-6th birthday! You are amazing! Thank you for all the prompts, the tips for tangling, the words of wisdom, the family shares, the travel recounts ... all of which are filled with your joy and exuberance!!
It’s been fun watching IAST evolve ... looking forward to the coming century of prompts!
For all that, and more ... cheers to you and the IAST community you have gathered.

From  Antony Visconti (Milan, Italy)  IASThinger since #263 ~

My tile took a life of it's own as I went through it and ended up giving me a feeling of a Gothic cathedral setting. Must have been the candles!

From Cheryl (Missouri) IASThinger since #288 ~

I'm excited to see the different interpretations of this tangle. For me, I knew right away how I was going to use the patterns.

From Mary Helmers (Boerne, Texas - pronounced "Bernie")  IASThinger since #129 ~

Birthdays should be sparkly, and I tangled this with metallic pens. It may not show up in the photo. You'll notice that the candle flames are not shaded. That is because they do not throw shadows. Something I discovered when I attempted to photograph a lit candle. A fun tile! Tangles I used: Jonqal, Joy, Decoo, Firecracker, Avreal, Ambler, and Diva Dance-Waltz.

Thank you everyone for the gorgeous tiles and happy birthday greetings.

Many thanks to the creative minds behind the tangles we used for IAST #302 ~

Decoo by Ria Matheussen, CZT

Firecracker by Suzanne McNeill, CZT

Jonqal by Maria Thomas

Joy by Joyce Block, CZT


Tomorrow's post will include my thank you to all the String Thingers - hundreds of fabulous tanglers who have shared their tiles and love and stories over these past seven years.

"It's a String Thing" #302 - A Very Happy Sixth Birthday!

It's Tuesday, your good news day!

"It's a String Thing" challenges began on August 13, 2013, which means we have a birthday to celebrate!

6 years, 
302 strings, 
nearly 1,000 tangles, 
9,000+ tiles, and 
hundreds and 100's of "It's a String Thingers" from 36 different countries - 
and we are still going strong.  

Congratulations!

That calls for a celebration, doesn't it?

Let's begin with our traditional birthday string, this time with six candles ~

As with past years, this is my step out for drawing the string in one continuous line.  Please pencil in the string (pictured in Step 4) in a way comfortable for you. 


The tangles we will use include ~

Decoo by Ria Matheussen, CZT

Firecracker by Suzanne McNeill, CZT

Jonqal by Maria Thomas

Joy by Joyce Block, CZT


That group of tangles should give us more than enough contrast to work with, but please feel free to substitute, and/or add more if you wish.

If you would like to view the birthday celebrations from previous years, here are the links ~

IAST 1st Birthday  and 1st Birthday Tiles
IAST 2nd Birthday and 2nd Birthday Tiles
IAST 3rd Birthday and 3rd Birthday Tiles
IAST 4th Birthday and 4th Birthday Tiles
IAST 5th Birthday and 5th Birthday Tiles

We are creating quite a library, aren't we?!

Simply pencil in the string line and begin.
Keep in mind that the string is a suggestion 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 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.

Enjoy!

"It's a String Thing" #301 Tiles

This week we were able to concentrate on one beautiful new tangle by Nadine Roller, CZT (Germany), Gelijoy.

Reminiscent of ivy, it is a wonderfully organic tangle that was readily adapted to the black/white contrasts that Zentangle's new Project Pack #6 featured. 

Let's take a look ~

The first tile arrived from Moblue (Bremen, Germany) ~

...my honest congratulations on 300 times IAST challenge. Even though I am only a short while with you, I have already learned so much here! All the more it saddens me to have missed the deadline for the anniversary issue. So that this may not happen again here comes my contribution to the 301st IAST. Inspired by the current PP I blackened 2 corners and spread the GELIJOY with a white gellyrol on them.
Thank you Adele for your awesome work and your dedication to keep this community rolling.

From Amy L, CZT (Connecticut) ~

I loved Gelijoy in the step-outs, but not so much when I did it. But I liked how it married with happy, which I just love doing. So here it is.

From Shirley Wohlsen (Queensland, Australia) ~

What a fabulous Tangle ‘Gelijoy ‘ is, I enjoy this tangle and will certainly use it again.
Attached is my Tile for ‘It’s A String Thing # 301’ Challenge.

From Cheryl (Missouri) ~

Here we go heading to setting our next milestone with our Zentangle challenges! I love being part of this Zentangle loving group. I am constantly checking my email on Mondays and Tuesdays, looking at the results AND chomping at the bit to see the next string challenge.
My tangle features Gelijoy and Checkerboard, with a bit of colored pencils for a hint of color.

From Hilary (Chicago) ~

Well, now I’ve done two weeks in a row, and I have to say I’ve enjoyed getting back to tangling! Thanks for providing this opportunity and choosing a great pattern for this week.

From Ria Matheussen, CZT (Belgium) ~

Again a wonderful challenges with lots of possibilities.
My tile is inspired on work, seen in the last Project Pack, "no mistakes".
I also chosed to paint a big space of my tile black and tangled in
black/white.
Besides Gelijoy, I have combinated Nadine's tangle with my own Javik,
Crescent Moon en a few Fescu-patterns.
A very pleasant challenge that I enjoyed very much. Thank you dear Adele
and wish you a nice weekend,
Greetings from the heart

From VenaC (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) ~

I decided to use Rick and Maria's no mistakes idea. Some time ago I was given a bottle of black acrylic ink. It had a dropper so I dropped some ink on in a few places and tried tipping the paper to make it run. It didn't run, so I used a plastic straw to spread the ink around. I then had a most beautiful dense and smooth black. Almost too beautiful to draw on! I really enjoyed drawing Gelijoy. Then the "mistakes" started. The Generals white charcoal pencil didn't really take on the black. I tried a Prismacolour premier white and that didn't do much better. So I ended up with very little white shading. Then, after I had done my chop I didn't like the orientation, so I tried painting it out. Then I decided to add a bit more beautiful black and the white paint over my chop hadn't completely dried, so I tried dabbing it with a Kleenex. In the no mistakes philosophy I now have some clouds in the top right and my chop is in the right spot. All part of the fun!

From LynnG (Florida) ~

Gelijoy is a fun tangle. Thanks for the introduction to it.

From Lisette, CZT 32 (Switzerland) ~

I managed #301 - things are a bit off kilter at the moment. Gelijoy with another pattern by Nadine Roller: Naaki.

From Nadine Roller, CZT (Germany), the creator of Gelijoy! ~

I am so proud that i really got this tile at time. I am also so happy and grateful that you have chosen Gelijoy for your IAST 301! Thank you so much!
It is such a lovely gift to me next week, seeing all the Gelijoys!
I am sure i will enjoy it very much :-)!
We are about to drive to Belgium for holidays.
My best wishes to you and all the tanglers of IAST301 for trying out my pattern.

From Lin H, CZT (Florida) ~

Viewing everyone’s celebration tiles was a lot of fun, Adele. Nadine Roller’s tangle Gelijoy was fun to work with, too. Hope you’re staying cool this hot summer!

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

This week went by awfully fast. I really enjoyed this tangle and the step out made it so easy to follow. It seemed like the perfect tangle to use as a border for a card. I very often make my tangles on paper that will fit easily on the top of a pre-made blank coloured card. Seems like a great way to use my tangles. Looking forward to many more weeks of fun!

From Sara (Australia) ~

I have two tiles this week, the first is a simple one learning the new tangle. I got a bit more experimental with the second tile.

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

Gelijoy is a very nice pattern and I enjoyed tangling it. I like floral patterns and so I combined it with some of them on a watercolored background. One can see my tile on my blog under the link... Thank you for this interesting challenge!
Have a nice weekend! Best wishes from Germany

From Sue Agnew (Tucson, Arizona - "currently glamping in the woods of Onatario", Canada) ~

I had intended to do something completely different with this challenge... but all week I have had a song running through my head (inspired by the ivy motif), Tell Me Why. We used to sing it at college in a ceremony called a "candlelight" ... the girls would sit in a circle and a lighted candle would be passed around. The person who had "news" would blow it out after it had been around enough times (one time for a drop, two times for a pin, three times for an engagement ring) ... then there would be much screaming and someone would be thrown in the shower. So anyway, last night as I lay awake trying to convince myself the noises I heard were normal cottage sounds and not a furry woodland creature, it occurred to me to abandon my previous plan and put the words to the song into the spaces in the trellis.
Thank you for #301! Every new week is a gift!

From Ginger, CZT (Oregon) ~

In honor of the major yard clean-up we did, here is my contribution for this week's tile. Onamoto for the fence, henna drum for the plants we left behind. Now we can see the mountains of trees!

From  Lynn F, (Florida) ~

This tile reminds me of Fall. Looking forward to cooler weather.

From Jane Rhea, CZT (Indiana) ~

WOW, Adele! The first IAST of the next one hundred was so much fun! Even though Zentangle is non-representational, the tangle Gelijoy is reminiscent of an ivy vine. Like ivy, may we all grow in creativity, joy, inspiration, friendship and peace through our tangling!
Sending smiles to all

From Sharon Fite (California) ~

Whew, it's been a hot one in the Central Valley! It was 108 on Wednesday, but the heat wave broke today, thankfully. Here's a bit of summer sunshine to share. Gelijoy is a fun tangle, easy to learn and fun to use.

From Antony Visconti (Milan, Italy) ~

Thanks for another lovely challenge.

From Gill Green (Israel) ~

Sorry this is late, we were away for a few days and I just finished.
This was a fun challenge and I enjoyed doing it. Arukas is in the middle and I added pokeroot, a sort of Mooka and weighted Printemps which I love after seeing it in the latest Zentangle videos.
Keep thinking we’ve had the worst of the heat, but I know it’s not true!

From Felicity Strohfeldt (Velddrif, South Africa) ~

... Loved Gelijoy when I managed to get the hang of it.
Have super week.

Lastly, this sentiment and photograph from Susan (United Kingdom) ~

I haven’t completed a tangle this week but did play around with the ivy inspired shapes. It reminded me that last week I took a photo of ivy in an English churchyard. I liked the way the ivy framed the inscription “firm hope of enjoying beyond the grave that peace that the world could not give”. Here’s hoping that Zentangle helps us to find some of that peace here in the world.

 Amen!  I wonder if Mr. Cook could have ever imagined that his inspirational inscription would reach so many two centuries after his passing.  May he rest in peace.

The day escaped me and rather than delay the post, Tangling Tidbits were not included. 
I humbly thank you all for your notes and the gorgeous show of tiles.

Special thanks to Nadine for her lovely Gelijoy.


Check back tomorrow afternoon for "It's a String Thing" #302!