Monday, May 16, 2016

"It's a String Thing" #144 Tiles

We celebrated belated and anticipated Mother's Days with this challenge - depending on what part of the world in which you live.  We used a string and tangles that brought MOM to mind (click here for the details).

Thank you for the outpouring of both your Mother's Day greetings and continued well wishes for the Tickled to Tangle Art Show.  My very best wishes for a blessed Mother's Day to you, too.

Let's take a look at our tiles ~

The first tile arrived from Joanne Faherty (Bedfordshire, United Kingdom) ~
Looks like you had a lovely mothers day. Love the Zia your boy made you too looks fantastic art and creativity run in your family? :). The mothers day history was interesting too, but now I'm wondering why the uk has it in March.
Anyhow here is my entry for the week. I like the hollyhock tangle and I've used 4mom before there's so much you can do with it that I never actually know what to do if you get what I mean, but that might just be me.
I kept it really simple today and made the string line bolder which I normally never do but I like it.
Hope the show is still going well it looks amazing such talent
 Tangled Tidbits -
*weighted and sparkled string line
*dots and detail lines repeat in both patterns
*great white space


From Joke Leussenkamp (The Netherlands) ~
Hello Dear Tanglers,
4MOM was great fun to improvise on. I [could] not become great friends with Hollyhock. But somehow I like the outcome.
Tangle Greetings from The Netherlands,
 Tangled Tidbits -
*wonderful Hollyhock with touches that spread to 4MOM and beyond
*Tipple details throughout
*pretty balance of black, white, brown, shading, and highlights


From Lori Byerly (Washington) and here on her blog ~
What a lovely challenge in honor of mum's everywhere. :) Both patterns were new to me, so it was a doubly good challenge.
I've enjoyed your recent choice to use strings you've created or pulled from life around you.
Tangled Tidbits -
*rounded corners in Hollyhock along with shading add dimension - what a lovely look it lends to the pattern
*double lined center of 4MOM orbs


From Kate (United Kingdom) ~
My contribution to this week's Mothers Day challenge. Here in the UK we
already celebrated Mothers Day in March but I'm happy to celebrate again
- they're worth it!
Both tangles were new to me, I especially liked Hollyhock and loved the
way that, once the black areas were filled in there was a white heart
shape left at the base of the flower - very appropriate for this week's
theme!
 Tangled Tidbits ~
*rice shapes of Hollyhock fill 4MOM
*sting becomes the vine of Hollyhock

...and a few days later...
I already sent you my contribution to this week's challenge and although
I rarely manage to do more than one I really enjoyed the two new - to me
- tangles and I've obviously got too much time on my hands this week so
here's my second tangle 144.
Tangled Tidbits -
*wonderful detail lines
*mirrored rows of 4MOM


From smgg (Taiwan) and on her Instagram ~
Have a nice day!!!
 Tangled Tidbits -
*colorful accents for white tangles
*4MOM in opposite detail - straight lines with curved aura and spirals with straight lines.



From Lily (Hungary) ~
...here is my tile for your weekly Mother's Day challenge:
ZenHug
 Tangled Tidbits ~
*gorgeous green gems for the orbs of 4MOM shine against deep black corners
*lovely variations and aura of Hollyhock
*Beadline 4MOM



From Ragged Ray (United Kingdom) ~
It's been a week of tangling extremes for me. Tiles which start off well and then lose their way, and others which look a mess and then come together with surprising charm. I'm about to post on my blog about the latter, but I think my tile for your challenge is the former.
But, not to dwell on the negatives, there are things I like about it. I like the combination of black and grey pen on the blue tile. I like the white highlights. I like the single Hollyhock and the sense of space. And I liked the process. And of course there is always another day, another tile, another tangle.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*white highlights glow and shading shines on the light blue surface
*soft sparkled aura of 4MOM orbs
*tangles define the border and string line


From Yvette Grassett (France) ~
Bonjour
Voici le résultats du strings 144.
Quand j'ai fais les ligne, j'ai vu deux doigts gantes en dentelle. Qui tienne une montres . Chez nous la fêtes des mères c'est le 29 mai. Amities à vous tous.
Tangled Tidbits -
*wonderful tangles and splendid additions to this ZIA - a Hollyhock watch, lace covered fingers, interlocking hearts...
*4MOM watch band complete with gold accents



A very warm welcome to Rebecca Isenstein (Stamford, Connecticut) ~
Here goes! Been doing them for a while but never brave enough to email, but what the heck! Today's the day, not because I'm really liking this one (these tangles were both new to me and I must confess I struggled with them, esp. 4MOM), but I guess because . . . well who knows. It's a lovely day here, the sun is shining, and I've got my brave on, lol! Thanks.
Tangled Tidbits - 
APPLAUSE for sending in your tile, Rebecca!
*4MOM border
*reverse white and black Hollyhocks


From Katrina Handson (Florida) ~
Was happy to find sometime to get back into a challenge they're such fun :) Enjoyed the M string for mothers day. :)
Tangled Tidbits - 
*thick aura of Hollyhock
*striped and solid orbs of 4MOM


From Hilary Merola (Chicago, Illinois) ~
Thanks for another great weekly challenge. I had a lot of fun with my variations here.
PS. It was great seeing the photos from your show and reading about the wonderful artists!
Tangled Tidbits - 
*mirrored rows of 4MOM in three pretty varitaions
*center variations of Hollyhock feature Tipple, aura, shading, and detail lines



From Ilse Lukken (The Netherlands) and here on her blog ~
My entry for this week looked a bit empty, so I've added some shading in the bottom left corner ;-)

Tangled Tidbits -
*wonderful shadow and shading
*use of larger black spaces anchor the tangles


From Michele Wynne (California) ~
Thanks for another great challenge. I love how simple and versatile 4MOM is and the elegance of Hollyhock ( a new pattern for me) is joy to draw. Figuring out how to get them in the string was tricky (I tweaked it a bit) and I'm happy with the result.
Tangled Tidbits -
*Hollyhock flows from the tips of 4MOM
*aura-ed Hollyhock filled with detail lines, soft shading and glowing highlights


From Susan (United Kingdom) ~
Hi, here is this week’s tile. I liked the hollyhock design. It needed a bit of practise and I found it worked better for me a thicker central curved bit. The 4MOM tangle turned into a crowd scene in one corner, but in the main body of the tile I took inspiration from last week’s colourful mosaics.
Tangled Tidbits -
*wonderful tie-in to last week's tiles
*lined and dotted aura
*a "4MOM" corner crowd :)


From Jean Beckstrom (Alabama) ~


Tangled Tidbits -
*one orb for the lower version of 4MOM with rounded, triangular, and 'v' shaped aura
*trails of Tipple around lightly lined Hollyhock                                                                                                                          


From Aloya (Elena) Pakhomova (Toronto, Canada) ~
Here is my contribution to the challenge. Like the string. :)
Tangled Tidbits -
*rounded aura of 4MOM with thicker black orbs
*Hollyhock with dark and lined backgrounds in a field of Tipple


From Sarah (Michigan) and here on her blog ~
Here is my entry for the week. Kind of ended up in a duotangle thing. Hollyhock will take some time to perfect, and my lines on 4Mom aren't great as usual but I like the contrast. I shall leave it without color!
Tangled Tidbits -
*very nice contrast of light and dark
*4MOM in aura of Hollyhock


From Linda Goncalves (Pennsylvania) ~
I was so happy this week to have time to tangle. This turned out
"busier" than I like, but I enjoyed each moment.
Tangled Tidbits -
*hearts of Hollyhock fill the upper string spaces
*Hollyhock filled orbs of 4MOM


From Talia Maynard (London, United Kingdom) ~
Hope you're having a lovely week and a wonderful mother's day. I've always found it strange that our mother's day is different to the US and Australia. Does that mean I can have 2??
Here's my tile for this week. I really enjoyed doing it. The two tangles behaved really well for me in this one and I'm pleased with the result.
For the record, I'm voting for at least two :)
Tangled Tidbits -
*Hollyhock on stems - weighted lines and shading
*4MOM filled string line


From Ingrid (The Netherlands) ~
Thank you for sharing the pics of the Art Exhibition at the Casselberry Art House. Beautiful work shown by all participants.
In the attachment my tile for this week. Oh, I had so much fun with this one. Both tanglepatterns I love very much. 4Mom I already knew, but Hollyhock was new to me and I love it so much, as all botanic/organic tangles.
Tangled Tidbits -
*soft Tipple background
*4MOM "eyes"
*Hollyhock - thick lines and shaded insides


From sra (India) ~
I simply could not figure out how to include 4Mom. While Hollyhock is very beautiful, I couldn't do much with it either.
I ended up tearing one tile after working on it for more than half-an-hour. As for the one you're seeing, I thought some colour would make up for the lack of imagination and applied some grey with an oil pastel. None of the tortillons I had would blend it so I used grey and green colour pencils. Those wouldn't blend either!!! But I went at them, bearing down on them as much as I could. They stayed steadfast. Somehow, though, I didn't hate myself so much at the end of some four hours of the Zentangling and even began to develop some affection for the tile I did. (I've binned the tortillons and am off for some fresh ones. I didn't buy the costlier ones last time because I am new to all this.)
I finally ended up using just one row of 4Mom and I think that was the only thing that went well. I yearn for the day I finally develop a steady hand and don't miss out the white spots when filling in the colour. Maybe what I need, along with imagination and good equipment, is a pair of sharp glasses!
There are some struggles to learning and you are correct, the proper tools do make all the difference.
Tangled Tidbits -
*light string line behind bold Hollyhock
*one borderline of 4MOM anchors Hollyhock


From Karen (The Creative Miss L) (Canberra, Australia)  and here on her blog ~
As usual, you’ve put forward a string and tangles that I’ve found hard to combine. That’s what keeps me coming back. Some weeks it is easy but others really challenging.
I’m submitting two tiles (although I’ve started and not finished a couple more). The first I like the Hollyhock but not the tiny bits of 4MOM that I included. The second I like more. It’s a deconstruction of Hollyhock with a big, bold border of 4MOM. Looking forward to seeing what other people make of these two tangles.
And thanks for using my ZIA. It gave me a confidence boost that you liked it and used it in your Words of Wisdom post.
Just in case you missed it - click here to see Karen's ZIA on last Wednesday's post...
Tangled Tidbits -
*darkly shaded Hollyhock surrounded by a swatch of thickly outlined Tipple
*Hollyhock details repeat in 4MOM



From Sabine (Germany) ~
here is my entry for this week - a MOM related Renaissance Tile. 4Mom I have known and I played a little bit with it. The new pattern Hollyhock is so pretty, I love it.
Tangled Tidbits -
*shaded and highlighted Hollyhock shine
*delicately detailed versions of 4MOM


From Sharyn Penna (Massachusetts) ~
It was a pleasure to meet your artist-friends and visit your art show through your posts. Thank you for such a treat!
I try to keep a running list of strings created by you and used in your String Thing prompts ... I think this week's prompt gave us your 20th string! Congrats and thanks! I love revisiting strings with other tangles.
I did something with this week's string that I don't often do ... I divided the sections vertically. I've attached a copy of the string since the completed tile doesn't reveal the divisions. I gave it a one-two punch ... one being Hollyhock; two being 4Mom.


This is a treat to see the divisions of Sharyn's string line and then her completed masterpiece.
Tangled Tidbits - 
*shading of orbs and white space give them dimension
*Hollyhock floats above fields of Tipple


From Karin (Germany) ~
this is my entry to no. 144.
My mother died 2 1/2 years ago. So I cannot make her a present to mother´s day any more… But I thought about her while I was tangling and I added “LG” in the round space on the left of the tile.
Somehow I think that she is responsible for my tangling because I started tangling after her death to calm my mind and to do something I am proud of.
Thank you for the challenges! They really help me to carry on
Greetings from Germany!
Beautiful thoughts, thank you.
Tangled Tidbits - 
*4 MOM string line
*Hollyhock filled string sections with one sweet LG


From Adri van Wyk (South Africa) ~
This was a challenging challenge.
Tangled Tidbits - 
*lavish layering of tangles
*tiny 4MOM background blends into Tipple rimmed orbs and lovely aura
*bright highlights and deep shading


From Gesine (Germany) ~
after missing a challenge last week, since I was on holiday with my family, here’s my contribution for this week.

Tangled Tidbits - 
*glowing white tangles with added sparkle
*orbs of 4MOM morph into Tipple
*touches of blue and green


From Cheryl Stocks (Arizona) ~
Thanks for the challenge and the "M" is for Mom string.
I went for black and white and the graphite is the new black idea.
Have a brilliant day!

Tangled Tidbits - 
*lightly penciled background of Hollyhock
*light and dark spaces of Hollyhock change through the string lines


From Jane Glotzer (Boulder, Colorado) ~
Just for fun (and future card making) I have been making watercolor "backgrounds" lately, so I decided to use one for this week's challenge. The scan doesn't show the colors completely accurately; in person, it is a bit more colorful, with lovely greens, turquoises and purples, but I love how the zentangle looks on it. I started with some Hollyhock on the right side...what a fun, versatile, non-traditional type pattern...played all around with those! Added the 4Mom in the center area, with some extra flowers for Mom's day--:) Followed up with more Hollyhock and the string line really did disappear! Just a touch of shading to finish it off.
Tangled Tidbits - 
*string line did disappear, yet is very present as the patterns change
*detailed variations of Hollyhock
*flowery centers of 4MOM


From Allison Duruno (Richmond Hill, Ontario) ~
Found this week's tangles a little tricky- had to try a couple of tiles to get one I was content with. I liked the idea of making some of the 4Mom really big and then putting the hollyhock leaves in the center of the circles. I used some smaller 4Mom for borders and then added some vines with leaves as some decoration. I made the tile from a piece of gray parchment I had in my classroom desk.
Tangled Tidbits - 
*4MOM string lines
*larger 4MOM stuffed with pretty Hollyhock
*simplified Hollyhock vine


From Marla Mendenhall (California) ~
Adele, Congrats on your successful art show, and thanks for the great pix. Wish I'd been there. And are you and your family too cute or what?!  This was a week of too few tanglible hours and too many tangled tiles gone awry. I just hate it when it seems someone else's brain and hand has taken over; whoever it is they just don't get me at all! And the large Hollyhock on this tile reminds me of a barn owl I saw at the Nature Center. Go figure.
Tangled Tidbits - 
*crisp lines, soft shading
*elongated Hollyhock (I spy an owl!)
*Hollyhock rose


From Felicity Strohfeldt (South Africa) and here on her blog ~
Hope you have recovered from all the effort you put into the wonderful art show in your immaculate Art House. Truly a great, creative feat along with all your fascinating artist friends.
Well, although it’s supposed to be Winter in the Westercape and we should be facing very stormy weather with plenty of rain, the drought continues and days are colder, but bone dry. Probably the worst drought in close on a 100 years!
As always, I found this week’s challenge both interesting and challenging. Hollyhocks by Jason Lau is lovely organic pattern and 4Mom, to me, is more geometrical. Geometrical is not always my strong suite. Your MOM string hmm? But in the end these two opposite patterns and string came together. My effort is a tile of praise to the world’s selfless moms, who preserver in loving, caring and watching over their families, day after day. They are Pillars of Life. See MM, the ever watchful eyes of a mother, the playful swirls of her care and love. The O was the starting point for a peaceful, cool, luxurious garden of giant Hollyhocks. A place where moms could relax and meditate.
Tangled Tidbits - 
*the feeling is captured in the tangles, to be sure
*"watchful eyes" of 4MOM
*beautiful billowing garden of Hollyhock


From Susan Theron (Velddrif, South Africa) ~
Mine. I can testify to the power of Zentangle. I've done this when I was at a very low emotionally and tangling calmed me.
Hope your art show was a huge success.
And that is the power of tangling...
Tangled Tidbits - 
*softened angles of 4MOM and flowery orbs
*multiple orientations of Hollyhock



And now...
the tile for honors this week...
was sent in by...

Anita A Westin from Dalarna, Sweden.
She wrote:
Hello Adele! Thank you for another beautiful string! I will save it for future needs! Here it is in my blog too...

 Tangled Tidbits -
*simple and elegant tangles
*border is outlined and the sting appears to curl over the edges
*orbs are shaded for depth
*black, white, aura-ed, and shaded Tipple



Congratulations, Anita.
I have a little something coming in the mail for you.

Thank you all again for your good wishes and shared passion for all things tangled.

Many thanks to the creative minds behind the tangles we used this week along with my string:


4MOM by Jane Eileen Malone, CZT

and 


Hollyhock by Jason Lau is a CZT

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY !

Check back Tuesday afternoon for "It's a String Thing" #145!




2 comments:

  1. Hi Adele, thank you for the round-up and the comments! So much beauty here!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congrats to Anita, but each persons' tiles were special. I really enjoyed seeing them this week.
    Sarah

    ReplyDelete