Thursday, August 31, 2017

One in a Million...

That is just what you are.

As of this week, when you visit my blog, you are one in a million - one in more than a million, actually.

With thanks to all of my incredible readers, my view count has tipped the nine figure mark.  We have been one happy celebration after another, haven't we?!

In celebration of 1,000,000 views on Tickled to Tangle
by Adele Bruno, CZT

Long ago, when the count tipped 10,000, I was ecstatic (click here for that original post) and drew this tile in honor of that milestone ~

10,000 by Adele Bruno, CZT

When the count topped 100,000, (click here for that original post) I published this tile ~
100,000 by Adele Bruno, CZT
As I read over those earlier posts, it struck me that our community has multiplied marvelously in a relatively short period of time.

The sheer joy of this shared passion we call Zentangle® keeps me energized day after day.  I am humbled by your loyal following and grateful for every time you come by for a visit, a view, for an inspiration or two.

My goal remains the same - to accentuate that positives life has to offer and to spread the joy of tangling.  In the process, I remain hopeful that when you stop by for a visit, you are inspired and motivated to keep up your practice of tangling.

Here's to (at least) a million more encounters!  Cheers!












Tuesday, August 29, 2017

"It's a String Thing" #210

It's Tuesday, your good news day!

Like a cherry atop a cake, our birthday celebration continues this week as "Tickled to Tangle" reached a milestone this past Sunday - one million views.

Yes, it's really true, and I must confess that I am still quite chuffed by the whole thing.
(Thank you to my readers from the UK for awesome word.)

Since then the count has continued to climb (thanks to you), but I remain in a blissful binary kind of mood (wink, wink).

All of those zeros dancing in my head, inspired this string ~
IAST #210 String by Adele Bruno, CZT


In honor of all those lovely zeros in the numeral one million, let's explore some rounder tangles ~

 Lollywimple by Sandy Hunter, CZT
Sandy's step out and examples show that is tangle is extremely versatile - and fun!
It is also referenced here on TanglePatterns.

Jetties by Maria Thomas

Purk by Maria Thomas
Be sure to check out Maria's post about Purk (link) .  It is chock full of fabulous inspiration.


Simply pencil the string line onto your tile and tangle away! Keep in mind that string lines are suggestions and let the patterns 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 are to be submitted by Saturday evenings.
*Photos, notes, and 'Best of Show' are posted on Mondays. 


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. 
In order to eligible for the drawing, you must send in your completed tile.

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.


Monday, August 28, 2017

"It's a String Thing" #209 Tiles

Our birthday celebration continues with the results of this week's challenge, the beginning of our fifth year together.  Wow!  That warms my heart.  

The task was to create a monotangle with Maria Thomas' new Spoken. Below you will find beautiful creations and variations, not to mention some very clever plays on words.

Let's take a look ~

The first tile arrived from CZT Ria Matheussen (Belgium) ~
I have made this tile a while ago, a variation on Spoken, just as Maria has drawn in her blogpost.
I like this new tangle very much and combined the pattern with little wild dried flowers, I have found in my neighborhood during a walk.
I enjoyed making this tile and like the combination of Zentangleart and dried flowers.
Tangled Tidbits -
*delicate lines
*very pretty combination of dried flowers and tangles


From Margarete Gilge (Germany) and here on her blog ~
to the beginning of the 5th year of your wonderful challenges I send you my tile with best wishes from Germany. I enjoyed to draw Marias new Spoken. In my version it reminds me a little of your pattern Paulas Pigtail.
Greetings from Germany
Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you for making that connection, Margarete.  It does remind me of Pauline's Pigtail.
*multiple and interlocking tangles
*each has its own unique center



From Tonia C (Rhode Island) ~
This past week I celebrated my b-day and my BFF, April, sent me a 4-pack of Micron Sepia pens. Was very excited and wanted to try them - your IAST #209 challenge seemed perfect. I used Sepia, Black, and Brown Micron .01 pens. #Spoken, #Mooka, #Printemps, and #Bronxcheer. (I realize this was supposed to be a mono-tangle tile, but I couldn't resist). Shaded the black #mooka to show the brown #mooka more. Also tried shading the edges for the first time. Had fun! Thanks for the challenge!
 Tangled Tidbits -
Happy Birthday, Tonia!
*pretty combination of sepia and black
*weighted lines


From CZT Meridiana (Massachusetts) and here on her blog ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*curved and wavy lines 
*detailed aura 


From Vonnie Schneider (St. Paul, Minnesota) ~
Tangled Tidbits - 
*continuous loops and lines
*deep background and colorful tangle



From Lisette (Switzerland) ~
I was very enthusiastic to try Spoken. But soon this turned out to be one of those tiles I would discard or at least put aside and wait for better times. Somehow I went on and the longer I tangled the more I started to like it - and now I’m quite satisfied. My message to all of you: Don’t give up too early - be it tangling or live if general. ;-) Here is my entry for IAST 209.
Big hugs to everyone

Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you, Lisette.  That is sage advice.
*pretty purple gems and accents
*glorious mix of brown, black and white tangles, brown, black, and white tangles


From Susie (Thailand) and here on her blog ~
From sun to moon … let me guess: stars next? Or a comet? Or even a star constellation? Ah, now here I can think of the one or other.
I love monotangle tiles. Simple and easy as life should be. So here my first try on Spoken and I have to say, I loved every single stroke of it.
Thanks so much, Adele, for yet another enjoyable challenge and have a splendid weekend sorting through all our spoken tiles.

Tangled Tidbits -
*Beadline strokes layered behind graceful double lines of Spoken
*beautiful blues


From Hilary (Chicago) ~
I love the look of Spoken, but I just could not get a decent looking one using straight spokes. So I went to curving lines and my Spoken looks more like Swirling Squid! My squid is swimming through a grid of the pattern Kathy.
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's endeavors...

Tangled Tidbits -
*curved and curly lines
*each stroke of Spoken adds an inner band


From Anita A Westin (Dalarna, Sweden) and here on her blog ~
This is my first tile with Spoken ever. It is an amazing pattern and I am sure I will use it further on. Here comes my tile before I leave for Stockholm!


Tangled Tidbits - Safe travels to you, Anita.
*graceful spokes
*sensational centers - each features white highlights


From Trudi (Woodview, Ontario, Canada) ~
On to the 5th year! Not really sure how I feel about Spoken yet, think I might have to do it more to see if I like it. I used pens, pencils and gel pens on this.
Thank you Adele.
Tangled Tidbits -
*lines diminish in width with each layer
*glowing center gem



From Shirley Wohlsen (Queensland, Australia) ~
I have ‘Spoken’ and it was lots of fun
This is the first time I have coloured a gem on black card, it is not exactly what I wanted but still happy with it.
Tangled Tidbits -
*green gem shines on the black tile
*straight lined Spoken with just a touch of aura


From Lily (Hungary) with a "zenhug" ~
Tangled Tidbits -
*oval, pearlized center and beautiful shading throughout
*elegant spoke spaces filled with contrasting tangles



From Denise Fairbank (New Hampshire) ~
Congratulations on beginning year 5!! Attached is my Spoken tile. I just love this tangle and can't wait to see how everyone puts their own "spin" on it (ha ha--I hardly make funnies!). I decided to use a black zendala tile for an extra challenge this week (a challenge at least for me--I am always so impressed by others' black tiles and how amazing they look!) I kept the spokes to a minimum and added tangles in between. Three original Zentangle tangles--knightsbridge, shattuck, and printemps. Filled the center with fragment C24. Added Joki using a gray General's pastel chalk pencil. Softened the edges by blending green General's pastel chalk. Enjoy!!

Tangled Tidbits -
*intriguing results created with chalk pencils on a black zendala - such a unique color
*white tangles shine against the dark back drop


From Aileen (Singapore) and here on her blog ~
Thanks for this awesome challenge. I don't think I've ever done quite so much pencil work in a tile ever! But I'm loving the outcome. Here's my Spoken monotangle!
Rainbows and raindrops in sunny Singapore
Tangled Tidbits - *so many lovely layers of Spoken
*brilliant gold orbs float over and under the tangle


From Susie (St. Louis, Missouri) ~
Tangled Tidbits -
*variety of line finishes and flourishes
*pleasing mix of lines, Tipple, and shading


From Mariam G (Port Hueneme, California) ~
I'm fairly certain I will be playing with Spoken quite a bit over the next few days! I didn't get started until last night and my first one (white) went out of control, I'm afraid. Not sure it even qualifies as a version of the pattern at this point, but when I finished the inking, it struck me as 'familiar', so I polished it off in the direction it took my mind (shaken, not stirred (-;)
I then grabbed the next available tile, which happened to be black, and it wound up bringing back images of the eclipse, so that's where I left it. Both are simple, but I'm eager to work on a more intricate piece - it was great fun doing these! Thanks again for taking us on a journey with your challenges!
 
Tangled Tidbits -
*wispy lines - notice that they are single lines - and deep shading
*single layer of curved, doubled lines
*highlights accent the deep, dark center


From Sra (India) ~
Here's my entry for IAST 209. Have a great week!
Embellishment tangles for Spoken: Betweed, Courant (Aura), Fescu, Zinger

Tangled Tidbits - 
*grand example of how Spoken can be used as a string, each section filled with pretty tangles
*Zinger tipped lines 


From Cha'Co (France) ~
This is my contribution to your IATS #209. It was very interesting for me to work with only one tangle and I loved "Spoken". I am also delighted to have my name on the Tangle Map !

Tangled Tidbits - 
*striped and highlighted, light and dark lines, yield an intriguing variation
*curved and straight lined Spoken


From CZT Simone (Germany) ~
I love the new Original tangle Spoken!
I did not have enough time to draw a Spoken- Monotangle this week, but I would like to participate to your challenge .
I attach one of my tiles from May and one from July. If you like them you might use them or one of them in your IAST#209.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*grand layering of Spoken
*pretty pink accents and tangles
*simply arua-ed and shaded, Spoken spaces come alive



From CZT Lin H. (Florida) ~
Thanks for the challenge with Spoken, Adele. Love this tangle with metallic pens and white charcoal pencil on a black tile.
Tangled Tidbits - 
*multi-layered, thicker lined Spoken
*white adds depth to the layers


From Sue Agnew (Tucson, Arizona) ~
What a fun "assignment" for this week — I had been planning to play with Spoken anyway, so it's fun to do it as part of the challenge. I almost emailed and asked you to please do a "tips for tangling." I couldn't quite decide if the "behind" spokes are coming off the circle in the opposite direction, or if they are continuations in the background of the spokes that are already there (if that makes sense). I decided to make them coming off the circle in the opposite direction because that helped me keep track of where I was and where to go next. I particularly liked the non-straight lines, and when I played with that mine wanted to be a flower.
Thank you!

Tangled Tidbits - 
I think the answer to your question is that the lines go either way - in any direction of your choosing.
*Mooka-like strokes
*lovely aura, sparkle, and shading
...and it did become a flower :)


From Sharon Fite (California) ~
A bit tricky this Spoken tangle! Especially as a monotangle. I need more practice with straight lines and drawing behind. Will definitely use this one again. Thanks, Adele.
Tangled Tidbits - 
*multiple Spoken, incredible layering
*highlighted spokes bring the larger tangle to the foreground 


From Jody Genovese, CZT (New York) ~
Here is my #209 tile..just in time. I’m pretending that the ‘caviar’ are centers of many spoken whose spokes are broke. That way it is still a monotangle :o)
I’m also not counting the fringe around the edges as that is not really a tangle. I’m so cheating this week…
I decided to spruce things up and do it on a tile colored with bleeding tissue paper. So much fun if you’ve never tried it.
Hope all is well. Sending thoughts and prayers to all being affected by the hurricane.
Tangled Tidbits - 
*three wonderful additions to the challenge
*pretty Phroz-like detail in each Spoken section


From Jill Clements (Tucson, Arizona) ~
This is my first submission to your page. I tried to make it for your fourth b-day celebration with a tile. I finished one but didn't have it done by the deadline.
I have lurked over the last few years and tried to make it for the last few weeks for IAST but couldn't post by Saturday night...
I don't know how many times I tried spoken but I have enough tiles to use as kindling for a small fire. This one really was hard for me. I finally decided to do a bijou tile and ended up with what I am submitting. I am not sure I did it even but here it is.
I have been tangling a few years but more consistently in the last few months as meditation in the mornings to help with a yet diagnosed neurological condition. I believe tangling and yoga are truly helping.
Thanks so much for all you do for the zentangle community and your own site. I can't imagine the amount of time that goes into it. I truly appreciate it. I am going to enjoy following along and participating in as many as I can.
Happy 5th year!
 Tangled Tidbits -
*Tippled, large center
*flowery accents
Welcome to our tangled map and to our IAST community, Jill!  I am happy that you joined us after watching for so long.



From Ute Andresen (Germany) and here on her blog ~
 

Tangled Tidbits -
*simplicity and shading - one large Spoken, top layer shaded inside and lower layers shaded around
*deep dark center repeats in smaller dots



From Marla Mendenhall (California) ~
Major Lifeus Interuptus this week, little time to do much except fret, but at least I have Spoken.
Tangled Tidbits -
I have read that pithy line numerous times and each time it brings a smile.  Thank you, Marla.
*alternating light and dark circles
*center Spoken pushed to the back as luscious layers float above it


From Karen Herstowski (Atlanta, Georgia) ~
Spoken is among my favorite patterns. So simple, elegant, and dramatic! I tired to capture the essence of the eclipse with the sun’s burning ring peeking around the moon’s shadow. By bending the lines of the spokes coming from the core, I have made ballet dancers in the background. SPOKEN has spoken to me. Loved doing this one.

Tangled Tidbits -
*beautifully tapered lines
*dancing Spoken - very inventive use of the tangle!




From Felicity Strohfeldt (Velddrif, South Africa) and here on her blog ~
Tile 209 had to happen in between the other creative juices this weekend. Spoken by Maria Thomas hmmm. I chose the curved path, but the straight and narrow one is on my immediate list. Then I decided to use a combination of your Trella and Flux by Rick Roberts with a spattering of Tipple. The final product two spinning flowers, I dedicate to Spring 2017 putting on a brave show although the earth is so dry.
Sure the results this week are going to make our heads spin too. Also on my blog.
Have a peaceful week all.
Tangled Tidbits -
*swirling and twirling variations - graceful and full of movement
*creative combination of elegant accents


From Karen Buse (California) ~ 
My husband and I flew to Oregon, where I grew up, to be with my parents who are in their 80's, during the eclipse. We drove about 50 miles to be in the path of totality in Silverton, OR. In my tile I use Blanconova by Tim Lutero to depict the surface of the moon—a bit of artistic license, as you can't see the surface of the moon during the eclipse. The wavy lines I used to represent the corona are more of a technique than a pattern—just a bunch of echo lines around a central curving line in the spaces between the Spoken. We didn't see any stars but we did see Venus, represented here with a single "Ahh." It was a wonderful experience—in the truest sense of the word—and I thank you for the opportunity to create a little bit of art in remembrance of the event.
Tangled Tidbits -
*a beautifully captured memory in an equally beautiful tile
*sharp contrasts of white and black


From CZT Sharyn Penna (Massachusetts) ~
Let the IAST birthday celebrations continue! I've named my tile "the path of totality has spoken" in honor of the eclipse across the US this past week. My tile features CZT Margaret Bremner's Many Moons traveling northwest to southeast, the path the eclipse took. I gave Spoken some Mooka highlights and a few Black Pearls.
Cheers to the start of IAST's fifth year and hearts and prayers to those along the coast of Texas. 

Tangled Tidbits - 
*wonderful nod to Margaret's Many Moons
*multi-layered, Mooka tipped Spoken complete with weighted lines and shading - yum!


From Charlene Peterson (St. Augustine, Florida) ~
I am enclosing 2 tiles. Spoken was so much fun and offered so many possibilities. The colored tile background was done with Koi watercolor brush pens. The white tile was a fun try using metallic gel pens.

 Tangled Tidbits -
*Mooka lined Spoken
*rounded corners and wonderful shading
*curl tipped curves
*dotted accents



From VenaC (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) ~
I really rushed doing this one so don't feel entirely happy with the end result. I did enjoy doing the gem from a video tutorial by Anki Helgor.

Tangled Tidbits - 
*gorgeous gem center
*light and dark contrasting straight lines - beautiful touch of brown shading



And now...

the tile for honors this week...

was sent in by...

Henrike Bratz, CZT (Germany) ~
...today is my birthday. And after my guests had left, I sat down at my table on the balcony, enjoyed some time on my own and tangled spoken. Spoken was introduced at my CZT seminar in August. So this pattern feels like something special for me. I must confess though that I didn’t use it since then. But today – thinking of the past year, which definitely has been a good one – I tangled away: with a layer in brown ink first, than a layer in sepia ink, then pencil, white charcol, white gelly roll, pencil again, white again and on and on in many layers. I used some enhancers as you can see: aura of course, rounding, perfs. I felt absolutely at ease tangling this tile, because I didn’t have any idea what the outcome would be and it didn’t matter at all. I just went on and on until at some point I knew the tile was finished. I just love these tangling experiences.

 Tangled Tidbits -
Now that is a birthday treat if there ever was one.  Happy, Happy Birthday, Henrike!
*wisps of white in tangle, enhancers, and highlights
*soft and beautiful mix of color and shading
*gracefully curved lines



Congratulations, Henrike and a very happy birthday to you!


Many thanks to everyone for sending in your precious tiles.  You inspire all of us and help build this wonderfully supportive IAST community.

Thank you to Maria Thomas for her spectacular Spoken.  
The step out for Spoken can be found here (link) in the Zentangle newsletter. 
Spoken is also referenced on TanglePatterns.


Check back Tuesday afternoon for "It's a String Thing" #210 - Our celebration continues!

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

"It's a String Thing" #209

It's Tuesday, your good news day!

IAST #209 also marks the beginning of our 5th year - congratulations one and all!

This week we will create a monotangle with the latest pattern by Maria Thomas:  Spoken.
Won't it be a treat to take some dedicated time to explore this tangle?

For a string, begin with one or multiple circles as Maria illustrates in her step out.  Something like this ~


IAST #209 String by Adele Bruno, CZT


(That looks rather solar eclipse inspired, doesn't it?!)


There is no need for corner dots and a border this time.
Use this suggestion or create one of your own.


The step out for Spoken can be found here (link) in the Zentangle newsletter.  Maria's tiles pictured there are full of inspiration.
Spoken is also referenced on TanglePatterns.


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 are to be submitted by Saturday evenings.
*Photos, notes, and 'Best of Show' are posted on Mondays. 


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. 
In order to eligible for the drawing, you must send in your completed tile.

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.

Monday, August 21, 2017

"It's a String Thing" #208 Happy Birthday Tiles

Everyone loves a party - and a birthday party is always extra special.

This week we celebrated the fourth birthday "It's a String Thing" by working with some wonderful tangles and my string inspired by four birthday candles.

Grab a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy this wonderful display of celebratory tiles and very sweet sentiments.  Yes, I am blushing.

Thank you all so very much for your outpouring of love and good wishes.  I will keep these notes in a special place and revisit them often.  I treasure this wonderful community of tangling friends.

The first tile arrived from Lily (Hungary) ~
Here is my tile for your fantastic anniversary challenge.
I wish you a Very Happy 4th IAST Birthday!
Sending a big, sincere thanks for all you do and best wishes for the future.
A lot of hugs



From Lori Byerly (Washington State) and here on her blog ~
Congratulations on making four years. What an amazing milestone. Thanks so much for all you do to bless the Zentangle community with your challenges, insights, talent, and generous heart.


From Vonnie Schneider (St. Paul, Minnesota) ~
Happy 4th Birthday!!!! I kept working through this tile, reminding me that there are no mistakes in zentangling (though I am highly rethinking how I did the Wud/Knightsbridge flames). Guess that's what happens when you start a tile and you stop part way! I love the bottom half, which wouldn't have happened if I had not stopped! A reminder of what a difference a day makes!


From Shirley Wohlsen (Queensland, Australia) ~
A VERY HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY ! from Australia.
I haven’t been with ‘It’s A String Thing’ for the 4 years but have thoroughly enjoyed the time I’ve participated in the challenges.
I love seeing everyone’s lovely tiles and being inspired by them.
And to you Adele – the star of the show for making this happen – you do a marvellous job – Well done!
So I’ll raise my glass and send cheers and best wish to everyone for another 4 years.

From Jutta Gladnigg (NRW, Germany) ~
many, many thanks to you for more than 200 awesome and inspiring challenges!!! Congratulations to this special birthday! Happy 4th!


From Ragged Ray (United Kingdom) ~
Well, well - here we are at another birthday of your wonderful challenge. I feel so lucky to have been with you for much of the journey - and indulged myself by gazing back over my past celebration tiles. I thought you might like to see them too!
And then to the latest tile - 4 candles, 4 tangles that each deserve the spotlight. But Wud decided to dominate this week, with little pops and twists of the other tangles around each candle.
Well done on 4 years, well done on an enduring and entertaining challenge. Thank you for your commitment, your time, your effort and your love.




From Stephanie Jennifer (Singapore) ~
Happy fourth birthday to your blog. I just had to send in a tile to show support to your wonderful effort of keeping up these IAST challenges. Thank you so much for the work you put in. :)



From Hilary (Chicago, Illinois) ~
Congratulations on this major milestone! I've enjoyed every moment I've been part of this. It's always fun and challenging to participate.
I did this week's challenge on a a piece of origami paper. A few weeks ago I found a book full of brightly colored squares. I don't know anything about origami, but the squares look perfect for zentangles!
A big Wow!! for your thank-you card. It's just so amazing!



From Mariam G (Port Hueneme, California) ~
Happy Birthday to all! Participating in IAST is always a highlight in my week; I love that it pushes me to learn new patterns and to 'discipline' myself to use a string (I generally just go free form). Seeing the variations in all the submissions inspires me and amazes me - so many talented folks out there! And your kind and encouraging words are the icing on the cake.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with the IAST family!




From Ilse Lukken (The Netherlands) and here on her blog ~
Congratulations! Wow, 4 years of challenges... You're doing an amazing job!
Keep up the good work!


From Trudi (Woodview, Ontario, Canada) ~
Wow 4 years! I started just before your 3rd Birthday and I couldn't believe it when I saw another year had gone by. When I was a kid a year was an enormous amount of time now they flash by. I did one Tangle but I wasn't happy with it so I did a second.
Thank you for having the patience to keep coming back for us each week.




From Gabriela Garcia (Alberta, Canada) and here on her blog ~
Congratulations Adele on this IAST Fourth Birthday!!! The amount of love, work and dedication you give week after week bringing us this challenge and then posting all the challenge entries with your beautiful encouraging comments is truly incredible!!!... I loved your "Thank you Mandala" with all the IAST participants names , it felt really nice to see my name there and other participants I am familiar with, but I was thinking that WE are the ones that need to thank you for bringing us the joy of Zentangle and allowing us to become part of this amazing loving community. THANK YOU ADELE!!



From Jennifer Wilken, CZT (Hudson Valley, New York) ~
This was a really interesting string to play with! Thanks for the challenge!




From Anita A Westin (Dalarna, Sweden) and here on her blog ~
Happy birthday IAST! And congratulations Adele to the celebration. 4 years! That is fantastic! You make such a great job with these challenges and it is a great inspiration to follow them! Thank´s so much giving me the opportunity to be a part of this celebration! I can´t stop wondering what you will do next time!




From Thekla (Berlin, Germany) ~
First wonderful gratulation for your 4 th anniversary!! And a very big Thank You for your marvelously Work for us!
I also want to say thank you for your incredible story of your trip in Italy. I always say, when you are so excited and glowing for your passion, you will see every thing in a different color and everyone will be glowing back to you and you get fortune moments. Myself dreamed of visiting the Olympic Games and we did it in London and it was a so happy weekend with nice and astonishingly people and events.Everything [went] well.
So and by the way my tile for IAST #208. It was suprising a little on the colorful side...



From Jody Genovese, CZT (New York) ~
I’m back! I feel like I haven’t posted to you in ages. The last few weeks have been very busy, but I couldn’t miss this week because I had to wish you a Happy 4th Birthday!
As it turns out the day you posted #208, Tuesday, was my birthday too! So, Happy Birthday to both of us!!!
Thank you for all you do. I appreciate your challenges and all of the work, time and effort you put in to this for us. I so enjoy participating each week and looking at everyone’s beautiful tiles.




From Aileen (Singapore) and on her blog ~
Happy 4th! Glad to partake in the celebrations! Thank you for the weekly challenge! Rainbows and Raindrops in Sunny Singapore



A very warm welcome to  Cha'Co (France) ~
First, I want to apologize because my English is not very good. My name is Cha'Co (it's my nickname but all my friends call me that) and I live in France.
This is the first time I have participated in this challenge and I loved it ! I don't no if I will participate in every challenge every week but I will try: it will be good for my english !!!

Welcome to our IAST community and welcome to our tangled map, Cha'Co!



From Tharina Durban (South Africa) ~
Happy 4th birthday to "It's a string thing", Adele! I enjoy the weekly challenges and the results tremendously. Hope you will continue to host IAST for many more years to come.
When I saw the post for this week, I felt very festive, so I grabbed my colour pens and had myself some fun!



From Sabine (Germany) ~
A very HAPPY 4th. BIRTHDAY dear Adele!
Thank you so much for all your efforts and creativ ideas to challenged us weekly.
This week 4 lovely pattern, Trella and Wud are new to me and I like them both. After drawing I take a look at the tile and I thought, there is missing something. And so I decided to give the new technic TranZending a try. It's easier as I thought and I like the result.
With sunny greatings from Germany


From Sra (India) ~
Here's my entry for IAST 208.
Congratulations on the fourth anniversary and please keep this going. Thank you for everything you do here.


From Ute (Germany) and here on her blog ~
thank you for your welcome. I’m happy to be on the IAST-World-Map. What a nice idea. And also the Mandala with the names.
Congratulations to your 4th anniversary.
Thank you for your work and passion.
Here is my tile I chose for this week’s challenge.
I made three of them. This one was the second one.
It was really a challenge.
I show the three versions in my blog



From Karen Herstowski (Atlanta, Georgia) ~
A very Happy 4th Birthday to IAST. Attached are my wishes in illustration form. I am so impressed with the visuals on the world wide exposure. How wonderful. So glad to be a tiny part of this!!! Thanks.




From Nadine Roller, CZT (Germany) and here on her blog ~
...I am soooo sooooOOOO happy that i could take part at your special challenge this week!!! MANY CONGRATULATIONS to you!!!!!
I appreciate your Blog and Challenge so much!!!!
Here is my contribution to IAST#208, i hope you like it :-)



From Sue Agnew (Tucson, Arizona) ~
Thank you so much for this weekly string challenge! I always marvel at how enthusiastic and positive you are about each entry and how you find original and different things to say about each one. What a lot of work it must be!
A friend from high school recently posted results of her first Zentangle class, so I recommended your site and explained that it had given me back the joy of Zentangle, because I had turned it into something I was trying too hard with. Also, it's good "discipline" (kind of like being in a book group) to be "assigned" certain tangles to use, instead of always just falling back on favorites. Leads to some fun surprises!
This week ...
Copada I never do anything more creative than I did, because I like it so much ... the converging lines give it kind of an automatic 3-D effect, although I shaded it just a bit to enhance it (that's why I doubled up Candle #1, because of the natural curvature). With Knightsbridge (Candle #2) I always enjoy doing the dew-drop, and I thought black would stick out too much so I filled in half of the squares with fine lines. For Wud (Candles #3 and 4) I did a modification so I could write you a message (hint, if you can't see it turn it on its side). And for some reason Trella wanted to "hold hands" so I let it (don't we hold hands to sing "Happy Birthday to You"? If not, we should!).
Thank you ... and thank you for the lovely thank-you Zendala!


From Michele Wynne (California) and here on her blog ~
Congratulations on 4 years of inspiring challenges. Thank you for all you do for this group and the community by presenting It's a String Thing in such a unique and generous format. I love looking forward to the gallery show every Monday whether I've been able to participate or not.
You are amazing!



From Sharon Fite (California) ~
Congratulations on 4 years of strings, tangles and tiles! You make it look easy, Adele. Thank you!



From Felicity Strohfeldt (Velddrif, South Africa) and here on her blog ~

Happy 4th anniversary celebration of It’s a String Thing weekly challenges to you. See what I’ve attached as my South African bouquet for you. This is what a shower or two of rain can do in a drought - strickened, area on the west coast of SA. Two and a half weeks ago this indigenous, town garden was bone dry and there wasn’t a flower in sight. Now this photo, taken on Friday, 18 August is my gift to you for all your tireless enthusiasm, creativity, (delicious peaks into your world) and, all your hard work over the last four years, to keep us all participating each week in IAST. I’m sure I’I can vouch for all and say that everyone has thoroughly enjoyed all these zenterludes over the years. Good luck Adele with the new year of IAST.
Thank s to Adele, Margaret, Maria and Joni for this week’s inspiring challenge. I have one concern, Adele what happens on our 5thbirthday with your traditional birthday string? That’s a challenge I’m looking forward to!!
Happy anniversary all.



From Jenny Hopkins (Australia) ~
Happy 4th birthday. Four years of enriching the lives of people all around the world; four years of sharing your talent, passion, love and life with people you haven't even met; four years of kind words and encouragement; four years of being a treasure to the Zentangle community. Please enjoy the celebration.


From Ria Matheussen (Belgium) ~
Thank you so much for the great job you are doing for us tanglers all over the world.
Congratulations for your 4 th birthday. I hope to join very regulary in the future.
Warm regards and all the best from Belgium


From Sharyn Penna, CZT (Massachusetts) ~
... Happy fourth birthday to your baby ... It's A String Thing ... and many more!!
Fun, fun, fun prompt ...
Cheers to all that is good in our world!


From Simone Menzel, CZT (Germany) and here on her blog ~
First of all I send you my congratulations to your 4th anniversary with the IAST challenge. Four years are a long time and I am proud to say that I have shared two of them with your challenge! I remember my first contribution very well.... it was IAST#101, shortly after the 100 (I know I saw your 100tangle and decided to take part to IAST soon..)
I drew the tile with two candles (#104), with three candles (#156) and now with four candles .I wonder how the time will run and we draw five of them ;-).
Thank you very much for the motivation and encouragement, for your beautiful "Words of Wisdom", your "Tips For Tangling..." and the insights into your tanglng life.
Sometimes it seems like I know you for ages, like a good friend...
This is now my contribution to your IAST#208. I hope you enyoy it! The background has been created by my CZT-friend Sabrina, she dyed the paper with soft pastell and gave me some tiles to use. I thought it were appropriate to this challenge



From Vena C (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) ~
Happy 4th Birthday IAST. What is a party without colour and some balloons!


From Susie (Thailand) and here on her blog ~
Happy birthday to IAST and thanks to you for giving birth to this great idea 4 years ago. Please forgive my candles. They got a bit soft in their knees and almost melted off the tile. However, I managed to get Knightsbridge in; Wud as well; remaining Trella pieces at the top and bottom; and Copada…it’s in flames.
Also tons of thanks for that amazing contributor wheel. Needless to say, I had to check whether you may have forgotten my name, but no, it is there! West of the middle, 9th row; or 10th row from the outside in. It didn't have the (Thailand) identifier, but I take just "Susie" anytime.


From Lynn Gotham (Florida) ~
A Very Happy Birthday IAST.



From Jessie Plouffe (Connecticut) ~
It's been a looong time since I've submitted a tile, and this week seemed like a great time to send one in instead of just lurking and admiring :). Happy fourth birthday to IAST!


From Lin H, CZT (Florida) ~
Happy 4th Birthday to the IAST Community! What a wonderful accomplishment, Adele. Thank you so much for your challenges. This week's Wud tangle was new to me and I love it. I got my pastels out and had a zenful time adding color to my tile.


From Margarete Gilge (Germany) and here on her blog ~
Happy birthday! Four Years of weekly new ideas are fantastic! Congratulations!
Here is my candle tile for this week.
Thank you for the new challenge.
Best wishes from Germany.




From Marla Mendenhall (California) ~
A hale and hearty CONGRATULATIONS to Adele on this anniversary, and a joyous celebration to all fellow IASTers!
That said ... a string of candle shapes with flames and a bit of negative background, and four (count them, FOUR) tangle patterns - oh my - and my brain nearly exploded. Try as I might (several ruined tiles later) I couldn't get all four patterns to happily interact (not that they can't, and I'm anxious to see how others accomplished the feat). So I thought I'd try to see the string as merely spacial shapes and not "candles" and I'm rather pleased with the result, especially Knightsbridge which on a curved grid became more harlequin than checkerboard.
Tile #2 incorporates all four patterns too, albeit in a more festive fashion. Alternating strips of "vanilla" and "chocolate" cake form the four layers of the celebratory confection (I actually saw this done once - yummy) decorated with cream cheese frosting and delicate Trella swirls. (Sadly, among my other myriad talents - HA! - cake decorating is not one of them, as all can tell.)
The Grecian-look border just inside the Copada surround is actually the numerals 5 and 2, ie. 52 weeks in a year, both right side up and upside down (for as anyone with too much time on their hands at work can tell you, the numerals 5 and 2 are mirror images when you turn the calculator upside down). And even though there are four sides, I placed the number 4 in each corner too.
Four years of fifty-two IAST challenges - Hazzah - and looking forward to that, and many, many more to come. You're the best, Adele.




We have been treated to all manner of birthday surprises - even birthday cake!
Thank you all so very much.  It warms my heart to belong to such a loving and talented community.

Many thanks to the creative minds behind the patterns we used along with my string and Trella ~

Knightsbridge - by Maria Thomas

Copada by Margaret Bremner, CZT

Wud by Joni Feddersen, CZT


IAST #209 - The beginning of our 5th year will be pushed back one day - tune in on Wednesday afternoon for the details.