Tuesday, January 29, 2019

"It's a String Thing" #278

Ever since zenAgain, where the tangle Ratoon was introduced, I have been waiting (and waiting!) to be able to include it in a weekly IAST. 

Just this week, the good people at Zentangle® released the step out in their newsletter.  YAY!  Now the whole tangling world can play with this ingenious tangle.

One of our exercises at zenAgain was to follow along as Molly walked us through Ratoon's basic steps.  From there, we embellished it with our own touches.

This is how my zendala turned out ~

Zendala from zenAgain 2018 featuring Ratoon by Adele Bruno, CZT

Let's try this same exercise together this week.  On your choice of tile, tangle a basic Ratoon and then embellish it to your heart's delight.  Feel free to keep it very simple or add more Ratoon and tangles of your choice.

Our string then, will be the simple circle that Ratoon begins with.  Place it anywhere on your tile and  begin.

The Ratoon step out by Maria Thomas can be found here in the latest Zentangle newsletter.

I will post a few Tips for Tangling Ratoon later this week.

Feel free to use any size and color of tile. 

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!


Monday, January 28, 2019

"It's a String Thing" #277 Tiles

We used my Fancy Nancy along with Angie Gittles' A-Frame for this week's tangling adventure to help mark my mother Nancy's 85th birthday. 
Thank you all for your happy wishes and beautiful tiles.  How very special for her to be celebrated in so many parts of the globe - your tangles and notes are sure to make her feel very special. 

Let's take a look ~

The first tile arrived from Gudrun (Germany) ~
Fancy Nancy was a new pattern for me - never drawn, but I love it.


From Moblue (Germany) ~
All the best wishes to your mum's birthday.
Such a lovely idea to dedicate this week's tangle to her. I'm afraid mine has turned out to be more zendoodle than zentangle. But it is as it is. This tile looked just as it was meant to be. A big Cheers for your mother!
Happy tangling, Moblue from Bremen, Germany.


From Angie Gittles (Maryland) ~
First, happy belated 85th birthday to your mother! Anyway, so glad to be able to participate this week. It’s been a while. Your mother’s birthday flowers inspired me to use an old tile I had laying around that already had a little color on it. Then I added a little more pink. Can’t wait to see all of the tiles this week.


From Dani (Indonesia) and here on her blog ~
This is for challenge #277.
Thank you.


From Hilary (Chicago) ~
I’m very happy to take part in your mother’s birthday celebration with this tile. Wishing her all the best


From Sue Leslie, CZT (New Mexico) ~
Happy Birthday to your Mom Nancy. 85 is a milestone for sure. Had fun with this string and tangles. Fancy Nancy was a new one for me this time and is always fun to play with a new tangle. Thanks for all you do for this group.


From Sally Whiteman (New Zealand) ~
A late start for me this year - there seems to be so much going on during the summer holidays.
My mother's birthday was also 22nd January. Had she still been with us she would have been 90 this year.
I really enjoyed both of these tangles. Once again thank you


From Shirley Wholsen (Queensland, Australia) ~
Hi Adele, attached is my Tile for ‘It’s A String Thing ‘ Challenge # 277
Happy Birthday Nancy! Hope you had a wonderful day with many happy returns of the day.




From Ria Matheussen, CZT (Belgium) ~
Your mum looks beautiful at her age, congratulations and I wish her
still many years in the middle of your family.
I have never used A-Frame and Fancy Nancy but I like this combo and made
my work on a grey tile wit red accents.
I enjoyed this challenge very much and looked different times at your
mum's nice picture where she looks so happy.
Warm regards from Belgium


From Cassi (Illinois) ~
This one was a lot of fun, and taught me two new patterns :-)



From Baafke (The Netherlands) ~
A-frame is really a pattern where you draw one stroke at a time


From Susan (United Kingdom) ~
I enjoyed playing with A-Frame and got carried away trying the same approach with other letters. Here is my tile with birthday wishes for Nancy.


From JoAnne (Ontario, Canada) ~
Congratulations on your mother’s birthday! I enjoyed these tangles and the N string!


From Amy L (Connecticut) ~
This was an interesting challenge. At first I had some trouble making fancy Nancy into a chain, but I had such a good time layering them that it just happened. I used a tan tile because I didn’t have an unstrung white one handy, but it let me do some fun highlights. A-frame was a challenge, as are all grid tangles for me, but in the end I found the repetition of it soothing, and it was easy to keep track of directions. A lovely prompt as always, and happy birthday to your mom!


From Lisette, CZT 32 (Switzerland) ~
Thank you for this new challenge, Adele. A-Frame was new to me. I like it, it’s so versatile.
Thank you and best regards


From Jane (Surrey, United Kingdom) ~
Lovely to see a photo of your mum, I hope she had a lovely birthday! My mum is about the same age as your and we have lived together for many years and it works well for us both I’m pleased to say. My mum practices Zentangle with me and liked the #FancyNancy tangle so I’ll be teaching it to her today.
I tangled the string on this occasion having first painted the tile with watercolours and drew #A-Frame as a background in white gellyroll, adding a touch of #Therefore in gold gellyroll.


From Margarete Gilge (Germany) and here on her blog ~
happy Birthday to your Mother! I enjoyed tangling her Birthday tile with a bunch of flowers and green leafes. Thank you for this wonderful idea!
You will find my tile on my blog under the link
Best wishes to you and your family from Germany



From Laurel Davis, CZT (New York) ~
I loved drawing your Fancy Nancy tangle, Adele! And I was attracted to A-frame the first time I saw it, but have not had the opportunity to use it until now. Super fun challenge!


From T. (Toronto, Canada) ~
This was another enjoyable challenge.
Both patterns chosen were easy to work with.
The repetitive lines in A-Frame made drawing it very relaxing and helped me be less analytical about the placement of Fancy Nancy within the remaining spaces of the string. I didn’t worry as much as I tend to about following the exact borders of the string.
I used my metallic pencils again but I don’t think the bits of colour, especially the gold, are as visible in the photo as I had hoped.
Thanks for another great challenge!


From Simone (Germany) ~
I tried to find a balance between ein light, fancy and organic pattern und a very logical, striktly, straight grid pattern. I turned the string 90 Degree und broke it a little bit.


From Ingrid (The Netherlands) ~
Here is my tile # 277 for this week.
A belated Happy Birthday to your dear mom.
Your mom is very goodlooking.
I hope you had some wonderful time with Ada and her parents?
This week I enjoyed working on the challenge.

From Priscilla DiConte, CZT (Kingston, New York) ~
Happy birthday to your Mom..may she be blessed with many more years....
What a fun time...fancy nancy is fun to draw. I added cantaloupe to the string and even left an area empty
The tile is colored by me with brushos and watercolor, with glitter paint and pens for highlights.
Have a good week all!


From Sharyn Penna, CZT ( Massachusetts) ~
A very happy birthday to your mom!
I Mooka-fied Fancy Nancy and placed it in a fragment. Then I changed the orientation of the A-Frame fragment. What a great combo!
Cheers to the celebrations and tangleations birthdays and family bring!


From Gill Green (Israel) ~
Here's my entry. Happy birthday to Nancy, she looks amazing! I enjoyed doing this one, Fancy Nancy reminded me of an Easter bonnet!
All the best


From Allison (California) ~
I loved the picture of your vibrant mother. I hope to be like her as I get older. Here is my version of #277. I have fun imagining the Fancy Nancy’s as some sort of flying insect.


From Lynn F. (Florida) ~
Best birthday wishes to your Mom!
I first drew the string and then added a grid for A-Frame over the entire tile and then added the patterns letting the Zen lead the way. I’m glad I didn’t lose the “N” entirely. I added some Gelly Roll metallic green for a splash of color, Gelly Roll white as an accent, and some shading to make “Fancy Nancy” fancy.
I love how it turned out.


From Sue Agnew (Tucson, Arizona) ~
Lucky you to have your mom around — and congratulations to her on her birthday!
I really liked A-Frame and experimented with it quite a bit, but today when I sat down to do the tile, I ended up making alphabet letters out of it (it worked pretty well, except I need to work on my curves). I really did use the string, turned on its side (hint, the spiral in the big Fancy Nancy). I joined the smaller Fancy Nancys together like a string of paperdolls (I cut one out to show you), and then they started looking like ladies in babushkas, so I added faces — even though it seems like your mom would be more likely to be in a golf visor or sunhat than a babushka!
Thank you for "blogging on" despite extended family celebrations!




From Sharon Fite (California) ~
Warmest birthday wishes for your mother! It's plain to see where you get your lovely smile! The colors of your mom's roses inspired my watercolors. To Fancy Nancy and A-Frame, I added Pozer with a little Budlite, and Heartswell in gold jelly roll pen. Great string and tangle choice, Adele!


From Talia Maynard (London, United Kingdom) ~
Here's my tile for this week's challenge. I really enjoyed doing the angular lines of A Frame against the freeform Fancy Nancy. They make a lovely contrast.
Wishing your mum a very happy birthday.


From Susie (St. Louis, Missouri) ~



From Val (Tucson, Arizona) ~
Happy Birthday to your mom! Here is my version of Fancy Nancy and A-Frame to celebrate.


From my mother and me, heartfelt thanks for your kind notes and this fabulous display of tangles.


Have a blessed week and stop back Tuesday afternoon for "It's a String Thing" #278!

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

"It's a String Thing" #277

It's Tuesday, your good news day!

Many of my family's milestones come and go without mention on my blog, but today's celebration is an exception.

Today is my mother's birthday.  She makes her 85 years seem very young to the rest of us ~

My mother, Nancy, with her 85 birthday roses.
In addition to being a loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, she is a very accomplished artist.

In honor of her, let's use Fancy Nancy
This is one of my very early patterns.  It was named for our daughter, Nancy, whom we named after my mother. 

The other tangle we will use is A-Frame by Angie Gittles, CZT.
My mother's initials are NA, and in searching for a tangle that begins with the letter A, this seemed like a great fit.  It begins with a grid, gets filled in with A's and is open to many variations.


Here is our string ~

IAST #277 String by Adele Bruno, CZT


Keep in mind that the string is a suggestion, let the tangles lead the way.

Feel free to use any size and color of tile. 

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!


The results of IAST #276 and this challenge were posted on the same day.
Here is the link just in case you missed viewing them -  IAST #276 Tiles







"It's a String Thing" #276 Tiles

This week's tangles, See and Sista, provided us with billowy lines, swirls and, of course, beautiful tiles.

Let's take a look ~


The first tile arrived from Priscilla DeConti, CZT 28 (Kingston, New York) ~
Have a great week all.. Micron, glitter watercolor and plain watercolor...
 Tangled Tidbits -
*wonderful roundness of Sistar
*See shaded on the top side of the curls


From Shirley Wohlsen (Queensland, Australia) ~
Attached is my Tile for ‘It’s A String Thing ‘ Challenge # 276
Two great Tangles and string, Thanks, Adele.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*weighted lines and sparkle to See curls that spring from Sistar
*flower-like variation of Sistar


From Lisette, CZT 32 (Switzerland) ~
I couldn't find a place for Sistar in this string. I love Sistar BIG. Therefore I filled the string with See, waving in different directions with a white gel pen. Then I drew Sistar with a black Micron. I colored the water drop with colored pencils. I’m curious about the outcome of the other participants.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*lovely layering of tangles and color
*highlights, shading, and dew drop accent a sensational Sistar


From Baafke (The Netherlands) ~
The nice thing about zentangle is that it is always a surprise what the final result will be.
This is my result of this iast.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*delicate See border
*alternating rows of Sistar, sparkled and popping into the white spaces


From Talia Maynard (London, United Kingdom) ~
I really enjoyed the challenge this week. I found drawing the waves of See very therapeutic. I wonder if it's because of their subject matter?
I'm not sure why but I threw in a couple of black shiny gems into my Sistar tangles. It just seemed natural to add them. I like it when a tangle takes on a life of its own and decides to be something different. It feels like that's what zentangle is about.
Tangled Tidbits -
It certainly does.
*beautiful shading, layering, light and dark spaces - all add depth
*dashes for See and sparkle for Sistar


From Allison (Rocklin, California) ~ 
Here is my offering for IAST #276. I was going to go representational, but decided to stick to the two tangles you gave us.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*two pretty variations of each tangle
*shading shows off See curves


From Ria Matheussen, CZT (Belgium) ~
Thanks to you, I learned this week two new tangles by joining this
challenge: See and Sistar, a great combo and I enjoyed using them.
I like to draw on tan coloured tiles and as you can see, again, I took
one on which the tanglework is done with a black pen and finished with
ordinary colourpencils and a white gellypen.
It is always a pretty surprise to see the contributions of the others
and I like to thank you for the wonderful presentation of our weekly tiles.
 Tangled Tidbits -
...and it is always a treat to see your tiles, Ria.
*deep black spaces accent the glorious color and highlights
*Sistar clusters in groups of two and three


From Margarete Gilge (Germany) and here on her blog ~
thank you for this challenge with the interesting combination of string and patterns, I didn’t know yet. I began my two versions very similar but the result is different. I send you my first tile, the second one you can find on my blog under the link
 Tangled Tidbits -
*See embellished Sistar
*pretty mirrored See curls


From Jane (Surrey, United Kingdom) ~
My first intro to these two tangles. I added watercolours and gold gellyroll!
 Tangled Tidbits -
*billowy Sistar floats on a sea of See
*softness of shading, colors, and highlights


A very warm welcome to Cassi from the great state of Illinois ~
I just found your blog, and am enjoying the weekly challenge. My string was not exactly correct, but I’ve attached the finished zentangle anyway. Looking forward to more!
 Tangled Tidbits -
There is merely the string - each and everyone will be different.
*See flows over Tipple
*pretty Sistar grids
Welcome to our IAST community, Cassi, and welcome to our Tangled Map!



From Christiane Plate (Kiel, near the Baltic Sea) ~
after a longer Zentangle break, I have done your Challenges 2019 again. After this wonderful warming up, I find my result to your # 276 quite presentable. And as in 2014, I'm excited about your weekly creative suggestions. Thank you so much, that they still exist!
 Tangled Tidbits -
Yes, we are still here and welcome back!
*sections of Sistar float like fish in the sea of See
*wonderful incorporation of tangles and string lines


From Sharyn Penna, CZT (Massachusetts) ~
Oh what fun ... from the stack-string to the tangles.
I had to see what See would look like Mookafied. Then I had a little tangleation playtime with Sistar.
Cheers to new tangles with lots of variation possibilities!
 Tangled Tidbits -
*"Mookafied" - we need to TM that name to you, Sharyn - it's great, as is this variation
*perfs/Tipple along the string lines and throughout the grand Sistar variations



From Ingird (The Netherlands) ~
In the attachment this week's tile # 276.
My first attempt I threw away because it was an awful one.
And I am certainly not happy with this second try.
Although I liked the tangles very much I couldn't make anything better than this one.
I hope that next time I will be better off with the challenge
 Tangled Tidbits -
It is wonderful, Ingrid.
*mirrored See sections
*lovely, multi-lined Sistar and a bonus rounded one in the string loop


From Lynn F (Florida) ~
Well the “Seas” got a little choppy for me as the wind picked up leading the edges of the cold front our way!
My “Sistas” were together on the bottom but then went their own separate ways as I moved upward.
Thanks for another interesting challenge.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*great movement of tangles as Sistar goes its "separate ways"
*large and small See with pops of blue


From Ginger White ~
Hope this new month has everyone trying new things. As it stormed here in CA, I did this week's challenge, with See roiling in a debris field of Hollibaugh, while sheets of Sistar came from all directions.
 Tangled Tidbits -
...two 'stormy' themes in a row
*multiple directions for Sistar
*small and larger See and Hollibaugh intertwine


From VenaC (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) ~
I am late. There was no more sunlight, so had to do the photo under a light in the house. Not great, but at least done.
 Tangled Tidbits -
...I hope you are staying warm, too.
*string sections colored with warm yellow tones
*pretty shading creates highlights for Sistar


From Hilary (Illinois) ~
Greetings from cold, snowy Chicago!
I enjoyed doing this one—great string and two really nice patterns.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*two beautifully bold variations of Sistar
*rows and rows of See


From Simone (Germany) ~
I am too late for this challenge, so I did it just for fun.
 Tangled Tidbits -
...not too late this week :)
*alternating shaded and white spaces
*doubled string lines and a See filled string loop - how fun!


From Sharon Fite (California) ~
What a fun string. And I liked these new tangles, but it seemed only right to balance them out with some old favorites - Diva Dance, Toodles, and Vitruvius. Hope everyone is enjoying their January!

Tangled Tidbits -
*a happy mix of tangles and colors
*multi-lined See compliments Sistar


From Moblue (Bremen, Germany) ~
Wow, this time it was really challenging! The Sistars were a bit tricky but in the end they rose from the See, fully loaded with new seeds to spread. They are in company of some Bublz. Thank you Adele for these nice strings. Can't wait to see the other tiles. Happy tangling to all other participants.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*sparkle and shading for large, rounded Sistar
*layering and a shaded border add depth



From LovelyGiraffe (Japan) ~
Here is my tile for your weekly challenge.
 Tangled Tidbits -
Welcome back!
*white on black tangles glow with color
*similar lines, different angles create two looks for Sistar


From Felicity Strohfeldt (Velddrif, South Africa) ~
Thank you for the great challenges ringing in the start of the new year. I’m still in catch mode so I’ve included my effort 274 in this mail for you.
I had fun developing challenge276. Lovely tangles Sistar and See. As I’m writing this mail, I look at my effort, and I see swirling windy clouds and white seahorses in the waves, reminding me of the area where I live. The bottom third of the tile might represent the land, hopefully it will display our beautiful flora this year and we might recover from the drought, that still keeps leering at us from local and other parts of South Africa.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*aura, perfs, shading, changes in direction - all enhance See
*three wonderful variations of Sistar

Thank you for the New Year cheer!


A very warm welcome to T. from Toronto, Canada ~
Hi I’m T from Toronto, Canada!
I’ve been doing the IAST weekly challenge on and off for a while, but I felt a bit insecure about sending in my completed tiles because of the incredible creations participants submit each week. This is somewhat ridiculous because I often post my finished tiles on my blog or my Instagram page. Well, this year I decided to change that… I'm hoping taking this step will also motivate me to complete more challenges.
The patterns in the challenge were both new to me. As I do with each new pattern I learn’ I worked them out in my pattern sketchbook and found that neither of them were as complicated as they look. Because See immediately reminded me of waves I chose two shades of blue coloured pencils to highlight them (metallic pencils – unfortunately don’t show up in the photo). For Sistar I used two of the variations from Hanny Waldburger’s introduction of the pattern. I enjoyed working with both of them.
I added some Tipple and Fescu to fill the loop of the string because I rarely leave blank spaces in my tiles.
Thanks to Adele for another great challenge!









Tangled Tidbits -
*beautiful shades of blue compliment See
*super Sistar variations
Welcome to our IAST community and welcome to our Tangled Map ~




That was quite a show, wasn't it?!  Two new tanglers and some old friends returning made for an even more tangling fun.   Thank you one and all.

Special thanks to the creators of the tangles we used this week ~

Sistar by Hanny Waldburger, CZT

See by Joan Stark

Check back in just a bit for our next adventure - 
                                                                "It's a String Thing" #277!