Citrus - A Juicy New Tangle

This new tangle has a sentimental story behind it, but first, here are the step outs, a few examples, and my notes ~

It's simple and easy to draw.  Either in the half or whole versions, the circular lines are more interesting when they are irregular.  Citrus can be drawn as small or as large as you choose.

In my example above, I drew one Citrus and then layered the others behind it.  To embellish, I added detail lines in each of the inner sections.

Citrus can also be used as a string.  In the example below,  in each Citrus half, I tangled a different pattern:  Antidots, Florz, Fescu, Teenos, LaBel, Printemps, Betweed.

The possibilities are endless...

Citrus Strings by Adele Bruno, CZT

 I introduced Citrus to my friend Tracey Lyon, CZT.  A short time later, she presented me with this tile  ~

Citrus ZIA by Tracy Lyon, CZT

Isn't it pretty?!


Now for the inspiration for the tangle...

I grew up in Pennsylvania where fruit trees were plentiful: apple, pear, peach, crab-apple, and cherry - most every variety except for citrus.   Any thought of citrus trees seemed so remote and exotic.

They are now one of the reasons I enjoy living in Florida.

Over the years, my husband has planted and lovingly cared for numerous citrus trees in our yard - lemon, lime, orange, and grapefruit.   Especially sentimental were the ones he was able to plant with the help of his late father.   

Unfortunately, unusual cold snaps and citrus blight of one type or another cut their lives short.

Below is a photograph of our granddaughter picking one of the last oranges from our lone remaining tree.   Sadly, it had to be cut down early this year.

The final meager harvest yielded a smattering of these deeply colored and very delicious oranges ~

When it was sliced in half, the idea of the tangle came to mind.

Photo by Isabella Bruno

I'd like to think that even though our trees are gone, they are still yielding fruit :).

I do hope you have fun with it.

Enjoy!

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

St. Patrick's Day Zendala by Adele Bruno, CZT

"It's a String Thing" #136

It's Tuesday, your good news day!

Yesterday's date was March 14 or 3/14 - National Pi Day in the United States.  The fourteenth of March is so named for the first three digits of the mathematical constant, Pi (3.14).

While I do not profess to be a math expert, I do love when numbers come together in ways that call for a celebration.

Fun fact:  When the first three digits of PI (3.14) are mirrored they look just a bit similar to the word pie.

Pie?  Did anyone say pie?!  Who doesn't appreciate a freshly baked piece of PIE?  Yum!

This week, let's give a nod to both Pi and pie (however loosely interpreted!).

We begin with this string ~

Pi Day String by Adele Bruno, CZT

...a not-so-clever take on the day ;)

If aura-ing the string is something you want to do - aura as thin or as thick as you'd like.  Here is just one possibility ~

Aura-ed Pi Day String by Adele Bruno, CZT

Next we will use a few tangles that bring the Pi/Pie theme to mind ~

3-Loops-6  by CZT Mina Hsiao
This is the only pattern listed on TanglePatterns with the number three in its name, a significant number for March and for Pi.

Pokeroot by Maria Thomas, Zentangle® co-founder
This tangle is patterned after the berries of a plant.  It always reminds me of cherries, and they make the best of pies.

W2 also by Maria Thomas
Inevitably, as W2 evolves, people are reminded of a woven pie crust and every pie needs a little yummy crust.

Tripoli also by Maria Thomas
This lovely tangle is composed of triangular or pie shaped pieces.
Click here to view my Tips for Tangling Tripoli.


Despite the many references to pie, the purpose of this challenge is to simply create a tile using this string and as many or as few of the tangles as you wish.

To access step outs for the patterns, click on their names or TanglePatterns.

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 patterns that begin or contain the letter(s) indicated
* 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 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.
HAVE FUN!

"It's a String Thing" #135 Tiles

Top o' the mornin' to you!

'Tis a happy time to celebrate one of the most celebrated of saints - St.Patrick.

We used a shamrock shaped string and tangle as well as a few fan favorites.

Let's take a look ~

This is my tile ~

The path the tangles took surprised me.  I intended to draw intricate and multiple variations of Lucky, but Knightsbridge nagged me until I gave in.  Once the string sections were filled, I liked the boldness and simplicity of it.  In an effort to soften it a bit, I added small black perfs around the edges.  From that, strings of Beadline emerged.  Ironic, as Beadline always reminds me of the rosary and I am confident Saint Patrick would approve.


The first email arrived from Tina Kirchhübel (Germany) and here on her blog ~

a great challenge this week. I like your pattern Lucky and there are so many possible variations. For this challenge I also used my new own pattern Flaura (click here to view)
I also made a combination of Lucky and Flaura - hope you like it.
Greetings from Germany

 Tangled Tidbits -
*prism inspired stems for Lucky
*Fluara and Lucky combination with lined background - very pretty variations


From Tina Sanders (Arizona) ~

For this challenge I used Adele's Lucky tangle Aura variation at the base of each shamrock petal/leaf and then tangled around.  I decided to add a hand written Irish Blessing around the tangle,which I think was the perfect touch.  Tangles used include Hollibaugh, Paradox, Flux,  Tipple and Iffy.

Tangled Tidbits -
*lovey combination of tangles
*sweet sentiments along a border of Iffy



From Ilse Lukken (The Netherlands) and here on her blog ~

My entry for this week! Next to Lucky I've used a bit of Diva Dance.
Have a nice (and lucky :-) )day!

 Tangled Tidbits -
*deep dark background for two variations of Lucky - shading adds depth
*Heartstrings filled Lucky


From smgg (Taiwan) and on her Instagram ~

Have a nice day!!!

 Tangled Tidbits -
*shading defines the string lines
*three differently angled grids for Lucky


From Joey - Made by Joey - (Canada) ~

This was a fun challenge! It took a bit of a different turn than what I expected, but I am happy with the end result.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*fine lined background 

*dots repeat in the Lucky petals and background for the larger tangle

From Simone Menzel (Germany) and here on her blog ~

This week we should use your string "St. Patrics Day" in combination with your pattern "Lucky" because it is St. Patricks Day soon.
I drew the tile, added some green in the backgound and suddenly I had a remembrance:
One year ago, I took part at my very first Zentangle Challenge.
It was the DIVA Challenge anticipating St. Patrics Day
How curious: both tiles are so similar....
[on] my blogpost, ... you can find also a link to the mentioned "old" tile:
Many greetings from the still winterly Germany (I hope we will get some warmer days soon...)

 Tangled Tidbits -
*drawn curled corner of the tile - great idea!
*small and large grid along with one single Lucky petal in the three string sections


From Michele Wynne (California) ~

Thanks for another great challenge. I remember this one from last year when I was still fairly new to Zentangle and I seem to remember being quite vexed by how to use the string.
This did not come out as I had envisioned but it was quite fun.

As with Simone's comments, I love that this is conjuring up happy memories.
Tangled Tidbits -
*the tangle changes as it passes through the string sections
*brown Sandswirl curves repeat in the multiple patterns that fill Lucky


From Susan (United Kingdom) ~

Hi, Thanks for another interesting challenge. I used one of your suggested variations for Lucky. It says if the motif is big enough you can fill with another tangle like Aquafluer. The string looked very similar to the Lucky motif so the whole thing turned into one big Aquafleur! Hope this is still in the spirit of the challenge.

Yes, it does :)

Tangled Tidbits -*doubled string line
*sparkle and green dots for Aquafluer


From Sharyn Penna (Massachusetts) ~

Top o' the mornin' to ye (and the rest of the day as well!) for this Lucky St. Patrick's Day prompt.
Once I drew Lucky within the string it looked cozy ... I added Betweed to the stem and decided a little Tipple would cradle the shamrocks. Then I let the shading give some dimension. A more minimal approach than usual ... I'm pleased with the results. Now it's time to pull out my mom's soda bread recipe. Traditions that warm the heart! Thank you for a Lucky St. Patrick's Day celebration/tradition.

Traditions do warm the heart - that is a beautiful thought.  I can smell the bread baking from here :)
Tangled Tidbits -
*Tipple background makes Lucky pop
*an elegant touch of shading to white Lucky


From Talia Maynard (London, United Kingdom) ~

Happy early St Patrick's Day! I hope you're having a lovely week.
Here's my tile for this week's challenge. I am much happier with this one than the one I turned in last year (I can't believe I've been participating for over a year now!). I love your Lucky tangle. It's fun to think of the different variations you can use, and it looks very at home in this string.

Tangled Tidbits -
*large Hollibaugh background is very striking
*tiny Tipple accents three beautiful Lucky variations


From Jean Beckstrom (Alabama) ~

I am submitting two strings this week. The first was my "serious " reply for the challenge. Number two was a just for fun tangle made up as I went along....no seriousness about it. I really did have fun. Wish I had more time to spend doing tangles. I know everyone must feel that way, but life has other demands too.

Tangled Tidbits -
*four variations of Lucky - including a Mooka inspired one
*sparkle and shading add depth of Aquafluer filled Lucky



From Linda Boulton (NSW Australia) ~

What fun this week has been. I've included 2 tiles here but I know one isn't strictly the string for this week. I just had to do a Lucky 4 leaf clover :)
I put the 'heart' shaped Lucky in first on the brown and green tile and as soon as that was done I thought Poker/Playing cards. So I added 'clubs' 'diamonds' and 'spades'. I love that Lucky lends itself to so many different shapes.
The rainbow on the second one was meant to be reminiscent of the Leprechauns Pot'O'Gold but my son says it looks more like an Equality Flag. Either way I had loads of fun with my watercolours this week.
Thanks for a really enjoyable challenge that made me smile.

Tangled Tidbits -
*diamonds and hearts for Lucky petals
*Bales backdrop and a lucky rainbow of color


From Anna Mega (Greece) and here on her blog ~

This time I loved your challenge!!!
Beautiful string and tangle!!
Thank you...have a nice day....

Tangled Tidbits -
*alternating directions of Lucky in the petal on the right
*small and large grids
*doubled string line made to look like string


From Lily Moon (Hungary) with a "Zenhug" ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*Lucky, free of a grid, fills the string sections and spills over, under, and between - gorgeous!
*dark Tipple in the string sections and light in the background


From Hilary Merola (Rome, Italy) ~

Well, I followed the string all right, but then got a bit carried away! I had planned on repeating two patterns in each leaf segment, but I was just having too much fun. I kept adding rows and borders and different tangles, and worst of all, neglecting to make note of which tangles I used. So it is what it is!
By the way, I wish I had known your easy method for drawing a shamrock when I was teaching. It would have been so helpful as it's easy and always comes out looking good.

Tangled Tidbits -
*a glorious Lucky filled to the brim with tangles
*shades of green compliment the patterns


From Ingrid (The Netherlands) ~

Loved to make this week's tile. Not so much headbreaking, which guarantees more Zen and that is a bonus.
I used Fescu to fill in your Lucky and used Flukes as a background.

Tangled Tidbits -
*grid flows through all three petals, and Lucky is tangled to the center in each one
*Flukes background  compliments the Fescu ornamented Lucky


From Cheryl Stocks (Arizona) and here on her blog ~

Thank you for the challenges, they are helping me recover from surgery and attempt some methods and materials that I usually shy away from--particularly color. I have to stick with tools that don't require opening lids, such as markers, and am using pencils and watercolor crayons.
Have a brilliant day!

Tangled Tidbits -
*rounded Lucky in an angular string
*pretty use of Tipple

 Tangled Tidbits -
*same variation of Lucky, different look as it follows the curve of the grid
*single line stem for Lucky


A very warm welcome to Nadjezdah (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) ~

* Heart Offset (Helen Williams)
* Lucky (Adele Bruno)
With love!

Tangled Tidbits -
*doubled Heart Offset string line filled with Tipple
*green in Lucky pops into Heart Offset


From Jeannette Quinn Bisbee (Ontario, Canada) ~

This week's challenge flowed more smoothly for me than last week. Plus, in true Zentangle fashion it helped take me from worries over health concerns that have caused me pain this week.....into that familiar place of peace, ease, and restfulness that comes with Tangling. I am always so grateful for Zentangle and all its followers, who understand that it is both a lovely form of artwork, but also a meditative practice. Happy St. Patrick's Day to those around the world!

Thank you for that reassuring thought and speedy recovery to you.
Tangled Tidbits -
*Lucky travels along the string lines
*alternating and sparkled aura


From Beth Gaughan (North Carolina) ~

Here's my tile for challenge 135, thanks for continuing to post the challenges!

Tangled Tidbits -
*three variations of Lucky accentuated by the dark background
*Printemps stem


From Becky Welty (North Carolina) ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*one overall grid for Lucky
*Lucky changes color as it passes through the string line - a simple and elegant effect
*Lucky is shaded outside of the string sections


From Sue Agnew (Arizona) ~

Since the string is "botanical," I thought it would be fun to use a botanical tangle as my extra tangle, and I must have been feeling whimsical because I immediately thought of Verdigogh. To contrast, rather than interpret Lucky in a botanical way I tried to make it as pattern-y as possible as a background.
Then, rather than thinking "what tangle would work well with this string" I decided to pick my favorite tangle and see if I could make it work with the string. So I chose Bucky ... which meant that I had to draw Lucky on a weird grid (hmm Bucky and Lucky, just now noticed the rhyme).
Anyway, it was fun.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Tangled Tidbits -
*clever use of Verdigogh in the suggested string line
*bold, rounded Lucky

Tangled Tidbits -
*quite a dimensional Bucky as it blooms in the string


From Dorrit (Punta Gorda, Florida) ~

I had fun with variations of Lucky in practice but couldn't seem to make it work within the string so here's what I came up with
Happy St Patty's to all

Tangled Tidbits -
*lovely lined Lucky
*Tipple filled free roaming Lucky


From Jessie Plouffe (Connecticut) ~

Here is my tile for this week! I loved the Aquafleur tangleation, and
decided to make that the focus of this piece. I also added some Squid,
which is one of my favorite official tangles.

Tangled Tidbits -
*sparkled Aquafluer shines
*shaded string lines and Squid add depth


From Jenna Black (North Carolina) ~

I combined Lucky with some Kuke and some Circfleur and a mishmash of my own devising. Every time I worked on the tile, I couldn't get Colbie Caillat's song LUCKY out of my head. (Did anyone else have that problem?) Good thing I like the song ...

It's a good thing I like that song too as it echoes through my mind, upon your suggestion :)
I also think that "a mishmash of my own devising" might just become part of our lingo here!
Tangled Tidbits -
*beautiful variations of Lucky - all add roundness
*striped and sparkled large stem


From Audrie Weisenfelder (Arizona) and here on her blog ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*gorgeous coloration
*deep black background makes Lucky glow



From Jenny Hopkins (Australia) ~

Happy St Patrick's Day. This is my contribution to this week's challenge. I have combined your Lucky with Beth Snoderly's Quare using the same grid. It has left me rather cross-eyed!!
In honour of the occasion, an Irish blessing - As you slide down the bannister of life, may the splinters never be pointing the wrong way.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*very complimentary tangles, especially as they balance light and dark

*shaded centers of Lucky

From Robin Bort (Nevada) ~

Whew! I barely made it this week! This was a nice distraction to a busy week. I added some Yuma in the background, I had never tried either pattern, thank you for the inspiration!

Tangled Tidbits -
*fine lines in Lucky echo in Yuma
*weighted string line and beautiful shading


From Susan Theron (Velddrif, South Africa) and here on her blog ~

I've hard a hard time deciding what to do for this challenge, but I am satisfied with how it turned out.

Tangled Tidbits -
*single Lucky in each of the three string loops
*aura, sparkle, and alternating black and white yield a delightful depth


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

This week I was inspired to use only your string as the shape of Lucky and to decorate it with Aquafleur by Rick and Maria and then I decided to use Neil Burley’s Esses that
I ‘ve used before on other challenges. It has an airiness as the background to the more dramatic Lucky/Aquafleur. At first I thought of adding green, but decided it would detract from the overall effect of the final product. Also on my blog.
Looking forward to see what the other tanglers get up to for St Patrick’s Day.

With Felicities pretty tile, there are four entries with Aqufluer filled string sections - hers from South Africa, Susan's from the United Kingdom, and two from the United States:  Jessie from Connecticut, and Jean from Alabama.

Tangled Tidbits -
*Aquafluer swirls into the center of each string loop
*shading, perfs, lines, and doubled dark lines, make for a lovely Aquafluer


From Linda Helfer (Florida) ~

Top of the mornin' to you, Adele. I love your St. Patrick's Day String and Lucky tangle pattern. I added a couple little 4-leaf Lukilines (Mary Masi, CZT) to my tile just for a bit of good luck!

...and presented on a Tickled to Tangle frame - how fun!
Tangled Tidbits -
*three pretty variations of Lucky - notice the diamond shaped leaves on the top right
*dot, dash aura lines



And now...
the tile for honors this week...
was sent in by...
 Adri van Wyk (Upinton, Northern Cape Provence, South Africa) ~

This is my first time ... Challenge #135 - string Lucky. Hope that I am
Lucky and have done everything right.

Everything is "right" because you tangled it :)
Tangled Tidbits -
*stunning gems in each petal of Lucky
*wonderful balance of swirled and straight lined tangles
*superb sparkle and shading
*gorgeous use of light and dark space


Congratulations,  Adri!

I have a little some thing coming in the mail for you.

Many thanks to everyone for taking up the challenge of using my string and beloved Lucky.

Check back tomorrow for "It's a String Thing" #136!

Tickled to Tangle Tetrahedrons

CZT Angie Vangalis has created some of the most wonderful "ready to tangle" projects.  Her Ichosahedrons have long been a favorite of mine - click here to read my past post about them.

Today, I tangled her Tetrahedron.  In Angie's words, "It is one of the 5 Platonic solids (a regular, convex polyhedron with congruent faces of regular polygons)."

Angie's Tetrahedrons are available on die cut 8 1/2" x 11" sheets of card stock.

Each Tetrahedron is pre-scored.  Once the project is folded and the tabs secured, it stays  together without glue.  With only four sections to tangle, it makes for a wonderful, very doable project.

Available in multiple colors, I tangled one in white with a black Micron, ivory with black and brown Microns, and gray with a silver Pilot pen.

I used the same five tangles on each:

Rick's Paradox by Rick Roberts
Cadent and Flukes by Maria Thomas and
Fission by Andrew Roberts

Here are a few photographs of my tangled tetrahedrons:

While the tangles are the same,  the paper and pens used give yield such different looks.

I stacked the tetrahedrons in the photograph below so the silver on gray would be more visible ~

Angie can be reached by visiting her website AV Graphics.   I'm sure she would be happy to have you order a few Tetrahedrons of your own.  I highly recommend them!

"It's a String Thing" #134 Tiles

Below is the delayed post from earlier this week...

Happy Monday!

My husband and I have just returned from a fabulous weekend with the newlyweds, our son John and his bride Melissa.  The South Carolina weather was a bit chilly, but sunny and clear.  The trees were still in winter mode, but the daffodils and the pansies were in full bloom with the promise of Spring.

The emails and tiles for this week's "It's a String Thing" softened the re-entry to our day-to-day routines at home - a great blessing.

We used three new tangles and a string with rounded spaces.  The results are quite elegant.
We were joined by several newcomers, the string's - as well as Sati's - creator, and were treated to a Dr. Suess inspired rhyme.  Curious?!  Let's take a look ~

The first tile arrived from Joanne Faherty (Bedfordshire, United Kingdom) ~

Here's this weeks contribution. All new tangles although I was practising Sati yesterday, happy to say sati came out better than yesterdays efforts I. Like how my black tamisolo looks. I'm calling this one the fairy mushroom, as when I started shading I noticed that sati looked like a mushroom and the fission looks like fairy dust.

 Tangled Tidbits -
*dark centers of Fission
*two variations of both Sati and Tamisolo
*glorious single black and white, sparkled and dotted Tamisolo


From Adri van Wyk (South Africa) ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*gorgeous gemstone filled Sati with sparkled aura
*Pookroot tips for Fission

...and a few days later, Adri sent this ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*elegant sparkled swirls of Tamisolo
*star centered Sati


 Joey van Oort (MadebyJoey, Canada) ~

Thank you so much for a very fun challenge! The string immediately made me think of a toadstool and this whimsical tile is what emerged. Light and fun and thinking of Spring!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*curls and dots accent Tamisolo
*free floating Sati 

From Anita A Westin (Dalarna, Sweden) ~

Tangled Tidbits - 

*aura-ed Sait and Fission

*lined and black variations of Tamisolo

From Hilary Merola (Rome) ~

As usual your challenges really push me out of my comfort zone. I have pages of practicing Sati and I still can't get the flower petal parts of it to look good. Not sure why I decided to darken those troublesome parts! On the other hand, I had a lot of fun with Tamisolo and tried different directions and different ways of shading it.
Thanks for all your hard work with this.

Tangled Tidbits - 

*lovely variations of Tamisolo - varied line widths and shading

*Tamisolo flows along the border

A very warm welcome to Linda Bouldon (NSW Australia) ~

...I found tangling by accident in December when buying gifts. I picked up Zentangle by Jane Marbaix as an interesting gift for my daughter. Turns out it was a gift to myself :).
Thankyou for the challenge. I really enjoyed learning these 3 new tangles. I love love love Tamisolo. I felt like they were gnome smiles while drawing them (I freely admit and embrace my weird. Lol) and I love the flow of single line tangles. I kept the shading on Sati simple because I kinda like the imperfect shapes. I did add a little bit of white Signo gel pen to Fission just to lift it.
Thanks again. Looking forward to more challenges.

Tangled Tidbits -
*outlined and shaded string sections
*Tamisolo shaded in the outer sections between shapes



From Karen, The Creative Miss L (Australia) and here on her blog ~

Thanks for introducing us to these new Tangles. I can see so many possibilities for including each of them in my drawing. I was surprised at how hard Tamisolo was to get right. I guess it will get better and easier with practice. Sati is a gem. It looks like replacing Cadent and Bales as my go to for grid-based spaces.

Tangled Tidbits -
*branches of Tamisolo
*colorful, dotted Sati


From Lily Moon (Hungary) and here on her blog with a Zen hug :) ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*Sati reaches across the tile to touch
*rounded, pointed, striped, sparkeld, shaded, glorious Tamisolo
*snowflake-like Fission


From Christiane (Germany) ~

These are beautiful patterns, Adele! I made it very simple and added a bit color. Thank you for this nice challenge!
Greetings from Germany

 Tangled Tidbits -
*Fission gathered with the string line
*light and airy Tamisolo



From Susan (United Kingdom) ~

Nice selection of tangles this week. Sati is new to me but has lots of possibilities. I combined it with one of my favourite tangles “Laced”. I also used an idea from one of last week’s tiles by continuing the design over the string line but changing the background colour.

Tangled Tidbits -
*delicate look to both the Tamisolo border and Fission
*continuous line of Tamisolo in the string loop


From Ragged Ray (United Kingdom) ~

Firstly thank you so much for noticing my new tangle, mentioning it in your summary for last week's challenge, picking it for this week's challenge, and for saying such lovely things about it. The thrill of seeing what others will do with it totally offsets any nerves I feel about using it myself. Funny that, but I always get more edgy using my own tangles!
I struggled to get the tangles to work well together this week - they were determined to stick to separate sections of the string - and who am I to argue with willful tangles! And I set myself up for an eye-watering time by choosing to do Sati so small. It's the sort of string / tangle combo that I'd like to revisit again to see how a different mix would come out.

I hope you enjoy the tiles and show of appreciation for your Sati :)
Tangled Tidbits -
*uniform field of Sati - detail lines and soft shading
*string sections outlined with pops of Fission
*Tamisolo variation - weighted lines, detail lines, dots, and shading


A very warm welcome to Jenna Black (North Carolina) ~

I've been following the It's A String Thing challenges for a while, but this is my first time participating. I took you at your word and only used the string lines as suggestions. Also, I would ordinarily erase string lines that were so visible on the finished piece, but I figured that would be against the spirit of the challenge.

Tangled Tidbits -
*multiple, pretty variations of Sati flow into Fission
*light and dark Tamisolo



From Katrina Handson ~

this weeks zentangle challenge was fun. i love the floral components in these patterns! :)

Tangled Tidbits -
*Fission centered cluster of Tamisolo
*Sati in single file along the string lines
*dense  softly shaded Tamisolo accentuates the rounded string sections



From Cheryl Stocks (Arizona)and here on her blog ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*black rice shapes for Sati and aura between sections
*shading adds depth
*black dots repeat in all three tangles


From Jean Beckstrom (Alabama) ~

I had fun with the tangles again, but I did not like the way I did them with the string 134. Soooo..I did them again more freely and enjoyed it more the second time. Sending both. I really enjoy seeing everyone's ideas each week and look forward the viewing them as soon as they arrive.

Tangled Tidbits -
*fabulous Fission fills the background
*light and dark balance in Tamisolo
*dotted string lines carry over from Sati


From Tina Kirchhübel and here on her blog ~

The challenge is great. I like to try the new patterns but I could not really enjoy the process this week because my daughter had some problems to fall asleep and so my concentration was not completely at the tile and I'm not really satisfied with the result.
The idea for my tile was to let the tangled sections look like stones.
So here is my tile
Greetings from Germany

Tangled Tidbits -
*striking black background of Sati
*Fission pieces float off
*aura-ed thick, dark Tamisolo


From smgg (Tawain) and on her Instagram ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*four variations of Sati
*shaded centered curls of Tamisolo


A very warm welcome to Amy Place (Coffs Harbour, Australia) ~

This is my first ever attempt at one of the challenges and I am very new to Zentangling, having done my first ever one in pencil in September 2015.
I have taught myself by scouring the internet and following many of you very talented tanglers.
I hope this tile is what it is meant to be, as I found it quite difficult to use patterns I had never used before and try to find a way to fit them into a string that was unfamiliar.
If I have done the entry the wrong way, please let me know. Thanks for the opportunity to practise and hone my developing skills.

It warms my heart to know that you have learned much from the talented tanglers of "It's a String Thing" - welcome to our community!
Tangled Tidbits -
*fabulous background of Sati
*aura-ed swirls of Tamisolo


From Annie Taylor (Spain) ~

I may have lost something in the string size this time - I copied and recopied it so that I could do it without reference to your actual post - internet problems on top of everything else.
Despite the rather shrunken version of the string, I really enjoyed this challenge - all three tangles were new to me. Sati, as you can probably tell, was irresistible for me! And I found Fission really pretty and incredibly simple. I need to practice Tamisolo...
Wishing you all the best as steam ahead towards Easter....!!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*superb variation of Sati with Crescent Moon-like aura in each dip of the curved inner lines

*Tamisolo filled string section points inward

*light and darkly shaded sections 

From Ingrid (The Netherlands) ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*Tamisolo flows in a circular fashion from a midpoint
*Sati free of a grid, lined, and shaded just so
*detailed shading of Fission


From Dorrit Tompkins (Punta Gorda, Florida) ~

Fun to do the new tangles. How do you decide which ones to choose?

I choose tangles for a multiple of reasons - many that I state under the names of each pattern in the challenge posts.  I look for a balance of light and dark, dense and airy, new and not-so-new, rounded and straight lined, etc...
Tangled Tidbits -
*rice shapes of Sati appear three-dimensional
*shaded centers of Fission


From Sarah (Michigan) and here on her blog ~

A rounded string would have scared me as much as an angular one before. But by using some great tangles I've learned so much about how things can flow. And most importantly I enjoy doing it! It may not be as technically involved as it could but the fact I was able and allowed myself to create something that made me happy is a wonderful thing. Thanks!

That is a wonderful description of the process of tangling, thank you Sarah.
Tangled Tidbits -
*flowing curls of Tamisolo
*darkened aura of Fission


From Karin (Germany) ~

first I thought that I would not participate in the challenge this week because I absolutely had no idea how to fill in the tangles into the string… for me it looks like speech bubbles of a Comic
But than I had time for my own and thought that tangling would be the only way to calm down and relax on a saturday evening.
What should I say… I was right and I really like the “airy” result.
Greetings from Germany!

Tangled Tidbits -
*simple and elegant tangles
*shading distinguishes the string sections


From Jane (Colorado) ~

Hmmm...interesting...not much planning with this one, which I think is one can tell by looking at it--:)
I am usually such a "respect the string" tangler...never varying it, even to the point of celebrating those "suggested" pencil lines by really delineating my boundaries...and I always love how the patterns meet in interesting ways at those places, but for some reason, this time around, I pretty much ignored the string--:)
Actually, I did start out with Tamisolo in the large circular area on top, but I was having so much fun, I just kept going and before I knew it, the entire top half was covered! I played around with the darks and lights with not much forethought...I love Fission and it's Queen Anne's Lace look (it's all over my yard) so I threw some of that in on the bottom--started out in the bottom left circle, but that took over its space too--:) Added just one little piece of Sati and shaded all around...
It looks kind of interesting...but I think I would like to try it again, with more string respect--:)
Thanks, as always Adele, for providing this wonderful arena for trying out new ideas, strings and tangles!

Don't you just love when the tangles lead the way?
Tangled Tidbits -
*beautiful field of bold Tamisolo
*Fission bursts from a central one



From Beth Gaughan (North Carolina) ~

Here is my tile for this week's challenge. I call it the flaming Easter egg. ;)

Tangled Tidbits - 

*two variations of Sati with a plain middle section

*a touch of Sati in two corners

From Jessie Plouffe (Connecticut) ~

Here's my submission for this week's challenge!  Thank you!

Tangled Tidbits - 

*Tamisolo in very striking, swirled, sparkled stripes

*beautifully shaded Sati and Fission

From Jennifer Sparrow (North Carolina) ~

Not wanting to disappoint you, I'm sending my attempt at String #134, which will probably disappoint you anyway!!! Way too busy. Ugh. I couldn't find my way out of this one, and just kept adding more and more! Once I've started a piece, I never start over or throw it out. This was almost an exception! I'm looking forward to seeing others' results.
On a happier note, I was wandering around your site this week and discovered the sparkle tutorial. What a wonderful lesson! It really brightened my ZT day! It was so interesting seeing the different patterns with a sparkle, and following Sue's assessments on each. (CLICK HERE TO VIEW the post Jennifer refers to)
Thanks for the challenge!

Please know I am never disappointed but always intrigued and grateful to see your work :)
Tangled Tidbits -
*aura of Sati and dots intersect
*Sati rice shapes morph into woven strings
*Tipple filled Tamisolo


From Jenny Hopkins (Australia) ~

I had a go at the thing,
Where Adele sets us all a string.
It all begins on a Tuesday,
Which is known as our Good News Day!
I tried the challenge of making Sati,
Look neat and tidy and somewhat arty.
I tried the same with Tamisolo.
(I've got more chance with water polo.)
Then I made it my new mission
To master Fission, a failed vision.
But they say it's the process to wrangle
And wangle and spangle (and mangle!)
That makes it Zentangle.
-definitely not by Dr Seuss


Happy Birthday, Dr Seuss and thank you, Adele.
Jenny Hopkins (Australia)

That, Jenny, was a royal treat.  Dr. Suess would be very proud!
 Tangled Tidbits -
*shading defines the string's sections
*Tamisolo climbs upward
*sparkled Sati fills the background


From Cat Trask (Oregon) ~

Imagine my surprise when I saw this weeks challenge featuring one of my strings! Thank you so very much! And along with this string were three tangles that I have never used before. What fun I had with this week's challenge!
Fission was fun, and reminded me of some of the wildflowers I see when I take my latest rescue, Gunnar, for a walk... Now our four cats have a tripawed big brother. 

My favorite Tangle this week was Sati. So many variations and possibilities, from a border to a fill to a background.I struggled with Tamisolo. I am still not happy with how it turned out, but it is what it is.

ANYWAY~it's been a while since I've said thank you for taking the time to provide "It's a String Thing" weekly challenge for us all to enjoy. And again, thanks for using my [string]. I am embarrassed and honored (strange combination of feelings). Have a great weekend!

Tangled Tidbits -
*Sati curves in the string section
*round, sparkled Tamisolo
*multiple arua of Fission


From Sue Agnew (Tucson, Arizona) ~

Here's #134. I really liked Sati. Although I just used one of the variations Jem showed, I can see a number of ways it could be played with to create various effects. It kind of reminded me of Mi2. Last week I thought my grid looked extremely regular, so this week I vowed to use a curved grid to fit Sati into the curved spaces ... but it still came out looking pretty darn regular. Oh well, I guess that is what I enjoy about Zentangle, being precise and regular. After the high-concentration Sati I just whipped in an homage to Tamisolo and Fission.

Tangled Tidbits -
*an equal treat - to read Sue's description and see her pretty tile :)
*dark circles around the tips of Sati rice shapes make the tangle pieces appear woven together
*singular Tamisolo curl


From HeidiSue (Salt Lake City, Utah) ~

Here is my entry for this week's string thing challenge. I got pretty sick over the past couple of weeks and haven't had the energy for any challenges, but I did spend some time playing around with the new patterns from tanglepatterns.com, the same ones you have in this challenge...so how could I not! and besides, I'm starting to feel better. I was surprised to find how much I enjoy Fission. I have a page in my sketchbook with a lot of Fission play
anyway, here is my entry. I call it
Tumbleweed Bouquet.
thanks for a fun challenge

 Tangled Tidbits -
*pops of Sati in the corners (like Beth's above)
*fabulous concentrations of Fission
*shadowed Tamisolo



From Robin Bort (Nevada) ~

Another challenging string, for me at least! And, three new-to-me patterns. Thank you so much for providing these challenges, it has been so much fun!

 Tangled Tidbits -
*line width variation, detail lines, and shading add wonderful dimension
*tiny dots repeat in all three tangles
*free floating Sati


From Becky Welty (North Carolina) ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*small rice shapes of Sati give the tangle a new look
*shaded tips of Tamisolo and sting line around Fission



From Jeanette Quinn Bisbee (Ontario, Canada) ~

This week's challenge is the first one I've been dissatisfied with; I had an idea of a different way to do the tile in a 2nd version, but time ran out in my week before I got to do it. The Tamisolo pattern looked beautiful, but just refused to do what my mind envisioned. However, there are no mistakes, and, as always, I enjoyed my time doing the tile. Hope all of you enjoyed your time as well. I always look forward to seeing everyone's; next week I know will be better!

Tangled Tidbits -
*Fission centered string sections surrounded by clusters of Tamisolo
*black rice shapes for Sati


A very warm welcome to Debbie (Ohio) ~

I enjoy your weekly challenges. This is the first time I have finished on a Saturday.

Tangled Tidbits -
*the string lines morph into Fission lines
*black curved lines of Sati - with x's and dots in the centers
*great shading


From Susan Theron (Velddrif, South Africa) and here on her blog ~

Loved this challenge. I've read Ina Sonnenmoser's tangling tips about using the string only as a guide line. I tend to rigidly follow the string line and this time I tried to use it only as a guide! I like the outcome of this tile. Will as always like to see what my fellow tanglers did. Love your challenges!

Tangled Tidbits -
*Tamisolo, tight curls that push beautifully passed the string lines
*elongated single Sati that tips a single Tamisolo


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

...challenge 134 nearly had me in despair. Beautiful tangles all three, but I attempted several versions, until I gave up and only returned to the drawing board this morning after, believe it or not, a night filled with tangles in different shapes and sizes flitting through my dreams.
Finally it came together and the result is a lacy bouquet bordered here and there with deconstructed Sati (by Jem) which kept me puzzling as to what to do with this pattern in this particular String by cat. Fission by Andy is truly a delicate pattern and Tamisolo by Hanny became my bouquet’s beautiful wrap.
In the end it all worked as it always does.
Thank you for the challenge. 

 I do believe you about your dreams - and I know we can all relate :)
Tangled Tidbits -
*absolutely creative use of Sati, halved as a border
*black and white orbs for Fission


From Sharyn Penna (Massachusetts) ~

So, this was a prompt with a surprise ... the light in the attic finally lit up.
When I played with Sati in my journal I had a time of it. I tried straight and curvy grids, but I couldn't get it together. With time ticking away I pulled out a tile and Sati came to life.
I had an epiphany ... maybe practicing a grid pattern on a large blank journal page is the reason I've been confounded by grid patterns. Grid patterns simply need a home in a space within a tile rather than being drawn all sprawled out on a page without a purpose. Sigh ... how long have I rumbled and grumbled on about grids?
Thank you for a prompt that helped me realize grids are linear patterns not linear thoughts.

We learn from each other - many thanks for sharing your inspirations.
Tangled Tidbits -
*delicate shading of Sati, Fission, and the Tamisolo filled string section
*weighted lines in Tamisolo and the orbs of Fission



From midori, CZT (Florida) ~

for this submission, i decided to tangle 'tamisolo' and 'fission'...without 'sati.' while tangling 'tamisolo' it reminded me so much of 'mooka.' perhaps my interpretation of 'fission' is different?! after 'spilling out' the tangles on tile...the string really disappeared...

I love the words "spilling out the tangles" - thank you for that thought.
Tangled Tidbits -
*dark spaces of Tamisolo accent the tight curls
*Fission forms from the tips of Tamisolo and intertwines throughout


And now...
the tile for honors this week
was sent in by Talia Maynard from London, United Kingdom ~

Talia wrote:

I really enjoyed this week's challenge. I really enjoyed filling all the space in the tile and absolutely loved Sati and how many variations you can make with it. It really did seem to lend itself to singular buds rather than as a filler. And Fission is really fun too. Plus, I got to fill in lots of black which always makes me happy!

Tangled Tidbits -
*simple and bold tangles
*three free floating variations of Sati, delightfully detailed and shaded
*interlocking Fission
*black inner curls of Tamisolo spill into the background and accent the shaded white curls



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


Thank you to everyone who sent in their works of art for the rest of us to learn from and enjoy.
Special thanks to the creative minds behind the string and tangles used this week ~

TanglePatterns String 131 by Cat Trask, CZT

Sati by Jem Miller

Tamisolo by Hanny Waldburger, CZT 

Fission by Richard Anderson


Click here for the details of "It's a String Thing" #135!