It's a String Thing Challenge #133

String Challenge #133

string #133

Patterns: Fife, Yincut & Flukes

Continuing on with my current fixation with renaissance tiles, I created this...after a few false starts. The string was just a series of angles, forming many, many areas to fill (or not to fill). Of the three patterns 2 were new to me. Yincut is one I don't use often but I really like it and it's especially nice in the renaissance zone. Every time I've seen Fife used I always think "I like that, I should use it"...then I forget. Flukes is super simple and so effective. I generally avoid grid patterns but I love how dimensional it is and it's great for a bold mark. So, yay! I learned something new.

I recently got my mitts on some official Renaissance tiles and though the above tile is just on a piece of tan flecked card stock, after working with the real deal I shall share this little nugget of wisdom:  keep a clean sheet of paper between your hand/fingers and the tile...they love to blot up your oils. 

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Diva Challenge #256, Made by Joey #101 & Narwals for Square One.

Diva challenge #256

Duotangle: Artoo & Boo-Kee

I love these two patterns. These were both created by The Diva herself, Laura Harms, named after her two boys.

Made by Joey #101

Roman Numeral string series #1

patterns: 'dillo, Cle & Fleavy

on a "Renaissance" painted ATC

Joey is beginning a new string series of challenges using roman numerals and providing patterns. 'Dillo is making another appearance...I'm trying to resist the fishy influence of my last attempt at it with last week's String Challenge. Both Fleavy and Cle were new patterns for me. I like them both a lot.

Square One: Purely Zentangle

featured pattern: Narwal

I could not not participate in this weeks Square One challenge as one of my favorite patterns was the star of the show. I'm also doing my best to provide before/after shading pics so I can participate in Eni Oken's Shading Zentangle FB group. I always forget to take before shots/scans because my  cell phone cam is so crappy and much of this happens in the evening when lighting is problematic and I don't have a scanner at home and thus must coordinate with library hours. 

more Narwal

Before shading

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String Challenge #132

Going old school with pen and ink and hand painted tiles this morning. I bought a set of calligraphy tools last month and I've really enjoyed using them, especially doing the renaissance tiles. The ink bleeds a little on the watercolor paper and I tend to make a mess but that's all part of the journey.

String Challenge #132

String #132

'Dillo, Tattle & Tri-bine

This is a weird one but I kinda like it. I did not intend for this to look like fish.

This is the ensemble piece I started in the last post, complete with a big blob of ink right in the middle. Apologies for the unfortunate photos. My idiotphone camera quality has sadly deteriorated and I don't have a scanner at home.
I trimmed away the white border from the masking. The original sheet size was 9" x 12".

I ended up with six 3 1/2" square tiles and a strip I can cut down into 2 bookmarks.

Finished pieces scanned

Now I just have to find a frame that speaks to me. Stay tuned.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog. Your thoughtful and generous comments delight and inspire me.

Jewels for Joey & Ghosts of Tangles Past

Jewels for Joey

Challenge #100 from Made by Joey

Joey's challenge  was to use the provided string, your choice of patterns and to put  Bijou, the official Zentangle mascot, somewhere on the tile. To celebrate Made by Joey's 100th Weekly Challenge, I made Joey some bijoux with a hidden Bijou.

September 2013

Diva Challenge #255-Ghosts of Tangles Past

Dig up an old tile from your beginner archives and use it as inspiration to create a new piece with all of your mad skills. I'm fairly certain that this was one of the first tiles I ever made. I never dated anything but I found this one dated and I was actually surprised that it went back that far. I can't believe I lurked around for a year before I started this blog.

Fast forward to this morning...I used the same string and the same patterns on a watercolor "Renaissance" tile. Yeah...it's a bit over-worked and took forever but it was fun exploring some new techniques and playing around with different tools. This is what the tile looked like before:

note to self: leave more paper showing next time;-P

I'm exploring the world of Renaissance tiles...again. Last night I created 3 watercolor sheets and started this practice page, using different sized coasters to randomly create a bunch of string lines:

I'm just gonna play around with a bunch of stuff and if it turns out okay I'll cut it apart and make some kind of ensemble piece like this. Thanks to Jennifer Sparrow for that inspiration.

Here's the link to the post where I did the watercolor background tutorial.


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String Challenge #131 & Swap Fun

Adele Bruno's "It's a String Thing" 

Challenge #131

String #39

Patterns: "Knightsbridge", "Amore" & "Heartstrings"

This is also #4 in my series of "Heart Art" going out to my Zentangle Artist Trading Card Swap buddies for the February "Love Swap" sometime in the (hopefully) near future. I can't seem to get away from using "Marasu" in my hearts.
Here's the group so far:

I've got about 8 more to go. This next group is ready to go in the mail. January's swap was to create Zendalas:

The challenge (beyond Zendalas) was to use some new patterns. I got totally fixated on "Hamadox", a pattern that was featured on the Facebook page Tangled and Journaled Too back in December when they introduced new patterns for the first 25 days of the month. Gems is another fixation I can't seem to quit;-) Anyhoo, these were great fun to do.

As ever, thank you so much for visiting my blog. Your thoughtful and generous comments inspire and delight me.

Three Challenges

Diva Challenge #254

"Valentangle"

"Heartbox" by Helen Williams

More hearts! This is the third tile in a heart series I'm creating for the Zentangle Artists Trading Card Swap group on Facebook. I started off being very curmudgeon-ly about the whole heart thing but they're starting to grow on me. I really had to hold myself back from filling in the hearts. I couldn't decide what to do. I put it away last night and looked at it again this morning. I decided to go with less-is-more...for now.
I'm a huge fan of all of Helen Williams work, but her heart patterns are exquisite. I'm going all OCD on "Heartbox" right now. This morning I was all a-gog scrolling through Adele Bruno's "It's a String Thing" challenge entries from last week. There were so many beautiful tiles based around this same string. It was so inspirational. For anyone not familiar with  "It's a String Thing", I urge you to go in and check it out. I love how she posts all the entries for the week in one lovely gallery show and she takes the time to comment on each and every one...usually 40+ submissions.

Made by Joey #99

Yin/Yang string

This was a fun one! I'm back in my watercolor ATC zone so I adapted the string to fit within the format. I really didn't intend for this to venture into the henna world but once I got going it took on a life of its own. I just realized that I got the Yin/Yang string line backward:-P

That's New to Me #50

"K": Kollide by Kim Winebrenner 

& 

"Kay-Tee" by Davor Planinec

artist focus:

Margaret McKerihan's "Tada"

I lovelovelove "Tada"!"Kollide" and "Kay-tee" are both new to me and I love them too.


Thanks so much for visiting my blog! Your thoughtful and generous comments truly inspire and delight me.

Diva Challenge #253, Made by Joey #98, That's New to Me #49 & String Challenge #130

Diva Challenge #253

"Molygon"

I made up a new batch of watercolor ATC's thinking I might be a bit more efficient. I really enjoyed the back to basics black and white sketchbook series but those seemed to take me such a long time and never did get the "It's a String Thing" challenge done. It could be that I'm a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to the whole Valentines Day themes that are beginning to pop up. I'm not a hearts and flowers kind of girl...

That's New to Me #49

New "V" pattern: Viaduct

Heidi Sue Whitney's "Hitched"

...although I managed to turn "Hitched" into a flower. It was totally unintentional. "Hitched" is not new to me. I believe it came up in one of the Diva's UMT challenges way back when. I like it a lot  because it has so much potential for variation. "Viaduct" is a new one. It's a great bold pattern. My white gel pen is giving me grief though.

Made by Joey #98

"Cayke"

I started off intending to fill the entire space with variations of "Cayke", but something in the watercolor background compelled me to create the swirl that became "Marasu".  The rest just sort of took on a life of its own.

String Challenge #130

String #150

patterns" Luv-a", "Heartbox" & "Join"

also "Heartstrings" & "Marasu"

This weeks string challenge was just the kick in the butt I needed to get into heart mode. I'm participating in a swap that fits similar parameters and I've been putting it off.  I made a set of watercolor tiles last week along with the ATCs hoping that would light a fire...it didn't. Anyhoo, one down, ten+ to go.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog. Your thoughtful and generous comments truly inspire me.