Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Diva Challenge #331, Joey Challenge #180, String Challenge #209 etc...

Guest Blogger: Jane Reiter
Hexagons inspired by Petrosky Stones

I remember this from when I was first introduced to "Oskie" by Antonine Koval. I love this pattern;-)

I found a watercolor tile in my bag of tricks that had a nice stoney feeling. I drew hexagons with a "Black Grape" Prismacolor pencil.

This is "Oskie"
by Antonine Koval

I used a Prismacolor colorless marker blender to soften the hexagon grid a bit.

#3 Ensemble
Featuring: Cruffle
Additionally: Striping, Betweed, Crescent Moon, Tipple, Yin-cut

This is such a fun series of challenges. If you haven't been following along you can find the initial challenge here and you can see my 9 stringed ATC's here. I won't post them together until it's done.

Diva Challenge #330 part 2
The finished plate tiles

Last weeks Diva Challenge inspired this ensemble. I started with a set of tiles I'd made ages ago using torn edges and then colored with re-used art tissue paper. The line-work was done with grey and purple Staedtler Triplus Fineliners and a black technical pen then colored with Prismacolor pencils and shaded with Tombow grey-tone brush pens, highlighted with a white Prismacolor pencil and a white Signo Uniball broad tip pen.


"Spoken"
Adele's String Challenge was just to use "Spoken" starting with a small off-set circle. This was my first time trying "Spoken" so I pulled out a tile I had made for the "Recycle" Diva challenge awhile back. It's cut from a cat litter box. I intended it as a practice piece but even though the spokes are wildly uneven, I loved how this was progressing and so it ended up being my finished piece, but due to some last minute technical difficulties, I didn't get this entered in time, but you can see all the entries here.

The "92 Days" of Zentangle drawing prompts are coming to an end:





Though the project is coming to an end, the lovely admins at Tangled and Journaled Too! have a whole new series of journaling inspiration ready to go. If you're not already a member of this group and you love Zentangle, you really need to check it out and join in...or just lurk if you want.

Travelling Tangles completed this week:

My finish...

...to this wonderful start
by Barb Mavraganis

My finish...

...to this lovely start by
Sue Olsen

"Enuf wit da #@&*,©% camera!!"

Thanks for stopping by! Your thoughtful and generous comments delight and inspire me πŸ˜‰πŸ’žπŸ»





Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Diva Challenge #330, Joey's Weekly Challenge #178 & other doodlins...

Guest Blogger: Jeanette Clawson
"Plates"
Border and ribbon patterns
a few faves: Abukas, X's and Orbs, My Swing, Fescu, Copada 
with a little Mooka, Zinger and Printemps

The challenge this week is border or ribbon patterns on 1/4 circle strings,  ideally created on 4 tiles to make an ensemble. I will try to do more because this would make a great sampler of some of my favorite ribbon patterns.

Ensemble Series #2
Featuring: Merryweather
additionally: Paisley Boa, Striping, Fasset, Crescent Moon & Tipple

This is the second in a 9 tile ensemble series. You can see how I started this here. I'm very excited about this series because it's something I've always been meaning to try. The best part is watching everyone else's progress on their own ensemble. If anyone wants to join in start here.

The "92 Days" project is winding down. I did a separate post for Adele Bruno's "It's a String Thing" Challenge and included a few more journal pages. It's IAST's 4th Birthday.


My brush pen was a bit dry on the start and I was really liking the texture so I stopped. 
I almost didn't want to draw anything on it.

I started with blind string

I loved the way day 80 bled through to 82
I couldn't have planned this prompt better if I tried
I left it alone;-)

Some Travelling Tangles completed this past week:

My finish...

...to this fun start by Mary Perrin
in Crystal Lake, Illinois

My finish...

...to this inspiring start by Angie del Rosario
traveling all the way from The Philippines

❤πŸ˜ΌπŸΎπŸ’ž

Thanks so much for stopping by. Your thoughtful and generous comments delight and inspire me πŸ˜‰






Saturday, August 19, 2017

It's a String Thing Challenge#208~ Happy 4th Birthday!

Happy 4th Birthday
Adele's birthday candle string
Copada, Knightsbridge, Wud and Trella

Kudos to Adele for 4 years of inspiring challenges. I've been following these challenges since long before I actually submitted my first at  #74 and they've enhanced my tangle practice immensely.  I've learned to embrace the string, in fact I'd probably be lost without it. My favorite strings are the ones that I lose, when the string is so embedded within the design that you don't even know it's there. I've introduced so many great new patterns into my repertoire thanks to IAST.
The format is different than other challenges in that instead of submitting challenges via a link, entries are submitted via email which are compiled into a gallery show every Monday where we can all see each others work all in one place and read everyone's responses to the challenges because, more often than not, they are indeed challenges. Patterns don't always play nice and easy with the strings so there can be many "Make it Work" moments. Adele takes the time to generously comment on every entry and declares a "Best in Show" and sends each winner a lovely certificate and a little Zentangle treat. IAST is a true gem among all of the blogs and challenges out there.
Thank you so much for all you do Adele!

My first
January 2015

I've been catching up with my "92 Days" of  tangle prompts for the Facebook group Tangled and Journaled too!"

I thought I'd include this. My little handmade sketchbooks aren't made with the highest quality paper but I learned to embrace the bleed through and use it as a jumping off point sometimes. I've never been one to get too precious about my sketchbooks/journals. Ideas can be messy;-)



Thanks so much for stopping by. Your thoughtful an generous comments delight and inspire me.






Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Diva Challenge #329 and Joey's Challenge #178



Guest Blogger Marguerite Samama
Fragment D-1
Additionally: Abukas, Crescent Moon Knightsbridge, Striping and Florz

It's nice to see Marguerite as this week's guest blogger. We had a lovely Travelling Tangles exchange awhile back and it was nice getting to know her a little bit in her intro to this week's challenge...and what a challenge.
Fragments again...they pop up every where it seems.. I wish I was better at using them more creatively. It'll be good to see what everyone comes up with for this one. Thank goodness it wasn't a monotangle challenge. I used it with Abukas, a new pattern by Charlotte Carpentier of Charkat's Creative Insanity. It's a tangleation of Arukas and Abundies. The tile is a bit dark but that's how we're gonna roll for a bit;-)

Made by Joey  Joey's Weekly Tangle Challenge #178
9 piece ensemble
#1 Featuring: " African Artist"
Additionally: Striping, Flux, Florz & Tipple

Joey's back from her hiatus...boy, 6 weeks passed so quickly! She's got a new blog and a new series to challenge us with. We're to take 9 tiles and create a string through them to create an ensemble. 
I just made a new set of ATC's using art tissue coloring. I have to say that I'm not all that crazy about the colors but it is what it is and we'll see how it goes πŸ˜‰ 


Here's the set up

Here are a couple of  ZIA's I've been working on using my Eco-printed paper:

experimenting with new colors

#3 Carnival Mask series

Aimee all up in my business;-) although I'm beginning to feel like I'm all up in hers          πŸ’žπŸ˜ΌπŸΎ



Thanks so much for stopping by! Your thoughtful and generous comments delight and inspire me;-)





Saturday, August 12, 2017

It's a String Thing Challenge #207 and The Bare Bones

It's a String Thing Challenge #207
featuring: Cross-Ur-Heart

It's been a while since I've done an IAST challenge, but I've been wanting to try Cross-Ur-Heart since I first noticed it popping up in my various feeds. It's a bit surprising to me because I've always had a curmudgeonly aversion to heart inspired patterns.

                                                       
This is the string

If you've been following my blog you may have noticed I've been on a bit of a tangent with the water soluble fine liners, creating these little bubble effects everywhere I can. I wasn't aware they bled when I bought them and only through a "happy accident" in my journal where I'd used a wet medium on the backside of a page of some fine liner drawing, did I discover the blurry mistake opportunity. Anyhoo, after several explorations, I thought this might be a good theme for another "Bare Bones" process post since I had the foresight to photograph this from the start:

I started this on a tile colored with re-used art tissue
the line work is down using the purple fineliner

I dropped some water onto the tile using a straw

I let it bleed for a few minutes and then using the corner of a napkin 
I  carefully absorbed the excess water

I let it finish drying,
then, using a black 005 Micron, I added circles

I used a "Black Cherry" Prismacolor pencil  to lay in the first shadow
I use the Prismacolor Colorless Marker blender to smooth out the pencil

To finished it off I used a light grey Tombow marker to darken the edges around the bubbles, followed by white Prismacolor pencil to highlight the bubbles and final dots of white with a Signo Uniball broad tip.

I used a blue violet Prismacolor pencil to do the line work for the additional fill...and that's it.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Your thoughtful and generous comments delight and inspire me;-)







Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Diva Challenge #328, Made by Joey #177 and other stuff...

Guest Blogger Suzanne Fluhr
Use My Tangle: "Aloha"

Suzanne challenges us to use her tangle "Aloha". You can find the steps here on Suzanne's blog. I love "Aloha"! I was taken with it when it was first published on Tanglepatterns.com. I love the bold fluid lines. I love it so much, I did it twice:



I'm still a little obsessed with my Staedtler Triplus Fineliners and as I mentioned in my last post, I've been playing with "the bleed".  I like how the black fine liner bleeds purple and the purple fineliner (the second tile) bleeds pink.
Anyhoo...Thank you Suzanne for such a great challenge!


Guest blogger Susan Theron
J string
JV & O patterns: Japan Diamonds, Veezy and Ozzie

Joey's guest blogger is Susan Theron this week. As a tribute and thanks to Joey for her dedication to keeping us all inspired week to week, Susan created a cursive J string and asked us to use patterns of our own choosing representing the letters of Joey's initials.

Catching up with my "92 days" Journal prompts:







I have, for the moment, caught up with all of the Travelling Tangles I've had in my To Do box:


My finishes...

...to these two starters by Betsy Kent in Vancouver, Washington
These were for the July group swap prompted by "Printemps"

I loved the color effects, especially on the ATC. I used my water soluble Staedtler Triplus Fineliners and then dropped a bit of water to get a little bleeding action and refrained from shading so as not to obliterate the colors and texture of the paper.

This was another super fun finish...

...to this starter by Linda Brown Levin in  Fort Worth, Texas

My finish...

...to this starter by Stephanie Drewa in Wisconsin
for the August group swap prompted by Peach or Peaches

This is a piece of artwork I created for a cheese display at work:



My furry assistant
 helping me organize my Travelling Tangles in my album


Thanks so much for stopping by. Your thoughtful and generous comments delight and inspire me;-)