Diva Challenge #284, Made by Joey #130 and a few Travelling Tangles

Diva Challenge #284

Tripoli Monotangle

aaaaahhhh....uuuurrrggghh! Tripoli. I do love Tripoli. I love it when done by the capable hands of others. I don't know why such a simple pattern vexes me so. It all starts off well, but for me it goes off-the-rails quickly. That's why I kept this one small. It worked;-) I made a ton of ATC's using this awesome coloring technique by Susan Rink Olsen, and used the colors as a suggestion of a string. I've been collecting triangle fragment fills in my sketchbook and intend to have another go at this. someday.

Made by Joey #130 

Finish my Tile: Tipple corners

Joey started this weeks tile:

I'm back to the ATC's this week.

I got overly ambitious with my Traveling Tangle commitments so I've gotta get caught up. I was so happy to see some Diva regulars over at The Travelling Tangles Project this week, so I was anxious to get some exchanges going.
Anyhoo...first up was this gorgeous bundle of fun from Anne Marks in Australia. She sent me a lovely laminated bookmark. I love this idea. I'm gonna steal it;-)

Here's how I finished it. I had to ponder this for quite a while before I had the courage to take my pen to it. I see this a lot in the comments over at the TTP. Fear of ruining someone else's art. I went through a stack of my favorite tiles until I found something I thought would compliment Anne's line work. This was inspired by a piece I'd done several months ago, prompted by another Aussie, Helen Williams at A Little Lime. I love how this turned out. We can be our own inspiration!

This next beauty graced my mailbox a few days ago from Toby Schwartz in Illinois. The prompt was an Autumn inspired piece. I can't tell you how thrilled I was to open my mailbox the day I received this:

Here's my finish. This was such a joy to complete. I love Sandswirl. I could draw it forever.

If you're not yet tired of looking at my Travelling Tangles, check out my post from this weekend. It includes my collaborations with the amazing Margaret Bremner and the lovely Simone Menzel. My String Challenge entry is there too.

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

Diva Challenge #236, That's New to Me #38 & Made by Joey #79

Diva Challenge #236~"Tangle Unexpected"

The idea is to tangle on something other than your traditional paper. I shall admit to cheating right off the bat because this wasn't entirely "unexpected".  I'm always picking up interesting postcards and coasters that make me think "ooooh, I could tangle on this sometime" in anticipation of challenges of this ilk, but this is the first time I've ever done it. The glossy surface was both nice to draw on but some of the wetter parts took longer to dry than expected so I had a few smears.

I knew this had tangling potential from the get-go.

That's New to Me Challenge #38

explore a new "Z" pattern

"Zag V" by Helen Williams

I'm on a bit of a Helen Williams kick this week after receiving her eBook " Three Little Rules", so when I started searching "Z" tangles, "Zag V" jumped out at me and I knew I had to get to work. I love this pattern and I shall use it often. The Facebook group Square One: Purely Zentangle is focusing on "Meringue" this week, and though I've yet to create a tile for the group, Helen's tutorial has me flinging "Meringue" everywhere I can.

a work-in-progress piece from Helen's eBook.

Made by Joey Challenge #79

"Pea nuckle"

Oh boy, this challenge really vexed me! I've attempted to practice "Pea nuckle" before because I love the way it looks, but I ALWAYS give up because I can not get it right. This is a hot mess under the shading and my watercolor ATC also masks a multitude of errors. I watched Ellen Wolters You Tube video and though it made much more sense, I still had trouble with it. I'm hoping to get another go at it.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Your generous and thoughtful comments always inspire me.

Diva Challenge #203 & Made by Joey #46

This weeks challenge at I am the Diva is a UMT~Use My Tangle. The pattern is called "Athitzi" , submitted by Seven.

The heart, oddly enough, was my idea. I do not buy into the whole Valentine's Day concept, but I'm sticking with my plan to create Valentine inspired designs.  Several of my favorite blogs are issuing challenges using heart themed patterns and this is what's in my toolbox at the moment. 

I was quite amazed to see how many heart themed patterns there are out there and how much fun they are to draw. 

I'm really liking "Athitzi". It's so versatile and really relaxing to draw. I want to keep doing more and since resurrecting my art school set of Rapidograph technical pens, I'm jazzed that I managed to clean 15 years worth of gunk out of them, I'm enjoying playing with all the line widths.

This is the challenge for Made by Joey: using heart-y tangles.

 Made by Joey Challenge #46

patterns used: Heartfully, Heartstrings, Heartvine & Hearty

There are several gorgeous heart patterns at A Little Lime