Tackle it Tuesday, Wacky Tangle Challenge and A String Thing!

My very first Renaissance tile!! How I have longed to do one of these. My mum is visiting from the UK and brought me a big pack of them along with some gorgeous Copic pens - a Sepia one and two 0.05 fineliners. Oh frabjous day!

This is my tile for the 'I' tangles on Cheryl's Artful Creations blog - I used a variation on Ixorus, Ilana and Inapod...some of my peas escaped!

I so love the blend of colours but I am still a complete novice, especially when it comes to adding highlights and shadows! So off to do another one just now for the Wacky Challenge, which is looking at Initials.

I chose an 'S' as this is for my friend, Sam, who is leaving our beautiful town of Alcala la Real today to go back to Scotland. Not through a 'heart' choice, but a financial head one. I shall miss her very, very much. Bon voyage and good luck, Sam. 

I missed Adele Bruno's 'String Thing' last week simply because I forgot to send her my tile - but I've sent it this week.

This is the original string, 031, by Pat Ferguson/



and our tangles were:
Paushalöv by CZT Amy Brody
Pavonia by Angie Shade
Paizel by CZT Angie Vangalis
Palvero by Karry Heun








I could possibly have copied the string a little better - I made the central loop too 'square' on - but it was a good opportunity to learn some new tangles and practice on the tan tile....

Do check out the amazing variety of tiles sent in for Adele's lovely challenge - it's always so interesting to see how different people interpret the same instructions! The tangles are usually posted on Monday evening (for me here in Spain).

Diva Challenge 164. Earth Day

Tuesday is Earth Day, or as Laura´s son, Chewie, has renamed it, Amanda Day! How lovely. Our challenge this week was to do something appropriate to mark this day.

Living in the country, as we do, I feel much closer to the Earth now than I have at other times of my life. We are busy planting trees and tending our bit of land. We're not quite as green as we might one day be, but we are striving to do our bit and to be as planet conscious as possible. For more information, visit the Earth Day website and see what you could do to make a difference.

I decided to be brave and embrace colour this week. I haven´t coloured my tangles but I did use a page that I prepared with colour, using my daughter´s gouache colours from Djeco. They´re gorgeous colours and I chose ones that resonated with the earth and the sea.

I loved doing this one so much and although drawing on the paint was a challenge at times, I´m pleased with the result of using colour in this new way for me. There´s no hidden significance to the tangles I chose. I just wanted to celebrate the day with something a little different for me. Let me know what you think, won´t you?

Thanks Laura aka I am the Diva (and Chewie) for such a great challenge. Make sure you check out all the entries as there are sure to be some fantastic ones this week.

And let´s all think seriously about our beautiful planet, not just tomorrow, but always.

Wacky Tangle Challenge, A String Thing 36 and Artful Creation Challenge...'H'

Another great set of challenges to take part in this week.

Via Facebook, I take part in the Wacky Tangle Challenge and this week, it was suggested we tangle a favourite quote. Well, I don't really have one but it occurred to me that 'O, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive' might be rather a good one to choose. I had always thought this was something Shakespeare had written....and I was wrong! Apparently, it is by Walter Scott! I was very glad to know this in case I ever have the chance to share this knowledge in the future...

I only used the first part of the quote and wish that I'd thought to aura all the words so that they stand out as well as 'weave' does....but never mind, I quite like it.

Tangles used: Cadent, Huggins, Verdigogh, Mist, Florz, Diva Dance, Worms, Ornamato, Quandary, Trumpits, Shattuck and Ditto ..oh, and a little bit of Agua!

Next came the challenge from Cheryl on her Artful Creations blog, Tackle it Tuesday. This week, it's all H tangles. I chose a new one for me called HiCs, which I LOVE! Plus Hurry, Henna Drum and Hollibaugh.

And finally, Adele's regular String Thing Challenge! A very 's' shape but the tangles were all to begin with 'Bu' in honour of the String's creator, Bunny Wright.


Bucky and 
Bunzo - official Zentangle® patterns
Bubbles by CZT Suzanne McNeill
Buttercup by CZT Sandy Bartholomew

Bucky was a tricky one and new to me, but I gave it my best shot and gave it a bit more space that the string really offered..... I think this tile is quite strange but I don't dislike it.

Thanks for popping by - do let me know what you think! Axxx

Diva Challenge #163 - Rixty!

Thank you Laura - your post and challenge this week was full of love and lovely children. And as I undertook this one, my own children were watching a bizarre film called 'Coraline' which I am sure influenced my tangling. It's not dark, as was the film, but it definitely has a bizarre quality to it and I don't recognise it as 100% something 'mine'! But I was feeling full of love when I did it, so perhaps that explains the large Mooka 'heart'...?

Rixty has a cartoon quality to it and so my tile has a very black, white and red theme. I really enjoyed it and hope you'll let me know what you think.

Happy Easter to you all.

Rixty, Mooka, Aqua, LaBel

The String Thing, Wacky Tangle and Artful Creations Challenges

This week, I've done a tangled egg for the Wacky Zentangle Challenge that runs on Facebook. This is a new find and I've enjoyed the challenges I done thus far. The egg is a favourite shape and usually at this time of year, I am making them out of chocolate but this year, I simply don't have the time.
This is my submission, which you must imagine is in white and milk chocolate!

It includes Sand Swirl, Printemps, Flux, Florz, Quandary, Diva Dance, Echoism, Crescent Moon, Shattuck, Nzeppel and a couple of others whose names escape me just at the moment.....

After I'd done it, I had an overwhelming urge to use some colour on it...and am pleased with the result although the lovely gold accents don't show up on the scanned copy.

I also dashed off a tangle for Adele Bruno's 'A String Thing' which needed to be in today - I had only a little time to do it, but it was a lovely one to do, using this string:



and patterns Cadent, Crescent Moons, Cayke and Chillon.

And this is my attempt, sorry - contribution!

As always, great fun to do but the best bit is seeing all the other contributions together on Adele's blog on Mondays! Amazing variations and wonderful tangling. Do check them all out. 

And finally, Cheryl's Artful Creation Challenge, which this week is to do a tile using just tangles beginning with the letter 'G'. I chose Girlande, Golven, Groovy and Good Joss.  I think you can see I did this and the one above one after the other - they don't really seem very much different to me...

Happy Easter Week! 

Diva Challenge #162

In a real rush this week as we're upgrading our computers and nothing seems to work properly....at the moment. (And I have my fingers crossed as I say that - no easy task when typing!) And sorry about the shaded edge on my tile - I drew it in a notebook I bought at the wonderful Alhambra in Granada this weekend. What an inspiring place to visit - and paradise for a Zentangle practitioner!!

I didn't think to capture my string before I started tangling - my initials are AT and I do them one on top of the other, with the cross bar of the A sharing the cross bar of the T - quite obvious when you see my tangle!

I decide to use only those tangles that started with A and T as well, to make it even more personal and that way, got to try a few I didn't already know.

Great challenge by the lovely Laura on I am the Diva. Thanks for looking - let me know what you think and don't forget to see all the other great contributions on Laura's blog.

Ax

Artful Creation challenges

I am very happy to have found another lovely lady, Cheryl, who is issuing weekly challenges to those of us who enjoy them. Indulging in my Zentangle hobby is one thing, but sharing ideas and images with like-minded others is what I really love about it all. So thank you Cheryl and your Artful Creations blog - I am so glad to have found you!

I join when the challenge has reached the letter 'F'. There are lots and lots of tangles that I love that begin with this letter. I have chosen just a few - and in the end, I did this very quickly and it didn't come out quite as well as I'd hoped - but I'm going with it. Maybe next week, when I assume we'll be doing 'G', I can make a little more time available. Looking forward to that already.

I used Fengle, Fassett, Florz, Fife and Flux. Fabulous five!!

I have seen some familiar names in the submission for this week so will be off to check out what they've done. Please do the same and let us know what you think!

Diva Challenge #161 - Quandary

Our challenge issued by Laura, on IamtheDiva, this week was to see how we all 'do' the tangle 'Quandary'....are we perfectionists, do we use a grid, is it difficult or do we love it? I always thought it was difficult because I am so much of a NON-perfectionist that I am usually very slapdash about it - and often lose the pattern completely.

I like the tangle very much and loved Laura's tile this week - it was as perfect as I can imagine...although I haven't looked at the submissions from everyone else yet! I'm always amazed at the imagination, skill and sheer artistry that results from these challenges.

My own submission this week shows I did put a bit more effort into getting the tangle right...no grid, of course, and a few extra rice grains managed to sneak in where they shouldn't...but it was fun to do and wonderful practice. Maybe there'll be time to have another go!!

I did have time for another go - and again, really enjoyed this one too. I could have perhaps been a little more careful with the 'sparkle' on my big Quandary....my inexperience showing here and a bit of a shaky hand today. But I feel this challenge has really given me the opportunity to practice a very versatile tangle. Thank you!