Diva Challenge 187

Close your eyes...and draw a string. That was the challenge from Laura this week on her Diva Challenge.

And that's just what I did last night....and here is what I drew.

OK, I did bring a couple of the lines down to the edge of the tile, so that I didn't have a big open space...I was blindly heading towards the edge, honest. I was half-pleased that I'd got such a decent string to work with and half-miffed that I hadn't got something really unusual...but I stuck with what I did.

I chose my tangles 'blindly' too - by randomly selecting a tangle from the changing header selection on Linda Farmer's Tangle Patterns blog - which is a page that's almost always open on my computer! And I found I had to do some tangles I'd never done before....PLUS one that I had wanted to try, which was Lily Moon's Amphora.

Here it is. I had received some new pens in the post, including a 0.05 nib, which was such a treat to work with.

Florez, Amphora, Pippin, Wud and Jalousie.

Looking forward to seeing what you've posted for this challenge...you have posted, haven't you?

String Thing 59, Cheryl's Artful Creations, Square One and a Wacky Tangle!

These are four 'challenges' that appear on a weekly basis, in addition to the Diva's, which is still one of the most popular. However, it's lovely to have so much inspiration to create Zentangle.

Adele Bruno's challenge is 'String Thing' and based on a new string and a defined set of tangles - although Adele is never 100% prescriptive and welcomes the 'Frayed Knot' (sorry, this relates to a joke I am fond of, but I'm hopeless at telling jokes. You may know it and if you don't, the answer is 'I'm afraid not...' Never mind!) And this week, we were given this string and the tangles 'Oke' and 'Meringue'.

As the string is based on 'Oke', rather predictably, I used this as the beginning of my tangle and just continued from there. I can't wait to see what everyone else has done with it this week! Here is mine.

It's a little while since I did Cheryl's Artful Creations challenge. We were working through the alphabet, which was great fun - and now, she is suggesting we choose tangles based on a different selection of three letters each week. This week, the letters are T, E and M. And there are some lovely ones! Lots and lots and lots! It was a challenge to pick just a few, but here are mine: Eyfylis, Meer, a little Meringue(ish), Twile and a wave to TwentyOne. I really enjoyed this one - Twile (Stoic) is a new one for me and wow, did it hit the Zen spot!!

Then, the weekly challenge posted on Facebook, Square One, Purely Zentangle, which is great for doing a tile-sized tangle using only pen and pencil. It really helps focus the mind and this week, the tangle chosen is 'Betweed' - the very first tangle that set me off on the Zentangle path. And I was in love immediately! I did this one last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Tipple is the perfect partner for it and I thought 'Aah' added just the right amount of 'awe' in the background. I'm happy with this one, can you tell? Aw! 

And finally, another Facebook challenge - the Wacky one! This group encourages ZIAs and wider expressions in Zentangle but also to push the boundaries of individual tangles. A while ago, we were issued with 'Crusade' and I did a tangle but wasn't sure if I liked it enough to post. However, a revisit has made me feel differently about it - does this every happen to you? I rather like it now and thought it should make an appearance here, if only for posterity!

Crusade: a very lovely tangle. 

Well, that about sums it up!! Hope you've enjoyed taking part in the challenges. Axxx

Diva Challenge 186

It's definitely feeling autumnal here in Spain - still sunny, still very hot some days - as the days grow shorter, the nights are definitely chilly and there's a nip in the air.

We don't get the glorious colours of fall though. Surrounded by olive groves, whose silvery green leaves stay the same colour all year round, I miss the goldens, oranges and reds that I enjoyed in England. However, we get a little morning mist and goodness me, what mellow fruitfulness there is all round! Glut is the word I use though it's not half as poetic!

And our summer canopy of vine is hanging heavy with sweet little green grapes. I have resisted the lure of 'Bronx Cheer' though, and just chosen the shape of the vine leave for my tangle and have just filled it with some of my favourite tangles in the simplest possible manner. Great ZEN even if I'm not totally happy with the result....(my leaf didn't quite fit on the paper; my feathers are pathetic and I don't really like the mismatch between the strong, bold patterns and the softer, lighter ones that I have chosen) but here it is and I'm not really trying to excuse it!

A lovely challenge issued by Laura on 'I am the Diva' and, I am sure, there will be some stunning entries too - do check them all out! I can't wait to do that. Happy tangling.

Another take on Dex and my tangle 'Skwirl'.

I did another tangle for the Square One - Purely Zentangle challenge over on Facebook this week. I included a tangle I have recently created which is based on something that 'did the rounds' on Facebook too...

Picture from an original on Facebook

I was fascinated by this and thought what a great tangle it would make.






I have simplified things but obviously, shading and more lines could make it look even more intricate but if you like the 'pop' of Zentangle, you'll love this one!








Here it is with another squares and lines one, Dex:

And these are my stepouts together with a little ZIA. You can add more 'circles' if you see them...for example, look at step 2 and you might just see a big circle that could go around all four squares....give it a go and let me know!

Diva Challenge, String Thing and Square One - Purely Zentangle

Although it's some time since I posted on my tangle blog, I have been tangling all summer - including taking part in an arts and crafts fair at a beautiful local 'cortijo' or rural house. I was asked to run some workshops and have to say they were well attended and well received - I'm spreading the Zentangle word here in southern Spain.

This week's Diva Challenge was to do a duotangle using Phicops and Diva Dance. This in celebration of the Diva's 10 years of wedded bliss to B-rad. And the tangles are special as B-rad created Phicops and Diva Dance was created for the Diva by Rick and Maria!

I took a peek at what others had done this week, which I don't usually do before completing my own and there were some really jaw-dropping entries...wow! Mine is less than wow and I was tempted to leave it out but it's so long since I took part that I have decided to share anyway. Here it is - a diva dancing Phicops!

And it's also an age since I did a String Thing entry, so I made a great effort to do one this time. Adele's challenge is always a pleasure to take part in and even if I don't take part, I like to see what everyone else has done and enjoy the different takes on the same set of tangles and one string. Fascinating. Here is my entry - there are some rather wibbly Girders here, nothing structurally sound at all!

What I have really enjoyed is the Facebook Square One challenge during the past few weeks. It's focused me on using a tile and sticking to the Zentangle basics and it's been such good fun.

I am going to include a couple that I have done recently. It's good to see quite a few familiar names and styles also taking part in this challenge. A lot of people do Zentangle! This week, we've been challenged to do 'Dex' and I decided on a monotangle with a string found on Tangle Patterns - Number 105. And then I added a bit of Fescu that was still lingering in my mind and my pen from the week before....

This is the entry for the Fescu challenge, which also includes some Ing, which was the challenge from the Diva last week.

And then I did another Ing-based tangle which has now been sent, on a card, to an old friend in the UK for his birthday, together with a bookmark. (I hope he won't be disappointed as I used to always send him some of my homemade chocolates, but I am not making them anymore....) Sorry it's a bit out of focus...

And I shall be endeavoring to keep up to date and checking on what all my favourite tanglers are doing from now on. 

Happy tangling.

Ax