Diva Challenge 219 and Square One - focus tangle, Purk!

Hello again! How the weeks fly by. Loved Laura's running story and the 10k 'STOP' sign! I just wish someone could tell me it would be OK to stop from time to time.....

I won't bore you with the details but my trials this week involve making a teapot costume for my daughter's performance in the school play. They are doing 'Beauty and the Beast' and Romy is Mrs. Potts, the teapot. She has a big singing role and has to look as wonderful as she will sound. I am doing my best and currently sport plasters on my thumb, index and middle fingers in recognition of the work I am putting in behind the scenes!! Makes tangling difficult.

Fortunately, it was a 'straight lines only' challenge on the Diva's blog. Not sure it makes any difference, actually, but I'm prepared to think it might have proved more difficult with some curves to negotiate with my bandaged fingers. It took me a few minutes to remember that one of my own tangles could feature - Skwirl is all straight lines, but with some nifty shading, it gives a subtle hint at circles. I teamed it with Steps, by Helen Williams, and Paradox with an assymetrical nod at Florz in the background.

A great challenge - thank you Laura!

In addition, I managed - before the needles took their toll - a couple of tiles for the Facebook page, Square One - Purely Zentangle. I post them here because I gave both tiles away as little tokens of appreciation. One to a colleague who was nominated for a national award in Human Resources - and she made the top ten! The other to my daughter to wish her good luck in her performance next week.

Here they are - I do so love Purk!!

Underwater Purk

Purk with Nzepple, Aquafleur and
aaargh, the name escapes me but it's by Michele Beauchamp...
A new one to me and I love it!

Thanks for looking. Axxx

Diva Challenge 218 White on Black

The Diva had a 'low key' birthday last week - a relief, I should think, after all the dramas. I hope she has a great year, she really does deserve it and I'm sure there will be some good times ahead. I can see an improvement in little Artoo in the year that has passed and he has taken the hurdles in front of him with determination and courage. I hope things continue so in the years to come.

Our challenge this week was to tangle white on black or - if that wasn't possible or we chose otherwise - to tangle on something we had found. I knew that somewhere I had some black card. It took me an age to locate it and so I am saying this is my 'found' object. Is that OK?

I had an overwhelming urge to do a Zendala. There are not too many identifiable tangle patterns in this option, but you will see Zinger, some modified Japan Diamonds, Laced and Bales and a passing nod to Cyme. It was done on the scale of a Zentangle tile - you can just see my pencil outline I think - and I drew it entirely freehand, hence the irregularities!! LOVED doing it and will definitely be doing more. (Even though I have no shading on this at all and I am addicted to shading!) The lighter part in the top left is because I took a photo rather than scanning it.

Thank you and enjoy all the other contributions on Laura's blog, I am the Diva.

Have a great week! Axxx

Diva Challenge 217 - Dex and Bunzo (plus a bit of Cubine!)

Yet another busy and rather difficult week over in Laura's blogland...(and yes, I know it's real life too!) So much going on in her family's life and she's only just turning 35 this week. Happy Birthday Laura!!

She chose two tangles - one with 3 letters, Dex, and one with 5 letters, Bunzo - for the challenge this week and this should really have been my clue. 3 and 5 - Thirty Five. I'll get to the point in a mo.

It's been a really excessively hot week here in southern Spain. Isn't it always, I hear you ask. Well, no, it's not. I am in a town that is at about 1000 metres above sea level and the winters and the nights here can get jolly chilly. On Tuesday, I left home for work and the temperature was 7 degrees C (about 44 degrees F) and when I set off to come home in the early afternoon, it was a staggering 37 degrees C (almost 99 degrees F). This is not normal. It doesn't help choosing what to wear at the beginning of the day either.

My point is, I think the heat got to me this week. I read the Diva's weekly post and drew myself a string in preparation. Then my brain scrabbled the Square One Focus tangle for this week - which is Cubine - with Dex. Not that Cubine has 3 letters. But it's sort of square. And cubed. Oh well - I did Bunzo with Cubine instead of with Dex.

After I realised my mistake, I did another tile using the correct tangles, but you know what, I prefer Bunzo with Cubine. So this is my offering to Laura for her birthday. It's not a 35 though, it's a 56. I do apologise.  And what do you know: that will be my age this year. Makes you dippy but gives you a nice tangle as compensation! Happy Birthday Laura.

(My Cubine challenge for Square One was this one just so you know I'm not duplicating or recycling my tiles!)