Soothing

I figured out why I love Zentangle so much...it has a soothing effect on me.  I did this just before bedtime; I felt good doing it, shading it, and looking at it.  Better than a sleeping pill!  Good night!

Plaid

This tile started with Jane Monk's Plaid, featured in Tangled Patterns this week. I would like to work with this one again, now that I am a little more comfortable with it. I have no idea what that black line is down the middle...it is a zig zag thing that went quite wrong, but there it is.  

My Zentangle Kit Arrived !

. . . and I am delighted with it! :-)

Playing with Ixorus

Ixorus is stuck in my brain, I keep playing with it, and now I am chasing it!

Ixorus Challenge

The Diva's challenge this week is Ixorus, the newest Zentangle® pattern.  Read her blog and check out how others did this challenge.  My lines are always unsteady but I enjoyed this pattern and will work more with it.

Tangle Your Name Challenge

Since I began to tangle (sounds like a dance doesn't it?)  a little while ago (I'm a newbie to Zentangle® ) two people have been special mentor/teachers and my main resource for learning.  Kit Murdoch, introduced me to Zentangle and became my tangle mother, (I know I am older than she is!) encouraging, supporting, teaching, and showing the way.  I am thankful to this special lady, far away, on the opposite-underneath-side of the world for her friendship and encouragement--in many ways!  

My other mentor doesn't even know she has been influential and a great help. I have been one of  Linda Farmer's lurkers at TanglePatterns.com , happy just to sit in the shadows and learn.  Not only does Linda  create her own tangle patterns, she has created a central place with one huge organized listing of patterns. What a great resource!   I joined the site and look forward to email updates a few times a week.  Her site is THE place to find every tangle pattern on the internet...if she has missed a few it won't be long before she finds them!  

Recently, I have been coming out of the shadows and joining in...here and there.   The Diva has a weekly challenge that has been fun.  Then I saw Linda put one out a while ago...she asked us to tangle our names using patterns that begin with each letter of our name.  I was a little daunted, there are 13 letters in my online name, 7 in my first name...didn't think I could do it.  I decided to have a go at it and here is the tangle.

I decided to begin with a sort of string that are the letters in my name.  I liked the look of it and had great expectations for this tangle.

I looked up patterns with the letters I needed (thank you Linda) and made some choices.  Once the first h and t were tangled, I realized I could have made a better choice, hindsight is so clear...the h and t almost blend, there is little difference in tone...sigh!  I liked the letters empty but once tangled, the white spaces looked strange but I didn't want to add other patterns, maybe I should have repeated some but I decided to try to unify everything with the lines in the background.  I think I got in a fuddle. ;-)  Breathe in, breath out slowly!

I was going to redo it but decided to post it and move forward!  I am still learning and this has been fun, a fine lesson and another step.  Smiling, breathing and learning here!

Orbs Challenge

Laura Harms, aka The Diva, challenge this week is orbs or circles or hopefully anything roundish. This is what happened when I tangled.  I could not, for the life of me, draw a steady line this evening...but as they say, there are no mistakes in Zentangle. :-|

Starry Eyed Surprise

Laura Harms' 4th weekly challenge was a surprise!   I tried a few stars free-hand but couldn't continue, I needed a more repetitive way so I used my own version of a star, one I learned as a child, and then it was easy to do them quickly and use them as fill.  This was fun and whimsical.  I finally did a tangle in record time!  The shading here is done with a silver pencil but it doesn't show very well in the photo--I think it is quite pretty on the paper.  Thank you Laura or another fun challenge!

Grace's Tangle

Grace, my daughter-in-law, tangles when she visits! She was looking through some tangle patterns tonight and liked this one named Drupe. I think she might be hooked on tangling! ;-)

Eyes Wide Shut

Laura Harms aka I am the Diva's challenge this week was to draw the tangle string with our eyes closed.  I think I like my string better than I like the strings I draw with my eyes open! ;-)  The patterns used in this tangle are Bales and Baton.

My string drawn with eyes closed but the tile is drawn with eyes open.  I don't have a Zentangle kit yet so mostly use my moleskin book for tangles.

Framed Tangle from DreamScribe

Kit (DreamScribe) kindly sent me one of her Zentangle(R) creations and I loved it so much I had it framed. It is back from the framer today and sitting on my diningroom wall. I just love it. Her work is exquisitely beautiful! Thank you, Kit!

Two Pencil String

Laura Harms aka I am the Diva's second weekly challenge is to tangle with a 2-pencil string.  This is my tentative entry...I kept it simple, still have trouble with Betweed, practiced a few times on Paradox (top left) and I'm happy with how it turned out. I'm not so sure I like the string, I flubbed it a little at the bottom. Might just try another tangle for this challenge...mixed feelings about this one.

No, I am not going to change it...I did some thinking and that is not the attitude Zentangle promotes.  There are no mistakes (having a little trouble with that part) and tangling is supposed to be relaxing not ending in self criticism.  I have decided to be happy with it because I was happy doing it!  Lesson learned! 8-)

Simple Christmas

Laura Harms (I Am The Diva) first weekly Zentangle® challenge is Simplicity.  Click on the link to see her post.
I am going to get a scanner one of these days because it is difficult to get decent camera shots of these tangles!

A new (to me) string idea

I needed string inspiration. If I don't like the string, I don't feel like doing a tangle and most of my strings I am not happy with because of my trembling hands.

I saw the tangles done at Kit's workshop and liked the looped strings. Then in my grocery flyer this week, I saw double loops around a graphic...and really liked that. So, I snatched the idea.  Tomorrow I will finish this tangle.

Tangle finished and I added a little shading...might need a bit more.

Short Circuits Complete

Click on the images to view larger

Well, I went on to finish this tangle that I was so discouraged with at the start in my last post and I actually like how it turned out!  And I am keeping the title Short Circuit.  I notice that besides the hands that do not control the pen the way I want them to, my eyes do not move at the right speed as I follow my pen and it slows me down which makes the lines mess up.  The whole exercise is a balancing thing.  I find short strokes easier to do, long ones are sure to go awry.  Orbs or circles often become odd shapes but, here, dark fill took care of it.  I have to learn to accept my short circuits and even make them work for me.

The image in the left is almost finished, the one on the left finished with a little shading.

Short Circuits

This is the beginning of a new tangle.  I woke up, made some coffee and sat down to tangle a little before I go out to do a final cleanup on the patio.  My hands tremble more than usual this morning...so it this pattern is quite different than Suzanne McNeil's "River."  I had difficulty making the pen go where I wanted.

The neurologist at the MS Clinic told me this week that my brain has short circuits.  There is nothing they can do for it. 

Sipping my coffee as I "drew" the lines, I was feeling bad about the evidence of my impaired small motor control staring back at me.  I used to have perfect control over my lines and my writing. I used to do calligraphy, used to teach it to others at craft classes.  These days, I even type, Post-it notes because my writing is so bad. 

A friend sends me daily horoscopes, just for fun, and the email arrived with today's horoscope.  What a shock I had when I read the subject line.   It is Friday.  I did not go to work today, thinking it was Saturday.  I knew the day last night, I was confused this morning.  Will have to start leaving notes on the night table so I am told what day it is when I wake up.  I called in sick...I can't let them know.

Tangling Tired

I am experiencing lots of MS symptoms lately, I come home tired and sleep much of the evening. I started this tangle weeks ago and finished on the weekend...just working on it a few minutes at a time. I didn't care if I was slow, just enjoyed doing it. What's the rush anyway? I find creating these tangles good therapy, good for focus, small motor control and just plain relaxing.

Moving along . . . trying some new (to me) things

This is quite a bit larger than the zentangle tiles, I made this one in my 5" by 7" sketch journal.  I held two pencils to draw the strings, and filled them in at the end.





Every day I worked a little on it, whenever I had a few minutes or just craved to get at it again. Tonight I finished it and signed my name in the tangle.



Usually, I have no idea what pattern I will do next, and at times need a little inspiration for the next section.  I watched a video of the Zentangle Master Class where a lady had a bracelet with tangle patterns in disks, one side the tangle pattern, the other side the name.  I think this might be a good idea for me!  Or, simply keeping a small journal of tangle patterns. 

Zentangle of the Day

A few of the tangle patterns used today are Zizyphus, Ennies, Beelight, Warped Eggs and Snakeskin. Those little curls and dots near the Zizyphus don't really have a name...I just filled in some doodles.Again, there are things I absolutely love about the finished tangle and things I find not so good.  I will let you all know when I am perfect...but don't hold your breath. ;-)

I would love to get the book Totally Tangled, I am just balking at shipping costs but I will eventually give in.  It would make a great Christmas gift...wouldn't it?  In the meantime,  I have been collecting jpgs of tangle patterns, printing them and referring to them when I am doing a tangle of my own. My brain doesn't always come up with a pattern, so it helps to have something to refer to.  I am still unable to complete these things in 15 minutes but I am enjoying it all.

Rebekah sent me a message yesterday to show me her first Zentangle...Wow!  It was lovely!

Caught in a Tangle

I really enjoyed doing today's tangle. I decided to try something a little different.  Instead of a string, I used a simple drawing and also added some shading but I'm not too sure about the shading, it doesn't make sense...so I just might think about it then erase the shading and do it over. I'll add the new version if I do.