Travelling tangles

I've recently begun participating in a Facebook group called the Travelling Tangles Project. I tangle part of a tile and send it to someone, and they do the same for me. Then we complete each other's tiles. I've received some very interesting 'beginnings' that I've been privileged to complete.

Here are some tiles I've received and how I finished them.

Pat Floerke in Nicaragua sent a zendala tile that she'd begun using blue, green, and purple ink as well as black. I used more. :) She began with Finery and Tipple and I added Pearlz, something related to Maryhill, and a sort of triangular Well with one side different!

Fellow Canadian Susan Szathmary sent a tile with a blue-green wash and some zippy green gems/pebbles. As soon as I placed it on the beige oatmeal paper to scan it I knew it had to be a shore scene. I added Floo for clouds, Tipple (Caviar version) for sand, and a tangle that's not public yet for waves.

I received a tile from Barb Mavraganis with spatters of dylusions ink. To her Mooka and Zenith I added Pixioze, Ruutz, and more Zenith.

Loretta West sent a classic black on white tile with some delicate, ribbony tangles. I stayed with that theme, but the center seemed to want to be darker.

Finally, here's an ATC begun by Debra Huff. I kept seeing trumpet-shaped flowers so I went with it.

If you'd like to join the fun, seek out Travelling Tangles Project on Facebook.

In a future post I'll show some tiles I've sent and how others finished them.

Gems ATC swap

You may have seen some beautiful, colorful gems making the rounds on various Facebook zentangle sites. They're gorgeous, fun, and somewhat addicting!

So many of the zentangle patterns are a delightful way to present and surround these vibrantly colored jewels. Lisa Fedele, another CZT, has organized an artist trading card swap of gems plus zentangle.

Here are my six cards for swapping, plus an extra - in thanks - for the intrepid organizer.

I'm quite pleased with the turquoise in the middle card, and less happy with my attempt to add a fossilized fly to the amber in the top one!

The color is achieved with water-soluable pencils, color pencils, and white ink. In some of the small pearl areas I used "Liquid Pearls" - a fun addition. I also glazed all the black backgrounds so they shine a bit.

Interested in trying this yourself? Kae Yoshino seems to have originated this craze. You can read her tutorial about creating these gems here. Eni Oken, another talented artist also has a gem tutorial here. Have fun! And don't say I didn't warn you! ;)

ATCs for Regina

Each year, Regina ATC and the MacKenzie Art Gallery collaborate on an annual display and trade of ATCs from around the world. 

"This year, the theme is “Place, Process, Collecting” — how does where we come from reflect in our work? What processes do we use to create art? How does what we collect inform what we make?"

The majority of the ATCs I make are the good parts from larger artwork that wasn't working as a large piece. I do a lot of houses (and other buildings) so I'm submitting cards with a house theme, trimmed down from something larger.

The deadline is April 6, so if you'd like to join in there's plenty of time, and more information here.

Here are the six cards I'm sending:

Missing U

Or: "I need to learn to read the instructions first"

Tangle U 2014! Late April! I'm going! I'm going to teach about Sacred Geometry and Hollibaugh on Steroids! I'm going to have great fun and learn lots! It starts a month from today!

Tangle U is an event for CZTs where we can meet others, learn a bunch of nifty things and try out ideas. There is going to be a tile swap called Missing U among those of us who are able to go and those who can't attend this year. "Missing U" - very cool idea. I got to work.

Then I got out the information to find out where to send them. Oh.
The theme is not "Missing U". The theme is OCEAN!!! Margaret, you nincompoop.
Well, more fun in store! Oceans. Blue and green. Blue and purple. Wavy tangles. Sparkles.
I charged ahead!

Tangles used in some or all of the above:
Black Pearlz, C-scape, Diva Dance, Dust Bunny, Lamar,
Msst, Opus, Paisley Boa, Paushalöv, Printemps,
Snaylz, Tipple, Wud (and a variation)

Back to the information. Oh.
I only need one. Or maybe two. Oh well, an extra one for the organizer! Full speed ahead!

Another angular Ensemble

Here is the last of three Ensembles I've done for swaps at events I'll be attending in the spring. They are a lot of fun to do, especially when the finished tiles are assembled and you see the whole thing for the first time.

Curvy ensemble

The organizers of Florida's Retreat to Paradise in April 2014 have planned an Ensemble swap.

Ensembles are one of Zentangle's products. There are two sets in a pack and each set consists of nine pre-strung white tiles. One has a  curvy string and one is angular. The string runs over all the tiles and the tiles compose a 3x3 tile piece of artwork. Just complete one tile and put it aside, pull out another and do it, etc.. Forget about whether the tangles match from tile to tile; the string holds it all together! Brilliant fun.

Here is my 'curvy' ensemble. I included one of my own tangles on each tile except two.

More eye candy (part 2)

Here is the second half of the ATC 'deck' I made for an upcoming swap among CZTs (we're a fun group!). The first half of the deck is here.

More eye candy!

As promised, here are close-ups of some of the ATCs I made for a swap among Certified Zentangle Teachers (CZTs). The original idea has morphed somewhat. We were to do 53 cards that could - in theory - be playing cards, to make a deck of cards. We're still making 53 cards (yikes!) but the idea, and the possible materials, opened up a lot. I still love paper and pen and pencil, and occasional gems!

This is the first half of the cards, numbers 1-24. Numbers 25-53 coming soon.

Angular Ensemble

Whoopee! I'll be attending the Retreat to Paradise in April 2014 in Florida. On Saturday I'll be teaching about mandalas and related topics. I'm still figuring it all out.

The organizers have also planned an Ensemble swap for any interested participants. Ensembles are one of Zentangle's products. There are two sets in a pack, one curvy and one angular. Each pack consists of nine pre-strung white tiles. The string runs over all the tiles and the tiles compose a 3x3 tile piece of artwork. Just complete one tile and put it aside, pull out another and do it, etc.. Forget about whether the tangles match from tile to tile; the string holds it all together! Brilliant fun.

Here is my 'angular' ensemble. Now to do the 'curvy' one!

TANGLES:
Tile #1: Auraknot, Gneiss, Ninja Stars, Paradox, Pearlz
Tile #2: Bilt, Chebucto, Cruze, Diamond Drop, Elven, Florz, Fohbraid
Tile #3: Black Pearlz, Bunzo, Jalousie, Screen
Tile #4: Black Pearlz, Knase, Romanancy, Tipple, Tortuca, Zedbra, stripes
Tile #5: Beadlines, Cyrano, Knot Rickz, Palrevo, Phuds, Tipple, a spiral
Tile #6: Black Pearlz, Braze, Cockles'n'Mussels, Paradox, Snugz, Tipple
Tile #7: Black Pearlz, Knot Rickz, Moving Day, Paizel, Tripoli, Wud
Tile #8: Bales, Crescent Moon, Crezn't, Ixorus, Lotus Pods, Romanancy, Tipple
Tile #9: Aquafleur, Black Pearlz, Diamond Panes, Krli-Q, Pearlz, Tipple

Earth Day swap

I'm involved in an Earth Day postcard swap among some of the CZTs. Earth Day is the fourth day of the fourth month, so we were asked to make four original cards. All the tangles used were to begin with the letters E-A-R-T or H. I only goofed a few times. :S

I'm quite impressed by outer space and how our planet is a tiny blue speck in the immensity of everything, so I did four little blue planets. They'll be in the mail tomorrow.

Tangles: somewhere above you'll find:
E - Emingle, Echoism
A - Assunta, Afterglo
R - Ragz
T - Tipple, Tripoli, Tidings, Tortuca
H - Hurakán, Hibred, Hurly Burly
(goofs: Black Pearlz, Knase, Seljuk)

2013

patsy monk has organized a new year ZIA postcard swap among some of the CZTs. I stuck with the classic black on white, on 4"x6" cards. The only real requirement was that the date "2013-01-01" appear on the card somewhere, somehow, and that we list the tangles we used on the back.

Sometimes I put "2013/01/01 in one section of the string. Here are two like that, both in the upper left corners:

I didn't do that with all of them. Sometimes I used '2013' as a string and placed the "01 01" in a section. Here are two like that. Can you find the "01 01" in each of them? 

("01 01" can be found in the lower left and upper left, respectively)

Sometimes I even used "2013 01 01" as the string. So here's a little puzzle for you: can you find "2013 01 01" on this card? Happy hunting! And Happy New Year (Gregorian that is)!

Tangles: Beadlines, Black Pearlz, Crossview, Drupe, Fleurette, Flux, Jalousie, Knightsbridge, Sanibelle, Tipple, and a triquetra

bookmark swap

As you've probably noticed, I'm really into mandalas. Because of that I do a lot of work on square paper but paper generally comes in rectangles. Sometimes this leaves me with thin strips of nice paper that I often use to make bookmarks. I got involved in a zentangle bookmark swap so I'm sending off three and will get three in return. Here are my contributions.

Tangles in red: Black Pearlz, Cadox, Paradox, Rouche, Tripoli
Tangles in black: Black Pearlz, Cadox, Jalousie, Zapateado, Zedbra
Tangles in blue: Black Pearlz, Cadox, Florz, N'zeppel, Paradox and stripes