Friday, May 30, 2014

Circles strings

On this tile I've used a series of circles as the string: one in the center and one going off the edge on each side. I considered using color -  the four colors of the four directions in either Buddhism or a native American culture, but in the end I decided to go with simple black. It was also a good opportunity to use some tangles that are essentially circular in format.
Tangles: Caviar, Drupe, Fracas, Knightsbridge, Kuke, Starburst

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Three tiles with color

In this first tile I decided to do the string in ink, a kind of ink that bleeds when in contact with water. Then I spritzed some blue acrylic paint onto the tile and let it dry. I tangled in blue and black inks, added some white too, and used 2B and blue pencils for shading.
Tangles: Crescent Moon, Diva Dance, Firecracker,
Jalousie, Munchin, Romanancy, Tipple, and stripes with highlights

This tile began as a quick demo of six lines that could be used to construct a string to make a lotus or star on a round tile. I was about to throw it out when I thought, "No, I could do something with that."
Tangles: Crescent Moon, Florz, Paisley Boa, Tipple, Zedbra, Zewm
When I was doing some Ensemble tiles recently, one of the side tiles struck me as looking like a prairie landscape (if I turned the tile sideways). I copied the string on another tile and did a wash in blue and yellow, then tangled.
Tangles: Crescent Moon, Dust Bunny, Finery, Fracas,
Go 4th and Multiply, Ixorus, Pop-Cloud, Tipple

Friday, May 23, 2014

5 'R's. 2 challenges.

Rain. Rixty. Riverstones. Ripples. River.

Rain is the Diva's challenge this week. Use the tangle alone, or with others.
The other four are from Adele Bruno's "It's a String Thing" challenge. She's using one of my string ideas, and four R tangles.

So, for Laura, I did this tile:
Tangles: Caviar (Tipple variation), Rain, Tripoli, and Aura
And for Adele I did this one:
Tangles: Ripples, River, Riverstones, Rixty
Then I thought why not do a tile using all five R tangles:
Tangles: Aura, Rain, Ripples, River, Riverstones, Rixty

Thursday, May 22, 2014

iPhone case

When I got the case for my iPhone it was a lovely turquoise. In the past year and a half it has faded, or something, and is now a dull, slightly bluish yellowy green, sort of. I was thinking of buying a new case, but then I thought "I could tangle it!". This took part of an afternoon and I'm very happy with it!


I also tangled the front, top and bottom. However, it's a different sort of plastic and the marks were not as crisp and it started rubbing off after a few days. I removed the plastic covering and now these two parts are parts of history.

I used a Sakura Microperm pen and I'm becoming quite a fan. It can write on all sorts of surfaces and is what we used to tangle clam shells at Retreat to Paradise in early April.

Monday, May 19, 2014

Paisley platypus

Here's another of the Australian shapes given to me by CZT Jenny Farrell when she was visiting Saskatoon recently. She referred to is as "our pushmi-pullyu" and in case you're having trouble telling head from tail, the head is on the right, with two eyes. :)
Tangles: Crescent Moon, Droplets, Paisley Boa, Tipple and elements of Cruffle.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Well. Punzel needs practice.

A duotangle challenge again! The two tangles are Well, which I've done a few times and rather enjoy, and Punzel, which I really like the look of but find challenging to draw.

Earlier this week I had the lovely opportunity to visit with Laura (the challenge Diva), Lisa Heron (CZT from nearby Regina), and Jenny Farrell (CZT from far-away Melbourne Australia). Jenny gave us some Aussie cut-outs for potential tangling, and I did this week's challenge on the Australia shape.


I started with Punzel on the far right, from Mungkan Kandju National Park to Melbourne. I totally botched it, but it's still interesting!
I tried again, in the middle, in a north-south route through Alice Springs. It's a little less wayward, but still not Punzel or even Chainging. I decided that perhaps I should check the instructions. Aha! Discovered where I was going wrong.
Third try lucky. And fourth. Both in Western Australia.
Then I added various incarnations of Well in the blank spots. That was easy.

And here's a photo of we four CZTs, on Laura's fabulous new deck.
Margaret, Jenny, Laura, Lisa

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Somnee?

Things have calmed down slightly and I'm so happy to participate in the weekly challenge again! This week we are trying a tangle designed by the Diva herself. She's thinking of calling it Somnee; I think that's a good name since it was developed during a bout of insomnia. :)

I tried it a few different ways...

First, here's my second try, with a few different backgrounds.
Tangles: Black Pearlz, Knightsbridge, Tipple, Somnee?
I've been wanting to try a Renaissance (tan) tile using brown and black, and this seemed like a good opportunity. This new tangle brought to mind Bridgen and Tink (very similar tangles), and also Pendrills. I included them in this tan tile. I used a lot of tools here too: black ink, white ink, brown ink, gray ink, white pencil, brown pencil, gray pencil, and zenstone.
Tangles: Bridgen/Tink hybrid, Pendrills, Somnee?
Then on a black tile, with white pencil and zenstone. There's also some Glaze ink but it doesn't show well here.
Tangles: just Somnee
Finally, here's my first attempt, when I didn't have the step-outs handy. A heart seemed to be appearing in the background, so I let it develop.
Tangles: Beadlines, Pearlz, Tipple, and Somnee?

Sunday, May 4, 2014

I'm ba-a-a-ack! With two zendalas.

I feel I haven't posted anything for a very long time, but it's only been two weeks! Although my posts have been rarer than usual recently.

At the beginning of April was Retreat to Paradise, and at the end of April was Tangle U. I was doing a lot of thinking and planning and preparation for classes I was to teach at both events. In the end I didn't make it to Tangle U (that's a whole story itself) and now I've been sick with a horrible hacking cough for more than a week and had no energy. The blog found itself on the back-burner.

Now my scanner has decided it can't find the computer (although the computer can find the printer, and scanner and printer are the same piece of equipment - go figure) so I'm relying on phone and camera for now and the pictures are not as good. I want to show you two pre-strung zendala tiles I did recently.

In the tile below I used the string to create a see-through grill. Then I did another random string throughout, and used that for sections to tangle. I shaded the same side of each grill section to enhance the idea of the tangles being behind the white.

Tangles: Black Pearlz, Cruffle, Dansk, Emingle, Fiore, Gewgle, Knightsbridge,
Lotus Pods, Magma, Printemps, Tipple, Yew-Dee

In this colored one I used the Rounding enhancement almost everywhere. In addition to the color wash I also used a white pen, a gray pen, and pencil shading.
Tangles: Pearlz, Rounding, Tipple
Posts may continue to be slow for a while. Tomorrow my youngest daughter arrives for a visit. Next week Laura the Diva CZT and I will be having fun with a couple of other CZTs, Lisa Heron from Regina SK and Jenny Farrell from Australia. Can't wait for that!