Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom



The dew of compassion is a tear.  Lord Byron


Iza with dew drops by Adele Bruno, CZT









Tuesday, June 28, 2016

"It's a String Thing" #151

It's Tuesday, your good news day!

I am still basking in the glow of the tiles from our Zensquicentennial celebration and all of your good wishes.  Perhaps that is why sunshine keeps coming to mind - and with thoughts of sunshine come reminders of a tangle I am very fond of, but first...

Let's begin with this simple string ~
IAST #151 String by Adele Bruno, CZT

The string has just two arcs, but feel free to add as many as you would like.

The tangle I was referring to above is:

Floatfest by Carole Ohl, CZT
This pattern flows nicely on an arc.
Past posts of mine that include this fabulous tangle can be found
HERE
HERE
and
HERE  (I really do like it.)

We will also use:

Ahh by Maria Thomas, Zentangle® co-founder
It is the Fourth of July week here in the USA, so we will have to add some fireworks to our tiles.
click here for the link to my past post that includes my notes on the pattern.



Here are the (Not so) Official Guidelines: 
* Challenges are posted on Tuesdays.
*Use the string posted for the week and patterns that begin or contain the letter(s) indicated
* Submit a photo of your tile saved as jpg or scan your tile (300 dpi or higher) and save as a jpg
*Email your jpg file as an attachment to - brunoadelem@gmail.com
*Entries are to be submitted by Saturday evenings.
*Photos and 'Best of Show' are posted on Mondays. 


Send in your photos - you will encourage and inspire fellow Zentangle® enthusiasts all over the world.  WHEN YOU SIGN YOUR NAME, PLEASE INCLUDE WHERE YOU LIVE.  
FOR EXAMPLE:   ADELE BRUNO (FLORIDA)

PLEASE NOTE: It is not necessary for you to have a blog or website to participate. 
In order to eligible for the drawing, you must send in your completed tile.

If you do have a blog or website, I will add a link upon request. 
Please include the site specific URL. 

I look forward to your emails.
HAVE FUN!

Monday, June 27, 2016

"It's a String Thing" #150 - The Zensquicentennial Tiles

One hundred fifty consecutive challenges - congratulations to everyone in our tangled community.
Whether you have participated once or one hundred times, whether you have admired from afar or have become a regular, my heartfelt thank you for joining in this journey.

The winner of the Tickled to Tangle frame will be announced at the end of the post.  In a very random drawing, my granddaughter picked one lucky name from all of the submissions - wait until you see the pictures of her chubby little fingers :)

In lieu of my usual Tangled Tidbits, I've posted the number of the first challenge entered by each tangler.  It was a treat to reminisce about the first time we "met" and the lovely works of art you have all generously shared.

Our Zensquicentennial began with a string inspired by the number 150 and my own library of patterns.  Grab a cup of tea, relax, and enjoy the celebration ~


The first arrived from Lily Moon (Hungary) #32 ~
Dear Adele! First of all congratulations on your 150 challenges! Thanks for all the work you do for us. I look forward to the next 150!




From Sandra (Germany) #63 and here on her blog ~
Congratulation​s​ to this wonderful and special challenge! It's fantastic that so many tanglers join in your challenges every week :-)
Many thanks for your creative ideas and the energy that you spend in the challenge
​each time!
I had a lot of fun with this number "150" String and your great patterns! For my tile I used Uncorked and XAV and added your patterns Citrus, Kisses and LG too :-)
Many greetings from germany
and best regards



From smgg(Taiwan) #114 and on her Instagram ~
Have a nice day!!!





A very warm welcome to Jutta Gladnigg (Germany) #150 ~
Congratulations, IAST#150!!! ... with the wonderful patterns Xav, Iza, Teenos and Uncorked! Greetings from Germany!




From Joanne Faherty (Bedforshire, United Kingdom) #79 ~
Finally I managed to get one finished and out I love your iza tangle and I think uncorked might become a friend when I 'get' it properly 




From Lori Byerly #48 and here on her blog ~
Congratulations, Adele, for reaching 150! Thanks so much for all you do in creating your challenges. You give us opportunity to stretch and grow. We also learn so much by seeing what others do with your challenge.

                           




From Sarah #87 (Michigan) ~
4x6" with Distress Inks and pencil and pen to celebrate IAST's 150th! Congratulations!I've been honored to be included since I started participating last year. Thank you!





From Beth Gaughan (North Carolina) #91 ~
Congratulations on your 150th IAST! Your weekly challenges have really expanded my world of Zentangle, thank you so much!





From Michele Wynne (California) #74 ~
Congratulations on 150 Challenges! It is no easy feat managing and commenting on every piece submitted. I'm grateful for your dedication and Zen!
This was a fun piece to create. I love all of your patterns.
I chose one of my more colorful pre-made tile created during a mad binge of watercolor OCD last week. I had no expectation as I picked up the pen and started on Xav. The rest came together...well...as it wanted. It's definitely one of those pieces needed a little "Time-out" in order to appreciate.
Thank you for all you do!





From Tina Kirchhübel (Germany) #91 and here on her blog ~
Congratulations to your Zensquicentennial. The string is great. The four tangles are all new to me but I like them all. Teenos is my favorite.
I hope a lot of tanglers would join this challenge and celebrate with you.
I enjoyed it a lot.
Greetings from Germany






From Sabine (Germany) #116 and here on her blog ~
... Congratulation to Challenge #150. It's a great challenge every week with a lot of fun. Since my first entry a view weeks ago I had learned so much and had so much inspirations from the other participants. Thank's Adele, you had a lot of trouble every week.
When I saw the string and the pattern for this week first, I thougth that's to difficult for me. But than "One stroke at a time" I started to draw and now I like my tile.
With greetings from Germany
       
                         





A very warm welcome to Donita Rogers #150 ~
I have enjoyed your challenges for the last year. I have never sent anything in but have tried to learn to do zentangles from videos and seeing the beautiful tiles that are sent in each week. I have played with your tangles and so this week I tried to come up with an idea for the 150th challenge.Thanks for all the wonderful ideas and tiles that everyone shares. I am no artist but have enjoyed trying to do zentangles.
Thanks for your wonderful challenges.

                              

From Karin (Germany) #97 ~
congratulation to no. 150!
I hope that there will be many participants (I did not want to miss it!) who create beautiful tiles with your patterns!
I am looking forward to the next 150
Greetings from Germany!





From Adri van Wyk (Upington, South Africa) #135 ~
Tough one.






From Val Steele (Johannesburg, South Africa) #146 ~

This was fun to do. Congratulations on #150.
Xav, Iza, Teenos, Uncorked, Paradox and PokeLeaf.
Thanks for the inspiration.






From Karen (Canberra, Australia, The Creative Miss L) #114 ~
Congrats on making it to 150 IAST challenges. I learn a lot every time I participate in your challenges. I also go back and look at your step-outs for other tangles as these are often easier to follow than the original. In my tile this week I’ve experimented with different shades of grey as well as the usual black.
Cheers






From Ilse Lukken (The Netherlands) #53 and here on her blog ~
Thanks for all those lovely challenges, and congratulations with reaching 150!
Here's my entry for this week...






From Sra (India) #136 ~
Here's my entry for IAST 150. I'm glad to be able to participate. Wish you many more Zensquicentennials. Once again, thanks for running this challenge and making it so personal with your comments.
Cheers






A very warm welcome to Hilary (Velez Blanco, Spain) #150 ~
I am very new to tangling having found your wonderful site in April. My dad died a few weeks ago and that's when found the therapy of losing myself in a drawing so helpful. I live in Southern Spain now and travelled back to the UK for his funeral. When I got back here to Spain "It's a String 150" was just online and I thought I'd try.Well..I don't have tiles, THREE black pens dried up and I made a big blooper of a mistake..but here goes anyway :) I really really loved doing it and I guess that's the main string thing?!I used Iza, Uncorked, a few Teenos a little 100, took a chance on Xav and seemed to have Uncorked a bit of Fancy Nancy. I hope that will be ok..now feeling a little nervous and wondering why I'm doing this!
Never underestimate the happiness your site brings into our days Adele, thank you so much.






Rebecca I (Stamford, Connecticut) #144 ~
Congratulations on the zenquincentennial! Enjoyed learning these 4 new tangles. Will definitely be incorporating them into my future tanglings!







From Ingrid (The Netherlands) #20 ~
In the attachment my tile # 150
Congratulations on 150 weekly challenges you provided us. Thank you for all the work you do to make it possible for us to join in. Loved to do this tile, after several weeks of family visit.





From Anja (Germany) #119 and here on her blog ~
Congratulations to the 150th Challenge! & Thank you very much! Adele, I wish you and us many more great Challenges! For me it was again a great Challenge and great Fun!






From Gesine (Germany) #139 ~
Wouldn’t want to miss this one and had great fun with your tangles. Happy 150th;-)





From Alyona Pakhomova (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) #140 along with a very warm welcome to her son Vasiliy #150 ~
Here is my tile for the special challenge. And my son drew this special tile too. He is 12, and it's his first participation in a challenge.






From Hilary (Chicago, Illinois) #122 ~
I hope I'm not too late, I wouldn't want to miss your big celebration! So congratulations, it's quite an achievement.
That being said, this one was another daunting challenge, but I couldn't miss it.






From  Allison Durno (Richmond Hill, Ontario) #139 ~
Congratulations on 150 tangle challenges! I have only been here for a short stretch of them, but I am having so much fun, and I thank you for bringing this creative community together! Here's to many more challenges!





A very warm welcome to Denise Fairbank (New Hampshire) #150 ~
...this is my first time submitting to your challenge and all the featured tangles were new to me. In addition to the feature tangles suggested, I also used your tangle "100" as the "1" in the 150 string. This was definitely challenging, but I enjoyed doing it. I look forward to future challenges!






From Becky Welty (North Carolina) #89 ~






From Julie (Washington) #145 and here on her blog ~
Happy Zensquicentennial Challenge, Adele!
I used Iza, Teenos, and Uncorked on a black tile and ended up with something that makes me think of a garden in moonlight.
Thanks!



From Jonesy (Missouri) #147 ~






From Felicity Strohfeldt (Velddrif, South Africa) # 65 and here on her blog ~
Congratulations with IAST celebration of Challenge 150 the Zensquicentenniel! Thank you for inspiring all of us, (zentangle) participants every week. Your appreciation and words of encouragement for every entrant each week is truly the glue that keeps each of us motivated to try the next challenge you have for us. The personal titbits and words of wisdom and your beautiful artwork is the highlight of my week and I’m sure all the other tanglers feel the same. Please keep on challenging your followers. Looking forward to the next 150!!
This celebration challenge was great, loved all four patterns!






From Susan Theron (Velddrif, South Africa) #55 ~
Congratulations with the 150th challenge!






From Linda Helfer (Florida) #125 ~
Congratulations on 150 challenges, Adele! Your challenge was just that for me and more so. I could not get the Zen thing going with the patterns listed but I still wanted to try the challenge. I love Teenos, which was new for me, and ended up with a monotangle of it. Pretty simple result but I'm happy with it and even happier to join in the celebration of your milestone.





From Jami (Ohio) #125 ~
Sorry, that I am late. I actually had time today to tangle. I loved using your tangles to make a little summer garden. Congrats, on the 150th.






From midori, CZT (Florida) #106 ~
i am delighted to be back to participate in your weekly challenge. while away, i have been admiring every participants' creations and to be inspired from them. for this 150th challenge, i enjoyed tangling adele's
XVA, UNCORKED, IZA. thank you adele, for your dedication to zentangle... 




From Sharyn Penna (Massachusetts) #27 ~
Congratulations on your 150th IAST post ... and on sharing your 25th string prompt!
This was a fun prompt ... I had no idea where I was going and nearly forgot Teenos. That's so much for having non-stop energy-filled posts, encouragement and words of wisdom. Here's to the last 150 and to the next 150 prompts yet to come! Cheers!





From Anita A Westin (Dalarna, Sweden) #101 and here on her blog ~

What a Beautiful string you gave us this time! And your patterns are adorable! I had not seen Xav Before and that one is so special!






Many thanks to Jenny Hopkins (Australia) #91, Juul (France) #31, and Sue Agnew (Arizona) #3 for sending along your good wishes.



And now, as a small token of my appreciation, here is how the random drawing for a Tickled to Tangle frame went...

First, I wrote the name of each entrant on a small slip of paper, folded each, and then placed them into a candle bowl (made by my friend Su D'Alessio) ~




 Next, I set the bowl on my mother's coffee table and asked my granddaughter select a name.


She eagerly dug into the bowl...


pulled this one out and unfolded it...


Congratulations Sharyn Penna from Massachusetts!  Sharyn first began tangling along with us
one hundred twenty-three challenges ago.   Isn't that remarkable?     


Thank you all again, I appreciate your company on this tangled journey.


Check back tomorrow afternoon for "It's a String Thing" #151!

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Originality
          is nothing but judicious imitation.  ~Voltaire

Tangled Circles by Adele Bruno, CZT
"Judicious imitation" of a design I noticed on a greeting card.

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

"It's a String Thing" #150 - The Zensquicentennial

It is Tuesday, your good news day!

It is certainly a very good news day, as we have reached the
ONE HUNDRED FIFTIETH consecutive weekly challenge together.

Over one hundred new tanglers have joined in the fun since last year's celebration of IAST #100, the Zentennial.  That is truly remarkable as it bring the total of artists from all over the world who have participated to well over 300.  I appreciate you all so very much.

I've dubbed this milestone the "Zensquicentennial" and it may well be the first time this word has been used in print, so let us celebrate and please read to the end to find a special incentive to tangle :)

We begin with this commemorative string ~
IAST #150 Zensquicentennial String by Adele Bruno, CZT


The featured tangles are from my own library of patterns:

Xav
Iza
Teenos
Uncorked

Use a few or as many as you would like.

If you would like to add any other tangles from my collection (all named in the pink header bars at the top of this page), please feel free - I would love to see what you come up with.

To add to the celebratory note of this occasion, a random drawing will be held to award one participant a Tickled to Tangle Frame.  If you have wanted one since last August when I first launched them, now is the time to send in your tile for a chance to win.

From the bottom of my Tickled to Tangle heart, thank you for following along.  Please do send in your tiles - the more the merrier!

Here are the (Not so) Official Guidelines: 
* Challenges are posted on Tuesdays.
*Use the string posted for the week and patterns that begin or contain the letter(s) indicated
* Submit a photo of your tile saved as jpg or scan your tile (300 dpi or higher) and save as a jpg
*Email your jpg file as an attachment to - brunoadelem@gmail.com
*Entries are to be submitted by Saturday evenings.
*Photos and 'Best of Show' are posted on Mondays. 


Send in your photos - you will encourage and inspire fellow Zentangle® enthusiasts all over the world.  WHEN YOU SIGN YOUR NAME, PLEASE INCLUDE WHERE YOU LIVE.  
FOR EXAMPLE:   ADELE BRUNO (FLORIDA)

PLEASE NOTE: It is not necessary for you to have a blog or website to participate. 
In order to eligible for the drawing, you must send in your completed tile.

If you do have a blog or website, I will add a link upon request. 
Please include the site specific URL. 

I look forward to your emails.
HAVE FUN!












Monday, June 20, 2016

"It's a String Thing" #149 Tiles

Happy Monday and a very happy day after Father's Day to all.

This week's string played off the word "dad" because, as Lori Byerly says below, "Dad's need a little appreciation, too."  They need more than we could ever lovingly express...


The first tile arrived from Henrike Bratz (Germany) ~
My tile this week developed quite surprisingly as a duotangle of dex (a favorite!! as you can see in my opus tile I sent you some time ago) and double D. Afterglow just didn’t fit in. And I almost completely ignored the string. Double D follows some of the lines and in other places the pencil line is shimmering through.... That’s one thing I like about Zentangle: you may always happily exceed limits!
Have a wonderful week!
from a foggy Northern Germany
 Tangled Tidbits -
*perf filled centers of Double D, aura and shaded curves
*Dex, large and small, lined on two sides of each grid section

This is my tile ~
I began by drawing Double D - "Single D", I should call it :) - along the string line and then added aura.  I filled in the string loops with Dex and then extended some of the grid lines to form Afterglow. It was pure 'zen' to draw this and am grateful for the time spent.


From Lily (Hungary) ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*aura-ed lines Double D in each string loop
*fabulous variation of Dex - light, medium, and dark shading
*shaded, long lines of Afterglow



From Sarah (Michigan) ~
A great string to navigate! I really enjoyed the tangles as well. Really took my time on this one for what it's worth. Perhaps I'll give it to Dad!


Tangled Tidbits -
*Afterglow filled string loops
*layered aura of Double D




From Anja (Germany) and here on her blog
Thanks a lot for this great Challenge! I had a lot of Fun! Enjoy your week!
Kind regards from Germany
 Tangled Tidbits -
*four fabulous variations of Double D
*Afterglow swirls with shaded centers




From smgg (Taiwan) and on her Instagram ~
Have a nice day!!!
 Tangled Tidbits -
*Afterglow filled string loops and Double D string lines
*Dex background


From Hilary (Chicago) ~
Here's my version of this week's challenge. It was great fun.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*star centers of Afterglow
*Dex curved grid adds depth
*Double D string lines


From Anita A Westin (Dalarna, Sweden) and here on her blog ~
Here comes my celebration for Dad. We celebrate Dad in Sweden too, but in November...
All the best!
 Tangled Tidbits -
*large deep centers of Dex
*sparkled Double D
*just a touch of Afterglow


From Tina Kirchhübel (Germany) and here on her blog ~
wish you and your family and all the daddies a happy Father's Day. Here in Germany Father's Day is still over. We celebrate it in May.
Your string for this challenge is so great and creative. I love it. This week I thought it could be the first time that I didn't use all tangles you gave us. But when I almost finished my tile I was not satisfied. So I found a way to also integrate the last pattern Double D which gaves now the tile the finishing touch and now I am also satisfied.
Greetings from Germany
 Tangled Tidbits -
*wonderful, background of Afterglow with an accent of Double D
*doubled string line
*Dex filled string loops


From sra (India) ~
This is for IAST 149.
I don't have much to say about this tile except that I gave up on shading Dex after several attempts. I'm glad with how the rest of it turned out.
Have a nice weekend and a nice week ahead.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*alternating brown and black aura of Afterglow
*speckled Double D
*small center squares for Dex


From Kate (United Kingdom) ~
Here's my contribution to your Fathers' Day challenge.
My first attempt was very busy and cluttered but I'm happier since I've
put an aura around 'dad' and left it blank except for some shading. This
didn't leave a lot of room for Double D but I've managed to squeeze it
in!
 Tangled Tidbits -
*doubled string line
*Afterglow shaded to one side of each aura-ed section adds dimension
*Dex shaded on two sides of each grid square


From Gesine (Germany) ~
I did this one while waiting for a late train. Looks a bit like something from a super hero comic, but maybe that’s quite fitting for a father’s day tile…
 Tangled Tidbits -
*a very fitting tribute to our super hero dads
*black, sparkled aura lines flow from the string
*Dex grid lines flow up and outward


From Felicity (South Africa) and here on her blog ~
It was heart breaking to hear and witness the dreadfully, tragic news related to the shooting in Orlando. Our hearts go out to the families and friends of the victims and injured.
As far as this week’s entry is concerned. I almost scrapped mine and the verdict is definitely still out on Tile 149 from South Africa. Not done in one sitting so too much subconscious mulling over the challenge, fragmentation of creative time and meticulousness travelled straight out of the window. But final decision was determined by a drenching, rainy, soft-showered Sunday. It eventually rained for two days last week and today we are experiencing a very chilly rain-drenched day. Winter rains at last!! Drought receiving a good pummeling on the West Coast!! Amazing, promise of Spring, flowers seem switched on. Can almost hear the Spring flowers cheering!
No further comments on the tile except to say it’s also on my blog.
Have a great week Adele and all IAST challenge participants.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*Double D string lines
*two variations of Dex
*pretty Afterglow


And now...
the tile for honors this week...
was sent in by...

Lori Byerly from Washington State
and it can also be found here on her blog ~
Thanks for the fun Father's Day challenge. Dad's need a little appreciation too. :)

Tangled Tidbits -
*light touch of tangles fill the string
*rounded Dex detail lines compliment the string loops
*Double D curls define the string lines
*lined border
*black perfs and soft shading




Many thanks to the creative minds behind the tangles used this week along with my string -
Dex by Maria Thomas, Zentangle® co-founder
Afterglow by Carole Ohl, CZT
Double D by Judy Murphy

Stop by Tuesday afternoon for "It's a String Thing" #150 
our "Zensquicentennial" !