Relay for Life

This challenge was set by Erin, who hosts the weekly Zendala Dare over on her blog, The Bright Owl. She set his challenge as she was due to take part in the Relay for Life walkathon to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

The challenge was to create a Zendala using the template:

Template

Without shading

Completed - Relay for Life
Tangles: Flukes, Antidots, River, Dyon

I think it might be time to get in on the Zendala Dare.

Happy tangling...
Claire

Random tangling

Here are a few of my recent tangles with tangling!

First tangle in my new little book:

Verve, Frillee, Up & Across, Scallops

Keeping my brain awake in long meetings:

Florz, Waves, Scallops, Cockles & Mussels, Crescent Moon

Randomly-selected tangles:

Dyon, Chillon, XYP, Frondous, Avreal & Jetties

Negatives - Break Free back to front:

Beeline, Juke, Bales & Quabog

Happy tangling...
Claire

IX

This week Laura challenged us to use the new official tangle, IX, which was created by Maria and Rick for the 9th CZT seminar.


I created my tile following the Zentangle process of corner dots and string, and this beauty is what came into being:

IX
on a backdrop of Nzeppel

The part I found hardest was choosing what tangle to use for the background, so I went for one of my go-to tangles!

I'll leave you with a question... Which tangles did you pair with IX? Or did you just use IX by itself?

Happy tangling...
Claire

Me - C

I wanted to draw a tangle to put on Instagram as my profile picture to represent me. So it had to incorporate my favourite tangles and a big C, for Claire!

'C'
Tangles: Reticulated, Wavy Border, Nzeppel,
Static, Up & Across, Scallops 

What tangles would you use to represent you?

Happy tangling...
Claire

Instagram Lovelies

Here are a few snaps I've put on Instagram recently:

Instagram-tastic

As you can see, I post a lot of nature pics. They're mainly taken in and around the communal garden in the compound where I live. Also expect occasional sightings of non-plant items, like Coco Poco Loco (bottom left), me (centre-ish), and of course, plenty of Zentangles (I know you can spot those!)

Enjoy...
@clairewarner77

Copada

In this challenge, Laura asked us to use Margaret Bremner's new tangle, Copada. And what a lovely tangle it is!

I find it difficult to draw random strings - they all end up looking similar! So for this challenge I went over to Linda Farmer's TanglePatterns and used one of her String collection. This one is String Number 12, and was shared by Barbara Finwall.

Work in Progress

Copada
with a few circles and a little Nzeppel

I was really happy with this piece. I shaded (!) and think it's come out fab...
:D

Happy tangling...
Claire

Blind-Sighted

I enjoyed this challenge... close your eyes and draw a string to use for your tile. Letting go and trusting yourself. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the string!

Blind-Sighted
Tangles: Scallops, W2, Verve, Featherfall, Frillee

Needs shading

Happy tangling...

Claire

Assunta & Mooka

This challenge was one in the Duo Tangle series; the idea being you use the two named tangles to cover your tile. And this was certainly a massive challenge, not just for Laura as she mentioned in her post, but also for me. These are two tangles I've rarely used, both of which I find to be difficult to draw.

So here's my attempt:

Assunta & Mooka

Note to self: Practice, practice, practice!

Happy tangling...
Claire

Spiral Out, Keep Going...

This challenge was another in the String Theory category, and was to use a spiral as the string.

Here she is...

Spiral Out, Keep Going...
Tangles: Flukes, Fescu, Up & Across, Reticulated, Tipple,
Tripoli, Static, Warped Eggs, Unyun, Shattuck (variation)

Wow!

Happy tangling...
Claire

Stripes

This was another of Laura's 'String Theory' challenges. This time, the challenge was to use a string consisting of stripes...

Stripes
Tangles: OoF, Nzeppel, Up & Across, Drawave,
Meer, Squares, Frillee, Striping, Connector, Fescu

Wow... loads of tangles!

Happy tangling...
Claire

String Theory

So this challenge was to use the string supplied by Laura.

Here's mine:

String Theory
Tangles: Nzeppel, Fescu, Crescent Moon, Striping,
Flukes, Beelight, Wisket (variation)

I like how this all joins together!

Happy tangling...
Claire

Mooka

So this challenge from Laura was extremely hard for me. I usually love curved lines, but I just can't get my head around Mooka, which is a tangle inspired by the art of Alphonse Mucha.

I think I'm trying too hard for it to be perfect!

So here it is:

Mooka
with a little Drawave, Worms, Waves, W2 and Groovy

I think I'd better practice some more... I'll start by watching Maria and Rick's Mooka video.

Happy tangling...
Claire

Love your curves, baby

So this challenge was to use curves... and only curves! A curved string with curved tangles.

And I really enjoyed this challenge, as there are many curved tangles that I love.

So here's my attempt:

Love your curves, baby
Tangles: Keeko, Cadent, SeZ,
Warped Eggs and Fescu

How curve-a-licious!

Happy tangling...
Claire

Something Blue

So this challenge was to move away from the Zentangle norms of black pen on white paper, and to use blue in your tile.

I used blue pen (not that you can really tell from this pic) on bright blue paper. Notice once more, the lack of shading! 

I think I was also inspired by one of the previous challenges, as I left quite a lot of space in this tile!

Something Blue
Tangles: Bales, SeZ, Baton, Flukes

Happy tangling...

Claire

Monotangle

In this challenge, Laura gave two fantastic examples of monotangles. Her first tile used Facets and the second used Ibex.

Here is my attempt, drawn a few months back:

Tripoli Monotangle

No use of shading - again!
Can you spot the 'mistakes'? I find Tripoli hard to keep a check on at times, and it seems to get away from me, so the triangles don't line up nicely.

Michele Beauchamp always seems to draw such nice Tripoli. It often makes an appearance in her drawings (see two examples of Tripoli in the background of her Auraknot challenge tile), and I notice it because it seems so fluid and organic unlike the the sharp, spiky triangles of my Tripoli.

I think I'll go and practice some more!

Happy tangling...
Claire

The Space Between

I find it really hard to leave white, untangled spaces when I'm tangling a tile. I feel an urge to fill it completely.

Like yesterday when I was doing my Pinwheel for Peace. There was a point where I'd only completed the atorm sections and the rest lay empty. And I caved in and filled in those lovely blank sections and ended up with a very busy looking pinwheel. Don't get me wrong - I like the end result, but it grates at me a little because it looked so peaceful before.

I drew this particular challenge a few months ago, so let's take a look at what I came up with:

The Space Between
Tangles: Scallops, Nzeppel, Reticulated,
Chard, Ninja Stars, Fescu

It's not too bad! Note the lack of shading. I'm tempted to go back and try shading it... let's see.

What about you? Do you like to fill the entire tile, or do you find it easy to leave space?

Happy tangling...
Claire

Z Ganesha

This time of year is really special in India. It's the time of year when Lord Ganesh's birthday is celebrated with an 11 day long festival called Ganesh Chaturthi. It brings a lot of worship, modaks (and other sweets), dancing, drumming, and fireworks along with it. It ends with Ganpati idols being immersed into rivers, lakes or the sea. From what I understand, the immersion symbolises death, and as the idol disintegrates it releases the spirit of Lord Ganesh ready to be reborn.

Unfortunately, the festival brings a lot of pollution to these water sources, as many of the idols are made from plaster of paris, or are coloured using paints which are toxic to the water-life. The Times of India has been running campaigns for the last few years to make this festival more eco-friendly. 

Eco-friendly Ganesha!

The ToI's campaign started me thinking that a Zentangle Ganesha would be the ultimate in eco-friendly, but I've not had any experience with drawing Ganeshas, so was a little stuck with the basic form, and didn't know where to start. 

It seems that Lord Ganesh knew I needed a little guidance, and sent me to Dilip's blog, Things Often Speak to Me. I was reading about Dilip's journey to become a CZT when I noticed a page on his blog called Zentangle Ganesha Calling.. inviting us to take part in his quest to post 100 Zentangled Ganeshas by the end of the year.

Not only does he have many beautiful examples of his own and other tanglers' Ganesha Zentangles, but he also has a few templates of common forms seen in pictures of Lord Ganesh.

So Dilip, here's my first contribution to your 100 Ganeshas:

Ganpati Bappa Morya

I look forward to seeing and drawing many more Ganeshas over the next few months.

Happy tangling...

Claire

Artoo

Whilst Laura was in the hospital with Artoo, see last post, she came up with a new tangle which she named Artoo. The challenge that she set was to use this tangle to create a tile.

So here's my attempt:

Artoo
Tangles: Artoo and Tripoli

What's your favourite version of Tripoli?

Happy tangling...
Claire

Pinwheels for Peace - V2

This week's challenge - to celebrate the International Day of Peace.

My Pinwheel:

Pinwheel for Peace
Tangles: Atorm & Unyun

Atorm is a great tangle that I found this week on Mafê Mavromati's blog, Tangle Brasil, and Unyun is an old favourite of mine from Carole Ohl.

I chose to use just these two... however, I feel now that it looks a little too busy to be peaceful!

How many tangles did you use? Did you choose them for a reason?

Happy tangling...

Claire

Hearts for Artoo

This challenge was set by Laura when her younger son, Artoo, was in the hospital. She asked us to make a heart to send the healing power of love to her little one. The challenge was that the heart created should incorporate the ideas from two of the previous challenges.

I chose to make my heart using one of the combinations suggested by Laura - a double string and Ixorus.

Hearts for Artoo
Tangles: Flukes, Ixorus, Baton, Striping, Tipple

Happy tangling...
Claire

Colourful Tangle

Happy tangling...
Claire

Breathe

Now, unlike most of the challenges I've posted so far, this one was completed just a month or so back.

I think you'll notice that the photography is superior (captured on my HTC One S rather than my old Nokia E71), and hopefully the quality of my tangling has improved somewhat in the 18 months or so in between those early attempts and my more recent offerings.

So this challenge was entitled 'Breathe' and Laura asked us to create a tile using conscious, even breathing. Relax. Breathe. Smile.
So I did :D

Breathe
Tangles: Reticulated, Tipple, Punzel, Fescu, Nzeppel and Flukes

I feel that Punzel looks like a breath of hot air on a cold day, with clouds radiating out from it. Nzeppel and Flukes are two of my 'go-to' tangles that help to quiet my brain. Not quite sure that Reticulated fits the brief, but it kinda snuck in there!

What are your 'go-to' tangles?

Happy tangling...
Claire

Ixorus

So I remember at the time of drawing this Zentangle for the Diva's challenge, Ixorus was a tangle I readily took to... after sorting out how to draw the radiating lines, that is!

Although the photo's not great, and the shading's quite poor, I still like this tile. I especially like the section on the right which I filled with a few of my favourites - Triral, Tipple and Reticulated.

Ixorus

On to the next challenge!

Happy tangling...
Claire

Orbs

Orbs... slightly squished, because drawing circles is not easy!

Orbs
Tangles: Paradox, River, Quiltz, Zedbra, Wisket

Click on the links to see instructions for each of the tangles.

Happy Tangling...
Claire

Happy Birthday Dad!

Wishing my lovely Dad a wonderful birthday!

Lots of love xxx
Claire

Starry Eyed Surprise

Another of the Diva's challenges completed at the start of 2011. This one was not an easy one to do, and I'm not entirely satisfied with the outcome, but in the 18 months or so since then, I've not thought to redo it.

As I write, I've open up the Diva's post for this challenge and am enjoying listening to Paul Oakenfold's 'Starry Eyed Surprise'. It's an old favourite of mine, so makes me feel better. This Zentangle is an example of where I've come from, and reminds me of how far I've come since then.

So let's take a look at my rather rough work, and notice the lack of shading. Shading was something that scared me back then. Ok, I admit, it still scares me today, but I'm trying to overcome the fear...

Starry Eyed Surprise
Clockwise from top left: Gingham, Ninja Stars, Paradox,
Spinners, Frillee, Tipple, Demi and, in the centre, Facets

Is it leaving you 'starry-eyed'?

Happy Tangling...
Claire

Two Pencil String

I took part in the Diva's second challenge at the start of 2011, whilst I was still very new to Zentangle. I remember it being a fun challenge. Using the two pencils created a lovely ribbon to tangle within.

Here's my attempt (apologies for the bad photo!)

You can see I was heavily influenced by Carole Ohl's patterns at this time - Coaster, Unyun and Shard are all hers, and are tangles I still love.
The other two patterns are both from Livia Chua - a tanglation of Braidle and one of my all time favourites, Reticulated.

Mobile blogging

Things have certainly changed since I was regularly blogging... I'm posting this from my lovely Android phone, so let's see what happens.

Here are a few photos of my attempts at the Diva's most recent challenge:

Break Free

As always, the Diva's challenge has stretched me. I wasn't too happy with my first attempt to break free from the dots and border that make up a traditional Zentangle, so I ended up doing a second.

Attempt 1 - Quabog, Beeline, Juke and Bales

Attempt 2 - Auraknot, Opus, Ennies and Scena

I'm not sure which one I prefer... What about you, which one do you prefer?

Happy tangling...
Claire

New Blog

I've started tangling again... it's extremely therapeutic. And in honour of the tangling I plan to do in the future, I've started this new blog. I've moved a few old Zentangle related posts across from one of my other blogs and I'm all ready to go, go, go!

Happy tangling...

Claire