Classic Zentangle® - Crescent Moon, Flux & Tipple

I drew this tile for one of the weekly prompts in the Today's Tangles: Keeping it Classic Facebook group. Our assignment was to use the tangle "Flux" as our string. I filled the "Flux" with "Crescent Moon", added some "Tipple" for garnish and drew concentric auras in the center.

These are the tangles that I used:

Crescent Moon - I blogged about "Crescent Moon" HERE.

Flux - I blogged about "Flux" HERE.

Tipple - Read about "Tipple" HERE.

Today's Tangle - Xenso

"Xenso" is by Sue Clark CZT and her pattern is found HERE on her blog. The shape looks a lot like "Huggins" but "Xenso" is drawn on a ogee grid vs a dot or square grid.

I wondered if "Huggins" could be used to draw this pattern because ogee grids are very challenging for me to draw and "Huggins" is easy. Below is "Xenso" drawn on a square grid:

So, you can see that it works either way so use the method that works best for you. I think that an ogee grid probably works better than a box grid if you want a wonkier version of "Xenso". You've probably noticed though that I lean toward neat and orderly in much of my tangling. Wonky seems very decadent to me but I do make an effort to use it now and then.

Today's Tangle - Butter

This tangle called "Butter" is by Danae Triantafyllopoulou and her step-out is posted HERE at TanglePatterns.com.

Today's Tangle - Curli-Q

"Curli-Q" is by Linda Rea and her pattern is HERE on flickr. I experimented by drawing them in different sizes. The example in Linda's step-out shows them somewhere in between my large ones and the smaller ones.

Today's Tangle - Paisley Boa

Although this tangle looks very much like "Flux", it is drawn using a completely different method that creates a pretty string of them. "Paisley Boa" is by Amy Broady and you'll find the step-out HERE on her blog. I used her first method and haven't tried the second one yet.

Classic Zentangle® - Echoism, Flux & Purk

I drew this tile for one of the weekly prompts in the Today's Tangles: Keeping it Classic Facebook group. Our assignment was to use the tangle "Flux" as our string(s). I drew two giant Flux and turned them into "Purks". "Echoism" filled the background quite nicely.

These are the tangles that I used:

Echoism - I blogged about "Echoism" HERE.

Flux - I blogged about "Flux" in THIS post.

Purk - Read about "Purk" in THIS post.

Today's Tangle - Yoga

I love the retro look of this tangle by Margaret Bremner called "Yoga". The pattern is posted HERE on her blog. At first I attempted to draw a large square of this on a tile but quickly realized that it would take too long to draw and would take a lot of black ink to fill in the dots and spaces. If you take a look at the examples on Margaret's blog, you'll see how small, manageable bits of this can be used to fill spaces between other tangles. For my monotangle I made a very small square of "Yoga" that is just big enough to give an idea of what it looks like.

Today's Tangle - Tring

I have no idea how I would work this pattern into a tile with other tangles but I wanted to try it once just for fun. You can't see this but I used a clear glitter pen on each strand of "beads" so they shimmer in the light.

"Tring" is by Shazia and the pattern is HERE at Pattern-Collections.com.

Today's Tangle - Embrille

"Embrille" is by Lindy Clarkson and you'll find her pattern HERE at Pattern-Collections.com. Dawn Collins has a video about this pattern HERE.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

ZENTANGLE PROJECT PACK 5 - DAY 8

I couldn't resist doing two drawings for Day 8 which is the last day of the series. It's funny because at first I wasn't sure if I was going to like the Day 8 project. Silly me!

You can watch the Day 8 video HERE. There is also a final video that wraps up the series HERE. 

Classic Zentangle® - Printemps, Tipple & Tripoli

I drew this tile for one of the weekly prompts in the Today's Tangles: Keeping it Classic Facebook group. Our assignment was to use the tangle "Tripoli" as our string. I drew mine it as reticula and filled the triangles with "Printemps" then filled the edges of the "Tripoli" with "Tipple" orbs.

These are the tangles that I used:

Printemps - I blogged about "Printemps" HERE.

Tipple - Read about "Tipple" HERE.

Tripoli - I blogged about "Tripoli" HERE.

ZENTANGLE PROJECT PACK 5 - DAY 7
 

I thoroughly enjoyed drawing this metallic gold border, especially the new tangle called "Doo Dah". You can watch the Day 7 video HERE.

Today's Tangle - Hypknotix

This zany pattern called "Hypknotix" is by Ellen Wolters and you'll find the step-out HERE on her blog. I embellished mine with some graphite curlicues around the edge.

ZENTANGLE PROJECT PACK 5 - DAY 6

You can watch the Day 6 video HERE. I chose to draw my "Flux" differently than Julie does in the video and I'm quite pleased with the results. This is one of my favorites from this series.

Today's Tangles - Bracelet & DoubleBarrel

Today's patterns both use the barreling technique. The one above is called "Bracelet" and is by Anja Meeter and her pattern is posted HERE at Pattern-Collections.com. Dawn Collins has a video HERE.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

The pattern below is called "Double Barrel" and it's also found at Pattern-Collections.com HERE. It's by Erika Kehlet. Mimi has a video about it HERE.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

ZENTANGLE PROJECT PACK 5 - DAY 5

I drew my border just like Martha drew hers in the Day 5 video which you can watch HERE. I had to wing it on two of the segments where I ended up with an odd number of squares. When I had finished drawing the border I decided that it really could use some color so I chose a shade of yellow that compliments the color in the photo.

Today's Tangle - Paizel

This tangle called "Paizel" is by Angie Vangalis CZT. Her pattern is found HERE at TanglePatterns.com. The step-out shows that the background areas can be filled with the official tangle called "Nekton". I did that on my first tile but not on the next two. This is so cute and fun to draw that I just had to draw it three times and try different things with it.

Today's Tangle - Pinch Me

"Pinch Me" is by Erika Kehlet and her pattern is posted HERE at Pattern-Collections.com. This is fun to draw because you can keep adding more and more components to create interesting designs. It's a bit like building with Tinkertoys.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

ZENTANGLE PROJECT PACK 5 - DAY 3

The picture above was inspired by the Day 3 project. I printed and cut out the vintage postcard picture in the center to make it look like a label. To make it look more like a real label, I outlined the edge and the inner border with a metallic gold Gelly Roll pen. I also added some hints of clear glitter on the woman. The tangled border was drawn with the same gold Gelly Roll pen.
 
Watch the Day 3 video HERE.

ZENTANGLE PROJECT PACK 5 - DAY 4

A few years ago, I made a bunch of book plates for myself using vintage graphics that I found online. I used one of the book plates for the project above. I glued it onto the blue card stock and tangled around it.

I liked Maria's idea of drawing a border in the style of William Morris. I'm a huge fan of William Morris and have several books about his work. I also have various objects that feature his designs from Liberty of London and that sort of thing. Anyway, what Maria drew reminded me of some of the pretty border designs in William Morris' "Kelmscott Chaucer". Obviously, mine isn't nearly as elaborate but I think I sort of captured the look.  By the way, the background pattern that I used behind my picture is a William Morris design.

I ended up using a lot of black in my border because I kept trying things that Maria was doing in the video and didn't like how they looked so I blacked them out. In the end, I think the black shows off the "Mooka" and "Pokeleaf" quite nicely. I debated whether or not to add shading and I'm happy that I added some.

Watch the Day 4 video HERE.

Here is an example from the "Kelmscott Chaucer":

Here are some of the items that I have that feature beautiful William Morris designs:

The tapestry, which was a gift from a dear friend who lives in England, hangs by my computer desk.

Today's Tangle - Dischidia

"Dischidia" is by Silke Wagner and you'll find her pattern HERE at Pattern-Collections.com. Dawn Collins has a YouTube video HERE.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

ZENTANGLE PROJECT PACK 5 - DAY 3

You can watch the Day 3 video HERE. In this video, Molly demonstrates how to make a border using the "Embedded Letter" technique. I used a scrap of an antique trade card. It's a digital image, not a real postcard, and the postcard was missing a corner and had some ragged edges. After printing it out, I tried to cut along the ragged edges as carefully has I could. I thought that the rough shape would help create an interesting border.

Classic Zentangle® - Fescu, Finery, Flux, Msst and Zinger

I drew this tile for one of the weekly prompts in the Today's Tangles: Keeping it Classic Facebook group. Our assignment was to draw a tile using spring-themed tangles.

These are the tangles that I used:

Fescu - I blogged about "Fescu" HERE.

Finery - You'll find info about "Finery" in THIS post.

Flux - I blogged about "Flux" HERE.

Msst - I blogged about "Msst" in the same post as "Flux".

Zinger - I blogged about "Zinger" in THIS post.

Yesterday was my birthday so I didn't have a chance to draw the Day 3 project for the Zentangle Project Pack #05 series. I'm hoping to have time to draw yesterday's and today's this evening.

Today's Tangle - Eight Liner

Today is my birthday so I thought I'd post something fun and colorful. I embellished my tile with metallic gold dots.

This pattern is called "Eight Liner" and is by Smita Toke. You'll find the step-out HERE at Pattern-Collections.com and Mimi's Daily Tangle Tube has a video HERE.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

ZENTANGLE PROJECT PACK 5 - DAY 2

You can watch the Day 2 video HERE. In this episode, Rick draws a pretty circular border around an old coin. For my three tiles I printed out some round vintage toiletry labels and glued them on. I drew the first one below as Rick drew his. I embellished the other two a little.

Today's Tangle - Flower in the Box

This pattern is called "Flower in the Box" and it's by Ina Wünschmann. Her pattern is posted HERE at Pattern-Collections.com. I followed the step-out as written but I added some accent dots to spice it up a bit. I found a video about this pattern HERE.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

ZENTANGLE PROJECT PACK 5 - DAY 1

There is a new Zentangle project pack video series which started yesterday. You can watch the introduction video HERE and the Day 1 video HERE. The introduction video shows all of the supplies that come in the pack. I am using what I have on hand but you can buy Project Pack 5 HERE if you like.

In the Day 1 video, Maria shows us how to draw this pretty frame. Rather than frame a photo, I chose a couple of vintage images from my huge stash of pictures for making greeting cards. I printed them out on card stock. I don't have a deckle edge cutter like in the project pack but I do have a deckle blade for my Fiskars rotary cutter and it worked very nicely as you can see.

I drew the example above first and drew my boarder like Maria drew hers using the same pen colors, etc. For the one below, I used a Staedtler Fineliner pen in a color that complimented the picture I was framing a little better. I also changed the design that went into the space above and below the picture due to lack of space. Click on my pictures to see them at full size.

Today's Tangle - Vernice

"Vernice" is by Verena Bossert and you'll find her pattern HERE at Pattern-Collections.com. This was interesting to draw because there are a lot of little details in each square. I had to simplify some of the inner designs to get them to fit inside my small grid and still retain the look of the original pattern.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

Classic Zentangle® - Florz, Rixty and Tipple

I drew this tile for one of the weekly prompts for the Today's Tangles: Keeping it Classic Facebook group.

These are the tangles that I used:

Florz - Read THIS post for info about "Florz".

Rixty - I blogged about "Rixty" HERE.

Tipple - Read about "Tipple" HERE.

Today's Tangle - Four Hearts

A couple days ago I mentioned that I don't enjoy drawing heart shapes because I can't do it well. Although these look a bit like four leaf clovers, they're actually hearts. The great thing is how the step-out instructions make it super easy to draw nicely formed hearts. The secret is to start in pencil with a circle that has an "X" inside of it. Hearts are drawn in each quarter of the "pie". The wedge shapes act as guides for drawing the heart shapes. As long as you stay within the lines, your hearts should come out nicely. On top of that, you don't have to worry about drawing perfect pencil circles. They are erased later and no one will even know they had been there.

"Four Hearts" is by Agneta Landegren and her pattern is posted HERE at Pattern-Collections.com.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

Today's Tangle - Forever

Yesterday I blogged about a pattern by Smita Toke and this pretty one called "Forever" is also by her. I used subtle colors this time; just black and metallic gold. I added some embellishments along the outside of the design.

You'll find the step-out for this pattern HERE at Pattern-Collections.com. I also found a video HERE.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

Today's Tangles - Hearts Aligned & Heartring

I am blogging about two heart patterns today that I drew in an attempt to get over my fear of drawing heart shapes. It is my opinion that hearts must either be drawn very neatly and precisely or they should be drawn in such a way that they look cute and adorable. I can't seem to draw them either way and mine tend to look messy. Having said that, I do think that both of these patterns have interesting features that make them worth taking the time to draw and for me to show them to you.

"Hearts Aligned" is by Smita Toke and her pattern is posted HERE at Pattern-Collections.com. Tiny hearts are placed along a string line and larger hearts grow out of them. I don't have much trouble drawing tiny hearts neatly. It's the large ones that give me grief. I'm pretty happy with how this tile turned out though. If you know Smita, you'll know how much she loves bright colors. I colored this tile in her honor and I enjoyed it very much.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

"Heartring" by Karin Frank is also found at Pattern-Collections.com HERE. Although hearts like these are difficult for me to draw nicely, it's Karin's unique method for connecting the hearts with rings between them that is worth mentioning. She makes it very easy to do something that looks complicated. Give her pattern a try and you'll see what I mean.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

Today's Tangle - Himu

This adorable tangle is called "Himu" and is by YuRu Chen. You'll find her step-out HERE at Pattern-Collections.com. I found two videos about this pattern HERE and HERE. I was tempted to embellish the shapes because they look a little plain but I decided that would detract from their cuteness.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

Today's Tangle - Sweetheart Slide

"Sweetheart Slide" is by Diane Lachance and her pattern is posted HERE at Pattern-Collections.com. MimiXY has a video about this pattern HERE and Dawn Collins has one HERE. I often have trouble drawing "S" shaped tangles but this was actually fun to draw once I got the hang of it. The trickiest part is to get them spaced properly.

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

Today's Tangle - On Point

This pattern is called "On Point" and is by Crystal Robinson. You'll find it HERE at Pattern-Collections.com. I thought it looked very unusual and it turned out to be much easier to draw than it looks. Besides setting up a box grid as directed by the step-out, I also found it helpful to draw an "X" in each square in pencil. 

UPDATE: The Pattern-Collections website has shut down. Click HERE to view this pattern.

After drawing the basic tile above, I thought I'd do something fun with the pattern and the result is the tile below. The step-out shows dots here and there on the design but it's not clear where they should or shouldn't be drawn. I did add a few to my second tile but I think I would have preferred not to have them.

Today's Tangle - Up n Down

This tangle by Kathy Barringer CZT is called "Up n Down" and the step-out is found HERE on her blog. There are an unlimited number of ways to embellish this.