Today's Tangle - Diamook

"Diamook" is by Sanyukta Saxena CZT and her pattern is posted HERE at TanglePatterns.

Circle Cutter

A few days ago, I ordered a late Christmas present for myself on Amazon. I was tired of cutting out round tiles by hand with scissors and this gadget seemed like it would make the job much easier. I bought THIS one which is called the NT Cutter h1310508 Coupe-CERCLES IC 1500 P. It comes with six cutting blades and a spare rubber blade "handle".

The circle cutter arrived in the mail yesterday and it took me a little time to figure out how it works because the instructions are rather vague. This morning I gave it a try and it works great. I set the gauge to the size of Zendala tiles (just under 12 centimeters) and I can get three of them out of one sheet of card stock if I arrange them carefully. I traced an old CD three times on each sheet of card stock to help me align them. I cut my tiles two millimeters less than 12 centimeters.

Since the instructions on the package are pretty sparse, they also have a fairly helpful video HERE on YouTube. For more information about the cutter, visit the NT Cutter website HERE.

UPDATE: I just cut a bunch of round tiles and I think I've sorted out a problem I was having with some of my tiles not coming out right. The blade will always be slightly loose and will more back and forth a little in the blade holder. The trick is to have the blade sticking out just the tiniest bit or about the thickness of your paper.

It's also important to press very firmly on the center post to keep the cutter in the correct position on the paper but don't press too firmly on the outer ring of the cutter as you're turning it. I was sometimes pressing too hard on the outer ring and this caused my paper to move.

They are hard to see but the metal bar that is used to adjust the size of the circle has markings on it like a ruler. To get the size of the Zendala tiles, I set the ruler to eight marks (millimeters?) after the "10" which is two marks before the "12" on the gauge.

As a guide, I use an old CD-RW disc to draw three circles in pencil on each sheet of 8.5x11" card stock (they will be very close together). A CD is just slightly larger than the size of a Zendala tile. So, if I center the cutter inside one of the circles that I drew, the cutter will stay within the line and not go off the edge of the paper.

Video Tutorial - Hexagonal Tiles

For today's tiles, I followed THIS video by Tangle Dream. I drew the tile below while watching the video. I wasn't happy with the way my petals in the center looked so I blacked them out. When I drew the tile above, I took more care with the details.

Zentangle® Project Pack 16 - Day 9

I haven't been drawing all of the projects from the Twelve Days of Zentangle series but I did want to try this one that was presented by Martha and Molly. You can watch the Day 9 video HERE. If you would like to buy the project pack, it is available on the Zentangle website HERE. I didn't have a round black tile so I used a standard size square one. The tangles used in this project are "Pangea", "Mooka" and "Tipple".

Today's Tangle - Lunar Flux

Today's tile features the original version of "Lunar Flux" as designed by Debbie New. Her step-out is posted HERE on her website and HERE on Flickr.

Today's Tangle - Sand Swirl Tree

"Sand Swirl Tree" is by Natalia Sitnikova and her step-out is posted HERE at TanglePatterns. She also has a video tutorial HERE on YouTube.

Video Tutorial - Lunar Flux Wreath

I drew this "Lunar Flux" wreath by following THIS YouTube video by Annie Reiser CZT. The tangle "Lunar Flux" is by Debbie New and her step-out is posted HERE on her website and HERE on Flickr. Annie's variation uses rice shapes. The original "Lunar Flux" is made with teardrop shapes.

Video Tutorial - Celtic Cable

"Celtic Cable" is from THIS YouTube video by Annie Reiser CZT.

Today's Tangle - Scena

"Scena" is an official Zentangle pattern. I blogged about before "Scena" HERE. I was inspired to draw this monotangle after watching THIS video by Sanyukta Saxena CZT. It was challenging to draw it on this parchment card stock because it has a rough texture. My pen kept catching on the little bumps so some of the lines are a little wonky.

Today's Tangle - 9/2

"9/2" is by Lin Chiu CZT and you will find her step-out HERE at TanglePatterns.

Today's Tangles - Mooka & Tipple

"Mooka" and "Tipple" are both official Zentangle patterns. Today's tile was inspired by THIS video by Zenjo but I didn't draw this with my left hand. Read more about "Mooka" HERE and "Tipple" HERE.

Today's Tangle - Mirranda

"Mirranda" is by Aida Rico CZT and her pattern is posted HERE at TanglePatterns. I drew another tile with this tangle and made some tweaks this time.

Today's Tangle - Mirranda

"Mirranda" is by Aida Rico CZT and her pattern is posted HERE at TanglePatterns.

Today's Tangle - Haamit

"Haamit" is by Annett Ruempler and you'll find her step-out HERE on her website. This one is a little tricky so I suggest drawing the "S" shapes in pencil first.

Video Tutorial - Betweed Star

For today's tile I followed THIS video by Tangledyogi called "Betweed Star". The colors that I used were inspired by a tile that I saw on Facebook. I used a 3.5x3.5 inch tile instead of the larger size that Romi used in the video.

Video Tutorial - Ornate Squares Day 11

Today's tile is from Sandhya Manne's "Ornate Squares" Day 11 video which you can watch HERE.

I changed the center design to have four petals instead of five. No matter how many times I tried, I could not get five petals to fit in the circle without them overlapping. I wonder if Sandhya drew on a larger tile than I did because it looked like she had plenty of space on hers in the video. I used a 3.5x3.5 inch tile.

Classic Zentangle® - Pangea & MRTH

Today's tile features two new tangles from Zentangle called "Pangea" and "MRTH". The official step-outs are only available to CZTs so I haven't seen them. However, I have seen quite a few examples on Facebook so I have a pretty good idea of what they look like. I also watched THIS video by Emiko Kaneko CZT where she shows how to draw them. HERE is video by Heather Hartwick Gladden CZT demonstrating how to draw "MRTH".

"Pangea" is/are random wavy shapes nestled closely together. "MRTH" is the Pepper-like tangle that the shapes are filled with. I didn't realize until I scanned my first tile below that I didn't draw "MRTH" quite right. I didn't draw the stripes to the left and right of the central part correctly so I drew a second tile which is at the top of this post.

Today's Tangle - Lockta

"Lockta" is by Theresa Feßler CZT and the pattern is posted HERE on her website.

This time I drew seven segments and it worked just as well as with five as shown on the step-out. I think they fill out the design a bit better. I also varied the length of each of the initial lines and I'm pleased with the result. I didn't plan for the coloring to turn out like it did but I think it looks kind of cool. I blended a few colors and I didn't realize until I scanned my tile that it almost looks iridescent.

Today's Tangle - Lockta

This cool Art Nouveau-style design called "Lockta" is by Theresa Feßler CZT and the pattern is posted HERE on her website. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy this was to draw by following her step-out. Theresa breaks it down into simple steps. I look forward to drawing this one again.

I shaded the design with graphite and added some color with pastel chalk pencils.

Today's Tangle - Muriehl

"Muriehl" is by Martina Danner-Großmann  and her step-out is posted HERE at Musterquelle. I enjoyed drawing this tangle so much that I drew another tile.

Today's Tangle - Muriehl

"Muriehl" is by Martina Danner-Großmann and her step-out is posted HERE at Musterquelle.

Today's Tangle - Kl'ng

"Kl'ng" is by Theresa Feßler CZT. Her pattern is found HERE on her website.

Today's Tangle - Berberis

"Berberis" is by Annett Ruempler CZT and her step-out is posted HERE on her website.

Video Tutorial by Tangle Dream

I followed the Tangle Dream video from November 9, 2021 which you can watch HERE. I don't have a glitter pen in the shade of blue that she used. Instead I used a blue Gelly Roll glitter pen which is more turquoise than blue but still very pretty.

Today's Tangle - Puffy5

"Puffy5" is by Annett Ruempler CZT and the step-out is found HERE on her website.

Video Tutorial - Ornate Squares Day 23

I'm still gradually working my way through Sandhya Manne's "Ornate Squares" video series on YouTube. Today's tiles are from the Day 23 video which you can watch HERE. I drew the tile below while watching the video. I drew both tiles on cream colored card stock with black and brown ink. I also added some metallic copper accents.

Classic Zentangle® - Betweed, Florz, Ixorus, Knightsbridge & Strircles

I drew this tile for a prompt in the Today's Tangles: Keeping it Classic Facebook group.

These are the tangles that I used:

Betweed - I blogged about "Betweed" HERE.

Florz - I blogged about "Florz" HERE.

Ixorus - I blogged about "Ixorus" HERE.

Knightsbridge - I blogged about "Knightsbridge" HERE.

Strircles - I blogged about "Strircles" HERE.

MOSAIC #8

For as long as I've been a member of the Today's Tangles: Keeping it Classic Facebook group, I've been compiling mosaics of all of the tiles that I have drawn for the weekly prompts. I just completed my eighth mosaic which you can see below (click on it to view it larger):

Video Tutorial - Cell

"Cell" is by Tangle Dream. Watch her video HERE.

Video Tutorial - Cell

"Cell" is from a recent Tangle Dream video which you can watch HERE. I enjoyed drawing this tile so much that I drew another one which I will blog about tomorrow.

Since drawing this tile, Tangle Dream has posted two more videos with variations of "Cell". Check them out HERE and HERE.

Today's Tangle - Naaki

"Naaki" is by Nadine Roller CZT and her step-out is posted HERE on her blog. 

I drew the pink tile below first. I think it is cute but I wanted to try drawing it more free form. I drew the tile below the pink one next only to discover that it makes a difference how big the center hole is. If you make the hole too small, or draw too many rays, you won't get the triangle shapes that make this design look so cool when it is shaded. Since I wasn't happy with that second tile, I drew a third one which is at the top of this post.

Today's Tangle - Yuliset

"Yuliset" is by Annett Ruempler CZT and the pattern is posted HERE on her website.

Today's Tangle - Waverly

"Waverly" is by Judy Okawa and you'll find her pattern HERE at TanglePatterns.

Today's Tangle - Rozhki

"Rozhki" is by Ludmila Katz and her step-out is posted HERE at TanglePatterns.

Classic Zentangle® - Crazy 'Nzeppel, Crescent Moon, Dewd & Hurry

I drew this tile for a prompt in the Today's Tangles: Keeping it Classic Facebook group.

These are the tangles that I used:

Crazy 'Nzeppel - I blogged about "Crazy 'Nzeppel" HERE.

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

Dewd - I blogged about "Dewd" HERE.

Hurry - I blogged about "Hurry" HERE.

Video Tutorial - Ornate Squares Day 21

Today is the final day of Sandhya Manne's video series on YouTube called Ornate Squares. You can purchase a PDF file with all of the templates for the series HERE on her website. Watch the Day 21 video HERE.

While choosing a digital background for today's tile, I couldn't decide which one I liked better so I saved it with both. Below is the the same tile as above but with a different background behind it.

I drew the tile below while watching the video. The tile above features a few tweaks that I made on my second tile in this design. I drew both tiles on cream colored card stock with black and brown ink. I also added some metallic copper accents.

Today's Tangle - Y-Knot

"Y-Knot" is by HyunJu Park CZT and her step-out is posted HERE at TanglePatterns. I like this lighter version better than the dark tile that I blogged about HERE yesterday.

Today's Tangle - Y-Knot

This pattern is called "Y-Knot" but it isn't the same as the official Zentangle pattern with a similar name; "Y-Not". This one is by HyunJu Park CZT and her step-out is posted HERE at TanglePatterns.

I wasn't very happy with how this turned out on such a dark colored tile so tomorrow I will blog about the second tile that I drew with this design but on a light colored tile. Both tiles were inspired by one of the examples on the step-out.

Today's Tangle - Camus

"Camus" is by Annett Ruempler CZT and the step-out is posted HERE on her website. I enjoyed the repetition of drawing this one.

Today's Tangle - Fleurie

"Fleurie" is by Annett Ruempler CZT and the step-out is posted HERE on her website. I was a little confused as to how to begin drawing this pattern but I think you're supposed to start by randomly drawing the flower shapes wherever you want them.

Today's Tangle - OOF

I drew this tile by following another video by Tangle Dream which you can watch HERE. The tangle "OOF" is an official Zentangle pattern and I blogged about it in THIS post.

Today's Tangle - Moonesque

From a video by Tangle Dream featuring the tangle "Moonesque" by Leslee Feiwus CZT. You will find Leslee's step-out HERE at TanglePatterns. Watch the Tangle Dream video HERE on YouTube.

Today's Tangle - Caro-Mingle

"Caro-Mingle" is by Carolyn Lally and her step-out is posted HERE at TanglePatterns. I colored my tile with colored pencils and embellished it with pencil auras and some silver glitter dots.