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.