Cruise Tangling

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore."    Andre Gide

I just returned home from a three week vacation. We cruised northern Europe and then stayed a few days in Bruges, Belgium at the end. I've been on cruise ships before, and I've traveled around Europe before, and both the ships and the cities I've visited have always been chock full of patterns to inspire any tangler. Well, this cruise ship and these European destinations were no different. First I will share photos of some of the patterns I encountered.

 I can't remember what this is, but it reminds me of a Knightsbridge tangleation:

  Some carpet doing the Diva Dance:

  Tile flooring:

Colorful design inspiration on a store window:

 This was the wall in one of the restaurants. I have a feeling this is already a named pattern, but I can't think of what it is. And if it's not, it should be!

 The pattern on a sofa in our hotel in Bruges:

A lampshade:

Tile design on the ground in a plaza in Bruges:

 

 

Munchin-like carpet:

Tippled glass lamp shade:

Hollibaugh etched glass in the pool area on the ship:

 Tipple all lined up. Can't remember where this was taken:

Carpet on the ship:

More Hollibaugh on the ship's carpet:

More Diva Dance on a metal sculpture of a cello:

How would you like some of this carpet in your home?

More carpet designs. This reminds me of a combination of N'zeppel and Printemps:

 Some zendala inspiration from a lace curtain:

From the number of photos I took (more than 2200), you wouldn't think there would be time for much else. However, I also did a bit of tangling while traveling, mostly on the days we were at sea without stopping at a port. I'll share just a little of what I did here, and will roll out some of my other pieces in additional blog posts over the next week or two. I had brought along a few pre-strung official Zentangle tiles, and I'll start with those. 

 Patterns used: Cubine, Dex, Florz, and Paradox

 Patterns used: Knightsbridge, Sand Swirl, Navaho, Brit, Munchin, Baton, and Betweed.

 

 Patterns used: Hollibaugh, Hibred, Ginili, and some lines

I'm not in love with any of these tiles, but they're okay and they did provide some good relaxation. And, after all, isn't that what Zentangle is really all about? I enjoy using the pre-strung tiles so that no thinking is involved. No debating about how to draw the string, which, although it seems like it should be such an easy thing, often gets me hung up. If you haven't tried the pre-strung tiles yet, or are in need of some more, you can find them in my Etsy shop here. 

I'll be back with another post soon to share some more of my cruise tangling. Hope you'll be back too!

 

A Tangler's Paradise

In-spi-ra-tion (noun):  the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.

I've been home one week now since my 3-week European vacation ended, and I'm just starting to get over the jet lag. Don't know why it's taking so long. First we went to Scotland to visit my daughter who has been living there for 7 months (she was happy with the "no to independence" vote). Then we went on a cruise around Spain and Portugal. I took close to 3,000 photos, with about 200 of those being pictures of patterns. Spain and Portugal are a pattern hoarder's delight. Wrought iron balconies, tiled floors, walls, and sidewalks, facades of buildings...pattern inspiration abounds. So I thought I'd share some of those photos with you....I promise not to include all 200, but this will still be a long post!

First there were the ones that obviously ripped off existing Zentangle patterns:

An article of clothing made with Bales

 

A building Diva Dancing

Some more Diva Dance, but can't remember what it was!

Architectural detail over a door imitating Prestwood or Puffle

 

A door made of 'Nzeppel

 

A sidewalk of Swarm

 

A chair on the cruise ship very similar to my pattern Robo from my Step Out in Style e-book

Then...for inspiration I found:

Wrought Iron Balconies

Tiles adorning every surface imaginable

 Sidewalks and streets with patterns galore

Miscellaneous doors, floors, buildings, etc:

 And even some fashions

This one was an unsuspecting subject!

And imagine my surprise when my daughter donned this shirt with tangled birds on it. Granted, it came direct from Target in the U.S., but made itself known to me in Europe.

So...I told you I wouldn't share all 200 of the photos, but you can imagine many more where these came from. Some might call it pattern overload, but I call it a tangler's paradise!