Somnee

"A picture is worth ten thousand words."   
Fred R. Barnard

I'm back! I haven't been tangling much in the last few weeks as I've been preoccupied with another passion of mine. Photography. My husband and I decided to open an Etsy shop to sell prints of our photographs. It took quite a bit of work and time setting it all up, but we finally did it. If any of you would like to take a peek, you can see the shop, Seen Thru The Lens, here. And if you're interested in following us on FB, please "like" our page here. 

So, now that that's done I can get back to tangling, and I sure have missed it! I shouldn't let myself go so long without picking up my pens. I'm diving back into it with an entry for the Diva's challenge, using her own tangle Somnee. The name comes from a night of insomnia, and I can sure relate to that! I haven't had a good night's sleep in a very l-o-n-g time. 

Here's the zendala tile I used to draw on... one of the tiles I make using alcohol inks. 

The swirl gets a little lost in the tangling, but here is what I did. I drew Somnee in blue, and then added some Crescent Moon, Fassett, and a drop of Tipple in black pen. 

Then I added some shading used an indigo pastel pencil, along with some graphite.

Somnee is one of those tangles where it's hard to know when to stop. I could have just gone on and on with it (I love lines), but made myself stop so I could include some other patterns. 

Well now that I've gotten back into the swing of tangling, I hope to start sharing more often again. Thanks for stopping by, and hope to see you back here soon.

 

Colored Tile Tangling and Sale

"Sometimes all you need is a little splash of colour."    Unknown

It was one year ago that I introduced my new line of colored tiles in my Etsy shop. These tiles were handmade using alcohol inks, and then many, but not all, were digitally enhanced to create all kinds of interesting effects. To celebrate the anniversary, I've decided to offer a discount on the purchase of any colored tiles for a limited time. You can get a coupon code at the end of my blog, but first I have lots of photos to share.

Here is some tangling I did on one of my pre-strung colored Zendala tiles. These tiles are not digitally enhanced... they come out looking like this just by using the inks with plastic wrap. First the tile before tangling.

 

These tiles are great for tangling inside the pathways formed by the inks, outside the pathways, or both! Here I added Florz inside the paths.

 

Then I decided to add some Diva Dance in a few of the open areas.

Finally, I did some pencil shading.

Next I took one of my square colored tiles, without pathways. Here is the before.

I chose the pattern Toodles, which I had not used previously. Not bad for my first time. I added some Printemps around the outside of Toodles, and then shaded using pastel pencils. One reason I love my pastel pencils so much is that no matter what color I'm trying to match, I always seem to have the perfect pencil. I couldn't believe how the pencil was almost an exact match to the ink color in the tile.
 

Next I went back to another Zendala, this time without the pathways... or I guess I could say this has pathways of another kind.

On this one I used the patterns Maryhill, Opally, Flux, and Tipple. 
 

Then I used a pastel pencil (an exact match again) to add red shading, as well as a graphite pencil for some additional shading. This was a really fun tile to create with a few of my favorite patterns.
 

I decided to add one more tile, another square one.

Here I used the patterns Knightsbridge, Sunbeam (from my e-book Step Out in Style), Tipple, N'zeppel, and Flukes. No pastel pencil shading here, just graphite.

These tiles give you an idea of the variety of tiles that are in my shop, but here are some other pictures to show you even more.

Square colored tiles:

Colored Zendala tiles:
 

Colored geometric tiles: 

Colored pre-strung (pathway) tiles:
 

Gray square pre-strung (pathway) tiles:

Gray Zendala pre-strung (pathway) tiles:  

I hope you'll check these out in my Etsy shop and help me celebrate my anniversary. If you use the code ANN10 when you check out, you will get 10% off your order, good through March 11th. 

Here's to happy times tangling with color!

Black and White and Red All Over

"To see in color is a delight for the eye but to see in black and white is a delight for the soul."        Andri Cauldwell

 
In my last blog post I mentioned a project I was working on which had slowed down the progress I am making on my Zenduo adventure. Well, it's finally finished and I'm back to share the process photos along with the final project.

We recently moved to a new house and I wanted to tangle something to hang on one of the walls. I bought a frame that is meant to hold 10 individual photos. My plan was to design a string that would run through all 10 spaces and then tangle 10 4x6 pieces that would form a cohesive whole. I liked the idea of the 10 separate parts so if I messed up one it wouldn't mean I needed to start the whole thing over. Amazingly enough I did not need to redo any of them!  

I decided to tangle on white Stonehenge paper. The decorating scheme in my house is black and white and gray, with red accents. The style is modern, which is probably evident from the colors. Goes great with Zentangle! So in the same way, my tangling would be black on white, gray (graphite) shading, and red accents. 

I cut out 10 pieces of the Stonehenge and laid them out the way the frame was designed. I had to tape them together so I could draw the string. Here are a few pictures of the string.

I tangled Gewurtz in the "pathway", and then some Sand Swirl and Munchin. I chose tangles that I not only liked, but felt very comfortable with so there was less chance of messing up.

Then I added Fassett, N'zeppel, and Tipple. I probably should mention that I did all my tangling with my new Micron PN pens, which I love. They have a sturdier plastic nib with the same great ink.

I continued with Beelight not in a grid, Printemps, and some more Fassett.

I completed the tangling with Diva Dance, Huggins, and some more Munchin and Tipple. I was waiting to add the red accents until after all the tangling, but I had to use it on the Diva Dance as I went along.

 
Then I went back and added some more red accents using a red Identipen since I found that to be a truer red than the Micron red pen.

And then the rest of the red that I wanted. The only section that I left without red accents was the N'zeppel.

Next was the task of shading, which took quite a bit of time. And finally...

That wasn't a great photo, so a couple of close-up shots so you can see it a little better, especially the shading.

Unfortunately you can't see the red at all in the Sand Swirl in that picture. I also took a photo at an angle so you can see that the frame is actually 3-D.

And after all that, I figured I should show you what it looks like on my wall. I'm really happy with the way it turned out and think it fits in very well with the rest of my decor. I was so relieved after all that work!

Now back to my other project...Zenduos.

 

New Color Tiles

"Color! What a deep and mysterious language, the language of dreams."   Paul Gauguin

I'm very excited about the new line of tiles I'm introducing. About six months ago I started selling what I call my pre-strung pathway tiles. They are made with alcohol inks which form pathways for tangling, or tangling between, or tangling over, whichever you prefer. They were so well received by all of you, that I started thinking about making more tiles with alcohol inks, but different from the others. And thus were born these tiles that I am introducing now.

The difference is that my new tiles don't have pathways. They just having interesting colors and designs that meander and mix and flow all over the place. You can use the designs that the inks make to define the spaces you want to tangle, or you can just tangle over the whole background however you want. The unpredictable nature of the inks is what gives such an interesting look to the tiles. 

Here is my first example of a tile.  

 I decided to outline some of it first.

And then fill that area with tangles (N'zeppel, Diva Dance, and Btl Joos.) I used some pastel pencils for shading to add extra color. It's kind of a weird and wacky piece.

Here's the next tile I chose. I love the combination of pink, purple, and teal in this one.

I let the colors serve as an overall background this time, and tangled some Garlic Cloves, Pais, and Tipple. I love the way it turned out (all those soothing lines!) and thought that it looked best turned like this.

I used pastel pencils (of course) to add shading and give it a more 3D look. I matched the shading to the color in the background, using pink, purple, and teal. A touch of highlighting was added with white in the centers of the petals.

The next tile has a more textured look to it.

When I saw the tile turned sideways, it reminded my of the ocean (good imagination), so I thought of the pattern Sea Wave.

I added some Henna Drum flowers to it.

And then added shading, again, with pastel pencils.

Love this one too. The great colors and textures on the tiles make it almost impossible to end up with something I really don't like.

I was going to end my post there, but I did another tile that I really like, so I'm adding it here. Untangled tile...

Tangled with Sand Swirl, Meer, Florz, and Maryhill.

The shading didn't show up in this picture as well as I would have liked, but here it is...

I've had so much fun playing with the alcohol inks and coming up with these new tiles. Although they look very different than my pathway tiles, the thing that is the same about them is the process: designed with alcohol inks on yupo, then printed on bristol vellum paper and cut into 4 inch tiles. I love the slightly larger size of the tiles compared to traditional Zentangle tiles, and I love the vellum surface for tangling with Microns and shading with most anything. 

If you'd like to take a look at more of these tiles, or the pre-strung pathway tiles, you can check them out in my Etsy shop here. They are available in both square tiles and Zendalas. As an introductory offer, if you order any of these new tiles between now and January 18th, you can use the code NEWCOLOR to get 10% off. I'll be back soon with a post showing you some of my new tangled Zendalas. 

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!

Brusho Magic

"Life is art. Live yours in color."     Unknown

Have you ever heard of Brusho paints? Maybe you already have some, but if you never heard of them you should check them out on Pinterest or Youtube. They are watercolor ink crystals (meaning they're powders) that can create some very unique effects. Some time ago I bought a pack of 12, but have done very little with them. I had a free afternoon recently and pulled them out to play. 

It was a good chance to use some of the pile of odd sized papers that I have sitting around, leftover pieces from other projects. There was some cold pressed watercolor paper, hot pressed, mixed media, bristol vellum, and even some yupo. By the time I was finished I wasn't sure what paper was what... I should have documented them in some way. I laid a wash of water on some and then sprinkled the brusho crystals on. Others were spritzed with water after the crystals were put down. On some the crystals were just left alone to do their magic, some were manipulated with a brush or sponge, and other papers were tilted to let the paint run around the surface. Again, by the time I was done, I couldn't tell you which method was used on which paper! 

Most papers were larger than tile size. Once they were dry I looked for the sections that I liked most and cut them into tiles, discarding the parts I wasn't too fond of. Here's the first one. 

The color reminded me of fire or the sun, which led me to tangle it like this (using black Micron, white Uniball Signo pen, and just a touch of pastel pencil for shading)...

Patterns used: Squid, Tipple, and Maryhill

On the next one I achieved a very different look.

I decided to run the tangling around most of the color. Then I added some shading with pastel pencils. I LOVE using them for shading on tiles with color. There is a color to match pretty much anything, and they smudge and spread so easily with a tortillion.

Pattern used: Huggins

And the last one I have to share with you today, with another different look...

When I began this one it was going to be stacked with rows of tangles, but as you can see, that's not exactly what happened! I used no shading on this one other than what was provided by the paint.

 Patterns used: Sand Swirl, Gewurtz, and Arukas

I have several more tiles prepared, waiting to be tangled another time. Have I inspired you to get some Brushos of your own to try... or to pull out the ones you may already have?