Happy Holidays, happy tangling!

Christmas is now over, but before the holidays ended, I held a "Tangled Ornament" class at sarasota Art & Frame.  It was wonderful to see previous students/friends, and to make a new tangling friend!

Carole, Angela, and Glenna Jo taking the Tangled Ornament class!

  

Our finished tangled ornaments, including one that Glenna Jo has had for 5 years!

 For Christmas, I also made some ornaments with Bijou tiles.

... and a tangled Christmas tree!

I wish for everyone a wonderful end to 2015 and beginning to 2016!

Tangle Refresher class

When we got back to Florida, I heard from a few people that they needed to have a Refresher class, to get back into the Zen of tangling. Some hadn't tangled for a few months, and some just wanted to learn some new tangles. 

We had a good turnout for the Tangle Refresher class on November 18! It was great to see friends from last year! 

Nine people took the class, and did a great job with new tangles, including Lynn Shelton Meades' Dew Drop enhancer. 

Here is the link to Lynn's tutorial for the dew drop: Dew Drops

(We all decided that we would need to practice this technique!)

The tangles that we worked on were: 

Tile 1~ Huggins, Puf, Buttercup, and Sand Swirl.

Tile 2 ~ Cubine, Cyme, Leaflet, and Tagh

from left to right: Susie, Jane, Diane, Steve, Bonni, MaryAnn, Angela, Glenna Jo, and myself.

Our class mosaic!

New Tangling Surface

I have seen people tangle on canvas shoes, tote bags, muslin, dishes, and almost anything that doesn't move! For some reason, it took me some time to get over my trepidation of putting pen to fabric. I know: silly! Then, one of my students Jan Hartlove (who became a dear friend), made this incredible tote bag for me, using only Sharpies, a bag from Michael's, and her own calligraphy magic. She even added blank "tile" spaces for me to tangle.

SO, when the Sarasota Surface Design Guild posted that they wanted members to bring in decorated work shirts or aprons, I decided to make the leap. 

For this project, I washed an apron bought at Hobby Lobby. While it was still wet, I did a watercolor wash. Then, ironed it dry, and used "Stained" fabric markers form Sharpie to draw the pen at the top, and to tangle the center and border. It was easier than I thought it would be!

I'm pretty happy with it, and am now searching the house for other surfaces to tangle!

Three New Tanglers in Nokomis, Florida!l

Last Thursday, we had another Introduction to Zentangle class. Joyce, who had taken my class the day before, offered to give us her lanai for this class. It was air-conditioned, and we felt right at home! Thanks again, Joyce

New tanglers: Karen, Gene, and Sally!

I do love to see the variations and "signature styles" of each tile!

. . . . . And Zentangle in Nokomis/Sarasota has started!

Our first Introduction to Zentangle class took place at the Royal Coachman RV Resort today. Four new tanglers participated, and I think they're hooked!

Susie, Joyce, Linda, and Debbie with their first tiles.

Here are the tiles that were completed:

I can't wait to see more tangling from these women!
What a fun group!

Weekend tangling in Wyoming!

On September 26, we drove our RV up to visit Jana and Will, and their 2 daughters in Wyoming. I knew Will "way back" in the 1980's, along with his sister, Kathy. Jana (Will's wife) had recently taken an 'Intro to Zentangle' class from me in Fort Collins. SO, there was lots of great history and connections!
     What a great time! We talked about 'schooling at home' versus 'home schooling (two very distinct things!). We also attempted to watch the super moon, in between clouds. Kathy (Will's sister) came over to spend a great evening, sharing tunes and music.
 . . . . . And guess what?!? We also TANGLED! a LOT! Jana had taught their two daughters, Jolie and Samantha, about Zentangle after she took my class. They are natural tanglers!

Here are some photos of the evening:

Getting started . . . .

Jolie enjoyed Bijou

Samantha has a real knack for artful presentation and background!

Jana is a born tangler!

            Feeling the Zen!

Jolie tangled "Cyme" . . . . 

. . . .And then tangled a pumpkin!

Both Will and Tim tangled a tile, but also "talked pottery".

. . . . Our evening's mosaic.

As you might be able to tell, this was a special weekend with some great friends. Will and Jana just made us feel at home, and I loved getting to know Jolie and Samantha!

The Diva's Weekly Challenge #235: "String Theory: Stripes"

Laura Harm's challenges are so fun and inspiring! This week, she has posted a challenge using stripes. (Diva Challenge #235) Take a look at her wonderful example, which looks like beautiful woven cloth. (While you're there, enjoy her awesome family! They rock!)

Here is my tile, using more of a 'striped string':

Home Party and Class

Last night we had a home party/class at Jan and Jimmy's house. Their place is a "mecca" for both art and music (Jimmy is an awesome mandolin player, and Jan is a tangler and a calligrapher, among other arts!): my kind of place! After we had some dinner, we got down to tangling...

I see one, or maybe two or three future CZT's! You never know! :-)

 

. . . And then there's the photo-shoot at the end!

From left to right: Teresa, Whitney, Jan, Jimmy, Peter, and David

I do love sharing Zentangle! (Can you tell??)

Diva Challenge # 234: CanT

I have to say, that I've heard so many wonderful things about the CZT gathering and learning event this summer in Saskatchewan, Canada: CanTangle! It's on my list of travel/Zentangle events to attend. A new tangle named (appropriately) is "CanT" by Chris Titus, CZT.
     This week Laura Harms chose this tangle for her Diva challenge.
This is a FUN tangle to do. It's based on Florz, one of my favorite tangles. There are some wonderful variations and tanglations. Shading choices also give it a variety of appearances.

I would love to hear your ideas, comments, etc!
Happy tangling, everyone!

Diva Challenge #233: Zenith

Laura Harms is back from her busy summer activities, and has chosen the tangle "Zenith" for her weekly challenge at her site,  IAmTheDiva.  Zenith is one of the newest official tangles, created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, and was released to the newest CZTs at the last certification seminars.  

The step outs for Zenith can be found HERE in the latest Zentangle newsletter. 

This is a tangle that I hadn't tried previously, so it was a good learning activity for me. I'm posting two versions of the same tile. With the first version, I thought it might be done ....

 ..... but after some thought I decided to be bold and add the black background. I think it helps make it "pop" more dramatically.









I would *love* to hear your feedback, comments, etc! Thanks for visiting!

Home party . . . . and art store class!

      Welcome to nine new tanglers this weekend! I had the pleasure to teach two classes: one at a home party, and the other at Jerry's Artarama in Fort Collins.
     On Saturday, Monica and Dave hosted a home party/class. This was my first home-based Zentangle class, and it was so much fun! We started out with time to chat, have some great appetizers and wine, and get to know each other. Then we tangled!

From back to front: Kelly, Susan, Monica, Sheron, and David. (We also had great help from the two "fur babies"!)

... and here are the completed tiles!

Then, on Sunday I taught a class at Jerry's Artarama in Fort Collins. I have to say, Zentangle just attracts the nicest people! Again, what a fun group!

From left to right: Marion, Jan, Jen, Barbara, and me.

Here are their tiles!

Happy tangling, everyone!