Plaited - new tangle pattern

click on image to enlarge

I came up with this pattern based on a design from a journal I got at Christmas. On the journal it's a little more complicated but it wasn't too hard to break down. It has certain aspects that remind me of 'Crescent Moon' and a few other tangles. It doesn't have to be done exactly as shown. I hope everyone will have fun with it and add their own interpretation.

The first stage consists of triangles with curved ends. Each row (drawn from top to bottom) should have a different number and different size triangles from the row next to it. Note that the first row of triangles goes one direction and the next goes the opposite way.

In the second stage you connect the sides of the triangles to the the ones next to it. You really want to have variations in the pattern to create interest. Some lines will connect to the triangle next to it (and slightly below it)  but many won't. Remember you WANT the variations.

The 3rd stage fills in the lines that connect the triangles. Then the 4th stage adds lines to the triangles itself. This stage is very much like 'Crescent moon'.

The last stage has the tangle completed with shading added. You may also notice I added a few 'sparkles' by skipping a few spaces in the linework.

Zentangle for my phone

When your friends ask you - But what can you do with a zentangle? 

Here's what you can show them.

I have a love/hate relationship with my smart phone. I love having my photos of my grandchildren always with me. I love being able to surf the web anyplace I go. I love the maps I can pull up in a flash. And I love apps like gasbuddy to find out the cheapest gas prices. I hate it whenever a glitch comes up that I find I'm too technically challenged to figure out. And I hate how much more money it costs me every month to pay for all these goodies. (Did I tell you I'm cheap.)

But I did this over the weekend. And it didn't take any technology to do it. 

My phone is very thin and very slick so I had to buy a silicone cover to help keep it from sliding through my fingers. I was happy to find one in pink so I can locate my phone easily when it's at the bottom of my purse. But the pink color was muted by the blackness of the phone. So since it's somewhat see through, I added my artwork inside.

All it took was a plain index card cut to size to fit the back of my phone. I rounded the corners too to make it prettier. Then I added an assortment of tangles. I did my shading with a light gray marker. I stayed away from using pencil since I didn't want any graphite migrating into my phone's innards. Then I just placed the paper inside the cover and put my phone in.

Now I can't take credit for coming up with this idea myself. I found it through a pin on Pinterest and followed the link back to the blog that first did it. http://www.chicaandjo.com/2011/02/21/zentangle-iphone-case/

Thank you Chicca!

Oh - and if you look closely at my phone you'll see a sticker that says ice followed by my husband's phone number. ICE means 'in case of emergency' so there is always a way to get my phone back to me if I lose it, or,  heaven forbid, something worse.

Snowflake Saturday

We haven't had too much snow this winter in Illinois. It makes getting around so much easier for us but it's kind of frustrating for the kids. They all have sleds, skis and snowboards, but haven't been able to use them much. We finally have some good snow so I know the kids will be happy this weekend. I wonder how many snowmen will be on the lawns by Sunday night!

keep plugging along

I'm trying to get my house in order before my family comes for a visit. It always seems like it's one step forward and one step backward. I sometimes say it's just because of my 'artistic temperament' - or that I'm a Gemini - or maybe I have adult ADD -  but I suppose I'm going to have to get past the excuses. Or hire a housekeeper!

In any case, a short escape into a zentangle always helps. Here's the latest.

Mardi Gras Monday

I actually was working on this last week when I was still in a Valentine mode. When I looked at this again though, I realized it fit the joyous spirit of Mardi Gras. Music, pianos, trumpets, happy dancing. Sure! Maybe later this week I'll do something with the green and gold colors too!

Diamond challenge - and NEW CLASS!

I didn't get to this challenge until late last night. Just in time! It's been a busy week. I decided to do a random n'zeppel around the logo and the fill it with a variety of tangles. A blue Micron pen and blue colored pencil fit the bill too!

This challenge uses the logo for the The Four Diamonds Fund which was started by Charles and Irma Millard after their son, Christopher, lost his 3 year battle with cancer in 1972.  Symbolic of the traits Christopher felt were needed to defeat cancer, he wrote a story in which the knight Sir Millard overcomes obstacles to achieve the four diamonds of Courage, Wisdom, Honesty and Strength. 


New class scheduled! I'm happy to announce that a new class has been set up. Banbury Fair (my favorite little shop) will be hosting. It is designed for those students who have already taken a Basics class. This class is called 'Tangling Techniques' - COLOR. It will include more tangles - of course - and go in depth on the many ways you can add color to a zentangle.


Contact Banbury to register.
http://www.banburyfair.com/webpages/Zentangle%20Classes.html

Valentine Zendala

(before shading)

For the last two weeks I've been on vacation with family in Florida. I was able to post a little thanks to some tiles I had loaded on a flash drive - and you probably saw the tangling I did in the beach sand too. Most of the time I spent cuddling with my granddaughter, now 5 months old. I wouldn't miss that for the world. One day however, while she was napping, I sat by the pool and pulled out my pens and paper. This is what came out.

I did this on a 3 1/2 circle with  hot pink Micron pen. The shading is with a colored pencil. I posted the before shading picture too as I kinda liked that one too.

Getting ready for Valentines Day

I did this one a while back and put it on a memory card so I could post to my blog while I'm on vacation. I've got a real special one that I did this past week but I won't be able to post it until I get home. Check back in Wednesday!


This little zendala was a quickie. I started with a 3 1/2" circle from pink card stock. I found a few stencils in my supplies and used part of one to get my shapes to divide my sections. A heart stencil helped me place my hearts. ( I always use a pencil with a stencil and do my pen lines freehand.) Then a purple pen, white Sakura gelly roll pen, and shading and highlights with colored pencils. Wow - it takes almost as long to explain as it did to do this one!

Sanibelle - not far away

I'm on a little vacation with family down in Florida. The weather is MUCH warmer than back home so it's a nice break. Last night we were waiting for a sunset that was disappointing because of too many clouds. So I took the opportunity to tangle in the sand. I couldn't do the tangle properly because I didn't want to stand where I had just drawn a tangle so I had to adapt it to fit. It was fun though!

Zendala compass

Playing with mendala templates from a Dover book I came up with this one. It reminds me of a compass. Using the black and a colored micron pen and then the shading, I'm happy with this.

blue sky Monday

I did this tile using one of my watercolor backgrounds (done with Tombow markers and a watercolor technique). The string is just a few curved lines. I then did the tangles with a blue Micron pen and shading with colored pencils.

Silver spiral

I tried out some silver ink in a dip pen for this tile on black. The silver doesn't show up in the picture - it only looks like white ink. But in person it looks pretty neat. Then I added some white charcoal inside the spiral. Fun to play with!

I'm a big fan of experimenting with a wide variety of materials. (You've probably guessed that though!) I love how the basics of zentangle give me a format to do that!