Challenge #93 Bunzo

This week the Diva challenge is to use the newest tangle - Bunzo.  Lots of  possibilities with Bunzo - and it seems to have a mind of it's own as it grows and morphs across the tile.  None of the strings I drew really excited me so I grabbed one of the pre-strung tiles and had a go at it.  The harder part was choosing the other tangles but overall I'm pleased with the way it turned out.  If you want to see the other amazing creations using Bunzo head on over to the Diva's site and if you have not tried Bunzo yet - what are you waiting for - you'll be glad you did!

Bunzo

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The Diva's Weekly Challenge 91 - Beads of Courage

The challenge this week is in honor of the Diva's son Artoo's second birthday - Happy Birthday Artoo - and the organization Beads of Courage.   Beads of Courage is a charity that helps and supports children with a chronic illness or condition, please follow the link to find out more about the work of this wonderful organization.  To read more about this week's challenge and Atoo's courageous journey visit the Diva's site here.

OK, easy enough - just draw a string of beads on a tile and fill the beads with different tangles.  Before I could get to it another idea popped up.  Have no idea why or where it came from and not the typical project I would attempt but for some reason I decided to go with it and see what might appear.  The thought - to create a tile with real beads on it.  Going through the few beads I still have around - just one of many a stash of abandoned craft endeavors - I didn't find any beads that inspired me or would be easy to attach to a paper tile.  OK, time for plan B - had no idea what that might be.  Again no real thought process (that would be too easy!) the idea of making paper beads floated in.  Decided to go for it. Drew a few tangles on lightweight paper, added a bit of color, rolled them, strung them with purple thread and added them to the tile.

Beads of Courage

Zentangle Paper Beads on Florz

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Diva Challenge #90 String Theory v. XIII

This week's challenge is to use String 001 from TanglePatterns  string series.  I rarely use a string I just start tangling.  On those occasions that I do use a string, I usually don't stick to it I just go where the tangle takes me and it's usually outside the string, so this was a good challenge for me.  For the most part I did stay within the bounds of the border and the string.  Maybe I'll start to use a few more just for the fun of it.
 

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Will be teaching a ZIA class soon so I've been experimenting - trying out different pens and tangling on different surfaces.  This metal switch plate is the latest adventure.  Pens used - Identi-Pen and Microperm 01.  I have a plastic switch plate to try next and I resisted buying the birch one for woodburning.  I'm happy with the way it turned out but will probably go back and add some shading with hash marks.  Still looking for a suitable pen for non-porous surfaces.

Challenge #89 UMT v. IX Sankegg

Before I get to this week's challenge want to give a shout out of congratulations to my brother Don Wilka and cousin Dianne Krumnow on becoming CZT's at last weeks Seminar 10 in Providence.  What fun!

The Challenge on the first Monday of the month is always UMT - Use My Tangle - a tangle that has been submitted by a challenge participant.  This month it is Sankegg by  Maria Vennekens, CZT from the Netherlands.  You may read more about the pattern here.

Had a very difficult time finding the rhythm and flow for this pattern - even tracing it to get a sense of the movement wasn't working for me this time around.  Had the most difficulty with proportion and alignment - was all over the place.  As a last resort decided maybe I needed to find another way to create it.  That worked!  It's going to take more practice to get comfortable using the pattern but at least this alternate step-out is working for me.

Using this step-out - I definitely had more success with proportion and alignment and an unintended plus - I found it a lot easier to grow the pattern both vertically and horizontally.  Using this method - once I reached Step 4 - it was so much easier to align the one leg with the point of the adjacent triangle.  Drawing it this way produces a slightly softer line - a bit more curved less hard angle.  Definitely a work in progress.

Rough version of the alternate step-out - with it's own Bronx Cheer!

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I was so excited to finally draw the pattern I kept it simple - stayed with a monotangle and a bit of shading. A first for me - used a Tombow marker instead of a pencil.  It's actually a grey marker but scanned with a hint of brown.

The image below is a woodburned piece I did as a birthday gift.  It's done on a 4" square Birch painting panel with a cradle - makes it very easy to hang and no framing required.  The fun part after the party received commissions to do few more for the upcoming holidays.