Sunday, May 7, 2017

"It's a String Thing" #192 Tiles

In anticipation of my trip to Italy, the string for IAST #192 was inspired by the watermark of the Fabriano Paper Company.
Let me just say, the emails and tiles were the perfect "welcome home".
Thank you for your good wishes and prayers for our adventures and safe travels - mission accomplished.

We welcome five new tanglers this week from four different countries.  Our community is growing!

My abbreviations for our featured tangles are:  HAF for Hearts-A-Flutter, WE for Warped Eggs, and  M for Msst.


The first tile arrived from Ilse Lukken (The Netherlands) and here on her blog ~
Thank you for letting me rediscover Warped Eggs :-))
 Tangled Tidbits -
*shading along string lines and a new tangle for each section
*M along string curve highlights the curves of HAF and WE


From Hilary (Rome) ~
I'm so excited for you, and can't wait to hear all about your trip! I know you'll have many great experiences along the way.
Here's my swirly tile. I had so much fun doing it. I loved the string and I loved doing variations of Hearts a Flutter. It was hard knowing when to stop!

Thank you, next time we will have to plan to meet up in Rome.
Tangled Tidbits - 
*glorious HAF
*pretty shades of blue and green


From Tina Kirchhübel (Germany) and here on her blog ~
This loopy string I don't wanna miss. And I wanted to try out Hearts-a-Flutter since it was published on tanglepatterns.com. So this was my opportunity.
I used half of it for the loops on the right and on the left and after drawing it I thought it looks a bit like the little snail Bijou and added some horns.
Hope you like it.
I wish you a great time in Italy and fun in the Fabriano paper company.Greetings from Germany
Thank you, Tina.  I will post more photos this week.
Tangled Tidbits - 
*cute HAF Bijous, weighted lines
*M flows from top and bottom


From Susie (Thailand) ~
It’s 2.29am local and I finished 3 tiles for this week’s challenge. Then it was ‘ene mene’ and 'it’ picked the green one, my last.
Thanks for a challenging challenge, Adele and Happy Easter to you and family. We are celebrating Songkran, the Thai New Year, which lasts a week and is a pretty wet affair.
Thank you and Happy New Year to you.
Tangled Tidbits - 
*pretty HAF variations, flowing loops
*sparkled M flows from either side of a gentle curve


From Lisette (Switzerland) ~
Hi everybody, her[e is] my tile for IAST #192. Hearts-a-Flutter was new to me and I had a lot of fun with shading. Msst is one of my favorite filler. And Warped Egg became a wrapped egg ;-)A big hug
Tangled Tidbits - 
*striped and sparkled WE
*HAF varied in size, softly shaded


From Pat (Washington) ~
This was a great challenge. Thank you! I look forward to pictures from Fabriano! I am sure this will be a wonderful vacation.
Thank you, yes...more photos and stories to come.
Tangled Tidbits - 
*M dangles delightfully from HAF
*beautiful colors of paper and pen


From Vonnie (Minnesota) ~
This week's challenge became a comedy of opportunities (since there are no errors in zentangling). My first tile...I don't know what happened with the Warped Eggs- they really warped themselves into a frenzy! I had planned to leave it and call truce, but something said to try it again. I'm so glad I did! There are parts about the first tile that I mildly like about it, but I see the 'warpiness' of it far too much. Thanks for the second week, I clearly needed it this time!
Tangled Tidbits - 
*a treat to see the progression and difference in both tiles
*stripes and sparkles for both HAF and WE



From Shirley Wohlsen (Queensland, Australia) ~
Attached is my tile for It’s A String Thing #192 Challenge.
Thank you Adele for choosing these lovely patterns for this week’s Challenge.
Have a great time in Italy!
Thank you, Shirley.  I felt as though I took our whole community with me.
Tangled Tidbits - 
*lovely touches of pink accent uniform tangles
*patterns pop against M background 



From Ria Matheussen (Belgium) ~
This was a real challenge for me (I struggled with Warped Eggs). Therefore it was good we had some more time to find a nice composition.
I was thinking how to combine these tree tangles and suddenly I decided to add a few extra Printemps. I like the result and I wanna thank you for this special challenge. I learn every time a bit by joining. Thank you Adele. Coloured tiles are my favorites but now I'm happy that I have chosen only to use black/white.
Tangled Tidbits - 
*beautiful black and white spaces, curves, and sparkle
*M falls and rises


A very warm welcome to Teddy Griffin (Maryland) ~
I found Tickled to Tangle recently and enjoyed seeing the many tiles from previous challenges. I decided to try one myself. The string looked similar to an M, so the tangle went in that direction.  
M for Maryland :)
Tangled Tidbits - 
*WE along the string line
*HAF on stems tipped with curls - beautiful variation
Welcome to our IAST community and to our tangled map, Teddy!




From Jutta Gladnigg, CZT (NRW, Germany) ~
I hope you and your husband had a wonderful vacation in Italy 🇮🇹 ! Possibly you will have come back with lots of new patterns...
This tile shows "Hearts-A-Flutter Island" 🌴 ...

Thank you, Jutta.  I actually came back starry eyed - saturated with the beauty of art and history - a royal treat, to be sure.
Tangled Tidbits - 
*horizontal M
*stunning contrasts of light and dark



From Mariam G (Port Hueneme, California) ~
Hoping you had a wonderful time in Italy! Loved the string this week (just purchased my first watercolor pad from Fabriano - can't wait to give it a go).
Glad there was a little extra time on this one - was actually able to get it done before the deadline! :-)
Not sure why, but still rings of Easter/Spring time baskets for me.
Can't wait to hear about your trip
Fabriano paper is the best!
Tangled Tidbits - 
*weighted string line, basket weave-like WE, ethereal HAF 
*wispy accents of M



From Barbara (Germany) ~
Lots of fun with this tangles!
Have a nice week
Greetings from Germany
Tangled Tidbits - 
*rosy red HAF
*soft shading accents pretty tangles



From Cyndee Pelley (Oklahoma) and here on her blog ~
Welcome back! I've been eagerly awaiting your Fabriano pictures and doing some vicarious living😁. I'm sure you had a marvelous experience and I can't wait to hear about it!
Regarding my tile. I'm sure the design of my tile is rather common and I won't be surprised if someone's looks like mine. I decided to go with what appealed rather than trying so hard for the unique. I love the way the striped Warped eggs look like Victorian door knobs! 😃
Take your time to get settled!
...and aren't you surprised that yours is so very unique?!
Tangled Tidbits -
*doubled, striped, and sparkled string line
*hearts shaded into M


From Gabriela Garcia (Alberta, Canada) and here on her blog ~
What a lovely string we had! I enjoyed so much the leafy lines around the hearts in "Hearts-a -Flutter" that I ended up using them around the whole string :-) This was my first time using "Wrapped Eggs" and after a bit of practice I think I got it and had some fun shading it. I decided to add "Msst" very lightly with pencil into the background to create a little bit of balance.
Thank you Adele for this string and I hope you had a very blessed and beautiful vacation!
Thank you, Gabriela, it was truly blessed.
Tangled Tidbits -
*beautifully sparkled, shaded, and colored HAF
*accents of HAF carried over to the weighted string lines

Gabriela followed up a few days later with this note:
When I sent my original entry I was not entirely sure about the background on my tile, but thought it looked ok. and quite honestly I was afraid of continuing drawing and mess it up, so I left it as it was and sent my entry to Adele. Later on I kept looking at the tile asking myself what is the worse that can happen?...nothing really, so I armed myself with "courage" and worked on the tile a bit more, creating more shading, adding more sections of what it looks to me like leaves or feathers from the "Hearts-a-Flutter" pattern and removed the original pencil background with "Msst" and instead added "Msst" inside each "feather/leaf" . I really liked the end result and to my surprise now it looks like if there are feathers protecting a heart in the middle! Thank you Adele for this challenge it was great fun and full of enlightenment, one step at a time! ;-)
It is simply beautiful - the description of the process as well as the end result.



A very warm welcome to Anoeska Waardenburg, CZT 20 (Gouda, The Netherlands) ~
Finally I found the courage to send you a tile for the IAST challenge, I’ve been a long time lurker. ;-)
I just recently tried Hearts-a-Flutter and I really like this tangle, so when I saw this was one of the tangles for this IAST I just had no more excuse.
So here it is. I hope it is all according to the guidelines. I’ve used Hearts-a-Flutter to start this tile with, somehow it grew way beyond the string line. (Perhaps because I like this tangle so much…)
Then some Warped Eggs grew in the open space that was left, which left me no room for Msst… Or so I thought. Suddenly I found myself tangling Msst inside of the Hearts-a-Flutter. Don’t you just love it when these things happen?
I hope you’ll have a great vacation. It sounds like an amazing trip already.
Yes, I love when these things happen and I especially love when they are expressed so well and shared for the rest of us to enjoy.
Tangled Tidbits -
*aura and shading bring HAF to the foreground
*lighter, uniform lined WE in the background
Welcome, Anoeska, you are on the map!

From Trudi (Woodview, Ontario, Canada) ~
Adele I hope you had a wonderful, wonderful time in Italy. I needed the two weeks to get around to this and it was so great just to put on some lovely easy listening music and just Zen out on my Tangles. Thanks so much for your time and effort.
I am glad my time away served you well, too!
Tangled Tidbits -
*weighted lines of WE
*accents of M and HAF


A very warm welcome to Carlos Cano (Madrid, Spain) ~
...This is my first tile I send on any IAST challenge...
I've used watercolor as background, microns and color ballpoint pens.
Thanks for your interesting challenges,
 Tangled Tidbits -
*glorious color and combining of patterns
*patterns push passed the border lines
You are now on our map, welcome to you Carlos!

From Eni Oken, CZT (El Segundo, California) ~
I tangled this over a tile that was distressed by the lovely Deb Correia with Oxide Distress Inks. I used a variety of pens and media over this, it was fun to let the rainbow colors shine through.
Note:  I post tiles in the order that emails arrive, and I just loved that these two very colorful tiles from opposite parts of this wondrous world were sent to me back-to-back...
Tangled Tidbits -
*fabulous fans accent HAF
*WE curves repeat in HAF and M radiates from the tangle cluster



A very warm welcome to our fourth newcomer this week,  Anneke Hulshoff (The Netherlands) ~
Good morning from the Netherlands!
Thank you for all the lovely challenges so far. I discovered Zentangle only a few months ago and it has become a very serious addiction
This is the first time I have the time (and the courage...) to send in my tile. It took a while to practice as all the tangles were new to me. I was happy with the extra week!
I hope you enjoyed your special trip to Italy!
Tangled Tidbits -
*heavenly highlights
*HAF and WE tangled in brown and black
You are officially on our map, welcome!  Please know that we all appreciate, and understand, your addiction :)


From Veena Arun (Redmond, Virginia) and here on her blog ~
Here are my tiles for IAST192. I loved this week’s challenge as it was simple enough for me to get done really quickly. I was able to do two tiles in spite of having a really busy two weeks.  I love how the two tiles ended up looking reasonably different even though they have the same string and tangles. I absolutely loved Hearts-a-Flutter and Warped Eggs. However I had a little bit of trouble with Msst on the white tile. I wasn’t sure how to work it in for maximum impact. But since I’m new and just learning, I didn’t want to leave out any of the suggested tangles.
 Tangled Tidbits -
*WE filled sting line varies in width
*free floating HAF
*happy addition of M moving upward
*HAF in single file along the string line


From Sra (India) ~
Hope you had/ are having a great time in Italy. Here's my entry for this week
Thank you so much, Sra.
Tangled Tidbits -
*HAF morph into WE- awesome aura
*bold, diminishing dots for M



From Tonia Croce (Rhode Island) ~
Tangled Tidbits -
*lovely mix of tangles
*lightness of M carried through in Ahh


From Sharon Fite (California) ~
What a fun selection of tangles. I love hearts in all their many forms, and Hearts-a-Flutter is my new favorite. Thank you for the opportunity to share!
Tangled Tidbits -
*striking colors - M in all directions adds softness
*HAF surround


From Marla Mendenhall (Long Beach, California) ~
Welcome home, Adele. I'm sure two weeks wasn't near enough time to enjoy all there was to enjoy, but we're glad to have you back. And thank you for honoring my #191 tiles; that's the cream cheese icing on cake that was all to fun to make!
One new pattern for me this week: Hearts-a-Flutter. Can't wait to explore more variations in the months to come. And I love Warped Eggs; so much fun to draw, so organic.
Tile #1 is turned on its side (liked the balance better that way once I was finished) but I just couldn't find a place to fit Msst. Sometimes it's difficult for me to see a pattern beyond its obvious design but in Tile #2 I used it as the tentacles for the "jelly fish" and as lateral waves, with Hearts-a-Flutter "seashells" and Warped Eggs "brain coral", while ribbon "kelp" forms the string design. And in Tile #3 I found Msst could be added as a pattern element that doesn't have to come off the edge of the tile.
As always, a great challenge.
While I am grateful for the time we had in Italy, you are so right, Marla, it could have been two years and it would not have been enough.
Tangled Tidbits -
*fabulous curls and curves of HAF and WE
*HAF accented with WE curves
*sensational seascape of tangles

*Tipple accented large WE with M radiating from them
*double lined, black filled HAF


From Ingrid (The Netherlands) ~
I hope you had a safe and wonderful vacation in Italy and returned home jampacked with a lot of impressions.
In the attachment my IAST # 192 tile for this week.
Once in a while my computer/scanner takes over or some aliens have been at work, because I really did NOT color this tile. But I like how it turned out, so here it is "my colored" tile. Don't know how or why it happened but it did, and it is fun.
Have a blessed and welcome home.
Thank you, Ingrid, I am so 'jampacked' that is may take some time to be able to express all of my thoughts and emotions about our time away.  I'll do my best.
Tangled Tidbits -
*this is a happy accident because the color is very complimentary
*WE grid without the accents features pretty shading


From Carina (Germany) ~
I needed a little more time to doodle my tangles (sickness, vacation, work work work), but finally I did it :)Greetings from Germany
Tangled Tidbits -
*detailed, shaded, multiple sized HAF along the string line
*just a touch of WE (like a bow)


From Jody Genovese, CZT (New York) ~
I hope your trip to Italy was as amazing as I know it was! Can’t wait to hear about it and see the pictures.
Sending you much happiness on this beautiful sunny Sunday morning.

Thank you, Jody - I took you, and everyone, with me!
Tangled Tidbits -
*M waves, shaded to accent movement
*sparkled, black perfs in the center of HAF
*tangles meld together beautifully


A very warm welcome to Thekla (Berlin, Germany) ~
I want to be a part of your comunity IAST. This time I got the time to tangle, but I had problems with this String and the suggested pattern. The curls looked like they want to be Hamail so I added it, but I didn't get it as I imagined it.We live in Berlin Germany - from here comes a lot of greetings for You.
Tangled Tidbits -
*pretty combination of tangles
*WE filled loop and HAF lined string
So happy to add you to our tangled map, Thekla.  We want you to be part of our community too :)


From Donna, CZT (Pennsylvania) ~
Caio! Sorry this is so late. I played with the tangles for quite a while and when I finally reached for a tile it had the water mark on it!!! I think it's the only one I have! Warped Eggs sent me into the 'what if' zone and scrambled me so much that Hearts a Flutter is a happening. Found the stars on the water mark also. Great entry back into tangling more often!Looking forward to hearing about your adventure . Thanks for all you do!
Donna, that is so providential - tangling this on a watermarked tile, complete with stars,  Awesome!
Tangled Tidbits -
*curves of string accented with curves of HAF
*lovely shading - centers of of HAF and outer edges of WE



From Felicity Strohfeldt (South Africa) and here on her blog ~
...when you read this you’ll be back from your wonderful trip and visit to Fabriano. I’m green with jealousy, but I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing all your news.
Tile 192 decided to be simple and flowing. My word but simple can really be challenging as I discovered. Hope my version of the string makes the mark (watermark) Flutter-a Heart by Leslie Goldberg is awesome to do but was new so practice,practice, Warped Eggs by Livia Chua had its challenges too. Msst by Maria Thomas is an old favourite and lends itself to a delicate hand. Shading was essential and I enjoyed emphasizing the fragile look of the tile. Like the result. Also on my blog
Happy zenning all and welcome home Adele
Thank you, Felicity, I promise you were with me in Fabriano :)
Tangled Tidbits -
*shading does accent the fragile look of the tangles
*Tipple accents for HAF and WE



From Renee Womack (Austin, Texas) ~
I hope you are having a wonderful vacation/adventure. Thanks again for the challenge. I really enjoy having a prompt or framework within to work and obviously both the string and the 3 tangles offer just that. The string still challenges me…in the best possible of ways. I just dallied over this one for days.Thanks for all the time you take put these together. Looking at everyone’s work all together is the best part.
Thank you, Renee.
Tangled Tidbits -
*gorgeous clusters of HAF accented with M, striped and sparkled
*black background makes the tangles pop


From Ragged Ray (United Kingdom) ~
I hope you had a wonderful time in Italy and your fountain of inspiration is overflowing!
I had a wonderful time imagining you in Italy and I hope that shows in this tile. It was created with the love and joy of back-to-basics tangling. All plans and intentions were thrown aside. Just me, pen, pencil, tile, string and tangles. I lost sight of the heart shapes (which I can find offputting) - instead seeing only curves and curls. I made two mistakes on the direction of my bands on Warped Eggs - no way to hide them, so make a feature of them instead. And I found a way to use Msst that I really love - just little hints here and there. And when I wanted to surround the border with a black aura and found there wasn't room I just broke it up and fitted bits where I could. Pure tangling pleasure!
And as you can see I made good use of one of those precious, delicious tiles you sent me - only appropriate for this week Fabriano challenge!
Yes, your good wishes shine in this tile, thank you.
Tangled Tidbits -
*weighted lines, sparkle, shading - all enhance the beautiful tangles
*M flows up and down, HAF varies in size


From Holly Morales (Tuolumne, California) ~
Hearts a Flutter is so fun! Hope your trip was too. The black & white tile was the "practice tile". No surprise that it has a more "relaxed/zen" look 😂.
Thank you, Holly!
Tangled Tidbits -
*tightly tangled HAF and WE contrast with the wider M
*various sizes of HAF complete with weighted lines and sparkle
*shaded string areas


From Sabine (Germany) ~
here is my contribution...Greetings from Germany
Tangled Tidbits -
*horizontal and vertical M
*striped and sparkled WE
*uniform string line of HAF


From Jane (Boulder, Colorado) ~
...Hope you are having a magnificent time...I'm sure Italy has lots to show you--we just got back from a week in Kauai which was quite wonderful, as well!
I did this IAST on a cool coaster from one of our hotels...what a perfect surface for pens...so easy to fill in all the darkness (although the scan picked up every little flaw)...now I''m spoiled...and I only have 3 more--:)
Started with some Hearts-a-Flutter in the center...and well...they just took over! What a fun fun pattern, Leslie Goldberg! Did pieces and parts all around and thought I was going to end up with a monotangle, but in the end, added just a teensy touch of Msst...and voila...loving the final result...
Have a fabulous week...can't wait to hear all about the Fabriano factory!!

Kauai?! - how wonderful!  The coaster tile is fabulous!
Tangled Tidbits - 
*bold black and white spaces
*just a trickle of M and multiple sizes of HAF



And now...

the tile for honors this week...

was sent in by...
Henrike Bratz - a brand new CZT! (Germany).  She wrote this on her way back home from the CZT Seminar ~
...I tangled in Harvard Square, Boston Public Library und the Museum of Fine Arts – all of them great places. At the MFA I started the tile for your IAST #192 and finished it at Logan Airport! I used one of the tiles with the watermark. At the seminar they gave us only those! As I learned there is only one in about 40 tiles with a watermark. You once sent me one of those. Only now can I appreciate how special this was.
I hope you are enjoying your trip to Italy as much as I did enjoy mine to the States. I looked up the weather forecast for Italy – looked just perfect. I hope you are lucky, not only with the weather. And I hope that your visit at Fabriano could meet you high expectations!!


The weather was picture perfect and our time in Fabriano exceeded all my expectations.  I am confident it did because of your good wishes and the good wishes of this cherished community.
Tangled Tidbits -
*striped, sparkled, aura-ed, and weighted lined HAF
*elongated HAF
*gorgeous variations of the tangles


Congratulations, Henrike.
I have a little something coming in the mail for you.

Many thanks to everyone for sending in your precious tiles.  You inspire all of us and help build this wonderfully supportive IAST community.

Special thank yous to the creative minds behind the tangles used with my string this week ~


Hearts-a-Flutter by CZT Leslie Goldberg

Warped Eggs by Livia Chua

Msst by Maria Thomas

We are showering Lily Moon with our love and support through "It's a String Thing" #193 (click here for all of the delightful details).  
I will be checking emails through Monday at noon if you need a bit more time.   





1 comment:

  1. Thanks, Adele! I thought my tile didn't make it to your door when I discovered another email with it in the drafts! (Of course, I sent you that as well!) Glad you had a good trip to Italy, it seems to have been a very happy and emotional one for you. - Sra

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