"Valentangle"

Tangles used, shattuck, n'zeppel, finery, featherfall

Tangles used, Bales and Fengle

It feels so good to be back to my blog. It has been way too long since I have been here. So much has happened in my life since last June. Part of that was a problem with my right eye. It was so frustrating not to be able to see properly to tangle for several months.  I count my blessings that it is in the past and I am thankful for my garden which is an endless place for creating.
Zentangle has been part of my personal journey for four years now. A dear friend introduced me to it three months after my best friend and husband died with pancreatic cancer. This mindful practice allowed me to think about something for more that 10 minutes, which was not otherwise possible. After an incredible amount of personal growth, I returned to the life that I have always been so grateful for.  I went to Bulgaria, and Greece last fall with my sister. There was something very powerful about seeing ancient history all around me, daily. It allowed me to put my life in perspective with regards to how much time we actually have here on the planet.  I have not shared any of my personal story here on this blog before. Today is the day to do that.
In January 2014 my beautiful mother passed away after a month of illness.  She was 87 years young. She died a beautiful death , at her home, with all of her seven children in her support and care.  I grieve again, with so much gratitude for having had such beautiful parents. I am one of the lucky ones.
  I have started to date a man who I have known for only three months. Valentines day is upon us. We will be going to dinner on Friday. I have created both of these tiles for the Diva's recent challenge which you can find here.

My question to you dear reader and fellow tangler is which of these tiles should I give to him?

Below is the calendar that I have been tangling in. There is a wonderful story on how I received it.
I will share that another day.

Blind Sighted

Tangles used = finery, n'zeppel, purk, shattuck, featherfall, meer, printemps, flux, tipple

That Laura is an incredible woman. This week in her blog she has a video posted. It is from a performance that she gave. She sings like a broadway star. You can find that video and the challenge for this week here on her blog site. 

She encouraged us to let go and just find our Zen. Don't worry about the outcome. So I played along, because she is good with games. You should see the extreme hopscotch her son is playing this week.

I started out with the dots and the border, placed my pencil on the string and closed my eyes to draw this blind string. You can sort of see where I went out of the border. I went with it and tangled those areas too. 

I am taking a colour class with Marie Browning. We are using the Irojiten colour pencils. Rather than think too much about colour I just grabbed 4 pencils from one volume. They are designed to work together. The first tile was scanned before I added the colourless blender from the Tombow markers. Here is the second tile after the blending. Can you see the difference?

Out Of The Box Challenge #110

Out of the box and the attic......

.....came my fathers very old watercolours. I have been meaning to go in there and get some things for a very long time.  Thanks to Laura for getting me there today. It's Friday so I almost missed the deadline for her submissions. You can find her challenge here.

She asked us to do something we have never done before. I have not done a Zendala or used watercolours on my tiles. In fact I have not used watercolours in over 25 years. I started with a pre-strung tile and thought I would change the centre a little, so I got out my pencil and drew some lines to split up the centre. I immediately saw a box. What? Where did that come from. I went with it. It was meant to be. Out of this box came some new found creativity. It looks very green in this scan, but in reality it is lime green, which is one of my favourite colours, and perfect for spring. Will it ever get here. I am still skiing. 

Patterns used. Lotus Pods (or a variation because there are no mistakes), Croon, Meer and Shattuck.

Whyz

Tangles used = Whyz, Shattuck, Finery, IndyRella

This tile was done for the amazing Diva's inspiring challenge, which you can find here. This week we were challenged to use Jan MacKugler's very cool tangle Whys. Have a peek here to see her actual pattern. The shading needs some work. I think I need to get out my shading workbook from Chris Letourneau and do some work. Have you seen it yet? She has done a wonderful job of shedding some light on the subject. You can find her book here.
I am finally caught up with my challenges from Laura. I have had a couple of very full weeks with Family. All good times and lots of great memories.
Have a look the post before this one. I won a tile from Maria Thomas. It's so awesome :))