Festive Tangling

The Muster Mixer challenge this month was to take two of your favorite patterns and tangle them together into a new pattern. I really love tangles like Gra-Vee and also have a lot of fun with Festune (I think they look like patty pan squash). So I decided to mix them together and came up with two different results.

I also did some last minute Christmas Cards. The middle one didn't scan very well, there are ribbons and such but they don't show.

Have a lovely holiday!

Count Down to the Holidays

This is an incredibly busy week with lots of parties, finals, and the capper...my son will be home for three weeks starting this Saturday. The party on Monday was the final ornament exchange that I participated in this year.

I stitched a cute house for this exchange:

Four different views and my holiday message to you.

And I received this lovely ornament:

Stitched by my friend Margaret

I can't wait to get my tree up so I can hang all the new lovelies up in pride of place.

The Diva Challenge this week is the last of this year and is to, "Give the gift of zentangle to someone in your life."

I tangled this on a SpringBoard and gave to a friend this morning:

Tangles Used: Flux and Luv-a

Tangle Used: Gravee

As it says on the house above, "Merry Christmas from our house to yours."

Tea and Memories

This past Wednesday I went to the annual ornament exchange at my Embroiderers' Guild meeting. There was so much exquisite work there. It was very inspiring. The piece I received touched me very much. We exchange names early in the year so that we know who we are stitching for and Barbara heard me tell a story at a program that I taught about a set water colors I had when I was a kid. It was a large set (probably about 96 in the set) and here is what she created for me:

I stitched for Kim who had asked for, "Summer and Flowers." I found this cute scissors case at Luv 2 Stitch in San Mateo and thought it fit the bill perfectly. I slipped a pair of scissors into the case to complete it.

I have been working hard in my drawing class so haven't gotten a lot of tangleing done. So I always look forward to Monday and the Diva Challenge. This week is a first Monday and thus a Use My Tangle challenge. The Diva chose the tangle African Artist by Tina-Akua Hunziker and I loved the look of it so much I started doodling with it in my sketch book right away. Before having finished my morning tea. So in my under-caffeinated state with my first attempt I forgot step 6 and my second attempt I got all the slants in the same direction.

After regrouping, and applying a more appropriate amount of caffeine, I did a couple more pieces. My first attempt above had reminded me of several skeins of floss lying side by side so I did this (leaving out step 6 on purpose this time!)

And then I noticed that it could be done in such a way as to look like a tree. Add an Arukas star to the top and you could use it on a Christmas card!

I never actually made it to working on a tile but I'm sure I will be using this tangle often.

Once There Was a Tree

I had a friend in high school who was fond of reciting The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein and it seemed apt for the Diva Challenge this week. The challenge, set by guest blogger Dillip Patel, is to create a tree using a monotangle to help create awareness about planting trees and being good stewards of this marvelous planet we live on,

I think I could get obsessed with this challenge but I chose to do only two.

Tangle Used: Cat-kin

Tangle Used: Pop Cloud

Last week was so busy with classes and Thanksgiving that I never managed to post my Challenge piece. The challenge was to use the tangle Hollibaugh. I couldn't get the idea/pun of holly out of my head so I went with it an created this tangleation (during class, hence the lined paper):

I can't believe November has flown by so quickly. I always look forward to the holidays but they do have a tendency to whiz by. Hopefully we all take a moment to reflect on how we got here and where we plan to head next.

Proper Prior Planning....

It is clear and windy here today with a nip in the air. That must mean it is time to get ready for the big day. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and is carefully prepared for in my home with lists and timelines. I have make ahead versions of several recipes so that I get to enjoy the day with my family and not have to slave away in the kitchen so today was the day to get my first shopping list ready. I'll start shopping on Wednesday and start cooking on Friday.

So today I still have time to enjoy the Diva Challenge. Today's challenge was to use the tangle Tripoli. This is not a tangle I use much. I think because I used to struggle with it. But today we declared a truce and things went pretty well. I decided that the Morning Glories (2) that Helen Williams introduced last week would play well and I wanted to use some sort of color since my art class this semester has been exclusively black and white. At this point even brown feels like lots of color!

Tangles Used: Tripoli and Morning Glories (2)

I also played with the Muster Mixer challenge this weekend. The challenge this month is to combine Nzeppel and Narwal into a tangleation. I confess I found these two tangles hard to combine but I finally did come up with a few different approaches. Here is my sampler:

In closing I would like to say that our prayers and thoughts are with all of those who affected by the terror attacks last week. May peace reign.

Lightning and Thunder and Rain, Oh My!

We are finally getting some rain here in Northern California. My poor, thirsty plants a very happy!

As I hoped, I finished my exchange gift in time for the party (just!) Here are a couple of pictures of the tote bag I made.

Pocket Front

Pocket Back

All done!

Being an exchange of course I received something lovely in return

Scissors Case Front

Scissors Case Back

Sweet Bunny Scissor inside

One down, two to go (exchanges that is). But I may be learning my lesson. The second one is nearly done with three weeks to spare!

The Diva Challenge this week was to intentionally leave a majority of your tile empty. I had been playing with stacks a few weeks back when we did the stone stack challenge

and so I decided to play with that idea today but using Narwal. 

Tangles Used: Narwal, Flux, and various flourishes

A small rock garden, just right for my patio!

All Souls Day

Wow! Where did October go?! The trick-or-treaters have come and gone and now it is on to holiday preparations. I always look forward to Thanksgiving. All the fun, friends, family, and food without the pressure of gift buying! I do however, still have some exchange projects that need to be finished. I participate in these every year and every year I wonder why I didn't finish up in July and avoid the last minute rush. Next year for sure...lol!

This week's Diva Challenge was to use the new Zentangle official tangle called Gourdgeous. It took me a few trials to get the hang of it but I think I really like it. I decided to use on of my pumpkin SpringBoards (As Maria says, "How could I not?") I got out my colored pens and found that the only orange ones that would show up on this black paper was the Souffle. But was happy to find that the metallic green worked beautifully. I can't recall ever actually using Sampson on a tile except for the one when I first learned the tangle, but it seemed to fit here. And I'v always thought Festune looked like patty pan squash so here is a nod to the harvest season.

Tangles Used: Gourdgeous, Festune, and Sampson