Something to Chew On

This coming holiday is full of good eats, so the name of this tangle, Bitten, comes just in time. The name for it, however, was really about the traditional houndstooth pattern found in woven textiles. I've often thought it would be a hard pattern to deconstruct, but when I squinted at a houndstooth scarf the other day in a store, it all made sense. And, my trusty sounding board was by my side (my husband), helping me talk it through. There may be a tangle like this floating around out there, but I haven't found it yet. Below are examples in actual tiles, and tomorrow I will post the instructions once they are finished.
   So if you are planning some tangle time over the holiday, maybe this one will find its way into your stash.

This last tile includes one of my current favorite tangles, Warped Eggs, by Livia Chua. Thanks for the fun Livia!

Aren't you done yet?

Yesterday's blog comments about the worn out Micron pens had me digging around my tile piles for a re-visit of some of the more 'scrumbly' looking ones. In fact, I even found one with Jane Monk's tangle, Scrumble, in it!

The tiles that are done with the worn Microns have a sketchy quality. I notice that when I am working with the sketchier pen lines, the process feels more to me like drawing. It feels like less of a deliberate line, and more of an expressive kind of stroke.  Both are fun, but the deliberate line of an intentful Zentangle is usually a more relaxing process for me.


This one uses Shelly Beauch's Wist. When my sister saw this one, she laughed and said, "Geez, Carole, get up off that couch and get a new pen!" That is the real story right there :) It's true that I can be frugal with a Micron, but I also love my couch.

Little Pleasures

I have so many Micron 01 pens that have been "opened." I don't know where they all came from, and they seem to have multiplied, even though I could swear I haven't opened a new one in I can't remember how long. Tile after tile, I keep using them, and figure three quarters of what are in my pen box are probably still in good shape, so why open a new one?
   Well, I think I misjudged those numbers, because lately, every one I've picked up has been a little on the scratchy side. It was getting tiresome trying to find a half-way decent one and this frugal mindset might have to turn a corner. They have been so well used (and loved!) that it's time for some to retire (Thank you for your service, dear pens!). As I reached for a fresh box of pens and took a new one out, it felt a bit like Christmas morning. Yay! I get to use a new pen. Life's little pleasures...
    As I continued on a Zentangle tile that I had started with a very old pen, I was so happy when the ink flowed with barely a touch to the paper. It felt so nice, this  'going with the flow', that I made gobs of little bubbles all around the edges, happily coloring in the background. Once again, reminding myself that it is about how it feels.

It's Not How it Looks...

It has often occurred to me that I might have bad hair karma. I have to wonder if I was Sweeney Todd in a past life.  I have so many 'hair-gone-wrong' stories that someone once said I should write a little book. 
    This past week I mustered up my mettle and tried a new hair stylist (again!).  The results? Well, it's a great cut by a master designer (my pocketbook really bit the bullet), but it's very short. Usually when someone goes this far, I don't like it. But this time, I was reminded of a what my husband said to me after one of my other really-really-really short ones, "It's not how it looks, it's how it feels." When he said that, I realized that the shorter hair did feel more free (my hair is ultra thick).
   I was fully aware as I was getting this week's cut, that all through the process, I could feel that this designer was intentfully doing what he felt was best. He took his time, made sure I knew what he was going to do. He was really connected to his process and to my hair at the same time. That in itself was a really fun experience. I knew he was cutting lots off, but I was so enjoying watching him work with his whole heart, that what it felt like was more meaningful than what it looked like. Now, of course, everyone will say they like my hair, and I don't know if they are just being nice, but really, I don't care. And that is just because of what the whole experience felt like.


It's How it Feels.
When it comes to the process of creating anything, how it feels while we are creating it is the meaningful part. What the end product looks like, well, who really cares in the long run? It's hard to let that part go to nothing. But the more we practice letting the product go, the more connected to the process we can become. And the more connected to the process we become, the more we can appreciate what the process FEELS like. 
   In college, our drawing teacher asked us to spend a couple hours rendering a still life. At the end of the two hours she asked us to crumple our papers and throw them away. It was brutal at the time, but our most meaningful lesson. Her point was, of course: it IS the process. It IS how it feels, rather that what it looks like, that is the essence of the exercise.
     So today I will tangle like I care about each and every line, but I will tangle like I don't care what the line looks like.

Fire and Ice

A little while back I named a tangle Lava Juice. It reminded me of the goop inside the lava lamps we had in the wayback times. I hadn't played with it much since then, but the other day I was in the mood to do a tangle that I could 'color in.' I made a string and then did Lava Juice in each segment. Much to my surprise, it looked a lot like melting snow on a tree branch. This came right at the same time that fellow CZT Sue Clark blogged about her first snow in Loveland Colorado, and how cozy her day would be. I love those days, and this tile reminded me of the feeling of snow. And since in Ohio, you really never know about when that will happen, I will sit with my little Zentangle tile and dream of peaceful and cozy days to come.

Mystery

Cathy Helmers has been busy designing more Zentangle inspired fabric. So beautiful that I just had to share. This design, called Mystery 1,  is available for purchase at Spoonflower.com.  Check out her other designs there as well!

Here is another, called Spiral Filigree...

Can't wait to see what she comes up with next... I just love posting pretty colors!!

The Last Word: FLOO

Now that the flu is on its way to being over, (it was the most fun flu, thanks to my tangling moments!) I remembered there is an original Zentangle pattern called FLOO. (It's the border of this tile.) So of course, I just had to say goodbye to my flu with this Floo...