12 Days of Zentangle ® Day 11

Our 12 Days of Zentangle ® Project is almost finished! One day left, so on today’s section we once again had a lesson from Maria Thomas, one of the founders of the Zentangle ® Method. Each day has been a peaceful island in the storm of my life. I’ve appreciated each one, loved the original tangles and basked in the ever growing beautiful spinner. I honestly can’t wait to use it for teaching a class! Since we have just one more day, after finishing today’s wedge, I added some watercolor to the middle circle. I haven’t decided what I’ll do with the corners yet but we will see tomorrow. Today’s lesson included Knightsbridge, Scena, Purk and Betweed. All of these are favorites. Here’s my day 11 progress and Maria’s video link. Thanks to Maria for bringing such love and positivity to this method that has changed me fundamentally!

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It’s a String Thing #267

Hello and welcome to The Tireless Tangler everyone! I’m excited to begin participating in my challenges again! I’m still struggling with more pain than normal after my trip to CZT 32 but my spirit and creative energy have been refreshed and I’m so happy to be drawing again!

It’s a String Thing is CZT, Adele Bruno’s weekly challenge on her blog, Tickled to Tangle! This week Adele challenged us to appreciate the purity of the Zentangle ® Method by using the Z string string from lesson one in the Zentangle ® Primer. Also the first string we used at CZT 32 training. I’ve explored this string many times and I really enjoyed another try with the Zentangle original patterns, Crescent Moon, Static, and Poke-root. Step-outs for these tangles can be found on TangleList and TanglePatterns.com

You might assume that using the same string and similar tangles would have similar looks but really they each create their own feel. This was a perfect way to get back into the challenges for me! Sometimes it’s perfect to keep it simple. This tile is black micron on white original Zentangle tile with graphite for shading! Simple 💜

Certified Zentangle ® Teacher Training and CZT 32

Welcome to The Tireless Tangler everyone! I’m Cyndee Pelley and I am a brand new member of the Zentangle ® family! I’m currently sitting at the Delta Airlines gate in gorgeous Providence, Rhode Island, waiting for my flight home to Oklahoma. I’m so very proud to say I am now a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT 32)!

This was such an incredible, joyful, amazing week! I will try not to annoy you with my exclamation marks but I am feeling so completely blessed you will probably see a lot of them! I have not been able to post in several weeks. My personal life has been in control and creativity has been lost to me but I knew if I could just get to Providence for CZT 32, I would be inspired! This week was both the hardest and one of the best weeks of my life! Singing in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, driving through an ice covered forest in Germany with the sun sparkling off the icicles, seeing whales and dolphins in beautiful Alaska with my mom, and hugging my little boy are really the only things in my life that come close to rivaling the experience this week in Providence!

The landscape was lovely but I realized last night I had taken only a few pictures of it! So I snapped a pic of the Providence Biltmore last night.

This is the view from the event site on the 17th floor of the Biltmore.

I do, however, have many, many pictures of art and the amazing people I met while there! Many were uncomfortable with sharing their pictures online so with one exception, I’m not sharing my people pics. This one is particularly dear to me! I gave Maria Thomas a compliment one day and she took my hand and said “let’s have coffee”. Wow!

I would like to tell you this cheesy smile was an accident and I wish I looked better, but honestly, I wore this silly grin in all my pictures and it was a true representation of how happy I felt! (Maria Thomas is as wonderful and full of whimsy and joy as anyone I’ve ever met!) I will mention some of the other people I loved meeting but no pics.

I will share some of the art pictures and just a few of the mosaic pictures I took. Honestly, by the time I thought of taking pictures, I had missed some opportunities! We managed to do 26 mosaics in 4 days!

One of my biggest joys this week was meeting in person some of the dearest people I’ve known online in our community! In particular, meeting Anika of Zen.linea, who I was blessed to write about in one of my artist focus posts! What an amazing thing that was! She is an amazing person and now a fellow CZT 32! I was also able to meet 2 friends from India with whom I have been blessed to become close to online, Aish is living in India, and dear Prathima from India but living in Connecticut. Ladies, you own a special place in my heart! Jan from Florida, Leslie from Indiana (can’t remember where you live now) and Judy from Ontario, Canada, you ladies saved me from severe grumpiness last night over dinner! What a fun bunch! I want to especially mention dear, amazing, Juliette, my newest friend from France who now lives here in the states. She is one half of the awesome TanglePod podcast. What made Juliette such a beautiful friend? Besides being an incredible person and having that awesome French accent, she is loosing her hearing and was an American Sign Language enthusiast. She was so fascinating to talk to, we spent many meals together where she translated our conversations into French while I signed! I spoke German, ASL, English, learned a bit more French, a few words of Japanese…what a feast for my language starved mind.

To say this trip was a feast for all 5 of my senses is an immense understatement! I am completely enriched today! And I can now say, I am Cyndee Pelley, CZT32!

None of this would have been possible without all of the artists and CZTs who so generously donated to send me this week. There are not enough words in my admittedly large vocabulary to adequately express my deep gratitude to you all! 💜

It’s a String Thing 261

This week’s IAST tile led me on a frantic search over the last 3 days! To have a tile finished, except for finishing touches, just disappear was a mystery! For the last 2 days I thought perhaps Simba had taken it outside and chewed on it but no sign could be found. I’ve been fighting illness for a couple of weeks now and I just didn’t have the energy to worry about doing another. I figured I’d just miss this week’s challenge, which was due last night. Sigh! However, when stripping my bed this afternoon, there it was, relatively unscathed, beneath my pillow! Don’t ask how it ended up there, but since it was almost finished, I scurried around and put the finishing touches on it and here it is! (Simba is still feeling offended but I gave him a treat and he might forgive me!)

So this week’s start to IAST’S 6th year, includes 2 tangles. 3-loop-6 by CZT, Mina Hsaio, and CZT, Cheryl Moote’s Hexonu. Step-outs for both can be found on TanglePatterns.com. Here’s my tile! As always, you can join the challenge at Adele Bruno’s blog here.

Diva Challenge 368 “Straight Lines”

I’m so glad to have the Diva’s challenges back! In her 368th challenge, Laura Harms has challenged us to use only straight lines in our tiles this week. Although straight is tough for me, I threw in some MicroTangling (from the lesson of the same name by Eni Oken), Baton, and some Shattuck with a bit of Knightsbridge for embellishment and called it done. I have a real appreciation for simple and basic right now so this was great for me. Although, it’s not fancy, I enjoyed the process very much and was pleased as much with the stress relief as with the tile itself. While sitting in the chemo chair today my blood pressure started at 183/90…not good at all, but when finished, after tangling the hours away it lowered itself to 132/85. Perhaps not scientific, but proof enough for me that tangling is great for the body, mind and soul! Here’s my tile!

It’s a String Thing’s 5th Birthday!

I’m in awe of Adele Bruno’s ability to keep her challenges going for 5 years! As a blogger myself, I know the work that goes into scheduled weekly posting and this is a feat! For her birthday string, she created this string.

Adding 4 tangles from her IAST birthday from the last 4 years:

Kitl by Ragged Ray

Prestwood by Margaret Brenner

O by Adele Bruno and

Knightsbridge (a Zentangle original) by Maria Thomas

I’ve been sick this last week and I felt like I was limited on creativity, but I wanted to be sure to participate for IAST’S 5th Birthday. I will now turn off my inner critic! Here’s my birthday tile! I didn’t have room for ALL the languages of participants all over the world, but I included: English, Spanish, German, French, Dutch, Italian and Hindi. So much fun! See you all soon for the next Diva Challenge!

Diva Challenge 367 “N’Zeppel”

Welcome back everyone! This week the Diva, Laura Harms, challenged us to use the Tangle “N’Zeppel” either as a monotangle, or together with others. Zen is the goal here and that fit my week perfectly, as I needed some! I decided to use Renaissance colors, Pigma Micron 01 in brown and black, shading with a pencil and N02 Copic Marker.

Consider me Zenned! Here’s my tile! Come back this week for the It’s a String Thing” challenge 260! Adele Bruno is celebrating 5 years of challenges!

CZT 32 and It’s a String Thing 257

Welcome to The Tireless Tangler everyone! It is time for this week’s “It’s a String Thing” challenge number 257! This week was a special treat for me as Adele Bruno chose CZT, Jody Genovese’s new Tangle “Twilight“. Jody is very special to me and I had planned to give twilight a try but hadn’t had a chance. Adele gave me the perfect chance this week and I was thrilled!

Here’s my tile! Awesome Tangle Jody! So many possibilities! 💜

Finally, I have the most amazing news! Last week, I thought my dream of attending CZT 32 in October was lost. I still had $900.00 to  raise. I didn’t think I could possibly do it by my August 26, deadline. Then Monday, a CZT who’d already donated sent in $150. A few small donations trickled in but on Tuesday I wrote Zentangle apologizing but canceling my spot. On Wednesday, I contacted my donors to let them know that I wouldn’t be able to attend. I was short about $600. Thursday was full of craziness, my son had a serious problem at school but Facebook was lighting up and the donations started to roll in. My brother made another donation and I was almost there, just $300 to go. God sent an angel in the form of a CZT I knew from the Zentangle ® Mosaic App. She and her wife donated the rest of it! It took another 24 hours for the stunned feeling to wear off!

I am humbled, and so grateful for each and every donor, for all the well wishes and supportive words! About 2 weeks ago, I was scammed for a small amount by someone saying they wanted to help. I could not believe that people were willingly preying on the needy. My faith in humanity took a hit. This week all of you showed me there is hope and goodness still in the world and it lives in the Zentangle community!

Thank you all for your kindness and support! 💜 CZT 32 here I come! 😍 I can’t believe my dream is actually coming true! Stay tuned for more CZT stories and be prepared to travel with me! No way I’m not shooting pics from training for you all!

It’s a String Thing 256

Hi everyone and welcome back to the Tireless Tangler! I had such fun with the String Thing challenge this week! The string was a simple circle and Zendala tiles were recommended. I used one of my precious Zentangle ® tiles in black. Adele Bruno at Tickledtotangle chose 3 tiles from Belgium CZT, Ria Matheussen. I’ve always appreciated Ria’s art and the chance to spend time with her patterns was an unexpected pleasure. Mazorito, Hexa, and Horti were full of promise. I wish I had time for a square tile in black and white but…here is my Zendala, using Sakura Moonlight Gelly Rolls and Sakura Stardust in silver.

It’s a String Thing #253

It’s a new week in the “It’s a String Thing”challenge from Adele Bruno at Tickled to Tangle! I thoroughly enjoyed this week’s challenge which included all Zentangle ® original Tangles. Crescent Moon, Nipa and Printemps were on the Tangle list for this challenge. The string was a zigzag M shape and it reminded me rather strongly of the string and tangles from the first lesson in the Zentangle Primer. I’ve repeated that lesson many times and I really enjoyed merging crescent moon and nipa! My shading is a mess but overall, I’m pleased with the result! As always, you can join the challenge at Adele Bruno’s blog here!

Here’s my tile!