Anyone who has been reading my blog for a while will know that Paradox is my all-time favourite Tangle.
So when I saw that someone had created a variation on it, I had to give it a try. You can check out the tutorial on the creator’s blog here.
Step 1. Mark out your square.
Step 2. Draw the first four lines as you would in regular Paradox.
Step 3. Reverse direction and draw the next four lines.
Step 4. Repeat step 3 until you reach the centre of the square.
Step 5 (optional). Fill in the centre.
I’ll be honest, this one was a bit of a brain workout! I had to count my lines as I drew them, to make sure I changed direction after every fourth one.
Here’s what it looks like in grid formation.
And in triangles, like Paradox at the top of the post.
I really like it, but regular Paradox is still my favourite.
What do you think of Paradox Reversed? Which do you prefer? Let me know in the comments!
If I look at Panthe for too long it makes my eyes feel funny, but that’s partly why I like it! As you can see in the tutorial it’s based on the Pantheon Dome in Rome, which inspired me to try a circular tangle area for the first time.
Step 1. Draw a grid using double lines.
Step 2. Add crosses in the larger squares.
Step 3. Draw a small square around the centre of each cross
Step 4. Draw a larger square around the small one
Step 5 (optional). Fill in the sections where the grid lines overlap
Step 6 (optional). Add some shading.
I decided to have a play with this Tangle, see what else could be done with it. I tried starting off with a single-line grid rather than double.
Then a triple-line grid.
Adding in some extra squares.
And filling in certain sections.
It’s so interesting to me how little changes like that can really alter the look of a Tangle.
So what do you think of Panthe? Which is your favourite version? Let me know in the comments!
I like W2 because it reminds me of a Mothers Day present I made years and years ago. The one where you cut out two shapes, cut strips into them, and then weave them together to form a heart.
paperkawaii.com
Mum still has the heart I made to this day.
At first I struggled with the set up of W2; I couldn’t wrap my head around the layout of the diamonds. But once I realised it was just a straight grid of squares on the diagonal I was sorted. I can turn my paper 45 degrees and draw the grid, then turn it back straight to add in the lines and finish it off.
Step 2. Add in all lines in one direction, alternating inside and outside the little squares.
Step 3. Add in all lines in the other direction, again alternating inside and outside the squares.
Step 4 (optional). Decide where the ‘light’ is and add in some shading accordingly.
Fun fact: unless I actively think about it, my ‘light’ is always to the top left so I shade the bottom right of my Tangles. I don’t know why, it just feels right.
What do you think of W2? Let me know in the comments!
I was right, I do like most of my bauble designs better in plastic than I did on paper.
Although I still hate this one
What was I thinking.
Paradox, as always, is my favourite.
My dad made a lot of these
But that was mainly trying to make the machine colour in the little circles. It never did manage.
Dad’s favourite was this one
And I have to say it’s a close second for my favourite too. It’s strange that these are exactly what I drew on paper, but they seem totally different etched onto plastic.
So now I have some baubles of my very own design to hang on the tree!
What do you think? Which is your favourite? Let me know in the comments!
My dad works at a school that has a laser cutter in the technology department, so he asked me to design some zentangle Christmas baubles for him to etch out with the machine.
Zentangle baubles featured quite a bit on my Christmas cards last year, but somehow when I came to do them this year I just couldn’t get into the flow of it. I tried some old favourites, threw in some new ones, combined some together, every last one feeling like a struggle. Eventually I got 6 different designs, but I’m not especially pleased with any of them.
Even my favourite tangle doesn’t fill me with joy.
But I sent them off to dad anyway and hopefully he can make some pretty decorations from them. Who knows,maybe I’ll like them better in plastic than on paper.
What do you think of my baubles? Am I being too harsh (be honest)? Let me know in the comments!
1 New blog followed per week – 4/4 (yearly total 17/17)
I found a tatting blog! Lots of handy tips there for one of my many new hobbies.
2 New stitches/techniques learned per month – 2/2 (8/8)
This month I drafted a post (but haven’t got round to posting it) about increasing stitches in Tunisian crochet, and I’ve also started to learn some tatting.
3 Instagram posts per week – 15/12(68/50)
This was definitely much easier when I had a challenge to follow. April went by so quickly I went a whole week without posting anything because it felt like just a couple of days. I caught up though after looking back over my posts and realising that I hardly ever remember to post my finished items; a few FO posts and I was back on track.
4 Exercise sessions per week – 16/16 (55/66)
The archery centre ran an extra session on bank holiday Monday, and that absolutely counted as a workout. 90 minutes of non-stop firing and retrieving arrows is TOUGH!
I also discovered there’s a canal about 10 minutes away from work, so on the rare days it’s not raining I’ve been going there in my breaks for a walk down the towpath. It somehow makes the work day more enjoyable.
5 Blog posts written per week – 16/20 (79/82)
Even though I wrote a couple of posts for my other blog as well as this one, I still fell a wee bit behind. Not too badly though.
6 Patterns written up – 1.5/6 (1.5/6)
I finally whacked out the pattern for my mini octos. Yes it’s the simplest pattern ever, but I worked it out for myself so I’m proud of it.
7 Rooms in my flat sorted – 2.5/7 (2.5/7)
I had a sort through my bookcase, but that’s not really a whole room is it?
8 Minutes of writing per day
I’m getting better at this!
9 pm bed time – 2/30 (48/120)
Oh dear…
10% of wages saved – 10/10
Done
12 Hand-written letters – 5/12
Yes, I’ve written to the same friend twice. Still counts.
13 New recipes tried – 6/13
The yellow sticker box actually helped me out this month, as I bought a few things and then looked up how to use them when I got home.
First up was avocado pesto pasta. I’m happy about this one because all I’ve ever done with avocado before is use it on toast in place of butter – tasty, but not really a recipe! The one downside to this is that avocado blackens even when it’s whizzed up in pesto. I took some leftovers to work the next day and it looked utterly disgusting, although it still tasted just as good.
Next up was sausagemeat pasta (or rice, if you can’t find the pasta. Ahem).
This was a happy accident, as I didn’t read the label properly and thought I was buying sausages. Somewhat disappointed when I got home and realised my mistake, but it worked out in the end because this stuff is GORGEOUS.
14 Meet ups with friends – 10/14
My birthday helped a lot with this goal. I’ve been out for meals, gone to a bouncy castle theme park, and met various friends in various coffee shops.
Me, exhausted after an hour of bouncy castle-ing
I also went to my cousin’s hen party and worked my way through the most enormous stand of cakes. Good times.
15 Birthdays on time – 8/15
Despite Easter messing with the post, my sister’s parcel arrived in time for her birthday, hooray!
It was my cousin’s birthday the following week, and her custom kindle cover arrived in plenty of time. Can we take a moment to be impressed that it fits perfectly, when I never actually saw the kindle and just worked off measurements my cousin sent me?
16 Christmas cards made – 1/16
I’ve actually made one! Although I forgot take a photo. Maybe I’ll update when I get home tonight.
17 Birthday cards made – 5/17
I am really proud of the owl card I made for my cousin.
My camera couldn’t really pick it up, but the moon behind them is gold card. The black owl really stands out against the moon and the white stands out against the purple background. I just love it.
And this was my sister’s card
Can you tell I got a Big Shot for Christmas?
18 Items decluttered – 4/18
I emptied the shelving rack in my bathroom, got rid of things I was clearly never going to use again, and organised everything else so it’s all in a logical order. Very satisfying.
The bookcase also received a thorough sorting out, as I was having to double-shelve some books and I hate not being able to see what I’ve got. Some have been returned to their original owners, some have been sold to Ziffit, and the rest went off to the charity shop.
I’ve really slipped in some areas (looking at you, 9pm bed time), but then in others I’ve done much better than expected. The 14 meet ups with friends seemed a bit ridiculous when I chose it, a kind of ‘stretch goal’, but we’re not even halfway through the year and I’m almost there.
Maybe the real goal is just to write down when I meet my friends so it stays in my mind and I don’t see myself as such an unsociable hermit.
A super tutorial on some of the different ways you can use Tipple can be found here.
I tend to use pebble-style Tipple, where none of the lines overlap and I fill in the gaps with smaller and smaller circles. I also quite like the idea of weighted, where my ‘pebbles’ fall like they’re affected by gravity. Although, like most things, I still need more practice.
Rather than a background, I use this tangle as a filler for smaller areas.
I could use it as a little corner highlight on my cards if it would fit the theme, but I need to do some experimenting first to see if it works out.
So what do you think of Tipple? Which versions do you like? Let me know in the comments!
1 New blog followed per week – 4/4 (yearly total 13/13)
This month I branched out a bit and followed a sewing blog, , as well as a couple more yarny people and a zentangler.
2 New stitches/techniques learned per month – 2/2 (6/6)
I’m still to write up posts, but this month I learned how to knit cables (at last!) and the very basics of patchwork.
3 Instagram posts per week – 27/12 (53/38)
Thanks to March Meet The Maker, I totally smashed this one. It’s been really fun interacting with people on there and making new friends, I’m definitely going to keep up posting (although not every day) and keep that community growing.
4 Exercise sessions per week – 7/18 (39/50)
I’m still trying to get back to running regularly, but so far I’m only managing once a week. I’d forgotten how tough it is to build up a habit from scratch, but I’ve done it before so I know I can do it again!
5 Blog posts written per week – 24/22 (63/62)
Getting the hang of this!
6 Patterns written up – 0.5/6 (0.5/6)
Turns out my waffle hat was a bit short and the shaping at the top was odd so I’m re-making it and tweaking as I go.
7 Rooms in my flat sorted – 2.5/7 (2.5/7)
I realised I had gone about this the wrong way by starting with my box room; it’s the space that needs the most work and it was really draining my energy that I didn’t seem to be getting anywhere.
So this weekend I did the hallway (the easiest space) and the bathroom. It feels so good to finally cross some of the list and I’ve got my mojo back to keep plugging away at the box room. It will not defeat me!
8 Minutes of writing per day
I’m getting much better at doing this, and it’s true that the more you use a skill the more it grows. As well as this blog I’ve gone back to my old blog and started writing stories again.
9 pm bed time – 15/28 (46/90)
Yeah, it’s a goal to aim for.
10% of wages saved – 10/10
Done at last, although my car is still doing its absolute best to bankrupt me. Heap of junk.
11 Items listed in my shop – 0/11
I’m actually putting this goal on hold for a few weeks, for a good reason. There’s a blog post coming that’ll explain. 12 Hand-written letters – 4/12
Just the one this month, which I suppose is on target. I do like writing to my friends, I really don’t know why I don’t do it more often. 13 New recipes tried – 4/13
I managed to find another keeper this month with DIY KFC. It’s so long since I had KFC I can’t tell if it tastes like the real thing, but it does taste gooooood and that’ll do for me!
This looks overdone, but it was just perfect
14 Meet ups with friends – 5/14
One of my friends had a significant birthday so she had a wee party at her flat, and last weekend we had a bestie date with Black Panther and ice cream.
I also had another friend over to my flat for a catch up, which I very nearly cancelled because I was feeling particularly introvert-y, but I’m glad I didn’t.
15 Birthdays on time – 5(or 6?)/15
The significant birthday friend got her card and present a day early, how’s that for organised!
There’s one I’m not sure of and I’d like some opinions. It was my Dad’s birthday on a Tuesday, and I posted his card and present on the Monday, first class so it should have got there on time. But it didn’t. Thanks, Royal Mail.
So do I count it because I posted it on time, or not because it didn’t arrive on time? Let me know what you think!
16 Christmas cards made – 0/16
Still none so far.
17 Birthday cards made – 4/17
I made a unicorn-ish card for my friend to go with the unicorn mug I bought for her present.
I also made and sent my sister’s card last week, as her birthday is the day after Easter and I know the post is unreliable (even more than usual) around Easter time.
18 Items decluttered – 2/18
The KFC recipe required so many new spices/flavourings that I had to sort out my current spices so I could fit them in. I had some stuff in there with dates in the early 2000’s. So I cleared those out and even alphabetised the ones I had left. Much better!
I’m making some pretty good progress so far, I think. April is birthday central for my family so all the birthday goals should jump up for next time. I just need to keep working on the others as well.
How are your goals going (if you made any)? What do you think about counting my Dad’s present toward the total? Let me know in the comments!
This week we’re going to look at a really tangly-looking Tangle, although of course it’s simpler than it sometimes looks. You can find the tutorial here.
Image from Zentangle newsletter June 14, 2015
And here’s my step out, which is looking surprisingly dull considering I drew it in the 26 degree Australian sunshine!
I draw the inner lines and fill them in first, then if I make a mistake or go outside the lines (as I did in the top right corner) then I can just draw the auras to fit the mistakes so it looks like it’s meant to be that way!
I drew this example very square and went with the top, sides, and bottom next, but as you can see from the website example you can draw Umble lines wherever you want.
And add as many or as few layers as you want.
I stopped here, because I would stick/stamp a Happy Birthday in the space. I do like framing my sentiments with Tangles!
Umble works well with colour as well as black and white. My latest idea is to use a different colour for each layer, so it would look like rainbows separated into their different stripes.
What do you think of Umble? Would you like to see it in colour? Let me know in the comments!
There is no tutorial for this tangle (it’s pretty obvious, really), but you can check out the official page here.
Nice and simple, but also pretty easy to jazz up if I want to, with gems or pearls at the crossovers rather than just filled in squares, or highlighting some of the lines with gold or silver gel pens. Simple, but pretty effective! Which you will see, just as soon as I get my shop updated….
So what do you think of Florz? Any other ideas for fancying it up? Let me know in the comments!
Quiet Water Craft 
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