Order your custom TangleTop Organizers or Tile/Place card holders by December 15th to ensure we can ship in time for Christmas.

The perfect gift for the Zentangle enthusiast in your life. Keep supplies visible and organized as encouragement to tangle.

Engrave the word or phrase of your choice, or choose one of our stock inspirations.

These tile and place card holders are perfect for your table, and for your small pieces of art and inspiration all year long.

Order at www.soundtangle.com. Short on time? We will gift wrap it for you!

Questions?  kellie@soundtangle.com

TangleTop Organizer

Experimenting in the fabrication shop makes me happy,  can lead to some interesting ideas to test the capabilities of our equipment and spark ideas for how to create solutions to some organizational problems that I face.

One of my biggest hurdles on an average day is making it a priority to take time to have some quiet and focus. Whether I tangle, journal, or spend time on one of the exercises we talk about on TanglePod, it is important to help me feel grounded.  Putting away my supplies makes “out of sight, out of mind” a reality, and so I was constantly leaving piles of supplies, or random kits around, never quite having the right tools on hand.

A little bit ago I came up with the idea to make myself something for the table top to store my supplies, keep them tidy, and hold just the perfect tools for what I need.  We were cutting cardboard the next day – and that was the perfect material to use for a prototype.

First prototype in cardboard

After using it for a few days and making minor adjustments, I was ready to go the next time we were cutting wood.

I really wanted to place the focus on my basic tools and to keep my display simple. We had a little piece of stained wood, which I thought would make a great base.  The result is clean with a pop of color. It is very specifically designed for the size of Micron pens, short pencils and blenders used for the traditional Zentangle Method(r), which is what I wanted to remember to do each day.

First sample in unfinished birch with a red base

Experimenting further, I was excited to discover cabinet finish birch which enchanced the simplicity of display I was looking for, and love that the simplicity of design could support a gentle reminder engraved into the wood.  It was really interesting to learn as I was cutting it that the engraving takes a lot more time and passes of the laser than cutting out the entire organizer.

The laser engraved words really pop on cabinet finished birch.

Finding a solution to keep my supplies handy without feeling like they are ‘left around’ has been very positive for my goals to stay current on a daily practice of pen and ink.  And since I have had several requests to create them for friends and family, I am very excited to now offer them in my shop and wherever I teach classes.

The TangleTop Organizer is available in this original design, with or without engraving or with custom engraving of the wood. You can find it in my SoundTangle Store and in person at classes. I have a few in stock ready to ship, and can create any combination of the colors and engraving as they are ordered with just a few days turn around.

With whatever system you choose – don’t let “out of sight out of mind” inhibit your daily goals. Keep what you need where you need it to make sure your goals are always top of mind.

Happy Tangling!

Kellie

I would love to hear what you think about the TangleTop Organizer – you can reach me with comments and questions at

Most of the time, I am pretty much a hard core Zentangle® purist. I love the 3.5″ tile, I love the place I can get to in my head relatively quickly working in that format, and I have quite a long list problems solved while working on a tile.  It always amazes me how the answer is waiting for me if I can just get rid of the clutter in my head by focusing on creating something for a few moments.

It is an entirely different experience to work using the same format in a representational format. I set out with an attempt to draw an object in tangles, and along the journey it became some what an obsession to just get the project finished. It took weeks.

The project was inspired by a doily that has been passed down to me through a few generations. We have several dozens, as must many people who can’t bear to part with hand made heritage from their grandmothers and great grandmothers.  I am pretty sure these were originally used under vases to keep from scratching wood tables, though I also have versions intended to keep oils off the arms and headrest of easy chairs. Now they don’t quite fit in with our modern furniture and lifestyle.

I love to find new uses for old things, and occasionally will put one of these lovely, utilitarian protectors to work, but mostly they stay in the closet.  It was in the desire to find a bridge between the practicality of old world crafts and today’s lifestyle that I decided to try to create the pattern into a tangle. The doily fit perfectly on the opus tile. (The Opus tile is 9 times larger than the original tile, and measures 10.5″). I used a compass to create the outer edge, points of the petals and the circles within them to serve as my string. I used a ruler to create the points of the crochet on the outer edge.

As with the more structured string that this required, finding tangles to use to accurately capture the airy feel of the crochet was tricky and I very easily got tired of the same tangle.  I branched out a bit and modernized the “stitches” with a variety of tangles instead of being true to a consistent tangle for all the rows.   It was certainly an accomplishment to finish, I think my grandmother would love the completed project, though I am certain she would have had the patience to complete a million little strokes exactly even in size as her stitches are. Maybe someday I’ll have as much patience as she did and try again. 

My grandmother passed along to me dozens of chair doilies – which in, her youth and probably into adulthood she hand made.  You will probably recognize them as something that was on the back and arms of your grandparent’s chair as a means to protect the fabric, or perhaps under a vase or collectible on the dresser.  There really aren’t many modern day uses for these doilies, and so my pile of them is just a fond remembrance of a grandmother I loved very much.Each doily looks perfect to me.  The stitching is even, the spacing seems insanely perfect, and I am sure that I could not possibly create something like that with string.    As an artisan I am sure my grandmother would have had dozens of stitches she wasn’t happy with, perhaps many that she pulled apart and redid – essentially using an eraser for her work.  Decades later, I wouldn’t recognize the frustrating stitches and I bet she wouldn’t either.

As an experiment, I thought it would be fun to use the doily as inspiration and see how it could be represented in pen and ink, on a 10.5 Zentangle Opus tile.

During the process of capturing the essence of the home spun handiwork, I drew so many lines I was not happy with while the ink was drying on the paper.  There were so many sections I immediately wished I had taken in a different direction, so many  curves that weren’t curvy enough, or lines that were too long.  Keeping in mind the Zentangle mantra of “One stroke at a time,” I would take a deep breath, lighten the grip on my pen, find a comfortable position and just keep going, one line, one curve, one stitch at a time.

As with any labor of love – taking a break, a little space and some time away can do wonders for how you feel.  Setting aside this piece for a while and revisiting – all I see is the completed whole. I know how I got there, taking it slow and step by step, and being forgiving of myself and perceived imperfections.  Maybe one day someone will look at this and think they couldn’t possibly create something like it – then they will gather their tools, whatever format they may be in – and get started.

Stippling is a really fun form of pen and ink artwork, and can add interest and depth to any work you are doing – whether the Zentangle method, sketching or even working with your kids in a coloring book. Wikipedia defines Stippling as the creation of a pattern simulating varying degrees of solidity or shading by using small dots. Such a pattern may occur in nature and these effects are frequently emulated by artists.

I still have some sea life drawings I did for science in high school, where I decided I really liked my ultra fine sharpie, and used stippling to create all the details.  I didn’t get a full grade on it because it lacked color per the requirements, but it remains one of my favorite projects, and I love to run across it when I organize my closet.

Check out this artist, who created a video of making a stippling portrait – one dot at a time. A single dot looks so insignificant, but put it with 3.2 million friends, and you have something pretty amazing!

Hero by Miguel Endara

SoundTangle provides instruction using the Zentagle Art Method in the Puget Sound Seattle/Eastside area.

“The Zentangle Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns.

Almost anyone can use it to create beautiful images. It increases focus and creativity, provides artistic satisfaction along with an increased sense of personal well being. The Zentangle Method is enjoyed all over this world across a wide range of skills, interests and ages.

We believe that life is an art form and that our Zentangle Method is an elegant metaphor for deliberate artistry in life.”  Zentangle.com