Recently, when cleaning up my desk which is the custom table we made a few years ago –  I was looking around for the tile that started it all – and could not find it anywhere.

A few days later after removing a grocery list from the puppy’s mouth, a flood of memories came rushing through my head of a pile of projects on the desk, things being knocked over and general chaos. Of course the puppy was on hand as usually for any type of excitement – and in the busyness of the day – that tile may just have fallen on the floor in a flutter of temptation too great for a dog who loves a good paper snack.

I was sad. Then I accepted the single swirl that started the tile – which I wanted to change and grow away from always drawing the same old tangle – grew into something more unique and exciting than I could have ever imagined, and as I type this I am resting my arms on a 3×6′ version of the tile. Of course, the tile was just my string.

Looking for a multi age game for a family party, I made a fun twist on a classic as a holiday ice breaker across the generations.

Memory is a classic game associated to little kids but Memories Memory – well that can be a classic game that can only ever be specific to your family.  I was looking for a game to play that didn’t have a lot of rules for a mixed crowed.  Making a memory game out of photos worked well.

I just printed 2×2 photos on cardstock with a border. I tried to do enough to fill up our coffee table in a square, which ended up being 36 pairs, so 72 tiles.

The kids young and old really loved to try to match their favorite photos – so make sure anyone playing the game is in at least one set.

My Zentangle Twist!

When tidying up my supplies – it occurred to me that this is also a great opportunity to make a game with all those tiles that I create while teaching! Often I have multiple tiles that are the same tangles, even if they look a little differently. 

It is also a great way to utilize tiles when I am doing a practice of the same tangles on repeat. Like the tiles below – same tangles, different approaches. It makes playing memory a little more challenging but really fun to see how many different ways you can use the same tangles.

Exploring with your pen, playing with your art form and spending time nurturing your creativity  can definitely lead to some unexpectedly wonderful places!

In a recent TanglePod episode we were talking about one of our favorite go to tangles, Printemps- which is French for spring, and a little play on words because the tangle looks like a spiral or a mechanical spring.

Our discussion reminded me of a little tile that I created not too long ago- using Printemps as a warm up. Very quickly I started to play with the tangle, adding weight in uneven ways and making each shape thick and thin and giving each a personality of its own.

One shape turned into many and soon my tile was complete- taking on a very distinctive look which I loved because it was unexpected and not at all like my normal style.

Around the same time, in the fabrication shop we started planning a new desk for my workspace. Because this tile had a rectangular shape to it, I explored how to use it as my table top.

The tile is made up of individual shapes so the table required a little bit of additional design work to ensure that all of the pieces were connected.  We didn’t want to overdo it though, so decided to sandwich the top between pieces of glass or acrylic to allow for some of the shapes to float with support and keep all the personality of the original artwork.

After the test fit and assembly – I loved how the natural steel and the design brought together two distinct pieces of my world – and went with a matte finish on the natural steel rather than finishing it in a color.

A few months ago, I would not have guessed these two distinct areas of my world would find a way to work so beautifully together!

Kellie

Check out more of my fabrication designs and TangleTop organizers at www.soundtangle.com.

Listen to our podcast at TanglePod.com or your favorite podcast app!

TangleTop tile and placecard holders.

Thanksgiving is a natural time to stop and appreciate the people, places and pastimes that make  life full.  I hope you will take a little extra time this long weekend to also be thankful for yourself and the many gifts you have. Take a little time to appreciate yourself along with the gratitude you give those who surround you.

Wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Kellie

It feels like in the PNW the weather turned overnight.  We don’t always have a lot of crisp leaves to walk through, but the soggy ones are littering the ground and growing thicker each day.  It all makes me very happy to have our Fall Motivation series to give me a great reason to get back in the habit of creating a space of focus and relaxation with pen and paper in my day.

Yesterday’s exercise involved this tangle, Pepper:

And today we have a pen and ink exercise that I just used in my brand new Pen and Ink class. I am looking forward to sharing everything from Zentangle, calligraphy, lettering and even a little bit of cartooning and a lot of focus, relaxation and creative exercises with the mighty pen. I can’t wait to see what the students create.

You can catch the Podcast on www.tanglepod.com or in your favorite podcast app.  If you download PodBean you can follow our podcast and get a notification everytime a new episode comes out.

Happy Tangling!

This month on TanglePod we offer a daily episode of motivation – simple exercises to help you pick up a pen, create a little mental space and focus.

Take the exercises with some hot apple cider, your favorite spiced beverage, or your morning coffee.   Listen on tanglepod.com, iTunes, your favorite podcast app (and now Spotify)!

It was a happy coincidence that I happened upon a 12”x12” paper, with grid lines – with 31 episodes to go through audio production, I have a lot of time to listen and do something fun with my pen. In our first challenge we talk about the tangle Bales – and with bales I have made good use of my very large workspace!

Oh – and if you speak or are learning French – we will have the challenges posted in French as well, just for fun!

Happy Tangling!