Thursday, April 12, 2012

the tangle jar


Today, I am flying my nerd flag.

That being proclaimed, I've been thinking of ways to expand on the multi-sided die in the zentangle kit to randomize and vary the pattern choices for tangling. I find myself returning to the same patterns instead of trying new ones, so I've made a tangle pattern jar to expand my... tangle-icity. 


I used:
my cat, Puma, who will do anything for a treat
(though he has no further role in this project other than entertaining me),




a small roundish glass jar,
a round craft punch (one-inch),
a pack of neon index cards,
and a 005 micron pen. 





There is one pattern written on each circle in the jar. Well, not the orange ones, but we'll get to that in a minute.

My husband once told me that I tend to approach things in a 'scorched earth' fashion (a.k.a. overkill), so... true to my nature, I have included every tangle pattern in the CZT guide from Rick and Maria and every pattern listed in the PDF from tanglepatterns.com. Every one, from Ahh to Zincut, and everything in Betweed. *chuckle* ...sorry.

Ok, here's the nerdy part. The circles are color-coded, y'see, so you don't end up with too much of the same kind of pattern in your tangle. Unfortunately, the yellows and the greens look the same in this photo. No idea why.





You could go completely random and just pick a few patterns from the jar based on the number of sections in your stringed tile, or:

Pink: Patterns that require grids, dots, or other rigid structure in order to work.
Yellow: Flowy, randomly placed, freeform patterns.
Green: Patterns that are good for strings or borders.
Orange: These contain buzzwords, phrases, or specific directions to apply to the tangles you have just drawn from the jar. They won't all work with every pattern... but if they stretch your brain in new directions, you never know what will happen. 

You could end up with some new tangle patterns. :o)





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Some tangle jars I made using paper punches, scrapbooking paper, and a few goodies from the jewelry-making section of Hobby Lobby. Oh, and shrink plastic... microns....glue dots... jump rings. You know how it goes when you go into a craft store for Just One Thing. ;o)



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Thanks for stopping by! 
Feel free to join me here
where I frequently share artsy things that inspire me, 
invite tanglers to share art,
crack silly jokes, 
and offer up the 
occasional 
tangle 
prompt. 
:oD

24 comments:

  1. I love this idea, great for sparking new combinations of tangles and getting out of the rut of using favorite tangles.
    Melissa Cahn,CZT 8
    Lords Valley, PA

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  2. "scorched earth" haha - right there with you! What a great idea, easy to add new patterns and would be great to use in an advanced class or zentangle club. Any plans to market it?

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  3. I like this idea. Bet it was a lot of work! Are you going to make more and sell them?

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  4. Love the idea! Just wondering why you didn't use a "bucket" ?? :)

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  5. Because you can't shake up a bucket full of little paper circles without wearing them ;o)

    Thanks for the replies!

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  6. Cool idea. I think I will be trying that also!

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  7. I'm glad to finally know what all the fuss is about. This idea is awesome. This is really a fun idea. Good job.

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  8. Really nice! I did something similar, but I like your idea better. Thanx for sharing!

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  9. ok - so i get the scorched earth part, overly techno; but just how does this help. I need a set of line by line instructions, with drawings and dimensions and call-outs! LOL
    Psst - I really love this idea and I'm going to use my printout of the 1-inch squares thanks a bunch - molly z.

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  10. What a great idea!! I will definitely be adopting this one. Thanks for sharing!

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  11. Sandy, this is a very creative way to 'randomize' your tangle choices and fill your strings! Very, very nice. And I like the portability of the 'jar'. Good thinking.

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  12. This is brilliant! And perfect for my ocd brain that also approaches life in an overkill manner (you should see all my lists!). I will definitely be giving this a try. Thanks for posting.

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  13. I'm going to try this for sure. All too often, I go to my "favorites" or the "easy" ones. This will give me a way to get more patterns into my repertoire.
    Since I have all of the zentangle patterns and instructions I have found/created in categories indexed by name, it should make it easy to find the directions after making the drawings. Although I have some patterns memorized, it still helps to have the "steps" in front of you.

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  14. Could you share some of your buzz words as I am not quite grasping this part.
    Diana

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  15. This post whizzed by me 'way back last month. It's a great idea! I like the randomness of the choosing, rather than looking at a list, which is what I do now sometimes. Thanks! Will have to find a cool little jar and try it.

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  16. WOW I love this very very cool!!
    Pye
    Pyesquire@gmail.com
    cuttingartbypye@etsy.com

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  17. I'm a little late logging on here but this is a great idea and I am going to adapted it for my own use. I was just closing my eyes and pointing to different tangles but this is way better. Thanks again

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  18. Absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this!!! Thanks so much for sharing!!!

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  19. Looking for my jar now - bye,bye

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  20. I drew all the patterns in little samples and cut them up and I called it my Tangle Bucket... then I can randomly grab something new to try. It is great for when I get stuck in a rut with certain tangles.

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  21. Got my jar!! Now to get my tags written and in it!! Super excited!!

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  22. I'm a little late to the game, but what a great idea! I often just pull out Linda Farmer's tangle guide, close my eyes, and randomly point, but this idea is a hundred times better! And I just bought a punch, too-I guess the stars are in alignment.

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