tangle jar giveaway.

We have a winner! Congratulations to MainelyTangles for scoring a free tangle jar!

The others will go up on Etsy.com sometime this week.

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Greetings, fellow tanglers!If you would like to win a free tangle jar, June 12 could be your lucky day! If you're in the habit of going back to the same patterns over and over when you're tangling (Sanibelle, anyone?), this jar will help you branch out and try new patterns. Just string your tile, count the sections, and pick one circle from the jar for every section you want to fill. You can also use it for choosing a border. Two dozen blank circles are included in each set so you can add in some of those other tangle patterns you've been meaning to try (and those you can't live without).

I've been playing with these, but I'm going to leave the jar blank except for the name. 'Cause if it were me, I would wanna decorate my own. This is a CZT-edition tangle jar, which means it ONLY has the official tangle names from Rick and Maria in it. Anyone that follows either one of the two methods of entry below is eligible to win it, but if you're not a CZT you're going to have to find one in your area to teach you some of the unpublished patterns in the jar. Or you can add in some other patterns that you already know and like and burn the unpublished ones in a Barbie-sized campfire. Tracking down a CZT is considerably less risky, though... you should do that.

The winner will get their choice of one of the sets below. There are several of them, but I have a limited quantity of each one, so you could say these are all limited-production. Once I run out of a print, consider it discontinued.

The remaining sets will go up for sale on etsy.com after the contest ends.

There are two ways you can enter the drawing. You can:
A. EMAIL ME A PHOTO of yourself (or someone who loves you enough to do it for you) with any part of your body tangled (think henna art... and some modesty, people, please!), or...

B. LEAVE ME A COMMENT BELOW and tell me your favorite thing about winter and/or Christmas. And give me details. Seriously, I'm already counting down the days. 

When I first typed the above part, I was kidding about A. But then I tried it myself (using an eye highlighter pencil), and it was FUN. So I'll enter your name in the drawing twice if you do it. Please leave a comment below either way, so I have all the names to draw from in one place. Also, know that if you send me a photo that fits the above description, you can bet your britches it's going up on my blog. Scroll down for the photo entries.

All questions and answers will be posted here, since I've probably forgotten something. I don't mind entries from all over creation, but if you live outside of the continental US, you'll receive a premium plastic tangle-baggie instead of a jar so it can be mailed in an envelope. Sorry, the cost of packages going to other countries... y'know. I'll add in extra blank circles to compensate for the lack of glass. 

Now for the (other) fun part!
Choose your weapon:

 ANIMAL PRINT
stripes & spots are high-gloss

EVER AFTER 

some glittered

 POSIES
bright/some glittered

SOUFFLE
brights & browns

MADISON
 printed on both sides

CREME
some pieces are flocked/fuzzy

SYMPHONY
some glittered, cardstock is a little on the thicker side.

SWEET PEA
pastel with linen finish

BELLE
linen finish

BOTANICA
birds and gears/wheels... 'cause everybody knows they go together.

RHAPSODY
linen finish

SUGAR POP
So. much. glitter.

If you're that girl that spends half your time crafting and the other half walking around rocking the sparkle from all the glitter you've been using, this is the set for you. My scanner may never be the same again.

My email address is tanglebucket at gmail dot com if you're sending me a photo. You have until MIDNIGHT on JUNE 11 to enter. The winner will be drawn on the 12th and posted here afterward, so check back if there isn't something in your comment to link back to your profile/website/email/blog/whatever.

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And now, for the photo entries:

Check out the knee-dala! Thanks Angie, I'm sure the UPS guy couldn't help but admire it when you opened the front door this afternoon!

Thanks for humoring me, Cristina... beautiful BTL JOOS!

Simple but pretty, Debra C! Guess how she managed to take this photo.

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When I told my mom I'd asked people to tangle themselves, she happened to have four of my very artistic/very enthusiastic nieces with her. They stopped off at a Walgreens and purchased what I can only assume was eyeliner. They tangled themselves. They tangled my mom. They tangled each other. I'm pretty sure they would have tangled Max the horse-dog if he wasn't covered with fur. No one is safe!

Hard at work... check out that concentration. :o)

Is it me, or did she tangle her eyelids too?? 

Lovely, lovely.

So proud.

a girly tangle...

 ...some Hollibaugh action going on here.

oh K, artfully done. And a nod to Charlie Chaplin too.

Every mother's nightmare: noooo.... not a windmill tat!

Even my mom contributed :o) She loooves Cadent. Looks like she used Veezley too! That's one of mine. :oD

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Here's where my head has been while I punch out a kabillion one-inch cardstock circles:

If you like Christian music, MercyMe's latest album, The Hurt & The Healer, is really good. I've been listening to that and the Harry Potter audiobooks. Jim Dale, now 77 years young, is incredibly talented. If you're a Harry Potter fan and you've never heard him read, you can check them out at your local library. The man recorded 146 distinct voices for Deathly Hallows, and you can tell who's speaking before he even says it. Just be aware that after you hear him read, all other audiobooks will be ruined for you, because nobody else compares. ;o) Yes, Mr. Dale... you definitely have a seat reserved at my Fantasy Lunch Table. You can sit in between Alan Rickman aaand... Santa. 

I'm also wearing out the Glee version of 'Mean', sung by Mark Sailing (Puck) & Dot Marie Jones (Coach Bieste). I LOVE her. There have been so many times when I've almost stopped watching Glee because it often wobbles violently toward Utterly Ridiculous... but a couple of weeks ago, the Coach delivered an awesome lesson about loving and accepting yourself as you are (warts and all), kindness, regard for the feelings of others, and stopping the vicious cycle of domestic abuse. It wasn't a huge part of the episode, but it really resonated with me.

Wow, I can't believe you're still reading. Go. Comment. Win. Luck!

Weekly Challenge #72: "Tanglation Nation - Crescent Moon"

I had buckets o' fun with this weekly challenge. 

I learned how to draw Crescent Moon early on, and I didn't realize until recently that I was drawing it wrong. Yes, yes, I know there are no mistakes in Zentangle... but I can tell you that my crescent moon looks much better now than it used to. 

Because it was WRONG. ;o)

I could do this challenge every day until the next one surfaces. Thanks to Laura, as always, for the adventure!

 I was inspired by the little dangly things I've been seeing in Tangleville, so I test drove a few... gotta say, they're reeeally fun to draw.

Very soon I'll be kicking off a two-week contest for a free tangle jar, and once I get that under way we can get going on a bookmark swap. Keep an eye on facebook for info. Can't wait! I hope whoever gets mine likes those little dangly things, 'cause I am ALL OVER THAT. 

:oD

5.31.12 Adding a few more... I don't normally color my tangles, but I thought I'd give it a whirl. 

Size 08 Micron pen and Inktense watercolor pencils. And a waterbrush.

Copic colored pens and Gelly Roll clear stardust pen

pink Micron Pigma pen and Inktense watercolor pencil in fuchsia

BATIKI & OODLE

If there's one thing I've learned in my thirtysomething years on this planet, it is this:

Don't believe everything you hear. 

If there is one other thing I've learned, it's this:

If you're looking for patterns to deconstruct, go to a fabric store.

And my favorite variation, OODLE:

I am such a sucker for those dot-grid patterns. They call to me.

No paragraphs of instructions this time. I have nefarious plans... things to make. And give away. 

Soon.

Weekly Challenge #71: "Pea-Nuckle"

It's a red-letter day.

The elves in Tangletown have been busy creating/deconstructing more patterns for us to wrangle. This one answers to 'Pea-nuckle', and is the quirky brainchild of Molly Hollibaugh.

Don't you love how I say 'this one' and then present you with a tile that has a bucketload of different patterns on it? If you got here via Laura's page, you already know which one it is. And if you didn't... I'm not telling!

To be honest, drawing this tangle pattern felt a little forced to me. I think it's the kind of pattern you have to figure out how to make your own before it really clicks; kind of like trying to copy someone else's handwriting. Drawing the straight lines felt a little awkward because they were a little too long to draw comfortably, and I had trouble with the S shape because mine were too curly on the edges. Those are minor, very fixable things, though... it's such a unique pattern, and I'm sure we'll be BFFs once we get better acquainted. Off to the tangle jar it goes. :o)

Weekly Challenge #70: "Color me Sepia"

Weekly challenge time :o) 

I know Laura's busier than ten men, but I often do the challenge in the first couple of days and then spend the rest of the week wishing I still had one to do. She varies them quite a bit from week to week; sometimes with a certain color, sometimes with a specific string or pattern. I think I might go back through the archives and start trying some of the older ones while I wait for Monday morning to drag slooooowly around. Ha... can't say I know too many people who say it takes too long to get to Monday.

This week, the challenge was to use sepia (or brown). Not a huge fan of brown and black together, so I used brown and this beautiful nameless bluish color. Well, not completely nameless... in Micronland they call him XSDK05#36. *rolls eyes* Come on, Sakura. A little help here... if we can't have names, can we have more distinguishable colors on the caps? I always have to spot test the blues to make sure I have the right one. Maybe it's just me.

However, they do more than make up for this perfectly pigmented injustice with a product called the clear stardust gelly roll pen. It's 0% colored ink and 100% sparkle, and no photo or scan even comes close to doing it justice. Seriously, if you've never tried it, you don't know what you're missing (FYI It says 'clear star' on the barrel, product number XPGB#700). Gelly rolls run out of ink really fast, so once you're hooked you'll want to have two. For each hand.

Or one in every room, like I do with carmex. 

Featherfall, purk, footlites, afterglo, indy-rella, and keeko. And stardust. ;o)

The collision of past and present at 350°F

Ever since I took my very first Zentangle class back in February, I've wanted to try combining my new favorite concept with the subject of my former life: cookies. Linda (my former boss/fellow CZT) did the baking and made the frosting (God love her, she knows I hate to be in the kitchen unless I'm there to stick my nose in the fridge).

Last week, we sat down at her kitchen table to try tangling sugar cookies. The frosting was a little runnier than we had hoped, so we had to simplify some of the patterns... but other than that, the project was a success. It was really cool to pick up the same familiar decorating bag I used for years and be able to do something completely new with it.

w2

antidots (enhanced with dots... oh, the irony.)

betweed

corner box

indy-rella

veezley

a true tangle: footlites, cadent, and sanibelle (which I use on everything).

two beauties by Linda, whose names I can't recall.

Purk, also decorated by Linda. 

 ...and here we have a visual recap of the last twenty seconds of your life. ;o)

Happy weekend, everybody!

Weekly Challenge #69: "UMT v.IV: Groovy"

The Diva's weekly challenge is to use GROOVY (a tangle pattern submitted by Eden) in a tangle. I can't say I love the way this one turned out, but I'm trying really hard to get out of the habit of being obsessive about perfection. It ruins the 'zen' part of zentangle when I focus on the things I haven't done as well as I would like, so I'm going to pretend I drew the pattern right (I didn't) and the shading is even (it's not) and vow to do better on the next one. :o)