a seasonal sign off

A festive thank you to all those who have visited my blog over the last year.  You've made it a warmer and more wonderful place to be. 

Betwinkle and Barrel Roll - ink, white pencil, gold pen and graphite on pastel paper

I'll be going quiet for a bit now, but will be back in the new year.

I wish you well for your Christmas time - I hope it's just as you want it to be.  And I hope the year ahead brings you peace and smiles and miles of pristine paper and fresh pens!

not long now

I've long hand made cards for my nearest and dearest, and since discovering Zentangle they've tended to feature tangling.

I can never share my makings at the time, for fear of the recipients seeing the cards before they open them.  But I've collected up a few photos from recent Christmases to share now.

From the minimal to the caked with glitter - perhaps they'll inspire a few new ideas, or at least show how much I like using Baton to embellish holly!!!

merry equilaterals

I've managed to keep up with the official Zentangle countdown to Christmas - even if I haven't blogged the results (since I shared my first three with you).

One of the charms of the new 3Z tiles - or in my case a pencilled outline of one - is that they are small - and you can complete one a fair bit quicker and still have something beautiful to show for it.  A great thing when tangle time is limited.

(from left to right) Day #6 - Molygon / Day #5 - Tipple / Day #4 - Marasu

Although the 'rules' allow us to use any tangle from the previous days I started by just doing monotangles, and so I had to stick with that, despite it being quite a challenge when some of the more simple or stark tangles appeared.  But the challenge has been worth it - I've never done so many monotangles, and it's made me realise that they bring a new aspect of invention to the art.

(from left to right) Day #7 - Knightsbridge / Day #8 - Pokeleaf / Day #9 - Auraknot

Towards the end of the countdown Zentangle headquarters released two new tangles - they seem at least vaguely related to each other, and work well on festive looking tiles, but have huge potential for year round beauty too.  It's rare that I shared a piece using a new tangle until I've worked with it a lot and have got to feel I 'know' it.  But needs must!

(from left to right) Day #10 - Drawings / Day #11 - Icanthis / Day #12 - Crazy Huggins

Of course one of the downsides of the monotangle approach is that I've been lusting after all those lovely tiles others have made with lots of the different Christmas tangles on them.  But still - this clean and simple approach suited me this year.  And there's always more tiles, more ink, more tangles...

and so this is Christmas

Continuing their annual tradition The Zentangle Team are showering us with ornate wonderment over on the blog - counting down the 12 Days of Christmas this year by showing off the new triangular tile.

Day #1 - Tripoli  /  Day #2 - Diva Dance  /  Day #3 - Shattuck

I was lucky enough to receive one of the new tiles in a Travelling Tangle swap mailing from the ever-inspirational Margaret Bremner.  I was able to use this to pinpoint the corners in my sketchbook and thereby join in the fun, by drawing along with many others each day.

It's a pleasure to make myself spend time with pen and pencil at this hectic time of year.  I'm loving the back to basics approach.  No colour, no planning, just lines and shadows and a welcome sense of calm.