In this era of fake news (do NOT get me started on which sources are real and which are fake...all I can say is, we each need to be responsible for fact checking and being honest with ourselves about our biases...I feel a rant coming on so I will stop there), I thought I'd post a partially-fake tangle or two.

Huh?  See below.  It began as a real tangle but then I manipulated the image on my iPhone with 2 different apps.  Hence, a "partially fake" tangle.

Then there is this version, using 3 different iPhone apps.

File this under "What I Do When I Should Actually Be Doing Other Things."

This is what happens when there is no time to tangle, but you gotta tangle anyway no matter what.  I'd been wondering what would happen if I put the tangles Punzel and Molygon together.  But there was no time to try it today. 

I thought I'd just try "refreshing my memory" on Punzel using a pencil and scrap paper for 5 minutes, and then I saw this tiny 3-Z tile and my White Gellyroll pen sitting there and couldn't contain myself.  Good thing the tile was itty-bitty.

And if that wasn't enough, I played with the original on my iPhone mirror app, and got this, which is kind of fun.  I prefer the original though.

Ok, I'm now way overdue with prepping for a meeting this evening...but feeling somewhat less crowded by all the tasks ahead.  Ahhhhhhhhh...

Ayup.  Did the mandala (from which this photo was created) three years ago today.  This particular photo was created by manipulating the original mandala in one of my iPhone apps.  [The app has changed over the last 3 years and now isn't anywhere near as much fun.  Phooey.]

I always did love this one.

Three long-distance friends are in town from today thru mid-week next week, so I'm not sure how much tangle time I will have.  Thus I'm just posting an oldie for today and we'll see what the next several days bring.

Last night around midnight we had a ferocious thunder-and-lightning storm with heavy rains.  So much for peaceful sleep...yawning...

Above is the final tangle on my double-page journal spread exploring the tangelation of Verdigogh.  The tangle Sema, new to me, seemed to fit in seamlessly and was the only other tangle I used on these two pages.

Below is a photo of both pages completed:

...

...and then I wanted to have some fun with the mirror app on my iPhone, which resulted in the crazy photo below.

<--here is the reason i can't type much. 
or type well.  or use capital letters. 

but this is a vast improvement over the first cast i was in, which included a sling.  that meant i was totally one-handed.  with this cast, i can cheat a little.   not much.

in yesterday's post i discussed how i ran amok with the tangle peanuckle, which was this week's diva challenge.  see that post for the details and result. 

well...!  one of the other participants, susie ngamsuwan, also ran amok, only much more effectively.  not only did she produce two gorgeous tiles, but she came up with an easier way of drawing the same tangle.  so creative.  see her work and her step-out here.  it's so worth reading--and check out the rest of her blog!  fabulous.

after seeing how she did it, i had to try again.  result:

on the left side of the tile i tried drawing it according to molly's original instructions (molly came up with the pattern), but did it very large.  i liked it ok, but got lost  near the end and had to fudge some embellishments. 

on the upper right of the tile i tried it again, very small, but used susie ng's instructions.  easy!  not only did i not get lost but i experimented with the 'join' between the peas.  i liked the effect. 

i threw in a couple of mooka and then tried it a 3rd time, using susie's instructions, on the bottom of the tile, and this time fooled around with an inner spiral on the peas.  once again, i never got lost and it was fun to draw.

thanks, susie!  you're so clever.  i'll actually be using this tangle now.

Well...
(or should i say "UN-well" ?)
I broke my wrist five days ago and am reduced to typing one-handed.  Phooey!  Looks as though I'll be on a 6-week blog vacation.
but wait...
UPDATE:   It's true I can't type (much) but I can't seem to stop 1-handed drawing.  Scroll down to see the series of "broken wrist tangles."  Oldest ones are at the top, newer are farther down.
***
July 3rd:
waiting to heal.  still can't type but doing some 1-handed tangles anyway.

this was the first, called "broken," done on june 26, partly inspired by my vision of what's going on at the site of the break

--playing with iphone app on "broken"--

iphone fun with that one-->

a page from my journal on july 3rd

Can't really type but don't want to stop drawing!

UPDATE, JULY 11th:
Let me check...oh wait...still broken.
Here's the next in the series of "broken wrist" tiles...

Here is the same tangle below, run thru an iphone app:

UPDATE, July 12th:

July 16th:

Oh yeah.

Love that quote by H.G. Bohn.  It sums up exactly what I've been feeling about not-doing art.

If ya don't do it, it just doesn't get done.  (Bohn said it better) 

Why haven't I been doing art...and for so long?  Because I moved house.  And naively, I had no idea that it would take me much longer to UN-pack than it ever did to pack. and move.

I'm still not done, but I just can't wait any longer to start doing at least a tiny bit of art.  So today I managed to produce one Zentangle®:

Wow, it has been so long since I've done any of this work on my own that a blank tile was really intimidating.  All I knew was I wanted "something round."  And I've been saving tangles I liked when I've seen them on the net.  I started off with Banana Braid, which was new to me, and then went to a "mac and cheese" (comfort) tangle by Carole Ohl, and then tried another new one.

Of course, I couldn't resist fiddling with these on my iPhone.

I tried out 2 different colorways above, on the iPhone.

Ahem.  So, in conclusion, what I've learned is:

If you wait, all that happens is that you get older.
(Mario Andretti)

Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
I meant to tell you that yesterday, but...
(Stephen Colbert)

Here is the completed piece I embroidered to cover the ugly logo on my fleece jacket.  It needs a bit more tweaking and then I can take it off the frame, trim it, and sew it into place.

Until I do that, I won't really know if my idea has worked, so my fingers are crossed.  Although I'm experienced at hand sewing, I'm often too impatient to do the best possible job, and this time I hope to go slowly and carefully and get it done right.  I'll post a photo of it on the jacket once that's done by adding it at the end of this post.

With thanks to Hanny Waldburger, CZT, for her tangle Pearl in Balance, which enabled me to design this.  The final size is 4.75" x 2.25" (more info on the tangle in my first post on this topic) and until I started working on it I wasn't sure if I could get the detail using punch needle embroidery, but it worked well.

In the spirit of the title of this series, "Traveling in Unknown Realms," I took the photo above and used it as the basis for two of my favorite iPhone apps.  First is a photo from the Kaleidoscope App, a nice closeup of a rotated section:

I like the view of the individual loops in that photo, even though the design has been manipulated.

Finally I ran the original photo through the Waterlogue app:

Unknown Realms, indeed.

"Making art is like swimming underwater in a blindfold." --Darby Bannard

Boy, doesn't that sound fancy!

Especially since I'm only sitting right here in my living room.

But in fact, I feel like I am indeed traveling in unknown realms, as I blunder my way towards a huge project I'm considering.  I haven't yet said what it is, but it's something that most people have already done long before they reach my age.  It's not my intention to be cagey about it, but at the moment all I'm willing to say is that it's going to take a long time--if I even take the plunge--and it's likely to use up all my energy for a very long time.  Months, if not more.  Sorry to be mysterious, but until I've decided, "I'm in!" I just don't want to disclose it.

Alas, I can hardly think about anything else, and that's pretty limiting.

But that's not the only unknown realm I'm traveling in.   In an effort to keep some creativity going despite the distraction of the Big Project, I've been working on very small textile pieces, all of them punch needle embroidery.  Today I was attempting to design a 2.25" x 4.25" piece that I want to use to decorate a fleece jacket.  I want to embroider something that will cover up an ugly logo that's currently on the left front side of the jacket.

Design is always an Unknown Realm for me.  Always.

This was my first idea:

And my second idea:

And then i played around with the first idea:

So then later this afternoon I decided to pursue the first idea and see if I could turn it into a pattern.  I spent the last hour or so doing just that.  I want the motif to be slightly to the right of center.  All punch needle embroidery is done backwards, so a pattern needs to be reversed. 

Here's the resulting pattern.  Now the big question is:  Can I actually pull this off, or is it just too detailed? 

The bottom line is I don't know if I can make this work, and won't know until I try punching it. 

Which brings me right back into the Unknown Realm, where I am eternally a rank beginner (just as I am with the Big Project) and where everything is an experiment.  Just like life.

Life is 'trying things to see if they work.' (Ray Bradbury)

*** The Pearl in Balance tangle stepouts are HERE.  Thanks to Hanny Waldburger!

I saw a friend yesterday who had been sending me images she'd created on her iPad.  I just loved them so she told me what app she had been using, a free one.  I immediately downloaded it.  And I had also acquired a new stylus, the Adonit Pro.  (I have an old iPad so I cannot use the fabulous new Apple Pencil because it only works on the most recent iPad models.  I won't be getting one of those for awhile.)

Here in order were my first four attempts with this new app.  I think I'm in love, and addicted already.  Oh, the ideas for rugs and other textiles!

Endless possibilities here!

"Your heart is full of fertile seeds, waiting to sprout."
--Morihei Ueshiba

This is about all I can manage today.  I have a nasty summer head cold and I think I've been overdoing it.  

Even though I'm trying very hard to limit my activities, even short tasks are tiring.  This is Joey Challenge #128.  I couldn't resist giving it a go...but now I need a nap!

Below is the same photo altered with two separate iPhone apps.

The title of today's post is explained at the very end...

Today I had a scheduled tangling date with a friend at a nearby cafe.  At the last minute, we switched the time to an earlier hour, so I raced out of the house without the paper on which I'd printed instructions and the visual for a Joey Tangle Challenge  I thought would be fun to try.  My friend hadn't heard of this particular challenge, so I quickly sketched it out from memory--I didn't even have a Zentangle® tile with me, so I had to guess the approximate size and I free-handed the borders.  I thought I'd just show my friend what it was about.  But then I decided, why not just tangle on this?  And here is the result.  Not stellar, but hey, it could be worse!

  When I got home, I took an actual tile and placed it on top of my freehand version, and traced around it.  That produced the space around the very edge that I filled with triangles.  I wasn't too far off!

This was a fun challenge.  If you clicked the link above you can see that Joey had actually started us off with the entire large triangle, leaving the rest blank for us to fill in.  Have a look at the wide variations that people produce from that one idea (they are on her site above).  This incredible number of variations is part of the fun of doing challenges.

After finishing, I of course couldn't leave well enough alone and had to run it thru one of my iPhone apps.  Results below.  And yes--all I did was take the photo above and run it thru the app, just manipulating it a bit to see what would happen.  So much fun.

This made for a lovely break from trying to resolve some of the issues I've run into in executing my latest rug design.  So relaxing to sit and tangle. 

While at the cafe, I drank a temporary specialty flavored coffee called "Decaf Librarian."  They do not normally carry decaf, and that title says it all about what they think of un-caffeinated coffee.  It was delicious but still not mild enough for me. 

I guess I'm just a coffee wimp.

I have been busy today, despite excessive heat and humidity.  Although it hardly seems possible that I actually needed to dye more gold yarn for my current rug (after all the excess I had at the finish of the last one), I did. 

But dyeing during the heat of August is not my idea of fun.   So what to do?

I woke at 5 a.m. and it was only 70 degrees outside, so I zipped into the kitchen and dyed four skeins before the heat could build.  Hopefully this will be enough to finish the rug.  After hanging the skeins to dry, I spent a few hours punching also and am coming close to finishing everything but the borders. on the rug  Well, perhaps that's pushing it just a little bit...but I'm definitely making good progress and I think the above statement will be true after one more day of work.

Once I wound the yarn, I amused myself by making a yarn-cake mandala on my iPhone.  Love these fun iPhone apps...

It's too early to show my rug design, but a took a photo of a small part of the rug and ran it through another iPhone app to make a spiral. 

Wow, these apps are powerful...I love this and only wish my rug could look like this!  Quite amazing.  (Indeed, my rug looks nothing like this at all.)

Two people I greatly admire are leaving my life tomorrow.  I will sorely miss them.  They are flying home to another country, a country in turmoil.  They were here for only a year to study, and during that year I got to know them a little.  They are a young couple.  They are well-educated, thoughtful, kind, and passionate about peace and freedom.  When they get home, this passion will likely have a price.  They are being tracked by their despotic government.  They may no longer have jobs.  They may be targeted, and they may even be imprisoned.  I desperately hope they are safe from the moment their plane lands on their native soil, but I am not confident of it.

I am not naming names or their country.  Even though it's highly unlikely that this post could ever cause trouble, I would not want to create any risk by identifying them.

Even if all were well in their country--and it isn't, not at all--I likely would never see them again.  But now, I will not only miss them, I will worry about them from the moment they get on that plane.  Things are very bad where they are going, very dangerous, and they are afraid.  But they feel they must go, to work for peace.

Please let them succeed, and stay safe.  It takes a heart full of courage--and love--to act in accordance with their beliefs.

I drew them a farewell card this morning before I left the house for the day, and left it at their door.   Unfortunately I didn't photograph it before I gave it to them.  So on the way home this evening I decided to duplicate it as well as I can remember.  Here is my memory of the card, a tangled heart. 

It's really two hearts, since they are a couple with love and respect for each other.

Here is a small kaleidoscopic image made from that photo.  It has elements of a mandala that I will use to meditate on, while they are flying home.

Stay safe, and work for peace. 
Stay safe, and work for peace. 
Stay safe, and work for peace. 
I will miss you.

This was the last tile I created on my peaceful day of tangling (see Part 1 for more info about that).  I loved the way this came out.  Once again I was in a room with over 100 people and deeply appreciated the total silence while we all focused on our tiles.

You may recognize elements of the photo above in the photo below.  That's because I took the photo above and ran it through an iPhone app and created this mandala:

"Each person’s life is like a mandala – a vast, limitless circle. We stand in the center of our own circle, and everything we see, hear and think forms the mandala of our life."
- Pema Chodron


And then I used another app and came up with this:

While I'm drawing or tangling, time seems totally irrelevant.  In that moment, there is no time, just breath.  Just focus.  Just being.
This is the essence of meditation, surely.

“The whole culture is telling you to hurry, while the art tells you to take your time. Always listen to the art.”
~Junot Diaz

This was the original Compass Rose Mandala taught by Kate Lamontagne at Tangle U 16 a week or so ago.  We were each given a selection of Prismacolor pencils and Moonlight Gellyroll 06 pens and Microns, along with a cool tool to create a basic mandala. 

We all followed the same directions...and sure enough, everyone produced wildly-different pieces.  I love that. 

These are not "my" colors, but since I got them, I wanted to challenge myself to use them, and am glad that I did.

So naturally I couldn't leave that alone. 

Well, I guess I could...and did--the original still looks exactly like the photo above.  But I had to try a few experiments. 

So I got out my iPhone and here's a slideshow of the results.  Same photo run through 1) the mirror app and then 2) an app called Painteresque.

Hover over each photo below for a caption; then click on each photo to biggify it.

I loved working on the original, and then playing with it further.  Now...since it's a Compass Rose Mandala, which "direction" is the favorite?

A tile I created while listening to Molly Hollibaugh's meditative instructions:

While I still have projects to finish from that workshop, I am a bit too tired to tackle them so tonight I just did a freehand mandala using an old purple ball point pen and the Rainbow Lead pencil.

...after which I ran it through the mirror app on my iPhone, so here's the same tile mirrored...

...which reminded me of the old Mae West quote that sometimes
"too much of a good thing can be wonderful."

We all know how this goes--I'm supposed to be doing something else but instead I am doing this.

That's where I started. 
And then played with the Mirror App on my iPhone.

...and now, back to what I really should be doing.  Which isn't this.

So I've been knitting a blanket while watching tv this winter.
Actually, the pattern says it's a "throw cover."

Hmmmmm.
Perhaps I have been watching too much tv?

Methinks this has gotten a little out of hand.  True, I am nearly at the end of the final skein, but I mean...who is this supposed to cover, Godzilla?

I should not complain.  It most certainly will cover me, and then some.  If only I had made this last winter, with all the intense cold and the ten feet of snow.  This winter has been so mild.  But since--thanks to global warming--we no longer know what we are going to get, I will definitely be well prepared for anything that next winter brings.

The yarn is, alas, very cheap acrylic.  I'm kind of horrified by it; it's not stuff I would normally ever use, but the organic alternatives would have required a billionaire to buy.

TANGLING:
I am also having to admit that I am coming to the end of my all-time favorite Rainbow Lead Pencil.  I've used it so much that it's just a stub of its former self.  Here's a tangle I did with it today:

The above was my first-ever try at Whirlee, and it was quite a challenge.  I modified it to fill the page a bit more.  Enjoyed doing this.  I will be playing with it again, for sure.

And here is one mirrored version.

Below is the tiny Rainbow Lead pencil stub, which will soon be too small to sharpen and which will have to be retired.  Sad.  I have really had fun with this pencil.

I've mostly been tangling only in my Carole Ohl "Tangle A Day" calendar recently and have been tending towards covering one entire page, rather than using one of the three boxes on each page.  Probably a good idea since I'm already over a month behind.

Heading out for a walk in the lovely sunshine; the next few days promise to be stormy.  Good weather for making art!

Where the heck did the week go?  If I didn't know better, I would say I had zonked out.  But, not true--I did a lot of work in the studio.  I don't have too much to show for that as there was a lot of unhooking and rehooking. 

After getting home, I had some fun with a tangle that was all-new to me:  Zonked.  Here was my first take on it (and after that picture, you'll see the inevitable fooling around with the images via my iPhone camera apps). 

Indeed, perhaps I did zonk out after all...

This was my first try.  I decided to try it three different ways in my "Tangle a Day" calendar, using a regular pencil, an 01 Micron Pen, and shaded with the Rainbow Lead Pencil.

A truly wonderful blog on the meditative effects of Zentangle® is HERE, written by Eni Oken on her experience of doing Zonked in a mindful way.

Below are the images I created with the mirror app and the Waterlogue app on my iPhone.

Results of tonight's tangle experiments.  All of these are new to me, so this is my first time doing each...just fiddling around.  I like all these tangles and am sure I can learn to do them better, but even this much was fun.

On the left:  Leafpod as a frame, with Balloya in the middle.  In the center:  Tamisolo.  And on the right:  Balloya on its own.   All were shaded with the Rainbow Pencil, and I added some graphite shading on the Balloya on the right.  Better views of each, and some mirroring fun, are below.

                                                                  Huh??  What and what?

Ok, the title above comes from the names of the two new tangles I played around with this evening.  Feels wonderful to have a pen/pencil in my hand again.  [Tomorrow, weather permitting, I'll be back in the studio, working on one of the new rugs.]

With plain graphite on the 'Dillo tangle (created by CZT Lori Manoogian) and Prismacolor red and bronze in the center panel, Fission by Richard Anderson.

And of course there are two iPhone "messing around with apps" versions below, both of them using the mirror app in different ways.

Honestly, I find the apps as irresistible as the process of tangling itself.  Ya never know what yer gonna get.

"Regard everything as an experiment."
(Corita Kent)

Well, time is running out.  I have an appointment with the accountant on Monday.  Gotta get that tax prep done. 

But hey!  Today's only Saturday, right?  So I have almost 48 hours to party!  (Or at least, my version of "partying"--meditate, take an art class, read a trashy book, work on my rug, do more drawing.  An introvert's version of a wild party.)

So this morning I zipped down to CT to take a "Gems" class with Meredith Yuhas, a terrific teacher.  I've done gems before using watercolor pencils.  I had not done them with regular Prismacolor pencils, which I love.  And since I haven't had time to tangle for almost three months, I thought this class would give me some great practice.  And it sure did! 

Meredith did her usual thorough, well-researched, excellent teaching job.  All class participants did the same gem, following the same steps, and now, of course, we all are prepared to do whatever the heck we want from here. 

Here are the class results:

This was a two-hour class, focusing on the gem, with a final discussion on tangles we might use to surround it.  You can see that some students finished their gem and others started to add some tangles.  By the time the class ended, I was beginning to add tangles (mine is  on the far right of the upper row of four).  I deeply appreciated Meredith's tips and coaching; if you ever have a chance to take a class with her, do it.

I drove home pondering what to do to surround the gem.  The photos below show the unshaded results, and then the results after shading.

And then, of course, because I never can let well enough alone, I had to fiddle with the apps on my iPhone to see what would happen.  So here are two versions that I ran through different versions of apps.  (In other words, I took the shaded photo above, and ran it through two different apps on my phone.)

Not too bad, considering I haven't had the time to pick up a pencil for three months.  And with practice, I will improve. 

Driving there, taking the class, getting back here, and finishing a trashy mystery took me most of the day.  What a tough life.  <kidding--I know how extraordinarily fortunate I am>

And the tax prep?  As Scarlett O'Hara famously said, "I'll think about that tomorrow."

This is what happens when you are away with no tools except the 2 items shown on the left, and one-half piece of light blue paper--and you want to tangle something. 

In this case, I didn't even have a graphite pencil for shading, only this stub of a Rainbow Lead Pencil which is fast disappearing on me.  So I just worked with what I had.

Lighting in the photo isn't great, but there you have it:  a Bic pen plus the Rainbow Lead stub.  No regular pencil for shading, and I couldn't even see well in the low light.  Tangles are Tripoli and N'Zepple.

And then of course I couldn't stop there, so I mirrored it with the iPhone app (which allowed me to do some color adjustments too).

I'm needing to take a break from the tarot rug posts for just a bit!  Back to those shortly. 

I'm missing Zentangle®, drawing, and my other usual activities.  So tonight I indulged myself with a new tangle, Mollygon.

That's my first-ever attempt above. 

Below are some variations created with an iPhone app.

I was also busy in the studio in the last 2 days, working on the finishing for my nearly-done rug.  The finishing process, which is tedious (I still enjoy it), seems to take forever but I'm almost there.  I may get it all done tomorrow.  A photo of that is coming once it's completely done. 

I created the label for it this evening:

That will get sewn onto the back of the finished rug once I've completed all the other finishing.

I whipped out my sewing machine yesterday--I haven't touched it in years--and spent quite a while hemming the edges of the Moon & Clouds rug which I will be punching.  Since I don't own a serger, I zig-zagged around the outer edge 3x.  And did the same with the inner edge where I'll be trimming it once I'm done.  That is one BIG rug.

Today I drew out a new design for a second, new, traditionally hooked rug.  Below you can see the background wool I'm thinking of using at the bottom of the photo, plus just a little bit of the backing where I've begun drawing the pattern.  There will be more to the pattern, but I'll have to wait until I can get back to the studio in the morning to finish drawing.

Lastly, I am tossing in a picture of this cute felted pouch I've had for years and rediscovered recently.  I wish I could remember who made it and where I got it.  I think it's so well done, and it's also useful for carrying supplies.

Back to my experience with the sewing machine for a minute:  It's been at least 3-4 years since I've used it.  I remember that the last time I used it I had a bit of trouble threading the needle, even with my reading glasses. 

Yesterday?  I couldn't even SEE the needle, let alone the hole. With my (now even stronger) reading glasses.

Yikes! 

It took me 25 minutes--no joke--to get it threaded.  I'd still be there, trying and failing, if I hadn't managed to scrounge up a needle threader after getting completely desperate, and even with the threader it took me another ten minutes to get the job done. 

After I left yesterday I went straight to the sewing store and bought every variety of needle threader they have.  I don't want to go through that again.  Sad, sad, sad.  As Joni Mitchell would say, "You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone."

Well, it's definitely gone!  Boo hoo hoo.