9er Mosaic FMT 179 & 180

While I am catching up with Joey's Finish My Tile challenge #179 and #180, the other challenges are now running way ahead of me. During the last few weeks it has become a constant catching up and it has absolutely nothing to do with ZEN anymore. There was a time I was happily cruising from challenge to challenge...so how did it get to this point? Why am I now huffing and puffing after all the other tanglers?

Because I dared to do something else!

Yes! Guilty as charged. I love to surf the net and anyone having the same craving knows that one thing leads to another and you almost can't get out of the web once caught in its link tentacles. While I was hopping from one website to the next I came across SIRDS images. I love those, even have physical books with SIRDS images, but had forgotten all about them. SIRDS stands for Single Image Random Dot Stereograms or HIS, Hidden Image Stereogram. In long, images made of random dots that mean absolutely nothing, but contain 3D objects when looked at in particular way. Now, if you are familiar with SIRDS images, I have included an image below for your viewing enjoyment. If you are not familiar with it, click on this link to learn how you can learn to see those 3D images. Believe me, it is worth it.

But now back to my friend's Bike Ride along the Danube, which is the theme of my FMT mosaic challenge. Here both my tiles for #179 with leading tangle Merryweather and #180 with leading tangle Cruffle. Not wanting to hold back the Bike Ride along the Danube map, present and future, I included an image of all 9 tiles together as well.

FMT #179

Patterns: Merryweather a la my style, Knightsbridge, Joki, Chicken Feet,
Jetties, Lined Balls, a part of G-Chi and left over from Vigne.

FMT #180

Patterns: Cruffle, Henna Drum, Printemps, Zinger heads,
another part of G-Chi and some more Lined Balls.

And here the present and future Bike Ride along the Danube.

3 out of 9, 6 more to go

Animal Unlucky Days

Hurricane Harvey - pets and wildlife are caught up in the disaster, too.

SIRDS

A quick tip: focus first on the image, then change focus of your eyes as if you want to look at something in the distance, behind the image. As aforementioned, if you can't see it, click here for detailed instructions. This image illustrates an international hand signal.

You have to click on the image to make it larger!!!

Enjoy!

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DIVA Challenge 329 & 330

Update August 27th - Quarter tile to full Plate using free online app.

I have read a few comments on how to get to a full plate when you have but one quarter tile. Photoshop is certainly a solution, but not everybody has it and not everybody knows how to work it. So I looked around and found a free online solution you guys might wanna try out. Please scroll down to after the video for link and short instructions to get you started quickly.

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I didn't post DIVA challenge #329 last week because there just was nothing much to post and I didn't want to waste anybody's time visiting my 'nothing much'. So I start with DIVA challenge #330 and hang #329 at the end.

I am not much of a Mandala person. Not because I don't like Mandalas, but because Mandalas are not exactly easy to draw to look nice. I cannot draw 3 things the same way and by exaggerating my inability, nobody really notices there is anything 'not quite right'. In a Mandala, however.... Honestly, who wants to point to one's own weaknesses?

So here my version of a quarter Man-cum-Zen-Dala.

Patterns: Icanthis, Sand Swirl, Flux, Fescu and some Black Mountains

And here some compilations.

D1-Fragment from DIVA challenge #329

When you look at this tile and it doesn't make sense, well.....this tile is actually the result of two tiles. I took one and cut out the parts I didn't like most and glued the remaining tile on top of another tile I messed up. Now, if you still shake your head in disbelieve, you should have seen the two tiles when they were still TWO separate tiles!!!

The idea here was to make a reflection. Not 'mirror' reflection, but one part showing the finished renovation of a modern outer space housing estate while the neighboring part was still under construction. OK! Not a very clever excuse. I am open for suggestions.

Hence we have reached the section:

Animal Happy Day

Lucky dog that crossed this woman's path...

Free online app to get your quarter tile into a full plate

1. Goto http://www167.lunapic.com/editor/
2. Upload your quarter tile
3. Go to Adjust > Mirror and Copy = this will give you half a plate - the top half
4. Now save this half plate on your computer.
5. Open the half plate in one of your own image applications on your computer and turn it 90 degrees counterclockwise so the outer curve is to your left (you have now the left half of your plate)
6. Now go back to the online app and repeat the whole process from 2. Upload your rotated half plate and Adjust > Mirror and Copy and you have the full plate.

Contact me if you have questions.

Try also 3D cube or Kaleidoscope and ....and...

If you do give it a try, I would be happy if you sent me your link to your plates!

Good luck and have fun!!!!

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IAST Challenge 209

The first tile into "It's a String Thing's" 5th year starts with a simple round little circle string. It represents the recent solar eclipse in the US of A, which I was able to follow on TV only. I must say, it was amazing to actually experience the split second change from a light dusk to absolute darkness as if somebody hat switched off the sun. Yeap, this alone was worth the long wait.

So here my contribution to IAST #209 with my first attempt at Spoken. I never expected that I would actually enjoy to draw all those little curvy spikes, but once again, I stand corrected. And, as the self proclaimed Queen of Beads, I had to add some of those, too.

Pattern: Spoken

Animal Fun Day

Question: What has a "String Thing" and a "Stick Thing" in common? (0.43)



Answer: They are both fun.

So if next you think "What on earth did we do for Adele to punish us with such an impossible string?", think of this dog. In the end everything will fall into place.

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IAST Challenge 208 - Happy 4th Birthday

Happy Birthday to yuuuuuuu! Happy Birthday to yuuuuuuuuuu! Happy Beeeeuuuu  eeuu..... (Oops, sorry, you don't want to hear this...my voice's a bit out of  shape).

Anyway, this is to It's a String Thing and its 4th Birthday! Congrats and many thanks to Adele, for giving birth to such a great idea, and if Adele can bear with us a bit longer, we'll have many more to enjoy.

IAST #208 is - of course - the candle challenge, now with 4 of them. I have to kindly ask for forgiveness, but somehow my candles all got a bit soft in their knees and they are about to melted off the tile. But I still got Knightsbridge in, Wud as well, Trella on top and bottom, and Copada... it's in flames.

Enjoy your birthday, IAST and Adele!

Patterns: Trella, Wud, Knightsbridge, Copada

And here for those who CAN sing: 5, 6, 7, 8

BTW - Thank you, Adele, for this amazing contributor wheel. Needless to say, I had to check whether you may have forgotten my name, but no, it is there! West of the middle, 9th row; or 10th row from the outside in. It didn't have the (Thailand) identifier, but I take just "Susie" anytime.

Animal Happy Day

Abandoned 👎, Found 👍, and Homed👍👍👍👍

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9er Mosaic FMT 178 Challenge - African Artist

Joey is back! Yes, the 6 weeks holiday past really fast and with her reappearance she also brought some new things for all of us.

A) A new website. Joey managed to cleverly rebuild it the same way as the old one still looks, so no 'getting used to' and 'wasting time finding' period, but instant familiarity. Well done, Joey!  ...and I like the new banner image, too!

B) A new challenge, #178, using tangle African Artist and with a twist to it, too. I call it the 9er Mosaic FMT challenge and here is why:

Small A) 9er = the challenge will last over a period of 9 weeks (9er!) and includes 9 tiles (9er! got it?) which we arrange in a 3x3 square and draw a continuous string over all.

Small B) Mosaic = well, in the end this then looks like a mosaic...or should look like a mosaic. This still remains to be seen in my case.

Small C) FMT = Finish My Tile (remember? All her challenges run under this general theme name).

So here is what I am going to do: no border; smaller (7x7cm) grey tiles, unfortunately very rough tiles, but somebody has to make use of the paper; and in the end glue them all together on a bigger piece of paper to get the border. My string in blue represents the Danube river that weaves and will weave its way through my tiles and Germany. I was inspired by my neighbor's recent visit to Germany where he made a several day bicycle tour and bonding trip with his son along the upper part of the Danube to enjoy nature in all its beauty. (see images below).

So, without further ado here tile number one of my Danube Bicycle Trip for the 9er Mosaic FMT #178 Challenge...

Patterns: African Artist, SeZ, Vigne, Knightsbridge,
Meer, Ginkgo leaves, Tipple

...followed by some images of the upper Danube's beautiful scenery courtesy of my friend and neighbor Hubert Reilard.

The dark strip through the grass is the river

Some canoe while...

...others suffer in the rain and on a bicycle.
Hubert's son Sameer

Animal Happy Day

Wished you had a nanny dog like this? ...what can I say! (0.34)

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FMT Challenge 177 - JVO

I made it in time. Today is Sunday and today is the last day to be in time to contribute to guest tangler Susan Theron's "Finish My Tile" challenge over at the MadeByJoey website. I was challenged. Not that is was difficult to find tangles starting with the letters J, V, and O, but the string = J.

Yet another letter? Really? Didn't our little club just finish the whole alphabet during the first 6 months of this year? And now we are back at letters again?

But then I read the text (Susie, before complaining read the blaity TEXT!). Oops! JVO are the initials for Joey's name and the post is in appreciation of her work, the challenges, we all so enjoy, and which bring us tanglers from all different parts in the world together on one website. Well, now that made a) sense and b) me change my attitude - and quickly, too.

Here to you, Joey!

And thanks to you, Susan, for this wonderful challenge and for thinking of honoring our "Finish My Tile" challenger queen over in Canada!

Patterns: Joki and Jilli, Vigne, Oke

Animal Happy Day

Rats are mums, too, and this one is a very special and cutie indeed! (0.32)

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IAST Challenge 207 - Cross-Ur-Heart

Cross-Ur-Heart  and hope to die is this week's tangle over at Tickled to Tangle for the 207th "It's a String Thing" (IAST) challenge. When it first came out about a month ago, I saw several people eternalize it in their Zentangle journals and I was not far behind them. But since this is a IAST dedicated page, and my first Cross-Ur-Heart tile has the wrong string, I will start with the entry I sent to Adele Bruno.

It was a toss between this tile and the next and the next after the next. Each had something the others didn't have and to combine it all and make just one tile that was the ultimum perfection of all tiles (!!!) I lacked passion (or the ability to match my mammoth mou... expectations).

I chose this entry because everybody is talking about and trying out TranZending, which I still haven't seen done by its creator, but this string just asked for it. This is my abstract Cross-Ur-Heart with Ginkgo leaves. And no, I vehemently object, I did not forget to color that one Ginkgo leave in the corner. I have no idea why it is there in the first place. I certainly didn't put it there! I absolutely did not. "Cross-My-Heart" and hope to die!

Patterns: Cross-Ur-Heart, Ginkgo leaves

Number two would have been a real version of Cross-Ur-Heart garnished with Flux and Tipple.

Patterns: Cross-Ur-Heart, Flux, Tipple

My third and last choice would have been the red tile. Although I like the Cross-Ur-Hearts the red corner is an optical mistake (OPTICAL, please!), you do not have a blob on a lower level, I should know that. But I think I was trying so hard to keep the string, I lost all common sense.

Pattern: Cross-Ur-Heart

Here some of my training tiles for this challenge. I tried to find a clever variation and ended up doing an accidental Panzee tangle = bottom 3 smaller ones, the middle one.

Patterns: Cross-Ur-Heart variations and an accidental Panzee.

Cross-Ur-Hearts with Cross-Ur-Heart babies. This as a pencil sketch and forerunner to the red and blue tile.

Pattern: Cross-Ur-Heart variation with seeds

And here my first Cross-Ur-Heart tile. I like drawing things off balance, but found out only after I added the frame work that this is not always a good idea.

Pattern: Cross-Ur-Heart

Animal Happy Day

The title says it all.

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Helen's Journey C - Crumpled Roses

Helen William's Journey A-Z continuous after some restful days/weeks....months to be more precise, and we have now reached destination C where we found Crumpled Roses, a tangle she created. I confess, I needed to practice the tangle a few times to get it right. Not that it is a difficult pattern to draw, but every once in a wile during the drawing of the wobbly line my hand wanted to change direction. Once you start drawing in a clockwise direction, keep drawing in a clockwise direction is all I can say - or vise-versa. Click on this link and watch her video step-out.

My first tile I drew was around the time when DIVA had the Nzeppel challenge. I guess you guessed, I had to incorporate it here as well. However, just in case you can't see it (a la: you can't see the forest for the trees), Nzeppel is in two roses, the one on the left and the one on the right; Nzeppel is at the edges, bottom and left; and Nzeppel is also in Hollibaugh, edges top and right.

Now, can you see it?

Patterns: Crumpled Roses, Nzeppel, Hollibaugh, Printemps, Tipple

Slowly but sure I developed a fondness for Crumpled Roses and tried a second tile. But alas, I couldn't find a tangle to fill the empty spaces. I tried this and that: no, no good, covered it up with a black fill, no, no good either; then white fill... So, now I successfully ruined the tile - I mean, who does that? But I liked ONE Crumpled Rose. So I cut it out, glued it into my sketch book and covered it with glitter nail polish.

Patterns: Single Crumpled Rose

However, I still wanted to have one more tile. DIVA had also a Pea-Nuckle Challenge and everybody hated it. True to form most hung in there and produced a contribution tile, then two, then another one, and in the end quite a few confessed that Pea-Nuckle is not such a bad tangle after all. I was one of them, but only after I came up with a - for me - easier step-out.

So for my second Crumpled Roses tile I made 2 vases out of Pea-Nuckle, placed three roses into them and circled the whole Van Gogh illustration with soap bubbles. Hush, hush! I know, I know! VVG put sunflowers into his vase, but it could have easily been roses, believe you me!

So here my version of Vincent Van Gogh's famous Still Life Vase depiction.

Patterns: Crumpled Roses, Pea-Nuckle, Tipple

Animal Happy Day

2-legged kitten gets best family ever (1.43)

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DIVA Challenge 327 & 328

I am a bit late for last week's DIVA #327 Challenge posted by guest blogger Henrike Bratz. At times things happen and have to be dealt with and then stuff like drawing takes the back seat. But I made up for it and drew two tiles for her this week.

Henrike's challenge includes two tangles, Diva Challenge... I mean Diva Dance and one of her own, Lisbon Fragments.

Diva Dance looks great when somebody other than me draws it. It reminds me of gorgeous Gourdgeous and Gourdgeous and I are not gourd friends. But me not being one to give up easily, I stoically faced the battle and got my DD tile done. Huff, puff.

Patterns: Diva Dance, Lisbon Fragments

However, I liked Lisbon Fragments and so I made a whola lot of them.

Pattern: Lisbon Fragments

Thank you, Henrike, for a most challenging challenge.

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DIVA Challenge #328 is posted by guest challenger Suzanne Fluhr. She wants us to draw Aloha, a tangle she created, but I think she got a Whole Lotta Love and help from no other than....

DINO!!! (and no, not Led Zeppelin)

Who is Dino you may ask. For that to find out you have to hop over to her site and find out yourself. My fingers are off the keys.

Since I made two tiles for Henrike it was only fair to make two tiles for Suzanne as well. So here Aloha #1 accompanied by the new tangle Ukkepuk (no, not mine) and 4-Corner Corolla (yes, mine - Please note the quick-witted, brainy, and very intelligent name).

Patterns: Aloha, Ukkepuk, 4-Corner Carolla

Aloha #2 - Black & White vs Color - Almost a monotile, only accompanied by Tipple and Spinner Ball. Spinner Ball, another of my tangles... if nobody thought of it yet.

Patterns: Aloha, Spinner Ball, Tipple

Suzanne, thanks so much for this great challenge. I enjoyed every stroke I made.

Animal Happy Day

Remember him?

Shadow last week

Remember my room mate from my DIVA #326 Update post? Shadow? And his skin growths removal? Well, I am happy to announce that his stitches are removed and he is A-OK again...and so am I!

Shadow today

Michele, if you happen to visit this page, I found Aimee. There is no mistake, this is Aimee.

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FMT Challenge 176 - 3D String

I was really looking forward to this week's Joey challenge. I knew it would be Trudi from Canada and when Monday came here in Thailand, waaaayyyy ahead of Canada where the Joey's website lives, I was excited and checked the site every few minutes for the blog post heading to read 'Joey's weekly tangle challenge #176.

Finally!!!

Oh! The challenge is a 3D string. Great stuff, Trudi! And off I went working on the tile.

A day later Trudi showed us a sample and she turned the tile 90 degrees. Nooooo! I was already half way there and now had to start over again. Again a day - or two - later, there were already a few tiles out and another disappointment hit me! I really almost lost it. One of the tiles looked exactly like I had drawn mine, including the colors. How lucky can you get.

After the initial run ins I lost all hope ever being able to get over the disappointment of not being fast enough to beat all those tile publishers before me with my tile and give them some reason to run back to their drawing boards and start over again. But then I got my act together - after all I promised Trudi to do her challenge - and sat myself down and held my head slightly to one side so all ideas would flow together and collect on one tiny small spot in my brain. And look at this it worked, I actually succeeded and finished a tile. Hurrah!!!

But then something really odd happened. 

Again?
Yes!

I made a photo and was cutting it out in Photoshop when all of a sudden it .... disappeared. Swoops, it was gone. I got all hot and shaky. (You know the feeling?) What had happened to my tile??!! I have only a very small laptop and it is very flat so it can't have gone too far. But all my search bore no fruit. So I decided to call the police to report the theft.

I pressed the iPhone alive and ....

WOW!!!

...there it was!...as a wallpaper. But no, half of it is missing. HUH?! Somebody censored my tile and deleted half of it!!!! Now who on earth would do that???!!! I better don't use this iPhone to call the police. So I put a yellow 'crime scene' tape around it instead, searched for my other iPhone, switched it on and....

NO!!!!...there was the other half. Gosh! Honestly. Give me a break.

Jeez, I just realize I don't have an iPhone, let alone two. My friend Photoshop helped me a bit.

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So back to serious honesty and my real tile:

Patterns: Patience, Flux, Tipple, Balls, Bridgen,
Pokeroot, Fescu, and lines

Thank you, Trudi, for an absolutely great challenge. I hope you forgive me for the long wait, things sometimes just happen and screw up your days. (Am I allowed to say that?)

Animal Happy Day

Do you like dogs?
Do you like kids?
The real small ones I mean. The toddlers?
All of the above?

If you checked all of the above, please watch this video. And if you find anything cuter than this, I am all eyes.

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