Guest Designer at Getting Cricky - Positively Zentangled

I am beyond thrilled (and more than a little nervous) to be guest designing at Getting Cricky. Kristal is wonderful and I absolutely adore her stamps! I was invited to do this tutorial based on a card I posted on Facebook which incorporated a Zentangle and a K Andrew Designs stamp.

If you are not familiar with Zentangle you can find more information and inspiration here. It is a very relaxing, meditative process, and the best thing is...there are NO mistakes in Zentangle! You will see what I mean as you read on.

Blank square

A Zentangle is traditionally started on a 3.5" x 3.5" square of Bristol paper with a vellum finish. I used a square of white cardstock for this project to show that you can use other types of paper. The real secret to a successful project is the pen. A Sakura micron pen is the preferred pen, and there is good reason. The pen tips are very fine and the ink flows very smoothly. If you are going to invest in anything special to do Zentangle, the pen is the thing to buy. You can also use a #2 or 2B pencil to draw the string (if you use one) and shade your work.

Outer string

Inner string

The next step in the process is to draw a string. It forms a foundation for you piece and gives you open spaces in which
to place different Tangles.

This is the beginning of a Tangle called the Auraknot. I decided it wasn't enough of a focal point on the card so, although I will use it on something later, I chose to make a new piece with a larger image in the center.

 This is the new beginning. Notice there is a place that looks like a mistake on the base figure. Remember the part about "no mistakes", well it turned into the inspiration for another part of the image.

 This is the finished Auraknot. For a detailed video on how to complete this Tangle go to the Zentangle blog here. They show several variations of the basic version I used.

 I chose several different Tangles and began to fill in the outside of the image. Each image will lead you where it wants to go, and will all turn out unique. This piece has an earth, sky, sea feel to it because of the outer elements.

 Here is the finished Zentangle. There are six different tangles in this picture. The one in the center is called Puf, and it's almost magical. You'd never guess is was going to turn out the way it does when you start. If you want to find more tangles check out tanglepatterns.com.

 When I finished I cut the image out with a Spellbinders Labels one die. I decided I liked the paper I was using to take the pictures on so I used it for the background of my card. I cut it slightly smaller than my 4" x 5.5" base and rounded the corners to mimic the corners of the image.

 I cut a square of black cardstock at 3.75" x 3.75", rounded the corners using my corner chomper, and glued the image to it with my ATG gun. The whole piece was attached to the card base with two strips of foam tape.

 The card was finished with a sentiment from the K Andrew Designs Positive Thoughts stamp set. That is really one of my go to sets. It's so versatile, and we all need a little positive energy now and then! It was stamped on white cardstock and backed with a scrap of the same black I used for the image. The final touches are some vintage seam binding from Wild Orchid Crafts and a couple of self-adhesive bling from my stash.  (Remember the mistake? If you look close you can see it, but barely, in the upper left quadrant of the Zentagle used as a branch.)

Here's another example of something you can do with Zentagle. This image was stamped with the Coffee Time image set, and the Coffee & Tea for you & me sentiment set, both from K Andrew Designs. I stamped the cup and started tangling. There are four tangles in the cup. It's a very plain tag (great stamps, no embellishment), the tangles just dress it up.