Another Duo: Auraknot and Bunzo

It is time for another duo tangle over at The Diva's.  I like duo tangle challenges for several reasons.  One, it is nice not having to think about what patterns to use and two, it usually makes me use tangles that I don't know very well.  This challenge uses Auraknot and Bunzo, two official Zentangle patterns.  I use Auraknot quite a bit.  I really love it.  I confess that I usually use a cookie cutter as a starting place for this pattern.  Maybe one day I'll work up to starting with a freehand design.  Bunzo I enjoy as well, but haven't used very much.  Exploring it this week has been fun.

6X6" cold press watercolor paper, Micron pen and pencil.

When I started this challenge I had no plan at all.  I first marked off the frame.  I wanted a heavier boarder than usual so I pulled out a micron brush pen to make that.  I then drew my auraknot.  There is a little mistake in there.  I almost started over but I just kept at it.  I was hoping that the lines would mask it a bit as I went along, but no such luck.  Oh well, no big deal.

Bunzo just sort of took on a life of its own after that.  For Bunzo, I just went with exploring the process of creating the tangle.  To keep the Auraknot from looking just slapped down, I surrounded it with Bunzo.  After each part seemed to "grow" where it wanted to, I stopped and took a look wondering if I should keep going.  It seemed finished to me so I stopped.  I like the off center-ness of this one.  I hope that you do too.

Have a great week!

Bunzo for Sandy

The storm has passed us by here in Delaware.  Luckily for us, we suffered nothing worse than a large branch down.  We didn't lose power or anything.  The weather closed school and work yesterday so I took advantage of the day and tangled.

The Diva's challenge was to use the newly released Bunzo.  I like this pattern but I see that I could do with some more exploration.  Like Allium, I have trouble keeping this pattern small.  Maybe I should challenge myself again and try for a tighter design.  Here is what I came up with.

 I just jumped in with Bunzo.  As I was working on it, Bunzo reminded me of Wirlz so naturally, I needed to use Wirlz.  Thing is, I just couldn't stop once I got going with the Wirlz.  I think they look nice together.

Sunday night I was playing with some Gelly pens and gave Bunzo a try with those.  I used pink and pink glitter to make this on some scrap paper.  I wanted to see what the design would look like with some variations in color.  It's fun if nothing else.

Along with the challenge I worked on ornaments.  I have them listed in my etsy and have sold some at the craft fairs I have been doing.  Several friends have placed some orders as gifts so I have been working on them when the mood takes me.  Lucky they are fun to make.  I have been making Zendalas with the snowflake shape but yesterday I thought, "Why not use Auraknot?"  So, I traced out the shape to make sure where I wanted my lines to go.  Once I had that figured out, I was off.  The center here is Fife with one step left out.  The second X in the center is too squished to use on the ornaments so I have been leaving it off.  It reminds me of a Poinsettia.  The ornament in the photo is unfinished here but is an example of how I spent the day.

I hope that all of you who were in the path of Sandy fared well.  Those who might be getting the snow from this crazy storm, I hope that you are warm.  The numbers coming out of West Virginia are crazy.  I'm continuing to be thankful that the storm was not worse for us and thinking of those who are still dealing with the after effects.  It will take a while to clean up after this I think.

Thanks to the Diva for making time for the challenge this week.  I hope that Artoo is feeling better and you are able to get some rest.  Hugs for you all.  I am thinking of you.