As you may (or may not!) have noticed, June was a real bust for me in terms of keeping up with my daily blogging practice. Early in the month I decided to skip posting on a day when I’d been busy and didn’t feel particularly compelled to write – and that, being my first break in a very, very long streak of daily posts, made it a whole lot easier to miss additional days throughout the month whenever I felt even the slightest bit lazy or uninspired. Seems to be the way it often goes with me!
Regardless, I’ve been filling a LOT of my spare time in recent days with tangling, so am finishing up the month with a rather robust Tangled Tuesday post – and, since I’ve signed up for both NaBloPoMo and the Ultimate Blog Challenge (which start tomorrow), I plan to be back to my regular schedule of daily posting in July. Hope to see you here!
Tangled Goodies
First of all, I have a VERY exciting announcement to make! After several nudges (strong pushes, in a couple of cases!) from friends who thought I should offer some of my artwork as adult colouring pages, I decided to set up an Etsy shop for Ten Thousand Tangles so that I could do just that.
I invite you to stop by and check it out!

It’s still in the fledgling stages at the moment, with a small handful of instant downloads available – but there is LOTS more to come, so please keep checking back! (And if in the meantime you see a finished piece of mine that you’d like as a colouring page, please let me know and I’ll be happy to move it to the front of the production line.)
P.S. Do YOU sell on Etsy? If so, please leave a link to your shop in the comments section below so that I – and my readers – can drop by and take a look!
New Tangles
Over the past couple of weeks I learned Narwal, Barney, Logjam, Sand Swirl, Palrevo, Frost Flower, Ta-da, and Xplode, all from TanglePatterns.com.
Tangling in Progress
I’ve been experimenting with combining patterns that I think would lend themselves to creating new colouring pages (i.e., clean lines, blank spaces, little or no shading), which means that I have several pieces in the works (or started and then set aside). Hopefully they’ll all be finished at some point so that I can share them with you!
Finished Projects
I recently completed two Zentangle-Inspired Art (ZIA) projects – first, a 6″ x 6″ grid-style piece using just a few repeated tangle patterns which I think come together quite nicely.
The second was slightly larger (7″ x 10″). I’m considering offering this one for sale as an 8.5″ x 11″ colouring page (what do you think?), so didn’t do any shading – which in my opinion, gives it a somewhat different look from my usual pieces.
I also completed The Diva’s Challenge this week, which was to create a monotangle using Tipple. As a bit of trivia, Tipple was the second tangle I ever learned! It’s an easy one – just fill the space with lots of little circles – yet the lovely effects you can achieve with it are surprisingly wonderful.
Here’s my challenge tile.
And now, on to July!
P.S.
The Zentangle® Method was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas and is copyrighted. Zentangle® is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.
Previous posts in this series are all tagged Tangled Tuesday.
For background on how I discovered and got involved in Zentangle, and links to further information and resources, check out my blog post For the love of tangling.
You can browse my entire tangle gallery at Ten Thousand Tangles.
And, if you’re interested in having a little piece of my art for yourself, please click on the GoFundMe button below for more information and also visit my Ten Thousand Tangles shops on Etsy, Society6, and Zazzle. (Pssst… links to my international Ten Thousand Tangles shops on Zazzle are in the Alphabet Salad sidebar – just click on the appropriate flag and you’ll get to the place you need to be!)
How have you been creative this week?
Please share!

Twitter: ellytreehugger
June 30, 2015
I can see how missing one day when writing daily can upset the apple cart – that’s what just came to me! 😉 I missed posted my recent gratitude post on yours as a result! Love your tangle patterns Laurel: they’re great! And congrats on your Etsy Shop: how exciting! 🙂 <3
elly stornebrink recently posted… Gratitude List #11: A Feast of Food, Friends, and FUN!
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 1, 2015
Thank you so much, Elly! And just so you know, I extended the June linkup to cover this whole week, just in case you’d still like to add your gratitude post. 🙂
Laurel Regan recently posted… Photo A Day Challenge – June 18-30, 2015
Twitter: RamblinGarden
June 30, 2015
Although I may have to rerun a lot of posts this month (I’ve been blogging daily since late April 2011 so I have a pretty big inventory) I’ve decided to keep blogging daily. But July will be my first month since May of 2011 without being in at least one challenge. Will I miss it? I don’t think so, but we’ll see. Life has become my main challenge for right now. Good luck with your July challenges
Alana recently posted… To Everything There is a Season
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 1, 2015
Sometimes that’s the way it is, I know – life can be a bigger challenge than anything! All the best.
Laurel Regan recently posted… Photo A Day Challenge – June 18-30, 2015
Twitter: shyvish
June 30, 2015
All I can say is you really are committed to both blogging and Tangling and I don’t think you should beat yourself up if you slip up here and there. Life happens and that’s absolutely fine 🙂 Lovely to hear about the Etsy store!
Shailaja V recently posted… Your children are not your children- Quote a day
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 1, 2015
Thank you, Shailaja!
Laurel Regan recently posted… Photo A Day Challenge – June 18-30, 2015
Twitter: hesedetang
June 30, 2015
Hi there..
I read that you are setting your sights on becoming a CZT 🙂 I wish you all the best in that endeavour. I had, myself, attended CZT training in April this year, and to keep things concise.. becoming a CZT has set in motion a sea-change in my life 🙂 🙂 🙂 I wish you nothing less!
Hope to visit your work through more Diva Challenges! Take care, happy tangling 🙂
Cheers,
Debbie New CZT18
Debbie New CZT18 recently posted… Zentangles – Diva Challenge Wk 224
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 1, 2015
Congratulations, Debbie, on becoming a CZT – it sounds like doing so was a great decision for you! I really do hope that someday I’ll be able to do the same. All the best to you as you go forward!
Laurel Regan recently posted… Photo A Day Challenge – June 18-30, 2015
Your diva tile is gorgeous! Love the shading!
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 1, 2015
Thank you so much!
Laurel Regan recently posted… Photo A Day Challenge – June 18-30, 2015
Twitter: sanchlivinglife
July 1, 2015
You’ve just proven to me that you are human after all! 😛 Don’t beat yourself up for missing a few days…think of it as helping other bloggers feel better.
Congrats on the Etsy shop…hope it goes well! Your tangling is awesome.
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 1, 2015
LOL, I like that way of looking at it – thanks!
Laurel Regan recently posted… Photo A Day Challenge – June 18-30, 2015
very nice, i like your shading
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 1, 2015
Thank you so much!
Laurel Regan recently posted… Photo A Day Challenge – June 18-30, 2015
Hi Laurel !
Congrats and hats off to you for having accomplished so much; blogging and tangling… agree with my friends who have already stated that its ok sometimes to miss posts, we are human….
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 1, 2015
Thank you so much!
Laurel Regan recently posted… Photo A Day Challenge – June 18-30, 2015
Twitter: FranceneStanley
July 1, 2015
With all you do, I find it hard to see where you get the time to write a daily blog. Love those tangled designs. The possibilities are endless.
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 1, 2015
Thank you, Francene!
Laurel Regan recently posted… Photo A Day Challenge – June 18-30, 2015
beautiful works once again. Loved the shades on the third one. I have bought few items from Easy before, lots of creativity there 🙂 Congrats on the shop 🙂
rajlakshmi recently posted… The Hopeless Roundhouse Kick !!!
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 1, 2015
Thank you very much!
Laurel Regan recently posted… Photo A Day Challenge – June 18-30, 2015
Love your Tipple tile! Nice composition.
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 2, 2015
Thank you!
Laurel Regan recently posted… Photo A Day Challenge – June 18-30, 2015
Twitter: AnneDBoyd
July 1, 2015
I noticed I wasn’t getting my daily email from you, but you still post more than almost everyone I know. How’s business going? I’m still working to build traffic. Does blogging work as a business?
Anne recently posted… Magic Mike XXL Makes the Fireworks Fly
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 2, 2015
I think it depends on who you ask! I’m sure it works for some, but let’s just say that I’m not quitting my day job anytime soon. 😉
Laurel Regan recently posted… Photo A Day Challenge – June 18-30, 2015
Lovely work! I like the Tipple tile and the shading in it.
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 2, 2015
Thank you!
Laurel Regan recently posted… Photo A Day Challenge – June 18-30, 2015
All are wonderful!
LonettA recently posted… Marble Run – Challenge #224 & My Tangle Diary
Twitter: alphabetsalad
July 2, 2015
Thank you!
Laurel Regan recently posted… Photo A Day Challenge – June 18-30, 2015
Just want to agree with others… your Tipple tile is wonderful! Such a 3D look and excellent shading.
Twitter: alphabetsalad
August 16, 2015
Thank you so much, Margaret! 🙂
Laurel Regan recently posted… Tangled Tuesday Break
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