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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Cut it out!

"Mom!!!!! (always screamed in two syllables!) . . . He's (my older brother) teasing me again . . . CUT IT OUT!!! Mom, tell him to stop . . . knock it off or I'll tell Dad . . . I said cut it out!"

David yells back, "No! YOU cut it out!"

Some of us have had those childhood nightmares (daymares?) of a sibling making our lives intolerable (or so it seemed). In actuality, it was never so bad. It just interrupted the rhythm of whatever I was doing. I was always content playing by myself, amused with my art or tiny dolls . . . but I guess my brother wasn't so much.

Of course, today we are both in our 60's and he's a really great guy, always was, love him to bits. It must be some sort of rite of passage to go through this routine, choreographed in the heavens by well-meaning beings getting us ready for what life lies ahead.

What does this have to do with Zentangle, you wonder? Well I took this chant to heart. Perhaps it was really angels telling me what to do.

"Cut it out!"

I always listen to my guardian angels . . . albeit somewhat late.


This one is done on a blank Zendala tile, folded once to create a sort of rocking horse effect.



With this next one . . .


. . . I folded the top (white tile) and back tile (black) along the diagonals. The white one folded with the crease facing out vertically, the black one creased inward horizontally. I stitched the white tile (yes, with needle and thread!) at two corners,


then I made a small horizontal slit at the top and inserted the top corner of the back tile into the slit.


I cut these tiles with an X-Acto® knife, something I am comfortable with. But you could use some cuticle scissors or fine embroidery scissors (if you don't mind using them on paper). Then, I tangled around the cut-outs.


A fun project for sure.


On this last one, I used 2 square tiles, white on the back and black for the front. I traced a circle (using the cap of my cayenne pepper jar, about 2" diameter) and cut out the center.

Then I folded the black tile in half (with art facing out), opened it and folded in half the other way (again with the art facing out). Then opened it up flat.


This just gives you a way to form the black tile into 3-D and the circular hole ends up looking like a square!


On the white tile, I cut 2 slits in each corner, (see example) big enough to slip the corners of the back tile in the larger slit, and out the smaller one, of each corner. Voila! A 3-D "Cayenne-tile"



This last little Zendala-ette is the piece I cut out of the blank square black tile. I just couldn't toss it!



Winner of our previous blog post is Sue Zanker. Please email us your address so we can send you your tile.


Click images for larger views.


24 comments:

i am the diva said...

these little sculptures are just amazing.

Margaret Bremner, Artist said...

Weird. I've been thinking of cut-outs in the tiles and hadn't got around to trying anything yet. You've taken it a whole lot further than I had even thought of! These are wonderful!!! Another great idea to store away in the back of my mind.

Pinetree Studios said...

WAY TOO COOL!!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much for sharing this new idea!

Jennifer Van Pelt, CZT said...

They could be made into wonderful ornaments to decorate trees at Christmas! Ohhh, I feel a new class coming on! Thanks for the inspiration!

Shelly Beauch said...

Ooooh la la, that idea is so very flash. Maria you have put the term "Variety is the spice of life" into a new dimension!! Thanks You.

Tinkered Art said...

3-D Zentangle - love it! Will be fun to give it a try. Thanks

Quillingmama said...

You brought back some memories for me, my big brother is 13 years older than me, we still had those moments but I'm afraid he probably got the short end of it. I can remember Mom saying Ricky she is only a little thingvand you're almost all grown. That's about the time he would let out with a, "stop touching me"! He started keeping dumdum suckers with him to bribe me with after that! Love the 3D tangles! Will have to try them.Like Jennifer Van Pelt's ornament idea.I have been using quilled ornaments for a few years but felt something was missing now I know what it is!

Susie Falkler said...

This is so cool! One of the things I like about it is that it's sometimes hard to display a tile, but this gives another option of just sitting on shelf or as someone else suggested, use as an ornament. You would even have to wait for the holidays, use a bare branch stuck in a vase or pot.

I have a question. After you have finished a tile that has been shaded with pencil, do you spray it with any kind of fixative so it won't smear? If so, what do you use?

Thanks

Zentangle said...

I do not spray my tiles. . . but you could if it made you feel better. There's a plethora of fixatives, just ask at your favorite frame store or art supply store for their opinions of the best options for your work.

have fun! maria

Sue Clark said...

Love, love, love these! Thank you for another wonderful idea!

Diane Lachance, CZT said...

This are really cool! Love them!

Georgia Jensen said...

W0W!!! some kind of tricky!...i saw paper zentangle rocking horses.

Ellen said...

Thank you for sharing these wonderful ideas and the way you git to think of them. Creative minds work that way!

Linda said...

Maria and Rick!

Your creativity never ends! Thank you for inspiring us!

zentanglegal23@gmail.com

BethB said...

I like Laura's word. Turning these little tiles into sculpture is an amazing idea. As I've read through comments, I've realized this affords so many possibilities for displaying,our lovely tiles. This is ingenious, and I'm so thankful for your continued sharing of amazing creativity. BethB

gobarb26 said...

Wow, what wonderful ideas and work. I wish I had the imagination and talent that you have! Just beautiful!

Unknown said...

Ahhh. How I do enjoy your blogging. Always a fun surprise.
Thanks for the fun and the glimpses you afford us from your imagination. So special!

Anonymous said...

Wow Maria, Another great take on what to so with tiles. They kind of remind me of pop up books.... Hmmmm, maybe some more inspiration there....
Thank you for sharing your beautiful work. Kate Ahrens CZT 9

Faith Cohen said...

The first one reminds me of Cherryl Moote's Tangled Garden work and her cut-out flowers. Just so cool!

Amy in TN said...

Another smile-inducing and inspiring post! Made me recall years of a similar yell: "Mom," (two syllables, of course)"Call the dog!" It worked like a charm...even when Mom wasn't home! After years of Mom calling the dog, our German Shepherd Daisy was conditioned to run out of the room whenever we yelled that.

Love the "Cut it out!" ideas. My X-acto knives and I get along great, so I will be experimenting.

Anonymous said...

This would be awesome to combine with the ZT mobiles in your earlier post.

herkimer said...

wow, now this really speaks to me. i don't use the tiles often because i like to "make" things out of my tangles. this is a wonderfully fabulous idea for me!! and what a fun, fun, class, especially for kids! thanks for sharing your creativity
donna lacey czt6

Carol Graham said...

Now, that is WAY cool!
So could you say that Cayenne was the "slice of life"? ;o)

Teresa said...

Beautiful!