Here are a couple of innovative ways tanglers are using my TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE to select their tangles and they’re both very share-worthy so here you go …
Fellow tangler Lynne Donovan added a comment on the ORGANIZE YOUR PATTERNS page about how she uses the TanglePatterns TANGLE GUIDE to help her select tangles.
If you are like me, sometimes you just can’t figure out which tangle to use. I have printed out the Tangle Guide and just numbered the tangles. To chose a pattern when I just cannot figure out one to use – I go to my smart phone! I have downloaded a random number generator and use that to pick the pattern. No cheating! You have to use the one that the machine picks!
Recently another tangler sent me an email with this great suggestion.
I am a homeschool mom and your website has provided us with such joy. Not only do my 8yr old daughter and I enjoy tangling together, but I love browsing your page to relax after a stressful day!
We recently purchased your book of all the tangle patterns, and cut them up and put them in a bag. Now, when we need a break, or on art days, we reach into the bag and pull a few patterns and enjoy a few peace-filled hours! ~ Faron
Afterthought: expanding on Faron’s idea, if your printer can handle card stock you could make tangle “chips” to use for selection.
Two great suggestions to help you choose tangles for your Zentangles and Zentangle-inspired creations.
How about you, do you have any tips can you offer about using the TanglePatterns TANGLE GUIDE to select patterns?
BTW – here’s an older post with a related discussion – How do you choose tangles?
And a reminder
As Sandy Bartholomew reminds us in AlphaTangle: A Truly Tangled Alphabet
TIP: Zentangle is a noun, not a verb.
Don’t say “I Zentangled my bathroom floor.” (Or, “I’m Zentangling my bathroom floor.”)
Say “I tangled my bathroom floor.”
Other things to say:
“I need to create a Zentangle, right now!”
“Sorry, I didn’t hear you. I was busy tangling.”
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May 11, 2013 | 
I think making tangle chips on cardstock is a great idea. The same thing could be done with the strings in the new “String Guide”. What a wonderful way to mix things up.
Hey Cherie, let’s try that soon!
i
It was interesting to see how some tanglers choose a pattern. I have come up with another. I have all my tangles and instructions printed out & held in plastic sleeves in a huge folder and divided into ‘sections’, each section containing twenty pages. I then use the icosahedron dice which comes with the Zentangle pack from Rick & Maria. I keep throwing the dice until I get a single number, which gives me the ‘section’ to go to, and then I throw it again to get the page number, which are numbered from 1-20. I then have a small ‘choice’, to use any tangles on that page and the back of that page……..after all, one should always have a teeny weeny bit of choice in Life methinks! So far, since I’ve been using this method, I haven’t yet “cheated”, though I must admit I have done some tangles lately that I may not have chosen on my own, without allowing Fate to step in !
Thanks again Linda for everything you do for us all !
Sue
Due to currently undergoing a number of very stressful things–ongoing, not letting up–I like to tangle while thinking about God. I choose my tangle(s) based on whichever thing is causing me the most distress (bear with me–this does produce some wonderful results), go online to the guide there and click on the letter of the alphabet that particular stressor starts with. For instance, if I’m in a “prepicklement” (as I call it) about where I need to be living–I’m in a motel right now–I go to the letter “R” because I will only rent, not buy, and choose a pattern from there.
If it’s a money issue–and that is the biggest issue, of course–I can choose a pattern from “M,” “F” (finances), “D,” etc. I come up with some interesting tangles that way, although it may not work for everyone 🙂
i haven’t come up with a unique way of choosing the patterns yet because i’m relatively new to tangling so as i learn a new pattern i use it in a tangle.
but i have a way of keeping my patterns organized. i use 4 x 6 index cards and go to a new pattern and follow the instructions for drawing it. i use colored micron pens and use a specific order to show the stages of the pattern. ie: red is the first line, blue the second, green the third, etc. i follow this same order with all patterns so i don’t have to number the steps. i always know green is the third step, etc. this way i learn the pattern and have a reference for future refreshing.
when they are finished i put them into a small photo album. it makes it easy to flip through and protects them as well. each of my albums holds 100 cards and i have two full already!
hope this idea helps. ‘-)
i love linda’s list and have found some fantastic blogs through it. tangling has become my obsession and it has rekindled my passion for art and drawing. i am 62 and bedridden so you can imagine how wonderful it is to have a purpose again. ty
i’m checking into starting a blog so i can share some of my work. if there is some where else i can share it please let me know. 🙂
I have mine in page protectors and choose by alphabet and day of the month to get inspired. For example. Today is P day and it is the 12th so today the tangle is Pepper. Which has made an awesome filler… Happy tangling ladies…