Ivy's Corner

Ivy's Corner Helping busy brains slow down with mindful drawing, one stroke at a time. CZT | Ivy’s Corner

06/09/2026

Have you come across Warble yet?

It's an official Zentangle HQ pattern with a slightly mysterious backstory - it seems to be connected to an earlier tangle called Chillon which HQ appears to have retired in its favour, and there's no published step out for it anywhere online, so I've created my own which you can find on my blog.

Warble starts a little like Bales - a grid with c curves added to two sides of each square, but sitting at a right angle to each other so they form a corner shape that gets filled with ink. Then you add aura lines following those curves, and shading along the angular line gives the whole pattern a really lovely sense of depth and drama. It sits nicely between a texture tangle and a drama tangle, which makes it a really versatile one to have in your library.

Full step by step tutorial here: https://youtu.be/ofNutgUGZJ0

04/09/2026

Every other week in the Ivy's Corner Membership, on the weeks we don't meet live, I set the community a creative prompt - and this is me working through one of them.

The prompt might be a string like this one, a set of tangle patterns to incorporate, patterns beginning with the same letter, patterns that share a common shape, or something inspired by a completely different theme. They're deliberately open-ended, because the whole point is to see what each person does with the same starting point.

My members tell me the prompts are one of their favourite parts of the membership - a way to flex their creative muscles and make something that isn't just a follow-along tile. And when everyone starts sharing what they've made in the community, the variety is always wonderful. The same prompt produces twenty completely different tiles, every single time.

If the Ivy's Corner Membership sounds like your kind of creative community, comment MEMBER below and I'll tell you everything 🖊️

01/09/2026

Have you tried Verve yet?

It's by CZT JJ LaBarbera and one of those patterns that feels so classic and versatile that you could easily mistake it for an official Zentangle HQ tangle - which says a lot about how beautifully it works.

The construction is aured lines surrounding an orb, drawn in two different directions so the sections appear to tuck beneath each other. And that's what makes it so satisfying to shade - you can really lean into those areas where one section slips under the other and get the most beautiful sense of depth from it.

Full step by step tutorial here: https://youtu.be/GSoftvzS9rE

31/08/2026

Something I'm building - and I want to know if you need it.

I've had so many conversations - in the membership, in my free class, in comments - where people say the same thing: "I can follow the pattern, but I don't know how to shade it."

And shading is the thing that takes a Zentangle tile from "I drew this" to "I made this." It's the difference between something that sits flat on the page and something that looks three-dimensional, layered, alive.

So I'm building a course dedicated entirely to it. Not just "shade here" - but the actual principles. Gradient, depth, how to make a pattern lift off the page with nothing but a pencil.

I don't have a launch date yet, but I want to know it's needed before I build it.

Comment SHADING below if you'd want this - I'll make sure you're first to know when it's ready 🖊️

29/08/2026

I used to be a creative person. Then life got in the way. Does that sound familiar?

So many people say this to me. They miss the feeling of it - not necessarily the specific thing they used to do, just the quiet and the making. The hour that belonged entirely to them.

Zentangle makes it easy to come back. You don't have to start from difficulty or dredge up skills you haven't used in years. You start here - with a pen, a pattern, and one mark at a time.

And somewhere along the way, you remember: oh. That feeling. There it is.

Comment FREE INTRO below and I'll send you my free beginner's class - it takes about an hour and you'll finish with something you made 🖊️

28/08/2026

Have you tried Auraknot yet?

It's one of those Zentangle patterns that consistently proves more popular than almost anything else I share, and it's much more approachable than it looks. You start with a rough five pointed star shape - although any shape works - and then draw aura lines that hollibaugh, weaving over and under each other as the pattern grows outward from the centre.

The shading is where it really comes to life. Where each line disappears beneath another, the shadow creates this beautiful woven, three-dimensional quality that makes the whole tile feel like something you could reach into.

Full step by step tutorial here: https://youtu.be/alQZH8BZDus

27/08/2026

There's something about creative hobbies that nobody really talks about, and I think it might actually be the whole point.

It's not the thing you make at the end - though that matters too. It's the hour where you're not needed by anyone. Where your brain has one job - this mark, this line, this moment. Where you prove to yourself, quietly, that you can still make something.

For a lot of the women I work with, that hour isn't a nice-to-have. It's what makes the rest of the week feel manageable.

Creative practice isn't a luxury. It's maintenance.

Save this if it resonated, and share it with someone who needs to hear it 🖊️

26/08/2026

Have you tried the tangle Svashta? It's a really beautiful pattern created by CZT Anica Gabrovec, also known as Zen Linea.

The name comes from the Croatian word for "everything", which suits it perfectly - Svashta is incredibly versatile and can fill almost any shape you give it. Anica first drew it to fill a ribbon-shaped space beneath a Christmas tree, and the second time she drew it, it became the Christmas tree itself. A real chameleon of a tangle.

In my version I've filled the space and added small crescent moons around the outside, continuing with auras to create a background texture for it all to sit on.

Full tutorial here: https://youtu.be/XliHygW5fD0

25/08/2026

Have you tried the tangle Majestic? It's a really beautiful pattern created by CZT Jane Roberts - who is actually one of my own Ivy's Corner members - and the story behind it is lovely.

Jane spotted the pattern on the floor of a cruise ship, deconstructed it, and turned it into this striking drama tangle. It shares some similarities with Knightsbridge and Shattuck but has its own distinct character, and I've drawn it here in the round, growing outwards from a central point.

Full tutorial here: https://youtu.be/W2Mk1tx71iE

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