Have you heard of zentangle? It is an art form that uses repetitive patterns, ideally on a 3.5 inch square piece of paper, or as zenganglers call it, a “tile”. I’ve always enjoyed doodling, much to despair or my Mom, as I would do it on the wall by the phone (remember landlines?) with a pencil. We’ve had quite a few heated arguments those days. I would be on the phone for more than 3 hours, talking to my boyfriend Roberto late at night, and next morning my Mom would wake up and have a royal fit when she saw my “art” on the wall. Fun times. Fast forward a few decades and doodles turned into zentangles, what was a wall became a cookie. All you need is a smooth base of Royal icing, fully set. And a fine tip food-safe pen. Embrace the patterns and have fun!
The classic pattern is black and white, and you can design your own little tangles or search online for ideas. The Tangled Universe is waiting for you!
I like to use other shapes also, rectangular and candy corn are favorites or mine, but pretty much anything works.
The pumpkin design is not exactly a zentangle, but it has repetitive patterns that are also quite soothing to draw. For the design above I used a mini-projector.
Free hand also works, just don’t be too concerned with perfection… in the end it all works fine, I promise.
For this cookie, Americolor Cork was used in the background, and the Zentangle pattern worked as the petals in the flower.
It is quite amazing how much the pattern changes if you do it black and white or bring a very assertive color to play.
These two above might be my favorites, maybe. The contrast of bright orange with the pattern makes my heart sing!
So many patterns… so little time! I have a long list of zentangles to “cookie”, so expect to see more popping up in this baby blog of mine.
For the Love of Cookies 
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