Last Friday I received a package in the mail from Zentangle Headquarters. In it was some paperwork for CZT30 and an unexpected surprise!
But first…
I’ve had a Zentangle kit for years. Mine is one of the original, hand made ones. As you can see in the image above, it is covered in deep turquoise Lakota paper with the Zentangle symbol stamped on the cover.
The entire outside is covered with this paper.
The Zentangle logo and name is stamped on the back, hinged edge of the box. The box is held shut by wrapping the string around a wooden button.
Inside the box, there are 3 storage compartments, all wrapped in what appears to be white Lakota paper. There is an inner lid also wrapped in white and stamped with the name, copyright and company information. The string to wrap the button is held in place between the cover and the inner cover.
Each of the upper, square compartments has a piece of ribbon fastened to the bottom which is used to lift out the contents.
The square section on the right contains a Legend card that you can use to randomly select tangles. Originally, beneath it were 34 Official Zentangle Tiles. There are no longer any of those in this box. They were used long ago.
In the left-hand compartment, there is a welcome note from Zentangle.
Beneath that is an instruction book. This book gives you a bit of information about the Zentangle method, but most of the content is images.
The book guides you through all the steps to create your first Zentangle.
The long, bottom compartment came with 2 Pigma Micron 01 pens, two pencils, a tortillon, a red pencil sharpener and a 20-sided die.
The original pens are, of course long gone. I have replaced them many times over the years, and the current ones are on my desk.
The 20-sided die also was removed from the box, and it may be lost, but it is probably with the Magic the Gathering game parts.
This was really a lovely kit, and I have treasured it all of these years. I stopped using it for every-day tangling because I wanted to preserve it and because I expanded my tools and tiles to beyond what would fit in here.
Flash forward to last Friday…
I knew I was getting some kind of package in the mail from Zentangle because I received a shipping notice for it. I assumed it was important paperwork for CZT30. But I was really surprised it was a box! It did, indeed contain paperwork, but underneath was this wrapped up mystery.
It turned out to be a brand new Zentangle Kit!
The new kit is very professional looking. A big change is that it is now covered in book fabric, rather than Lakota paper. The color and texture matches the Zentangle Primer!
Another really nice feature is that it has a magnetic closure now, instead of the button and string.
Inside the box, the contents are the same.
The differences include the new way of mounting the DVD to the inside of the cover, which I really appreciate. And the covers to the booklets are now a tan paper rather than cream. Also, the ribbons in the two upper sections are now the same color as the outside of the box instead of cream.
As you can see, above, the kit really does come with Official Zentangle tiles.
And I haven’t lost the die in this one.
Wrapped inside the tissue paper is all of the tools: 2 Pigma Micron 01 pens, 2 pencils and a tortillon.
While I appreciate the hand-crafted beauty of my original Zentangle Kit, I also really love the professional quality of this new one. I will keep and treasure it for years to come. I am much more likely to use this one on a regular basis to travel or take with me to meetings because it seems to be a bit sturdier and easier to keep clean.
I am very grateful for this surprise gift!
I also want to mention to you, that you can get this kit for yourself, by taking a formal Zentangle class, taught by a CZT. If you are unable to do that, you can also order the Zentangle Kit directly from Zentangle headquarters.
Enjoy,
Tandika*