Zigzag Ziggurat & Zentangle Alphatag

My "Z" tag for the Baroque Guild Alphatag swap is based around a Ziggurat (an Assyrian/Babylonian temple tower or staged tower in which each storey is smaller than that below it) of parcels with a zigzag pattern for the background. The inspiration for the pile of parcels came from The Gift of Christmas stamp sheet which I originally used but wasn't happy with as I wanted something more tactile. I was going to put a large "Z" at the top of the pile but it didn't look right at all - my husband suggested a star & that reminded me of the Christmas Auraknot Star that I've been drawing (see PEP tangles), hence I acquired another "Z" in the form of Zentangle. It is actually quite apt in terms of the Ziggurat for it is quite likely that the Zoroastrian priests or Magi who followed the star to Bethlehem for Jesus's birth spotted that star on one of their nightly scans of the sky from the top of one of their Ziggurat towers. (See here for Zoroastrianism and my fellow Alphatagger, Vronnie at Vroncards, who used the wise men for her "Z" tag).

front of tag

close-up of upper section showing Zentangle star
& overstamping of patterned paper on parcels

close-up of lower section showing the patterned
paper parcels tied with different metallic threads

close-up showing dimension of wet embossed
"Z" plus zigzag background

close-up showing dimension  & layering
of Zentangle star plus zigzag background

back of tag 

close-up showing paper pierced scallops & inked edges
of theme panel plus textured pearlescent ivory cardstock

The parcels were made by wrapping oddments of the patterned paper around different sizes of thick cardstock & then tying assorted colours of metallic thread round them. The paper for the top two parcels wasn't particularly patterned so these were overstamped before wrapping. The creasing of the patterned paper when folding such small pieces occasioned some 'white cracking' which was "removed' by running the tip of a Coloursoft pencil in an appropriate colour along the sides of the parcels.

For the star shape I drew around a large star gem & enlarged it to the size I wanted & then tangled with a brown fineliner using the Auraknot pattern skipping two points (see here for a detailed explanation). A brown Coloursoft pencil with a paper stump was used for the shading. Two of the stars were offset & layered in order to achieve the ten-pointed dimensional star as above.

Recipe
Stamps Elusive Images UA4HC0177  ATC Art Plate (zigzag pattern); Chocolate Baroque UA4 SP0150 Texture Blocks (overstamping patterned paper) & UA6GW0211 Celebrations Alphabet ("Z" letters).
Inks Chestnut ColorBox Pigment "Cat's Eye" (tone on tone backgroud stamping, Memento Tangelo (overstamping patterned paper), Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink (inking various cardstock edges), Emboss Tinted Stamp Pad with Stewart Gill Metallic Copper Embossing Powder ("Z" letters).
Pencils/Markers etc... Staedtler Triplus Fineliner & Derwent Coloursoft pencils with paper stump, Signo uni-ball copper gel pen.
Cardstock Brown, cream & textured pearlescent ivory from stash.
Paper Graphicus Guild Membership Pack.
Die Sizzix Movers & Shapers L Die - Tag & Bookplates.
Punches EK Success (small circle), Woodware (scalloped squares).
The gems & ribbon are from stash.