I finally gave in to the urge to try doing a 'gem' after seeing so many beautiful ones and hearing the term thrown around.  And it was fun; however, I must admit that doing the bezel around the gem was much more in my comfort zone.  It seems to me that there is almost a 'grass roots' movement of getting back to the basics in the Zentangle world and I love that idea.  There are so many very talented artists tangling such beautiful peices of art .... and I fall into the pit of comparing my work to theirs once in awhile.  But the Zentangle Method is not so much about the outcome as it is with the process.  And it is the process that I love about tangling (seeing as I am not one of those 'very talented artists' myself!).  That being said, I am posting my first 2 attempts at doing a gem (thanks to Eni Oken's wonderful how-to book).....