Angels on the Christmas Tree

It’s hard to think of Christmas in the middle of the summer, but it’s not hard to think of cooler weather. A day of it would be nice, but I love the summer too much to wish it away. I spent the morning updating my lens, Angels on the Christmas Tree. There are some awesome new Angel Ornaments on Amazon. It will be hard to resist buying some of them.

I have more Christmas lenses to update, but for now I’m going to head outside and enjoy the sunshine.

Have a good one,
LizzyJean

Reevaluating Goals

We are reaching midyear and time to take a hard look at my 2011 goals. Am I reaching them? Sort of. My original goal was to build a lens a week topping 301 by the end of the year. That went out the window when I took on an extra class this spring. I don’t regret taking on the class, but I need to reevaluate my other goals.

My main goal for the summer is sketching and building coloring page lenses. I just finished my sixth, Sea Creatures Coloring Pages.

Combining sketches with technology to turn it into an appealing coloring page has been harder than I thought it would be. I'm getting better at it. Long term… If I do enough drawings I might consider building a real website.

It’s something to think about.

What I need to focus on now if what I can and will accomplish in the next two weeks. It’s June 25th, still early in the summer, but my “free” time” is almost up. I’ll be heading to Minnesota is a couple of weeks. By the time I return it will be time to get ready for school to start.

I want to build a couple more Coloring Page lenses, but what I really need to do is update my Christmas lenses, especially my Hallmark Christmas Ornaments lens. Unfortunately the 2011 Hallmark Christmas Ornaments are not yet posted on Amazon. Hopefully I’ll get them updated before heading to Minnesota.

I haven’t been blogging the way I should. I doubt that’s going to change much. Time is a factor. Time is always a factor.

I have a Baby Quilt to finish, a Rainbow Afghan to put together…. Yes. Time is always a factor.

Early Morning Thoughts

You would think that with school out I would learn how to sleep in. I haven’t. The sun hasn’t risen yet and here I am, at my computer planning my day. I finish my lens, Explore the Swamp yesterday and started working on some new drawings. My original plan was to do a cats and kittens coloring page but it’s not going well. Cats and kittens are not hard to draw but turning the drawing into a coloring page is. It’s hard to give the impression of fur while maintaining distinct lines for coloring. I may have to rethink the whole concept.

I’m going to shift the whole idea to the back burner for the weekend.

It’s the third Saturday of the month, my usual day for heading to Cypress Gardens. I’m running out of pictures to work with so I really need to go. I would like to add some new pictures to my Photo Expressions lens, and I’m always looking for more bird pictures.

I haven’t been as good about taking pictures this summer. I’ve been too busy drawing. While that’s not a bad thing, I should be posting at least one new picture very day on RedGage.

My head is spinning with would, should, and could. I’ve always been good at making plans and I have good intentions on following through. I’ve always said that I need a thirty hour day. My biggest fear is heading back to school in the fall feeling like I should have accomplished more over the summer.

I need to make a list…

Explore the Swamp

My drawing of water lilies are one of many new drawings that I've put on my lens, Explore the Swamp. It's one of many coloring pages that will keep your children happy on a rainy day.

Coloring Pages

I love the summer. I rarely have the time to do whatever I want. After a hectic school year, it’s nice. I want relax and read, crochet, and draw. I’ve done more drawing in the last couple of weeks than I’ve done in the last few years. They are simple drawings, perfect for the coloring pages lenses I’ve been building. I’ve built four so far and have enough drawings for a fifth.

My first coloring pages lens was Pretty Flowers to Color. It took a long time to stir up the courage to build and post it. I have more confidence in my writing skills than I do in my drawing skills. My seconds lens was Songbird Coloring Pages. I had a lot of trouble with it. It’s hard to keep the drawings simple enough for a coloring page and still identify the bird. I didn’t want to draw a bunch of generic birds. There are enough of those online already. I added a Tufted Titmouse yesterday. I need to add more birds but I’ll never be truly happy that lens.

My third coloring lens is titled Ducks, Swans, and Geese Coloring Pages. I want to add more to it, but I’m a lot happier with it than the songbird lens.

Thus far my favorite coloring pages is Critters in the Garden. That one will be easy to add to over time.

Once I finish posting this I’ll be heading over to Squidoo to build another coloring lens. This one should be interesting. I’m titling it Explore the Swamp. It should be fun.

Have a good day,

LizzyJean

Summer Plans

It’s early Monday morning. It’s been a week since school got out. As usual I spent the first week of summer break wallowing in the freedom of not having a schedule to follow. I could spend the summer that way, but I would return to school with the knowledge that I accomplished little. I am a planner. I need the structure of schedules and plans to be truly happy.

One of my plans for the summer is to get in shape. I joined the Y a couple of months ago when I concluded that Walking for Fitness was not enough. I went every evening over spring break. It made a difference. I want/need to slide into that schedule again.

Working online is another activity that needs to be added to the schedule. I don’t want to build traditional lenses. I’ve started drawing again and building coloring pages is extremely satisfying. I finished one yesterday. I’m very happy with Critters in the Garden. Each lens is getting better. I used to draw all the time but haven’t in the last few years (closer to thirty years.) It’s not quite like riding a bicycle but the skill is returning. With luck I’ll be drawing and building coloring lenses all summer.

If I can balance the need to draw with my desire to get in shape, it will be a very satisfying summer. I need a satisfying summer in order to handle the challenge of teaching again in the fall.

The first week of summer is gone. It’s time to get to work.

Hummingbird and the Morning Glory

I'm having a lot of fun drawing new pictures. I'm not sure if I should make a lens of hummingbird coloring pages or add to my current lens, Pretty Flowers to Color.
For now I'm just going to keep on drawing.

Make a List

I’m a list maker. I started making lists when I was in my teens and have kept up the habit ever since. It’s an organizational skill. When I have a million things to do, I know I’ll forget half of them if I don’t write them down. I may never finish a list, but that’s beside the point.

Make a List

I have a list of goals. It’s changing all the time but it keeps me heading in the right direction. I like to Set Goals and I love reaching them, but sometimes the goal ceases to be important or I’ve found something new to strive for. I’ve never failed to meet a goal. The key is to change the goal before failure becomes an option.

Does that sound like a cop-out?

It’s not.

Goals give us a direction, something to strive for. One of my goals is to lose weight. I’ve been working toward that goal for twenty years now. The only thing that changes is the amount of weight I want to lose and the target date. I may never lose the weight, but if I give up trying, I’m bound to gain fifty pounds.

I’ve been writing fiction for several years now and have worked online for three. I love to write and several writing projects are on my current list, but its building coloring pages that has caught my interest and my imagination.

My lists for the summer are complete. I still want to write book reviews and articles, but a dozen Squidoo Coloring Pages holds center court. They’re fun and goals that are fun are a lot easier to reach.

I’ve built three coloring pages so far. I don’t know how many I’ll have when it is all said and done, but my GOAL for the summer is to build one a week.

So far so good….

Pretty Flowers to Color
Ducks, Geese, and Swans Coloring Pages
Songbird Coloring Pages

Ducks, Geese and Swans Coloring Pages

Have you ever watched a child delight in the sight of a duck waddling down to the water or a goose nuzzling its chicks? Recapture the memory on a rainy afternoon with Ducks, Geese, and Swan Coloring Pages.

Not only is coloring a great form of entertainment for children, it improves their hand-eye coordination and unleashing their creativity.

Buy a box of crayons and print out some pretty pictures to color. Your kids will have fun and so will you.

Songbird Coloring Pages

I just published a new lens on Squidoo, Songbird Coloring Pages. I haven’t published many lenses lately. It’s not that I’ve run out of topics, but a lack of interest. Building a lens is a lot of work. With so many lenses and websites on the internet, competition is fierce. If I’m going to put the work into a lens, I want it to pay off. That’s no longer a guarantee.

Coloring pages are very popular. They are not sales lenses. Any money made will be based on lens rank. I want to make money on them, but if money was all that I was after, I wouldn’t be building them either. To truly make money online one needs to devote more time to it than I can afford. I’m building them because I am proud of my drawings and want to show them off.

I’m very proud of my Songbird Coloring Pages. I featured several of my favorite songbirds. I chose birds that children tend to recognize. Songbird Coloring Pages is a great way to help children learn to identify different birds.

I’m very proud of all of my drawings, but my favorite one is the drawing featuring The Northern Cardinal.

Check out my drawings and let me know what you think.

Have a good day,
LizzyJean