free dragon coloring page by wendy martinSign up to receive alerts when a new coloring page is posted each week and/or click here to view more coloring pages!

Jan Berenstain, whose personality and art merged in the wise and gentle Mama Bear of the cartoon clan that she and her husband created, died at Doylestown Hospital on Friday of a stroke. She was 88. Read more: http://bit.ly/wYSCvK

While personally wasn’t very attracted to the Berenstain Bears story books, they are iconic for many a child reader. News of Ms. Berenstain’s passing got me thinking of how many of my childhood heroes (kid lit speaking) have moved on from this life. Some favorites that come to mind are Charles Schultz and Dr. Seuss.

My husband is a few years older than I am and he has been bemoaning several deaths of members of his high school class as well as buddies in his fraternity. The obits in the paper list people closer to my age than they used to. This makes me wonder who will be the new childhood icons for my unborn (not even a twinkle yet) grandchildren?

On a less morbid note, I had a lot of fun creating this week’s coloring page. A goofy long-necked dragon. I do believe it needs a name. Any suggestions?

Click on the image to get your 8.5X11 download coloring page.

I love to hear from you. Emails, comments and your colored pages make my day.

Email your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpage (at) handcraftedpagan (dot) com and I’ll post it to my blog!

Do you have a special request for a coloring page? Let me know either via an email or through one of my social networking sites. I’m on Twitter and Facebook. Let me know that you found me here in a message so I know why you’re following me.

Watchers by W Lyon Martin coverI send out coloring pages to let people know about me, my art and my children’s books. Help support my efforts by spreading the word or buying any of my books. Please stop by any of my social networking sites to leave me a message (here is good too!) and let me know how you like the coloring pages. Remember, I provide these pages free of charge for your own personal use. Do not reproduce them or use them for any other purpose without my written permission.

Unicorn jumps a shooting starSign up to receive alerts when a new coloring page is posted each week and/or click here to view more coloring pages!

I just finished reading the Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. Maggie has been an online associate of mine for several years now, but after her last series came out, we’ve been in touch less frequently. I guess when I have 17,346 followers on Twitter, I’ll have a hard time keeping up on correspondence with people, too. I already struggle to do so. I can’t imagine being able to keep track of so large a following at all.

But I digress. Back to the Scorpio Races. I don’t know if you are aware, but this title was an ALAYM winner this year. Since I had planned to read it when Maggie started talking about it as a “sekrit project” I figured I should pop over to the local library and grab a copy. I know my librarian often purchases award winners for the children’s section, so I was fairly confident I’d see it on the shelves.

I get a lot of books to review throughout the year, but on occasions such as this, I read a book just for my own personal pleasure. No note taking, no keeping track of things to speak about later when I write the review.

But I’ve noticed something in recent year, even with books I’m reading just for personal enjoyment.

When I read a book now, I notice and digest the way the author puts their words on the page. I dissect the feel of the word flow into its many pieces and mull over how I can utilize the turn of phrase in one of my current works-in-progress. I observed myself doing this with the Scorpio Races quite frequently. Maggie has such a way with language. And I got to thinking, do other writers working on their own craft and style, do this as well? At what point did I go from a reader who writes to a writer who reads? Is this something that happens to all serious writers?

I’d love to hear what you have to say. Please leave me a comment with your opinion.

This week’s coloring page is a request from a 9 year-old fan from New Jersey. A unicorn jumping over a star with a rainbow trailing behind. I hope you all enjoy coloring it!

Click on the image to get your 8.5X11 download coloring page.

I love to hear from you. Emails, comments and your colored pages make my day.

Email your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpage (at) handcraftedpagan (dot) com and I’ll post it to my blog!

Do you have a special request for a coloring page? Let me know either via an email or through one of my social networking sites. I’m on Twitter and Facebook. Let me know that you found me here in a message so I know why you’re following me.

abcs of lesser-known goddessesI send out coloring pages to let people know about me, my art and my children’s books. Help support my efforts by spreading the word or buying any of my books. Please stop by any of my social networking sites to leave me a message (here is good too!) and let me know how you like the coloring pages. Remember, I provide these pages free of charge for your own personal use. Do not reproduce them or use them for any other purpose without my written permission.

A facebook friend posted this today.

The boys’ kindergarten class is starting a new project, called “Me on the Map”. A highlight of this unit is the Postcard Project. We will pass the school address to friends and family across the country and around the world. As the postcards come in, they will locate the different places on the map.
Please, if you have a spare moment, send a postcard in, no matter what part of the world you are in.
Mrs Wagner’s Class c/o
Claymont Elementary School
405 Country Club Drive
Ballwin, Mo 63011
Feel free to share this. Thanks for your help!

If you have a spare moment, it would be great if you could send the twins’ class a card. I know I have readers as far-flung as Australia and Italy. How cool would it be for these kindergarteners to get cards from all over the world?

13. February 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: Books, Thoughts, Uncategorized

Echo Nouveau by Echo Chernik book coverI have been a long time fan of Ms. Chernik’s detailed Art Nouveau style work. When I heard she was releasing an autobiographical book, I had to have a copy.

Much of the work included is already available to be viewed on her website or her social networking sites, but what really makes me drool is the detail in the work I can observe on the printed page that just is lost when viewing a low resolution web image. The book is a tall 12” x 8”. The single-page, full-color plates are large enough to be able to see tiny details in the art, something that is often lost when the images are smaller.

That alone would have made the book worth the purchase for me. But there’s more.

Also included are tips on working in the industry, breaking in to licensing, dealing with different types of clients and Echo’s sketches, photo reference and insider looks into her working process and career development.

The final page is a FAQ that sums up questions readers might have not covered in other portions of the book.

A great coffee table book for Art Nouveau aficionados and a great reference book for artists looking for some insight into how successful contemporary artist’s career has progressed.

Note: I purchased this book for my personal library. I have known Echo on-line for over a decade.

snowy owl coloring pageAccording to the Farmers’ Almanac, the traditional name for the full moon in February is the Deep Snow or Hunger Moon. Some other places also refer to this month’s moon as the Wolf Moon. What is more iconic than a Snowy owl flying across a wintry sky to decorate this week’s coloring page?

It seems strange to look outside with this in mind and see the daffodils poking their heads out from the ground. Meanwhile in other parts of the country, the snow is deeper than it’s been in decades.

Here in Missouri, there’s been no real winter to speak of, it’s been more of an extended fall. To a North East native, I feel as if I’m waiting for the season to start. On the other hand, there is absolutely no reason why I can’t take my daily walk to the library and back.

Click on the image to get your 8.5X11 download coloring page.

I love to hear from you. Emails, comments and your colored pages make my day.

Email your colored image (less than 1mb) to coloringpage (at) handcraftedpagan (dot) com and I’ll post it to my blog!

Sign up to receive alerts when a new coloring page is posted each week and/or click here to view more coloring pages!

Do you have a special request for a coloring page? Let me know either via an email or through one of my social networking sites. I’m on Twitter and Facebook. Let me know that you found me here in a message so I know why you’re following me.

I send out coloring pages to let people know about me, my art and my children’s books. Help support my efforts by spreading the word or buying any of my books. Please stop by any of my social networking sites to leave me a message (here is good too!) and let me know how you like the coloring pages. Remember, I provide these pages free of charge for your own personal use. Do not reproduce them or use them for any other purpose without my written permission.