Printable Rainbow Sun Gift Box

The coloring page version of this sun is available here.

I hope you enjoy this printable box with a sun and rainbow design. Click the image below for a larger version, print on card stock, cut out, score lines, fold, glue!

Stars, moons, rainbows and the sun- a new mandala to color

So yesterday someone posted a picture of Groovy Mandalas on one of the coloring lists I'm on- and a few people talked about how much they loved it, how it was their first or their favorite coloring book.

I'm feeling just.. wow. No words to express my gratitude.

So hopefully they will enjoy this mandala- with my thanks. Click the images below to print and color!

Small JPG version:

Large PNG version:

Mandala Coloring Collection

So I self-published a collection of mandalas from this site. These are all mandalas that are available for free here, but in a nice bound format. 50 mandalas to color in an 8.5x8.5 book.
You can buy it HERE.

The paper is a little on the thin side, but will work great with pencils. Because of blank page issue- instead of having the backs of the pages blank, I put a quote or a bit of information about the mandala on the facing pages.

So why am I selling mandalas that I have posted for free? Well, a few people have told me they would like to color them, but don't have a printer. The other part is obviously hoping that with the craze for adult coloring books, more people will discover my site and work- but also that I'd really like to make a little extra money.

Because my husband and I plan to buy a cabin, and a bit more money means being able to buy a slightly bigger cabin with a bit more land. One way or the other, we do plan to have a cabin by 2018, but if enough people buy this book, and if it's popular enough, other collections from the site- we can get a much nicer parcel of land. It's been a dream of mine for years, to have a quiet retreat in this state I love. I promise many pictures and projects involved in fixing it up- because we aren't rich, and it's going to need fixing. 

For mandalas that haven't been on this site- here are my traditionally published coloring books-

Forget-me-not mandala

The blue and bright-eyed floweret of the brook,

Hope's gentle gem, the sweet Forget-me-not.

-Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I hope you enjoy this delicate adult coloring page of a forget-me-not mandala.
Forget-me-nots are the state flower of Alaska! They aren't truly perennials, but because they are aggressive self-seeders, they grow like perennials. Click the images below for large versions to print and color.

Small JPG version:

Larger transparent PNG version:

Sunflower and bee photo box

I think that I should start doing more boxes from photographs. This is from a photo that I took last week. I love the bright, summer colors of the sunflower and bee. 

Click the box below for a larger version to print on card stock, cut out, score folds, fold and glue! 

I'm using the same colors in a shawl I'm working on now. 

Stars and curves mandala to color

The night is calm and cloudless,

And still as still can be,

And the stars come forth to listen

To the music of the sea.

They gather, and gather, and gather,

Until they crowd the sky,

And listen, in breathless silence,

To the solemn litany.

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I hope you enjoy this mandala. It was inspired by a series of photos I've been taking of the moon. I'm in a very celestial state of mind.

Click the versions below for larger versions to print and color.

Star Mandala to Color

Small JPG version:

Large transparent PNG version:

An idea for leftover bits of DGY ribbons

So I'm watching this video- and thinking "Hey, awesome use for leftover scraps of Darn Good Yarn chiffon or silk ribbons."

But a couple things- the yarn is recycled- use recycled plastic too. If you don't mind the shape, I'm wild for milk jug plastic. It's generally white or translucent and I use it for barrette backings, building disks, stencils, planters, scoops, I literally have a kitchen drawer full of milk jug plastic cut into sheets from gallon jugs to use for all sorts of things.

Otherwise- yogurt containers, whipped top containers, esp the ones with labels that can be peeled off easily- plus most plastics can be painted if you can't get printing off of them and don't want it showing through the ribbon.

Now, everyone has that friend who keeps every container that comes into their kitchen, the give you seed starts in plastic yogurt containers, they pack lunches in sour cream or margarine tubs and that person is awesome. Except for using margarine (vegans excepted) , but you probably have friends who don't do that. (I'm not that friend, don't even ask. But I do pack my husband's lunches in Lock & Locks because of a nasty accident a while back. If you absolutely don't want it to spill, Lock & Lock) Those friends? If you point out that it's good to want to save the environment and the best kind of recycling is re-purposing? They will sometimes save you things. Then you'll be the one with a big bucket of soda pop tabs waiting to be turned into armor as soon as you feel like working on something really boring for hours. Oh, wait- anyway, ask. You'll wind up with containers.

Secondly-
The only folds bias tape should have in a project are the nice ones down the length. The card wrap folds are easy to get rid of- use a hair straightening iron.

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So the above was written as a FB update and wound up getting a little longer than expected. I'll be honest- at 3:am, when my sleeping schedule is all inside out, and given the really amazing week I had last week (more on that later) - I tend to get a little enthused, run on, and have very little control over my stream of consciousness. It's good though, because that's also the time that I get the most inspired.