Wednesday 23 February 2011

Squidoo Pending Payouts In Edit Mode

Tier Estimates

Tier 1: $21.49
Tier 2: $3.65
Tier 3: $0.18

Will payday come early again? If so, it could be next week! wink

Searching the forums...

July 2010
$16.61; actual pay - $20.72 from Ad Pool + $6.05 from Infolinks + $0.91 from Chitika = $27.69
$2.83; actual pay - $3.52 from Ad Pool + $1.03 from Infolinks + $0.15 from Chitika = $4.71
$ 0.14; actual pay $0.18 from Ad Pool + $0.05 from Infolinks + $0.01 from Chitika = $0.24

September
$17ish - $20.57 + $5.34 from Infolinks + $0.32 from Chitika
$3.01 - $3.50 + $0.91 from Infolinks + $0.05 from Chitika
$0.15 - $0.18 + $0.05 from Infolinks + $0.00 from Chitika =$0 .23

November
$15.91 - $18.02 + $5.11 from Infolinks + $0.42 from Chitika
? - $3.06 + $0.87 from Infolinks + $0.07 from Chitika
? - $0.15 + $0.04 from Infolinks + $0.00 from Chitika = $0.19

December
$20.89 - $24.98 + $5.80 from Infolinks + $0.17 from Chitika = $30.95
$3.55 - $4.25 + $0.99 from Infolinks + $0.03 from Chitika
$0.18 - $0.21 from Ad Pool + $0.05 from Infolinks

Conclusions:
Top tier about $8-10 under actual payout (assuming everything turned on, and all the same tiers reached for each ad type - as the predicted pending money varies if infolinks is on or off, it seems to be consistently underestimating across the board)

Chitika's been pathetic - looking forward to this payday to see how the 'new' version performs.

We're going UUUUUUUUP! And we've yet to reach Christmas monies big_smile

Ergo, my predictions for Adsense on its own (the other two are still too variable) this payout are:
~$25
$4.30
$0.21

Art of Tangled Finally Available

Well, turns out the very popular artbook for the latest Disney film, The Art of Tangled was so popular that it actually sold out. But it's finally back in stock at Amazon!

I've been keeping an eye on it, because a lot of the concept art and other sketches I've been collecting for the Mother Gothel page mostly appear to be scans from this book.

The Art of Tangled
The Art of Tangled

Tuesday 22 February 2011

Felicia Day's Reading Tastes... Maybe

Bewitched & Betrayed (Raine Benares, Book 4)Really random... just watching The Guild music videos (AGAIN) and fiinally identified the book that Codex (Felicia Day) is reading at the beginning of "Game On".

It is, of course, a fantasy novel. Bewitched & Betrayed by Lisa Shearin, to be exact. Looks like it's pretty good, too.


Yes, I am that shallow that I'll possibly be buying this :D


Saturday 19 February 2011

A Year of the Cat: 19th Feb. No Photos Today

A Year of the Cat: 19th Feb. No Photos Today: "Or possibly for the next few days, or longer. I had to rush my cat to the vets (well, the emergency after hours clinic) this after..."

My cat is either poisoned or very ill. I'm hoping for poisoned, because she's not dead, and that means she'll probably be okay. The vet says it could be any of dozens of problems.

She has violent tremors in her legs, and head, and wavers between 'mostly okay' and 'two steps and her legs fall over'. Earlier, she was having 'fits' where she lay on her side and stared, and shook.

It's scary watching your cat like that.

Friday 18 February 2011

Mother Gothel's First Appearance: Screenshots

Because I'm not sure if this is too large to add to the Mother Gothel page... I'll share it here and decide later.

This is Mother Gothel's first real appearance onscreen in Tangled, as she sings to the magic flower and is rejuvenated, then hears soldiers coming.



And a picture of the magic flower, which I reckon is a tiger lily, which arum lily-type leaves.

Also, confirmed red fingernails Which is going on the Mother Gothel costume page.

Friday 11 February 2011

Sketchblog: Discworld Sketches

Another sketchdump, to be updated when I can reach a scanner. All drawn while lying around with bronchitis.



Possibly the first dog I've ever drawn. He's meant to be a mangy, flea-ridden 'sort of terrier'


Alright, this isn't Discworld ;D This is Toothless, the Night Fury dragon from How to Train Your Dragon 
(I was coveting the plushie before). This is probably going to my dad, if he wants it, because he really loved the film.
Charcoal - the eyes are Photoshop, cause I didn't have anything other than pencils or charcoal with me. Sadly, when I sprayed fixative, the force of the aerosol blew off a lot of the charcoal, so the actual version doesn't look right anymore. So I'll have to recolour it.


AAAARRRGH. This is why I hate traditional. YOU RUN OUT OF PAPER. I ended up getting very inspired and tearing pages out of my sketchbook. And having to go look up lots of pictures of startled horses, and horse ears and eyes and teeth.

This is Granny Weatherwax in Lords and Ladies. The scenes where here silver hair snakes down to her waist, when she undoes her bun, has always stuck with me, and I was in a Discworld mood.
I wanted to try capturing the stillness of Esme, and the frail strand of silver hair, with the thrashing, screaming unicorn.

And there are bees.


It'll all be black and silver, of course ^_^
BAH. Need to scan nicely. And finish painting in ArtRage.


A random attempt at drawing a Discworld troll

Random elf girl. The pose is actually from an anime figure (upskirt, school girl pose), while hanging around in the GNC waiting for a friend.
My drawing is much more realistic, though ;P


Random practice sketching

Random sketch of an acrobat girl, hanging upside down


I HAVE ZAZZLE KEYCHAINS! YES!

I hereby take back any and all bad thoughts or ill-wishings directed at Zazzle. My keychains have arrived at last.

I ordered them before Christmas and ... well, they didn't turn up. End of January, I got rather worried about this and doublechecked my order, to find that I'd somehow left the suburb out. (I did have the road, and the postcode, which are actually specific enough to locate my suburb easily, but NZ Post is not that capable).

I *headdesk* a bit, then send a note to Zazzle saying basically, that I screwed up the order, is there anyway to find out if it was returned?

They sent me a new order. By signed courier/airmail/something expensive. To New Zealand.
I got it the next week (actually, I didn't, cause I had to play tag with the courier for a few days, but it actually did reach my house the next week. Three times!)

And they are shiny. And about twice as big as I expected!


The colours are very good, the back is just a shiny silver disc, which is a little weird, they're quite thin (and light), and the chain itself can be removed with a bit of fiddling (it slots into the actual disc part). And they are very much worth the (admittedly, discounted for Christmas) price I paid (N.B. I still maintain that the overseas domains are a rip-off, but ordering from the main US site is reasonable. And they're so shiny!).


I got my cat to model them, for size.

Wednesday 9 February 2011

Good Graphic Novel Reviews

I've started a new blog - my Recommended Graphic Novels lens was doing great... apart from the bit where no one found any of the other pages, with the actual reviews. Also, the new limits on eBay and Amazon modules mean that I can't finish it.

So I'm taking them off now, and slowly releasing them as individual reviews (giving Google time to forget they were originally on that lens, hopefully!). And of course, writing more, and finishing all the unfinished ones.

It will update once a week, just after midnight on Wednesday, New Zealand time (so, effectively, Thursdays).

EDIT: GAH. And the link to the actual blog! Good Graphic Novels

Esmeralda x Belle: Canon Disney Femslash

I wandered into Snopes today, and discovered something very interesting. It turns out that as a little joke, the animators of The Hunchback of Notre Dame decided that there was no reason Belle couldn't visit Paris and have a cameo wandering across the screen reading (apart from the different time periods, but pfft to that. True love laughs in the face of mere physics and temporal reality!)

That's right - Belle, from Beauty and the Beast actually appears - twice - during the The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Once, as a distant figure, book in hand, during "Out There", and once in the crowd during "Topsy Turvy" (when Quasimodo gets crowned King of Fools). Yes, she was literally right there in the crowd, when Esmeralda was dancing on stage.

You want evidence? Sure thing. I hunted down a video and took some screenshots (a YouTube video, hence the quality. I'll find something better when I can...)



Let the Belle and Esmeralda femslash commence. Go on. Make me proud.

Marine Squid Angel, New Squidoo God

Squidoo is revamping the Squid Angel program again. This time it's to take advantage of all the new categories - each Angel is being given a certain area to take care of. And I got the marine life section, for some reason ^_^

And after a moment's thought, I realised - Squid are sea creatures. You don't get any squid out of the ocean, do you? Which means that anything 'Squid' falls under my authority.

Which means that I am the new God-ruler of Squidoo.

I accept bribes.

An Invisible Sale

Hahaha. I am both amused and delighted right now, because someone finally bought something from my Invisible Cupcake Decorating lens. And even better - they actually bought something that I actually recommended!

I'm very fond of that lens - not only was it very entertaining to write, but it actually made me a fair bit of money - pretty awesome for a lens that only gets incidental search traffic (NO one looks for invisible cupcakes, for some reason, they just can't be found...). So to actually make a sale off it, months after it dropped out of the top tiers, is a great delight. I did actually find a photo (on right) to add last week, from a cupcake tea party I walked in on my sister having with her friends, ages ago, when I had my camera in hand. So maybe the update helped.

I'm especially pleased, because I remember writing that lens and thinking 'what can I put here...? I know! I'll write about displaying the cupcakes! I'll add a cupcake stand!' and then spending far too much time picking the right one (the Wilton Tall Tier Cupcake Tower/Stand Set) and writing a little blurb about presenting the cupcakes. And then someone actually searches for 'invisible cupcake stand' and buys it.

So let that be a lesson. Everyone should write a lens that is completely non-serious. And even the oddest subjects can end up attracting a buyer.

Thursday 3 February 2011

Disney and Animated Films lenses


And lastly, Holli Would isn't a Disney character, but she's animated, and hasn't really got her own category yet!

Artwork Lenses

My art and Zazzle poster lenses.





featured lensFlynn the Cat's Art: where to find me




My Art and Art Lenses ♦ My Top Twenty Lenses ♦ My (non-Art) Lenses by Topic ♦ My Newest Lenses ♦ My Activity Elsewhere ♦ The Guestbook♦ Welcome to my Profile lens. This page lists all my art sites, blogs and sho...


featured lensMy Squidoo Gallery: An overview of my paintings & art lenses
This lens attempts to pull together my various art lenses, by giving you a thumbnail overview of the contents of each art-based lens (dragons, mermaids, cats, and whatever else I make in future...). I've also added a few other bits and pieces, that I...


featured lensGuestbook Artwork
featured lens


featured lens


Fantasy Mermaid Posters From Zazzle


Mermaids have been around for hundreds and hundreds of years since the first goddess walked into a lake and turned into a fish with legs and a human head. From the sirens who haunted early sailors, to Hans Christian Andersen's soulless and ethereal A...


featured lens


Beautiful Elf Posters From Zazzle

Elves are one of the staples of fantasy - I must admit I prefer the old and tricksy, illusory and beautiful elves of Celtic myth and Tolkien-ish legend, but you'll find elfin dryads and faerie elves here as well. From drow to mystical high elf, to a...

My Cosplay Lenses