Yeah, no school!!!   A day to sit by the fire and color, for me that is pure joy!!  This is a look into my coloring world…I hope it inspires you!!!Hot coffee with whipped cream, chocolate sprinkles  and a cinnamon stick, when it melts into the coffee it makes a creamy delight…The mug was made by my brother, Anthony Masse, who has a business making pottery, click on his name and it will bring you to his website:)

First of all coloring is fun, but did you know it has health benefits too?  According to this article from CNN “Coloring has therapeutic potential to reduce anxiety, create focus and bring about more mindfulness.”  We even give the children in our kindergarten class  simple mandalas (like the ones below) to color when they are done with their academic work.  It’s calming, helps them focus and they love it…It would be a great activity if you have grandchildren visiting, something you could enjoy together!!!

I’ve had most of my pencils for about 20 years, I replace the ones I use the most.  Prismacolor pencils are the best for adult coloring, purchase a smaller set if you are just beginning, then you can invest in a larger one as you develop your coloring:)  I also use colored pens to color in the small areas, they are Staedtler Fineliner  pens, .3mm.    A little strategy of mine is choosing the color pallet that I want for a page and keep those pencils and pens in an elastic band, like in the picture of the vase, that way I can carry them around in a bag with the book…  I bring them to my mother’s when I’m with her.   Now for the book, Johanna Basford’s coloring books are very good quality, Gina gave me this one “Enchanted Forest,” some of the pages I have colored from this book are below…

On the inside cover page I used different shades of moss-green for the leaves, it gives an earthy look, I also colored a little brown over the brighter colors, I like how it gives a more subdued look.  I’ve learned to not just color, but to shade in, which you can see in the brown branches and green leaves.  Can you see the the light and dark tones?  It adds depth:)

This is one of the first pictures I colored from this book.  See the little gray mouse, I added him myself…

You can make copies of your pictures and repurpose them for all kinds of things… I used this one for stationary, I wrote a thank you note on the other side of it after making a copy!!  Here is a website on Pinterest that will give you some ideas…but I have a great one below…

I took my time with this owl and was really happy with the outcome.  I did research on coloring black backgrounds and found a special brand of pen, called, Faber-Castell PITT artist pen, it’s the best to achieve this look.  I used a thick nib to color in wide spaces and thin nib to color narrow spaces, like around the leaves and vines.  After making a copy of this owl I turned it into a cell phone cover.  Use a clear cell phone cover, trace around the outside of cover onto your picture, cut and insert it, make sure you cut out around the camera lens:)

My current cell phone cover, I made it from the mandala design below…

This is actually a wooden shadow box, the back is open.  My friend Norine gave it to me for Christmas last year.  I colored it to match my kitchen, here it is on my desk, it hides the wires from my computer…

My kitchen desk is built into an alcove that utilizes that space nicely.  The finish on it is black made to look worn and matches a few of my kitchen cabinets, also it has a hutch top that holds dishes and serving pieces.

You don’t necessarily need a coloring book, especially to get started.  There a numerous single coloring pages on the internet with all different subjects…You can also find children’s pages, which we do for our classes…here are a few for adults and children…Just click the highlighted writing and it will bring you to a variety of pictures:)

 

Adult coloring pages 

 

 

Children coloring pages

 

These were sent to me recently!!!  The dragon-fly was done by Gina, it’s a post card, love the colors she used!!  The bird was done free hand, not a coloring page, by my talented sister-in-law Sue, it was her Christmas card this year!!!  Let me know if you try coloring, send me your pictures, I’d love to see them…Enjoy!!!

POSTSCRIPT
It is with a heavy heart that I publish this post…

While preparing this post I received a call from our principal, giving me the sad news that a beloved kindergarten teacher, Kristin Rocha, from our school had passed. She had suffered with breast cancer, that had spread throughout her body, for eight years. Her husband, Corey and young children, 2nd grade and kindergarten, were the light of her life, she was an amazing, loving and giving teacher with a sense of humor that would ease a stressful day at school. So it is, she is now the light that will guide her family, friends and colleagues through the difficult times ahead. My heart goes out to her family, please join me in sending them love and healing prayers…