Adult coloring books are all the rage - you'll find stacks and stacks of different themes and designs at your local craft store, stationery shop or book store. The detailed drawings on each page make for some spectacularly fun hours of coloring and shading with your favorite markers or pencils.
Most stampers and cardmakers already know the secret behind the art of grown-up coloring - not only is it easy and fun, but it also relieves stress. Coloring is one of those crafts like
knitting or
Zentangle - no matter what you make, the activity is calming, relaxing and even meditative. Check out some of these gorgeous pages - and get inspired by some great ideas of what to do with each page when the coloring is done.
Did you know that 5 of the top 15 best-selling books on Amazon are adult coloring books?
In this Yahoo article, you'll learn all about the allure from a neuroscientist - how coloring impacts our brain, why people enjoy creating without really making, and how it can even improve our health. There's a lot of research and science behind this coloring trend -
this article in Medical Daily talks about several studies, including a theory that concentrating on coloring helps you replace negative thoughts with positive ones.
JamieDoughertyDesigns.com
Jamie Dougherty is an artist who has parlayed her lovely designs into several product lines - including rubber stamps and an adult coloring book called
The Bloom Book, filled with 60 pages filled with flora and femininity. When you use watercolor pencils like Jamie did for this page - it becomes a frame-worthy work of art for your home.
Coloring a small mandala is the perfect thing to do on the bus, in front of the TV, or even in a waiting room. Whether you design your own, download a freebie or pull one out of a book - you can easily tuck your page and a few pencils or markers in your purse or backpack when you're on the go. Paper mandalas are great accents for cardmaking, scrapbooking and collage.
TheCountryChicCottage.net
If you're not sure you want to spend money on a whole coloring book, there are loads of free coloring pages online that you can download and print out. We have several free coloring pages on CraftFoxes, including a
bear coloring page and a f
airyland sprite coloring page. The
Country Chic Cottage blog has also assembled quite the list of creative designs and patterns for you to try.
Once the coloring is done, who says you can't chop it up and use it? I had lots of fun filling in this very detailed flower (shown at the top of this post) with several different colors - then I cut it into sections to use as patterned paper for handmade greeting cards. But first, I scanned it into my computer so I have the option of using the full image in another project.
Check out my blog for more info on this project.
With your
photo editing software and a scanner, you can turn a family photo, a piece of fabric or your favorite classic art into a simple outline for coloring in. How great would these colored images be for gifts, family reunion tee shirts or party favors?
If you have forever traded in the printed page for your iPad when it comes to books, fret not - you can still color! Several coloring apps have hit the scene, where you can fill in a pretty design with just your fingertips and share it on social media. I love
ColorArt for my iPad - there are several designs you can use for free, as well as upgraded features for a small charge - it works on the iPhone too. You'll never feel frustrated by long lines or waiting forever in the doctor's office!
