Color Me Happy!

I am soooo on board with this new trendy pastime....coloring for adults! I loved coloring as a kid so imagine my happiness when I discovered that there are coloring books and printables online designed especially for grown-ups. Yay! Just yesterday on our Facebook page I shared this link to some FREE printables on Blitsy.

Click to download for FREE!

This coloring thing looks like fun, but really? Why would I do this? (I'm sure that's exactly what you're thinking right now...don't worry, keep reading!)  I did a little research online and here's what I found about why you should take up coloring:

• It's very relaxing and has been shown to calm your mind
• It's a great stress reliever  
• Allows for you to sit side-by-side with your child or teen and complete a very low-key activity together.
• It requires minimal supplies; you might not even have to make a single purchase! Color with anything you have at home - pencils, markers, etc. You can download coloring pages online and print at home or purchase special coloring books for a small cost.
• Coloring is a great way to express your creativity without complications!

 Here's an awesome site I found for downloading pages to print and color at home - over 700 pages available!  If you're looking to purchase a book, Blitsy sells a variety, many for $10 or less! Check out some of my favorite options - "Happy Campers Coloring Book" and "Zenspirations: Abstract Designs"; trust me, there's many more!  I also found this great article which lists some of the top coloring books for adults and where to get them.  Here's a little sample of some of the designs in the books referenced in that article.

Click here to see the full article.

Many of the designs features elements of Zentangle.  What the heck is that?  As described on their website (Zentangle.com), "The Zentagle Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns." What's even better is that practicing it can bring you lots of advantages health-wise.  For example, the site lists the following benefits (and more):

• Relief for insomnia (when done near bedtime) 
• Improved hand/eye coordination
• Anger management
• Diet aide 
• A way to increase your attention span and improve ability to concentrate

Zentangle recommends the use of Sakura Micron marker pens due to their pigment ink and ultra fine tips.  You can purchase them online from their site, Blitsy, or Scrapbook.com.  Psst....Blitsy even has Zentangle sets including all the writing necessities!  For coloring in the shapes, though, you can choose to use whatever you have on hand.  Any colored pencils or markers will do!  Some people even use gel pens or watercolors.

If you're looking to make an investment into markers that will do double-duty for both coloring and scrapbooking/crafting, I really recommend going all-in on a set. Some great brands include: Zig, Ranger (Tim Holtz), Copic, and American Crafts.  A variety of markers and pens are on sale online  here and here.  Your decision should be based upon what you plan to use the markers for in crafting as the ink will differ.  For example, Copic markers are a little more spendy but are far superior to other markers when it comes to blending and coloring stamped images because they are made with alcohol-based dye ink.  Conversely, American Crafts makes a Slick Writer pen that works absolutely amazingly for writing on slick surfaces like the backs of photos, vellum, glossy paper, and more. These pens use a quick-dry dye ink and wouldn't work at all for blending!   If you want to read a little more about the differences in ink-types, I found this article online and it's pretty helpful! Be sure to email me with any marker-related questions or comment below. I know it can be a tad overwhelming and complicated sometimes!

No matter what coloring medium you choose, I'm sure you'd enjoy this hot hobby! In fact, it seems like this might be just the thing for me. What about you? Are you ready to start coloring again? 

I hope you've enjoyed today's topic. Thanks for visiting and happy crafting!