Author Archives: Iiiireader

Creative Haven Into the Woods: A Coloring Book with a Hidden Picture Twist (Adult Coloring)

By: Lynne Medsker

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a coloring book with a hidden picture twist. Usually, I ignore the hidden images because they are random items, such as jewels, cups, etc. which do not pertain to the overall image. In Into the Woods the hidden objects are relevant to the designs as they are items which you would find in forests and streams. It made it fun to find them and color them to become part of the overall picture. In my first project in the book, I even found an imagine that wasn’t a hidden image after all.

The designs are of mostly trees their branches and roots. Some of the designs expand further and include other parts of the woods including streams, grassland, sky, and horizon. The designs have doodle elements which make them detailed in nature. However, though they are detailed, I did not find them intricate or difficult to color. I’ll post a photo of my first project as well as samples from the book.

The book includes a key at the front of the book that shows you the hidden images and even tells you which plates or designs on which they are included. At the back of the book, there are several pages of solutions which show you were the hidden objects are on the design. I think these extra pages are the reason why this book has only 28 designs when Creative Haven usually provides 31 in their coloring books.

This is what I experienced while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium. I will list, in the comments section below, the coloring medium I use for testing and for coloring.

28 Forest inspired Designs with doodle art and hidden images

Printed one side of the page

Paper is white, medium weight, slightly smooth and has perforated pages.

Glue Binding but you can remove pages at the perforation easily

The designs stop well before the perforations and have a framing line around the outer edge

Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper

Water-based markers bleed through in spots on the back of the page

Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page. India ink pens can bleed through if you apply heavily or with with multiple layers.

Coloring pencils work well with this paper. I was able to use both wax and oil based pencils equally well. They lay down good color, layer the same color and multiple colors and blend easily using a pencil style blender. Hard lead pencils, like Verithins, leave dents on the back of the page.

I either use a blotter page under my working page or I remove pages from the book to color. I like card stock for my blotter page but a couple of sheets of heavyweight paper works as well.

Creative Haven Lovable Cats and Dogs Coloring Book (Adult Coloring)

By: Ruth Soffer

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a very cute coloring book for cat and dog lovers. The designs are of cats and dogs together or separately. It makes for a nice variety of designs. The drawings have a nice level of detail with good backgrounds as well. A number of animal books I own are of just the animal without any form of background. In these designs, the backgrounds are both inside and outside.

The animals have a nice level of detail as well but leave plenty of room for adding your own finishing touches. You can choose make them a single color or to change it up a bit and make them multiple colors. I like the freedom this provides while I am coloring the designs.

What I did miss was the framing line that most Creative Haven coloring books have on the outer edges of the designs. It made it more difficult to have a nicely finished project. Otherwise, I really liked the designs in the book.

I decided to do a design of a kitten and a puppy snuggling in sleep as my first project. I had fun using my oil-based pencils and adding fur to the animals. I’ll post a photo of my first project as well as samples from the book.

This is what I saw while coloring in this book and testing the paper with my coloring medium. I will list, in the comments section below, the coloring medium I use for testing and for coloring.

31 Cat and Dog designs some with cats and dogs together and some where they are shown separately.

The designs are printed one side of the page

Paper is the usual Creative Haven quality: white, medium weight, slightly smooth and has perforated pages.

Glue Binding but with perforated pages so removing a page is fairly simple.

The designs stop well before the perforations

Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper

Water-based markers bleed through in spots and show colorful shadows on the back of the page

Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page. India ink pens can bleed through when I apply more than one layer of ink.

Coloring pencils work well with this paper. I was able to get good color, layer the same color and multiple colors and blend easily using a pencil style blender. I tested both oil and wax-based pencils with similar results. Hard lead pencils, like Verithins, leave dents on the back of the page.

I suggest either removing pages from the book to color or using a blotter page under your working page. I like card stock as it keeps ink from seeping through and damaging the pages below.

Creative Haven Wondrous Nature Mandalas: A Coloring Book with a Hidden Picture Twist (Adult Coloring)

By: Jo Taylor

Rating: 4 of 5

This is a coloring book of circular format mandalas with a hidden picture twist. I generally don’t care for hidden objects as they have little to do with the design. I found that to be true in this case as there were little teacups, acorns, keys, etc. hidden throughout the designs. I colored over them if they were part of another object or colored them if they were stand-alone. Others may find it fun to look for and highlight the hidden objects as they color.

The designs are based on plants and animals rather than the usual patterns I find in mandalas. The designs are a mix of detailed designs and others that are fairly open and easy to color. I chose to do a design based on leaves for my first project. With autumn upon us, I went with colors I associate with the season. I’ll post a photo of my first project as well as samples from the book.

The book includes a key at the front of the book that shows you the hidden images and the designs on which they are hidden. At the back of the book, there are several pages of solutions which show you were the hidden objects are on the design.

This is what I found while coloring in this book and using my coloring medium to test the paper. I will list, in the comments section below, the coloring medium I use for testing and for coloring.

28 Nature inspired Designs with hidden images to find

Printed one side of the page

Paper is typical of Creative Haven: white, medium weight, slightly smooth and has perforated pages.

Glue Binding but you can easily remove pages one by one at the perforations

The designs stop well before the perforations

Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper

Water-based markers bleed through in spots and leave colorful shadows on the back of the page

Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows of color on the back of the page. India ink pens can bleed through if you apply heavily or with with multiple layers.

Coloring pencils work well with this paper. I was able to use both wax and oil based pencils equally well. They lay down good color, layer the same color and multiple colors and blend easily using a blending stick. Hard lead pencils leave dents on the back of the page.

I either use a blotter page under my working page or I remove pages from the book to color. I like card stock for my blotter page but a couple of sheets of heavyweight paper works as well.