Daily Archives: October 2, 2017

Bible Journaling – Everlasting Hope

By: Karla Dornacher

Rating: 5 of 5

I own two God-centered coloring books by Karla Dornacher and hope that she will release more coloring books in the future. Everlasing Hope is not a coloring book nor is it a step-by-step how-to for journaling in your own Bible. It is, firstly, an explanation of how Ms. Dornacher journals in her Bible. What makes up the bulk of the book are the pre-printed aids for you to use when you journal.

Those aids are in the form designs by Ms. Dornacher: eight traceable pages of designs, four pages of vellum designs which can be cut out and pasted into your Bible, and four pages of full color stickers.
I wasn’t sure quite what to expect from the book when I pre-ordered it, but I am very pleased to have something so different from other books I have on Bible Journaling. It appears that the publisher has a number of similar books by different artists, so choosing the one(s) whose art appeals to me will be the hardest decision.
I will certainly use all of the components in this book in journaling Bible that I recently purchased. It will be very different from the Bibles that I have which either had printed designs for coloring or which I used my own artwork (inspired by how-to books) to do my own journaling.

Adult Coloring Book: Island Escapes: Dreams, Vacation, Summer and Beach: Meditate and Relax with Gorgeous Illustrations

By: Julia Rivers

Rating: 4 of 5

The designs in this coloring book appear to be hand-drawn and include a lot of wavy lines and doodle elements. Further, the scenes are inspired by islands and the ocean. All that I expect from an island vacation are included with lots of ocean scenes, shore scenes, etc. There are fish and other ocean creatures, boats and sunsets but only one scene which includes people (tropical dancers.)

This coloring book is very similar in style (though different images) to one published last year by Okami Coloring (Island DreamsAdult Coloring Book: Island Dreams: Vacation, Summer and Beach: Dream and Relax with Gorgeous Illustrations). It may be by the same artist as Okami Coloring and Storytroll seem to be either the same company under different names or are somehow associated (see below.) In both instances, the name of the illustrator is not provided.
I really appreciate the quality of their artists though the CreateSpace paper always leaves something to be desired but wish they had included the actual artists name on this specific book as they do on their other coloring books. They seem to be developing a specific name (Julia Rivers) to cover the coloring books they deliver. This is similar to what another publisher has done with the name Jade Summer.
The designs are quite detailed and include intricate elements with lots of tiny spots to color. I would not recommend this coloring book to anyone with fine motor or vision issues. I would also suggest that, for the intricate areas, use of ultra-fine point markers/pens or really sharp pencils would be best.
This is what I discovered while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
40 Island/Ocean inspired designs with lots of details and doodle element lines.
Printed one side of the page
Paper is typical inexpensive quality by CreateSpace printing: white, thin, slightly rough and non-perforated.
The designs do not merge into the binding and have a framing line around the outer edges.
Glue Binding
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page quickly.
Water-based markers bleed through in spots.
Gel pens and India ink pens leave shadows on back of the page. India ink can bleed through if you apply heavily or multiple coats.
Coloring Pencils work well with this paper. I found that I could layers the same color for deeper pigment or multiple colors and I could blend easily using a blending stick. I tested both oil and wax based pencils. I also found that hard lead pencils leave dents through the paper.
I like to use a blotter when working in the book. I use a page of card stock or several sheets of heavyweight paper under my working page. It keeps seeping ink and marring dents from ruining the pages below.