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Net Galley
Monthly Archives: August 2018
20 Lovely Fairy designs – printed one side of the page
World of Fairies
By: Sara Burrier
Rating: 4.5 of 5
I own another coloring book by Sara Burrier which is a pocket size book. With “World of Fairies”, the coloring book is larger though still on the smaller size for a standard coloring book at 8 x 10 inches.
The designs in this book are 20 magical fairies. The fairies range in age from a young girl to adults. The adults make up most of the designs. They are shown by themselves or with animals. Each of the designs has a background included though some are more extensive than others.
The designs are detailed and with some intricate and small areas to color. I think that some of the images might have been able to be scaled larger as there is a lot of white space all around and I wish that the artist had considered doing that.
However, that is a bit of a nit as the artwork is quite lovely. Ms. Burrier has a distinctive look to her characters and I am enjoying this book as much as I did the first.
Posted in Adult Color Books
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Fun and Easy format to learn to draw and shade basics
Drawing Made Easy: How to Draw from Observation and Imagination
By: Robbie Lee
Rating: 5 of 5
This book reminds me of a basic drawing college class that I took (and enjoyed tremendously) years ago. The attitude the author takes makes a huge difference in the way a non-artist can approach and finish projects.
The projects in this book are fairly basic though the subjects are covered in plenty of detail. I’ll include a photo of the table of contents below.
Posted in Needlework/Arts/Crafts
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31 Fun Grumpy Cat hobby designs – printed one side of the page
Grumpy Cat’s Least Favorite Hobbies Coloring Book
By: Jessica Mazurkiewicz
Rating: 5 of 5
I own the other two Grumpy Cat coloring books by Creative Haven and I must say that this new one is my favorite thus far. It may be because the artist is different on this book or perhaps the subject allows more creative license.
In this book, there are 31 design pages which feature Grumpy Cat frowning her way through a hobby. Some of the hobbies include coloring (of course!), origami, birding, quilting, beekeeping, knitting and more. You may just find your favorite hobbies lampooned just as I did mine.
Something I really appreciate about the difference in this book from the first is the lack of floating repeat pattern designs. Each one of the designs in this book is unique and is crafted to show the hobby and Grumpy Cat’s distinct lack of interest in it.
I’ve noticed that the paper quality seems to change quite frequently on the Creative Haven line. Because of that, if you buy one of these books, it may be slightly smooth or slightly rough depending on when and where it was printed. I’ve found that coloring medium, including pencils, work similarly with both slightly rough and slightly smooth paper from Creative Haven. In this case, my coloring book pages are slightly smooth.
Posted in Adult Color Books
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Another funny and twisted look at past advertising featuring women
Anne Taintor 2019 Wall Calendar
By: Anne Taintor
Rating: 5 of 5
I picked up my first Anne Taintor wall calendar last year and I laughed my way through the year. It was a very easy decision to get it again this year. I use this particular calendar in my laundry room as it is the spot where I most appreciate the humor of it.
The calendar is well made and standard size for a wall calendar. The paper is a good medium weight with a semi-gloss finish. It has a small hole for hanging. I think it is perfect for that special friend or even as a great office exchange or Secret Santa gift.
Posted in Needlework/Arts/Crafts
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A good mystery with some minor issues
Beaches in Paradise (A Tj Jensen Mystery)
Kathi Daley
Rating: 4 of 5
I’ve read and enjoyed this series from the beginning. With this new book, “Beaches in Paradise”, Kathi Daley has come up with an interesting and fun mystery (actually, two for the price of one, which kept me guessing pretty much until the end.)
While I enjoyed solving the mysteries along with TJ, I felt like her relationship to Gina (one of the victims) was stretched pretty far to justify her involvement in solving the crime. Also, something I have problems with in a mystery, is a sleuth who steps too far into an investigation to the point of removing clues one step ahead of the police arriving, and somehow justifying the hampering of a legal investigation. TJ does this more than once in this story. She’s actually called out on both of these issues but finds a way to deflect her friends and families concerns.
Posted in Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
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Lots of coloring fun with extra images that include additional detail – printed one side of the page
Anime Coloring Book
By: Jade Summer
Rating: 5 of 5
This is a fun coloring book with lots of interesting images. It might be more correctly referred to as manga as anime generally means that there is a cartoon animation associated with the book. Manga is a whimsical drawing or comic. As far as I can tell, there are no cartoons with this book but, to a degree, for the coloring world, this is probably pretty much a nit issue.
What is more interesting about this book is that rather than giving us a second copy of each image (something that the publisher Jade Summer does with their books), in this case, the second image actually has some finer details added to the face. Particularly to the nose and mouth of the character studies. It is amazing the difference it can add. My video will show all images but I have only included both photos of one image to show the difference. The rest of the images are of the more simple style.
The designs are really cute with lots of detail. They are not intricate or hard to color. For fans of this style (which I am), it is a really fun book. The boys and girls (younger and older teenagers rather than the children in the Chibi books by this imprint) look like they are having a lot of fun just being kids.
You can receive a digital download of the book as part of the purchase of the print copy (instructions in the book). While printing those copies is a great plus, I will be reviewing (and videoing and photo images) from the print copy.
Posted in Adult Color Books
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