Monthly Archives: September 2018

This is a really cute book with manga style characters with cute stuffed animal pets. The designs appealed to me for coloring along with my grandkids though some are a little too detailed for them at their current age. Not a problem because, along with the book, you can receive .pdf downloads (with directions included in the book once you purchase it.) While printing those copies is a great plus, I will be reviewing (and videoing and photo images) from the print copy.

Lots of cute designs with both boys and girls featured, which is unusual because the focus in most coloring books I have come across are generally of girls.

The designs are a little less detailed than most by Jade Summer but, again, that works great for me. It also makes it easier for those who have slight vision or motor skill issues or those who simply like quick and easy to color projects.

I want to note that the Amazon owned company, CreateSpace is now being folded into KDF (Kindle Direct Publishing.) These independent artist books will move along into the new group shortly if they have not already done so by now. According to what I’ve read, the same warehouses and printing presses will be used. No mention is made of paper but one assumes that it will be the same as well.

I don’t know if the copy I received was printed by CreateSpace or by KDP, but I can say that it is the same paper I am used to receiving (for years now) from CreateSpace. That is: thin, white, slightly rough, and non-perforated. I will continue to check books as I receive them and will note, in new reviews, if the quality changes.

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This is an older Creative Haven Coloring book. It is also a reprint of an even older Dover Coloring book. The advantage to the newer Creative Haven book is that the designs are printed on only one side of the page.

I want to warn buyers to beware if they purchase this book on Amazon. For some reason, as of the date of this review, Amazon has merged at least two coloring books by Ming-Ju Sun together. I know this because my review of Art Deco fashions shows up on this product page. Make sure you see the book cover associated with this book when you put a copy in your cart.

I really enjoy Ming-Ju Sun’s costume books but none as much as those based on the Japanese culture. The sweep of the kimonos are elegant and the look of the ladies is lovely. There are designs with a single individual and ones with multiple ones as well. A really beautiful look at the art of Japanese fashions.

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 rough.

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This is the third in a series of books about Dreamlings by Edwina McNamee. Just as with the first book and second books, the creatures that inhabit Dreamlings 2 are cute little animals. The focus is time is on the creatures themselves and in a slightly simpler style than in the previous books.

I really appreciate the change as it can give an opportunity to those with a little bit of vision or fine motor skill challenge to have the fun of coloring in these books. They are also appropriate for a slightly younger age group to color due to the easier to color style. While the format is a bit easier to color, the designs still have a nice amount of detail to them.

The designs are mostly printed twice – once with black lines on white paper and the second time as white designs printed on black paper. The change up in the background color makes coloring the second copy a new experience.

In addition to the two copies of designs, the purchase of this coloring book also includes a free download .pdf. The instructions for downloading are in the book.

I want to note that the Amazon owned company, CreateSpace is now being folded into KDF (Kindle Direct Publishing.) These independent artist books will move along into the new group shortly if they have not already done so by now. According to what I’ve read, the same warehouses and printing presses will be used. No mention is made of paper but one assumes that it will be the same as well.

I don’t know if the copy I received was printed by CreateSpace or by KDP, but I can say that it is the same paper I am used to receiving (for years now) from CreateSpace. That is: thin, white, slightly rough, and non-perforated. I will continue to check books as I receive them and will note, in new reviews, if the quality changes.

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This is a fun coloring book based on The Archie’s comic book series along with a number of spin-offs from over the years. When I was a little girl, I enjoyed reading about the adventures of Archie, Betty, Veronica and, of course, Jughead. They all have their spots in the book along with Josie and the Pussycats, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Cheryl Blossom and the Little Archie characters.

The designs look straight from the comic book series and are well done for coloring. There is a use of pre-colored black (for Veronica’s hair for instance) that may trouble some but were fine for me.

The coloring book is printed on both sides and some of the designs merge into the binding. The pages are perforated and some of the design elements will get lost if you remove a page from the book. The inside of the front and back covers are printed with line drawings but have a slightly glossy finish which can interfere with coloring.

The designs are all detailed and a few, especially those with smaller comic strip scenes, contain smaller and more intricate areas to color.

The publishers of this book have a Christmas Archie book coming out shortly which I think may be fun as well. I’ll definitely be looking for it as well.

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Joseph Catimbang is a new artist for me. Based on the cover, I was somehow expecting a doodle animal type of design. That was wrong. The designs are of animals bedecked, surrounded and literally part of the plants and flowers that surround them. I would never have expected an animal in flowers to still have a menacing type quality, but it is so with these designs at times. It is different and I like it!

There are 52 designs in the book which are printed on one side of the page. That is a great amount of designs and as it is on one side, you can use whatever medium you like that might bleed through (provided you use a page under to get the bleeding from ruining the pages below. It is also easy to remove a page as they are all perforated. I appreciate the thought that went into the making of this coloring book.

Each of the designs has many hidden objects. While I could find most of them without aid, there is a key at the back of the book which lists what are included in each design and where to find them in the next.

It’s a fun book to have and will be fun to color. It is detailed and at times, it is intricate to color. I’ll be looking forward to this artist’s new book next year.

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I own several coloring books by Juliana Emerson and several more by other artists who publish under the imprint Happy Coloring.

I have always appreciated Ms. Emerson’s work and regard even more highly after buying this book. My other books are animals and holidays while this one focuses on fantasy. There are lovely female figures and fantasy animals as well as realistic animals depicted in full scenes.

The designs are detailed and, because of the smaller format (8.5 x 8.5 inches), are a little more intricate than usual.

Some of the lines around the faces and necks of the figures are a little more stark than I usually appreciated but I can tone those down as I color in the book. Apart from that nit, I really like this book.

I want to note that the Amazon owned company, CreateSpace is now being folded into KDF (Kindle Direct Publishing.) These independent artist books will move along into the new group shortly if they have not already done so by now. According to what I’ve read, the same warehouses and printing presses will be used. No mention is made of paper but one assumes that it will be the same as well.

I don’t know if the copy I received was printed by CreateSpace or by KDP, but I can say that it is the same paper I am used to receiving (for years now) from CreateSpace. That is: thin, white, slightly rough, and non-perforated. I will continue to check books as I receive them and will note, in new reviews, if the quality changes.

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