Creative Haven Paisley Mandalas: Designs with a Splash of Color (Adult Coloring)
By: Shala Kerrigan
Rating: 5 of 5
“Paisley Mandalas – Designs With A Splash of Color” is a first for me – I’ve never had an adult coloring book which has pre-printed colors in it. Sometimes, the colors are merely the outlines of the design. Other times, color is filled in as part of the design. It is a new experience for me and one that seems to be okay so far. It certainly reduces the amount of time I spend on some of the designs. Of the two styles, only three are not the outline style.
The designs are by artist Shala Kerrigan and I noted that there is a disclaimer on the back of the book that says that the book was previously published as “Paisley Mandalas Coloring Book.” I don’t know if that issue was done in color or not, but if you have it on your book shelf, you might want to check before ordering this book.
The designs are quite pretty and are large and easy to color. I will not be needing my magnifying lamp for this book. I will need to give a lot more thought to the colors I choose as they will need to work with the pre-printed ones. I must admit that of the two styles, I prefer the outline one. It gives me the opportunity to either compliment or contrast my colors against the outline. The three more extensively colored designs leave a lot less for me to decide on.
There are 31 designs in this coloring book. As with all of the Creative Haven books that I have used in the past, these are on a bright white page that is a fairly heavy stock. The designs are printed on one side of the page only and the edges of each page have good perforations which make it easy to remove from the book.
All of my gel pens and markers bleed through on Creative Haven books and this book is no different. I use freezer paper in between the sheets (if I am keeping the page in the book) or under the page if I remove it from the book. I find that it works well for me. You can also put multiple sheets of heavy stock paper in between if you don’t have freezer paper handy (it is sold at most grocery stores and is fairly inexpensive and can be reused.)
I color adult color books as a way to relieve stress at the end of the day. I have read that mandalas are used as a focus point in meditation so between the relief I get in coloring and the focal meditation point, I am sure to have fun and relax when I am coloring in this book.