61 Elegant Designs inspired by and with quotes from Jane Austen printed one side of the page

She Said It Best: Jane Austen: Wit & Wisdom to Color & Display

By: Kimma Parish

Rating: 5 of 5

This is one of a new series of She Said It Best coloring books from by Kimma Parish. In this coloring book, the wit and wisdom of Jane Austen is explored. While most of the quotes are from her books, there are also a few which are derived from her personal correspondence.

While, in many cases, the words are from a character, you can see the wonderful humor and insights of the author that make the works of Ms. Austen as fresh and fun today as they were when she first wrote them. I am a real fan of her books, having first read them when I was in grammar school. I re-read them often and each time I find something new and delightful.
While some of the designs are directly related to the applicable quote, not all are that specific. They are; however, appropriate for the period in which Ms. Austen wrote (such as clothing design, furniture, etc.)
The format of the book is smaller at approximately 8.5 x 6.25 inches. It makes it easier to carry if you wish to work with it on-the-go. As the book is sized down, it does make for some small and intricate areas to color. On the whole, I would not categorized the book as intricate; however, it does have a nice amount of detail on most of the designs.
This is what I found in coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper
61 Designs based on the quotes by Jane Austen.
Designs are printed on one side of the page
Paper is white, medium/heavy weight, slightly rough and is perforated.
Glue Binding. You can easily remove pages at the perforations if you wish.
Book fairly easy to lay flat in the open position by creasing/breaking the spine.
The designs do not merge past the perforations.
Alcohol based markers bleed through this paper.
India ink pens can leave slight shadows of color on the back of the page.
Water based markers and gel pens do not bleed through the paper.
Coloring pencils worked well. Both oil and wax based pencils worked well for providing good pigment. Though the paper is slightly smooth, I was able to layer the same color for deeper tones, layer multiple colors and to blend easily using a pencil style blending stick.
If you use a medium that bleeds through the paper, I suggest either removing the pages from the book before coloring or using a blotter page under your working page. I use card stock but heavy weight paper works well, too. This will keep ink from seeping through and marring the pages below.