A Giving Heart: A Coloring Book Celebrating Motherhood by Stephanie Corfee, 2017

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on Goodreads 

A beautiful artist-drawn coloring book with Scripture created to encourage, inspire, and delight Christian mothers.
This beautifully rendered adult coloring book will offer Christian moms a perfect way to enjoy moments of peaceful creativity as they color 46 gorgeously intricate pictures and meditate upon God's word. Filled with lovely botanical scenes, charming designs, and intricate patterns, the images and words of this book will remind mothers of their special place in the hearts of their loved ones and the wonderful purpose God created in them.

(96 pages)

Honestly, I think I–like everyone else–am finally falling out of love with the adult coloring book fad.

Before and after

Actually, if we're being completely honest here, I don't think I ever really was in love with adult coloring books. I just decided I should be because everyone else was, and I amassed a lot of pretty coloring books with the mindset of "I'm sure I'll get around to coloring these eventually." Which is ridiculous, because I have a permanent injury in my dominant wrist that makes repetitive writing/coloring literally painful for me.

I suppose that explains why I took so long to review A Giving Heart: I had to convince myself to color a page of it. And don't get me wrong, the designs are very pretty; there are lots of flowers and vases and women with pretty hair that exude an aura of peace whenever I look at them. But I just don't have the stamina (or the patience) to sit and color every single little design in a complex picture. I just don't. I think, if I'm going to keep coloring, I need to go back to kid coloring books because that's basically where my attention span is at right now.

You can see a little bit of
bleed-through

But I'm sorry, let me get into reviewing the coloring book for those of you who are actually interested in it. I do like a lot of the pictures (though quite a few of them–especially the quotes–are "churchy" enough that they wouldn't really do for a non-Christian audience), and the complexity is really not as bad as it's been in some of the other coloring books I've seen. My biggest issue with the book itself is probably its paper quality: I color with thin markers, and the back side of the pages I've colored are dark with the colors I used and have actually bled through in the spots where my markers rested. The paper has also gotten a little warped from the coloring, almost as though it's slightly water-stained. I really don't know why the publisher didn't invest in some thicker, pricier paper to ensure the book could actually be used for its intended purpose.

But then, you could always scan the pictures and color them on a fresh sheet of paper. This would keep the book pristine for multiple uses, too. If I were more serious about coloring, that's probably what I would do.

But I'm not, so I suppose I'll end this review now since I'm already out of stuff to say about the book. I hope my thoughts have been at least a little bit helpful. If you do decide to buy and color the book, be sure to show us pictures of the pages you complete!

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Heroines of the New Testament Coloring Book by Betsy Karounos, 2016

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on Goodreads 

Now coloring enthusiasts will enjoy an uplifting way to unplug, de-stress, and engage their creative passions with Betsy Karounos' coloring book featuring wonderful women from the New Testament. Based on their biblical stories, each unique section features symbolic, intricately-detailed pictures to color and reflect upon. Scenes depicting the miraculous journeys of Mary, the Samaritan woman at the well, Mary Magdalene, and many other women whose lives were transformed when they encountered Jesus, will inspire all. These artistic illustrations for grown-ups and talented teens enable hours of peaceful contemplation and coloring enjoyment with narrative scenes, geometric patterns, portraits, botanical designs, artist tips, and more!

(80 pages)

I'll be the first one to admit that I'm not the most artistic person on the planet. That hasn't stopped me, though, from jumping into the adult coloring book trend along with everyone else. Every so often the coloring bug strikes and I wind up coloring a few pictures in one of the many coloring books I've gotten over the past few years. So many of them are very complicated and ornate, though, and take forever.

I'm happy to say that there's a really great mix of pictures in this coloring book. My favorites are the simple ones, like the one below, which are pretty and elegant and don't take me forever to do. I don't have a lot of coloring stamina, sad to say.

There are also more medium-level pictures, like this next one. I especially enjoyed coloring it beause I had fun doing different shades for her hair:

Then there are more complicated ones, with room for experimenting with lots of different colors. I don't really like these, because I struggle to make a picture look good if I'm using more than about four colors on a page, but for those of you who want more of a challenge you might like something like this:

The main downside to this coloring book, though, is definitely paper quality. Heroines' paper isn't really the right quality for coloring: it feels like regular white paper, a bit thicker than most novel pages but still rather flimsy. I used markers for the first picture I tried, but quit when they started bleeding through:

The backside of the right-hand page of the
"Elizabeth" spread (note the red bleeding through
in the corners and the water-stain wrinkles)

I've used those markers to color in the past in several coloring books and never had a problem with them, but here they not only bled through but they actually made the page so wet that it got that crinkled water-stain look. Not so great. It works perfectly with colored pencils, though, so if that's your primary coloring utensil then the paper quality should be fine for you.

Anyway, despite the flimsier paper, I do really like the pictures in this coloring book. I'm keeping ahold of it for the next time the coloring bug gets ahold of me!

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this coloring book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.