4.45

4

March 29, 2015

Beautiful book. Every single surface of this book is ...

Beautiful book. Every single surface of this book is color-able, even the inside of the dust jacket! The pages are thick enough to prohibit bleeding through. The only thing that would make this book better is if it were bound differently. Several images span both pages, so some of the art is lost in the crack of the spine, rendering those parts inaccessible for coloring. It would also be cool if this book came in hardback so that it could act as a durable coffee table book once you're finished.

TIP: If you are wondering what kind of medium you should use, I strongly suggest Staedtler triplus fineliner marker pens (photo attached). I got my 20 piece set at Target. The colors are vivid (see photo of the first page I've colored), the tip glides over the paper smoothly and easily, and the 0.3 mm point means you can color in the smallest of spaces (this book demands a tiny point!)

5

September 7, 2015

This book may very well ruin my life....

Hello, my name is Tifanie and I belong to colour's anonymous.
It all started 3 weeks ago when I walked into costco and saw this beautiful book sitting on a shelf. After flipping through the book while walking through the store, I decided to put it down and not purchase it, due to just having made a large purchase and couldn't afford something "frivolous." 3 days later and I couldn't stop thinking about this book, so I headed back to Costco, only to find they were completely out of stock. I rush home to order it online, and found it also out of stock. Thus began my search for this book. 2 weeks later, I finally found it, restocked back at costco (yes, I didn't buy it on amazon, it's STILL out of stock)

1 week having this book and the quality of life in my house has plummeted. The children have been feeding themselves on microwave kraft dinner and toast, while wearing their pj's all day and given free range of video games. The husband quietly weeps in the corner as he watches his wife fall deeper and deeper into her addiction. My friends shake their heads in annoyance at me as I yet again, bring up another conversation of my new book, or 172 pencil crayons that I use to colour them with (crayola and craz-art, I'm not fancy enough for prismacolors) My hands have reached early arthritis, but I push through the pain. My thumb pads are permanently indented now and feels really weird to use them on anything other than a pencil crayon. I'm sure as the weeks go by my obsession and addiction will slowly wittle its way back into a more normal stance, perhaps I'll colour only an hr a day, instead of 6.

Alas, I tease. I have thoroughly enjoyed this book, and totally understand why it is so difficult to find. It's beautiful. The only complaint I have is as you get into the book, the pictures that span two pages get harder and harder to colour in the middle. I've mostly used pencil crayons, but the markers I have used (stabilo 1mm) haven't leaked through, so it's nice to have the thick pages where many mediums can be used. It can get a bit monotonous at the beginning with aallll the leaves to colour, but if you use your imagination, you can make it fun and exciting with each leaf.
I can't wait to get her new book, and have already added it (and prismacolor pencils) to my birthday list xD

5

May 13, 2015

Great fun!

It never crossed my mind buying a coloring book. My two sons an I live in different countries. So when we were together down in Sao Paulo, Brazil, my oldest soon bought us each an Enchanted Forest coloring book. It was great fun spending evenings at the kitchen table with all of us just getting lost in the coloring books while catching up. Truly enjoyed!

NOTE: The coloring book itself is good. The designs are very whimsical. Lots of leaves to color! Works well with coloring pencils and gel pens, although I wish the pages were a bit thicker. When using gel pens don't let them rest to long on the paper, it may bleed to the next design.

5

September 22, 2015

So Beautiful!

The designs are beautiful and intricate! I'm buying all of her other books 😻

4

June 26, 2015

Lovely coloring book.

Make sure if you are using colored pencils to have a sheet of paper between pages to keep colored page from rubbing on next page. Only disappointment is artwork that is trapped between binding that makes the large double page spreads frustrating.

4

May 22, 2015

love but...

Love love love. Only negative is paper stock; should be a bit thicker as markers (ultra thin sharpies) bleed through, then you can't color opposite page :/

5

Apr 13, 2017

We finally just finished this adult coloring book. So far this is one of my favorites because it contains lots of trees, owls, dragons, animals, and castles. My absolute favorite is the fold out page dragons which are double in size. We used very sharp colored pencils and gel pens...

5*****

0

Jan 17, 2016

I've started my journey into adult coloring and so far have discovered that it's a relaxing process. The end result or even just completing small portions of the page makes me truly happy to see that I've participated in bringing a simple image to life.

This image took me about four days to color. I used fine, fine tip Sharpies and Crayola color pencils.


I messed up a little bit on one of the color patterns, but I really like the design the more I look at it.

Finished 1/26/16


Finished 3/27/16
It took I've started my journey into adult coloring and so far have discovered that it's a relaxing process. The end result or even just completing small portions of the page makes me truly happy to see that I've participated in bringing a simple image to life.

This image took me about four days to color. I used fine, fine tip Sharpies and Crayola color pencils.


I messed up a little bit on one of the color patterns, but I really like the design the more I look at it.

Finished 1/26/16


Finished 3/27/16
It took me a while to do this one because I was so busy, but I'm definitely going to take time when I feel stressed to do this while I watch a movie or TV.


Finished 4/8/16
This is probably one of my favorite pieces so far and I love the concept of just using pinks and blue tones as the basis for the piece.


I'm so proud of this because it took me forever to do!


Finished 5/15/16
I just love how my owl looks.


Finished 7/6/16
This was a lot of fun to color after taking a long break.


Finished 7/24/16
This was just so much fun and the color schemes make my eyes happy.:D


Finished 9/29/16
This is my first project I've done since starting college and it was such a nice de-stresser.


Finished 10/20/16
"Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light." -Albus Dumbledore
I felt like this picture was too plain so I added a Harry Potter quote.


Finished 10/20/16


Finished 12/21/16
I LOVE how this one turned out.


Finished 6/4/2017


Finished: 12/19/2017
I love this one so much. ...more

0

Apr 06, 2016

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Joining in the fun with The Crazy Cunning Coloring Cult!

*6/1/16*



*5/6/16*
The Cult's Ice Cream color palette challenge completed.
Poor Mr. Squirrels never saw it coming...


*5/3/16*
The Cult's Black & White Challenge (Grey allowed)


*4/13/16*
Colors of the rainbow palette


*4/12/16*
The Enchanted Deer


*4/10/16*
Shades of Blue Challenge by The CCC Cult.

5

June 26, 2015

Best coloring book...ever!

Okay, so most people would say, "A coloring book...for adults?!" Uh, yeah! It is truly a beautiful coloring book full of amazing images. I bought it as a stress reliever for my free time. I'm a stay at home, work from home mom to a 5 year old ball of energy, so when I sit down with this coloring book for an hour, it is the best hour of my day! Don't knock it till you try it. I promise, you won't be disappointed. I use Prismacolor Premier coloring pencils and Gelly Roll pens to color in this book. I love that the pages can handle markers, too. They're thick and of the best quality paper you can find in a coloring book. The price you pay for this coloring book is about that of a child's coloring book, so it is more than worth it! Give it a try if you enjoy art and coloring.

0

Dec 19, 2015

So I joined the The Crazy Cunning Coloring Cult . It's nice having colouring partners. And now I think I'm sounding like a little kid.

Apr, 06
This time, The Cult came up with a challenge: Shades of Blue. I went with this beautiful dragonfly. I wish I could take a better picture, but I'm not sure how. So if any of you has any suggestions, please, please help.



Mar, 05
The second project.



Feb, 20
My first colouring! The bunnies are outlined in silver glitter gel pen, so one of them turned out So I joined the ☣ The Crazy Cunning Coloring Cult ☣ . It's nice having colouring partners. And now I think I'm sounding like a little kid.

Apr, 06
This time, The Cult came up with a challenge: Shades of Blue. I went with this beautiful dragonfly. I wish I could take a better picture, but I'm not sure how. So if any of you has any suggestions, please, please help.



Mar, 05
The second project.



Feb, 20
My first colouring! The bunnies are outlined in silver glitter gel pen, so one of them turned out shining in the picture.



Other CCC Cult members' projects:
*Sarah's Rêves
*Sandra's Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest
*Alexa's Nature
*Cathy's Inspiration Happy Mandala
*karen's Cats in Hats
*Michael's Lost Ocean
*Nafeeza's Enchanted Forest

=====================================

17.02.2016: It's here! *excited*


=====================================

06.02.2016: I've just ordered this book. I'm so excited I can't wait to get it! ...more

4

August 11, 2015

The only downside is the double sided pages.

Gorgeous book. Lots of beautiful pages to color. The only downside is that it is printed double sided, so if you prefer to color with markers (as I do) there is bleed through. I'm bummed that I have to pick and choose which pages I want to color and which pages I will sacrifice to bleed through. I also wish the pages were perforated so that I could easily remove them and color and a flatter surface.

5

Dec 25, 2015

Strange to rate a colouring book but the art in this is exquisite, a mix of highly detailed to fairly simple with plenty of room for expression while colouring or adding details.

Most of these adult-colouring-books bemuse me, many appear to me to be overpriced doodles that most people could manage. The level of detail here makes these different, the images are pleasing and enchant, several I'd be happy to have on a wall. There's an added hunt through the pages giving the book a sort of story.

Strange to rate a colouring book but the art in this is exquisite, a mix of highly detailed to fairly simple with plenty of room for expression while colouring or adding details.

Most of these adult-colouring-books bemuse me, many appear to me to be overpriced doodles that most people could manage. The level of detail here makes these different, the images are pleasing and enchant, several I'd be happy to have on a wall. There's an added hunt through the pages giving the book a sort of story.

It'll take me forever to complete but that's part of the point, something you can loose yourself to with some music or audio playing. No deadline in sight. It appeals to my love of creativity without being too taxing. When your focus is narrowed to which colour will look prettiest and why there's only so many greens available among your chosen pencils then the things that bother you can sometimes be left outside the printed lines.

Pages are hardy and I'm finding felt-tips work best, bringing vibrant colour while not bleeding into the next page. Coloured pencils add a different layer but perhaps mine are too cheap as it can be hard work getting the colours to take and they don't offer the blending I'd like.

Some pics under spoiler cut to save space:
(view spoiler)[
Even the colour can be coloured!


Then there's mandalas:


Enchanted Beasties:


Simple swirls:


And plenty scenes and critters I'm yet to attempt ;) (hide spoiler)]
I'm no artist, but it leaves me feeling accomplished. ...more

4

November 15, 2016

LOVE her books, be careful buying a good copy!

I am a HUGE fan of Johanna's coloring books - I truly feel like they are the best out there in terms of the quality of drawings, ease (and sometimes not haha) of coloring, and overall enjoyment. I have all of her books (The Lost Ocean is my favorite since I am a HUGE fan of all things nautical) and I love how she mixes in hidden objects and fun, quirky things within the pages.

So...why not 5 stars? I wanted to leave a review here as a warning to be CAREFUL when ordering this book! I was ordering one for my friend since I already have this exact one. And when I got it in today, the quality and feel of the one I received was COMPLETELY different than what I have.

First off, the slip cover was slick, shiny, and had no texture to it at all. It's almost a shiny white, not the typical ivory and cardboard feel that all of her other books have. I have honestly never felt any of her slip covers feel like this. (Note the glare in the photo I took...no flash either) Secondly, the pages are noticeably thinner. You can even see the lines of the drawing on the other side through the page! The pages in the book I already have feels like thick card stock, but this new one feels much thinner, not much heavier than good printing paper.

The version I have says "Reprinted 2015 (seven times)" with an ISBN # of 13:978 1 78067 488 9 and says it was printed in The Netherlands. The one I received has "Reprinted 2015 (five times), ISBN # 978 1 78067 487 2 and was printed in Italy. I don't know if just this reprinting was different (which is weird since the one I have is newer), but it is remarkably different than what I already have. I even went into a couple stores to see if that's how they were all being printed now, but everything I saw felt like the version I already have.

So, in closing...I LOVE her books - get them all and have fun coloring! But I'd be very careful about ordering when you can't feel and see exactly what you are getting.

5

November 9, 2015

Addicting and relaxing!

I absolutely love this book! I love the concept of having a nice relaxing evening activity and a creative outlet that requires no clean up or an extensive amount of work and supplies. It's actually a lot of fun picking out colors and deciding whether to go realistic or enchanted, this book definitely allows for creative freedom! And while there are a few boring pages (like the page of acorns and a chest full of acorns :-/) most of the pages are really fun and interesting, my boyfriend will even sit down and color with me :) I have just been using the crayons pip squeak markers with it, they're cheap and have a lot of really bright fun colors, including a lot of greens, which you need! I would definitely recommend this to anyone who's brave enough to try something new even if it seems silly :)

5

Dec 18, 2015

I was lucky enough to snag myself a copy of Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Colouring Book this summer and enjoyed it so much that I had to buy the first book in the series. If you have not yet jumped on the adult coloring book bandwagon, this is the series to buy. Each page is so beautifully detailed, guaranteed to give you hours and hours of coloring pleasure. As a bonus, I purchased my copy at my local Costco store and they had Ms. Basford's other books as well.

The illustrations are I was lucky enough to snag myself a copy of Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Colouring Book this summer and enjoyed it so much that I had to buy the first book in the series. If you have not yet jumped on the adult coloring book bandwagon, this is the series to buy. Each page is so beautifully detailed, guaranteed to give you hours and hours of coloring pleasure. As a bonus, I purchased my copy at my local Costco store and they had Ms. Basford's other books as well.

The illustrations are beautiful and a little quirky, so it doesn't really matter if you color something in whatever colors you have on hand. Personally, I'd recommend in a few different sets of pencil crayons as they do not bleed through the pages. You may need to place a piece of parchment paper in between pages as you color so that the color doesn't transfer through (or maybe I just used cheap pencil crayons).

Not only is this a coloring book, but it is also an I-Spy book too. There are a lot of treasures to find on each page. I'd recommend these books to anyone who is artistically inclined - or you could just leave the book out during Christmas vacation for you and your guests to color in. While these books are being marketed to adults, I do know some young girls (ages 12 and 14) who loved the Secret Garden.

Now my only stress is finding that right shade of green. There's never enough. ...more

4

May 08, 2016

\I've been lured by O Nefarious One's colorings and joined The Crazy Cunning Coloring Cult

So many amazing books. So many expensive awesome coloring supplies.

This will be a long term "reading" 'cuz it's got 50 pages and I wanna color them properly without rushing, so my review will get bumped now & then with my challenge updates.

For now it's just ogling the pretty drawings and doodling at the beginning (where I'll mess around to see how it'll look on the paper) with my totally normal \I've been lured by O Nefarious One's colorings and joined The Crazy Cunning Coloring Cult

So many amazing books. So many expensive awesome coloring supplies.

This will be a long term "reading" 'cuz it's got 50 pages and I wanna color them properly without rushing, so my review will get bumped now & then with my challenge updates.

For now it's just ogling the pretty drawings and doodling at the beginning (where I'll mess around to see how it'll look on the paper) with my totally normal pencils while I research and find just which ones would be best suited for me.


*a few minutes later* scratch that! While I'm getting the better suited pencils I'm gonna do my 1st challenge: Black and white only, with grey allowed.

Pencils are pencils, just a bit different and I'm too impatient ;p

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Update 15.05.2016: Black & White challenge (with grey allowed) done!

The Deer aka Glow in the Dark Bambi
Turned out exactly as I had imagined




The one page I have done & the little experiments I did at the beginning tell me that this edition has quite thin paper so no watercolors or markers and such, it'll bleed through.
The paper itself is not the brightest shade of white...not yet sure if that's good or bad but I'd guess a lighter white would allow to better see the brightness of colors? Something along those lines. My friend google says it's most likely the white known as "cream white".

The drawings themselves are real nice. Woodsy nature feel. It is the Enchanted Forest after all ;p
And so delicate! For some details only the sharpest pencil will do.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Update 08.07.2016: One Single Colour Pencil challenge done! Was wondering which drawing to choose & what color would be best suited & decided on feathers with blue 'cuz they remind me of sky and sky is blue (most of the time) :)




Now the pencil is shorter by half :D
And had to sharpen it sooo much for the feathers had many small details

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Update 07.11.2016: Colour palette challenge #1
This one had cream-pink-brown colour scheme.



While originally I didn't intend to use the waterbrush for fear of paper being too thin, but after I was done colouring with my Faber Castell Art Grip Aquarelle pencils and several trials & checkings I decided to give it a go and it turned out great. It made the fur look so much better.

Thou I had to pay veeery close attention so as not to colour outside the lines (and even then it managed to escape twice or thrice) the end result was satisfying. I figured out just how much water is too much so now I can use water on Enchanted Forest too

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Update 05.12.2016: Colours of the seasons - April 2016 AKA Early Spring
I need to find a better lamp to use while photographing when there's no natural light, this one gave yellowish hue



As for this challenge, at the time it was Spring season, so Early Spring it is!

Turned out pretty good, if I say so myself, got all the parts I wanted :D
Wasn't sure 'cuz for the life of me couldn't figure out how to get the snow/winter remains part,after all, the paper is white & snow is white, but little spider saved me ^^

The last remnants of snow & cold (thus the white spiderweb), some of it melted (the blue undersides), fresh brown earth, the green grass & finally the first flowers which are all in colors of blue, white, yellow & purple :)


I've got only one complaint about the book (now that it's been proven to be usable for watercolors too) - the spread outs. For pieces like this where it's on both pages, the middle ruins it a tad bit, would've been nicer if it had a folded in spread out like for Nordic Wilderness.

This one will be my last colouring of EF for a while. But after I've had a break/inspiration I'll be back


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Update 27.12.2016: Ho Ho Ho aka Christmas challenge 2016

Yes yes, know I said I'd be done with it for a while and that while hasn't passed yet, but it really had nice Christmas pieces for me to choose from, so EF it is for this one.



And here you can better see the shine from gel pens:


It's really pretty if I do say so myself :D

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Update: November 2018

So it's been a while some time like few months since I actually completed this one back in May, but only now got around to actually showing it off to everybody on the net XD

For this challenge in TCCCC title is: "Enchanted Forest Freestyle Thingie"
The idea (my idea) was to see how members of our cult would color the same piece. Use whatever you want, just colour the piece. This is my version :D

Behold, my Mysterious Tree House of Enchanted Forest:



~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Update: May 2019
...I had actually done this one back in November of 2018, but forgot to update the review...wups XD

Pick it for Me challenge #1
(Someone else picks the the book & page you gotta colour ;) )

The Circle Pond


This one was done with aquarelle pencils since it's water and all.



And had this one done back in January 2019 for the Colouring Challenge - December 2018 ~
"Xmas and red, greens and brown—there is our colour palette!"

Did start it in December '18, but it took it's time.



Look here for the bigger pic because GR still isn't all that friendly for photo resolutions

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ ...more

5

Jul 10, 2017

This is the first ever adult coloring book I had gotten from coloring book artist Johanna Basford. I found her book Enchanted Forest at World Market and bought it for myself as a Christmas gift last year. The illustrations in this are awesome! For fans of flowers, animals, and more, I reccomend this book. I am still coloring this one and am still enjoying it too. You can use your markers, color pencils, gel pens, and crayons on it. Since it is two-sided, I reccomend placing a piece of cardboard This is the first ever adult coloring book I had gotten from coloring book artist Johanna Basford. I found her book Enchanted Forest at World Market and bought it for myself as a Christmas gift last year. The illustrations in this are awesome! For fans of flowers, animals, and more, I reccomend this book. I am still coloring this one and am still enjoying it too. You can use your markers, color pencils, gel pens, and crayons on it. Since it is two-sided, I reccomend placing a piece of cardboard or cardstock between the pages so if you use sharpies or markers that bleed through, they will not bleed through to the other page. My favorite pages in this one so far is the Owl, and the treehouses with the cat inside of it but there are many other cool ones too. Look for this book at World Market, Wal-mart, Barnes & Noble, Amazon and wherever books are sold. ...more

4

Oct 31, 2015

4.5 breathtakingly beautiful stars!

Since the colouring book phenomenon began to sweep through our bookstores like wildfire, I remained skeptical of this new fad. After all, aren't colouring books for children? There was no denying the fact that many pictures were intricately drawn and very beautiful but I didn't understand why someone would want to spend ours labouring over someone else's drawings.

That was until things started getting a little tricky for me at home. I was under a great deal of 4.5 breathtakingly beautiful stars!

Since the colouring book phenomenon began to sweep through our bookstores like wildfire, I remained skeptical of this new fad. After all, aren't colouring books for children? There was no denying the fact that many pictures were intricately drawn and very beautiful but I didn't understand why someone would want to spend ours labouring over someone else's drawings.

That was until things started getting a little tricky for me at home. I was under a great deal of pressure and had been for months. I felt uneasy and needed something to focus my mind on the present and stop worrying about the future. So I turned to colouring books.



Johanna Basford jumped out at me immediately. I liked her creative style and the pictures tell a story as you progress through the thick, creamy pages. All of her artwork is hand drawn and I am astounded at the level of detail involved. Upon buying it, I realised I needed a decent set of colouring pencils so I ordered some Staedtler Ergosoft pencils online. I have not even reached a quarter of the way through this book. It will take many hours to complete but I understand now when sometimes it's just good to focus on now and blot out the things occuring around you. I highly recommend this artist to anyone else who is considering colouring in. ...more

1

January 8, 2017

Book fell apart

The premise of the book is great and the pictures are beautiful. I bought this as a Christmas gift for my adult daughter to pass the time on cold, snowy wintery days when you don't want to go outside. After coloring 2 pictures, the entire book fell apart; apparently the glue somehow disintegrated or ?? It would have garnered 4 or 5 stars otherwise. I'm out the money either way, but was disappointed in the integrity of the product.

5

Aug 31, 2015

Enchanted Forest is a wonderful book filled with magical intricate designs to keep any lover of colouring in happy for many hours. As you travel through the forest you can look for hidden objects and discover the magical creatures that await you as you reach your destination in the forest.

I love Johanna's books and recommend them to everyone who loves to colour in.

5

Mar 01, 2016

The first adult colouring book I bought. I love it. (And there are DRAGONS.)

5

Apr 12, 2016

At first I felt like I'm cheating my 2016 Reading Challenge by adding these books, and then I realized, what, are the Goodreads Police going to come after me? It's not my fault that 80% of fanfiction is better than most published stuff nowadays and I hate having to decrease my number of pledged books because I DO READ. I READ ALL THE GODDAMN TIME. I probably read like 100k words a day. It's just 95% fanfiction. And I no longer think of books as in pages, you know what I mean? Like, what the fuck At first I felt like I'm cheating my 2016 Reading Challenge by adding these books, and then I realized, what, are the Goodreads Police going to come after me? It's not my fault that 80% of fanfiction is better than most published stuff nowadays and I hate having to decrease my number of pledged books because I DO READ. I READ ALL THE GODDAMN TIME. I probably read like 100k words a day. It's just 95% fanfiction. And I no longer think of books as in pages, you know what I mean? Like, what the fuck does 500 pages mean? GIVE ME A WORD COUNT.

Anyway this "book" is gorgeous and I love it. ...more

3

Jul 01, 2016

I am hoping this colouring book will be a balm to my highly stressful life.
At least a small part.

1

January 31, 2017

Paper is odd color!

The paper is yellow. Like some pages are some pages aren't? What the heck!