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The Joy of Coloring-Rekindling Your Love Affair

I was 20 years old when my love affair with coloring was re-ignited. Just about to fly home on a 14 hour flight from New Zealand, I was in the airport book store looking for a magazine to pass some hours, when my eye was caught by an intriguing looking coloring book. I thought to myself: ’14 hour flight….why not try coloring?’

Armed with a box of pencil crayons and not really expecting my interest to last long, I fastened my seat belt as the plane began its take-off. Thinking full well that the coloring would only last a few minutes before I was lured into the mega-selection of in-flight movies, I was curiously surprised when 30 minutes passed…then an hour …and then 2 hours, and I had not even checked out the movie selection! I had finished my first page in my brand new coloring book and still had 12 hours of flying time left. The rest of the flight passed quickly and gloriously. My love for coloring has only deepened, and here are the reasons why:

The art of coloring is a simple joy. All you need is a coloring book and your choice of tools. From here, you can immerse yourself fully into the craft without agonizing about what to make, how to read the pattern, and how will it turn out?

Coloring is a a form of meditation. There is something truly hypnotizing that happens with you sit down with a fresh box of pencil crayons, choose the color that jumps out at you, and begin your journey into the page. Time loses its grip on the mind, and enables the colorer to become present in the moment, in the line, and in the color gliding onto the paper.

Coloring is a great way to bond. Ask your friends over for some wine, cheese, and coloring. Perhaps at first they might look at you with skeptical eyes and doubt; but hand over a fresh sheet of paper, some vibrant or glitter colored pens, and in just minutes you will not be able to pry those colors out of their fingers. Soon you will be visiting easily, looking over at each others masterpieces from time to time to admire their selection of colors. You will begin to feel like you have time-traveled back into grade 2, and you do not really want to leave.

Coloring is freeing and has no expectations. The beautiful thing about this craft is that there is no pressure to finish, to use a certain color, or even to stay in the lines!!! There is absolute freedom involved in those precious hours where you just get to color.

So to get started, the joy of coloring can be greatly enhanced with the following ingredients:

1. A coloring book with an inspiring pattern
2. Your favorite tools (pencil crayons, glitter pens or crayons work well and feel free to get creative!)
3. A couple of your best friends or family
4. A bottle of red wine or a nice pot of tea
5. Some snacks for the table
6. Some inspiring background music

Now, grab your crayons and books and start coloring! You won’t be disappointed.

About the Author

After rekindling her love of coloring, the author, Heidi Rasmussen, begged her mom — who is a stained glass artist — to make up some coloring books for her to print out at her own convenience. These coloring books, which include intricate and detailed patterns based on yoga, flowers, abstracts, and more, can be found at:

http://www.stainedglassartdesigns.com

Heidi Rasmussen, the author of this article, is a part of the team at iDevSpot, a website software (PHP script) development company which offers website business solutions for ecommerce, advertising, web hosting, classified listings systems, customer support, digital product sales, and more.

Visit their website (http://www.idevspot.com) and browse their product line of website business software!

However, you may better enjoy a visit to these suggested websites that I am adding in a May 8, 2012, post edit:

• Drawing Club: A Collaborative Coloring Book. — Design — Walker …

A collaborative coloring book: “This book invites you to collaborate with 15 Minnesota artists—a project conceived in the spirit of Drawing Club at Walker Open Field, where artists and the public add to a pool of collectively …

Publish Date: 05/08/2012 14:40

http://blogs.walkerart.org/design/2012/05/08/drawing-club-a-collaborative-coloring-book/

• Coloring book #1 – Guardian of Castle Grayskull – The He-Man and …

During the eighties there were many Masters of the Universe coloring books, all of which featured a variety of artwork, with varying degrees of quality. Some artists put in a great level of detail, other artists simply copied model …

Publish Date: 05/08/2012 2:00

http://bustatoons.blogspot.com/2012/05/coloring-book-1-guardian-of-castle.html

• Free nanotechnology coloring book as teaching material

Posted: May 2nd, 2012. Free nanotechnology coloring book as teaching material. (Nanowerk News) NanoSonic developed a free nanotechnology coloring book to provide teachers with a resource for helping young students better understand …

Publish Date: 05/02/2012 9:32

http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=25105.php

• Fashion Coloring Book!! | The Browsing Brunette

This entry was posted in Brunette Babble, Fashion Browsed and tagged brunette babble, fashion browsed, fashion coloring book, indianapolis museum of art, vlog by thebrowsingbrunette. Bookmark the permalink.

Publish Date: 05/07/2012 20:14

http://thebrowsingbrunette.com/fashion-coloring-book/

• Yucca Flats, N.M.: Wenchkin’s Coloring Pages – Dia de los Wild Things

Maurice Sendak – RIP. Thank you for Where the wild things are. A classic timeless tale that was read to me by my mother and I read it to my nephew. There was a time in my life where I would go to book signings all the time.

Publish Date: 05/08/2012 9:51

http://yuccaflatsnm.blogspot.com/2012/05/wenchkins-coloring-pages-dia-de-los.html

• Yucca Flats, N.M.: Wenchkin’s Coloring Pages – Dia de los Wild …

Wenchkin’s Coloring Pages – Dia de los Wild Things 2. If you missed the first page it is here… click the pic to enlarge, right click save as to print and color. Posted by Carolyn Curtis at 2:07 PM · Email ThisBlogThis!Share to …

Publish Date: 05/08/2012 13:07

http://yuccaflatsnm.blogspot.com/2012/05/wenchkins-coloring-pages-dia-de-los_08.html

• Coloring Pages 2 « Doodle Dad

Coloring Pages 2. 09 Wednesday May 2012. Posted by kawashimadesigns in all, my art. ≈ Leave a Comment. Tags. animal, art, cartoon, child, children, coloring, coloring page, comic, cute, drawing, kids, page, sketch …

Publish Date: 05/08/2012 15:00

http://doodledad.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/coloring-pages-2/

• JFK Coloring Book | Flickr – Photo Sharing!

<a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaghancourtney/7133995741/” title=”JFK Coloring Book by Meaghan Courtney, on Flickr”><img src=”http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8149/7133995741_1dbdcd83cc.jpg” width=”423″ …

Publish Date: 05/01/2012 18:32

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaghancourtney/7133995741/

• Mitt Romney Book: Republican Candidate 2012 | Romney 2012

President 2012: Mitt Romney Coloring Book Page from Vote 2012 Presidential Election www.vote2012coloringbook.com Coloring Mitt Romney from Vote 2012 Presidential Election Coloring Book by J. Bruce Jones Watch…

Publish Date: 05/08/2012 4:10

http://romney2012.tv/obama/mitt-romney-book-republican-candidate-2012/

Entertaining, educational home or classroom aid introduces youngsters to 30 countries of the world. Maps with names of major cities in Mexico, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, India, Spain, France, Nigeria, and 23 other nations also include ready-to-color pictures of each country’s national flag, landmarks, and natural resources.

• JFK Coloring Book illustration | Flickr – Photo Sharing!

JFK Coloring Book illustration. … [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaghancourtney/7133996239/]JFK Coloring Book illustration[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/meaghancourtney/]Meaghan Courtney[/url], on Flickr …

Publish Date: 05/01/2012 18:32

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaghancourtney/7133996239/

• JFK Coloring Book illustration | Flickr – Photo Sharing!

JFK Coloring Book illustration. … [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaghancourtney/6987911912/]JFK Coloring Book illustration[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/meaghancourtney/]Meaghan Courtney[/url], on Flickr …

Publish Date: 05/01/2012 18:32

http://www.flickr.com/photos/meaghancourtney/6987911912/

• concrete5 :: Add-on Approved: Coloring Book

Add-on Approved: Coloring Book. Posted by MattWaters on May 2, 2012. This add-on allows theme designers to easily provide various color schemes to their users without php coding. View this item in the marketplace. Next » · « Previous …

Publish Date: 05/02/2012 15:51

http://www.concrete5.org/about/blog/add-on-releases/add-on-approved-coloring-book/

Learn how Christmas is celebrated around the world by coloring 30 pictures of young carolers in Great Britain, Mexican children playing under a piñata, a Swedish girl wearing a traditional crown of candles, Greek children parading with drums and triangles, an Australian family picnicking on a beach, and more.

• Faun Black White Line Art Coloring Sheet Colouring Page bandicoot …

colouringbook.org >> Faun Black White Line Art Coloring Sheet Colouring Page bandicoot Coloring Book Colouring Sheer Coloring Book Colouring Page colouringbook.org SVG. Converting Public Domain SVG (Scalable …

Publish Date: 05/08/2012 7:37

http://colouringbook.org/art/svg/coloring-book/faun-black-white-line-art-coloring-sheet-colouring-page-bandicoot-coloring-book-colouring-sheer-coloring-book-colouring-page-colouringbook-org-svg/

Developed by internationally renowned neurosurgeons, this unique book is designed for students of psychology and the biological sciences, and medical, dental, and nursing students.

• Coloring Pages of Cinderella’s Mice | Coloring Pages Sheets

They used to cheer her up whenever she felt low or depressed. They also tried to save her from her step mother in every possible way. Print this Coloring Pages of Cinderella’s Mice, coloring pages of animals as friends, and color them.

Publish Date: 05/08/2012 10:52

http://www.coloringpagessheets.com/coloring-pages-of-cinderellas-mice/

Free Games For Girls – Free Online Coloring Book Page 2

Uploaded by MyDnMe1 on Jan 6, 2009

http://www.mydollnme.com/?page_id=3

Free online game for girls. Fun Free coloring book page online. Fun to color the picture of dolly with the color chooser.

Check it out…

http://www.mydollnme.com

Wilton 2104-2546 53 Piece Supreme Cake Decorating Set $19.95 If you’ve dreamed of becoming a cake decorator extraordinaire, this decorating set from Wilton has everything you need to get started. Learn how to make icing leaves, roses, stars, ribbons, and basket-weave designs with the 18 different metal decorating tips. Those perfect icing roses everyone is always so eager to pluck off the cake are easily fashioned with the help of the 1-1/4-inch flower nail…

Gourmet Food Writer Edible Color Markers (10 color set) by AmeriColor $15.99 Use this super ten-color set to dazzle up your cookies or cakes. Use these edible color markers just as you would an ink marker. Draw fun designs on cakes, write messages on cookies, and highlights to icing decorations. The tips are fine for detail work The Gourmet Writer Food Decorating Pens are great for a fun, fast way to add dazzle to fondant cakes, cookies, and all kinds of food. &nb…

Dozen Paper Pirate Treasure Map Placemats $5.88 Paper Treasure Map Place Mats. 14″ x 11″…

Wee Sing in Sillyville $8.25 WEE SING IN SILLYVILLE – DVD Movie…

Veggie Tales: God Made You Special $7.54 These delightful stories featuring your children’s favorite “Veggie Tales” friends remind them that they are special! The Veggies take a trip into space in “The Gourds Must Be Crazy,” learning a valuable lesson about everyone’s differences; an awkward Snoodle discovers why he’s one of a kind, in “A Snoodle’s Tale”; during “Bob’s Vacation,” the Veggies come to appreciate their uniqueness. Also incl…

Baby Einstein – Baby Neptune – Discovering Water $10.85 There’s no denying a youngster’s attraction to water, and the folks at Baby Einstein tap into that natural interest–and broaden it. They take babies and toddlers from bathtime to the beach, from tap water to waterfalls and geysers. A puppet octopus and duck serve as guides through clearly labeled sections: Ocean, Rivers and Lakes; Rain Drops and Puddles; Water at My House. A child speaks the titl…

Pinocchio (Two-Disc 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo + BD Live) [Blu-ray] $35.99 Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 03/10/2009…

Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure (Two-Disc Blu-ray/ DVD Combo) $18.39 Features include: •MPAA Rating: G•Format: Blu-Ray•Runtime: 76 minutes…

James and the Giant Peach (Walt Disney Pictures Presents) [VHS] $6.93 Guaranteed to work or your money back – PLEASE NOTE ALL MONIES FROM THIS SALE GO TO A 501 (C)3 NO KILL ANIMAL SHELTER…

Handy Manny Wall Decal $72.49 74-74012 Features: -Name: Handy Manny.-100pct Die-cut images that appear life-like and three dimensional.-State-of-the-art printing processes deliver outstanding clarity and sharpness.-Just peel and place, no tape, no tacks, no clutter.-The patented, low-tack adhesive lets you move your fathead as often as you like.-Thick high-grade vinyl resists tears, rips and fading.-Recommend use on clean, sm…

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