Relaxing Country Scenes

Relaxing Country Scenes coloring bookWe’ve updated one of our favorite, relaxing coloring books, and given it a new title, Relaxing Country Scenes. We think you’ll enjoy it.

Step back in time.

Relax with lovely, stress-relieving country scenes from the mountains to the seashore.

These 50 unique coloring pages are based on illustrations from old-time newspapers and magazines. Most are about 6″ x 7″, exactly as originally published.

Each features a different, beautiful scene. And each is simple enough for you to add your own personal touches as you color.

Starting with these black and white drawings, you’ll create pictures you’ll be proud to frame and display. They’re high-resolution images, but retain the hand-crafted touch of the original art from the 19th and early 20th centuries. A simpler time, and a world of natural beauty.

Each page is single-sided, and this book includes a wide range of scenes. Some are detailed. Others are simpler and allow you to add as much – or as little – color variation as you’d like.

Escape to a beautiful, peaceful world.

Coloring these pages can be like your own mini-vacation.

Buy your copy now.

[Previous title: Coloring Pages of Yesteryear.]

Strong Swirls – Beta Test for Us!

We’re revising some of our past coloring books and working on several new ones.

One is by Aisling and Nora, with a working title of “Strong Swirls.” (We hope you’ll suggest something better.)

Strong swirls for stress relief - Beta 1 coloring page
Click image to download the free coloring page (PDF).

We’re designing this coloring book for people who like Aisling’s hippie-style swirls and hand-drawn artwork.

Also, Nora added small, easy-to-color areas to break up each design. They color quickly and can reduce stress.

Here’s a sample page. >>>

The lines are bold enough to see in low-light conditions (for those who color in bed, but don’t want to turn on a bright light to wake a partner). And, you can probably see the lines without reading glasses, too.

This is a beta test for November 2019.

You can download this page and print it, free, at: http://bit.ly/beta1rose (It’s an 8.5″ x 11″ PDF.)

We hope you’ll try this free coloring page and let us know what you like and don’t like about it.

You can leave a comment here, or at our Facebook Page, https://www.facebook.com/ColoringToo/ (“Like” that Facebook Page so you learn about more free coloring pages and beta opportunities.)

We may follow-up with additional, free coloring pages, to be sure our pages are exactly what you want.

Your feedback is important to us!

Help us create more coloring books that you’ll love.

Let us know what you want in our future coloring books, and – if we can create exactly what you like – we’ll be very happy!

(Click here to see more of our coloring books.)

Bold & Hippie Style Circles

These are some coloring pages I tested for a coloring book, but decided not to publish, after all.

“Bold” refers to the lines. I draw them heavier than most people do. My bold-style coloring books are ideal for coloring in low-light conditions, and they’re helpful for art therapists and anyone facing vision challenges.

Swirly stars - colored(My “bold & easy” coloring books also have heavy lines, but the spaces are bigger than usual, too. They’re ideal for people with vision, dexterity, or eye-hand coordination issues, as well as those coloring in low-light conditions.)

I’ve already drawn about 20 coloring designs, and I’m working on more this week.

Here are some samples of the bold designs. Most have hippie themes, and will appeal to those who remember the 1960s, as well as those who love the designs of that era.

(I hand-colored the two illustrations, using a mix of Prismacolor, Pluqis, and Staedtler colored pencils.)

Hippie Bold - Swirly designThis was a test to see how you liked these kinds of designs. You can still leave feedback in comments at this article. Tell me what you like, don’t like, and want more (or less) of.

Your comments will help me plan my coloring books with bold, hippie designs, as well as my bold-and-easy coloring books.

Click any image to download it as a PDF. (8 1/2″ x 11″ – ready to print!)

Click to download this butterfly design.
Stars & Swirls - click to download
Click to download this stars & swirls design.
Click to download this swirly, wavy design.

Here’s how I colored one of those pages. (It’s even prettier in real life. In natural sunlight, the colors really glow.)

Free Pages – What Goes Around

What Goes Around - CoverThese free coloring pages are created in memory of my mother. She had the hippie style before “hippies” were even a thing.

These are four coloring pages – hippie swirls and shapes that are designed in the round, plus one cover design.

Yes, they’re circles. Which way is up…? That’s up to you, as the Caterpillar might say. (That’s an Alice in Wonderland/White Rabbit reference… Jefferson Airplane and all that.)

Here’s how I colored one of the free sample pages:

Hand-colored art - What Goes Around

I like to use at least three different, related colors (or shades of them) in each area, to give the finished work a more three-dimensional look.

To download these free pages – each an 8.5″ x 11″ PDF (on Google Drive) – just click the image and it’ll open in a new window. (Or right-click to download it without preview.)

And the cover, since this was originally going to be a coloring book. (It may still become one, when I draw another 20+ of these.)

Free Writing Paper

This started as a way to leave happy looking notes for a neighbor. The subject was kind of serious, and I figured I’d lighten it up with hand-colored stationery.

To use these pages, I write my message in the white rectangle in the middle. Then, I hand-color the border design.

Yesterday, I realized I could print these for the little ones in my family, so they had an area to color, but also an area to draw in.

And then, I decided to make these available to everyone, free. So, you can click on any image below, and the PDF will open for you to download.  (These are 8 1/2″ x 11″ pages.)

And then… I realized my neighbors might enjoy them, too. So, I got an easy-to-remember Bit.ly URL, Free2Color. After that, I created the sign, colored it (by hand, of course), and taped it to our front door.

Free coloring pages and writing paper.

This kind of goes along with another recent project for my neighbors: Every morning, I put a new message in my window. I’ve printed them large enough so passers-by can read them when they’re on their way to work, or walking their dogs.

Most of the messages come from late 1960s’ and early 70s’ songs… things from Woodstock and the hippie era, in general. Others reflect similar attitudes.

Here are a few of them, stacked on my floor.

 

Window signs with happy quotes.

If you like this idea, the font is Elsie Swash Caps Black font, and the size should be at least 120 pts to be read by people passing by your home.

Generally, I’m printing on two sheets of 8.5″ x 11″ paper, horizontal, and then I tape them together to make the window sign.

For me, these ideas come from my “still a hippie” soul, with the idea that doing nice things for other people – and putting more happiness into the world – is the right thing to do.

And yes, I am planning to create more writing paper you can download, free, and more coloring book freebies, in general.

Good Vibes 1 – A coloring demonstration

Good Vibes 1 - a coloring demonstrationYes, I do color my own coloring pages!

As a coloring book artist, I like to be sure I enjoy coloring the designs I create. If they’re not fun for me, they can’t be in my coloring books.

Quality is important. I want you to enjoy my books.

Recently, I’ve started scanning my coloring art as I go along. Now you can see the colors I use, and my coloring process. That’s what’s in this video, and there will be more, similar videos in the future.

I hope this shows you one coloring option for this design.

This is one of several pages I colored from my Good Vibes 1 coloring book.

Free Christmas Ornaments to Color – 2017

The holidays are such a wonderful time! And coloring can be a great activity with your family.
 
Here are links to some free coloring pages. All of them are at Google Drive, so you can share these links with others, too.
 
The first three ornament pages are new this year.
 
All of them are designed so you can use page reinforcements to protect the hole, where you can use an ornament hook or loop some thread, embroidery floss, or ribbon.
 
Then you can display these on your tree, a wreath, on your windows, or tape them to your door, or — as we do in my house — even on the kitchen cabinets. Spread the holiday merriment!
 
– Aisling D’Art
 
Hippie Christmas 2017
 
 
From past Christmas coloring books
 
 
Bold & Easy Christmas ornaments
 
 
Holiday Wreath
 

Bold and Easy Coloring – Volume 6

Aisling is back with another coloring book. This time, it’s Bold and Easy Coloring Page – Volume 6. Every page features hand-drawn kaleidoscope-style designs with bold lines and easy-to-color spaces.

Each design is printed on just one side of the page (the back is blank). Also, each design is repeated twice in the book. If you make a mistake on one of them, it’s okay. You have a do-over!

Or, if you want to color them differently, to display, side-by-side, you can.

Here are some of the designs in this book:

Bold and Easy 6 - three samples

You’ll find it at Amazon, along with all of Aisling’s Bold and Easy coloring books.

 

Coping, with Coloring

At the moment, I think many of us are coping with some extraordinary external stresses. I’m not sure it’s a simple generational shift. This feels bigger. It reminds me of the hippie years.

I’m in the U.S., so I’m watching an unfolding political scene.

But, we’re planning to move to England, so today’s British General Election is important, as well.

Yes, I find the news stressful. I also feel as if history is unfolding in front of us. I want to witness it, or at least remain aware of what’s going on.

Also, I like to make my own decisions, not rely wholly on others’ interpretations.

So, I’m on the sofa, watching the TV, more often than usual.

And, though I check facial expressions and body language during some news coverage, I can usually just listen to what’s being said.

So, I color. And, I like to color “happy” images.

For me, that’s hippie-style art, and — currently — hearts. In my head, I’m often recalling a song that was popular during my childhood, with lyrics that said, “What the world needs now, is love, sweet love… that’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.”

This week, I’ve been coloring pages from my Hearts! Volume 4 book. I printed them with my home printer, on regular printer paper. Then, I put a few sheets of paper beneath the page I’m coloring, and use a clipboard for support.

Here are the three pages I’ve colored, so far.

Hearts! Volume 4 - 3 pages
Three pages from Hearts! Volume 4, colored by Aisling

For me, this is a relaxing way to maintain my sense of calm and balance, while still being current on important world events.

Today, I’ll color at least one more page from this book.

And, when I’ve completed at least four pages, total, I’m planning to sign & frame them as a birthday present for a family member.

At the moment, my favorite YouTube video of the “What the World Needs Now” song features the composer, Burt Bacharach, with Tom Jones. (YouTube has removed that video now, but if it reappears, I’ll include it here.)

Hearts! Volume 4 – Example and Free Coloring Page

Hearts! Volume 4 is available now, and I’m really pleased with it.

You see, I draw the kinds of designs I enjoy coloring, too. Here’s a page from Hearts! Volume 4. I colored it yesterday, while sitting on the sofa, catching up with a TV show I can listen to (and don’t have to watch, closely).

Hearts 4 - my first colored page

I colored it with pencils, mostly Pluqis Premier, but also some Prismacolor Manga pencils, and a few Staedtler Ergo Soft.

My current thoughts about coloring pencils…

Pluqis are soft-ish pencils, but if I had to choose just one label (hard or soft), I’d probably categorize them as hard.

Despite that, Pluqis blend fairly well. In my coloring, they also play better with Prismacolor than the Staedtler pencils do.

Prismacolor is easily my favorite brand of really soft coloring pencils, because they’re so blendable. However, at a certain point (no pun intended) they suddenly stop blending, and I can add more colors because they just won’t “stick” as I color.

That’s when I go back to Pluqis. So, if I could use only one kind of pencil for an entire coloring page, I’d probably use Pluqis. It’s the brand I take with me when I travel.

Staedtler Ergo Soft is still a fairly hard pencil. And, it doesn’t always color over Prismacolor easily. However, I’m able to get really dark colors with Staedtler than other brands, and it’s not as shiny as Prismacolor. So, when I display my pages, the Staedtler dark colors (midnight blue, dark brown, etc.) appear darker in any light.

Hearts! Volume 4 - coloring bookHearts! Volume 4 is among my favorite coloring books, so far. (The cover is shown, at right.)

Drawing these designs, I realized I’d keep drawing (and creating these coloring books), even if they weren’t popular.

You’ll find Hearts! Volume 4 – A Hippie Coloring Book at Amazon.

And, of course, you can download a free sample page, to see if you enjoy these kinds of coloring pages, too.