Colouring: Fun, relaxing and stress-relieving!

Hi and happy Friday,

Colouring is not an activity dedicated only for children, on the contrary, adults are also have fun with coloring pages. If you look at the list of Amazon best selling books you can see that there are three (!!) adult colouring books among top ten sellers. Among the true top sellers there's Johanna Basford's 'Secred Garden' that has sold over 1.4 million copies. That's quite an achievement!

Even researchers and therapists are stating that colouring is very stress-relieving and relaxing. Well, that's something we paper crafters have known for a long time already. In my opinion the quickest way to unwind after a busy day is to start colouring; a stamped image, a page in an adult colouring book, or something you've drawn yourself. Let go of the inner critic and just have fun! The end result doesn't have to be a spectacular piece of art, because the creative process and being able to make something that pleases the eye is what matters the most.

There are many adult colouring pages in the market, but if you want to combine colouring pleasure with making a collage project I suggest you have a look what Imagine and Do has to offer. The company was founded by Finnish designer Minna Ainoa in 2012, after persistent persuading by her enthusiastic card making mother Leena. Leena thought that there was room in the market for good quality colouring images for cardmakers, and for meeting that need the first Imagine and Do sketch collection was released.

Their images are printed on good quality watercolour paper (300g/m2), but in addition to watercolours they can be coloured with any type of pens and markers, too. Working with these sets is like playing with paper dolls; in each set there's a selection of accessories showcasing the designs of Finnish clothing designers, and you can pick up your own favourites to dress up your dolls. Cool!

When colouring the Imagine and Do images you really don't need to be a colouring expert; the pre-shaded printed pictures are really easy to work with. Just choose your favourite colouring media and enjoy!

Picture by Imagine and Do

From the above 'Flora+Fauna+Fashion' A4 sized set I chose to work with the female image, and selected the accessories and embellishments from both sheets. I coloured them with my ProMarkers, cut out, and put in a frame I had painted with brown crackle paint. For the background I chose a grey patterned paper in retro style as I thought it matched my green-white-pink colour palette quite well:



I was really amazed how easily the collage come together. Pure crafing pleasure and stress relief!


Altering the cheap white wooden frame was super simple. I think this brown version is a better match to my paper doll collage, don't you think?



I love the beauty of the images, and the quality of the print-outs. Truly amazing!


I wish you a inspirational, colouring-full weekend. You have already purchased yourself an adult colouring book, right?

Hugs,


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