Mixed-media artist Joanne Sharpe is well known for her colorful art, creative lettering, and her upbeat attitude. The Art of Whimsical Living coloring book takes all of Joanne’s positivity, upbeat themes, and colorful style, and presents a variety of ways to bring that attitude and fun into your everyday life when you create inspiring coloring book art of your own.
These artful pages, which are perforated for ease of use, offer so much more than average coloring books because you can add your own style, lettering, and artwork to them. I loved how Joanne has ideas for getting organized, sending heartfelt sentiments, gift making, and more. You can make copies of your favorite pages, before you color, so you can use them again and again. What I love most about this book is that Joanne offers plenty of ideas for taking the artwork further, including copying and printing the designs onto cardstock, fussy cutting the designs to create dimensional shapes, resizing the designs for other uses, and so much more.
I had a blast coloring the pages, and adding my own spin to a few. Here’s a sampling of what you’ll discover:
The calendar section offers ideas for copying, binding, and even making smaller versions of the pages to customize your calendar. Planner fans will love this part. My personal favorite is the Celebrate calendar that allows you a month-by-month glance at all of the birthdays you need to remember. Color it, post it, and you’re set for the year. I used gel pens for Celebrate and the designs, and chose watercolor pencils for the balloons to give them a lighter, more pastel look
In this electronic age, who doesn’t love to find an unexpected note in their lunch or computer bag, or tucked under the windshield wiper of their car? There are plenty of notes to choose from. Just remove the page from the book, make a copy (or several), and take a few quiet moments to color it. Use some of Joanne’s notes, or choose a blank frame design, and add your own sentiments. Create inspiring coloring book art that’s sure to bring a smile to the recipient’s face . . . and yours. I chose a blank star, colored the frame, and added my own lettering. My granddaughter will love this note.
Every once in a while, we all need a little reminder to look for the good. Joanne has provided lots of motivational pages to choose from to get you on the right track: Count Your Blessings, Imagine the Possibilities, Let it Go, and plenty more.
Hate to figure out dinner every night when you get home? Plan a weekly menu. Yup; there’s a menu template in the book. Get yourself organized, and add some enjoyment to the chore . . . and some color!
There’s even a section with pages for planning your activities and some journal pages. Know someone who’d like to keep a journal, but isn’t sure how to begin? Make several uncolored copies of Joanne’s designs, bind them, and give this special book as an inspirational gift.
—Barbara
Create inspiring coloring book art that will add color to your day . . . and someone elses.
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