The Master Guide to Drawing Anime: Mostly Adorable

The Master Guide to Drawing Anime is more than just a pretty picture book. It is a good introduction for the beginner artist on how to draw in the manga/anime art style!

I'm always surprised when I read "how to draw" books and find useful tips in them to improve my drawing skills. You may find this silly, but I rarely read these books. I tend to use only half of the reference— the visual half— to add details to my own work. But the written half is incredibly useful as well. It tells you what you might not have picked up from the pictures alone: how and why the image works.

Christopher Hart delivered a good guide. In this book, Hart demonstrates "how to draw original characters from simple templates." The text accompanying the images is concise, but pertinent. He points out how small changes can make a big impact on your image. And all throughout, these changes will have a bearing on the character you create. That was probably my favorite part. Redrawing a character to look the same through a series of poses, actions, and outfits is difficult, so I'll take any help I can get with that. This focus on creating characters and keeping their looks consistent through multiple images makes this guide a wonderful reference for fledgling comic book artists. However, I wouldn't refer to this as a "master" guide. The book is split into six parts: schoolgirls, schoolboys, preteens, charming villains, humor in anime, and fantasy characters. Of these six, the bulk of the content is in drawing schoolgirls.

I guess drawing girls is more fun than drawing boys?
Maybe? I have a lot of fun drawing girls and women in a manga style, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to include boys and men in my drawings. I just found it odd how many more examples were available on how you could radically change a character type/personality (with a quick-change of hair, clothes, or expression) for girls than there were for the boys. And the schoolgirl section was the best illustrated and most informative section of the book also, with the preteens chapter being a close second. Perhaps Christopher Hart just loves drawing schoolgirls and preteens more than anything.

Are you saying—?!
Nothing pervy, you perv! All I'm saying is that those sections of the book received the most amount of love.

When you say love...
I'm saying detailed descriptions, variations, and full-color images for certain chapters and not others. If you do anything creative, there are certain things that you prefer to do over others. Given the attention to detail on these, I would say that "charming villains" are not on Hart's list of favorite things to draw. There were only two types: both male, based on the same body type, and they weren't even done in color. They were boring. The fantasy section of the book was a little longer and contained color images, but little variation. Furthermore, those drawings were all female and they all had essentially the same facial expression.

Overall, I feel as though Hart's enthusiasm and passion extended to only the first half of the book— a little like my enthusiasm for this review. The second half was "serviceable," at best. With the exception of the villains section, I enjoyed the artwork, and the tips on keeping character consistency. Depending on where you're at in your drawing skills, you might find this useful. But it isn't a "master" guide, or anything close to a definitive one.

One last thing to note before I go: After puzzling (loudly and repeatedly to my husband) over why the style of the art varied as much as it did from one section to the next, he pointed something out to me. This was not all drawn by the same artist. There were multiple contributing artists, and I don't think Christopher Hart was even one of them, though he did write the book.
So there you have it! My opinion hasn't changed much, but my jokes make less sense now.

Thanks a lot, Christopher Hart.

Celtic Spirit Coloring Book

You have to ask yourself just one question before you decide to get this book. Do you like intricate, Celtic knotwork? Well, do you? I know I don't! (Or at least, I don't care about it.) But I knew that going in, and I'm certainly not holding it against Celtic Spirit Coloring Book that knotwork just isn't my thing. That being said, if it's your thing, then congratulations: I found you a cool coloring book!

Maybe, like me, knotwork isn't really your thing either. That's okay. There are still some neat things for you in Celtic Spirit. There are 78 intricate images in this book, including some that are two-page spreads. Each image is a labyrinth for your colored pencils to get lost in. At times, I've found the images overwhelming! I have a tendency to try shading every little thing in the images I color. Almost nothing gets a flat color in my coloring books. But with this, I find it difficult to imagine coloring it any other way. How could I possibly keep up with my color scheme unless I pick my way from one end of the knot through its many loops, swirls, and tucks until I've completed it through to the other side? Again: not really my thing— but I can see how that could appeal to some people. If you're willing to get lost in that maze, I can see how this might be meditative for you. My favorite images have a nice balance between tiny, tight knots and the bigger, looser knots. These happen to include some excellent animal imagery, including dragons. (I know, what a shock: I like dragons! GASP!)

Finally, let me tell you about the paper itself: looks standard. The pages are thick enough that I think they may hold up to markers, but not to too many passes. Unfortunately, I can't test it, since this is a gift for someone. I'd stick to my colored pencils for it if this were my copy. The introduction also suggests that if you're particularly pleased with your work, you can frame and display it— or even gift it to someone! Of course, you could do this with any of the pages you color in any coloring books, but other books make it easy to do. This one does not. The pages are double-sided, and they are not perforated. Get ready for some book surgery if you decide to excise any of the images.

Overall, I would say Celtic Spirit is a decent coloring book, and you have better than even odds of liking it. Enjoy!

Johanna's Christmas: A Festive Coloring Book

You didn't think I was done with coloring books for the year, did you? Before the year is out— and while it is still somewhat relevant— I wanted to share Johanna Basford's newest coloring book with you: Johanna's Christmas. Unlike A Christmas Carol coloring book, this one is definitely more my speed. The focus in this one is more on festive imagery: wreaths, ornaments, candy canes and gingerbread houses, deer, wrapped gifts, and tons of other stuff. There are beautiful trees to color, wreaths made of ornaments and tiny deer, and even a sleigh full of presents!

If you've read my reviews on other Johanna Basford coloring books, you are probably not surprised that I'm a fan of this. The artwork is still fantastically fun to color. If you've liked any of her other books and you like Christmas, you will like this book. A couple of other things to keep in mind about Johanna's Christmas are: the pages are single-sided— sort of. Behind every major image there is a grayed-out wallpaper image. Could you color? Absolutely. Would I count it as an actual image? No. These include wallpapers of ornaments, vines of holly, and presents. That's about it. The pages themselves are also pretty thick, and so I would consider this a perfect opportunity to go crazy with your markers. And if you're one of those people who agonizes over what colors you'll use with a given image, fear not! There is even a blank page in back specifically designated as your "color palette test page."

Overall, if you got this in your stocking this year: Congratulations! If not, go order it. It's worth it!

A Christmas Carol (The Coloring Book)

Oh damn! Christmas is over, and now I show up with something holiday themed? I just can't seem to get my act together this year... Sorry guys!

Actually... HA!— joke's on you, because I'm Puerto Rican! And to us, Christmas lasts through the first week of January and then some! So prepare yourselves for: Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol: A Coloring Classic.

First things first: I realize I've reviewed many coloring books this past year. With so many available and being marketed to adults, my childhood passion for hoarding these was rekindled. As a kid, I had tons of coloring books, but I rarely colored. Instead, I copied the pages and used them as references. I was terrified of messing up the artwork. As an adult, I have so many hobbies that I rarely have time to actually color the artwork. Let's face it, there are plenty of other things that need to get done— like the laundry. Sometimes, I consider coloring and end up drawing and painting instead. But I still love these books, so my hoard continues to grow.

Most recently, I acquired A Christmas Carol: A Coloring Classic from a friend who is not a fan of it and wanted to re-gift it. I feel a little bad for this book because it seems to me that it would have a pretty small, potential fan-base. Really, who thought this was a good idea? In order to enjoy this book to the fullest, I imagine you have to be a fan of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, coloring books, and coloring in people. I have a preference for coloring animals, patterns, and anime characters, so this doesn't totally suit my tastes.

However, the illustrations are done well and detailed. The pages are double-sided, but fairly thick. You can probably get away with using markers, assuming you don't color over the same spot repeatedly. I think colored pencils would be a better option, though, to be safe. Surprisingly, what this book contains the most of are pictures of people— generally in the form of scenes from the story with accompanying quotes— and images of food. Prepare to be hungry after coloring this in. Also, while it does contain some abstract-ish images (food floating in space, for example), there are no repetitious "wallpaper" pattern images. Overall, I think it's a good variety of images to keep your interest. Assuming, of course, that you're interested in coloring A Christmas Carol.

I think what might draw people to this book initially is the beautiful cover: a profusion of flowers, holly, bells, and candles on a red foil background— and Scrooge on the top left corner. Honestly, the cover has caught my attention on more than one occasion in stores. But then I see A Christmas Carol and move on with nary more than a "meh" towards it. Ultimately, not my kind of coloring book. But if you're really into A Christmas Carol, coloring, and great artwork, you'll definitely enjoy this book!

Pics or It Didn't Happen

So I blinked out of existence for a while there, I know. One day, I was saying, "Ha, that's funny. I'm a little late for Halloween..." Next thing you know, over a month goes by and you passingly think to yourself, "I wonder if this girl's dead..." Or maybe you didn't care that much. I won't put words in your mouth.

For now.

Since I've had nothing else for you for weeks, let me just show you what I've been up to!

To your left, you will see progress shots of a t-shirt I sacrificed to make yarn. I had a stack of about 10 shirts that I ultimately knit/upcycled into a small rug. Let me just tell you right now: Trying to knit denim is a pain in the ass. But the rug came out okay! While the process I used to make the yarn used up a great big chunk of the shirt, there is still a good amount of fabric left over. My next project with those scraps is to make a shag rug. We'll see how that goes with the material I have left!

 I recently moved and had to find a new job. Go figure, I found a job at my local crack store— I mean, craft store. So I've been getting paid in yarn and other art supplies...
Okay, so I've been getting paid money and then just spending it on art supplies. Stop judging me. Anyway! This was some of the yarn that I purchased. I used Red Heart Unforgettable yarn in the color "parrot" and one of the patterns from my Crocodile Stitch book for this beauty. It was a fun pattern, though I guess I mostly like it for being something different to make. And of course, I love the colors of this yarn. If you ever decide to make anything with this particular yarn, please be aware that it is difficult to take it out of whatever you crocheted. It snags like crazy if you try taking it apart.

Progress shots of snowman Totoro in 16X20

 In addition to all this crochet, I've been trying to get myself excited about the winter festivities, so I've been obsessively drawing and coloring snowman Totoro. My hope is that if I get good enough at it, people will like it enough to perhaps buy a print or button of it at SacAnime. That is, of course, if I can get a table this winter. We're on the waitlist right now for one, but apparently it's still a possibility! So these are a few of the things (along with a some commissions) that have kept me busy and away from the blog this past month and a half. I hope to return us to our irregularly scheduled programming soon. Hope you're all doing well!

I got roped into making a wreath at work, then
wasn't allowed to keep it. So I had to make
another one for home.

Oh, and did I mention my foray into learning a musical instrument? Me and my happy lil' ukulele!

Art of Coloring Disney Villains

How do you like your Disney villains? Do you like them devious? Cunning? How about hipster-y, self-centered, and covered in patterns? Then have I got a treat for you!

I see you found a Disney coloring book more suited to your tastes.
Yes, though I only had a chance to flip through it. Art of Coloring Disney Villains is a little thank-you gift I bought for one of my friends. It's weird at times, but thankfully still entertaining. Unlike in the Disney Princess coloring book, the characters in Disney Villains are allowed to express a wide range of emotions while reenacting scenes from their movies or otherwise posing with new, "updated" material. Probably one of the funniest examples of this are the several images of Gaston from Beauty & the Beast as he takes an endless stream of selfies on a smart phone. Yeah. Wrap your head around that one. You'll see it makes complete sense— if he had a smart phone. One of the repeating "wallpaper" images is multiple villain faces wearing hipster glasses. Weird? Yes. Entertaining? YES.

The book is split into several different sections: animal kingdom, strictly human, and witches/creatures. As an unexpected bonus, most of the villains in the book also have a small, card-size portrait with information regarding: their movie, when it was released, and who voiced them. As with Art of Coloring Disney Princesses, this book is also that strange kind of hard cover (where it's a soft cover book with cardboard on the front and back). I still don't get it, but since the images were so much more fun for the villains, I really didn't mind so much. My favorite thing about this book, though, is that each of the villains has at least one image that include the movie's heroes as well. In each of these, the villain looks (appropriately) menacing— or looms over— the heroes/heroines; especially Izma from Emperor's New Groove. So what if they drew her with a piece of spinach stuck in her teeth? She's still a badass!

If you're interested in purely classic villains doing only what they do in their movies, I recommend you move along now. As previously mentioned, they took some liberties with these characters. However, since they are still "in character" for the most part, I forgave the artists and would be happy to have this book for my very own. I recommend you get one for yourself as well!

Art of Coloring Disney Princess: 100 Images to Lull You into a Catatonic State

This book was not made for me. When I see the title Art of Coloring Disney Princesses, certain expectations and standards come to mind. I expect a certain amount of froufrou nonsense and hoity-toityness featuring a pack of damsels in distress. Then I remind myself that "Disney Princess" refers to more than the classic damsels like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. My hopes rise, knowing that bad-asses like Mulan and Merida might be present. Let's not forget that Jasmine, Tiana, Rapunzel, and Belle are also intelligent, quirky, and brave. So I bought this Disney Princess coloring book with the expectation of seeing a variety of "princesses" doing and being more than decorative damsels in distress. Further, I expected the artwork would meet the high Disney Standards: interesting, dynamic, and beautiful. What I got amounts to little more than a Barbie-like coloring book with some characters standing or sitting around, looking pretty, with vacuous smiles plastered on their faces.

How do you know they're vacuous?
Because their eyes are glazed and unfocused, and they're staring at nothing in particular! The whole book is generic, discount, knock-off Disney at best! I find it insulting— to me as much as to these princesses— that they should take some genuinely interesting characters and have them only stand or sit, and smile at the camera. These ladies have better things to do! Tiana has work to do. Mulan has villains to outwit! For fucks' sake, Belle has a giant library to read, and Aurora could be taking a nap, and these artists interrupt their busy ass schedule to have them stand against a backdrop and smile?! Or they got a Disney Princess stunt double to sit/stand against a backdrop with infrequent wig and wardrobe changes.

You got a problem with looking pretty and having a rich husband?
Not at all! If you're pretty, have a rich husband, and that makes you happy? Good on you! I simply find it dull. My high school yearbooks were more interesting than that! Which leads me to my biggest problem with this book: It is mundane, uninspired, and mediocre. You're more likely to be lulled into a catatonic state while coloring these pages than be creatively inspired. But prepare yourself. There's a kicker. ... Are you prepared?

You're the Diet Coke of Disney. Just one calorie: not Disney enough.

I think so...
Of the approximately 120 pages to color, 98 are dedicated to generic, repeating wallpapers. I know. I counted. For the purposes of this math, I want you to understand that if the image was a mandala with a princess silhouette or a repeating pattern, I counted it as "wallpaper." Therefore, not really a princess. Just patterns. There were only 23 images of princesses (with vapid smile facial details), and even some of those pages were more patterns than princess.

Overall, I found this book terribly disappointing and misleading. It is monotonous at best, and I don't recommend it at all. In addition to all the problems with content, the book itself is odd in that it is a hardcover coloring book—

That's kinda cool!
—but the covers are actually just cardboard pieces stuck on the outside of a soft-cover book. It makes little sense, and it looks weird. It doesn't really bother me. I'm just annoyed at the book in general. But that does bring me back to my first point: This book wasn't made for me. I gave it to my friend, and he loved it. Know your audience, I guess. I bet my audience loves narwhals.

A is for Adventure: Part Coloring Book, Monster Manual, Campaign Guide. ALL Fun

The other day, I went on a little shopping spree for my friends. I am not allowing myself to spend much on myself lately, but I wanted to get a few little thank you gifts for my D&D group so... I bought coloring books. Of the three that I bought, my absolute favorite is A is for Adventure, by Scott Aleric. I want this book for myself and I want it now.

So the artwork is good?

Yes, but that's not all. This book is fantastic! I appreciate Aleric's style and the attention to detail. All the monsters are displayed in dynamic poses— typically in the process of mauling some foolish adventurer. The illustrations are worked in ink with full backgrounds and— Okay, you may find this a little bit strange, but...

I've read your other reviews. How could this be any stranger?

—what really does it for me is the hatch and cross-hatch shading. I love the texture it creates on the page. It's something that I just don't see all that much anymore, especially as more artists do digital art. And I haven't even told you about my absolute favorite part!

There's more?!

Yes! Included with each letter/monster is a mini campaign scenario featuring the monster, a small map, and even some plot twists to kick things up a notch. What I particularly love about these adventures is that they act almost as adventure-Legos: you could play with them on their own, put them together, or drop it in to your bigger campaign set. Tweak the scenarios to taste! Overall, I highly recommend this book! You'll like it too if you're into: 

1. Coloring! The pages are thin, but single-sided. No worries about markers bleeding through to the next page.
2. Role-playing! Mini campaigns need little customization if you're a lazy dungeon master or you just want to sample playing with friends.
3. Monster art! Most of the illustrations look like the monsters are winning. That's typically a plus in my book!

Have fun!

StocktonCon is coming!

Just piles of stuff and things to do, as far as the eye can see. My
Jaded Internal Monologue (JIM) is having a field day.

Hello my dear internet people! (I can say that, because I'm too small fry to have trolls yet.)

The biggest troll is in your head.
Shut up, JIM, nobody asked you.

So StocktonCon is coming up this Saturday which is exciting stuff! I've given you guys a couple of random updates regarding it with pictures of half-finished projects, empty-box goals, and yarn.

Would anyone like to take a wild guess as to how many projects I actually finished?! Go on! Guess! It's more than zero, but less than everything.

Enough...?
Nope! But almost! I am officially in "last minute, crazy crochet lady" mode! Eek! Happily, Saturday's new review is already written and scheduled, so I won't have to worry about that this weekend. Unfortunately, that stack of books pictured above is not going to read itself, and I have to return them eventually, so I don't think I have any time left to slack off. Anyway! Just wanted to give you guys a little update! Hope you're having a great week!

Edward's Menagerie: Birds!

My youngest brother loves birds, and I love making things. So when I came across Edward's Menagerie: Birds by Kerry Lord on Amazon and saw that they were having a book sale, I made a deal with my dear bro. If he got me the book for Christmas, I would make him a bird for his birthday. Well, he kept up his side of the bargain, and I became the proud owner of this avian themed collection of patterns. Then, of course, my schedule blew up and I've yet to start the toucan I promised him. His birthday was four months ago.

Worst. Sister. Ever.
Yeah, I know. But he'll get his toucan! I just hope he names it something more interesting than Kerry Lord named hers. All of the birds in this book have their own names and little bios stuffed full of personality. It's disgustingly adorable, for the most part. But then you get to the toucan, and the description was so prissy it actually turned me off to the entire pattern. Since all of the patterns have little bios, though, I think this could also work as a little children's book. Not the kind that you hand to itty-bitties to tug on, but you could read it to them and show off the pictures. Or, even better, make the toy and then tell them the pre-made story behind it!

Beyond that, there are some things you should know before you go out and buy this book...

1. All the patterns are written with European abbreviations. I know this is a deal-breaker for some people, but the European abbreviations don't make it incomprehensible. Additionally, Lord even points out in a couple of sections what the U.S. equivalents are for what she's talking about.
2. The birds are sorted into three levels of difficulty, so if you're a complete beginner you can start at level 1 and if you feel the need for a challenge you can jump to level 3. I think you could make all the patterns with only a little experience and some tenacity.
3. The patterns are split in different parts throughout the book: standard forms, levels 1-3 birds, and technicals. So if you wanted to make Ina the Stork (level 1), it bids you to start the body, neck, head, and wings from the standard forms. The pattern for the legs and beak are on the same page as Ina's bio. To put it all together, you would refer to the "technicals" section; that covers all the additional little details.
4. Of the 40 patterns listed in the book, there are 3 distinct: owls, penguins, and chickens. Think about that. You don't just get an owl, or a penguin, or a chicken. You get a barn owl (and 2 other subspecies buddies), an emperor penguin (and buddies), and a silkie chicken (plus a regular hen and a rooster). That's just cool.

If you appreciate birds, attention to detail, and some realism in your toys, I would highly recommend Edward's Menagerie: Birds. Even if you're a complete beginner, you can find something here that would be satisfying and fun to make. The patterns look solid, and the directions for all of the toys are "baby friendly" (none of them use extra little bits like buttons that babies and younger children might choke on). As always with crafting books, I recommend getting the print version of this book— especially given how the patterns are separated in the different sections. So have fun with it, guys!

P.S.
I hope I'll have an opportunity to show off my brother's toucan soon, along with a blue-footed booby for good measure. Because how could I resist making a booby or two?

Stitch 'N Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook

I suck at knitting. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to go beyond the absolute basics— straight knitting needles and square shapes. That isn't for lack of trying, or lack of being informed, though. After falling in love with Stitch 'N Bitch: The Happy Hooker, I was sure that Debbie Stoller's original knitting handbook would be the perfect way to teach myself to knit! I wasn't exactly wrong... But my increased knitting knowledge has not helped me complete complex projects. And why? Because if this book has taught me anything, it's that I need five times the tools and a blood sacrifice to achieve what I could with one crochet hook. But let's pretend for a minute that you're already a knitter and are used to these blood sacrifices.

I keep sheep for this express purpose!
I would keep sheep for the eventual yarn but if you want to play it biblical and keep them handy for blood sacrifices, that's cool too, I guess. You do you.

So, you're already a knitter: Jump into the deep end with 40 knitting projects of varying difficulty! They range from quick scarves and hats to marathon-style, focus-heavy sweaters and blankets. There is even a pattern for a cat bed in here. I find that one amusingly pointless, since my cat would prefer to sleep on a pile of clean clothes or on my face over her own bed any day.

Tools of the trade: Crochet hooks (top left), circular knitting needles
(top right), straight knitting needles, and resource book.

The only thing I found frustrating (and this has more to do with knitting as a craft than with the book) is that I wanted to make some of these hats and they required two or three different types of needles. That means I would need to have between five and seven needles for one project. Is that Debbie Stoller's fault? Or the fault of the designers featured in this book? Absolutely not! I appreciate that they let me know beforehand so I didn't waste my time starting a project that I'd never finish for lack of owning every damn knitting tool on the market. But we're pretending you're already a knitter, so maybe you own all that already. Congratulations! These are some cool-looking projects! My favorites are the different bags. As I was flipping through the book again today, I got the itch to make all of them: backpacks, purses, and totes. They look complex, but are fairly straightforward to make. All patterns contained herein include a briefing on necessary materials, the gauge you should be aiming for, finished size, and best yarns to use. All patterns were screened by a technical editor as well, so they're pretty much guaranteed to work. I certainly haven't found any technical problems with them yet.

What if I'm a complete beginner?
Fear not! This is still a fantastic, beginner-friendly resource book. The beginning half of the book is dedicated to teaching you knitting basics and some additional niceties. One of the things I love about the Stitch 'N Bitch series is how in-depth it goes. While some books will attempt to teach you as they go along with the pattern, Stoller does it all up-front so you can try tackling those tougher projects after some reading. Even if you've never held a pair of knitting needles and yarn, she explains the process in a clear and entertaining manner. You could, of course, just read the portion on how to start your project and jump into the patterns. You can use this book however you damn well please. But I think you'll have an easier time if you actually read some of it first.

You know what else is pretty cool about this? Stoller mentions several different resources within the book to further educate yourself on the subject of knitting! She mentions multiple books, magazines, and websites for additional reading. If you want to shop for fancy yarns at discount prices, she points out the best way to search for them. This book is full of handy tips and tricks for getting the most out of your knitting experience. If you're interested in the craft, I highly recommend checking this book out. It can only make your life— at least the knitting portion of it— easier. Good luck, and happy knitting!

Challenge Mode: ON

As you may recall from a previous post (if you're keeping track), I mentioned that I will be heading to StocktonCon on August 20th and 21st. Last year, I did very well at this convention, so I have high hopes of repeating that success this year! Of course, that'll never happen unless I set high goals, sooooo...

Behold: My goal!

It's a box...
Yes, an empty box! And, to be fair, it isn't even all that big. My goal is to fill this box twice before StocktonCon with all sorts of crochet goodies. I'm thinking an assortment of hats, gloves, and amigurumi ought to do it. I've already gotten started, but items will make it into the box as they are completed (all loose tails tucked in, faces made, ready to go home). I have project ADHD, hence why this box is still empty. I probably have five jellyfish amigurumi and multiple sets of gloves that are in "finishing stages" limbo.

Okay, given how long it takes to crochet some of these projects, I guess that's a challenge...

The bag of poly-fill is bigger than
the goal box...

Actually, that isn't the challenge. Seeing as how I've got two and a half months to work on this, filling the box only twice is a smart goal. The challenge is to make things using only my current, accessible stash of supplies. Because, you see, I have so many more supplies besides what is pictured, but some of them are currently in storage; and they will not come out until I've finished what I have on hand. So there lies my challenge: emptying out the bags and bins of yarn I can reach by convention-time in August. Expect more pictures of my progress as I fill up the box! I'll be sure to have some completed projects in there by next week! Oh, and if you have ideas on how to make this additionally challenging, or have requests— for toys, hats, or a particular style of gloves— that you'd like to see in there, let me know by leaving a comment!

All the jellies, ALL the time

The smack of jellies on the right is the result of an amalgamation
of patterns: one found in this book and the other online.

I've had a busy day today, consisting primarily of trying not to melt in the heat while being covered in a pile of yarn as I make a metric butt-ton of crochet jellyfish.

I don't think "butt-ton" is part of the metric system.
No, I suppose it isn't. Fine, if you insist on accurate terminology, I was making a smack of jellyfish.

How is that better?
I didn't make that one up! I just learned, about two minutes ago, that a group of jellyfish is called a "smack." So I thought I'd share a smack with you. Someday I may even give you a smack. If I'm fortunate, someday, someone will purchase a smack from me. That will, indeed, be a great day for me. I may even make it a selling point.

Anyway! I just wanted to share a picture of what I was up to today with you guys. These guys (and their jelly brethren) will be available for purchase at Stockton-Con this August 20th and 21st. I'll be sharing a table with my significant other in the artist alley, and I sincerely hope you'll come visit us if you have an opportunity! (COME VISIT ME!)

Crocodile Stitch Fashions a.k.a Fancy Stitches

I would like to thank all of you for indulging my fondness for crochet, and all things related to it.

Find me on Amazon!

Fondness, or obsession?

I say "toe-MAY-toe," you say "tuh-MAH-toe." Or in today's case, you say "crocodile stitch," and I say "dragonscales." Yes, I use my imagination whenever I see or make anything using this stitch. I cannot understand why someone would name a fantastical stitch such as this after something like a crocodile. "Dragonscale" sounds so much more elegant! Anyway, I'm rambling—

Per the norm...
But you're still here, so let me tell you about this book! Last year, one of my best friends sent me on a quest. For her birthday, she said, she wanted a pair of "dragonscale gloves."

"I want you to slay a dragon, and use its carcass
for my gloves!"

"I've seen them on Etsy, and they're rather fetching! I know no one more capable of procuring these for me than yourself. Why, with your amazing skills, I know you could whip up a pair of these in no time!"

With flattery such as this, how could I refuse? So I ventured forth to the magical, faraway land of Joann's Fabric Store. My first task, in this multitask fetch quest, was to procure the patterns. That's where Crocodile Stitch Fashions, by Lianka Azulay, comes in! This book had caught my attention on previous visits to the store, and I was delighted to finally have an excuse to stop stalking it and give it a proper hello.

"Looking good, book!
You work out?"

Though I bought it for one pattern in particular, this book contains eight different patterns featuring the crocodile stitch. Some of the patterns are fanciful, others beautiful, and some are just bizarre— but all of them are fun to make!

Can I make these if I suck at crochet?
Mmm, kinda? Okay, maybe this is not for complete noobs. As with all new things, it takes a little getting used to before you get it down. All the patterns are listed as "intermediate." The crocodile stitch is comprised of two basic components: chain stitches, and double crochet stitches. That's it. You just do that over and over, layer upon layer, until you come up with something fabulous. Luckily, Crocodile Stitch Fashions provides full-color photos of the different steps to help you along, as well as a stitch guide in case you forgot—or didn't already know—the basic stitches. To be fair, it actually took me several hours of doing, undoing, and redoing my first few rows before I really trusted that I was actually doing things correctly.

So maybe you're curious about the book now, and you want to check it out. Here are some things you'll want to know going in:

• This title includes patterns for two different kinds of gloves, three hats, one shawl, a neck-warmer (not quite a scarf, I suppose), and a hood. Two of the hats are, in my humble opinion, quite ugly. The gloves, hood, and shawl make up for it. All of those are downright gorgeous.
• These are great projects to work on during "down-time." Waiting in line? Have a little spare time during your lunch? Crochet it up!

Self patterning yarn

And that's honestly pretty much all there is to it! I know, kinda short, but it is a short book after all. I hope you enjoy it! It's certainly worth checking out.

What about the multitask fetch quest? Getting the book was just the first part!

That's true! The second task in my fetch quest was finding the proper yarn to make the gloves! The patterns are fun, but finding yarn to use for them is not. All the patterns in this book require superfine, light, or sport weight yarn, and those are tough to find in your average craft superstore in colors other than soft pastels meant for babies. Be prepared to run out to a specialty store or shop online for your yarn if you don't see something you like at the store. Your options at Michael's and JoAnn's are limited. As luck would have it, my friend wanted gray/black gloves in changing colors. I couldn't find a "multi-color" yarn in only gray and black, so I had to improvise. Afterwards, it was just a matter of obsessively making and remaking the first few rows until I was certain I could do no better.

Which brings me to my final point about these patterns: It's going to take a while to finish any of these projects. A shortened pair of gloves can take approximately eight hours to make. And if you're lacking in time and/or patience, consider commissioning me for a pair! I've had some time to practice.

The Bee-Friendly Garden

Click here to find me on Amazon!

I have far too many hobbies. Along with reading and reviewing books, I also crochet, draw, write, and sometimes I try to garden. Unfortunately, I suck at it. If you don't think that keeping a plant alive is particularly difficult, just hand it to me and I'll happily demonstrate. 

Maybe it's something about your karma?

Let's not get personal. Maybe I know nothing about the proper conditions to keep a thing alive in a pot. However, I do know how to read, and I'm not so terrible at research. One of my motto's is "When in doubt: READ A BOOK!"

You don't just watch a youtube video?

I do that too, but it doesn't fit the theme today, and for this particular hobby I would literally be watching grass grow. I picked up The bee-friendly Garden from Blogging for Books in exchange for a fair and honest review. As someone who loves honey and is concerned about the decline in bee populations, I thought this book could help me choose appropriate, hardy, plants that would survive my black thumb while also providing nutrients for our friends the bees.

Speaking of our friends the bees—I had no idea there were so many different kinds! Typically, when I think of bees, I picture bumblebees and think they're also honeybees, but those are actually distinct species. You know where I learned that? From this book!

Duh...

Hey, I was expecting a lot of information about plants that attract bees and maybe how to design your garden. That is included in here, but there's so much more to it! The first chapter is dedicated to various bee profiles: their genus and species, common names, habitats, and their preferred types of flowers (because bees have favorite foods too). Chapters two and three talk about the different plants you can include in your bee-friendly garden. We're not just talking flowers, either. The main point I pulled from this book is that in order to have a healthy garden for healthy bees, variety is key. Variety of plants—annuals, perennials, shrubs, and trees—will extend the length of time your garden blooms, thus providing nourishment for your friendly neighborhood bees for longer. Authors Kate Frey and Gretchen LeBuhn also stress the importance of including native plants in your garden. These make it likelier that local bees will visit (and pollinate) your plants, but also increases the health of your garden. Local plants, if you think about it, are hardy weeds we like. They'll make it less likely for weeds we don't like to take over our garden areas.

Did you start your bee-friendly garden yet?

As previously mentioned, I have something of a black thumb. You have to look really close, because generally my thumb looks peach, but the point is that it isn't green. So, I have yet to start my garden. However, I intend to plan it using the the regional lists of plants and the section for "designing your garden." So that's in the works. I'd love to show you all pictures of my beautiful, living garden when I make it happen, but that'll be a while.

Obviously you really like this book. Will I?

Quite possibly. You may want to buy a copy of this book if:

1. You enjoy gardening and want to help improve bee populations
2. You like flowers or food
3. Beautiful pictures of outdoor landscapes make you happy
4. Or maybe you just want to learn more about bees, their habitats, and what sorts of plants will draw them in.

There you have it! The bee-friendly Garden: I'm happy to have it and I think you would be too!

My Crochet Doll: A picture book with patterns

Check me out on Amazon!

Once upon a time, in a strange, faraway land known as "JoAnns Fabric Store," I came across a charming crochet book featuring a simple doll with practically no nose, no mouth, and a delightfully detailed outfit. Intrigued, I snatched the book off the shelf and flipped through its contents.
"Hello, Kitty," I purred at the pages, for clearly our no-nose heroine's name is Katherine, "Why don't you tell me about yourself?"
Having thus acquired several weird looks for the day and no verbal response from the book, I continued my monologue at home after purchasing My Crochet Doll. Sixty pages worth of photos later, I finally found the patterns Isabelle Kessedjian promised. Despite my potentially misleading title (in which you might think that a picture book with patterns is a bad thing), I am quite in love with this book! Sixty pages of pictures goes a long way in showing you what is possible before actually teaching you how to do anything.

But it does show you how to make things, doesn't it?
YES! Okay, this would normally be the point where I start showing off some of the stuff that I've made while using the patterns in the book.
... I have a small confession to make.
       I have owned this book for over a year, and have yet to make anything from it.

GASP OF HORROR!
Don't judge me too harshly, I beg you! Thing is that, for as beautiful as the illustrations are, and convinced as I am that the patterns are sound, there has been something deterring me from just jumping in and making a beautiful crochet doll of my own. The patterns use the European abbreviations for crochet. European abbreviations are a bit odd to my American eyes. How can you call a single crochet a double, and then expect a half double to mean-- Okay, maybe you're not as interested in my tech-gibberish at the moment. That's fine. Moving on! The second deterrent is that the yarn the author uses is a lighter weight than what I normally work with. I believe she uses a weight 3 (or sport weight), while I use weight 4 (medium worsted a.k.a The Yarn EVERYONE Uses). Ultimately, that's going to make the patterns come out a little different. I like making one just how the pattern says for my first try, to figure out any quirks beforehand. Then I go crazy with it, adding or subtracting details as I see fit. But no matter what I do, my end product is going to end up different or a bit off because I'm not about to go out and buy more yarn until I've finished with what I've got. And if you saw the size of my stash, you'd see that's going to be quite a long time.

Enough excuses! What can you tell us about the patterns?!
Well, do you like weird? If you're still reading this, I'm going to go with "Duh, I like weird."
Okay, so you like weird.
This book... has a pattern... to make underwear for your doll. Not even joking. Honest to goodness, you can make cute little undies for your amigurumi. You can also make: shoes, pajamas, overalls, a superhero outfit (which is ultimately why I bought the book), a fancy dress, tiny cakes, and many other things! It's freaking adorable! And that's not even mentioning all the different little accessories that you can add to your new playmate. Ms. Kessedjian also mentions how to make a variety of hairstyles using different types of yarn, from regular 4-ply to wool. She talks about giving your doll additional personality with bits of wire (perhaps adding glasses to the doll) and other scrap materials. The funny thing is that, despite my insistence on making the first doll be "just like the author's" to get a feel for things, the author actually points out that the doll in this book is hers and she highly encourages the reader to make their own. Change the color! Give her different hair, or some glasses, or a different outfit, or mix-and-match with what's available in the book and beyond! Go crazy with it from the beginning! The important thing is to have fun. At the end, what you've made will be your crochet doll.

So that's pretty much all I've got to say about that. I highly recommend this book. At least check it out. Just remember, the abbreviations are different in this than in a book from a U.S. author. That being said, there is a little section (as in most of these books) that goes over the technical aspects of crochet: what the abbreviations are, what they mean, how to make the stitches, and the difference between U.S. and U.K. terminology and what the heck they mean by each.

I enjoyed the format of the book. The illustrations were gorgeous, and it was pleasant to simply flip through the pictures first and then have the patterns at the end. This may not be the best book for the absolute beginner. I recommend already knowing your basic stitches (chain, single stitch, slip stitch, etc) prior to picking this one up because there are no illustrations demonstrating how to get that started or hold the yarn. You're going to be awfully frustrated if you don't know how to hold your yarn and you try just going at this. Well, who knows... You might actually be a prodigy. But for those of us who aren't prodigies, it can get frustrating if you don't already have an idea of what you're doing.

Some day, I may share with you pictures of My Crochet Doll... but in the meantime, I hope you have fun with your own!

Scattered like litter on the floor: Cats in Paris

Cats in Paris: A Coloring Book of the Felines of Paris by Won-Sun Jang

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


"I have a great concept for a coloring book!" said the artist.
"Oh? And what is that?" queried the publisher.
"Cats!"
"That's nice, but cats have been done. Can you throw anything else in there?"
"...Paris?"
"That sounds great!"
"But, I don't have a lot of drawings of Paris, so how about we just do whatever with cats and say it's in Paris?"
"Sure, that'll work too."
And that, I think, sums up what went into this book. There are cats all over it, so that wasn't a lie. But there's very little of Paris in it. The art style also changes wildly throughout the book. There were actually three distinct art-styles throughout. The first portion of it we'll call "sketch jazz ugly."

During the sketch jazz ugly portion, the illustrations are sketchy with some bits of dialogue included where a supposedly Parisian cat shows you his favorite sketched-out Paris haunts. It's as weird as I just described it. This portion of the book lasts for about the first 16 pages before it moves on to the next style, "Sketch jazz real." The illustrations from here forward are much nicer than the initial ugly jazz stage, but continue to be "sketchy." I think there may be two clean lines in this entire book. In any case, during the middle portion there are more varied cats, and it looks as though the illustrations are speed drawn from live cats. To be fair, if you like cats, this part might make you happy. It certainly made me laugh, because there's an illustration of a cat lying on its back, presenting its butt-hole to the viewer. No, I'm not kidding. It made me laugh because that's true to cats, but now you've been warned that there is illustrated cat a-hole in this book.

Shortly after the cat a-hole image, the artist's caffeine-and-sugar-fueled high subsides long enough to provide us with some nice, albeit boring compared to cat-butt, images of cat stamps. Yes, stamps. Like the kind you put on your mail. Totally useless to actually send mail, but nice. However, the trip into staid sanity is short-lived, and we return to madness (of the “what the hell is that cat doing?” variety) for a few more pages before the book simply ends.

This book is scattered. The cats in Paris portion is awfully short to have the whole book named after it, and the art style isn't consistently good. It isn't the worst coloring book in the world, but I know I'll enjoy my other coloring books far more. You might like this book if:
1. You like cats
2. You like weird stuff
3. You would like to color cat-related sketches.
If you're looking for Paris, look elsewhere. There isn't enough of it here to qualify.

This review is based on a copy provided by Blogging for Books in exchange for a fair and honest review.



View all my reviews

Not even Christmas Haul!

Equal parts creativity machine and actual reading.

Hey guys! I thought I'd try something a little different this week and share with you some of the things I've been playing with, reading, and generally squee-ing over this past week!

I had an opportunity to get together with some of my friends this past weekend, including Stephanie from Reading with Cupcakes, so of course Coloring happened. A lot of coloring.

I'm gonna clue you guys in on a little (not so) secret of mine: I don't half-ass my hobbies. It's full ass or no ass! So when I started getting coloring books, I needed to also get colored pencils. Simple crayolas would not do to start, so I picked up some Prismas. I couldn't wait for my copy of Lost Ocean to arrive, so I got Time Chamber and Time Garden for free from Blogging for Books to tide me over. Then, when I had those three books (with plenty of pages to keep me occupied for quite some time), I realized that I had only really complex coloring books. Realizing my mistake in focusing only on the fancy, I went out and got myself a copy of Owls as well. Creative Cats was a gift for a friend, but I realized I really liked that one also and ended up getting myself a copy. A different friend gifted me Secret Garden. Now I have six coloring books. Is that enough? It might be. For now...

Weirdo...
I am a weirdo, but hopefully you're still reading this because you find my weirdness mildly entertaining and perhaps even charming. You're welcome!

Gift-giving Frenzy is in a couple of days, and I look forward to giving and receiving my fair share. Amazon was having a book sale (I think it was 25% off one book of your choice), and I agonized over whether I should get Edward's Menagerie, The Big Book of Amigurumi, or Edward's Menagerie - Birds. Ultimately, I decided on Edward's Menagerie and I've been happily staring at it (while keeping it safe as a gift for someone else) as well as trying to figure out some of the descriptions. As you can clearly see in the picture above, I also received The Big Book of Amigurumi, and I know I'll be getting the Birds book as well. Expect a review about these in 2016, because I have several things to say about them!

That's it. She's reviewing only craft books from here on out!
Well, no. Not quite. I do read other books, but it takes me longer to mull those over. There are even a few of them that I feel the need to reread, in order to give it the most accurate review possible. So there are a few of those coming, but in the meantime, expect a barrage of crafting books! Yaaaay!

One more thing I'd like to mention:
Since Christmas is (by my timezone, anyway) in about 24 hours and 2 minutes, I will probably be taking a little break on reviews for the next couple of weeks. So I'll try to schedule a couple of reviews for while I'm gone, but if you notice a lack of updates, that's why. Just saying.

So the official list of reviews coming up next month (in no particular order):
Edward's Menagerie
Edward's Menagerie - Birds
Big Book of Little Amigurumi
Outsider in the White House (oooh, topical)
Stardust

And that's it for this evening! Enjoy your holidays, my friends! Whatever those holidays might be!

P.S.
Funny extra story-time.

I thought you were done?
Almost, I swear. I sent my husband out to the mailbox (before midnight, I promise), and he found a copy of Edward's Menagerie in there waiting for me courtesy of one of my best friends. I am winning this holiday season. There will be stuffed animals everywhere!

Generation T: Where high fashion meets bum comfort!

T-shirts are an integral part of my wardrobe. They're soft, comfortable, and my favorite way of displaying fandoms and/or art. The problem I run into, however, is that t-shirts are generally not made for ladies with, shall we say, "ample" bosoms in mind. Or even just with ladies in mind.

Let me rant to you about clothes for a minute here. I know you can go out and get "girl tees" which are specifically designed to fit lady parts better than your average tees, but think about how those work. A guy's t-shirt with a cool design on it can run you anywhere from $5 to $10. Maybe, if you're shopping at Hot Topic and you see one that you really love, you'll spend about $20 (because you just have to have it). The same t-shirt made to fit women? $20. No, they do not have it for $10. If it is made to fit a woman better than it fits a man, it will cost more. How unfair is that? And what about the sizes? If guys are buying a t-shirt, the cost of sizes extra-small all the way through extra large is exactly the same. Once they start hitting that 2XL or higher, they get charged a dollar or two more. Well, sorry guys: if you're 2XL or higher, that makes some sense. After all, that is LOT of shirt and requires more material. Women's t-shirts work in pretty much the same way, except that they are made primarily to fit thin women. And even then, if you're a skinny lady, prepare to feel fat because these are essentially children's sizes. So sizes XS to XL are the same, and they start charging more from 2XL and higher. But it isn't really more fabric that's at play here. For example: I fit into a men's medium. I can get in it with no problems. It covers my boobs, my stomach, has a nice length to it; it just doesn't fit nice. It doesn't hug my curves or anything. In a women's sizes, I'm suddenly an extra-large. The 2XL would fit better, but I don't want to pay more money, so I squeeze into the smaller shirt. Does it fit better than the men's shirt? Sure. It hugs my curves, that thing is on me. Is it more fabric? NO! I didn't suddenly need more fabric because the shirt is 2XL, but I'll still get charged more. Yet it's the same amount of fabric! Maybe even less!

This is a long rant. I thought you were going to review a book?!
I am. I'm setting up context. Keep your shirt on. OR, take it off and alter it to fit your needs!

Nice segue.
Thank you. My point is, I don't like paying more for a shirt just because I have boobs. That's where Generation T: 108 ways to transform a T-shirt by Megan Nicolay comes in. I came across this book at a Barnes & Noble many years ago. At the time, I worked at a GameStop and we would receive promotional t-shirts constantly, but never in the sizes that we actually needed. They were always way too big, and never in women's sizes. Finding this book was like an answered prayer! It includes 108 different ways to cut, slash, resew or no-sew your shirts.

I can't sew!

So maybe it's not high fashion. But it could be!

That's okay, because you don't always have to! One of the things I pulled from this book that I do constantly is simply cutting out the collar to men's shirts I like. Men's tees always feel too tight at the collar, and by simply cutting it out I have made the shirt fit better and also look cuter. Sometimes, that's all you need to do. This book taught me not to be scared of using my scissors. Many of the projects also have "no-sew" alternatives. Maybe you like a corset-style shirt, or you want to cinch up the sides of your favorite tee, but you don't want to sew? No problem. Instead of sewing up the sides, simply cut off a length of fabric from the bottom of your tee, poke some holes along the sides, and weave that length of fabric through the holes. Tada: No sewing! And if you're interested in doing a little bit of sewing, but have no idea how to start, the first chapter will take you through the basics. The writing and directions are easy to follow, so you should have no problems following along! There are so many cool things about this book, that the only way we'll get through them is if I just start listing them off, so:

1. There are places for you to write in this book. There is a place in the first chapter where it tells you how to properly take your measurements, and gives you a spot to jot them down.
2. There is a section toward the back of the book where you can sketch out your own ideas for how to alter t-shirts. There are pictures of plain tees already on there and you can just sketch away at them.
3. The projects are not limited to shirts. Yes, they all start with a t-shirt, but they may very well end up as skirts, arm warmers, quilts, or pillows. There is even a pattern for a wedding dress.
4. Speaking of "wedding dress," let's talk difficulty. This book contains a nice mix of patterns ranging from easy to challenging. The more challenging patterns, like the wedding dress, might be something you just work your way up to.

Wow! It sounds like you only have nice things to say about this book!

Well, not quite. I definitely have more great things to say about this book than bad ones. There are a couple of things I'm not super thrilled about, but they don't stop me from enjoying it. The first peeve I have with it is that none of the models look like me. Not at all. As I flip through the book, I get the sneaking suspicion that not a single one of these women is as short as I am (and I'm not exactly minuscule at 5'2", just fun-size), and my boobs are definitely bigger than all of theirs. This may seem like an odd thing to get annoyed at, but when the point of the book is to alter clothes to fit you, it'd be nice if you could see some of the items on a person that shares your body type. But the models are all models: mostly tall, all thin, all relatively compact in the chest area. Because of this, I can safely say that there are some patterns here that would only look good on models. That leads me to my second annoyance: the patterns are not universally usable. 

In any craft book, there will always be patterns or projects that are not your favorite, or that you simply have no interest in making. It happens. But I would like the option of being able to make the majority of them. I think I have 3 alterations, in a book of 108 things to do, that I really like and use on a regular basis. Some of these, again, just won't work for me because I find bras (at least sports bras) to be necessary. I'm not going to lie: I almost made the t-shirt wedding dress for my wedding. I absolutely adore the skirt, and the top was really nice also but it is not big boob friendly and I just couldn't come up with an alternative that would work for me. And there you have it: my only frustrations with this book. It is still well-worth the money I paid for it. I almost never bother buying t-shirts that are already fitted for women because I find it more fun to resize my own, and with Generation T I have the tools, inspiration, and encouragement I need to really make my tees my own.

That still sounds like fun! Anything else I should know about it?

Yes. While this book keeps total newbies who don't own a sewing machine in mind, some of these projects will move along a lot faster if you own a sewing machine (a basic one is fine, no need to get crazy), and know how to use it. Sewing things by hand is annoying.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves t-shirts, crafts, and has even a passing interest in sewing and altering their clothes. I would not recommend it for guys, though, since there aren't enough projects geared towards them to keep them entertained. Maybe you thought that was obvious, but I just wanted to make it really clear. There are actually a couple of patterns for things you could do, as a man, to alter your t-shirts but they consist primarily of just frankensteining a couple of them together. I think that's it. One pattern. Maybe two. 

And that's it, guys! I hope you enjoyed the review! Happy reading, crafting, and wearing!

Quick and Dirty: Owls

Owls as far as the eye
can see...

Pssst... Hey, guys! Look what I found! Another coloring book! I'm gonna review it!

Stephanie from Reading with Cupcakes recommended this to me a while back and, like a bad friend, I initially dismissed it. You see, while Owls appeared to be a cute book, it didn't have the level of minute detail that Lost Ocean or The Time Garden did. At least that's what I wrongly assumed... It doesn't have a cute little story to follow through the book, or myriads of hidden treasures to find and keep track of. It does, however, feature a myriad of owls with chaotic-creative backgrounds that beg to be colored in experimental and offbeat ways.

Story time!

Last weekend, I had a few friends over for tea. Since it was the first weekend of December, I figured we were close enough to Christmas to just go ahead and give them their gifts which happened to be coloring books (both from Creative Haven) and colored pencils (Crayola, of course). Our tea party thus included coloring, and I busted out Lost Ocean and my own colored pencils. Maybe two hours into this, one friend has colored three pages (she had markers, so could lay down color faster), my other friend had made excellent progress on her own page, and I was bogged down in all the tiny details of one part of my beautiful page. The rest of my page remained fairly white. Several days later, I'm still working on that single page. The moral of the story is, sometimes when you want to finish something, simplicity is key. So I went out and got myself Owls. And it's not that it's simple, really, so much as the details you're coloring are somewhat bigger and therefore you can lay color down a bit faster. Macro-coloring, as opposed to micro-coloring.

 

Another nice aspect to these books is that you can use markers with impunity! Remember how I mentioned my friend who blasted through three different pages in two hours? (The pages looked great, by the way!) She used markers, and made me super jealous. The markers bled through the backs of the page, but not on to the following page. Since all the pages in the book are one sided, it worked out! Did I mention that all the pages are tear-aways as well? So if you really like how you brought out that one thing's personality with your amazing coloring skills, you can take the page out, frame it, and show it off.

Overall, I like this book. I would recommend it to everyone. I'm using it to practice my coloring and blending, but if you just need something to chill with this is a great book to do it with. Enjoy, and happy coloring!

Unrelated to coloring note:

The last couple of weeks I shared with you some of my favorite crochet books along with examples of some things I've made. This week, I would like to briefly point out that some of those things are available for sale on my new Storenvy shop! Woohoo! So if you're curious about what else I may have made or you'd like a quirky toy or hat of your very own, please check out DapperFuzz on Storenvy. Thanks again and see you next week!