Tag Archives: color by number

The Money Book – Coloring to Attract Wealth

March 26, 2020 PuzzlePaws 1 Comment

Some folks believe that by focusing their energy/minds on a subject, they can bring about the result they want. While I believe in the basic gist of Karma and such, I was skeptical that by coloring a page of wealth images, I could attract wealth to me. But I’m always up to try something new, and The Belba Family makes great coloring books, so I decided to give it a shot.

I was sent The Money Book Color-by-Number in December. before they changed the cover art from the piggy bank to the Maneki-neko. Both covers are super cute!

I have to admit that I love the images in this book. There are symbols and images of wealth from all over the world and each page has the color key. This book features single-sided sheets that are black on the back to prevent bleed through if you’re like me and enjoy using pens or markers.

This book has tons of fun images, and while I have only taken photos of a few, I can promise that there is something for everyone! My sister demanded to color the Maneki-neko.

I’ve been fighting illness all winter, both my own and my mom’s. Coloring has kept me sane. Even when I’m stuck in bed, I can still color. Mind you, if they think I should rest, my cats aren’t shy!

IMG_E7238 — Hurricane Enlil sits on my page to tell me to take a break!

The final two pictures are my personal favorites. I love anything to do with fish and aquariums, and Celtic knots and trees are a common theme in my non-blogging coloring.

The fish tank finally completed! Colored with Staedtler felt-tip markers.

Colored with Staedtler felt-tip markers.

Currently, I cannot say whether or not coloring in The Money Book has brought me wealth. However, I can say it has brought me entertainment and peace during a difficult time, and that is a wealth of its own.

Notes: I love the accessibility of this book. The price is affordable, and the color key is filled with colors that can be found with ease no matter what your favorite media; crayons, colored pencils, gel pens, markers or watercolors.

Disability Notes: I found the coloring book has designs large enough to accommodate nearly any coloring age group. Some designs are more complex than others, but all are delightful!

Where to buy: The Money Book is available at Amazon. The book’s MSRP is $8.99 USD. There is also a non-color-by-number version of the book available here.

Belba Family: Website / FaceBook / Instagram

Disclosure: I received this coloring book for free in exchange for a review. The opinions are my own. All art shown on this post is Copyright ©2019 Belba Family. The coloring is mine. All links are direct; I do not make money from them.

Thanks for reading, and please click the Follow Button under my profile on the right side of the page. To support posts like this in the future, consider joining my Patreon!

Coloring Book

Christmas & Travel Mosaics – How To Travel The World While You Color

December 17, 2019 PuzzlePaws Leave a comment

I’ve become enamored with color-by-number coloring books this year. I’ve tried a a few different brands, and one of my favorites so far is Belba Family. Their newest holiday book is a treat!

Christmas & Travel Mosaics lives up to its name. From religious to secular, you can celebrate winter holidays from around the world as you color.

I’m super impressed by the advances that Belba Family is making to their coloring books. In their first book, the only way to check the color/number key was on the back cover. Now, they have it printed on the edge of each page, and I cannot tell you how much nicer and easier it is.

I love the accessibility of this book. The price is affordable, and the color key is filled with colors that can be found with ease no matter what your favorite media; crayons, colored pencils, gel pens, markers or watercolors.

Disability Notes: I found the coloring book has designs large enough to accommodate nearly any coloring age group. Some designs are more complex than others, but all are delightful! If you have eye issues, you may have difficulty seeing the numbers as they are printed in a charcoal ink that is designed to blend into the colored page.

Where to buy: Christmas &Travel Mosaics is available at Amazon. The book’s MSRP is $9.99 USD. There is also a non-color by number version of the book available.

Belba Family: Website / FaceBook / Instagram

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Coloring Book

Traveling the World – Travel Mosaic

Quote August 30, 2019 PuzzlePaws Leave a comment

I’ve been traveling a lot this summer. While none of my destinations have been super exotic, I enjoy being new places and seeing new people. This week I’m in Atlanta, Georgia for DragonCon and I thought I’d share a new coloring book that’s been keeping me busy.

Travel Mosaic is a Color by Number coloring book by Belba Family, who also created the Animal Mosaic Book. This coloring book is fantastic!

There are 24 images of places and people from all over the world, done in a pop art sort of style.My sister, Little-Big really enjoyed this book. She did the majority of the coloring on some of the pages!

We both enjoyed the range of images and colors. I’ve found color by number books to be incredibly relaxing. All the colors are ones easily found in most crayon and colored pencil sets, and most marker sets as well.

Disability Notes: I found the coloring areas large enough to accommodate nearly any coloring age group, through a few pages have a higher level of difficulty than others. If you have eye issues, you may have difficulty seeing the numbers as they are printed in a charcoal ink that is designed to blend into the colored page.

Where to buy: Travel Mosaic is available at Amazon. The book’s MSRP is $7.99 USD.

Belba Family: Website / FaceBook / Instagram

Thanks for reading, and please click the Follow Button under my profile on the right side of the page. To support posts like this in the future, consider joining my Patreon!

Coloring Book, Uncategorized

Shark Week Blogiversary – Friday

August 4, 2019 PuzzlePaws 2 Comments

Return to Shark Island–

This episode was both interesting and problematic for me. I understand that reunion Island is having a higher than normal spike of fatal shark encounters; but at the same time, humans are in the water, which is where sharks live. The CRA Shark Protection Program is a great idea, as previously the government had sanctioned shark culling. CRA and Dr. Craig O’Connell implemented a new shark deterrent system, so we will most likely have another Shark island episode in next year’s Shark Week. This episode highlights the fact that it takes TIME to find solutions to problems.

Great White Kill Zone: Guadalupe –

I won’t lie, I’ve been a huge fan of Melissa Marquez’s ever since last year’s Shark Week. Lady got bitten by a crocodile doing shark research and kept going! This episode shows the fact that Great Whites can and do adapt their hunting strategies to their environment. While the title of the show is sensationalist, it is interesting that due to the unique geography of Guadalupe Island the sharks have to change their usual behavior in order to be successful. Dr. Yannis Papastamatiou has a wonderful way of explaining things to the layman shark enthusiast.

Monster Mako: Perfect Predator –

Another slightly problematic episode for me. I dislike the use of the term of “grander” Mako to describe the larger end of the Mako shark size spectrum. No other shark species has this designation. Some of the behavior of the crew is incredibly dangerous and immature when filming the Mako’s behavior. I honestly can’t tell what is natural behavior and what is baited behavior. I did like seeing Spinner Sharks and the cinematography was excellent. Focusing on a species other than Great Whites and Bull Sharks was gratifying.

Want a chance to win your own Shark puzzle? Giveaway Link: Here!

Today’s review is MindWare’s Color by Number Color Counts: Glitter Under the Sea. This is the other side to MindWare’s Mystery Mosaic Series of color by number books. Color Counts are done in a stained glass style, with larger coloring areas and an easy to see design. Like the Mystery Mosaics, Color counts features both 22 8×11 pictures as well as 8 double-fold 15×11 pages.

All of the pages are perforated, which makes removal easy. But, the best part, in my mind, is the fact that unlike Mystery Mosaics, Color Counts has duplicate images without the numbers! It is absolutely possible to color the same image twice, once using the numbers, and once by using your imagination!

Numbered page colored by me, Unnumbered page colored by Hime, age 10. Both images colored by using MindWare’s Colored Pencils Set.

While you will get excellent results using MindWare’s Colored Pencil Set, if you like Markers or crayons, it is totally possible to make great art! Every colorist has their preferences, and all are good, so long as you enjoy what you are doing!

Colored by Little-Big, using colored pencils

Colored by me using Staedtler Triplus Fineliners.

You did see that the title of the book is Glitter Under the Sea? The other nifty thing about this coloring book is that it comes with a tube of sparkle glitter glue. You can choose to use it or not on your images, but all of the numbered pages have sections where the number is followed by an asterisk(*). These let you know where to add sparkle!

I really think adding the glue made my pictures pop!

Disability Notes: Color Counts is a fantastic coloring book series to add to any colorist’s collection. The thick lines of the stained glass styling are forgiving of erroneous lines due to hand or eye issues. The larger coloring areas are just the right size for comfortable coloring, without over-stressing my hands. I find coloring CBN reduces my anxiety and relaxes me.

Where to buy: Color by Number Color Counts: Glitter Under the Sea and the 36 Colored Pencils Tin are available on the MindWare website. The book is $8.95 USD and the pencils are $19.99 USD. MindWare has tons of other Color Counts books are well as other coloring and activity books, so you’re sure to find something for nearly every taste!

MindWare : Website / FaceBook

Disclosure: I received this coloring book for free in exchange for a review. The opinions are my own. All art shown on this post is Copyright ©2019 MindWare Corporation. The coloring is mine. All links are direct; I do not make money from them.

Thanks for reading, and please click the Follow Button under my profile on the right side of the page. To support posts like this in the future, consider joining my Patreon!

Coloring Book, Coloring Supplies Reviews

Mystery Mosaics – Brainteaser and Coloring Zen!

July 13, 2019 PuzzlePaws 1 Comment

I saw a lot of awesome stuff at Toy Fair last winter, and the MindWare booth was right up there as one of my favorites. You see, MindWare specializes in “brainy toys for all ages”.

They have a ton of great activity and coloring books in their collection, and today I’m reviewing Color by Number Mystery Mosaics : Book 13. This book has 18 separate images, including 4 double-sized ones.

Bonus, unlike most color by number books, MindWare has created their own matched set of color pencils!! I won’t lie, this really is what excited me about the brand. I like color by number things, but hate digging out coloring supplies to match, much less trying to remember which number is what color! This 36 color pencil set not only comes in a sturdy tin travel box, but each pencil is labeled with both its color and the corresponding number! And! All the MindWare CBN books are standardized!

At first glance the pages looked super hard and I wasn’t sure I was up for this challenge!

But I decided to start small and focused on a single number and took it one row at a time.

Slowly but surely, my pattern grew!

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I really love these pencils! The colors are nice and bright( with the exception of #31 White Peach, which is too pale for my eyes); and they lay down smoothly. Having the prematched numbers took away all the stress, so I was able to fully enjoy coloring.

The above photo showing the camper is one of the 4 extra long coloring pages in the book. These 10 by 15 inch folded double spreads allows you to explore a larger image with great detail.

If you want to color with something other than the MindWare pencils, I colored this sunflower with basic Sharpies and it turned out great!

Disability Notes: I will admit that Mystery Mosaics is an advanced book, and may not be for everyone. You may not like it if you have eyesight issues or problems with fine motor skills. If you are a colorist who has anxiety about choosing colors, this set may be something to try! However, MindWare does have a set of color by number books called Color Counts that feature larger coloring areas. I’ll be reviewing one of those during my Shark Week special.

Where to buy: Mystery Mosaics: Book 13 and the 36 Colored Pencils Tin are available on the Mindware website. The book is $7.95 USD and the pencils are $19.99 USD. MindWare has tons of other Mystery Mosaic books are well as other coloring and activity books, so you’re sure to find something for nearly every taste!

MindWare : Website / FaceBook

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Coloring Book

Animal Mosaic – A Pop Art Color by Number

July 9, 2019 PuzzlePaws Leave a comment

Last weekend was great! I hung with new and old friends, ate great food and managed to find some much needed zen in the early mornings. Part of that zen was using those early hours before everyone else was up to listen to the birds as I colored.

I was approached by the Belba Family on Instagram after they saw my other review posts. Would I be interested in reviewing some of their books? I love small press coloring books, so of course, I jumped at the chance! I recieved both Animal Mosaic and Travel Mosaic (which I’ll be reviewing later) quickly through Amazon Shipping.

Animal Mosaic is a fun color by number coloring book that uses 18 classical colors and 4 additional shades, focusing on pop art styles. The pictures are divided into geometric shapes, large enough to color easily.

There are 24 individual images, each with their own names! I found this made a delightful detail, giving each picture a little personality.

I really enjoyed this book. The pages are single-sided, and blacked on the opposite side to prevent bleed-through. The smooth pages take color well, and the pop art styling makes me smile! Due to being small press, this book does not have perforated pages. That is only a minor inconvenience for me, as I prefer to detach my pages and color on a clipboard.

When I tested the pages with markers, I found that there was minimal bleed-through even when using Sharpies.

Colored with a mix of Sharpies and Brush Markers.

Where to buy: Animal Mosaic is available at Amazon. The book’s MSRP is $7.99 USD.

Belba Family: Website / FaceBook / Instagram

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Coloring Book

Sticker Mosaics, or Color by Number For Bad Days

March 18, 2019 PuzzlePaws Leave a comment

A friend of mine, Genie, shared her de-stress day routine one day last fall. She’d recommended a color by number sticker book. I was intrigued and started to search for something like that. I found Hinkler’s Kaleidoscope Sticker Mosaics : Flora & Fauna.

Sticker by Number is just like color by number….sort of. The designs are blocked into sections and numbered, and there is a mix of difficulty levels.

The stickers are labeled in their section at the back of the book. And the goal is to use the stickers to fill the blank spots.

There is a bit of a learning curve, while you can apply the stickers with your fingers, it’s not really ideal. Genie let me know that a good set of offset tweezers are my friend.

I found myself really enjoying working on this book. My only main complaint is that the adhesive on the stickers isn’t really strong, so I was having to deal with stickers that peel up.

My pictures came out so pretty!

Disability Notes: This is really a great coloring book if you have a wish to color on a low spoon/low energy day. The mix of simple/intermediate/ complex designs means that people with visual and mild motor control issues should be able to enjoy it. I found it to be great for a brain fog day when making decisions is difficult. It could also be handy to have in a hospital or go-bag.

Where to buy: Kaleidoscope Sticker Mosaics Flora & Fauna is currently out of stock at my local Barnes & Noble. It can still be found at Barnes & Noble, and online at Amazon, though the prices vary wildly.

Hinkler: Website / Facebook

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Coloring Book, Uncategorized

25 Days of XMAS – Day 3

December 3, 2018 PuzzlePaws Leave a comment

Hi guys! It’s Day 3 and a Monday, which is typically SC’s designated day off. Mondays are when I get house stuff done. However, I’m not feeling so hot (winter weather making my body ache), so today is about one of my favorite low-key activities.

I found Sunlife Drawing Company through a Facebook ad, of all things. It’s a small coloring book publisher who focuses on a particular type of coloring. All of us have done color by number at some point in our lives, and most adult colorists tend to ignore this style.

The Christmas Animal Quest and Animal Quest books are definitely NOT child’s play! The full-page single sided book has images made of thousands of tiny numbered hexagons on the coloring side, while the back is a white text on black background list of the colors needed for the opposite page. I have to admit, I loved this book!

I enjoyed the level of focus needed to match colors to numbers, and the freedom that not having to decide which color went where gave me. Also, each new color unveiled more of the image, keeping me guessing as to the subject matter for quite a while!

It’s a set of turtledoves and an angel! Super cute!

The reveal at the end was well worth it! Now, this is not a coloring project that goes quickly; and I did find out about halfway through that my progress would have went faster if I had chosen my colors ahead of time. Still, a perfect low impact activity for listening to Christmas carols on the radio and having a hot cup of tea.

Disability Notes: Due to the small size of the hexagons that make up the images, I can’t in good conscience recommend this coloring book for people with vision impairments or fine motor control issues. However! Sunlife Drawing does have a few books in their Mosaic series that have larger coloring areas!

Where to buy: Christmas Animal Quest Color by Number is available on Amazon for $8.99 USD.

Sunlife Drawing : Website / FaceBook

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Diamond Painting

Sparkling Kitty: Reviewing Diamond Art

November 19, 2018 PuzzlePaws Leave a comment

Like most of you, I have friends I’ve never met in person. Internet buddies, Facebook friends. One of my Facebook friends introduced me to the idea of trying diamond painting. It’s a new and growing craft activity that has much in common with puzzling and cross stitch. So I reached out, being the curious thing that I am, and got in contact with Leisure Arts who had just released a diamond kit line in September.

I was more than a little amazed by just how much stuff came in this little box!

The canvas is done much like a cross-stitch or latch-hook pattern, with color coding and symbols and the key on the side.

I’ll admit to making a few newbie mistakes, for one, I’m a VERY static person, so the plastic gems liked to explode out of their tray. SC ended up having to make me an anti-static band to wear. For two, I thought this would be quick and easy. Haha~! I got that partly right! It was easy once I got into the rhythm, but it was not quick. We’ve had several days of rain here in Virginia, and between my hands trying to gnarl up like I was 70 and basic Fibro grumpiness, this took me 4 days. Yeah… that’s where last Thursday’s post was. I’m a horrible human.

Zoomie was curious until she touched the sticky stuff!

I have to say, other than the beautiful bruise I formed on my left elbow from leaning on the table too long, I found the whole process to be incredibly meditative. SC got to see me doing the hyper focus thing that happens when I color, so he played video games over my head and we spent time in the same room, doing separate stuff. Don’t let tv lie to you, having different but equal hobbies can be good in a marriage! If SC was home all the time I would go crazy.

Last step! Using SC’s Grandmother’s rolling-pin to make sure the gems are firmly in place!

I don’t know if you can see it from the picture, but this is a sparkly kitty! I’m definitely adding a few of these kits to my Christmas wishlist!

QUALITY:

Box: Small, thin and compact, Easy storage
Image Quality: Excellent, great color saturation
Finish: Glittery without the glitter!
Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Gem Shapes: Round
Gem Fit: Very Good.

Disability Notes: I can definitely recommend this for a person whose hands have good and bad days. I started this on a good hand day, and the constant rains made my hands swell. Due to the mechanics of the gem-pen, I could easily continue working when my hands hurt, I just took more breaks. It took me 4 days of good concentration to complete this.

Where to buy: You can buy the White Cat at Leisure Arts’s website for $17.99 USD. Diamond Art by Leisure Arts is available at your local craft stores, like Joann Fabrics and Micheal’s.

Diamond Art by Leisure Arts : Website / FaceBook

Disclosure: I received a complimentary Diamond Kit from the manufacturer in exchange for review. The opinions are my own. All links are direct, I do not make money from them.

Thanks for reading, and please click the Follow Button under my profile on the right side of the page. To support posts like this in the future, consider joining my Patreon!

Little pieces make a bigger picture