Coloring Book Give-Away! All You Need Is Love...and a Cat: (Doodle Art Alley Books) (Volume 12) by Samantha Snyder (10 Winners! U.S. and Canada)

"Color Your Way to Fun, Inspiration and Relaxation"

I am a "doodler" from way back.  If  you are like me, often when you are on the phone or just daydreaming you have a note pad by your side, and you find yourself absent-mindedly making "doodles." A "doodle" may be scribbles, random lines and shapes which at first glance you may think  have no meaning or significance. I love to color and already have amassed quite an array of coloring books to indulge myself. I began coloring a few months ago when I read something that advised people to remember something from their childhood that they used to do all of the time that made them happy. For me, from as far back as I can remember, as soon as I could hold a crayon, I was either coloring, or drawing, or both.

When offered the opportunity to review All You Need Is Love...and a Cat by Samantha Snyder, I jumped at the chance!

Explore the art of doodling!!  Think your doodles are insignificant? Think again! Take a look at your doodles and with a little imagination, beautiful pictures can be created. FROM DOODLE ART ALLEY BOOKS:"Geometric and abstract designs along with wonderfully detailed art work can grow from one simple, single line. Even emotional and mental healing can stem from a tiny little mark. The ideas and creative pathways are endless."

FROM THE PUBLISHER:All You Need Is Love…and a Cat shares 50 doodle art images of inspiring proverbs, quotes, and sayings printed on one side of the page for all ages to color.

Quotes from famous authors include Robert Byrne, Charles Dickens, Robert A. Heinlein, Abraham Lincoln, Edgar Allen Poe, and Mark Twain. The book also includes proverbs and sayings from “Behind every great person is a great cat,” “Dogs have owners, cats have staff,” and “If stretching were wealth the cat would be rich” to “The cat is magical and the bringer of good luck” and “You will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats.”

Each doodle art image has been carefully selected to provide plenty of enjoyment, inspiration, and relaxation.

I absolutely LOVE the quotes in this book and to give you an idea of what this book is like I took some time Friday and Saturday night and colored a few for you. When I color, I prefer using gel tipped pens. I know some people like colored pencils, and yes, crayons, but I don't. I find I have more control with the gel tipped pens, as well as better color quality.

The problem I ran into was a number of my pens chose to run out of ink on each and every drawing I did! So, I improvised in many cases and blended.

Some people think that when you color you MUST stay within the lines that already exist on the drawing. (When I was approximately 5 yrs old I cherished my coloring books and crayons, if any of my friends dared to color outside of the lines in my books it would destroy me! I would hand them one of my old books! Oh YES I DID!) Well, having "grown up", (which is open to debate, but I digress...), I have changed my outlook on staying within the lines. You do not have to! On all of my drawings I added color outside of the lines  wherever I saw fit. If you look at the picture below, this cat has stripes...you can see the black line where the stripes end, I chose to add color outside of the stripes and I like how it came out.

I also noticed on each of my drawings I seemed to have stayed with the same color scheme, (bet a shrink would have a field day with that!), and wasn't cognizant of it  until I was done.

Now, don't forget I rushed through these for review purposes, candidly speaking I am not thrilled with how they came out overall. For this type of a book I might have done better using colored pencils. 

Coloring IS supposed to relax MOST people (the operative word being MOST). Because I was going to major in Art, and I take whatever I create quite seriously, for me, it isn't as relaxing as it is for most. I have to make sure that my colors are balanced, etc., (just one of many personal quirks.)

MY OPINION?

 I enjoyed All You Need Is Love...and a Cat and would color in it at the times  when I want to do coloring that is less detailed.  Many would prefer these drawings because they will be finished much faster than drawings in some other books would be. I do LOVE my books that have complex and detailed drawings to color, but  All You Need Is Love...and a Cat would also be one that I would turn to, more than likely, when I have limited blocks of time to color.

This book would make a great stocking stuffer, gift for someone in the hospital, someone who wants to begin coloring, someone who loves cats...well, it would make a great gift across the board!

104 pages

ISBN: 978-0997102185

Author Bio:

Samantha Snyder has been doodling her whole life. While teaching elementary school, she often drew up coloring pages and printables for her students and fellow teachers. She decided to start sharing her creations and in 2008, Doodle Art Alley was founded. Doodle Art Alley is dedicated to giving those squiggly lines the proper credit they deserve. Who would have thought that such a small and simple idea could possess so much potential? There are lots of fun art activities, tips and information to read through and enjoy.

Visit http://www.doodle-art-alley.com for hundreds of exciting doodles.

"Explore the Magic of Doodle Art"

GIVE-AWAY!!! Now THIS IS GENEROUS! The publisher is offering a copy of All You Need Is Love...and a Cat to TEN of my readers (who are 18 and over and reside either in the U.S. or Canada). An approximate $10 value. Because everyone is busy getting ready for the holidays, there will only be ONE MANDATORY ENTRY OPTION ON THE RAFFLECOPTER!!! Good luck!!

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I was not compensated for this review or give-away. I was sent a copy of All You Need Is Love...and a Cat in exchange for my always honest review.