Inkspirations Coloring Books Review + Giveaway!

 

Hey guys! Our last giveaway got a great response, so I’m really excited to unveil another fun coloring book review and giveaway!

This one will span the rest of April, and there will not be just one winner — there will be four, a winner each week! In addition to getting to choose from either of the available Inkspirations titles, the winners will each receive a mystery bonus gift courtesy of the Inkspirations team! The review is below, and make sure you get to the very bottom of the page to enter the giveaway.

Weekly drawings will be pulled from the full pool of entrants each Sunday through May 1st, so enter as soon as possible to have the best possible chance of winning! Good luck!!

I’m really thrilled to have the opportunity to introduce you to Inkspirations, a new line of inspiring and motivational coloring books. Every illustration inside is a unique, original piece of artwork by Judy Celement Wall, and is accompanied by an affirmation by Rokelle Lerner. Currently, two titles are available: Inkspirations for Recovery and Inkspirations for Women. Many other titles are also on the way!

Inkspirations for Recovery

Inkspirations for Recovery seeks to help individuals recovery from addiction, substance abuse, anxiety, or negative self-talk with positive and inspirational affirmations. Each coloring page has a quote and, often, an affirmation opposite. This book allows you to lay colors down to the page, letting your creativity go, while meditating on a positive sentiment and rebuilding your self esteem.

Here is one page, for example:

“The key to serenity is not in learning to accept others as much as it is learning to accept ourselves.” -Author Unknown

“I honor myself without searching for approval… Today I fully accept myself for who I am. I am enough. I no longer feel the need to have everyone else’s approval. Today I will related to others with the conviction that I have worth. If this isn’t natural for me, I will act as if it is. I will imagine myself as someone who feels self-worth. I am learning to love myself and do not need to please everyone. I approve of myself and I am at peace.”

I counted 32 pages to color, with affirmations on the back of the page so the pages are only to be colored on one side. There is both lay-flat binding and perforations on the pages, so whether you prefer to color inside a book or tear out a page, it is easy to do so. The paper is luxuriously thick, some of the thickest paper I’ve encountered in a coloring book, with a slight bit of glossiness to it. More on that later in my review!

The designs themselves are all original artwork by Judy Clement Wall. The book includes several hand-drawn mandalas, along with animals (birds, koi fish, an elephant, a lion, dolphins, cats, turtles and more) and a few nature scenes or objects like dream catchers and feathers. The style is very organic, with lots of Zentangle-esque doodles filling the page.

If you like the style of the samples above, the quality is there — you’ll love this book! Pick up your copy today, and enter the giveaway at the bottom of the page to get a chance at winning Inkspirations for Women (below) and a mystery bonus gift!

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Inkspirations for Women

Inkspirations for Women is here to help you unplug from your hectic life and unleash your creativity. Newly released in late March, this book features original artwork opposite quotes by a variety of well-respected individuals, mostly women. Sit down and color while meditating over positive and spiritual quotes by Anaïs Nin, Oprah Winfrey, and Audrey Hepburn, among many others.

Here are a few of the quotes included in the book:

“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” -Oprah Winfrey

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? -Marianne Williamson

There are 30 pages to color, with quotes printed opposite each page. Like Inkspirations for Recovery, there is both lay-flat binding and perforations on the pages, so whether you prefer to color inside a book or tear out a page, it is easy to do so. Also like the other title in this series, the paper is quite thick, with the slightest bit of gloss to the finish.

The designs, also by Judy Clement Wall, are all original designs and not stock from Shutterstock or anything like that. You’ll find plenty of mandalas, floral designs, paisley-style designs, hearts, animals, and garden scenes. I love the mermaid and her long, flowing hair!

If you like the style of the sample pages above, pick up a copy on Amazon to guarantee you’ll get it, and then be sure to enter the giveaway at the bottom of the page to potentially win Inkspirations for Recovery and a mystery bonus gift!

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Here are some of the other Inkspirations titles that are on the way (all available for preorder):

• Inkspirations for a Happy Heart
• Inkspirations for Everyday
• Inkspirations in the Garden
• Inkspirations for Christmas Joy
• Inkspirations Animal Kingdom
• Inkspirations Fruit of the Spirit
• Inkspirations for Cat Lovers

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Review: Inkspirations for Recovery

The Inkspirations team sent over a copy of Inkspirations for Recovery for me to review, and were kind enough to provide the free copies for this giveaway. Thanks, guys!

This book really feels high quality when you hold it in your hands. A lot of coloring books these days are mass-produced to meet the demands of the trend, but not Inkspirations. It has a thick, glossy, professional-looking cover and really feels substantial to hold.

Both inside covers and several pages at the beginning are printed in full color, with sample pages for inspiration as well as some advice for choosing, mixing, and pairing colors. There is a color wheel, along with explanations of warm vs. cool colors and complementary vs. analogous colors. There is even a page about color psychology. It feels like a really welcoming introduction to a book that draws you in with open arms.

The pages themselves are super heavy, honestly some of the thickest I have seen in a coloring book. I tested with both markers and colored pencils, and was delighted to see that absolutely NO marker bled through the back of the page. That’s definitely rare for a coloring book! The paper has a slight glossiness to it, which does make it take slightly longer to dry, but I suspect it also manages to “lock in” the color on one side so that you don’t get as many bleed through issues as non-glossy paper. Your results may vary (especially if you are using really heavy duty alcohol markers like Copics or Prismacolor art markers) but I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

One thing I would have liked to see in this book would have been a higher resolution printing or cleaner edges to the illustrations. I have a bad habit of leaning really close to the pages when I color (click here to learn more about coloring more ergonomically!), and as I did that I did notice that the edges of the lines were blurry in spots. This had no real effect on my coloring, and in fact made for a really “soft” look in the finished pages, but did at times make the process of coloring the pages feel a little inexact. Most of the lines do have some weight to them, so as long as you color through to the hard line, you shouldn’t have any problems.

Like I said above, I counted 32 pages to color, and the pages are perforated which made it easy for me to carefully tear out two pages to color. Here are the pages I tested out:

As soon as I saw the peacock page in this coloring book, I knew I would have to color it. I thought a blue/green/purple color scheme would be perfect, so I pulled out a gradient of shades from my pack of Staedtler triplus fineliners. For some of the larger spots of color, I also used my Tombow dual brush pens (available here in a 96 pack!).

Like I said above, the paper stood up amazingly well to the markers. Inkspirations says the paper can handle watercolors, so I am not surprised! The slight bit of glossiness in the paper did make the markers bead up a little and therefore take longer to dry, so I tried to work roughly from the top left to the bottom right. Since I am right-handed, this is the best way to color something without running my hand over anything I’ve already colored. If you are left-handed, you can do the same thing, just working from the top right to the bottom left.

I almost always listen to audiobooks while I color, and I got about an hour and a half into a book while I colored away at this page. If you want to give audiobooks a try (to make your coloring more productive, or just to enjoy a good book while you work!), click here to try an Audible trial (and get two free audiobooks!).

This is another of my favorite pages from Inkspirations for Recovery. Sure, I’ll dream some big dreams, please and thank you!

I used my Caran d’Ache Pablo colored pencils to color this page — you can see the well-worn tin up in the top right corner. I tried to stick to a slightly more limited color palette for this one, with alternating blues and pinks.

The paper, with its slight glossiness, has a really smooth feel while coloring. The organic feel of the illustration was really fun to fill with color.

The pencil sharpener and eraser I use are both by Staedtler. That bowl of pencil shavings is totally for show, by the way — the Staedtler sharpener keeps those neat and contained until I’m ready to toss them.

Overall, this book was a joy to color, and clearly well-made. I highly recommend that you pick up a copy if you enjoyed the sample images above! Also, make sure you enter the giveaway below!

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GIVEAWAY: Enter to win a free copy of one of the Inkspirations coloring books and a “mystery bonus prize”!

Now is the moment you’ve been waiting for! Click the options below to enter to win either Inkspirations for Recovery or Inkspirations for Women — your choice! A winner will be drawn each week in April!

Definitely make sure to follow and subscribe to Cleverpedia if you love coloring book giveaways, as there are more exciting giveaways on the horizon, and you will want to know about them! In addition to hearing about giveaways, you’ll get the scoop on great new coloring book releases, tips, interviews, and more. (Already follow me? Love it! Click the buttons below and you will receive the entries automatically!)

Also be sure to follow Inkspirations to stay in the loop about their future releases. Thanks again to the Inkspirations team for providing review and giveaway copies!

Win an Inkspirations coloring book of your choice! (Weekly winners in April!)

Thanks for entering — and good luck!!

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