Great minds think alike! Curious what categories are you thinking about?

Thanks for the feedback Kay. I appreciate hearing different perspectives. While this is primarily a gift guide, I made an effort to include beginner-friendly insights, such as detailed information on marker types and their uses. I aimed to strike a balance by keeping the video concise and approachable. Reflecting on your comment, the only area I can imagine may confuse a beginner is perhaps the differences between colored pencil types and formulas. If that’s what stood out to you, here’s a quick breakdown of popular colored pencil formulas for added clarity: Beginner-Friendly Tips on Colored Pencil Formulas: - Soft Core Pencils (some brands are more wax-based) Known for their vibrant color payoff and easy blending. Great for layering and creating smooth gradients. Examples: Prismacolor Premier, Arteza. - Hard Core Pencils (some brands are more oil-based) More precise and less prone to breaking, making them ideal for detailed work. Offers more control but may require more pressure or layers for bold color. Examples: Faber-Castell Polychromos, Caran d’Ache Pablo. - Water activated/soluble colored pencils Can be used dry or with water for a painterly effect. Perfect for mixed media and creating soft washes. Examples: Derwent Inktense, Faber-Castell Albrecht Dürer - Soft Pastel colored pencils These pencils are the pencil version of traditional soft pastels. They deliver velvety colors that are easy to blend, making them ideal for shading and creating soft gradients and textures. To preserve your artwork, use a fixative to prevent smudging. Examples: Stabilo CarbOthello, Faber-Castell Pitt Pasel Pencils.

Thanks Ellen, I think fineliners takes less time to add shading. :)

Thanks Ellen! I adore those garden hats. :)

Thanks Nona! RJ has a nice KZbin channel to follow color alongs.

Stamps from potatoes sound creative! The term some people say for gel pens is juicy (more liquid).. And the flair pens here are great for the cost but the best ones that don't dry out too fast are the Sakura gelly rolls.

Thank you! It was neat finding the ways to make diy art supplies. I knew of some of them but found a couple more for this video.

Thanks for the encouragement! I know I can finish this book with your amazing tutorials and color alongs too.

Ohhhh, nice suggestions thank you.!

Alfred in the last kingdom and other films was an impactful figure and mostly likely history in genetal

Thank you for your kind words! Coloring truly is a joyful escape, and I'm so glad that comes through in my videos. :D

Yes, definitely a hidden gem!

Hihi. I don't have the digital version so I can't search in the app to find them that way. So i had to sort by my own made up categories to make it easier to find them.

Thanks again Nona. :)

Yes! I was sad to hear about that. I preordered in spring 2024 so that's probably why I was able to get a copy. She does have 3 sets of winter themed coloring pages on the Hanna Karlzon Etsy store, but none are from the god Jul book.

I haven't read Anne's books yet but will check them out. I have tons of dragon books, though. I'm reorganizing again this weekend and will share a list with you soon!

Check into these to see what type of art style you like. Pretty sure I'm missing some I have in my book collection, but I skimmed my collection list and these stood out: - Coloring Dragons by John Howe (different type of coloring book, it's one of those long ones you keep opening to color) - Anne Stokes Artwork Coloring Book - Dreams of Dragons & Dragon by Kin Ravynne Phelan - Epic World of Tolkien by Editors of Thunder Bay Press - Dragonology by Douglas Carrel (this one is neat it has "the types" of dragons) - Epic World of Tolkien by Thunder Bay Press - Realm of the Dragonborn by Jokia (Inspired by the Skyrim video game that has dragons) And, Selina Fenech has some dragon related books too, I haven't invested in any yet.

Aww didn't realize they raised young in the winter.

That's great! Did you pick up the digital version too? I haven't invested in it, I got the physical instead so I'm not sure the categories that are listed. Are there any neat categories?

@@JodyMoments As you might expect she put a lot of thought into her "key word" and "category" hot buttons. However, for someone who has put as much thought into this as you have, I doubt it would be useful to you. Things like "seasons" or "flowers"...like that (sadly for me no "trains" or "vintage aircraft!). Everybody has there own approach. I recommend the digital for beginners like me but like you I prefer the "hard copy". I do think you would find her pencil brand specific PDF's useful. You can find a card in the cube, look up that number in the pdf and it will give you the prismacolor pencil number for the colors on the card (or Faber Castile or brand x...forget exactly which ones she covers.)

Oh yeah that is super helpful advice! Thanks again.

Wonderful, I hope it helps.

Happy to help!

I shared the budget-friendly colored pencils here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZSwYYaXiKaepM0

Hi Melissa, I am so glad this helped you out. I think many of us can relate to purchasing items and barely using them. Here are some tips I follow to get more use out of such items. I hope you don’t mind me sharing: - First week: I dedicate the first 7 days to trying everything possible with the item. For color cubes, I focused on organizing and labeling the palettes in ways that made sense to me (e.g., by themes like futuristic, nature, etc.). I also removed palettes I knew I wouldn’t use, which helped me target specific projects. I also did this when my friend purchased me an instantpot, I selected 7 recipes and for 7 days I made something in it, and now I use it all of the time. - Keep it visible: Out of sight, out of mind is so sad but true. I make sure the cubes are always within reach, like on my desk, to encourage use. - Tie it to a project: I notice I use the cubes most during coloring challenges I make for myself or others create. They save time when I’m working with a set theme or trying something new. - Share or repurpose: If you end up finding that you aren't using them that much again. maybe a friend would like to borrow them for a while. It might inspire them until you want to revisit them. I hope this helps you in some way.

Thanks!

Sorry about that. I literally timed myself to see how long it took me to find and decide on a color pallette. Aftter waiting 3 months I finally did it. It helps when I am doing coloring challenges as I can get different color palettes and set aside the art supplies with each color palette set.

Great and that helps you too! 💖

Haven't done #7 one yet. I think I may go with some markers as there are a lot of gems. Lol

@ I might try to do this # in January, after Christmas!

@@Prettypages71 Yes, this is why I didnt make it "month" specific, figured it could be done anytime! I look forward to your completed pages for this challenge in January.

You were spot on! I'm about to upload my completed pages for this challenge and wow, that left hand challenge was so difficult!

That's a neat idea, I have heard people make some fabric bookmarks too. I have printed out some bookmarks that I made and some I grabbed from etsy to print on card stock, but they are all in my coloring books! Lol. I like picking some pages for each of my coloring books before I place them on the shelves. This helps me flip straight to it and consider to color it. It's a silly method I call "color at first sight", and it's crazy how even when I take those bookmarks out later, I have colored in those pages before the others in the book. Thanks for the tip.

Aww thanks! I'm still in the first year of adult coloring so I get intimated all of the time. But we can learn from others and that makes us better but I'd say experimenting and playtesting is how I learned... There is this neat book called Artists Way that reminds you that art is really about playing a lot with supplies and I tell everyone to read or listen to that book at the library. In fact you made me realize I need to put that in my unique gift video. But playtesting helps us identify mistakes and workarounds and some I shared in my coloring chronicle videos. You seem super knowledgeable about the coloring community. I bet you could have some great advice and can create your own Instagram or KZbin channel, that is, if you don't have them already. :)

@@JodyMoments Small world...I recently picked that book up and do the morning writing (about a month now). I realized a couple years ago that I had to give myself permission to be a bad sketcher in order to get better. Her book helps with that although Its a little, I dont know, I just have to take some of it with a grain of salt. Still, its a good recommendation. (And wow, first year...impressive.)

@dwhip49 ohhhh see this is exactly what I mean, you have a story to tell for sure. :) I was able to get to like 3 weeks of daily notes and it helped me a great deal with the loss of my mother a few years ago. So I do revisit the method of daily notes but still need to complete the different requests in the book. I'd love to see your sketches once you are rdy to share them

I made the older coloring project tracker available to download until I have some time to revise it: ko-fi.com/post/How-the-Coloring-Project-Tracker-was-Born-M4M2178HWS

Yes! I have my ohuhu markers set up with cool tones and another set is the warm tones and it helps me find the colors I need right away.

I do have a palette tracker for projects like a coloring challenge that I want to complete that month. There is a preview of it from months ago on my completed pages April video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/omrHoJJmpJuAnKc It's basically a type of project tracker that has areas to add the colors that I can repeat on different pages for the month. I also had an area for basecolors like using water colors or markers to color over that area with a colored pencil. It worked well too. Selecting 4 color palettes and making it stress free. If you think this will help you as well I can make a pdf for you to download for free. :) My older method is here, I filled out swatch charts for each coloring book palette, it was much more time-consuming than the 4-palettes project challenge I mentioned: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fnjZd3Rrapmneq8

@@JodyMoments I took a look and I think it or something similar would be useful, If you posted it for download I would probably download but I think posting it should be part of your plan rather than just because I am thrashing around with this. I think my next step is to take a look at those "Color Blocks(?) you mention in one of your videos for planning a pallet. I am all but done with my first page and I did not go in with a plan and it shows. Gotta start somewhere!

@dwhip49 ColorCubes are wonderful to get yourself focused and doing something with your hands, and there's also different color ranges on the back so you can get something similar. I took some time to work without them for at least 3 months then I invested in them. I like to use 2 cards that look nice together. But, there's also some free resources. You can search for "color palette Pinterest" and maybe the topic you are coloring. For instance, "jungle color palette pinterest", and that will get you some lovely palettes. Of course any google search will also give you some results. There's also a neat free app called PALETTE ROOM that allows you to take any photo or image you like and pull colors from it. play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=color.palette.pantone.photo.editor I have a Nordic coloring challenge for next month so I'll get that project tracker re-worked, to work for colored pencil / marker names or by projects (without the colored names) in the next week. Thanks for the encouragement! :)

That's sweet, do you have an Instagram or site with your drawings? I've been wanting to get back into that but may not have time until next year.

Wow, you are the first person to tell me that. I don't feel alone about it anymore. :) Glad you liked the video. I think I'll get another one up after the holidays.

@@JodyMoments you're definitely not alone in that! I've seen several reviews of them and none of them were good. I think maybe as a colouring pencil for kids they may not be too bad, but still, with the breakage problems and sharpening issues, they may frustrate a kid who just wants to colour. I look forward to your next video ! Happy Christmas 🎄

Yes, that Christmas coloring book is precious! It would be nice if she sold a page or two on her Etsy to help those in the states await the release!

I'm so glad you enjoyed this list. This has been a long-time list I've been wanting to do, so it was nice to get it all in one place to refer family and friends anytime of the year (not just holidays, thank you gifts, and birthdays too!). Here's the gift guide playlist, so you can find it easy under playlist tab the next time you visit. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWaqfYRjfbh1e9U Quality of paper is essential to give us all different experiences, but there's some illustrators that dont have access to publishers or investors early on. But of course if they get successful, maybe they will produce the better quality paper books for us. That's my hope anyway to help guide the way for our hand-drawn and digital illustrators better visibility to get us some nice quality books.

Ohh! The only thing I can think of is the poldark coloring book maybe? I have that book and oh and there is one other book let me find it. I also just shared my gift guide for other historical books if you want more ideas. I look everywhere for adult coloring books even thrift stores. I made a list too on my Kofi too. The bottom of the gift guide has a full store list.

This one might also work for you? Color me enchanted more whimsical and historical www.etsy.com/listing/1618881651/signed-color-me-enchanted-a-coloring

Aww thanks so much! Yep that's my voice, but what you didn't hear was the moments I was coughing to make that voiceover last year while being sick. Had to edit that out. Doing much better these days. But if you check my earlier videos you can kind of hear it. :)

@@JodyMoments I most certenly checked your other videos.. (at least some of them). You have a truly incredible voice! Might just use your channel now and then when i need background noise.. ^^ .

Thanks again!

@@vikingjack9994 Thanks again!

Yes, when I zoom in that can get choppy as my hand can wiggle at times. I am working to improve it though, thanks for your honesty!

@JodyMoments ❤️❤️❤️

Thanks so much Nona! I liked your latest video about finishing the sentences. I showed my family and they attempted to finish the sentences with you and Jim. You are the first to talk about the dolls! These are Madame Alexander dolls, so they have a lot of history and a nice reputation. Hanna Karlzon is one of my favourites as you can tell, but RJ Hampson and many others are also getting my attention these days. I am working on an adult coloring book gift guide so you'll see even more amazing illustrators soon!

I think brutfuner and swukonaet are more oil based. Did I miss others? Thanks for your tip!

Thanks for checking it out! It's been a lovely first year trying new things and meeting people like you.