Get ready for the new year with an 
amazing free printable adult coloring calendar from Redefining Mom. This fabulous monthly calendar features 12 different abstract designs for you to color, including a few lovely mandalas.
You’ll need to provide your email address to gain access to the download, but it’s well worth it. I’ve already printed mine out and hung it in my office!
Thanks to Jade Bloom, even those of us on tight budgets can enjoy the benefits of essential oils. This unique oil company offers a great risk-free way to build your collection of oils. Jade Bloom University lets you watch instructional videos and take quizzes to earn points that you can redeem for the FREE essential oils of your choice.
Some of the topics covered include:
Each lesson includes a video that’s about 5 minutes long and a 10 question quiz you need to receive a perfect score on to advance to the next lesson. (You can take the quiz an unlimited number of times, so there’s no need to worry about what happens if you get distracted in the middle.)
Jade Bloom University is divided into four sections: Associates, Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate. You receive your points after completing each of the four sections. If you complete everything, you’ll earn 8,000 points that can be redeemed for $32 in free product credit.
To sweeten the deal, your points can be combined with the site’s other special offers. Shipping is free on orders of $10 or more, so there’s no added expense in that area either.
In my last order, I was able to redeem $16.20 of points and use a coupon code good for a free bottle of Ignite intimacy blend. When all was said and done, I learned several new facts about essential oils and received three bottles of essential oil for just $0.70 out of pocket! (I’m saving the rest of my points for a future purchase or a great sale — I haven’t decided quite yet.)
One of my favorite things about Prismacolors is how the pencils are easily labeled so you can keep track of what color schemes you’ve tried. This subtle palette is one I definitely plan on using again. It’s from the Prismacolor 72 count set, although I believe some of the colors might be found in smaller sets.
The pretty flower design is from Color Zen by Valentina Harper. I love the small size of this book — it’s perfect for experimenting without a huge time commitment.
When I color, I tend to use either colored pencils or markers — not both. However, Lindsay Weirich gets great results layering colored pencils over markers in this fabulous tutorial video.
If you still have gifts to wrap, here’s a unique idea for you: DIY coloring gift wrap. Take a printable coloring sheet, then cut and paste over plain gift wrap to give your package an interactive flair. It Happens in a Blink explains in greater detail.
I love this idea because it’s perfect for Christmas as well as birthdays and other special occasions, depending upon the design you select. If desired, you could even tie a couple of colored pencils to the package to play up the coloring theme even more.
Did you hear that Kate Middleton loves to color and is a fan of The Secret Garden? According to Mashable, Prince William recently told acclaimed illustrator and Order of the British Empire (OBE) recipient Johanna Basford that Kate enjoys coloring in her books.
The Duchess of Cambridge isn’t the only celebrity who loves to color either. Justin Beiber, Zooey Deschanel, and Nigella Lawson have all expressed their enthusiasm for the adult coloring craze — even going so far as to share their work on social media.
If you love how black backgrounds make adult coloring pages pop, you’ll love Sue Chastain’s newest book OrnaMENTALS: Lights Out. The 8 1/2″ x 11″ book includes 40 single sided pages with original illustrations on dramatic black backgrounds. Subjects include patterns, flowers, butterflies, hearts, leaves, snowflakes, and more with simple to moderately intricate levels of difficulty. Some of the illustrations in OrnaMENTALS: Lights Out are slightly remixed versions of the designs found in Sue’s earlier books, but the majority are completely new.
I’ve been using colored pencils on my pages, but glitter gel pens would be fabulous with this book. Using neon highlighters on the patterned images so they glow under a black night would be another fun technique to try.
You can purchase OrnaMENTALS: Lights Out on Amazon for $8.99. To see sample pages and a gallery of colored images, visit SuziQ Creations.
Gifts in a jar are a quick and easy way to show your appreciation, especially when you decorate the jars with images you’ve colored. I love to give gifts in a jar throughout the year. Since part of the charm is pretty presentation, I’ve been decorating my jars with images from Color Your Own Stickers: Inspirations. In the photo above, I used a gift tag sticker on the jar lid and a flower sticker for the front. The black and white patterned strip is washi tape and the jar itself is recycled from my kitchen. However, if you don’t have any color your own sticker books in your collection, you could easily print your favorite online freebies onto sticker paper and make your own stickers for this project.
What’s inside the jar itself? You can put almost anything you want into a jar for creative gift giving, but I’m making an all-natural salve with essential oils. This is such a fun and practical gift, since you can customize the scent to fit the recipient’s own unique preferences. It’s also perfect for helping you combat dry skin when you live in a colder climate. I keep a jar scented with lavender, sweet orange, and ylang ylang essential oils by my bed to apply on my feet and hands each night.
If you want to try this recipe at home, here’s what you need:
If your Black Friday wish list includes adult coloring books, you’re in luck!
Amazon is running a sale from now until November 28 to save $10 off $25 or more in book purchases with the promo code HOLIDAYBOOK.
This code will work with any print book purchase–including adult coloring books! To sweeten the deal, I found three titles with coupons that will work in combination with the $10 off code. (Valentina Harper is one of my favorite artists, so I purchased all three as an early Christmas present for myself!)
Creative Coloring: A Second Cup of Inspirations by Valentina Harper has a coupon to save $5 off the $8.36 list price.
Creative Coloring Flowers by Valentina Harper has a coupon to save an added 33% off the $6.53 list price.
Color Your Own Stickers: Nature by Valentina Harper has a coupon to save an added 33% off the list price of $7.70.
One reason why I haven’t been blogging much lately is that I recently experienced quite a few health problems. After multiple trips to the doctor and a hastily scheduled surgery, I’m on the mend. However, I was stuck in bed and rather miserable for several weeks.
During my time recuperating, Stress Less Coloring: Butterfly Gardens was my favorite book to color in. There’s just something about butterflies that makes me happy. Maybe it’s because they symbolize the ability to cope with change and come through stronger. Or perhaps it’s just that they’re bright and colorful. Either way, this book has over 100 different images of gorgeous butterflies for you to enjoy. Large butterflies, small butterflies, abstract butterflies, realistic butterflies — you’ll find it all in this title. Some of the pages even have butterflies hoovering over flower gardens for an added coloring challenge.
