Monday, December 19, 2016

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!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway









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.

54 comments:

  1. Looks wonderful! Mum has a cat colouring book and I'd like to see her use it more.

    Purrs xx
    Athena

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  2. "All you need is love - and a cat" - I totally agree with those sentiments!

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  3. This looks great! I have some of those very detailed coloring books, and I do enjoy them, but sometimes they're just too uber-detailed for me.

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  4. I love coloring - always have. I've been fascinated with the recent onset of coloring books...especially the cat ones and have wanted one for ages. I've always held back because I know once I get started, I won't do anything else and I had too much else I had to get done! Now that I've finished writing Makin' Biscuits, I'd very much like a coloring break!

    Thank you for this sweet giveaway!

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  5. I recently "re-discovered" coloring again :) While I don't get a chance to do it often, it is relaxing!
    Glad you are enjoying it!
    Ear scritches to Cody!

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  6. I haven't colored in ages. I imagine it would be almost meditative and relaxing!

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  7. I think I would like this coloring book too. Thanks for the chance.
    Sue B

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  8. Why have I not heard about this book? I have a number of cat coloring books but always "need" more.

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  9. I'm in. My great granddaughter loves to color. Okay she loves all things artwork too.

    Have a purrfect day Cody. My best to your wonderful mom. ♥♥♥

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  10. What a great giveaway! And I agree, you don't have to stay in the lines!

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  11. Great giveaway! Just entered. Thank you and goodluck everyone! :)

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  12. Am not ready to jump on the coloring bandwagon yet, but this book looks very cute ! Nice photo of you posing with it, Cody!

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  13. We snoopervise our mom when she does her coloring.

    Emma and Buster

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    1. I do too!! I sit on the armrest on the couch next to Mom while she colors. I am mesmerized by the pen moving back and forth. Mom says it is almost scary how closely I watch her color. She thinks I am HER Dad reincarnated because I look like him, he was an artist....Mom thinks that is why I am obsessed with watching her color! Love, Cody

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  14. These looks so fun! And .... with cats! I'm a perfectionist, so the fun is often lost for me too ... but maybe it will be therapeutic?

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    1. They ARE fun!! Well, if you are like me...NO about being therapeutic....(KIDDING!!!! sort of lol!!!) Since you are a perfectionist you will be more like me I think. They ARE fun to do, but for example, I couldn't be less pleased with how my 3 above turned out. I DID rush though because I needed to get them done for the review. I also got frustrated when the ink ran out of a few of my pens. I have to get more. I think I learned I need back-ups lol.

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  15. I like this book! I find the detailed ones to stressful to color in - too many small spaces and I am not a neat colorer!

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    1. See? We are opposite! lol!!!!!! That being said I DO enjoy this book!

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  16. What a nice coloring book ! Good luck to our US and Canadian friends ! Purrs

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  17. I tend to doodle when I'm on the phone too. The book looks delightful and a fun way to relax.

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  18. Our Mom likes to color too and we love to help!

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  19. It's a darling book and I would be delighted to win one for my ever growing collection of cat coloring books! P.S. Your colorings were fab.

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    1. Julia you are MUCH TOO KIND!! OMG these I wasn't pleased with (my coloring I mean)..........for purposes of the review I had to rush.....I should have just done one and taken my time lol!!! It IS a darling book though! Wishing you the BEST of luck!!

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  20. Dat's really cool. Mommy's an artist too, and somewhat of a purrfectionist when it comes to art, but she does enjoy it and find it somewhat relaxin'. But mommy found out years ago, she was absent when God handed out da relax gene. Da doctors say mommy's mind and body don't unnerstand "relax" and she never does it. But she would luv to have a kitty color book so we've got our paws crossed. Big hugs fur all.

    Luv ya'

    Dezi and Raena

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  21. Great review and the coloring book looks like great fun.

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  22. How cute! These look like something Mommy would love.

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  23. Great review and what a great coloring book! Your mom did an awesome job coloring in and out of the lines! We entered because our mommy could use some coloring stress relief so we're crossing paws she wins!

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  24. You did a great job. I love to doodle too :)

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  25. Granny loves it, she hardly takes time to color anymore, but she gets in the mood after your review :) Great colorbook! Good Luck Pawkisses to all the entries :) <3

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  26. We love the colors you chose and that is some really good coloring. Mumsy used to doodle a lot but now she is in to all kinds of puzzles so doodling has fallen along the roadside. lol We wish all of you sweeties at CatChat a very Merry Christmas and Everything. Love the header. Hugs and nose kisses Pooh, Chancy and Mumsy

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    1. Thank you! It is strange that I did these at different times and used the same colors lol. Thanks so much! We love you ALL sooo much and we wish you the happiest of Christmases and nothing but the best in the New Year!!! xoxoxoxo

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  27. Great review! That looks like a fun colouring book! And yay for a raffle that we Canadians can enter! :)

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  28. Frodo and Zulu were impressed with your drawing! Naturally, Amarula thought she could do better ;)

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  29. I have always loved doodling too. When I'm bored at work (as a bookkeeper) I find myself coloring in the letters on bills and invoices...LOL (don't tell my boss). I think this looks like fun and since I definitely need to relax more I think it would be good for me too! :)

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  30. This looks like such a purrfect coloring book! I am so glad that coloring books aimed at adults have become a thing, because there really is something so relaxing about doodling. And you sure are fantastic at it!

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    1. It is a lot of fun!!!! I love that there are now coloring books for adults too! Thanks so much, maybe not "fantastic" but I am ok...except on these lol

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  31. That book looks adorable! I love that the drawings are not as detailed as some of the other coloring books I've seen. This would be great for a short, but fun coloring session. :)

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  32. This looks like great fun. Dad just bought himself a "how to draw cats" book and we look furward to our portraits

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  33. We think you did a great job and love the colors you chose. TW still doesn't have any cat coloring books because they all look so difficult and tedious.

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    1. Thanks so much!!! This one wasn't tedious because it doesn't have tons of detail. I actually prefer the more tedious ones because they are more challenging. That being said, having pens running out of ink is pretty challenging lol!!

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  34. Our mommy loves to color. We sure hope we can win one of these for her. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Angel Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

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  35. Thank you again, Cody and Caren! I can't wait to get mine and get started coloring! :)

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