Mermaids in Wonderland: 20 Postcards – A Review

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Mermaids in Wonderland: 20 Postcards is published by Harper Design and illustrated and kindly sent to me for review by Marco Chin. This is the second set of postcards by Marcos who previously illustrated the Fairies in Wonderland Postcards, this set is identical in format and therefore much of my review is the same, skip to the second paragraph for information about the content. This set of 20 postcards contains scaled down artwork from Marcos’s original Mermaids in Wonderland book which you can read my review of HERE. Each postcard is printed single-sided with a beautiful seahorse, a dotted stamp area and address lines on the back so that you can send them to family, friends and loved ones. The postcards are not perforated but are removable with a similar glue to that of note blocks which means they can be removed with a nice clean edge ready for sending or displaying, it also means the book lies nice and flat for colouring. The postcards are made of thick, white card which didn’t bleed at all with my water-based pens and only very lightly shadowed with alcohol markers! The line thickness remains spindly thin throughout which is somewhat problematic. I have very good vision for small, close things, and also have very good fine motor control but a few of the images on these postcards are so tiny that they’re almost impossible to colour and you’re certain to go over the edges. This is a shame because I’m a huge fan of the imagery and I just love the illustrations but scaling down the images to postcard size wasn’t the most sensible choice because it’s quite limiting. The postcards are beautiful to look at and would be gorgeous to send or display as they are but given that they’re sold as colouring postcards, I expect to be able to colour all of them and I will struggle to do that neatly with a few of them. That being said, the images are very beautiful and are definitely worth putting the time and effort into to get them perfect and if you don’t colour each section individually and colour over some off the pattern instead then a lot of the problem is alleviated.

The images chosen for these postcards are a good selection from the book and contain a number of beautiful mermaid images, as well as the crab, starfish, dolphins, shells and more, and unusually, 6 of the images have black backgrounds. There is a very good mixture of mermaids and creatures, though I would have liked to see a few more mermaids pictured, given the title, only 14 of the images actually contain mermaids. The riddles from the book aren’t added to this postcard book but a few of the images do contain letter keys which are fairly subtle and certainly don’t detract from the beauty of the images. The colouring book contains 4 removable postcards and these are identical to 4 within this set so if you have the book already you’ll be getting 16 new cards in this set and 4 that duplicate those in the colouring book.

In terms of mental health, I would recommend the majority of these postcards but you will need very good vision and fine motor control to enjoy them because they are extremely intricate and detailed. You will also need pretty good concentration and focus because these postcards take a surprisingly long time to colour given the size of them. They take less time to colour than the images in the book do but they’re still very time-consuming, however, this is great for distraction, each postcard is like a window into the mermaid world and if you let it, you can be really absorbed into it and away from any difficult symptoms or thoughts. All in all, I would recommend this postcard book to those of you with very good vision and fine motor control. The pictures are a challenge to colour because of the intricacy but they will look beautiful coloured and would be lovely to send to people, or frame and you could frame the uncoloured ones very nicely too. The card is lovely and thick and great for pens and pencils and it’s a nice format for these delicate images.

If you’d like to purchase a set they’re available here:
Amazon UK – Mermaids in Wonderland: 20 Postcards
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/Mermaids-in-Wonderland-20-Postcards-Marcos-Chin/9780062565662/?a_aid=colouringitmom

If you love the imagery but these are just too intricate why not take a peek at the original book:
Review – Mermaids in Wonderland Colouring Book
Amazon UK – Mermaids in Wonderland
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/Mermaids-in-Wonderland-Marcos-Chin/9780062465603/?a_aid=colouringitmom

Silent video flick-through of the whole book below.

The image below was coloured with Bic Marking Alcohol Markers and Promarker Alcohol Markers.

Magical Jungle: 36 Postcards to Colour and Send – A Review

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Magical Jungle: 36 Postcards to Colour and Send is published and was kindly sent to me to review by Virgin Books. It is with a heavy heart that I have to write a less than positive review of these postcards. I had high hopes for them after detailing my criticisms of the Lost Ocean Postcards and raising these issues with the publisher and hoped things would be changed, but when they arrived I’m afraid to say I was very disappointed. This set of postcards contains 36 scaled down images from Johanna Basford’s hugely successful Magical Jungle adult colouring book (reviewed by me here). Each postcard is printed single-sided with a leaf-outlined stamp space and space for an address (left blank with no lines) on the back so that you can send them to family, friends and loved ones. The postcards arrive in a sort of box that doesn’t have a top or bottom and opens out to reveal the postcards inside with three black images drawn in a white line from inside the book, in two designs. The cover is cream with beautiful gold accents and a scaled down version of the book cover. The postcards are attached to the inside back cover of this box and have a glue binding which isn’t attached to anything other than the cards, it’s very sticky on the outside and also not very hard or strong, after the first careful look through the postcards I had already loosened a few and by the fourth time looking through them over half had completely detached. I’ve only had this set for two days and I’ve already had to completely remove the glue binding because so many postcards had fallen out and they’re now all loose in the box-type cover which they fall out the bottom of.

This time there is only one size of set including 36 postcards rather than the 50 we were offered for Lost Ocean. Of my 36 postcards, one was duplicated meaning I got 36 postcards with 35 designs and of the duplicated cards, one had a printing error with a centimetre gap of unprinted design at the top (see photo below), I’ve been in touch with a fellow reviewer whose set also has the duplicate. Four of the postcards didn’t have the design printed centrally and were drastically shifted to one edge of the card (see photo below) and a further one had some text printing at the very top which I assume should have been cut off during manufacturing. The majority of the postcards are landscape and a few are portrait (7 including the duplicate image twice), they measure 16×11.2cm (a little smaller than the SG and EF postcards). Some are of the whole original image scaled down (8) and others are of sections of the original image that have been shrunk so there is a variety of intricacy levels from very intricate to virtually impossible to colour – the majority of the postcards are nowhere near the same size as the original illustrations with some being shrunk from 22.5cm across to just 9.5cm so you can imagine just how small these are. All but one of the designs are unique and they’re a beautiful selection of images from the book.

The postcards are made of thick, cream card which doesn’t bleed with water-based pens. The cards are a much yellower colour than the Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest Postcards and books. There were issues with white circles and patches on the Lost Ocean postcards which haven’t continued with this set, however, the card is identical and as before, water-based pens don’t colour smoothly or evenly and are repelled by the surface causing a much paler colour and a patchy appearance (see photo below – I will definitely be avoiding pens on these cards because of this). The postcards are lightly textured but don’t take pencils well, when covering larger areas the pencils almost clump and won’t apply smoothly, no matter what brand I’ve used, and it’s difficult to get smooth coverage over any size of area. I’ve found my Holbein pencils the best on this card but even they struggle and burnish quickly. There isn’t much space within the designs to blend or shade unless you want to colour over the lines. The line thickness is spindly thin, I have very good vision for small, close things, and also have very good fine motor control but many of the images on these postcards are so tiny that they’re almost impossible to colour and I went over the lines a number of times on my card which was one of the larger designs. Fineliners would be best to colour such intricate images but can’t be used due to being repelled so you’ll need some super sharp pencils and patience to colour slowly and sharpen very regularly. It’s such a shame because I’m a huge fan of Johanna’s images and I just love her books but scaling down the images to postcard size really wasn’t a sensible choice because it’s so limiting. The postcards are beautiful to look at and would be gorgeous to send or display as they are but given that they’re sold as colouring postcards, I expect to be able to colour them and I just haven’t found that possible to do as neatly as I’d like to. I had assumed that the images would include full-size zoomed in sections of the original images so that you can still blend and shade with pencils but because the images have been shrunk, many of them are just too small to colour (see the photos below where I’ve shown a 0.4mm Stabilo nib for scale).

Unfortunately, from a mental health perspective I really can’t recommend these, I really struggled to colour them and found it quite stressful because I just couldn’t get it to look right. They require a huge amount of concentration and while they’re less intricate than the majority of the Lost Ocean postcards, this is because Magical Jungle was Johanna’s least intricate and detailed book and therefore had larger spaces but when scaled down this doesn’t make a huge difference. Though they’re really interesting to look at, I would have to say that they’re really not well designed for colouring (I coloured one of the largest, least detailed images and still really struggled). All in all, I’m afraid I’m really disappointed. It’s such a shame these postcards didn’t follow the format of the Secret Garden Postcards, or those of Millie Marrotta’s Animal Kingdom and Tropical Wonderland which had very few uncolourable images due to them being zoomed in sections of the illustrations, a much more sensible and usable format. My recommendation would be to get the book of Magical Jungle instead, this is a fairly expensive set of postcards when you factor in that many of them aren’t colourable. These postcards would look beautiful framed as they are but for me, they’re just not suitable for colouring, a real shame!

If you’d still like to purchase them or view them online, they can be found here.
Amazon UK – Magical Jungle: 36 Postcards to Colour and Send
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/Magical-Jungle-Johann-Basford/9780753548158/?a_aid=colouringitmom

The book of Magical Jungle can be found here:
Review – Magical Jungle
Amazon UK – Magical Jungle
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/Magical-Jungle-Johann-Basford/9780753557167/?a_aid=colouringitmom

The image below was coloured using Holbein Artist’s Colored Pencils and blended with a Caran d’Ache Blender Pencil.

Birdtopia: 20 Colour-In Postcards – A Review

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Birdtopia: 20 Colour-In Postcards are published and kindly sent to me to review by Laurence King Publishing. These postcards are of illustrations taken from the Birdtopia Colouring Book which was one of the most unusually formatted books I’ve ever seen during my time reviewing. This postcard book is paperback with card covers made of the same card as the postcards themselves, it’s bound with beautiful red tape creating a lay-flat binding meaning you can reach all of the edges when colouring. Each of the 20 postcards have a thin lined border around them and the main background of each is printed in cream, just like the original book, with white backgrounds for all of the colourable sections on the birds and plants. The card itself is white, thick, and lightly textured, it’s a little tricky to build up layers with pencils but patience helps and it doesn’t bleed, shadow or spread with water-based pens; alcohol pens will heavily shadow and bleed to the back but won’t bleed through onto the next design though do always pop a protective sheet behind your work, just in case! The binding allows the postcards to be kept in the book if you’re careful not to twist the spine, or remove them if you wish for gifting or framing. All of the postcards are portrait orientation apart from one landscape image. The illustrations themselves are all taken directly from the book with very little editing of the content, a few are drastically reduced in size, others are smaller but much closer to the original size, none appear to be larger. On the reverse of each postcard is space to write, four address lines and a beautiful floral bordered space for a postage stamp, in the bottom left corner (when looking at the back in a landscape orientation) the birds illustrated are named so that if you wish to colour them realistically you can. Each image contains one, or more, birds and usually a plant of some kind so there is a good variety and plenty of interest in each picture. Some of the birds include the European Robin, the Plate-Billed Mountain Toucan, the Pileated Woodpecker, and Chilean Flamingo, there is a good range of British and exotic birds to suit all tastes.

In terms of mental health, these postcards make the ideal manageable project, they’re small enough to manage in one sitting but the images are also made up of lots of component parts so you could colour just one section if you wish. The line thickness is spindly thin throughout and you will have to have very sharp pencils or fineliners to avoid going over the lines. The intricacy and detail levels vary a little but all of the postcards have high to very high levels of intricacy so you will need exceedingly good vision and fine motor control to enjoy these as the majority of the images are printed on a much smaller scale than in the original book. The content of the images is very natural and realistic and I found it quite calming just looking through the images let alone actually colouring them, the illustrations are very good at grounding you. Because the drawings are of real birds and flowers and the birds are all identified, it’s easy to look up the colours of each and colour them realistically if you wish so that you don’t have to worry about choosing colour schemes when you’re feeling stressed or anxious.

I would highly recommend these postcards to bird-lovers and those who love to colour nature and natural images, who don’t mind a bit of the surreal. The images are beautifully drawn and if the cream background doesn’t bother you then this book is sure to be a winner and the card quality is great!

If you’d like to purchase a copy of the book, it’s available here:
Amazon UK – Birdtopia: 20 Colour-In Postcards
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/Birdtopia/9781780679419/?a_aid=colouringitmom

Silent Video Flick Through

The image below was coloured using Holbein Artists’ Colored Pencils.

Magisk Gryning 20 Vykort (Magical Dawn 20 Postcards) – A Review

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Magisk Gryning 20 Vykort are illustrated by Hanna Karlzon, and published and kindly sent to me to review by Pagina Förlag. These postcards are taken from Hanna’s original colouring book Magisk Gryning/Magical Dawn (reviewed by me here), there is also an artist’s edition available. This postcard book contains 20 postcards, it’s paperback with thick card covers and a black tape binding. The cover is the same colour and design as the original book but printed on a smaller scale with the same luxurious gold foil accents. The book has a lay flat binding meaning there is no spine to contend with so you’re able to reach and colour the entirety of the image; the postcards are easy to remove if you wish so they can be sent or gifted or even framed but they’ll stay in the book as long as you’re careful not to twist the spine. The cards are a cream colour which looks quite vintage, it’s fairly smooth with a light texture and is perfect for blending and shading with pencils but pens glide over it seamlessly too. Alcohol markers won’t bleed if you’re careful and they don’t spread, they do shadow onto the reverse so bear this in mind if you’re wanting to write on the back. The postcards are printed single-sided and on the reverse are printed three address lines and space for a stamp with a little star motif within it. The drawings mostly have a small border around them but 6 are full page, they will be pretty easy to frame if you wish to do so. The illustrations are all very similar to those used in the Daydreams and Winter Dreams postcard sets in terms of intricacy level and content, none are impossible to colour and all will look beautiful when finished. The images are mostly nature-based but a number of them are magic-themed and for the second time Hanna has included female drawings, four have been included this time which is a lovely addition. There aren’t a lot of gems in this selection but the illustrations do contain a really good variety of things from birds to potion bottles, jewellery to cats, females to sand timers and beetles to flowers, this postcard set possibly contains the widest ranging content of all of Hanna’s postcards. They’ve all got a bit of added whimsy and fantasy which is a huge part of what gives Hanna’s images such charm and sets them apart from others, they’re just beautiful, even without colour added!

In terms of mental health, these postcards are just perfect! Postcards offer a smaller project which is less daunting to start and takes far less time to make progress on or finish than a full book page. The card is ideal for using any mediums and because they’re single-sided they’re perfect for framing so you can brighten up your darker days by just looking at all of the wonderful pages you’ve created, a great way of lifting your spirits. These postcards are fantasy-based which means they offer great escapism and distraction from difficult thoughts or symptoms, Hanna’s images really absorb you and transport you to far off lands and magical places. Fantasy images are great for those of you who don’t like being restricted with colour schemes and they’re a good challenge for those of you who like to colour things realistically as you can really let your hair down and use any colours you fancy for feline princesses or crystal mushrooms, there’s no right or wrong colour scheme and often the more vibrant and outlandish you go, the better the results! The line thickness is consistently thin throughout but it’s not spindly thin. The intricacy and detail levels are pretty high but none of the spaces are impossible to colour. You will need fairly good vision and fine motor control to get the most out of these postcards. As for concentration level, these pages are ideal because their smaller size means they take less concentration and you can focus on individual aspects if you prefer and colour just one gem or potion bottle rather than focusing on the whole picture at once. These postcards are ideal for good and bad days, they’re a manageable size and I personally find them very inspiring and easy to get into without having to stress over colours for hours, I can just dive right in. If you need any inspiration then just search online using Hanna’s name or the book title and you’ll find heaps of ideas to get you going!

Overall, I would highly recommend these postcards, they’re all beautifully illustrated and they’re perfect for days when you’re feeling poorly, down, or your concentration is waning. They make an ideal project to send to others, to frame, or to keep in the book and they’re truly beautiful even just to look through uncoloured! They are a great format for Hanna’s drawings and even if you have the original colouring book, it doesn’t feel samey or stale despite containing the same imagery, the change in scale somehow makes the artwork seem different and lends itself to different colour schemes and the use of different mediums and techniques.

If you’d like to purchase a set they’re available here:
Pen Store – https://www.penstore.com/art-design/magisk-gryning-20-postcards-to-color
Bokus – http://www.bokus.com/bok/9789163612831/magisk-gryning-20-vykort-att-farglagga/

Or you can pre-order the English language version, published in April, here:
Amazon UK – Magical Dawn 20 Postcards
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/Magical-Dawn-20-Postcards-Hann-Karlzon/9781423646617/?a_aid=colouringitmom

The image below was coloured using Sharpie Fine Point Alcohol Markers and a few Promarker Alcohol Markers and the white highlights were added using a White Sakura Gelly Roll Gel Pen.

Vinternatt 20 Vykort (Winter Night 20 Postcards) – A Review

Vinternatt Postcards are illustrated by Hanna Karlzon, and published and kindly sent to me to review by Pagina Förlag. These postcards are not taken from a book and have been published as a standalone postcard set and Hanna has categorically stated that there are no plans to turn these, or her other winter-themed postcard set, Vinterdrommar/Winter Dreams, into a full length colouring book. This postcard book contains 20 postcards, it’s paperback with thick card covers and a black tape binding. The cover is a pale blue with an illustration from inside the book with beautiful silver foiling accents and writing on the spine. The book has a lay flat binding meaning there is no spine to contend with so you’re able to reach and colour the entirety of the image; the postcards are easy to remove if you wish so they can be sent or gifted or even framed but they’ll stay in the book as long as you’re careful not to twist the spine. The cards are a cream colour which looks quite vintage, it’s fairly smooth with a light texture and is perfect for blending and shading with pencils but pens glide over it seamlessly too. Alcohol markers won’t bleed if you’re careful and they don’t spread, they do shadow onto the reverse so bear this in mind if you’re wanting to write on the back. The postcards are printed single-sided and on the reverse are printed three address lines and space for a stamp with little star doodles within it. The drawings mostly have a small border around them but 4 are full page, they will be pretty easy to frame if you wish to do so. The illustrations are all very similar to those used in the Daydreams and Winter Dreams postcard sets in terms of intricacy level and content, none are impossible to colour and all will look beautiful when finished. The images are very nature-based and for the first time in a postcard set two of Hanna’s female drawings have been included which is a lovely addition. There are a good number of gems which many of you will know I’m a huge fan of colouring and the illustrations also include lots of birds, stars, a cat, candles, a crown, a beautiful house, lanterns, a beetle and more. They’ve all got a bit of added whimsy and fantasy which is a huge part of what gives Hanna’s images such charm and sets them apart from others. These images are all winter themed with a real Nordic style to them, there’s nothing Christmas-themed in this book and if you’re looking for that then I’d recommend the Vinterdrommar/Winter Dreams set, this set is very bird and star heavy and it’s really ornate and highly decorated.

In terms of mental health, these postcards are just perfect! Postcards offer a smaller project which is less daunting to start and takes far less time to make progress on or finish than a full book page. The card is ideal for using any mediums and because they’re single-sided they’re perfect for framing so you can brighten up your darker days by just looking at all of the wonderful pages you’ve created, a great way of lifting your spirits. These postcards are nature-based and I find this the best thing for mental health as they’re very calming and peaceful and if you struggle to conjure up colour palette ideas you can just go with the one nature already created or spice things up a little if you’re feeling brave. The line thickness is consistently thin throughout but it’s not spindly thin. The intricacy and detail levels are pretty high but none of the spaces are impossible to colour. You will need fairly good vision and fine motor control to get the most out of these postcards. As for concentration level, these pages are ideal because their smaller size means they take less concentration and you can focus on individual aspects if you prefer and colour just one star or bird rather than focusing on the whole picture at once. These postcards are ideal for good and bad days, they’re a manageable size and I personally find them very inspiring and easy to get into without having to stress over colours for hours, I can just dive right in. If you need any inspiration then just search online using Hanna’s name or the book title and you’ll find heaps of ideas to get you going!

Overall, I would highly recommend these postcards, they’re all beautifully illustrated and they’re perfect for days when you’re feeling poorly, down, or your concentration is waning. They make an ideal project to send to others, to frame, or to keep in the book and they’re truly beautiful even just to look through uncoloured!

If you’d like to purchase a set they’re available here:
Pen Store – https://www.penstore.com/art-design/vinternatt-20-postcards-to-color
Bokus – http://www.bokus.com/bok/9789163612664/vinternatt-20-vykort-att-farglagga/

The image below was coloured using Holbein Artists’ Colored Pencils, the background was coloured using a black Sharpie and the white highlights were added using a White Sakura Gelly Roll Gel Pen.

I Bring You Flowers: 20 Greetings Cards to Colour – A Review

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
I Bring You Flowers is published and very kindly sent to me by Print Works, an imprint of Pagina Förlag. This book is illustrated by Maria Trolle who illustrated the hugely successful Blomstermandala. This is a postcard book (the description states greetings cards but they’re actually postcards), it’s standard size with a lilac tape binding and black covers with a design from inside on the front cover with pinky-silvery foiling accents. The postcards have a standard lay-flat binding meaning the book opens completely flat without needing to be held and you can reach the entirety of the page to colour it, it also means you can remove the postcards to gift to others if you wish but they do stay put if you’re careful not to twist the binding. They are printed onto thick card which is a light cream colour (all postcard books from Pagina are printed on the same card), and lightly textured, water-based pens don’t bleed at all and alcohol markers only started to shadow after a number of layers were added, they didn’t spread sideways so these are perfect for users of alcohol-markers. The card isn’t very textured so you may struggle a little with blending and shading with coloured pencils though Prismacolor Premiers work pretty well. Each postcard is printed single-sided with a small co-ordinating motif at the bottom on the back with the publishing information. Of the 20 cards, 14 of them have written greetings on them (all written in English), the others have space for your own greeting, these greetings include Congratulations, Thank You, Happy Birthday, Love You, and more. Every other card has a black background which is a lovely feature as it really shows up the colours, with no need to add your own background! The images themselves are very similar to those found in Blomstermandala so fans of that book will love these cards. The illustrations are very floral, and nature-inspired with lots of leaves, flowers and animals. All of the linework is black apart from two of the images which are a paler colour I’m not quite sure why, this doesn’t affect enjoyment or colouring ability though. All but one of the postcards are portrait orientation.

In terms of mental health, this postcard book is lovely. As many of my readers will know, I am completely in love with postcards, they make the perfect small project for those days when you’re feeling really poorly, or your concentration isn’t good. These postcards have just the right amount of imagery to keep you focused and distracted, without needing to spend hours on them or be thinking particularly clearly. The linework is consistently thin throughout and the intricacy and detail levels range from medium sized spaces to very small so you’ll definitely need good vision and fine motor control to enjoy these postcards, as well as some sharp pencils or decent fineliners. The images are a great size to get finished in a couple of hours if you use pens, or much longer if you want to blend and shade with pencils. They provide the perfect project to send to others, coloured or uncoloured, and they’d look beautiful attached to handmade cards, or even framed. The nature themes are lovely and really calming, looking through this book is like walking through a beautiful garden and as you turn the pages you can feel your anxiety ebbing away and your depression easing a little, I could anyway!

I would highly recommend these postcards to fans of Maria’s work, those who love natural images, and those who like small colouring projects to keep or send to others. These postcards are beautiful with no filler images and the black background on half of them is a lovely, unusual feature.

If you’d like to purchase a copy of this book it’s currently available here:
Pen Store – http://www.penstore.com/art-design/i-bring-you-flowers-20-greeting-cards-to-color
Bokus – http://www.bokus.com/bok/9789163612701/i-bring-you-flowers-20-greeting-cards-to-color/

It may also get picked up for English release by Gibbs Smith who will be publishing Maria’s book, Blomstermandala, in April which can be pre-ordered here:
Amazon UK – Twilight Garden
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Twilight-Garden-Coloring-Book-Mari-Trolle/9781423647065/?a_aid=colouringitmom

The image below was coloured using Sharpie alcohol markers.

Winter Dreams 20 Postcards – A Review

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Winter Dreams Postcards are illustrated by Hanna Karlzon, published by Gibbs Smith and are from my personal collection. These postcards are not taken from a book and have been published as a standalone postcard set and Hanna has categorically stated that there are no plans to turn these into a full length colouring book. This postcard book contains 20 postcards, it’s paperback with thick card covers and a black tape binding. The cover is a midnight blue with an illustration from inside the book with beautiful silver foiling accents and writing on the spine. The book has a lay flat binding meaning there is no spine to contend with so you’re able to reach and colour the entirety of the image; the postcards are easy to remove if you wish so they can be sent or gifted or even framed but they’ll stay in the book as long as you’re careful not to twist the spine. The cards are a cream colour which looks quite vintage, it’s fairly smooth with a light texture and is perfect for blending and shading with pencils but pens glide over it seamlessly too. Alcohol markers won’t bleed if you’re careful and they don’t spread. The postcards are printed single-sided and on the reverse are printed three address lines and space for a stamp with one of 3 little doodles within it. The drawings are either centralised or those that are full-page have a line border around them that’s just a couple of millimetres thick which would make framing them nice and easy without losing any of the image. The illustrations are all very similar to those used in the Daydreams postcard set in terms of intricacy level and content, none are impossible to colour and all will look beautiful when finished. The images are very nature-based and none of Hanna’s signature human drawings have been included. There also aren’t many gems at all. The illustrations include birds, reindeer, baubles, stars, a gingerbread house, snow globe, candles, lanterns, snowflakes and more. They’ve all got a bit of added whimsy and fantasy which is a huge part of what gives Hanna’s images such charm and sets them apart from others. These images are all winter and Christmas themed with a real Nordic style to them so you won’t find Father Christmas or Rudolph in sight but you will find some equally enchanting images inspired by Hanna’s homeland of Sweden.

In terms of mental health, these postcards are just perfect! Postcards offer a perfect smaller project which is less daunting to start and takes far less time to make progress on or finish than a full book page. The card is ideal for using any mediums and because they’re single-sided they’re perfect for framing so you can brighten up your darker days by just looking at all of the wonderful pages you’ve created, a great way of lifting your spirits. These postcards are nature-based and I find this the best thing for mental health as they’re very calming and peaceful and if you struggle to conjure up colour palette ideas you can just go with the one nature already created or spice things up a little if you’re feeling brave. The line thickness is consistently thin throughout but it’s not spindly thin. The intricacy and detail levels are pretty high but none of the spaces are impossible to colour. You will need fairly good vision and fine motor control to get the most out of these postcards. As for concentration level, these pages are ideal because their smaller size means they take less concentration and you can focus on individual aspects if you prefer and colour just one star or bauble rather than focusing on the whole picture at once. These postcards are ideal for good and bad days, they’re a manageable size and I personally find them very inspiring and easy to get into without having to stress over colours for hours, I can just dive right in. If you need any inspiration then just search online using Hanna’s name or the book title and you’ll find heaps of ideas to get you going!

Overall, I would highly recommend these postcards, they’re all beautifully illustrated and they’re perfect for days when you’re feeling poorly, down, or your concentration is waning. They make an ideal project to send to others, to frame, or to keep in the book and they’re truly beautiful even just to look through uncoloured!

If you’d like to purchase a set they’re available here:
Amazon UK – Winter Dreams Postcards
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Winter-Dreams-20-Postcards-Hann-Karlzon/9781423645603/?a_aid=colouringitmom

The image below was coloured using Stabilo Point 88 Fineliners and Stabilo 68 Fibre-tip pens.

Daydreams 20 Postcards – A Review

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Daydreams 20 Postcards are illustrated by Hanna Karlzon, published by Gibbs Smith and are from my personal collection. These postcards are taken from Hanna’s original colouring book Daydreams (reviewed by me here), there is also an artist’s edition available, reviewed by me here. This postcard book contains 20 postcards, it’s paperback with thick card covers and a black tape binding. The cover is the same colour and design as the original book but printed on a smaller scale with the same luxurious gold foil accents and writing on the spine. The book has a lay flat binding meaning there is no spine to contend with so you’re able to reach and colour the entirety of the image; the postcards are easy to remove if you wish so they can be sent or gifted or even framed but they’ll stay in the book as long as you’re careful not to twist the spine. The cards are a cream colour which looks quite vintage and matches the original book pages well, it’s fairly smooth with a light texture and is perfect for blending and shading with pencils but pens glide over it seamlessly too. Alcohol markers won’t bleed if you’re careful and they don’t spread. The postcards are printed single-sided and on the reverse are printed three address lines and space for a stamp with one of 5 little doodles within it. The drawings are either centralised or those that are full-page have a line border around them that’s just a couple of millimetres thick which would make framing them nice and easy without losing any of the image. The illustrations are all scaled down from the original book and while they are drastically decreased in size (see comparison photos with the book below), none are impossible to colour and all will look beautiful when finished. The image content is very nature-based and none of Hanna’s human drawings have been included. There also aren’t many gems at all. The illustrations include birds, insects, plants, flowers, leaves, buildings, rabbits and lots of underwater scenes and creatures. They’ve all got a bit of added whimsy and fantasy which is a huge part of what gives Hanna’s images such charm and sets them apart from others.

In terms of mental health, these postcards are just perfect! Postcards offer a perfect smaller project which is less daunting to start and takes far less time to make progress on or finish than a full book page. The card is ideal for using any mediums and because they’re single-sided they’re perfect for framing so you can brighten up your darker days by just looking at all of the wonderful pages you’ve created, a great way of lifting your spirits. These postcards are nature-based and I find this the best thing for mental health as they’re very calming and peaceful and if you struggle to conjure up colour palette ideas you can just go with the one nature already created or spice things up a little if you’re feeling brave. The line thickness is consistently thin throughout but it’s not spindly thin. The intricacy and detail levels are pretty high due to these images being scaled down from the book but none of the spaces are impossible to colour. You will need fairly good vision and fine motor control to get the most out of these postcards. As for concentration level, these pages are ideal because their smaller size means they take less concentration and you can focus on individual aspects if you prefer and colour just one bird or one dragonfly rather than focusing on the whole picture at once. These postcards are ideal for good and bad days, they’re a manageable size and I personally find them very inspiring and easy to get into without having to stress over colours for hours, I can just dive right in. If you need any inspiration then just search online using Hanna’s name or the book title and you’ll find heaps of ideas to get you going!

Overall, I would highly recommend these postcards, they’re a lovely new format using Hanna’s original illustrations and they’re perfect for days when you’re feeling poorly, down, or your concentration is waning. They make an ideal project to send to others, to frame, or to keep in the book and they’re truly beautiful even just to look through uncoloured!

If you’d like to purchase a set they’re available here:
Amazon UK – Daydreams 20 Postcards
Book Depository Worldwide – https://www.bookdepository.com/Daydreams-20-Postcards-Hanna-Karlzon/9781423645597/?a_aid=colouringitmom

The image below was coloured using Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils.

Millie Marotta’s Wild Savannah: 50 Colouring In Postcards – A Review

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Millie Marotta’s Wild Savannah: 50 Colouring In Postcards is published and kindly sent to me to review by Batsford Books. As many of you know, I’m a huge fan of Millie’s work and this set of postcards doesn’t disappoint! They come in a lovely presentation box made of very thick card and covered in the same green colour inside and out as the spine of the original edition of Wild Savannah (you can read my review of that book here) and a scaled down version of the cover, complete with gold foiling, on the front. There are two sets of postcards, one including 30 postcards and the larger set containing 50 which is the set I’m reviewing here (do check listings carefully to make sure you’re getting the set you want). As stated before, this set contains 50 postcards, I expected there to be some duplicates but they’re all different and all beautiful! Some of the postcards are portrait, others are landscape. Some are of the whole original image scaled down and others are of sections of the original image at the original size so there is a real variety of intricacy levels from intricate to VERY intricate – the majority of the postcards are the same size as the originals or thereabouts. A few of the images do look incredibly challenging to colour, especially those that are whole animals filled with flowers and leaves because they’re so teeny tiny. The postcards are all standard postcard size and are printed onto bright white, smooth, thick card which didn’t bleed or shadow at all when I used my water-based pens. The back is left completely blank with no address lines or anything and just the name of the book in the bottom left hand corner. These postcards would be ideal to send or frame or even be used for craft projects!

In terms of mental health, as with all of Millie’s illustrations, they are really calming and great for dealing with anxiety and low mood. Because all of the images are natural and animal based, they are great for relaxing you and the intricacy and detail levels are perfect for keeping you absorbed in the task and distracted from any difficult thoughts or feelings you may be having. The images used are a wonderful selection from the original images and I didn’t notice any of my personal favourites missing. The size of each image means that colouring one doesn’t have to take days and you could easily finish one in a couple of hours with pens or take a little more time with pencils and really get blending and shading. You could even practice some backgrounds on some of the images with larger open spaces. These postcards are definitely for those of you with good vision and fine motor control, as with Millie’s books, they’re very detailed and the linework is thin so there isn’t much room for error however, the majority are perfectly colourable for those of you that can cope with detail and thin lines and they’re ideal for those of you who are already fans of Millie’s work as they absolutely don’t disappoint. The postcards have a multitude of uses and can be coloured and kept in their beautiful presentation box, sent to friends and family (in an envelope to protect them whilst in the post), framed coloured or even uncoloured in single or multiple frames and could be incorporated into craft projects. They’re much more versatile than a book and there’s no need to worry about bleed-through because not only are they printed on thick card, they’re also single-sided. If you already have Millie’s books, these are the same illustrations as Wild Savannah, with no new additions, however, they don’t feel samey and are a really beautiful, new way of presenting the images and their versatility means that they’re almost given a new lease of life. These postcards were sent to me to review but even if they hadn’t been, I’d have bought them out of my own pocket (like I did with the Animal Kingdom postcards) despite already having a copy of the Wild Savannah book because they’re so lovely and have their own merits and uses.

I can’t recommend these postcards highly enough. I don’t know the difference between the 30 set and 50 set so I can’t advise whether getting both would be a good idea because it may be the case that the 50 set has 20 new images in comparison to the 30 set or they could both be completely different. My personal recommendation would be to get this, the larger set, because you’re getting so many more postcards for not a lot more money. The whole product feels luxurious from the gold foiling on the front to the green coloured inside and the golden ribbon that you can lift out the postcards with. The postcards are printed very crisply and no corners have been cut in production. This is a beautiful item that I’m so pleased I got to review because they’re just gorgeous!

If you’d like to purchase a set of postcards, they’re available here:
Amazon UK – Millie Marotta’s Wild Savannah: 50 Colouring In Postcards
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Millie-Marotts-Wild-Savannah-Millie-Marott/9781454710103/?a_aid=colouringitmom

The image below was coloured using Stabilo Point 88 Fineliners and Staedtler Triplus Fineliners.

Harry Potter Magical Creatures Postcard Colouring Book – A Review

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.
Harry Potter Magical Creatures Postcard Colouring Book is published and very kindly sent to me to review by Studio Press Publishing. This is the postcard book of the Harry Potter Magical Creatures Colouring Book, reviewed by me here. This book contains 20 postcards of single page images from the book that have been scaled down from the originals to fit on the 16.2x12cm pages. The postcards are standard size and have a lay flat binding which makes them easy to remove when you wish but is sturdy enough to keep the postcards in place while you’re colouring and for if you wish to keep them as a complete book. The covers are made of thick card with green tape down the spine, the cover image is the same as the original book so it’s easy to tell which postcard set matches which book. The back of each postcard has a patterned border (these vary a little throughout), an outline for a stamp and four address lines accented by a feather quill with a small varying symbol in the centre. Each of the 20 images is taken directly from the book and scaled down to fit the page rather than being smaller sections of the original design. The card itself is bright white and lightly textured (it’s a little different from the card used for the Harry Potter Postcard Colouring Book reviewed by me here), the card is fairly absorbent so when using water-based pens be careful of spreading and be aware that the colours appear a little darker than usual, I didn’t experience any bleed-through or shadowing at all. Pencil works well and you can build up plenty of layers or colour in blocks with no white tooth left. The images are printed single-sided and are a fairly good selection from the originals, only a couple of the images are the wallpaper-style patterned images which feel a bit like filler images, the rest are very good stand-alone images which you’ll love colouring! A great selection of creatures is depicted including centaurs, Buckbeak, Fluffy the three-headed dog, Fawkes the phoenix, Hedwig, and many more (all pages are photographed below).

In terms of mental health, this book doesn’t have an awful lot of impact on it unless you’re a Harry Potter Mega Fan in which case it’s likely to considerably lift your mood and give you hours and hours of distraction and enjoyment. If you enjoyed the Harry Potter Magical Creatures Colouring Book then you’re highly likely to enjoy these postcards and the different scale offers different opportunities for colouring the images again and being able to frame or gift them and they’re a much more manageable size for bad days when your concentration or focus are poor and you need a quick colouring fix. The images still take a fairly long time to colour if you want them to look realistic, especially if you use pencils but they’re considerably quicker than the book pages were. The line thickness varies but is a lot thinner than the book and ranges from medium to spindly thin but mostly it remains thin so you will definitely need good vision and fine motor control to get the most out of these postcards. There aren’t any pre-coloured inspiration images in this postcard book like there were in the original but you can easily google the creatures to find images of them from the films to work out exactly how to colour them so they look true to the film, or you can go it alone and try out your own colour schemes, it doesn’t have to be realistic, remember it’s a magical world! Some of the illustrations are very intricate and detailed and others are much simpler with larger open spaces so the postcards do have a variety of difficulty levels to accommodate your good and bad days.

I would highly recommend these postcards to Harry Potter fans and to fans of the Harry Potter Magical Creatures Colouring Book, they are great fun to colour and would be ideal to incorporate into craft projects, frame for a Harry Potter themed room, or gifting to others to share the magical love.

If you’d like to purchase a copy it’s available here:
Amazon UK – Harry Potter Magical Creatures Postcard Colouring Book
Book Depository Worldwide – http://www.bookdepository.com/Harry-Potter-Magical-Creatures-Postcard-Book-Warner-Bros/9781783705955/?a_aid=colouringitmom

The image below was coloured using Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils.