Remember how much we all loved coloring books as kids? I was known to spend hour after hour coloring my little heart out happily and quietly. And now as a mother myself, I happily watch my kiddos embrace their love for coloring. But what about us mom/dads who still love to color? I know I still color with my kiddos regularly but I have to admit, I'm getting pretty darn tired of coloring Barbie and My Little Pony. There are only so many times an adult can color a kids colouring book until we start to get fed up.

Enter the rise of adult coloring books! Can we all say a giant collective woot woot! My inner colorist is super excited people! Coloring books for adults? Get out! I'm all over that! Even the kiddos were excited for mom to get her own coloring books (I guess they got tired of me vandalizing theirs). Bye bye Dora hello Lisa Congdon! 

Now if you take a look at some of the adult coloring books on the market there some that are just plain fun - but some have other purposes. Some are for helping to create calm and are geared to help your mind relax and de-stress. Those were the ones I was after. Since I started meditating a few months ago I have found countless suggestions to try adult colouring books of this kind. So over the last 2 months I've been scouring the internet looking for adult colouring books and supplies...yes, supplies. You know me - I had to have new markers too. You guys know how much I love my art supplies. 

I ended up ordering the Sakura Koi Watercolor Markers when they were on sale for my bday and really love them! With my new markers bought I knew I needed some coloring books too! So after compiling my list of books I headed down to one of my fave local bookstores Bolen's Books and scoped out their adult colouring books selection first hand. I really wanted to get a good look at some that were on my "to try list". I have to admit that some that I thought I would like were just "not my cup of tea" and others were beautiful but just not something I could see myself coloring. In the end I chose the ones that called out to me the most and that really made me happy. I ended up getting The Mindfulness Coloring Book: Anti-Stress Art Therapy for Busy People by Emma Farrarons and Just Add Color: Botanicals by Lisa Congdon (I love all of her work so much so I couldn't resist getting at least one of hers). 

I'm so excited to spend some quality time losing myself in these pretty coloring books and getting to sit down with my girls (or solo) and enjoy embracing my inner artist. I highly recommend trying out an adult coloring book that strikes your fancy. Listen to your gut and go with one that you find appealing and that works for you. There truly is coloring books out there ranging from florals and pretty animals, to graffiti, doodles and cartoons! Next up for me is a set of pencil crayons to go with my markers...lol.

Since I enjoyed learning all about adult coloring books so much I knew I had to round-up some of my fave lovely and calming adult colouring books on the blog for you all! Click on the images below to see some of the ones that I really liked and am excited for!

THE VERY SHANNON "I RECOMMEND" ADULT COLORING BOOK ROUND-UP

Have you treated yourself to an adult coloring book lately? Do you have one on your wishlist or a current fave? What pencil crayons and markers do you enjoy? Let's chat! I'm super excited to hear what you all think.