Hello! We meet again. Over the past few years, I have really fallen for coloring in coloring books. To some, it may seem pointless because often completed pages remain in the books for occasional viewing. But to me I find the whole process to be a lot of fun and that is what I focus on rather than a “deliverable”. I love all the pretty color pencils and the fantastic names the companies come up with for different colors. I don’t know about you but I loved reading the names of my Crayola crayons when I was a girl. There was Razzle Dazzle Rose, Razzamatazz, Unmellow Yellow, Shamrock oh and you were quite sophisticated if you liked Periwinkle. Colored pencils have fantastic names as well and I enjoy collecting a variety of brands to see how differently they respond.

Then there are the coloring books. Whoa… there is so much variety in styles and topics available today and always new ones on the way. So I can color whatever the mood strikes. It is never boring and every time I leave a coloring session, I am so relaxed from all the focus. I find pairing my coloring with an audiobook only heightens the experience.

I had a lovely Christmas coloring book haul and am anxious to dive right in. I decided to come up with some coloring goals for 2022 to keep it interesting and to make sure I enjoy the products I have bought.

The following are my coloring goals for 2022:

• Color at least a page from the ten coloring books you see in this post. Some are old and some are new so I don’t feel like I am missing out on the new stuff.
• Practice coloring more with my other pencil sets since my go-to is Prismacolor, I would like to play more with my other sets including the new pastel pencils I got for Christmas.
• Complete at least 2 pages per month. Some months I have been known to do great others I don’t even pick up a book so it will push me to be more consistent.
• Practice using more mediums in my coloring pages. Don’t always go with the safe options.
• Give Mandalas another chance. In the past, I have found them boring and often challenging to color so I would like to try again with an old coloring book I own with mandalas. I will have to bring in my gel pens to complete some but that could be fun.
• Learn at least 4 new coloring techniques and practice them. I want to push myself this year to create better pages so I want to watch videos and look at print resources to learn some new techniques to bring my coloring to the next level.
• Enjoy the process. This one I don’t really need because I always do, but I like seeing it on the list.

Do you have any coloring goals for 2022?

I hope you all are well and those of you experiencing the extreme cold like I am here, grab a cup of tea and have a wonderful day.