Years ago, I used to buy colouring books with patterns rather than pictures and, armed with freshly sharpened pencil crayons or a brand new pack of felt tipped pens, I lost myself for a while. It was my escape from the real world.
I was recently reminded of this when a friend suggested that I do some colouring to help me 'meditate' after feeling low with my mental health. I'd totally forgotten how brilliant it was. I also took this time to map out a couple of patterns for a crochet blanket that I want to make over the next few weeks. It was all very therapeutic.
And this gave me an idea.
I did a bit of research around colouring for therapy and it's increase in popularity over the last few years. I found that full colouring books were sometimes very expensive - especially in the current climate - and once they were completed, that was that. Why not create an affordable digital download so that once the pages are purchased, they can be printed as many times as you like? So I decided to open an Etsy shop selling colouring pages and Colouring Chaos was born.
It is very much in the early stages at the moment and I have put together ten packs of symmetrical pattern pages (10 pages in each pack) and ten packs of motivational quotes (again, 10 pages in each pack) and priced them at what I feel is a fair price of £1.50 per pack. I have also ensured that each pack has its own pages so if you ordered two or more packs, you won't ever receive duplicate pages across the packs. And, because it's a digital download, you receive your purchase immediately with instructions on how to print out.
Here's some of the information that I found - this was via an article in the Guardian. Researchers in New Zealand found that there were definite mental health gains for adults colouring-in for as little as 10 minutes a day. Lead researcher Jayde Flett said “It is often suggested that colouring-in induces a mindful or meditative state and is linked to reduced activity in the amygdala or changes in brain-wave activity.”
7 Benefits Of Colouring For Adults
- Your brain experiences relief by entering a meditative state
- Stress and anxiety levels have the potential to be lowered
- Negative thoughts are expelled as you take in positivity
- Focusing on the present helps you achieve mindfulness
- Unplugging from technology promotes creation over consumption
- Coloring can be done by anyone, not just artists or creative types
- It’s a hobby that can be taken with you wherever you go
[source : colorit.com]
So please do have a little look round my shop - Colouring Chaos and see if there's something you fancy. The packs are suitable for both adults and children but we really don't have to share, do we? Also, I do intend to add in some mandalas and swearing pages because we all know that's more our thing at times, isn't it? I have already received some fabulous messages from friends who have purchased and downloaded and I would love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for pages that you'd like to colour. If you upload any of your coloured pages to social media, don't forget to tag me! I'm @nickieohara on Twitter and @nickieohara on Instagram (I like to keep it nice and simple).
