A Bookstore, a Coloring Book and a Coaster

Howdy all! 

One of life's greatest pleasures is a trip to the bookstore. 

A bookstore is a happy place, don't you agree?

Here's one called Book Culture that I found in Long Island City, Queens.

The space is bright, airy and quiet.

Walls and tables are lined with books.

They carry gifts and stationery, too. 

The entire basement is designated for kids' books and activities, plus a cozy reading area.

It's always good to support independent businesses! One of the things I bought was this small coloring book.

The pages are made from vellum-like material.

Each page has a different bird:

The back page gives a description and color guide for each kind...TADA!

I used markers to add color.

Then I accented with handwriting using a fine-tipped pen. 

Hold it against the light and it does look like stained glass...TADA!

*****

Here's another project useful for the home or office:

I'm transferring the image to a cork coaster.

 

 

Sandwich a piece of carbon paper or graphite paper in between the coaster and the coloring book page. Secure all the elements in place using a binder clip.

Using a heavy hand, trace the image of the bird with a pencil. Carefully lift the layers to see if the image transferred to the coaster, making sure you included the tiny details.   

Color with acrylic paint and let it dry for a few hours.

Here's the result! We not only supported an independent bookstore and got to do some coloring. We also turned a plain old coaster from "blah to TADA!"

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