“Give yourself permission to stop now & COLOR and encourage others to do the same!”
Ever since I was a little girl I have loved working with color! My Mother and I spent many happy hours together coloring. and I vowed that when I grew up, I would design a coloring book where you could use any color you wanted instead of being restricted by the subject matter. After four children, and various jobs in commercial art, my love of textiles led me to the carpet industry and consulting in design and color.
In 1977, I took some copies of my designs and some markers and crayons for a Thanksgiving weekend at a campground lodge to help entertain the children. I was struck by how fascinated the adults were with the activity, and how it facilitated easy conversation between adults and children. I was convinced that many adults had forgotten how much fun it is to color, and this motivated me to finally draw the twelve designs I published into my first coloring book!
I attended a few local craft fairs to test the product and to make sure I was on the right track. I set up an advertising department table with rainbows holding markers and gave free drawing sheets to children and adults that wanted to color. When parents saw their child coloring with such intensity and pleasure, they were sold! The ever-popular ‘bubbles’ design in the book was drawn by my son, Mike. The Bordered Cards and Quotations have inspirational messages in beautiful calligraphy hand-lettered by my late husband, a very talented graphic artist and commercial designer.
My daughter and creative partner, Becky now also draws the patterns and designs new product. Together we continue our mission of spreading joy through coloring. Becky attends larger fine craft shows and fairs across the nation, and we have many customers who return year after year to buy more!
