Fairies and Santa Claus Colouring Book of Secrets by Russell Ince

Summary 
Current Price: £10 each 
Number of Pages: 48
Size: 26 x 22cm
Paper colour: White 
Paper surface: Smooth  
Paper thickness: Very Good  
Linework: Fine  
Perforated: No  
One sided: No 
Binding: Glue  
Drawings go into the spine: Yes
Waterbased pen bleed: None

It was back in May that I first came across these books on Facebook, the absolutely stunning covers catching my eye, and I knew I just had to get copies to show you all! Russell Ince is an illustrator from the UK who wrote and hand-illustrated two magical hardback fiction books, Fairies: The Book of Secrets and Santa Claus: The Book of Secrets, released last summer. These beautiful books, following many requests from fans, have now been turned into stunning colouring books for adults & children alike.

Fairies: The Colouring Book of Secrets

This book explores the mythical and hidden world of Fairies, each one assigned a job to do to "protect the natural world and help it thrive". Within the pages of this book you will meet a number of these Fae as well as ample opportunity to colour their leafy world. There is a mixture of woodland scenes, close ups of the Fairies and wallpaper type patterns made up of plants, flowers, celtic knotwork and flowing, organic lines. The illustrations can be quite intricate but the majority aren't, despite each page being very 'busy'. 

Santa Claus, The Book of Secrets: Christmas

This book focuses on that wonderful time of the year: Christmas. I absolutely love anything to do with the festive season, and this book has not failed in making me long for December to arrive! With holly and ivy abound on symmetrical patterns akin to wrapping paper, snowy gingerbread cottages, iced cookies, pretty baubles, elves, stockings, gifts, snowflakes and of course the big man himself, this book is a true delight. 

My first impression on seeing the books in the flesh was pure awe! They are gorgeous. From the gold foiled monochrome covers to the lusciously thick paper stock, they scream quality and you can really tell Russell has put lots of thought into making the production values spot on. The paper is crisp and white, incredibly thick at 190gsm (thicker than Lost Ocean), and does not allow bleed from water-based markers. The designs are double-sided and images do go into the spine, but it's quite lay flat so you are able to get your pens right in there. 

You can buy both of these books now on the following links:
Fairies: The Colouring Book of Secrets
Santa Claus, The Book of Secrets: Christmas​​