Dear Readers,

A friend asked me to recommend some mandala pattern books for holiday gift ideas, so I thought to share my suggestions with you!

Here are SIX wonderful products to inspire your season of giving.

Whether using a coloring book, drawing your own construction, or even just looking at one, working with the mandala serves to integrate and calm our busy mind and body, especially during this high-vibe time of year. We’re also feeling an extra “2012 buzz” with the end of the Maya Calendar on 12-21-12.  It is a very good time to center your vibration by enjoying a mandala in your life.

Maya Calendar

SIX MERRY MANDALA GIFTS

1.

I just met with my mandala-making friend, Sarah A. Greene, whose work I posted back in 2009. She draws the most insane stuff freehand! No compass. Each Mandala invokes a lovely vibration, such as Gratitude, Devotion, Trust. Now, she’s producing her own mandala coloring books. The coloring books aren’t even up on her site yet, as she had just picked them up from the printer.  I was lucky enough to get a preview out of the back seat of her car and  I can say they are wonderful! So, be patient. In the meantime…check out her other products like cool calendars, stickers and iPhone skins at www.ordered-chaos.com, and be sure to watch for the coloring books!

UPDATE: 12/5/12 – The coloring book is now available at Greene’s Etsy Store. HERE. The book is 11″ x 11″ 12 page book, there are 10 mandalas that were originally drawn freehand in deep meditation.

For coloring: Sarah uses Prismacolor pencils to color in the originals,  and I like Caran d’Ache Prismalo Aquarelle pencils, use dry or with water.

Mandala iPhone Skins for 4/4S set of 3 interchangable skins $12.00 from Ordered-Chaos.

Also from Ordered Chaos, the new 2013 Calendar, Enjoy a different hand-drawn Mandala every month of the year!

New 2013 Calendar –  $12.00

2.

As a mental health professional and registered art therapist, Susanne F. Fincher knows her stuff. Her mandala coloring books are very popular. There are three versions, each with a different theme, certain to keep your crayons, markers, and colored pencils busy!  I have Number One and love it. She has written several in-depth books on using the mandala for self-expression and healing. Shop her mandala marketplace HERE. 

Mandala Theme Coloring Books by Susanne F. Fincher, Shambhala Publications, $18.95 each.

3.

Another approach to center is through the YANTRA: Sarah Tomlinson’s book takes you through the steps for how to draw & paint this timeless interweaving pattern: Nine Designs for Inner Peace: The Ultimate Guide to Meditating with Color, Shape,  and Sound.  My friend Luz, (which means ‘light’ in Spanish) gave this to me as a gift after having attended Tomlinson’s workshop. The writing is very approachable, almost like you are sitting right in a workshop with the author. It’s a bit more involved than a coloring book, and the step-by-step instructions for patterns connected to such attributes as radiance, nourishment, and  uniqueness, are very clear with sample color illustrations for creating successful work on your own.

Nine Designs for Inner Peace by Sarah Tomlinson, Destiny Books, Publisher.

4.

If drawing your own Yantra seems daunting: Never Fear: Dover is here! They have tons of fun and affordable options for mandala patterns at all skill levels.

Dover’s Sacred Yantra Coloring Book by Wil Stegenga, only $3.99

5.

This offering by founder of The Mandala Project, Lori Bailey Cunningham is simply gorgeous! The Mandala Book: Patterns of the Universe is not a DIY “pattern book”, instead, the author groups the underlying geometry of mandala patterns as archetypes to wholeness.  Arranged by pattern category, using imagery from atomic particles to snowflakes to the grander cosmos, this books shows the interconnectedness of all life with over 500 beautiful, full-color illustrations. See the world anew!

Over 500 full color illustrations and photos make “The Mandala Book” a feast for the Mind’s Eye!

6.

Some of the illustrations in Cunningham’s book are by one of my dear friends P.C. Turczyn. I’ve also covered her work here, and it’s one of my most popular posts!  P.C. writes about how art can support the healing process and she sells exquisite gliceé prints of her work HERE. (I know which ones I want Santa to bring me!)

P.C.Turczyn’s Infinite Qualities series of floral mandalas. Prints start at $200. Her work is also included in “The Mandala Book”

May your Holidays be filled with

I N S P I R A T I O N & L O V E

Still want more? 

There are many more posts about the M A N D A L A throughout this blog~  click HERE to enjoy or use the search feature on the home page!

Also on the HOME PAGE  Click on the bar to the RIGHT for my curated list of links to original Mandala Artists, a little off the beaten track…