My favourites in botanical style + A giveaway!

May 15, 2016

There are plenty of ways to bring botanical style into your home without spending a lot of green. Here are some of my favourite fresh and affordable takes on the trend, including Valerie McKeehan’s new Chalk-Style Botanicals Deluxe Coloring Book and a chance to win a copy of your own.

Prickly paired personalized stationary (Minted). The standard signature paper is thick like cardstock and has a lovely texture that makes it feel luxurious. Paired here with the Havana palm pencil set (Chapters).

Urban Outfitters Instax case palm leaves

Instax Mini 8 palm camera case (Urban Outfitters). Even cuter than the Instax mini 8! (How is that possible?)

Minted botanicals Instax open

Carnival fiesta paper plates (Chapters), paper napkins (Loblaws; not available online) and tea towel (Urban Barn; no longer available) for a taste of the tropics.

Minted botanicals cactus pillow Urban Barn

Cactus flower toss pillow (Urban Barn). I loved it in the store but at home it was a bit much with the gallery wall so I took it back. (sniff sniff)

Minted botanicals Bando palm tumbler.jpg

Holiday palms sip sip tumbler (Chapters and ban.do) to keep your cocktails and mocktails cool.

Chalk-Style Botanicals Deluxe Coloring Book by Valerie McKeehan

Chalk-Style Botanicals Deluxe Coloring Book by Valerie McKeehan (book stores everywhere). Each of the 32 hand-drawn designs is accompanied by a quote to ponder while you colour, like “There are always flowers for those who want to see them” (Henri Matisse) and “Storms make trees take deeper roots” (Dolly Parton). I like that the paper is thick so markers won’t leak through the pages, and the pages are perforated to tear out easily and display or colour outside of the book.

Chalk-Style Botanicals Deluxe Coloring Book hydrangea

The book opens with a look at Valerie’s creative process and samples of her finished works, followed by a lesson on colour theory and tips for working with chalkboard art.

“It might be tempting to smooth out your colouring to avoid texture and imperfections, but these look perfectly natural in a chalk piece,” Valerie writes. “Embrace the texture your coloured pencils create or the lines you might get from overlapping your markers. These imperfections will add character to your piece and make it unique.”

Chalk-Style Botanicals Deluxe Coloring Book enjoy the simple things

Chalk-Style Botanicals Deluxe Coloring Book pineapples

Display your colour-drenched pages for your own botanical style!

Giveaway

To enter to win a copy of Chalk-Style Botanicals Deluxe Coloring Book, tell me one of your favourite flowers or plants in the comments below.

For additional entries, follow me on Twitter, Instagram and/or Facebook and subscribe to the blog (one entry per follow; scroll down for the form to subscribe) and tell me your handle/s there in the comments below.

You can also tweet the following once per day (one entry per tweet), just make sure to comment here with the link to your url.

Colour and be inspired! Win Chalk-Style Botanicals Deluxe Coloring Book from @trysmallthings CAN/US 5/6 http://wp.me/p4xBed-1Cp

The giveaway is open to Canadian residents 18+ excluding Quebec and residents of the continental US 18+ and ends at midnight EST on June 5, 2016.

Update June 6, 2016: Congratulations Anne T!

Fox Chapel Publishing sent me a copy of Chalk-Style Botanicals Deluxe Coloring Book in exchange for an honest review and Minted provided the stationary for review purposes.