Coloring With Jane by Sarah Johnson - with giveaway and a free printable for everyone!

Today I welcome the lovely author Sarah Johnson who has recently spread her wings into
something a bit different; colouring books!  Sarah is visiting me today to tell us about her new colouring book, and why she wanted to do it. See below for the giveaway details, and there is also a free printable for everyone so you can get a feel for what the book is like!

Coloring with Jane: A Mind Lively and at Ease

Jane Austen is best known for her classic tales of love and marriage set in Regency England. Her insight into this bygone era, as well as her extraordinary wit, are what have made these stories live on in our hearts and on our book shelves for so long. It is this wit that has also become the inspiration for the pages of this coloring book, with some of Jane Austen’s most beloved quotes taking centre stage.

Who isn’t able to finish this line themselves:

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” (Pride & Prejudice)

Or what about:

“You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope…I have loved none but you.” (Persuasion)

Who could forget this admission from Mr Knightley:

“If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.” (Emma)

Or the feeling in your heart to have this one said to you:

“In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” (Pride & Prejudice)

We all cringe to know the sorrow held in these words:

“If I could but know his heart, everything would become easy.” (Sense & Sensibility)

These and other quotes are what sent me on my journey that has led to this coloring book. I have been collecting 18^th and 19^th artwork for years. You have no clue how excited I get when I find old postcards or advertisement pages.One evening, while sitting at my desk trying to find some coloring pages for my daughters, the thought hit me that I could create pages featuring Jane Austen’s quotes.

And the little book bunny was born.

I began searching through my stash of images and chose those that would be featured in this book. The next part was fun – finding favorite quotes! I asked my friends if they liked to color and who would be willing to try out some coloring page for me, and I was off to create! I learned a lot about what does and does not make a good image for coloring, and, unfortunately, that meant spending many hours creating some pages that did not end up in the final book.

The artwork featured in this coloring book may not be “perfect”, as artwork in this digital age usually is, but it represents the era in which it was created. I tried to keep that character as I cleaned up the images and put these pages together.

Jane Austen is well-known for her extraordinary wit in creating characters that, like these pages, were also imperfect, and yet we still dearly love them. We hope for the happy ending that will eventually come as we read of the friendships and courtships that made up the bygone era in which she lived.

In the novel Emma, Jane Austen wrote:

“…Emma went to the door for amusement. Much could not be hoped from the traffic of even the busiest part of Highbury; -- Mr. Perry walking hastily by, Mr. William Cox letting himself in at the office door, Mr. Cole's carriage horses returning from exercise, or a stray letter-boy on an obstinate mule, were the liveliest objects she could presume to expect; and when her eyes fell only on the butcher with his tray, a tidy old woman travelling homewards from shop with her full basket, two curs quarrelling over a dirty bone, and a string of dawdling children round the baker's little bow-window eyeing the gingerbread, she knew she had no reason to complain, and was amused enough; quite enough still to stand at the door. A mind lively and at ease, can do with seeing nothing, and can see nothing that does not answer.”

It is my wish that, just as Emma Woodhouse, you find yourself with no reason to complain, and that you are amused enough with Coloring with Jane to keep your mind lively and at ease and your creativity flowing through each design.

** GIVEAWAY - ends Friday 27th May **

Sarah has been kind enough to offer a giveaway of one copy of the colouring book, US only, and also two printable PDF versions, which is open internationally. 

Please leave a comment for a chance to win, with one of your favourite Jane Austen quotes, or just with a general comment about the colouring book.

The giveaway ends on 27th May. I will be in touch with the winner to get the address, so please leave your email! The very best of luck, and thanks again to Sarah for this giveaway!

***Free printable for everyone!***

Here is a PDF of one of the pages from the book for you to print and try for yourself. I would love to see your completed pages, so share them with me on my facebook page!

Click here!: - http://sarahjohnsonbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/ColoringWithJane-BlogPost-Sophie-PrintableSamplePage.pdf

Amazon UK link here

Amazon US link here

Etsy digital pdf download


I am very much looking forward to getting my copy! I am glad to see a colouring book which is Jane Austen related but isn't just illustrations by Hugh Thomson or Brock for you to colour. This is something new and different!


Your affectionate friend,