Pinterest Art Finds Tested: A Cozy Coloring Book and a Soil-Based Watercolor Palette

Introduction

Pinterest feeds are packed with promoted art products, and it is genuinely hard to tell which ones are worth the money. That is exactly why two heavily promoted finds were bought and put to work: the All Booked Up coloring book from Elise Briana, and The Art of Soil soil-based watercolor palette. Both arrived quickly, both looked promising, and both turned out to be far more interesting than the usual sponsored listings cluttering the platform.

It is worth noting that not everything promoted on Pinterest is a gamble. Viral posts sometimes lead to real gems, and a few of the best art supply discoveries started life as a random pinned image. Still, with AI-generated product listings flooding feeds these days, any product that can prove it is human-made already has a head start. Both of these do.

Elise Briana All Booked Up Coloring Book

Elise Briana is a lawyer turned full-time, self-taught artist with a remarkable run of coloring books, and All Booked Up is the bookish, cozy addition to that lineup. The cover has tasteful gold foiling, the pages feature cozy scenes and classical literature themes, and every design is clearly human-made, which is refreshingly reassuring in the current market. There is even a small bio page about Elise herself.

One of the smartest touches is the coloring worksheet printed on the back of each page, with space for your name, materials, and swatches. Anyone who has used alcohol markers knows they bleed through paper, and this worksheet absorbs that bleed so it never ruins the next coloring page. It is a small design decision that shows real understanding of how people actually color.

How It Colors: Markers, Bleed-Through, and Page Design

Testing was done with Ohuhu alcohol markers, the same tools Elise herself uses with these books. The pages have a good amount of detail without being intimidating. The sweet spot here sits between dense adult coloring books that feel like a massive project and the softer, fuzzier hygge-style books: approachable enough to pick up on a whim, but grown-up enough to feel satisfying.

Not everything is perfect. This version is not a lay-flat binding, so pages tend to close on you while you work, and the perforated edges mean you can tear pages out if you prefer. Anyone who prefers a book that stays open will notice the difference immediately.

The Art of Soil Soil-Based Watercolor Palette

The Art of Soil is a small, woman-owned business in Wyoming, USA, crafting watercolors made from soil: soil plus pigment, natural or synthetic, plus watercolor media. Nothing else. The paints are non-toxic and eco-friendly, handcrafted in small batches in wooden palettes that double as ornaments, complete with a hanging loop. The cactus-shaped palette used here arrived within days of ordering, packaged in a compostable bag, and it is bigger than expected in the best way.

The philosophy behind the product is part of the appeal. Paints were once made from natural elements, and using these feels like painting the old-fashioned way. For eco-conscious artists tired of plastic-based materials like acrylic, this is about as earth-friendly as art supplies get.

How the Soil Paints Perform

Straight out of the palette, the colors are muddier and less pigmented than conventional watercolors, and there is a faint grittiness from the soil elements on application. That mostly disappears as the paint dries, and here is the surprise: the colors actually dry darker and more pigmented, and they build up beautifully in layers. A single brush stroke looks modest, but a few layers later the same color looks genuinely rich. The yellow in particular is surprisingly vibrant, and the curated selection of colors works nicely together.

Be realistic about expectations. This is not the world’s best watercolor set, and lightfastness is questionable. You are buying it for the ecological story, the charm, and the novelty. It makes a wonderful gift for environmentally minded artists, and at roughly $30 plus $10 shipping for the US market (just £12 on the UK site), it is one of the pricier small watercolor sets out there, though the craftsmanship justifies some of that premium.

Overall Buying Advice

Both products earn their place in a Pinterest-heavy feed. The All Booked Up coloring book is the safer purchase: reasonably priced, thoughtfully designed, and clearly made by a real artist who understands colorists. The Art of Soil palette is the more niche buy, best treated as an eco-conscious gift or a novelty palette rather than a daily workhorse. If you want relaxing, book-themed coloring, go Elise Briana. If you want something with soul and a story, and you accept its earthy character, go soil paint.

Conclusion

These two promoted finds prove that the occasionally exhausting world of sponsored art listings still hides genuine quality. A lawyer-turned-artist’s cozy coloring book and a small Wyoming workshop turning dirt into paint both delivered more than expected. Sometimes the algorithm gets it right.