New Hope, Minn. ladies coloring club takes relaxation outside the lines

Thanks to a New Hope, Minn. ladies coloring book club, women no longer have to color in secret or alone anymore. Once a month, Heidi Johnson finds herself unwinding and indulging her inner child with the women of Ladies Love Coloring.

"It's like a little therapy session. You can get together with your girlfriends, have a coffee and just chit chat about whatever," she said.

Jenny Fenlason created the club in January, and thanks to the wonders of the internet, she has already garnered national and international buzz. At this month's meeting inside Mountain Mudd, at least a dozen joined in for relaxing fun. Sometimes, wine is also involved.

Art therapist Craig Balfany speaks to the club's likely health benefits.

"It's very soothing, it's very centering, very focusing, you've got a structure on the page. You have something you can follow the lines or you can be very creative in terms of what direction you go so just in that it's very meditative," he said.

Whether you prefer glitter crayons or colored pencils, here, the only shade thrown is in the books. There's also no competition. You don't have to be a DIY addict, a painter or a project master. You can color whether you color in the lines (or not).

Start your own coloring club

Fenlason already knows of a few people who've started their own coloring clubs, and here's some advice from the woman herself: How to start a coloring club