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Daniel Piceno of central Mexico has perfected a way to reuse old newspaper by transforming it into pencil sets! This particular set pays homage to the mythical alebrije, a creature that combines the aspects of several real and imaginary animals, which were dreamed up by Pedro Linares of Mexico City. The 12 coloured pencils are packaged in their wood box in such as way as to put together an image of one such creature.

"Feeling proud of my Mexican roots and wishing to raise consciousness regarding Mexico's beautiful endemic animals in danger of extinction, I designed this series of 10 coloring postcards. They are inspired by the multicolored alebrije sculptures of Oaxaca representing magical and fantastical creatures with wings and antennae," explains Alejandra Aceves. This set of postcards includes: a grey wolf, a West Indian manatee, an axolotl fish (Mexican salamander), a red macaw, an armadillo, a tapir, a loggerhead turtle, a pronghorn, a jaguar, and a California Gulf porpoise.

The set of 10 postcards arrives in an acrylic box with information about Aceves' project. Inspired by the illness she lives with, she realized that the symptoms diminished when she concentrated on drawing. Her wish is for others to enjoy being able to relax while coloring her postcards.

Jesus and Roxana recreate the axolotl, one of Mexico's rarest and most iconic creatures, in colorful alebrije form. They hand-carve it from copal wood and decorate its body with joyful geometric patterns in a palette of saffron yellow, dark green, bright red, and purple. The axolotl's gills are detached for safe and easy transport.

Jesus and Roxana come from a Zapotec community in Oaxaca where a large number of the residents work crafting alebrijes. Jesus takes care of the carving part while Roxana works her magic creating the colorful patterns that decorate the pieces.