Mess-free coloring system

Abstract

A mess-free coloring system comprising a coloring medium and optionally one or more coloring utensils is disclosed. The coloring medium can include a substrate with or without decorative effects and one or more coating layers on a surface of the substrate. In various examples, the one or more coating layers include a color-triggering developer, e.g., in the form of a substantially clear resin, and an opaque pigment. Decorative effects integrated with or disposed on the substrate, while initially obscured by the one or more coating layers, can be revealed when the coating layers are mixed with at least one color precursor stored and dispensed from a coloring utensil. The opaque pigment is selected and configured such that, upon receipt of at least one color precursor by the one or more coating layers, a change in the pigment's reflective index occurs as the pigment dissolves into the clear resin developer.

1 - 22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . A method of making or providing a mess-free coloring system, comprising:
 forming a coloring medium by providing one or more layers over a surface of a substrate, with a color-triggering developer provided in at least one of the one or more layers and with an amount of pigment provided in at least one of the one or more layers to cause the at least one layer with the pigment to visually be at least translucent; and   providing a color precursor composition comprising a color precursor, and formulated such that contact between the color precursor composition and the pigment causes the pigment at the location of contact with the color precursor to change in reflective index as it dissolves into the color-triggering developer causing the at least one layer with the pigment to become more visually transparent at the location of contact with the color precursor as compared to its state before contact with the color precursor composition, and contact between the color precursor composition and the color-triggering developer activates the color precursor to form a colored mark on the coloring medium at the location of contact between the color precursor composition and the color-triggering developer.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein providing one or more layers comprises providing at least two layers, with one of the layers including the color-triggering developer and the other layer comprising the pigment and being disposed over the layer with the color-triggering developer. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the color precursor composition is substantially optically clear prior to contact with the color-triggering developer. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein providing a color precursor composition comprises providing a plurality of color precursor compositions, wherein the color precursor of any given color precursor composition, when activated by the color-triggering developer, is configured to form a mark of a color different than the color formed by activated color precursors of the other of the plurality of color precursor compositions. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , further comprising providing a plurality of coloring utensils, wherein each coloring utensil stores one of the plurality of color precursor compositions, and wherein each coloring utensil is configured to dispense the color precursor composition stored therewithin