Color.....getting started....

When planning colors for your cards, projects and pages, what is your first step? I generally choose colors ~I~ like. We all have our favorites, but what if you want to expand your use of color or just use up leftovers from an assorted pack of SU! color family cardstock? Stampin' Up! provides the Color Coach on page 162 of the current Spring and Summer Catalog which can be helpful. A friend gave me a wonderful color ring of all the Stampin' Up! colors, so that I can quickly put colors together.

If you don't have these resources available, there is a great site on the internet at which you can input one particular color you'd like to use, and it will suggest other combinations. You can also just click on the colors just to see ones you are considering all together quickly. It is http://www.scraptitude.com/colorcombo/ I use it often when I have ideas for two colors especially. I used it on the Father's Day cards below for suggestions for use with Chocolate Chip. Thanks Laura! (designer of the site)

I recently ran across a book called Colorscapes by Susan Sargent. It is a book of home decor, but it provides some lovely examples for the Bold Bright color family which can be difficult for me to use. I requested it from our local library and was surprised by the usefulness of it for paper crafting. Page 126 has a color scheme that reminds me of the colors we've seen will be a couple of the new In-Colors through Stampin' Up! for fall. Other combinations both wild and classic are throughout the book. Perhaps you will find it inspiring as well!


This card uses the Background Basics star stamp, the star punch and the Dad's Day set on page 112 of the SU! catalog. I punched the designer label tag with the slot punch for attaching the ribbon and matted the designer label punch on dimensionals onto a 1-3/8 inch circle punch. It is a bit difficult to see in my picture, but all the layers including the card base are distressed/roughed up to provide texture I consider masculine. The Chocolate Chip and Old Olive are masculine classic colors while the Bashful Blue lightens the card just a bit to provide some fun contrast.

This card was designed with fun in mind. Two light colors (Bashful Blue and Gable Green) are grounded by Chocolate Chip. I used the All in the Family set and computer sentiments. I followed a Splitcoaststampers sketch challenge and used SU! markers to color my family for a quick and simple card my dad will love.

Next time, my topic will be: Color.......and the 5 "W"s.