How Color Works in Papercrafting!
Color in Papercrafting is an art that is easily mastered. College seems like a century ago, but there was a course I took that I use everyday. The course was simply called Color and taught by a famous interior designer of the time (his twin brother was a famous fashion designer). It had lessons like ‘Red Round Up and Around’, ‘Mean Green’, ‘Make 2 Colors Look the Same’, and ‘Make 1 Color Look Like 2 Different Colors’. It was a required course for someone studying to be a fashion designer. While the closest I got to being a fashion designer was working at the Santa Fe Opera as a costume apprentice, working on costumes as a Drama Mama for my children, and making two wedding gowns for my daughter and my daughter-in-law. Little did I know, forty years later still love playing with color and help crafters, beginnners and seasoned alike, to enjoy fun as well!
You Don’t Have to Study Color to Make it Work for You!
One of the things I love about Stampin’ Up! is that they have an entire team working on the color of their papers, inks, and coloring tools. Everything coordinates, which is more than I can say for my closet! There are some color basics that are good to know. You can organize color in diferent ways. How many times have you heard about the Color Wheel? Maybe it is something you vaguely remember from elementary school. You might even remember Primary Colors; red, yellow, and blue. If you took a class in psychology or biology class you may have been totally confused by the idea that green was a primary color, not yellow.
When creating with paper, inks, and coloring tools, it is all about the way colors are organized on the Color Wheel. Terms to know: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary; Analogous and Complementary; Hue, Tint, and Shadow; Warm and Cool are the most common and will help you with almost any color dilemna. Stampin’ Up! makes it easy because they have done all the color work for you.
Creating with Stampin’ Up! Colors is Easy
Did you know that if you type a Stampin’ Up! color into the searchbar at the top of my online store, you will find all the products with that color in it? Colors in the Stampin’ Up! catalogs are divided into 5 families. Neutrals, Brights, Subtles, and In-Colors. They are all given alliteration titles like Highland Heather, Bubble Bath, Petal Pink, Lemon Lolly, Parakeet Party, Balmy Blue, and Blueberry Bushel. Try searching one of these colors and discover how easy it is to create with color in the Stampin’ Up! world.
Color Can Change Your Mood
In the world of marketing it is a well known practice to use specific colors to evoke emotions and moods. Did you know that red, yellow, and orange can boost your appetite and spur you on to eat quickly? Think about how many fast food restaurants use those colors in their interior design and logos. Think McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, and Dunkin’ Donuts, just to name a few. Greens, blues, and purples evoke a calm and serene atmosphere, think ocean, meadow, or forest. What are your favorite colors? Bright colors are upbeat. Colors mixed with white become subtle. Colors mixed with black become somber.
Putting Colors Together
You may have noticed that I have changed the color with each of the sections, but did you notice that the color of the words was the same inside each block of color? Each one of the boxes was a Stampin’ Up! color. From top to bottome they are as follows: Highland Heather, Bubble Bath, Petal Pink, Lemon Lolly, Parakeet Party, and Balmy Blue. The font color in each box is Blueberry bushel. In the image below I have taken a square of Bluberry Bushel cardstock and placed in the center of each of the colors featured in this post. You might notice subtle differences. The Blueberry Bushel looks brighter on the Parakeet Party and the Lemon Lolly. It looks darker on the Highland Heather and the Balmy Blue. The Petal Pink and Bubble Bath put the Blueberry Bushel someplace in between. This is when playing with color can be so much fun! It’s also why I have collected the entire collection of Stampin’ Up! colors in every medium. Follow my blog for inspiration and techniques in color and coloring.
[…] Petal Pink and Flirty Flamingo. It certainly changes the whole feel of the card! It is still a monochromatic design. The petal pink is much lighter than the Flirty Flamingo. This more white added to the […]