Betsy Veldman
Color is my friend. While my husband will only wear black, gray and the occasional navy blue, I’m a bit obsessed with color and the endless possibilities it provides. I think I may just embarrass him every once in a while with my color craziness!
My 7-year-old daughter and I seem to be kindred-color spirits though. She’s been wanting to redo her room in “rainbow colors”. We took the plunge and painted the walls in her room the most vibrant shade of hot pink you’ve ever seen!
With my love of color, it’s probably not surprising that working on the new Color Inspiration for Card Makers was pure joy! I thought it might be fun to share a little of my process while designing for this issue…
I started out by choosing color combos from the list the Paper Crafts editors provided that really appealed to me. I also challenged myself to choose some that made me step out of my comfort zone. I then dug through my stash of papers and pulled things that worked with those colors…I discovered lots of possibilities that I might not have put together otherwise, which was really fun! I did the same thing with inks, embellishments and ribbons. I put together little “mini kits” of product that coordinated with each combo I wanted to try.
Sometimes I stumbled upon a patterned paper that contained just the right colors…as if the combination was just made for that paper! Like my Floral Hi There Card from p. 20…the colors of that background paper from Fancy Pants Designs were just perfect! I combined it with some stamping in the same colors and layered it with some die cuts and a decorative brad.
If I didn’t seem to have just the “right” patterned paper, I played around with mixing different tone-on-tone or monochromatic papers. My Thanks, Teacher Card from p. 35 is a good example of this. I used several different patterned papers with various patterns and scale, but they were all tone-on-tone or a single color + white. Use this rule of thumb along with the color combos in this issue and you’ll have success every time!
As a treat for you today, I have a brand new card using the same color combo as my Thanks, Teacher Card. Again, I chose monochromatic and tone-on-tone papers to fit the color scheme. I also used one of my favorite new tools…the Bloom Builders dies from Papertrey Ink!
These new dies let me create flower embellishments in any color and pattern my heart desires…and my heart desires a lot of color!
If you’d like a chance to win a set of these Bloom Builder dies (AND a copy of Color Inspiration for Card Makers!), leave me a comment telling me what color family you’re most drawn to out of the six families featured in this issue:
- Bright & Bold
- Jewel Tones
- Metallics
- Neutrals
- Monochromatics
- Pastels
Me? I’d have to say all of the above! To be eligible for this giveaway, all comments must be received by midnight (MST) on Thursday, Jan. 13.
Wishing you a colorful day!
Betsy Veldman,
Paper Crafts Go-to Gal
P.S. It’s another day, which means…Cath announced another fabulous color challenge! Hop on over to Moxie Fab World for all the details!
P.P.S. It’s time to announce the three winners from Kelly’s Meet Julia Stainton post!
1. Donna Polley (Jan. 10, 9:47 a.m.)
2. Samantha (Jan. 10, 5:31 a.m.)
3. Melissa D. (Jan. 10, 8:04 a.m.)
Congrats, winners! You’ve each won Bazzill’s 12 x 12 Premium Cardstock pack, plus a copy of Color Inspiration for Card Makers! Kelly will be contacting you shortly to get your mailing addresses. Thanks to all who left comments!
I like bright and bold colors, but find I do whatever inspires me at the moment! Your cards are always perfectly put together, you obviously understand color! Those dies look amazing!
I lean towards bright and bold, although I really do like them all.
LOVE those bloom builder dies; they make the flowers so 3D and amazing!!
Your daughter’s room is adorable! I love the bright and bold color combo the best!
I love working with kraft so neutral is my go-to color combo…
I love working with pastels…but then again I cannot seem to create anything without kraft, so I am a neural girl also!
I LOVE bright and bold (the hot pink bedroom – awesome!). I play with the other families, but I’m consistently drawn to the brights.
I love “Bright and Bold” – I live in a house with boys, so no pastels here…
I almost always make two of cards I make. The first one is my sample that I keep for future inspiration or when I need a card at the last minuter. The second one is usually a much nicer cards since I worked out the kinks in the first card. I just took a quick look through my cards and as I would have guessed I use pastels the most, followed by neutrals and anything that goes with kraft.
Wow, what a great card. I love those die’s too. I think I’ll head over to Papertrey and check them out. Thanks a bunch!
Oh I forgot, I think I’m the most drawn to the Jewel tones. But I do lonve the minochromatic things too. Oh it’s hardto pick just one!
Beautiful cards!!!
I have loved bright orange & pink for a few years now. And I have a huge stash of Bo Bunny ‘Love shack’ and My Minds Eye ‘Confetti Surprise’. I’m hoping to find lots of inspiration and new colour combos in this new PaperCrafts special issue.
Lately I have been leaning more toward Bold and Bright colors…cheery yellows, reds, greens, bright blues. I think it’s because of all of the inspiration from bloggers and beautiful patterned papers out there! Your daughter’s room turned out perfectly, Betsy! Thanks for the chance to win those awesome Bloom Builders, sooo coool!
I’m with you, bright and Bold! These colors give me energy and remind me of nature.
I would love a chance to win the Bloom Builder Dies! I really like all the colors you’ve presented, but I feel a little more drawn to the metallics right now. I’ve seen some beautiful metallic colors.
It’s hard to just pick one combination as I seem to change my likes depending on what I’m stamping. I do like monochromatics though and use these a lot.
After 23 years as a military wife, most of that in housing or renting, you learn to live with neutrals. But I’ve always added splashes of color – red in my kitchen, some shade of green in our living room, etc. But I wish I had the gall to paint a room like your daughter’s – KUDOS to both of you.
Oh I’m not sure which catagory I fit in but I love the Fall Jewel tones, almost on the lines of the 70′s color scheme, of Avocado Greens, Harvest Golds and Barn Reds, Camel colored Tan with a lovely Darker Ivory or Vanilla color so as you see I’m not sure where I belong, lol! Would love to win the die set, I absolutely love to make my own flowers. Thanks and good luck everyone!
I would definitely say Jewel tones for my color preference. Love the rich colors …
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I also love the jewel tones. Love your examples and how you come about selecting your colors.