Color Palette Inspiration!

I am honored to be the first to post under our new blog category, “Goodie Bag.” This blog will be a place for us to share little free goodies we have come across that we think you’ll love. We spend a lot of time prowling around the internet and every once in a while we come across something amazing, so now we have a place where we can share these little hidden treasures with you! These could be websites with great tutorials or it could be a great way to organize your fonts or a clever way to come up with titles for your page. If we think you’ll like it, we’ll post it! No matter what it is!

I am a big believer that the right colors can transform a so-so project in to a fabulous project. Some people have a natural gift for putting together colors I would never consider. I, however, tend to be on the safe side sticking with colors that are tried and true and rarely venturing in to new territory. This is not something I like about myself but that is simply the way I am wired! I do love to use interesting color palettes, I just don’t have the knack for coming up with them myself. I have to see them first and then I start to realize how beautifully that pop of orange or splash of turquoise breathes new life into a dull palette.

That is why I am absolutely in love with the site I am sharing with you today: http://kuler.adobe.com. As you may already know, the company Adobe is a titan in the graphic design industry. They have created this completely free to use website where you can look at color palettes that other users have created—and let me tell you there are some really beautiful palettes! You can also create your own color palette, modify other people’s palettes, or create palettes from photographs (you can upload your own photo or use something off of Flickr) and then share those palettes with other users. The end result is a gorgeous palette that you may never have come up with on your own!

Ok so how can you make the most out of this as a crafter? I can think of a couple ways. Say you are starting off with a photograph that you know you want to scrapbook but you are feeling uninspired. Just upload the photograph using the Kuler Create from an Image feature and find a palette that inspires you! Or maybe you have one or two colors you know you want to use for a project but just don’t know what to do for an accent color—use the Kuler Create from a Color feature and pick the colors you know you want and let it suggest complimentary colors for you—make sure to scroll through the options of “Monochromatic,” “Complementary,” etc. for several different palette suggestions! Or maybe you are in a hurry to make a card. Just scroll through some of the inspiring color palettes. Even the most simple card will turn out stunning with a well chosen palette!

I hope you love this site as much as I do!