5 Top Color Combo/Color Coordination Help Sites

14 December

Monday, 14 December 2009 22:22 Written by Megan Elizabeth 24 Comments

Want to know the biggest secret for scrapbooking or card making?

I seriously need to tell you that the number 1 secret to scrapbooking, card making or paper crafting in general is Paper Color Coordination! It can literally make or break your projects. Here is a little list of websites that will help you take some of the guess work out of making papers match. Now what you can do is find a color palette that has already been put together and then go with those from there…

Here you go with 5 great helps!

ColourLovers.com – My husband introduced me to this site a long time ago when we were making website templates together, he is partially color blind so I would make the color palette choices and he would make the template. Anyway, this site is absolutely awesome for ideas. There are patterns and color palettes that you can use for all sorts of inspiration.
DeGraeve.com – The ultimate tool for scrapbooker’s and that was NOT even what this was intended for! You can actually upload a picture into this site and it will give you a coordinating color palette, very fun to mess with!
Scraptitude.com – There are two options on this site for different brands of scrapbook paper. Close to My Heart and Stampin’ Up. All the colors they make are listed and coordinated into color palettes for SUPER Easy color matching! It doesn’t get much easier if you are using these paper brands
Colorschemedesigner.com – Make the color wheel work for you This is AWESOME – there are several sites like this available, but this one is REALLY nice. What you do is select your color you want to work with on the color wheel by click on it. Then there are several options at the top of the website that help you decide what colors are complimentary, the colors that accent and much more…just click and see…you’ll have fun just playing around I am sure and you may come up with some great color schemes all by yourself!
Kuler.Adobe.com – another color scheme website that is really helpful, already put together color palettes much like colourlovers…buts it a lot of fun.

Getting an actual color wheel for your scrap room can be of huge benefit as well! But you don’t have to go out and buy one in most cases, they are usually available for free at many hardware or paint stores. With some basic color wheel knowledge, you can mix and match better than the pros

Let me go ahead in case some are not aware, and give you a break down what colors are what on the color wheel…No I am not talking Red, Yellow, Blue, I am talking about what the words Triad and what are “complementary” colors etc…

Complementary colors are the colors that are opposite each other on a color wheel. If you look at a color wheel, you will see that Red is directly across from Green – when you mix green and red together you are back to all of the primary colors in one. Complementary colors always balance back to the three primary colors being together. So if you take the color purple for instance, to make purple you need to mix blue and red together, to balance or “complement” the purple you need to add the yellow. Make sense?

Analogous colors are the colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. They are close in shade/color and can create a soft or warm feeling. Usually use the color in the middle as your main color and then the two colors on either side to support the main color to create a really nice look.

Triad colors are three colors that are evenly spaced out on the color wheel to form a triangle. These colors used together can give you a really bold statement, for example taking green, purple and orange (these are the main tertiary colors off of the primary colors) creates a very bold effect that can be quite pleasing.

I could probably go into a lot more, who knew I could use some much of my color theory classes from Beauty School for my scrapbooking projects!??! I think this is a good base for you, if you are interested in more, let me know – I have been thinking about the possibility of teaching a Color Theory Class for Scrapbookers myself

Hope that helps you and gives you yet more great resources and tips! Do you have any color tips you would like to share???

Comments

(24 Comments -- Leave Your Comment)

Lisa D.
December 14, 2009 at 11:56 pm

Thanks Megan. I will definitely check some of those sites out.

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josie
December 15, 2009 at 2:01 am

thanks for the info…..your wisdom is great appreciated!!!…..now I understand my color wheel…LOL

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Kansas A
December 15, 2009 at 2:10 am

Thank you! I’d be first to sign up for the class!!

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Shirley D
December 15, 2009 at 5:21 am

OK, now I understand my color wheel….terms make a lot more sense.

Thank you!!

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Cindy M
December 15, 2009 at 7:42 am

This is FABULOUS Megan!! Checked out the sites and absolutely love them. This is definetly been one of my hurdles in scrapping. I’m not color cordinated. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for sharing this. I love learning from you!! Have watched my video twice now, it’s great!!

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Cherie
December 15, 2009 at 9:25 am

Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful info with us!

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Mikila Gomez
December 15, 2009 at 9:38 am

I still don’t understand the color wheel but would love to take a class on it. Would buy a DVD too

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laura
December 15, 2009 at 9:38 am

A class in colors – wow, that’d be GREAT!!!! Thank you for sharing the websites – I’m heading off to them now!!!!!!!

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Donna
December 15, 2009 at 11:59 am

Wow, what great sites on color combinations…
I can’t wait to use them. I think that choosing color schemes is the hardest thing for me so thank you for giving me these tools!! And thanks for ALL your energy…I just love this site

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Kathy Hunter
December 15, 2009 at 5:20 pm

I too would be interested in a class. I struggle with color coordination as well. Love your site. Thanks so much for all the guidance and tips you give us.

Kathy

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Jennie Barger
December 15, 2009 at 5:32 pm

Love these sites! I’m sometimes at a loss when it comes to color combinations so this is great!! Thanks for sharing!!

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Pilar
December 15, 2009 at 8:26 pm

Thank you Megan. This is very helpful. I liked the colorscheme site.

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Barbara
December 15, 2009 at 9:02 pm

THANK YOU FOR THE WEB SITES

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TR
December 15, 2009 at 9:39 pm

Great links….
looking forward to spending more time at them.

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Lori
December 15, 2009 at 10:27 pm

Often I find that when buying the paper the lighting in the store is not the best, top that off with not being sure if colors match and I am at a loss. So this is a great help!

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Janine
December 16, 2009 at 4:45 am

Love ColourLovers website!! Used them many times over the years when designing a website. The color combos the members come up with are awesome!

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Glenda
January 19, 2010 at 9:53 am

You mentioned Beauty School?? I too was a hairstylist for 39 years until I crushed my left wrist and was forced into retirement What was once my little hair salon my husband built for me is now my craft building even though the salon equipment is still there on one side of the room.

The color theory we had to study is a great reference when choosing card stock colors, and I have a realy nice color wheel, if I could just find it. LOL

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Megan Gravener
January 19, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Glenda – Yes I went to beauty school and had worked in a salon for many years – “Above Rubies Studio” was actually a childhood dream of owning my own salon. God changed my direction a little bit – but I am NOT The least bit disappointed! Praising Him! Color theory helps BIG time!

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Ann DeHart
March 9, 2010 at 9:17 am

WOW! Thanks so much for doing all the research and making these sites available to us! You’re the BEST!
Ann

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Bev E
March 9, 2010 at 9:51 am

Scraptitude.com This link is broken.

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Tisha
March 9, 2010 at 10:12 am

I went to scrapitude.net website and it is closing down at the end of the month.

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kim
March 9, 2010 at 10:42 am

Thanks so much, I appreciate the color lesson. I am saving the websites for future reference

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Michelle
March 9, 2010 at 3:05 pm

cool ideas…you can also find inspiration in your favorite catalogs – pottery barn, pottery barn kids, pottery barn teens…or whatever catalog you love to look at and you know the colors already look great together!

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Lesley
January 9, 2011 at 9:50 pm

Those sites will be very useful for me, they’ll take the pain out of choosing colours.

cheers

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