Our color preferences are often motivated by the memories we have and the reactions to the mood that color brings. My favorite color is blue. Blue brings me peace, whether it is blue sky or blue ocean, sometimes I wonder if it is because I have blue eyes and for years I thought my eyes were my best feature.
Color is everywhere and can be very inexpensive or even free to bring into your living spaces. By having more color in your living spaces and in your clothing, it is easier to pick out the colors you want to use in your scrapbook. We often choose a color in a photograph to bring out in the form of mats or background papers. Here are 6 reasons you may be avoiding more color in your life.
- I’m afraid of …Seriously, what’s the worst thing that can happen? Color can’t kill you . Stop living with boring beige and white, and as the saying goes… “put on your big girl panties” Be bold, color makes you feel good. My daughter use to say I dressed like an old lady. I started bringing color into my wardrobe after that. Besides, you can always go back to beige, but why would you want to?
- It takes too much time.In the time it takes you to watch a movie, you can paint a room , make a lively scrapbook page, pick and arrange some fresh flowers or choose exciting accessories for your wardrobe and Add color you’ll feel more alive. Take a look at the Close to my Heart color pallette for some colors that work well together.
- I can’t decide on a color, so I pick nothing. Pick several colors you love, and start incorporating them in different, inexpensive ways . Buy some funky socks, pretty ribbons for your hair or colored pencils to use for doodling. Adding small shots of color around you will inspire you to use color more often and in larger doses. We are told so much that our homes should be painted in neutral colors, so in my last home, I painted the bathroom tomato red! Of course when we sold the house, they wanted a “paint allowance”
- I have trouble committing. Try adding tem porary color that can easily be changed. Wrap a throw pillow in a brightly colored scarf to liven up a room, fill a bowl with lemons or apples to create a centerpiece or tape several sheets of cardstock to a wall to help you get used to a vibrant color in a room. Once you are acclimated to bolder colors, you can make more permanent decisions.
- I don’t know what I like. Sometimes it’s easier to see what you like in a smaller space. Visit here and look at the scrapbook papers, find one you like and take it to the paint store and they can match the color, so you can incorporate those colors into a room by painting one wall or a small piece of furniture. Or, frame the patterned paper for a piece of instant, in expensive art.
- I tend to choose the same colors over and over, but I’m bored with them . Always reaching for blue? Sometimes we just know what we like. Branch out and choose a variety of shades in that Try navy, Robin’s egg blue, cobalt or pale stone blue. Experiment with many shades, tones and finishes. Seeing a variety of your favorite hue will then lead you to branch out into complementary colors.
What colors are you drawn to? Decide on your signature color palette(s). These should be colors that make you happy.
What colors do you associate with good or bad memories? The telephone and appliances has been gone for more than 40 years, but each time I see a particular shade of avocado green or that awful yellow, I remember the fridge my parents had in the ’70s, now seems ugly and outdated. Colors that bring up sad memories also can easily be avoided, so you can feel happy and confident with your choices.
Are there colors do you love but are afraid to use? Choose questionable colors to in small doses until you are confident with them. Living a color-confident life will empower you and make your art more powerful.
Creatively,
Carol