TUTORIAL - COLOUR THEORY

You've started making cards and things are going well but sometimes something just doesnt look right which you cant quite put your finger on.... Be honest, how many have actually read card composition and colour theory (what??) LOL! OK I'm a totally addicted crafter, I like to learn about my tools to get the best out of them and tools of making cards, scrapbooks and the like also include the use of colour.

We all know that primary colours are red, yellow and blue and that red and yellow make orange and yellow and are secondary colours but do you know which of these work well together?

Lets start right at the beginning...
Here is a basic colour wheel, print it off if you dont have one already :)

It is composed of your primaries (Red, Yellow and Blue) Next but one are your secondaries (Green, orange and violet) and your Tertiaries which are a mix of a secondary and a primary (Red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet and red-violet.

You may have also heard the terms shade, tint and tone, what are these?

• Tint - Color + White (Red+White=Pink thus pink is a tint of red)

• Tone - Color + Grey (These make pastels)

• Shade - Color + Black (Red+Black=Burgundy thus burgundy is a shade of red)

• Value - How light or dark a color is.

• Aggressive - AKA 'Warm'. The yellows, oranges, and reds. These come towards the eye more (spatially) and are generally 'louder' than passive colors.


• Passive - AKA 'Cool'. The greens, blues, and violets. These recede from the eye more (spatially) and are generally 'quieter' than the aggressive colors.

OK so what colours go together?

There are 6 common colour schemes used in art & design. These are Monochromatic, complimentary, analogous, split complimentary, triatic and tetradic.

MONOCHROMATIC
Monochromatic colours are all the hues (tints and shades) of a single color. The tints and shades add depth and highlights. Simply select one "portion" such as blue from the colour wheel. The example is a blue-green monochromatic.

COMPLIMENTARY
Complimentary colours are those directly opposite each other on the wheel e.g red & green; blue & orange. They look good together and compliment each other. You can use them to create sharp contrasts or mix them to create a neutral grey.

ANALOGOUS
These are colours next to each other on a colour wheel. Select any quarter of the wheel for an Analogous colour scheme.
As they are similar to each other they blend well particularly if one colour is used as the dominant and the others to add highlights. They create a sense of harmony and blend well together and are effective at showing depth. You will use this in your colouring such as with copic markers.

SPLIT COMPLIMENTARY
The split complementary scheme is a variation of the standard complementary scheme. It uses a colour and then two colors adjacent to its complementary. It is a good choice for beginners, I use it the most myself!

TRIATIC
Probably the most common scheme used in cardmaking and scrapbooking, this involves using three colours spaced evenly around the wheel as it balances warm and cool colours. For best use let one colour dominate and use the others as highlights. It gives a strong visual contrast while maintaining balance.

TETRADIC
The tetradic (also known as a double complementary) scheme uses four colours arranged into two complementary color pairs (as in a rectangle). This colour scheme can be difficult to use in equal amounts so you should choose one of the colours to be dominant and the others to highlight.

And finally below is another snazzy colour wheel showing more shades and tints. I have this one on my wall and find it really useful in selecting colour schemes.

Blossoms Blossoms everywhere!

I've spied these lovely floral creations on my travels around blog land and thought I would share them with you. If you're feeling adventurous why not have a try at them!

Ribbon Blossom by Judy Laing. They are fun and funky to make. Judy's is smaller than the tutorial version on splitcoast stampers here but doesn't overwhelm the card. You simply use smaller lengths of ribbon or cut them down to suit.
Judy has a wonderful way with flowers, always a little bit different. Have a browse round her blog and check out her gorgeous lollipop flowers here





And Celebrate by Tab Robinson. I call Tab the "Master of the Mulberry" for what she does with those mulberry paper flowers. You know the ones that are sitting in the back of your drawers with stems on that you dont quite know what to do with, well Tab has breathed new life into them with a "Bit of Glimmer mist and Glamour dust" which is becomming a catchphrase lol!
Check out her blog for more dazzling mulberries

Here's a couple of Lollipop Flower tutorials I also found for you.

Tutorial 1

Tutorial 2

If you're feeling *really* brave you might like to have a go at a chiffon flower. It involves setting fire to it so I'll sit this one out lol! Take a peep over at Midnight Madness challenge blog

BLOG CANDY WINNER!

We have a total of 19 correct entries listed below in order of hitting the correct answer which of course was Joanna Sheen and Imag-e-nation (or La Pashe)

1. Louise (Looby)
2. Jana78
3. Ch3rrie
4. Gemma W
5. Julie W
6. Caro
7. Valerie J
8. Crazy craft shed
9. Sarah B
10. Lisa
11. Maureen
12. Teresa W
13. Shell
14. Josephine
15. Sarah (Clarabell)
16. Nicola
17. Aunty Sue
18. Craft Chick
19. Tarts wot craft
And random.org says the winner is.....

NUMBER 16 - NICOLA!

Well done sweets! Please email me your address!

Some Blog Candy :)

NOW CLOSED! WINNER WILL BE DRAWN LATER!



If you're anything like me you may have heard of the term blog candy and people asking you to visit their blog as they have candy. Now my folks taught me never to take sweets from strangers and I used to be really puzzled why people gave away sweets on blogs, I mean you don't know them, you wouldn't take a sweet from a stranger at the bus stop now would you?

Then the penny dropped (after quite some time I might add!) that BLOG CANDY is not sweets, its CRAFT GOODIES!!! All those months I missed out not knowing this haha!

So I am offering our own candy! That is crafty goodies! I will add an item a day until we officially open on 10th August. Want a chance to win it? Here's how...

We have got 2 MEGA huge sponsors, really big players in the world of crafts with oodles of awards, allocades and massive product ranges between them. Each day I will post up a different clue about them or their products. You need to try and guess who the two fantastic sponsors are.

SPONSOR 1

SPONSOR 2

To enter leave a message in the comments box. You can make ONE guess PER DAY (email if you don't have a blog although you should be able to leave comments) and all the correct entries will go into the prize draw and a winner will be picked at random before challenge 1.

Here is the 1st item going into the blog candy box, some 3d decoupage sheets, 2nd item some peel offs, 3rd is ribbon, 4th is a cling rubber stamp by Sarah Kay for Stampavie called ""Lucy & Kitty" I keep thinking its an xmas one, its not but it *can* be! 5th is some scrummy glass beads including some two colour crackle glass ones, 6th is some accents (vellum stickers, sticky ribbon etc) by AMM, 7th is some epoxy? stickers of some gorgeous little cherubs and corners, 8th is 3d stickers and die cuts by craft house which I use quite a lot myself!
9th is a sakura stardust pen in clear and a souffle pen in white, essential kit! 10th is a packet of Dazzlers by Petaloo and also a scrummy pack of pink and black flora doodles. 11th is 10 decoupage sheets by Jolly Nation with 10 matching backing papers. 12th is a pack of scratch art scratch & sparkle which can be used in basic, intermediate and advanced (all instructions included!) 13th is 2 bottles of Moonglow starburst stains (these are THE most gorgeous dyes on the market and I have 59 of them myself!) They are Poinsettia red gold and Cathedral pines green so perfect for xmas. 14th and final are some lilac and pink beads, heart shaped glass beads, some silver charms and some swarovski crystal beads, these really dazzle so use sparingly!

There is a nice little mix of starter materials through to more advanced ones. I'll be taking entries up to 12pm GMT on Monday 10th Aug, all correct guesses will go into the draw for the winner to be announced later in the day.

GOOD LUCK!

Keep guessing! You have to have the right answer to be entered so keep going!
NOTE: Once you get both right your name will be noted so you can keep trying each day if you're not sure! It doesnt go on the final guess, once you hit on it then you're in the draw!

Introducing the Design Team

Let me introduce you to our design team. We differ from regular design teams in that we are made up of very new and less experienced cardmakers up to more experienced. We will also be having an uber talented surprise guest each challenge so you will see a wide range of skills and levels that anyone can relate to.

My name's Jack and I'm from Hampshire, UK. I've been making cards about 2 years now and LOVE stamping! I also do a bit of parchment craft and beading. I also like to get involved with card & ATC swaps on groups. I recently made my own blog so I will learn with you and have just taken the plunge to do my first blog challenge!

My name's Mandy and I live in Birmingham, UK. I have been blogging for about 2 years and completed some guest designer spots. I have also had several cards published in the reader pages of various magazines!
I have been making things since I was small but it wasn't until I saw a card making demo in 2002 and thought I could do that that I took up card making. I like trying different techniques and like bright and bold colours. I love taking part in blog challenges and love sketches as it gives me opportunity to try different styles.

My name's Joy and I'm in my 70's! I live in North Devon, UK. I've been doing various crafts since I was a small child including crochet, machine knitting, embroidery and model painting and only recently took up cardmaking. I like being involved in swaps and this will be my first challenge.

I'm Lisa and I live in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, with my husband Pav, our 2 little boys Morgan and Dexter and 2 cats. I've always been a fairly crafty person - I learnt to knit as a child and then moved onto embroidery. Just over 2 years ago we had a little boy, Harvey, who was stillborn. Needing something to focus on in the months following our loss, I wandered into a craft shop, found a cardmaking magazine and was soon well and truly hooked! I quickly progressed from one small craft box, to a set of drawers in the living room, to a whole craft room of my own, and I still don't seem to have enough room for everything. Crafty Cardmakers is my first Design Team position and I'm thrilled to be involved, I can't wait for the challenges to start!

Hi My name is Rachel aka Loopy, I have four amazing children and have been married to Chris for fifteen years.
I cross stitched for about two years before making my first
card using small stitched images. Once I made the first card I was hooked and switched to card crafting. I have
been obsessed with cardmaking and paper craft since and started in my bedroom on a desk,moved up to a small
shed and now this year moved to a 16 x 9 foot craft studio. I am still pretty new to the whole world of crafting
though as ill health often gets in the way. I am finding rubber stamping is my fave right now, I just love painting
the images and bringing them to life. I have to admit to being a gadget gimp and have many things I have no clue how to use. I will also admit to being a bit odd about card and paper stock, I hoard it then can't bear to cut into the special ones!

My name is Toria also known as Vicky. I live in a lovely part of the UK - Pembrokeshire, West Wales.
I have been into crafting for quite a few years now. I am very lucky as my Mum is into crafting too. I like to use a number of techniques among these are ribbon embroidery, Parchment Craft, Decoupage and stamping. But it is stamping that I really enjoy. Watercolour pencils, Polychromous pencils & Zest it Oil and Copic markers are my favourite mediums for colouring my stamped images in. I love glitter and try to add some to most of my designs so I always have my stardust clear pen near me at all times. I like quite a few stamp makers but Cute Companions, Magnolia and Katie Sue are my favourites. I am always eager to learn new techniques and improve those I already use. I also love to make miniature needle felted bears and chenille stem bears. My favourite colours are: Blue, Purple, Pink, Turquoise and Jade. It is funny how I keep coming back to these colours for my card making, but I try to make a point of using other colours if I can possible do so.

My name's Rose and I live in Ohio, USA. I am a wife, mother of 2, grandmother of 4. I have 2 really spoiled Golden Retrievers. I have been scrapbooking and cardmaking for approx 12 years. My grandchildren are my main subjects. I am a Respiratory Therapist and work at the local hospital. My scrapping style is all over the place. I love the shabby chic, vintage look, but my grandchildren are bright modern children, so I go with that style mainly.

My name's Vix and I've been cardmaking for 6 years, stamping for 5. I previously did cross stitch but the results weren't quick enough for me so I switched! I've been a published designer for encaustic art, won several competitions including cardmaker of the year for Makins clay category and had numerous cards published in magazines.

I love swaps and challenges and take part in several a month, I feel it improves your skills and gets you to think differently. I also like hooking up with craft buddies I meet around the net and have made tons of new friends. I like to experiment but they dont always go to plan lol! I also have a severe addiction to ink and dyes!

My name's Jenny and I am a 33 and live in Wolverhampton. I have been attempting to make cards for the last 3 years, but not made many as tend I to do personalised ones, so this is a good learning tool for me. I work for a government agency, about to start a new job in 6 weeks.

My name is Julie, I am 39 years young with a darling daughter who is only a darling when she is not in my craft box!! No we love crafting together (until she uses my favourite item). I have been crafting on and off for about 8 years now, I have gone through cross stitch, scrapbooks, sewing until I found card making and I absolutely love it. So much so for the past three years I have made my employers Christmas cards 1200 each year, ended up with sore fingers but got there in the end. I enjoy challenges. I hope you this site helps with any crafty problems you may have.

I'm Judie and im 39 nearly the big 40 lol , Married to Pete for 21 Years, have 3 kiddies, Claire 20 - Scott 18 - Nicole 4 (we thought we were covered lol - wouldnt change it for the world though) - We are in Devon, but come from Hampshire. I do lots of fundraising for Meningits research Foundation, as i would love to see a vacination against all strains of this wicked disease, It can kill within 4 hours and im passionate about this big time.

I love art and crafts end of , I now have a room to create in, I started making jewellery 3 years ago, I often make and sell these items now, I happened to buy a mag to make a valentines card for hubbie in 2008 so that would be febuary, and i have been hooked ever since, I have found it had to break into the docrafts site, as i dont have enough for the challenges on there, for example i entered PB challenge, this card took me all week only to be told that i must use a PB stamp !! I love to do challenges, but its hard to do when you dont have the stamps, I have done the wallet swap on there and that was good, I have also done the diecut swap as well, I havent got a fav technique, im really into trying any thing at the moment as i still consider myself a newbie, some of the cards out there are stunning it will be a while before I am in the bottom of that league lol - I think though im more of a sticking and glueing card maker not a stamper yet - Need to get my head around the copics and promarkers first.