WELCOME!

GOOD Morning!

There has been a lot of  work going in to creating this blog, and now we are finally underway.  Hopefully, you will be encouraged to read through the first section or the "thought" and the second section of the post "the process" of working with our challenges.  We are excited to get right down to business... Please enjoy the very first t*t*d thought.

Analogous Color

 We were thinking the other day that color can be a powerful way to convey emotion.  Color can reach out and grab you, demanding attention or color can be calming, feeling like a place to snuggle up and take a snooze.  Analogous colors are like a hammock beckoning your name; working well together because these colors are so close to each other on the color wheel. Due to the close proximity they share, analogous colors create a feeling of harmony and peace.  Think of it as a warm blanket and soft pillow, they are peas in a pod, best friends, and cut from the same cloth.

image credit: http://www.tigercolor.com

Nature is a great place to look for inspiration for using analogous colors.  Look at a sunset; the colors are right there, all snug tight on the color wheel; yellows, oranges, and pinks; working well together.   If you were to look at an island from the boat, all the wonderful blues of the sky and sea blend right into the greens of the trees.

Choosing 3-5 colors that are neighbors on the color wheel is an easy way to begin your next work of he{ART}.  Look for analogous colors in your photos and papers.

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The next section of every post will have a few TG's thought on working with Analogous colors.. read them all or only read the ones you want. Here is were we discuss our process. I find often that reading HOW or WHY helps us to get the courage to stretch ourselves, and that is a BIG part of the purpose of t*t*d

 Here are a few more thoughts on how analogous color schemes worked from the TG’s:

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Amanda's Thoughts: I do not use color to reflect emotion.  Do not get me wrong, I love color as color, but I do not over-analyze it.  I struggled to use a palette that was analogous.  It felt monochromatic, and, while I do not usually use color to convey emotion, it was too calm.  I could not think of a story I wanted to tell that worked in a mellow color scheme.  Finally had to take a step back from a detailed color wheel with a spectrum of 16+ shades and instead use to the basic primary color wheel, where blue and yellow would be next to each other blending together to create green.  Using these colors provided me enough contrast tell my story effectively. 

 

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Laura's Thoughts:  I do not think I have ever begun a page with color as the starting point.  I usually decide which photos I want to use and then pick the design, colors and supplies that go with them.  Fortunately, I had these photos of the amazing sunset on Christmas morning.  As I was scrolling through my photos I decided my sunset photos were so nice and already analogous, so I printed a couple off and hit my scraproom.  I really loved the pinks and oranges of the photos, so I began to look for papers that would draw this pallet out.  I went with a glittery pink background and then added oranges and yellows in my decorative strips and embellishments.  I really wanted to keep the embellishments to a minimum so the photos could be the star.  Finally, I added great letters that I had in my stash for my title.

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Andrea's Thoughts: The analogous color assignment scared me a little because I have never used the color wheel much. I thought the best way to do it would be to put some of the colors in a wheel form on my layout and utilized the ever so trendy star burst pattern. In the star burst pattern and throughout the layout I added dark blues, royal blues, light blues, and turquoises to span the "blue" portion of the color wheel. To top it off and add one more analogous color, I added the bright green behind the photos and a few pieces of bright green washi tape.

 

 

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Sally's Thoughts:I chose to stick with just three colors for this challenge - blue/green to yellow/green on the color wheel. One thing I loved about this challenge is it took me out of my comfort zone of just picking up a kit and using all the same line (of paper and embellishments).  I enjoyed the process of looking through different paper and finding what worked well together for my photos. In the end, I would use paper from three different lines.  I chose white as my background so that my "cool" (blues, greens and purples) color tones would pop a little more.  Once I started designing I felt a little bit more of the turquoise would be beneficial, therefore I used glimmer mist to add that punch of color especially to the top of my layout, though I did add a little to the bottom as well.  I enjoyed working with analogous colors, as it is always fun to be challenged in new ways.

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Heather's Thoughts: I began by choosing the colors pink- blue on the color wheel for my analogous color scheme. This was a very different color combination for me to work with because I hardly ever use these colors. In my mind’s eye, my layout began very differently; but in the end, I was satisfied with the result. Originally, I wanted to have blue patterned paper behind the circles, however; I felt it too closely followed a previously seen sketch. I still wanted to use the large circle element on my page and because I had two polka-dotted patterned papers, I decided to use the newspaper print to divide the different dot patterns. I felt I wanted to add blue on my layout, so I used a cluster of different shades of blue to complement the blue title stickers and photo matte. I then added ribbon under the circle elements to create visual texture. For my "fun" effect, I twirled twine swirls to connect the circles to the base page, along with pearls. 

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Beth's Thoughts: I chose pink, red, reddish orange and orange for my analogous color scheme. A perfect example of analogous colors in nature is the flowers in my photos. The bright colors make the neutral tones pop off the page! Colors can also convey emotion. Red can represent love and joy, while orange represents friendliness and comfort. These are the perfect emotions to convey how we feel about this new addition to our family!

 

 

 

  ************************************************************************************************************************** Erika's My Thoughts: As I experimented with the multitude of possibilities I landed at blue and carried that through to a tiny bit of purple. One thing I would like to add is, when working with a large number of colors it is important to not try to balance them. For example, I used small touches of green and yellow-green by adding the circles of paper that I used as a grounding element. I also added the more yellow blue in my journaling.  I think it is important to play with the colors and create what inspires you. I do know that using an analogous color scheme will almost always be harmonious.

 

 

FINALLY: we want to see your work.. Your challenge is to create a layout using the analogous approach.  Please use good ole MR. LINKY to share with us.  OR leave a link in the comment section to your work so we can be inspired by you.

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 Blessings

e

 

Comments

[Sally Cranney]

I love seeing everyone's take on this challenge! So many fun layouts shared! WTG ladies!

[Kelly R.]

(hand waving in the air) I have a question!! is it different shades of a color or colors next to each other on the color wheel? I'm sorry to be a bother!

[Kelly R.]

everyone's LO is wonderful BTW!

[Ashley Horton]

Great layouts everyone! Love how you all shared how you thought through the design process for this challenge!

[Erika Hayes]

Kelly: It is NEVER a bother.. that is what makes this blog different. WE want to work together to expand our craft. I am excited that you asked a question and I would ask, may I post this question on the fb page. I think it is a very valid question. Here is the best answer I can give if anyone else has a thought please chime in! :

A shade is simply a color with black added to it, and a tone is a color with white added to it. SO if you have BLUE and add black you get navy-- add white you get baby blue-- if you used that color scheme it would be more monochromatic colors. With the analogous you would perhaps choose BLUE--BLUE GREEN--GREEN--YELLOW GREEN and YELLOW. They are side by side on the color wheel as opposed to differnt shades and tones of the same color. I hope that answers your question if NOT please let me know! Blessings e

[Kelly R.]

awesome! that helps alot! post away dear friend...I'm headed over there now! thanks much!

[Colleen in NE]

Great layouts and thoughts. I LOVED reading the thoughts. They were so real.

[Andrea Niemeier]

the thoughts made it awesome!

[csewy]

Super layouts, ladies! I enjoyed reading the first "thought", seeing everyone's layouts and the thought behind each lo!! Great start!

[Connie]

Thanks for the inspiration! I just tried an analogous color scheme for the first time - at least it was intentionally analogous for the first time. I really like it. I find the color combos relaxing and settled.

[DanaMK]

Fabulous first post and what inspiration! Great job ladies - I love all your work! I actually quite like working with analogous colours but don't do it enough.

[Ladyofthelake (Andrea)]

Am posting mine -- Blue (in various shades and tones) and blue-green (words and bird) and purple (a blue-violet and a lighter shade -- the matting under photos is a deep purple). Does that work?

[Ladyofthelake (Andrea)]

Mine's not showing up -- even as pending?

[Gena McCauley]

Thanks for the challenge! And what a challenge it was! :)

[Margie Van Evera]

Thank you for the challenge! This first "thought" was fun! Can't wait to see what's next!