It was so fun to go through all the color challenge entries! I think there were a few running themes throughout… lots of cards with hearts on white backgrounds, lots of white cards in general, and lots of butterflies. :)

Anyway, enjoy! I couldn’t limit myself to just 5 top picks, so I went for 10. However, I still only have 5 iTunes prizes, so I randomly picked 5 out of the 10 and those will receive the iTunes gift cards. :) Those five are shown on the top row below…

NOTE: If you are one of the 5 prize winners, I will be emailing you concerning the gift cards. Some of you are outside the US, and I just realized that you won’t be able to use iTunes gift certificates bought from the US iTunes Store. We’ll have to figure something else out. :)

TOP TEN

RANDOM TEN

Happy Wednesday, all!

So, my mom–who is an amazing quilter–is making me a quilt for my living room. I have a comfy red chair and sort of a bone color sofa. Last week we went to pick out fabric and found the perfect fabrics! Most of them (all but two) are from a Joel Dewberry Collection. After taking this picture of the fabric, I knew it had to be a Color Inspiration Challenge.

I nearly didn’t post this Color Inspiration Challenge, though. I don’t want any of you to think this is a return to “weekly” color challenges or anything like that. This does not mean “the Color Inspiration Challenge is back.” It’s just me, excited about this color combination, and I wanted to share. So just have fun with it. :)

Since this is a “one off” challenge, this is how the round-up will work: 5 top picks, 10 random picks. And because I just love new music, the creators of the 5 top picks will each receive a $10 iTunes gift certificate. :)

Oh, and if any of you find a spam link, please contact me. Thanks!

Hi all!

I have received numerous emails asking about the Color Inspiration Challenges over the last few days. Instead of answering the question over and over again, I thought I would just post about it.

Unfortunely, I do not have immediate plans to continue with the Color Inspiration Challenges. They are too time consuming. Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while know that I’ve always struggled with the time commitment to post Color Inspiration Challenges. Getting it posted isn’t particularly hard, but the round-up is difficult. Even to the point of there being a two week span between the challenge deadline and the round-up. It was frustrating for me and for all of you.

It feels somewhat like I “bit off more than I could chew.” :( I kept thinking, “I’ll start up the challenges again when my life calms down.” But I don’t think it will calm down any time soon. I’ve thought about not having the round-up but still posting Color Inspiration Challenges, and actually tried that for a few months at one point. However, I’ve decided against it. It seems like a half-effort and not really what I want to do.

When or if I start the Color Inspiration Challenges again, I will post about it here. Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Hello all!

This Color Inspiration Challenge photo comes from a shopping trip I took a few weeks back. I was in a local craft store and saw some of American Crafts’ gift wrap. So cute! I loved this collection when it was paper, so I absolutely love it in gift wrap too! Anyhow, I thought these bows had the cutest colors. :)

If you’d like to send a picture in to be considered for a Color Inspiration Challenge, read the details here.

Good morning, all!

Surprise! LOL! I finally did the roundup for the last color challenge. Can you believe it?! I bet you thought I wasn’t going to do it, huh? ;)

Well, I’m so SO glad I did! Mostly because it was super inspiring to see of your submissions. In fact, I wasn’t planning on making a card last night since it was already pretty late when I finished going through all of your links, but I was so inspired I had to make a quick card.

Seriously, you guys are awesome!

Anyhow, here’s my card, and below are my top fifteen picks! :)

My Top Fifteen Picks

We’re starting out this Color Inspiration #55 a bit differently today. :) Shimelle has been posting some great color entries on her blog this month, and I was so happy to be asked to share a bit about the Color Inspiration Challenge with her readers. So, welcome to all of you!

Here is the text that is appearing over at her blog today, with the new challenge near the bottom. Enjoy!

- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Finding color everywhere…

I’ve never been good with color—at least I never considered myself good at color. What I am good at is looking at pre-existing color combinations. For example, I’ll be out shopping and see a particularly nice display in a window. I like the colors. I like the feeling it evokes. As discreetly as possible, I’ll take my phone out of my purse and snap a photo so that I can remember the colors later.

Great color combinations are everywhere you look!

Sometimes the hardest part is making the connection between the colors you see around you and the way they can be combined in a paper project. It’s often hard to look at a beautiful flower and pick out the specific colors that make it beautiful. But it’s infinitely easier to see the color combination possibilities when it’s a bedroom comforter or a shirt.

When it comes to finding color inspiration for papercrafting, some things translate better than others. Or in other words, when you look at the color of certain items, it’s not too far of a leap to see them on a papercrafting project.

Some of my favorite color inspiration go-to items are clothing, home décor, and paper items like stationary and notebooks. Now that I think about it, the common denominator with all these things is pattern. Clothing, home décor, and other paper items often use patterns.

It is easier to see a color combination when it is grouped together in a pattern.

Try looking for patterns and you will find them everywhere! And if you’re like me and sometimes struggle with grouping colors, it’s easier to do so when someone else has grouped them for you! There’s nothing like a cute pattern to get your color juices flowing. :)

Now for a Color Inspiration Challenge…

Here are the colors for this week’s challenge, and they come from my boss’ skirt! She was wearing this adorable skirt (which unfortunately she couldn’t remember where she bought), and I had to stop her so that I could take a picture. And check out those shoes! So cute!

Anyway, I want to invite everyone to participate in this challenge. For those new to the challenge, this is how it works: Just create something using the colors above as a springboard for your project. Post your creation somewhere on the internet—your blog, a photo gallery like Flickr, or at a papercrafting website/gallery. Then just follow the instructions below to paste your link.

After the deadline, I’ll go through all the projects and just pick out a few that are my favorites. There’s no prize or anything—I just like to show everyone your projects! And it’s a chance to spotlight some of the challenge participants. For an example of a Color Inspiration Challenge Roundup, click here.

So, join us! You’ll love it! :)

If you’d like to send a picture in to be considered for a Color Inspiration Challenge, read the details here.

- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Join us: Make a card/scrapbook page/whatever in the colors above. Color Inspiration virgins, please read the Color Inspiration FAQ first.

Deadline: Wednesday, June 24 at 7:00 pm MT. You will know when the deadline has past because you will not able to submit a new link through the Mister Linky box.

Grab this week’s swatch-only image. (If you’re having trouble saving the swatch-only image, try right-clicking on the link and then on “open in new window”).

Reader submissions for Color Inspiration #55:

Links are now closed. Join us next week!
I reserve the right to delete links that are posted incorrectly.
Has your link been deleted? There’s probably a reason why. Check the FAQ. And if you’re unsure on how to link correctly, view this video.

Happy Thursday, all!

I went through all the Color Inspiration #54 submissions tonight and I narrowed it down to my top ten picks! Hopefully you’ll enjoy looking through them as much I did. Such fun, bright colors for fun, bright cards and pages. :)

See you all tomorrow for another Finally Friday video and then a special new Color Inspiration Challenge. ;)

TOP TEN

Hello, all!

Are you ready for another Color Inspiration Challenge? It’s about time, huh? :)

This week’s photos comes from my friend Adrienne again. I chose one of her photos a while back, and this one was so good, too! Anyhow, she blogged about this fabulous carseat cover recently that she found on Etsy. When I saw that she’d submitted the photo as well, I was so excited! Isn’t this a cute carseat cover? I believe the fabric used is from Lizzy House.

Anyhow, thanks for your patience, and enjoy!

If you’d like to send a picture in to be considered for a Color Inspiration Challenge, read the details here. And as usual, if you come across a spam link, please contact me to let me know. :)

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -

Join us: Make a card/scrapbook page/whatever in the colors above. Color Inspiration virgins, please read the Color Inspiration FAQ first.

Deadline: Sunday, June 14 at 7:00 pm MT. You will know when the deadline has past because you will not able to submit a new link through the Mister Linky box.

Grab this week’s swatch-only image. (If you’re having trouble saving the swatch-only image, try right-clicking on the link and then on “open in new window”).

Reader submissions for Color Inspiration #54:

Links are now closed. Join us next time! :)
I reserve the right to delete links that are posted incorrectly.
Has your link been deleted? There’s probably a reason why. Check the FAQ. And if you’re unsure on how to link correctly, view this video.

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. I finally did the roundup for the last challenge! :)

Once again, there were so many great submissions, and many of them were great little boy cards. Considering the inspiration picture, it was so surprise to find lots of rockets and robots. So awesome! Anyhow, here are my top thirteen submissions:

TOP THIRTEEN

Happy weekend, all! We’re continuing with reader-submitted photos, and this week the photo is from Anthonette Chavez. Isn’t this little guy so cute?! I took the bright colors from the little toy he’s holding. :)

So the colors this week are black, red (like a true, real red), pacific blue, sun yellow, and white. Have fun!

I just wanted to thank you all for participating each week. I’m so overwhelmed and humbled that so many of you would find this little color challenge helpful. And please do continue to submit your cards and pages and other creations. I love seeing them.

I also need to thank each of you who alert me when there are spam submissions. It helps so much! I’ve been able to delete the links more quickly because of all of you. If you find a spam link, please contact me and let me know. Thanks! :)

If you’d like to send a picture in to be considered for a Color Inspiration Challenge, read the details here.

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -

Join us: Make a card/scrapbook page/whatever in the colors above. Color Inspiration virgins, please read the Color Inspiration FAQ first.

Deadline: Wednesday, May 27 at 7:00 pm MT.

Grab this week’s swatch-only image. (If you’re having trouble saving the swatch-only image, try right-clicking on the link and then on “open in new window”).

Reader submissions for Color Inspiration #53:

Links are now closed. Join us next week!
I reserve the right to delete links that are posted incorrectly.
Has your link been deleted? There’s probably a reason why. Check the FAQ. And if you’re unsure on how to link correctly, view this video.