Altenew | Tips to selecting color combinations for cards. Video + Blog Hop

Hello everyone and thank you so much for stopping by today to celebrate Altenew & My Sweet Petunia Blog Hop (more on that below).

As I sat down to create a card I’m featuring in this post I struggled with the perfect color combination. And this is something I often find difficult when I create cards. I have a few go-to color combos that I use often and consider to be my favorite, but when I come across new colors I often become puzzled as I have no clue how to combine them to have beautiful color combinations on my cards.

Tips for selecting color combinatios for cards - On This Special Day Wedding Card using Altenew Vintage Flowers stamps + dies

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A few years ago when I stepped away from scrapbooking and started doing a lot more Clean & Simple cardmaking I created a Color Guide for myself to use; I still use it almost every time I make a card.

I believe I’ve mentioned it briefly in one of my videos a few years ago, but I wanted dedicate a separate post to it as I really find it to be a very helpful tool especially when it comes to stamping. So hopefully, if you are also struggling with selecting colors for your handmade cards you’ll also find this useful.

Yana Smakula | Color Combo Chart Idea Book for Clean & Simple Stamping and Cardmaking in general

VIDEO TUTORIAL

I filmed a video tutorial where I talk about my Color Combo chart in detail, you can watch it below or on my Youtube channel:

Like this video? Please give it a big thumbs up and share with a crafty friend! Drop me a comment too, I love hearing from you!

UPDATED TO ADD

I’ve had a few people ask me how to make collages with 4 color palettes (instead of one) to print. I made mine in Adobe Photoshop and printed from Photoshop. But there are a lot of free online apps that can be used to create similar collages. I’ve filmed a quick screen capture video to show you how you can make a collage in this app (I just googled “create collage online” and this was the first one I found, but there are many others out there). I hope this will be helpful to those of you struggling with printing several images onto one sheet.

COLOR COMBO CHART

It is actually very easy to make a color combo chart like I have here. Go to Pinterest and search for Color Palette. The search will return a huge amount of various beautiful images along with color combinations pulled from those images.

Its usually the image itself that I look at first, rather than the actual colors. If I find the image inspiring and if I think the colors shown there are colors I can see myself using on a card, I save the image onto a folder on my computer.

Once I have a decent amount of images saved I go ahead and print them. I use photo paper rather than regular printer paper to print these so that I get true vibrant colors and so that the paper is a little bit more durable. I use the cheapest matte photo paper available as I don’t think you need to spend a lot of money on high quality photo paper to print these, the cheapest option works for me.

I printed and trimmed mine to be 6×6 inches as this is a nice size for my desk. Usually anything bigger is a bit too overwhelming for me and takes too much room, so this size works for me. But you can print these in whatever size works best for you. You can also cut these up and put on a book ring so all images stay together or in a file storage system. I keep mine loose on a pile, this way I can easily and quickly flip thought my collection.

CARD DETAILS

For the card I’m sharing today I was inspired by Peach and Gray color combo. I don’t think I’ve ever used it before, so it was definitely a fun one to try. I added a hint of Rose Gold by using Rose Gold sequins from Pretty Pink Posh and I think that helped to warm the card a bit as otherwise it was rather cold.

Tips for selecting color combinatios for cards - On This Special Day Wedding Card using Altenew Vintage Flowers stamps + dies

I used Altenew’s Vintage Flowers stamps with matching dies to stamp and die cut the flowers and the leaves. MISTI ended up being very helpful in terms of aligning images and spending less time stamping these. I used the following colors on ink from Altenew (all linked below): Blush, Peach Perfect, Rouge, Crimson, Paper Bag, Dark Chocolate.

Tips for selecting color combinatios for cards - On This Special Day Wedding Card using Altenew Vintage Flowers stamps + dies

To create the sentiment I heat embossed “On This Special Day” using Platinum embossing powder from Hero Arts, the sentiment is from Thinking of You set.

Tips for selecting color combinatios for cards - On This Special Day Wedding Card using Altenew Vintage Flowers stamps + dies

GIVEAWAY

There are TWO mini MISTIs from My Sweet Petunia and THREE $30 gift certificates from Altenew up for grabs. Winners will be picked randomly from the comments across all of the blogs in the hop. Winners will be announced on the My Sweet Petunia and Altenew blogs on July 3, 2016.

BLOG HOP
Altenew_MySweetPetunia_Collaboration

If you arrived from Ilina Crouse – you are on the right track as I am the last stop on this hop. You can also start at the beginning at Altenew blog.

SUPPLIES

I’m listing the products I used below. Click on the link to go directly to the product. Where available I use compensated affiliate links which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you so much for your support!

EK Success Craft Tweezers
EK Success Craft Tweezers
Shop at:
SSS
Neenah 80 Solar White Paper Pack 250 Sheets
Neenah 80 Solar White Paper Pack 250 Sheets
Shop at:
SSS
ScraPerfect Perfect Crafting Pouch Multi-Purpose Craft Tool
ScraPerfect Perfect Crafting Pouch Multi-Purpose Craft Tool
Shop at:
SSS
Versamark Watermark Emboss Ink Pad
Versamark Watermark Emboss Ink Pad
Shop at:
SSS | HA
Spellbinders Artisan X-plorer Die Cutting Machine
Spellbinders Artisan X-plorer Die Cutting Machine
Shop at:
SSS | SC
Hero Arts Platinum Embossing Powder PW117
Hero Arts Platinum Embossing Powder PW117
Shop at:
SSS | HA
Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear Sequins Mix
Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear Sequins Mix
Shop at:
SSS | PPP
Ranger Glossy Accents Glue Dimensional Adhesive
Ranger Glossy Accents Glue Dimensional Adhesive
Shop at:
SSS | SC | PPP
Pretty Pink Posh 4MM Clear Droplets (small)
Pretty Pink Posh 4MM Clear Droplets (small)
Shop at:
SSS | PPP
Altenew Red Sunset Crisp Dye Ink Pad Pack
Altenew Red Sunset Crisp Dye Ink Pad Pack
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SSS
Altenew Blush Crisp Dye Ink Pad
Altenew Blush Crisp Dye Ink Pad
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SSS
Altenew Crimson Crisp Dye Ink Pad
Altenew Crimson Crisp Dye Ink Pad
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SSS
Altenew Evening Gray Crisp Ink Pad
Altenew Evening Gray Crisp Ink Pad
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SSS
Altenew Moon Rock Crisp Dye Ink Pad
Altenew Moon Rock Crisp Dye Ink Pad
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Altenew Morning Frost Crisp Dye Ink Pad
Altenew Morning Frost Crisp Dye Ink Pad
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SSS
Altenew Rouge Crisp Dye Ink Pad
Altenew Rouge Crisp Dye Ink Pad
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Altenew Thinking of You Stamp Set
Altenew Thinking of You Stamp Set
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SSS
Altenew Spicy Yogurt Cardstock
Altenew Spicy Yogurt Cardstock
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Fenstone Decorative Element
Fenstone Decorative Element
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AN
Altenew Paper Bag Crisp Dye Ink Pad AN166
Altenew Paper Bag Crisp Dye Ink Pad AN166
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SSS
Altenew Dark Chocolate Crisp Dye Ink Pad AN196
Altenew Dark Chocolate Crisp Dye Ink Pad AN196
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Altenew Peach Perfect Crisp Dye Ink Pad AN190
Altenew Peach Perfect Crisp Dye Ink Pad AN190
Shop at:
SSS
Altenew Warm Gray Oval Set Crisp Dye Ink Pads
Altenew Warm Gray Oval Set Crisp Dye Ink Pads
Shop at:
SSS
Crystal Ninja CRYSTAL KATANA Mixed Media Pick Up Tool
Crystal Ninja CRYSTAL KATANA Mixed Media Pick Up Tool
Shop at:
SSS
Altenew Vintage Flowers Stamp Set
Altenew Vintage Flowers Stamp Set
Shop at:
SSS
Altenew Vintage Flowers Die Set
Altenew Vintage Flowers Die Set
Shop at:
SSS
Pretty Pink Posh 6MM METALLIC ROSE GOLD Sequins
Pretty Pink Posh 6MM METALLIC ROSE GOLD Sequins
Shop at:
SSS
Mini MISTI Stamping Tool
Mini MISTI Stamping Tool
Shop at:
SSS | SC

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442 Comments

    1. Thank you for sharing your color charts. It would make it easier to pull a card together in a hurry. Thank you for sharing.

    1. Very pretty. This is a nice color combination – something a bit different & I like it. Thank you!

    1. I am totally inspired, Yana! Your color combo is fabulous, and I love the idea of printing them out for easy reference. Going to see how to do that myself. Great hop and appreciate the chance to win!

    1. Thank you for your card and your information on colors.

    1. Beautiful card as always! Subscibed to your newsletter. Looking forward to following you.

    1. Thank you for the Pinterest pallet tip. I too have trouble deciding among all the available colors choices.

    1. Beautiful color choice and great tip on where to find color inspirations.

    1. Yours is a stunning card. I love your choice of colors.

    1. Always an inspiration! Love your work. I do have the color swatch pictures as well, but I haven’t printed them out on photo paper – thanks for the idea! Now I will reference them more!

    1. Yana – I am such a HUGE fan of yours!! Your work is always so perfect and so well done!! This card is stunning and beautiful and gorgeous and every detail works to add to the warm feeling of this amazing card!!

    1. Love your card.and your video on the color swatches. I, too, have a lot of problems matching up colors, so this was very helpful.

    1. Thank you for the color tutorial. And your card is beautiful.

    1. The best for last! As always your style and talent comes through in your cards! Very beautiful!

    1. I love this card! The peach & gray combo is awesome. Thanks so much for the color tips!

    1. Thanks for sharing how you come up with colour combinations! I really like the one you used for your lovely card today.

    1. Thanks for the tips you have given. Have to keep these in mind.

    1. Very pretty card and I really like your idea on the color combo charts. Thanks for a tip that will be very useful!

    1. Very pretty. Like the color combo used on the card. The video on the color combo was very insightful.

    1. Oooh, the gray and soft pink color scheme is so delicate and pretty! I always love seeing your beautiful cards.

    1. You make such stunning cards! And thanks for the color combo chart inspiration, I’ll definitely try that!

    1. Thank you for your great tips, pretty card and video tutorial. @}–

    1. Pretty card! Big thanks to you for sharing the color chart idea!

    1. Beautiful card! Thanks for the great information on how you choose colors. Can’t wait to go on Pinterest and create my own color charts.

    1. Beautiful card. I love the color combo and your ideas for choosing colors.

    1. Love color cobo great tip I must take a look for colors charts

    1. Gorgeous card. I love how you are showing a lot of your design processes. I will definitely look for colour inspiration on pinterest.

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