Friday thoughts - Colour - choice, balance and association

When you see a colour, does it remind you of anything in particular? Do you naturally decorate anything for a girl with pink and anything for a boy in blue? It is funny how this association with colour and gender has occurred.

Then there are cool and warm colours. Warm (yellow, orange, red) colours are generally more bold and dazzling, whereas cool colours (blue, green, purple) are more calm and settling. I must say, I do prefer the cooler colours. I seem to choose them over the warmer colours concerning clothes, furnishings and even in craft/fabric patterns. Whereas, there are other people that I know that warmer colours look awesome on.

You could even argue that there is even a pecking order with the brightness of hues. When decorating or making items for children, I tend to use bright and bold colours, rather than pastel colours. To me, bright and bold colours remind me of the energy and bounce that children have. In my latest project, I am using bold and bright colours for the main picture/decoration which is placed upon a pastel blue background. The aim of this item will be a decoration for a girl's (yes...I am using pink) bedroom/nursery.

What colours work well? I often look for great colour combinations in fabric patterns, but only choose three colours! If the fabric that inspires me has a lot of different colours or hues I only pick three, any more and it can look too 'busy'. I often choose one main colour, and the other two colours are used to add some contrast or highlight. This adds more balance.

 An example of this is with 'Rosie'. I chose the flowery patterned fabric. I then used pink from the fabric as the main colour and used purple and green (in the same hues as the fabric) to add some highlights to the ears, face, tummy and paws.This principle can be used in a lot of ways - in making craft items, card making/scrapbooking and even in decorating rooms.

Have a colourful weekend! I hope to finish the 'project' soon to show you all.