Playing with Inspired Color Palettes

I don't know about you, but I am usually drawn to the same color palette. I can pretty much guarantee that my art work, journal pages, crafty projects, or scrapbook layouts will probably have a collection of colors like - aqua, yellow, gray and some pink. There is usually some shades of orange too. Not bright crazy colors...more pastel in flavor. That's it. That is my usual color combination.

So, the other day (while I was feeling adventurous) I was painting with my son and I decided to use the colors he chose for my art journal page. I didn't steer him toward the aquas (which I wanted to do, Ha!) and just let him pick away. His favorite color is red, so I knew there would be some unfamiliar painting colors for me. :)

It was such a wonderful creative release to just paint with whatever I had in front of me. The happy discovery of this little color adventure was that I realized that I really like adding dark navy blue to my pages! I hardly EVER grab for that color. It seems so dark. But I LOVED using it!  

I was thinking about some other fun ways to change up my usual color combos. Here is a small list of what I came up with....

• Blindly reach into your paint bin & pull out 5 colors
• Search for color palettes on Pinterest & work from the colors in one
• Visit one of your favorite home decor blogs or magazines and pull a color combination from a favorite room
• Try using a monochromatic selection with your favorite color
• Find a fabulous scrapbook page and use the colors as inspiration for a painting
• Ask each person in your family (or a group of friends) to give you one color. Put them together as one palette.
• When you are at the grocery store, snap a pic of a bouquet of flowers & use it to inspire you
• Do you have a favorite football or basketball team? Or maybe old school  colors? Use these colors to spark your color adventure! :)
• Come join the Summer of Color 4 at Twinkle Twinkle - It starts June 2nd! It is a free 6 week blog party full of color prompts. SO fun!

Another page started in an altered book with the colors from my sons palette.
White added by me. :)



GO ahead...go change up your color choices. You never know what you may discover. 
Happy Creating!!

Strawberry Lemonade Sunday

Whoa, I had a hard time staying focused this week. I tried getting my page for Summer of Color 2 finished a dozen times...but, couldn't seem to get it together! The strawberry lemonade colors are so soft and pretty...just look...

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I went through all my loot looking for yellows and pinks. I found a bunch of fun stuff. I threw it all in a pile and loved what I saw. I collaged all the different papers onto the background in my 9 x 12 journal. After that I think I just had too many ideas floating around my head which totally welcomes indecisiveness in me. Boo!

I wanted to do something abstract...then I felt like doing one of my little girlies...then a whimsy portrait popped up...then I felt like focusing on a quote...then I felt like grabbing scrap wood from the garage...lol. See what I mean!? ALL over the place this week. I think I finally threw down the paintbrushes and went to find something to eat. (Nothing a little treat can't solve!)

YES please!

So, finally last night I simply started playing with the paint. I took the things I had collected and just let everything flow naturally without thinking about it...making fun little marks, doodling, swirling, relaxing, finding my mojo. :) My intent really was to just use up all the paint left on my palette (no paint goes wasted! No way). Isn't it funny how when the expectation of producing something "fabulous" - in this case something presentable for Kristin's challenge - is lifted...everything just begins to fall into place. Does that happen to you? Major mind games happening over here! :)

Anyways, here is the final product of my playtime - Breathe in Sunshine. Yes, yes..take in all those sparkly, sunshiny things and let those dark clouds float away.

Still working on this page

 I hope you got a chance to read my interview at Jennibellie Studio. If not, please come check it out right here! :)

Happy Sparkly Sunday!

Summer of Color 2 - Mint Chip

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I had a chance to finish a journal portrait for The Summer of Color 2. The ice cream inspiration was mint chocolate chip. YUM!! I thought I would be using my larger journal for the challenge...but, why limit myself right?? I just keep grabbing for my little 5 x 8 journal. I am only doing little whimsy girls in it, so it seems pretty logical for this one. ;)

Well, and of course I use any excuse I can find to get new paint. So I headed over to Michaels to see what I could find. The fabulous hostess Kristin had suggested the Martha Stewart line of craft paints to me awhile back and ever since - new obsession. (I keep telling the Hubs...my obsessions could be worse. I mean, the MS paint only costs $1.99 a bottle. I could easily be addicted to collecting shoes. He prefers the paint. LOL) I found a paint called Mint Chip in a pearly finish. Swoon! It is super pretty.

For this girl I sketched her with a regular mechanical pencil. Then painted her using acrylic paint, Caran d'Ache Neocolor II crayons, Inktense pencils, and Sakura Gelly Roll pens in white & Green Star (LOVE!).

She's a cutie! :)

Here she is Instagram style. Come join me @sadieinspired!!

XO,

Rainbow Sherbert - SOC 2

Happy Monday!

It is pure happiness in the Randall house because it is officially summer vacation. Yiiippppeee!

My daughter's last day of school was Friday (after a whirlwind of a week)!

I am really looking forward to slower mornings, lazy summer days, and family fun over vacation. How about you? We are just waiting for my Hubby to finish two more weeks and then he has a month off. Serious party time! :)

The weekend was fabulous and started with a little celebration on Friday for my Sugarbean's passage into second grade. She thinks she is all gown up now. Lol. Then we had dance pictures on Saturday in her new costume for her July recital. Absolute pink cuteness! I am not a fan of the studio pictures so I took her down to the lake for a mini photo session. LOVED the outdoor pics so much better! I had a date night Saturday with my cutie husband and saw Snow White & the Huntsman. Sunday was all about church, art time, frozen yogurt, and a lost tooth. Yep. We had a visit from the tooth fairy last night!

Now...a perfect summer kick off - The Summer of Color 2 hosted by Kristin.

Like I mentioned before, the theme is Ice Cream Inspirations and the first flavor choice is rainbow sherbert. The color inspiration is a bright combination of pinks, oranges, and yellow. On my last post I shared the backgrounds I had created with paper towels for texture. Using Mystele's pulled art technique, I had a quirky cotton candy haired girl pop out of the background. It is pretty amazing to see what images or shapes you can find hidden in your background creations.

The texture is really yummy. I used acrylic paint, watercolor crayons & pencils, pen, and typed up the saying on the computer. She is not perfect and I can't seem to make eyes that look the same. One eye is always a little wonky. But, I am totally OK with that. My mantra - Perfection is boring. :)

Then, I couldn't stop using these fabulous colors, so I painted one of my little girlies in my portrait journal. I usually create these sweeties without faces, but today I felt like giving her a face. That sounds pretty funny. 

I think she is adorable.

Same supplies were used on her except I added some scrapbook paper for the collaged flowers and the Welcome Summer "sign." I am obsessed with headbands and flowers in the hair.

My daughter loves to wear headbands. I usually have to talk her into clips, ponytails, or pigtails. So I think that is where my inspiration comes from.

I hope you enjoyed my rainbow sherbert creations. I know there is tons of arty inspiration over here. I can't wait to look around. Come take a peek! 

XXOO,

The Summer of Color

I love color.

Isn't it amazing how a colorful bouquet of flowers, or a pretty turquoise necklace, or a apothecary jars filled with citrus fruit can brighten up your day. 

Immediate mood enhancer right?

So me...the lover of color.. wears a lot of black & neutrals - go figure.

 I do, however dream about cute summer sandals...

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 Or vibrant red jackets

And me...the lover of color..has dreams of rooms like this...

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Tons of cottage white... dreamy.

But, I love color. :)

So, I am excited that Kristin over at Twinkle, Twinkle has started her 

Summer of Color. 

What a super fun way to create some art, connect, share, and grow. Each week she will give a color prompt for everyone to work on and then you can come back to link up your projects. 

She is even doing some giveaways too. Great, right?

I am really looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with this week. 

We are starting off with blue. 

My favorite color right now (it changes!) is turquoise, so I LOVE that.
We can create anything our little heart's desire. I am not sure what I will work on. I am sure it will include my XL mixed media journal from Canson, canvas, acrylics, and watercolor crayons. We'll see what else.  

Come join us for a Summer of Color.

What colors are brightening up your days of summer??

XOXO,

Jen