Today we’re thrilled to welcome guest blogger Linh Van to the Zollie blog! In this blog post, Linh walks through her process of using Palette Scout to build color palettes for papercrafting.

I’m not the best at picking colors for my papercrafting, and left to my own devices, everything I make would be some combination of teal, purple and pink. But there’s an entire rainbow of colors and infinite number of color palettes to explore. What’s helped me tremendously is using Palette Scout, which enables me to explore and choose color combinations with confidence. Palette Scout is a deck of 180 color cards that offers a fun, easy to use system for building beautiful color palettes. Here's a look into my process of using Palette Scout for papercrafting. 

Supplies:

• Palette Scout
• Spellbinders Gold Treasured Cardstock
• DMC Metallic Thread
• EZ Wonder Die #3
• Spellbinders Indigo Cardstock
• White Cardstock
• Not 2 Shabby Box of the Month (August box)

Step 1: Choose Your Focal Image

When I'm creating a card, I like to start with the focal image—what will be the “star” of my card? Today I’m crafting with the Not 2 Shabby Box of the Month from August, which has a beautiful paper pad with coordinating ephemera pack. I choose a few pieces of ephemera that I think I will use as the main focal image of my card. I’ll likely use some papers from the coordinating paper pack, but I want give my card a surprise twist through my color choices. So as I create my color palette, I will be sure to use the ephemera (my focal images) as the inspiration for my choices.

Step 2: Color Match Your Focal Image with Palette Scout

Using the card that shows all the hues in the Palette Scout, I hold my focal image up against the rainbow. You might not find an exact match, but you should be able to narrow it down to 2-3 hues. In this case, my ephemera feels like it is somewhere in the Hibiscus, Ibis, and Jewel hues.

Then pull out the palette idea cards for the hues you’ve chosen. These cards show you 5 tints & shades and 5 tones for that hue.

You can now hold up your focal image against all 10 variations on that hue to see if you can find a close match. Again, you might not find an exact match (colors are infinite, after all), but you should be able to find a very close match. In this case from the 3 hues I originally pulled out, Hibiscus is the closest match. This will be the primary color in my palette.

Step 3: Decide on a Color Combination

Since Hibiscus is my primary color, I’ll go ahead and pull out all 5 color cards that are labeled Hibiscus. On one side, you’ll find the 5 pure intensity colors (1 – darkest to 5 – lightest). Flip to the back side and you’ll find the tones of those 5 colors. Tones are the pure intensities mixed with grey to create more muted, toned down variation of those colors.

Looking at the back of my Hibiscus Palette Ideas card, I can see 5 different color combinations. These are rooted in well-accepted color theory and color psychology that are known to be pleasing to the eyes. Of course, as with anything in the world of art, beauty is subjective and that’s why we have so many options for choosing a combination we feel most attracted to.

If I wanted a “safe” choice, I could stick to the colors in the paper pack that I’m crafting with — which appears to be a split complement color combination. However, I want to make a bold choice and add something different and perhaps a bit surprising as I craft with these papers and ephemera.

The triadic color combination looks like quite a bit of a twist to me. It’s quite bold to add BLUE to my project when the supplies I’m using don’t have a hint of blue in them! This color palette feels unnatural to me and isn’t one I would have chosen on my own. But I’ve learned to trust Palette Scout and my process for how I like to use it.

The easiest way I quickly identify the color cards I need is to just look at the color family and shape shown on the Palette Idea card. For my Hibiscus triadic palette, I’m looking for blue squares and yellow squares, so I just fan out my color card deck to the blue section and I find all 5 squares. I’ll do the same with the yellows... fan out to that section and just pull the squares. Easy peasy!

Step 4: Match Your Pattern Papers to Your Palette

Now I have 15 color cards to play with from these 3 hues – Hibiscus, Neptune, and Buttercup. I’ve pulled some pattern papers I’m using as inspiration that I might use on my card today. Guided by these papers, I choose 5-6 cards total between all three hues. As I’m picking my cards and papers, I’m looking for a range in value between light and dark. This is indicated by the numbers on the color cards — 1 is the darkest shade (pure color plus black) and 5 is the lightest tint (pure color plus white).

Since Hibiscus is my main color, I've chosen 3 Hibiscus color cards which match to a couple of my pattern papers — I don’t know if I’ll use them all but those are the 3 that feel balanced to me. I decide to use Buttercup as a pop of brightness, so I’ve chosen to use 1 color card from Buttercup, which matches to one of my pattern papers. 

It’s interesting to note that ultimately, I didn’t use the pattern paper which matched to Buttercup. When I started to make my card, I chose to represent this color differently rather than use this pattern paper. Leave yourself open to interpreting your final palette in different ways — even if it means deviating from your original inspiration.

Step 5: Explore Bold Value Contrast

Neptune is the twist I’m adding to my color palette today. Blue is nowhere to be found in my paper and ephemera pack, so it’s a fun way to add something unexpected to my project. Sticking with a color palette that’s well-represented in the materials I’m crafting with would be safe and easy but I’m looking to create something bold and eye-catching!

When I choose which Neptune color(s) to add to my color palette, I deviate away from matching directly to my materials. So how do I choose which of the 10 variations of Neptune to use when I have nothing to color match it to?

Here’s where the fun comes in! Because Palette Scout makes it so easy to explore, in this phase of building my color palette, I’m using my existing palette to make my choices. I like to fan out my cards and hold them all up against my palette so far. Don’t forget to flip to the back side to see how the tones look against your palette. I like to pull out different cards and add them to my palette to see how it feels as a set. It’s easy enough to try different cards – flipping them front to back — and just having a bit of a play to see what looks pleasing to my eyes. As a maker, an artist, a crafter, create first and foremost
for yourself. If you love it and it brings you joy, others will too.

If you don’t know where to start, first try adding a number that isn’t already in your palette. A well-balance color palette has good contrast between light (cards numbered closer to 5) and dark (cards numbered closer to 1). If everything was the same value, nothing really pops out. By having a range of values, it gives the viewers a place to start looking. Some people are drawn to light colors and will see that first and then their eyes explore the rest. Other people are drawn to heavier or darker colors and their eyes may start there. But if your project doesn’t have a strong variation in value, there isn’t an obvious place to catch someone’s eyes.

Step 6: Play With Proportionality

To give myself a loose plan for the construction of my project, I like to hold each card and overlap them to show how much I think I might like for that color to be represented on my card. Similar to value, color proportionality has a big impact on how your color palette will be perceived. I think for my card today, I want Hibiscus (all three shades, tints and tones) to be the dominant hue, with just hints of Buttercup and Neptune as accent colors. 

(Editor's note: Since the original creation of this blog, Zollie has released an expansion deck to help you explore value and proportionality in your palettes with even more ease—check out the Palette Scout Tool Kit here!)

Step 7: Create Your Card Base and Background Panels

Now to start making my card! Here are the dimensions for the card base and panels I used, along with the Palette Scout colors I matched them to:

• Card base (white) – 5.5′′ x 8.5′′ scored at 4.25′′ along the long edge to create a card that measures 4.25′′ x 5.5′′ folded
• Neptune 2 (tone) – Indigo Cardstock cut to 4.25′′ x 5.5′′
• Hibiscus 4 (tone) – Pattern paper cut to 4′′ x 5.25′′

Step 8: Die Cut a Foundation for Your Focal Image

Next, I cut a Postage Grid from EZ Wonder Die #3 as the beginning of a foundation for my focal images. I used this gorgeous floral pattern paper which has all 3 Hibiscus colors in it. This die set has an add-on set that allows me to cut layers that I can add to the grid. I cut 3 blocks to represent Neptune 2 (tone) and 2 blocks to represent Buttercup 3. I chose the pure intensity of Buttercup as a bright spot for my card, so I chose a glitter cardstock to add even more sparkle and shine.

Step 9: Assemble & Arrange Your Focal Images and Sentiment

When I cut my postage grid using EZ Wonder Die #3 , it also cut some smaller rectangles designed to layer right back into those grid locations. This is the perfect way to bring back some of the lovely pattern paper I used that’s now mostly covered by blocks of Neptune and Buttercup. Remember how I wanted most of my card to be Hibiscus with just hints of Neptune and Buttercup (Step 6), this is how I bring back some of the lovely Hibiscus to the foreground.

I like to work in odd numbers, so I have 3 Neptune blocks and only 2 Buttercup blocks. To add a third splash of Buttercup, I created a nest of gold embroidery floss as a backdrop to one of my ephemera pieces. Then I added 3 groupings of ephemera and a sentiment to finish up my card.

If you struggle with choosing colors like I used to, or if you just want to break out of your color rut, I hope you’ll pick up Palette Scout and have a bit of a play. It’s so easy to explore and create beautiful color combinations that never fail.  Whether you’re crafting from scratch or matching materials you’ve already chosen, Palette Scout can help you make bold color choices with confidence!