Finding colors that go well together Part 3 - Color Coach

In previous posts, I've shared two ways to find a color scheme for your projects.

• Part 1 - DSP discussed letting Designer Series Paper do the hard work for you.
• Part 2 - Color Collections was all about how the pre-defined Color Collections can be a huge help in finding colors that go well together.

Now, let's learn about a third way -- the Color Coach!

Part 3 - Color Coach

There's an awesome tool available called a Color Coach.  It shows suggested color combinations of three colors that work well together, pulling colors from all of the Color Collections.  

Images copyright Stampin' Up! 2023

To use the coach, choose your starting color, and find that color within the coach.  There you'll find several combinations you can use for your projects.  

Plus, each card indicates, at the bottom, which Color Collection the color comes from.

Examples

Here are some examples using the Lost Lagoon Color Coach with Berry Burst and Blackberry Bliss.

Images Copyright Stampin' Up! 2023

Using all three colors as layers.  

Using one of the colors as a more subtle add, like the center of a flower.

Using the colors to color in a grouping of images.  Note, here, I've used all three colors, but the Lost Lagoon and Berry Burst come directly from a pack of Designer Series Paper (DSP)!  I've die cut the images from papers from the Bright & Beautiful DSP pack (#161449).

Printing and Storing Color Coach

You'll want to print the Color Coach and keep it handy with your crafting supplies.  

Printing

Make sure you're printer settings are set correctly before printing.

1. Print on Basic White Cardstock
2. Print in Color
3. Print with High Quality.
4. Print one-sided.

Storage Ideas

Store as Full 8 1/2" x 11" Pages

Images copyright Stampin' Up! 2023

1. Print on Basic White Cardstock.
2. Place each printed page in an 8 1/2" x 11" page protector.
3. Store in a binder.

Store as Individual Cards

Images copyright Stampin' Up! 2023

1. Print on Basic White Cardstock.
2. Cut along the dotted lines using your Stampin' Trimmer.
1. You'll end up with an approx. 3" x 4" card for each color.
3. Sort cards in a way that works best for your personal designing process.
1. Alphabetical by color name.
2. Rainbow fashion like reds, oranges, yellows, etc.
3. By Color Collection, which is easily found at the bottom of each card.
   
4. Store cards in your choice of container 
1. Box
2. Bin
3. Caddy
4. Bag

Prefer a more visual reference?

You can mount each individual card on a piece of cardstock that coordinates with the main color. 

Here, I've adhered the Lost Lagoon Color Coach card, shown above, to a 3.5" x 4.5" piece of Lost Lagoon cardstock.   You'll want to choose the size of your cardstock that best fits your storage solution.

Prefer a handy tool on a ring?

Follow the steps outlined above for individual cards, and create a handy tool with all the cards stored on a round carabiner clip ring.  Here's how:

1. Punch a hole in the upper left corner (or upper-right corner if you prefer).
1. Hole size will be determined by the size of your ring.
2. Place all the cards on the ring.
3. Hang or store in your craft space.

Here I've punched an 1/8" hole in the upper-left corner and inserted the ring.

Get Your Copy of the New Color Coach

Download a copy of the Color Coach to add to your crafting tools.

You can download your free copy here:   2023 COLOR COACH

Summary

Regardless of how you choose to store your color coach, I'm sure you'll find it to be a great addition to your tool set.

Hope you found some designing inspiration in this three-part series!

Happy Crafting!