Welcome back to the blog, hope everyone had a fantastic week-end! I checked out some of the comments you’ve made in the Flickr discussion area and thought I’d give you a challenge you’ve asked for.

All week, I’ll be working with Complementary Colors.   It’s pretty simple, when a Primary color is paired up with its opposite Secondary color the two become complementary of each other.  Take a peek at the color wheel I’ve created for you.  The three Primary colors (triangle) are Blue, Red and Yellow.  Secondary colors are a mixture of two Primary colors which are  Purple, Orange and Green.  The buttons which are opposite of each other in the chart are Complementary (Purple and Yellow, Red and Green, Blue and Orange).

When complementary colors sit next to each other they make each other pop!  They complement because they conflict.  Have you ever looked at negative film and noticed that green is actually red in the positive photograph?  Try this, look at a color for thirty seconds or so, then look at white, you’ll see the opposite of the color you were looking at.   Pretty cool!  That’s visual perception.

Here’s a glimpse at how the week will play out.  I’ve chosen one Complementary color scheme for each day.  I thought you would like to see each days colors in advance to give you a little more time with your projects.   You may see a favorite combination, or better yet, discover one that might challenge your visual senses.   Each day I’ll show you projects along with my special guests who have used these colors, their creations will knock your socks off!

Monday Colors: Black and White

Tuesday Colors: Blue and Orange

Wednesday Colors: Yellow and Purple

Friday Colors: Red and Green

I asked Jennifer McGuire to play along today, and a special request- I asked her to add a splash of color.   I love this layout, the colors are simple but so effective with a black and white photo. Jennifer has a way of putting special touches into her work, the red gemstones scattered here and there makes this page so romantic.

Layout by Jennifer McGuire
Supplies:

• Patterned Hearts
• Hugs and Hearts
• So Sweet
• Red Gemstones
• Black Memories Ink
• Other: Quickutz Sihouette (heart and “amazing”), sewing machine, photo by Cathy Blackstone Photography

Next is a card by Kelly Rasmussen, She is so genius for using the message from one set and adding it to the frame of another stamp.  The panels she created balance the card so well and really highlight the contrast between black and white.

Card by Kelly Rasmussen
Supplies:

• Scallop Circle
• ClearDesign: Birthday Frame and Messages
• ClearDesign: Scallop Borders
• Dots and Flowers
• DesignBlock: Raindrop Background
• Small Accent Pearls
• Embossing Powder - Clear
• Embossing Powder – White
• VersaMark Ink
• Other: black and white cardstock, embossing folders (Quickutz and Cuttlebug), VersaColor Black Cube, pop dots

I made my card using mainly white and added black for contrast.  I did some simple clear embossing on the card before embellishing with my stamped tag and ribbon.

Card by Shari Carroll
Supplies:

• Dots and Flowers
• Frames and Messages
• Embossing Powder Clear
• Embossing Powder White
• VersaMark Ink
• Neutral Mix Notecards
• Card Buttons Neutral
• Black Accent Pearls
• Other: Cuttle Bug embossing border, Ribbon

And now on to the challenge…

This week’s challenge is to create a new project using complementary colors. You can add a splash of another color, but try to create your projects using the Complementary colors as the dominant scheme.  Please use at least one Hero Arts stamp on your project and tag with the code word “complementary” when uploading to the Hero Arts Flickr Group.   The deadline for submitting is Sunday, June 28th at 11:59 pm PST. Here are the great prizes you have a chance to win:

• Fresh Face Winner (someone who has not yet won a contest): $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• Scrapbook Page Winner: $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• 1st Place: $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• 2nd Place: $25 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• 3rd Place: $15 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog

I’ve got a give-away!  I have a set of these wonderful books (Inspiration in the Everyday and Designing with Stamping) which I will give to one lucky person who leaves a comment by 11:59 pm PST tonight!  I’ll announce the winner on Wednesday. Good Luck!!!  Thank You for your comments, this giveaway is now closed.

Thanks for joining me today, I can’t wait till I start seeing some complementary color projects in the Flickr pool gallery!

Filed under: complementary color

This entry was posted on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 at 4:00 am and is filed under Motivation Mondays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.