Jeanette Lynton's FINAL Color Me Monday

I Love the Winter Weather

"... OK, so perhaps I don’t love being in the winter weather, but I do enjoy looking at it. When the world is covered in a blanket of glistening snow and everything is touched with silver, it’s a pretty beautiful thing. Today’s final installment of Color Me Monday celebrates that look with a color combination in Buttercup, Grey Flannel, Outdoor Denim, and Sky. You’ll note that all the colors here are soft, with the exception of punches of Denim, reminiscent of a December nightfall. The Buttercup and Sky stamping (the background of the Winter Cheer card and pennants) are all in second generation, to give just a hint of color.

And just like the outdoors, every piece of artwork today is brushed with silver—the sentiments and snowflakes on the card are created with glitter rub-ons, the One of a Kind card is brushed with pearl paint, and my Mix ‘n’ Mingle clear banner is lavished in Dimensional Elements snowflakes frosted in silver and embossed in silver as well. Makes me want to cozy up for the end of the year!


And speaking of “end,” I did indeed say that this would be the very last post on Color Me Monday. It’s been such fun to experiment with color, share color tricks, and show my artwork and artwork created by my friends and fellow stampers in our art studio. If you’ve enjoyed Color Me Monday each week, then I think you’ll like what I have planned for 2011, too! I’ll be sharing “52 Weeks of Wonder,” a stamping technique every single week. Can’t wait to see you then!"

Jeanette Lynton

Jeanette Lynton's Color Me Monday

The Best Gifts ~

"Presents are on everyone’s mind this week. Did we choose the right one? Is it wrapped and ready? Did it arrive in the mail yet? While getting and giving gifts is definitely a fun part of the season, I have to admit that the best gift of all is time together—and of course, the scrapbooks we create to preserve it all.

Today’s color combination in New England Ivy, Garden Green, Cranberry, and Crème Brulee features a layout that really hits home with that idea. This adorable little girl is Abbie, daughter to Stacy, our Marketing Manager. She’s an only child and apple of mom and dad’s eye! Stacy is such a sweet and caring mom, and Abbie is a favorite around the office, always sharing little notes and colorful drawings with the marketing team. I love this layout, which showcases a dozen of the things Stacy loves about her daughter—each one concealed inside a fun peek-a-boo window that Abbie will enjoy opening again and again. What a great gift!"

Jeanette Lynton

Color Me Monday

A Cozy Winter Party

"If you’re feeling a little “blah” this winter, then here’s a color combination sure to transform the drab days into a real party! Today’s color combination includes Pear, Topiary, Baby Pink and Smoothie and features everything you need for a great winter gathering. In addition to the great colors, the “All Decked Out” stamp set (D1308) is really the star of the show—I call it the “build-a-snowman set,” and it’s an adorable, easy way to create all things snowy."

Jeanette Lynton

Another CTMH Color me Monday

Home for the Holidays ... With Studio J!

"Today’s color combination is a holiday classic in Barn Red, Cocoa, Garden Green and Olive. The two Christmas-themed cards are elegant (check out the pearl Opaques, used as tree trimming and as ornament hangers—I tell you, these are just the most versatile accents of the season!), but I admit that the big story of today’s post is the layout. It features some great photos of Kristine Widtfeldt’s clan enjoying last year’s holiday activities, and it was created using one of my anytime favorite activities—scrapbooking in Studio J!"

Jeanette Lynton

Jeanette Lynton's Color Me Monday

Winter ... In Bloom?

"You probably think of Juniper and Tulip as great colors to use for cheery spring projects (and they are!). But they also make for fun and cheery WINTER projects, too, with just a little help and inspiration from great stamps! I’ve added Cocoa and Desert Sand to these two blooming, traditionally-springy colors for warm winter results.

~~~

The snowflake designs are stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in clear for a great resist pattern. Then, using a mix of pearl paint and Juniper reinker misted from a spritz bottle right onto Colonial White cardstock, you’ll get a magical, shimmery result. Beautiful! Where did we get the spritz bottle? You can choose: an emptied Spritz Cleaner bottle works great, and so, too, does our brand-new Spray Pen—it’s coming out in our new Spring/Summer 2011 Idea Book, so you don’t have long to wait!"

Jeanette Lynton

Color Me Monday: Rites of "Passages"

"Today’s artwork centers on using kit papers you know work well in one theme, but using them in a completely different way. The kit in question? Passages, one of my favorites. It’s a great paper collection with an old-world travel feel. Aged documents, maps, and weathered leather-look papers make you want to pack your bags to discover a new exotic locale.

~~~~~

Except today, where Passages has been completely reinterpreted for Thanksgiving artwork. Its Brown Bag, Crème Brulee, Garden Green, and Smoothie color palette make it ideal for the holiday, right down to a great recipe box perfect for holding Grandma’s secret roll recipe! (My favorite touch: the Opaque pearl accents used to dot the “i” in “recipes” and for the mantel accents on the “warm welcome” card. They’re a perfect match!) Add in a few other seasonal colors for the hearth and the cornucopia, and you’ve made Passages pass for Thanksgiving!"

Jeanette Lynton

Color Me Monday: A Perfect Sunset

A Perfect Sunset

"If you’re relatively new to the art and science of creating color combinations, let me suggest starting with neutrals. They’re easy to work with and tough to misapply. Then, you can select virtually ANY color as your 'pop' color to breathe life into a fun and functional combination. For today, my base color palette is all in browns—Bamboo, Desert Sand, and Cocoa. My pop of color? The perfect Sunset. It’s great for making the combo a delicious fall flavor, but this combo would look great if the pop were Hollyhock or Pear for spring, or Lagoon or Sunflower for summer, or even Cranberry for winter.

The layout features our Creative Marketing Manager Kristy and her four smart, great kids. One unique trick you might want to notice in the layout (and in the cards, too) are the great bracket shapes. In the layout, the bracket is used as a journaling box. For the 'Blessings' card, the bracket forms a dramatic card edge, and in the 'Thanks' card, the bracket is used to contain the sentiment. Where did these great shapes come from? Here’s the trick: They are all templates from the 'Magic' book! The templates come on an included DVD, and you can easily re-size them and print them to use smaller or larger than suggested for the layout patterns. By making the templates smaller, these bracket shapes became ideal templates used to create the journaling box, card front, and sentiment holder. Voila, it’s Magic!"

Jeanette Lynton

Jeanette Lynton's Color Me Monday

The Palette of Gratitude

"Today’s beautiful color palette is inspired by the brilliant Goldrush leaves (now falling on lawns everywhere), along with the shorter days and deepening blue skies of Lagoon, Outdoor Denim, and Pacifica. These are such perfectly seasonal colors; I’m surrounded by them when I look out any window. Every year, when these colors start invading the landscape, it triggers my “gratitude reflex” and I always become profoundly reflective on my blessings as we approach Thanksgiving.

Note, too, that the cards I’m sharing today focus on using cardstock—with a little distressing and some just-right stamping, cardstock really is all you need to make a simple but bold statement. I hope you enjoy playing with this color palette—and that you’re enjoying similar seasonal colors wherever you live!"

Jeanette Lynton

Color Me Monday: A Breath of Fresh Air!

"Today’s magic color in my combination is Sky—even though it’s November now, we can all use a breath of fresh air! I absolutely adore this palette, which feels like autumn, but is also bright, cheery, and inspiring. Cranberry, Sorbet, and Bamboo make a great backdrop for this November calendar page with its seasonal leaves (don’t you love the corner-rounded “petals” for each date? This is one of my favorite tool techniques; easy and impactful). But it’s the touch of Sky that really elevates the whole look."

Jeanette Lynton

Color Me Monday: Farewell, Indian Summer!

Farewell, Indian Summer!

"Indian summer has officially bid us goodbye, and the chill of fall is finally upon us. When I got up this morning, it definitely felt like fall (or maybe winter!). While I’m a little sad to bid farewell to the warm days, there is something cozy about chunky sweaters on rainy nights and finding frost covering the pumpkins on the porch. As a tribute to the end of October, the studio has whipped up a grand trio of ghoulish artwork featuring a truly autumnal color combination in Goldrush, Barn Red, Olive, and Black."

Jeanette Lynton

Another Color Me Monday ...

Stamping Is My Favorite Embellishment:


"I love the flexibility, durability, and beauty of stamping. Always have, always will! In today’s artwork, I’m showing some fabulous artwork cooked up in our spooky studio that really showcases stamping. Note on all of these items how minimally they’re embellished, yet how complete and ornate and adorable each piece looks. That’s because stamping IS an embellishment. And a perfect one! From cute and simple cards to 3D items and tags (which didn’t use a pattern, by the way), stamping simply WORKS."

Jeanette Lynton

Color Me Monday: Artwork After Dark

"Halloween is best enjoyed in the dusk-to-dark hours when the little spooks prowl the sidewalks and the street lights cast a ghostly glow. That’s the feeling I get when I look at this awesome color combination that’s anchored in Pacifica, a wonderful brooding blue, to convey the air of a Halloween night. Add the traditional holiday flavors of Sunset, Sunny Yellow, and Black and it’s spooky but still vibrant and interesting.

A great element of CTMH’s products (so of course, I can’t resist sharing it with you!), is their flexibility. A little creativity blended with versatile paper and specific stamped images, you can create projects so adorable and unique it’s downright SCARY."

Jeanette Lynton

Color Me Moday by Jeanette Lynton

Let's Get Spooky!

"Today’s artwork borrows inspiration from our new Hooligans kit using Lagoon, Gypsy, Pear and Black as focal colors. One of the things I love about the Hooligans kit is that it is an obvious Halloween kit—and it’s also obviously not! (It can be used for kids’ themes, outdoor events, and recently, I even saw WEDDING artwork made using this kit. Your imagination is the only limit!)"

Jeanette Lynton

Color Me Monday with Jeanette Lynton

Simple Stamping Joys

"Many of you have heard the story about how I became a stamper—I knew right from the moment I held that first stamp in my hand that it was something I was going to do for the rest of my life. I loved the weight of the stamp, the ease of stamping, the amazing versatility, and of course the beautiful results.I think the thing I love most about stamping is that each one is a blank slate: just add color and it can become anything you dream!

Today, I’m featuring more artwork created by the awesome CTMH art studio that combine more fabulous new color combinations grounded in our new Summer palette with our great stamps. Clear stamps are the best for titles and journaling! Unlike stickers or chipboard letters, you never ever “run out” of a particular, well-used letter. And because My Acrylix are clear, it’s so easy to spell out even long words and keep each letter perfectly aligned.

Stamping doesn’t have to be detailed to be beautiful. You can select simple images from even the smallest stamp set. On the flip side, if you already own several stamp sets, feel emboldened to pull them out and mix and match images from totally different sets/looks/feels on the same piece. It’s amazing how unifying color is to pulling disparate stamp sets together. I absolutely love the challenge and fun of pulling out several stamp sets and mixing and matching elements to get a truly unique look.

With the other projects, I just love how the artists used color so boldly—for example, as a pop of color on an otherwise neutral card and unconventional colors (like a burst of Pear) together. It’s a day (like every day) that I’m so happy to be a stamper!"

Jeanette Lynton

Color Me Monday by Jeanette Lynton

Mix & Match for Magical Results

"The CTMH art studio has had a ton of fun recently playing and experimenting with the newly introduced Summer color palettes. These fresh new hues represent what’s hot in clothing, design, and home décor, and will definitely bring warmth and pizzazz to your papercrafting projects.

First up is a classic primary color scheme centering on Pacifica (blue), Cranberry (red), and Honey (yellow), with a little Colonial White for balance. Each primary is strong, but when you use one in dominant quantities (as was done with the Pacifica), you can always achieve proper color proportion.


Here, the studio used a primary color combo, but with a twist. The focus color is Holiday Re, the yellow is Buttercup, and instead of a traditional blue to complete the primary look, our great Lagoon color was used.



Next up, a complimentary color scheme. Complimentary colors are found across from each other on a color wheel, like red and green (here, Smoothie/Baby Pink for my reds and Topiary for the green were used). Complimentary colors ALWAYS work well together, and often include the matches of red/green, orange/blue, and yellow/purple for primary starters—as you add black to any one of the colors, you’ll deepen its shade. As you add white to a color, you’ll get a lighter tint.

Check out yet another great example of a complimentary color combination which uses Gypsy purple and Crème Brulee yellow as opposites that attract. A subtle hint of Amethyst and Colonial sooth the purple/yellow combination.

Here’s an analogous color combination (also called a “harmonious” combination). To create an analogous combo, select 3-4 different colors that are adjacent to each other on a color wheel; they are similar without being monochromatic. Here, Sunset, Crème Brulee, and Cocoa, were used with just a touch of Olive for contrast.

Here's a “split” color combination—blue and yellow are primary colors, but their blend is green. Here, Sunny Yellow is used as the focus, with Crystal Blue and Sweet Leaf as supporting colors. A touch of Chocolate and Colonial White keep this party under control."

Jeanette Lynton

Color Me Monday by Jeanette Lynton

Bold, Bright, Beautiful

"If you have a passion for bold, bright, beautiful colors, then odds are you’re wild about our brand new Summer Carnival palette. These six primary and secondary colors will transform any piece of artwork into an eye-catching masterpiece that demands your attention, thanks to our new Gypsy, Sunset, and Pacifica hues, complemented by our faves in Holiday Red, Sunny Yellow, and Topiary.
Check out my fun artwork—from a flashy bingo game made using our versatile Memory Keeper box to the raffle box, invitation card, ring toss, and of course, our prize ribbons. What great ideas for a school carnival or child’s birthday party! In addition to the splash of summer color, I also love the strong use of paper medallions in the various projects, like the banner and the ribbons. These are SO easy to make!"

Jeanette Lynton

Color Me Monday: Invite Yourself to the Celebration!

"Summer may be winding down, but the party is just beginning! Now that Close To My Heart’s Autumn/Winter catalog is in full bloom, it’s time to get creative with amazing, gorgeous new colors that reflect the hottest trends and the coolest styles. In today’s artistic spotlight, I’m featuring the Summer Celebration palette from Cotton Candy, Dutch Blue, Lagoon, Pear, and Sky to Smoothie. This palette is grounded in vibrant greens and blues, which are always among our most popular colors for inks and cardstock—they’re just so versatile, and because they’re picked straight from nature, they really resonate and they’re easy to use."

Jeanette Lynton

Check-out all the amazing party-themed artwork over on Jeanette's blog. From favor bags full of colorful buttons to the sweet treat lollipops and cupcakes, you'll get tons of inspiration for using CTMH's gorgeous new color palette.

Color Me Monday by Jeanette Lynton

Neutral Nirvana!

"Today’s artwork and color combination prove that neutral doesn’t need to be boring—far from it! Today’s rich and earthy palette of Black, Colonial White, Desert Sand and Bamboo is the perfect companion to just about any photo on a layout, any design element in home décor, or any style of card. It’s a guest that’s welcome just about anywhere!"

"A few insider tricks on making artwork like that shown today: our White Daisy and Colonial White inks are pigment-based instead of our classic dye-based, so they behave just a little differently. Pigment will give you a great pop of white, because it works a little more like paint than ink. For my cards today, I used the “Hit the Spot” stamp set (C1406), which is full of all sizes of dots and spots that repeat easily for great backgrounds. After stamping the spots in White Daisy, I made sure to heat set the design—pigment inks will dry more slowly than dye-based inks, so heat setting will keep your project moving along. And because pigment ink is just a little more tenacious, you’ll want to clean your stamp vigorously after using it—the Double Scrubber and Spritz Cleaner work great; just add a little extra elbow grease!"

Jeanette Lynton

Color Me Monday: All-Stars, Always!

"CTMH offers a gorgeous palette of 60 amazing colors, and because each one is like a child to me, I love them all! They each have a place, a season, and give something special to artwork.

However, we definitely have a handful of all-stars: colorful players that are always our top sellers in cardstocks and inks, colors that work in virtually any season or theme, and that also have universal appeal. Who am I talking about? The ever-popular Outdoor Denim and his equally versatile teammate, Cranberry. This dynamic duo can best just about any design challenge, and everybody loves working with them whether you’re a consummate artist or a newbie stamper. Today, I’ve partnered Outdoor Denim and Cranberry with Crystal Blue and Bamboo for some great looks."

Jeanette Lynton

Jeanette Lynton's Color Me Monday: Getting Schooled!

CTMH's founder, Jeanette Lynton, posts a color combination every Monday and shares gorgeous artwork based on that particular palette. I've decided to stretch my card-making abilities and create a card every Monday using Jeanette's color combo. My intentions are to post my card sometime on Tuesday ... as long as photography, computer and family obligation variables are on my side. Hopefully you will join me, comment and link to your artwork. I'd love to see what you create!

"So I thought I would share my color keys—my wild color experiments from the Close To My Heart “crayon box”—with you. Each Monday I’ll show you a new combination in our wonderful exclusive Close To My Heart colors. I think you’ll find fun ideas for your art projects, and it’ll be a great way to brighten any Monday and kick start a new week."

Jeanette Lynton

"I absolutely LOVE mid-August! The sun still beats down brightly, but we’re all out shopping for sweaters and long pants. We’re riding bicycles but buying notebooks. The kids are watching movies but mom and dad are watching the calendar: it’s almost time for back to school!

Today’s color scheme is a great blend of fall color and summer sunshine—which perfectly captures the feeling of that first day of school, doesn’t it? I’ve used Black, Cranberry, Honey, and Olive (in sturdy cardstocks with a touch of Honey B&T paper pulled from the “Zippidee” kit... A song we’ll all be humming when the kids return to school.)

My featured layout uses basic and versatile patterns from Reflections, including a Main Frame and Bottom Border variation. Reflections are always among my favorite patterns to work with—they’re easy, dramatic, balanced, and always put a lot of emphasis on the photos.

The color combo also works wonders in cards, whether you’re creating a card for a new teacher, or celebrating a bounteous and shared harvest, as shown in my “Garden of Delight” card. The palette is a reminder of the summer still lingering and the promise of a warm autumn just around the corner. I can almost hear the school bell ringing now!"

Jeanette Lynton