Dash of Inspiration – Summer Palettes
A Dash of Inspiration, A Cup of Creativity by Doreen
Summer Palettes
This week’s weather in the Sierra Foothills of California has been multi-seasonal. Monday we had a friend drop by and sat out on the deck catching up because it was simply too hot in the sun, yet Tuesday morning we awoke to several inches of snow (which made the dog happy, nothing better than a snow day for a dog) . . . it did give me a little taste of the summer months which are arriving far too quickly and that offered this week’s Dash of Inspiration!
I created a couple summer color palettes for you and have also provided links for you to learn how to create your own color palettes from photographs. This is a wonderful way to get inspiration for a new design. Simply browse your photographs or those in public domain and when something catches your eye because you love the color combination, create a color palette from it and see where it takes you in a new design.
So here are some tutorial links, feel free to use the color palettes I created for this article and also be sure to stop by and take a look at the wonderful selection on Nidhi Saxena’s blog about Patterns, Colors and Designs.
Pantone Color Planner Summer 2012 by Nidhi Saxena
Creating Color Swatch from Photo in Photoshop Elements
Working with Custom Swatches – Photoshop CS5 by Lynda.com
Create a Color Palette from a Photo in Gimp by StarSunflower Studio
How to Create a Custom Image Palette in Paint Shop Pro8 by Graphic Illusions
Off you go now to enjoy making some wonderful color palettes unique to you and those from images that speak to you. There just isn’t a better way to be inspired!
GCU Community 
Hi Doreen,
This was just the inspiration I needed for a recent series I uploaded. There is nothing wrong with the series, but every time I looked at the cards they seemed lacking. These color palettes are perfect! I tried a rework on one card with the Pink Lemonade color palette and it made all the difference. Time to update that series.
Thanks so much.
Pamela
I love perfect timing and I’d really love to see an example of your new series using the Pink Lemonade color palette 🙂 Thanks for stopping by Pamela!
hope you get some SPRING before the summer settles in…never thought of creating color palette from my photographs before, I’ll have to try it…
Hi Doreen,
Here is a sample of the updated series inspired by your posting of the Pink Lemonade color palette. I am so happy with these now. Thanks again!
http://artist.greetingcarduniverse.com/shopping/zoom.asp?pid=908707&w=1&ref=details_large_view
Pamela
Hi Pamela! Thank you! How nice to see how well this palette worked for you in this design 🙂 So soft and summery, I love it!
Doreen
Doreen, Beautiful Colors. I am in Illinois, and the weather was the same here. Snow one day, 60* the next, lol. Thank you for the wonderful links and great inspiration!
Janet Lee
You’re welcome Janet! Funny we had the same weather pattern . . . LOL! Enjoy creating color palettes from the your photos too!
Doreen
Pamela, what a beautiful card!
I cannot wait to use these colors as well.
Janet Lee