From hot weather to cool our weather sure is weird lately. This week is a little different as we will be OPEN this Sunday due to the Shop Hop. Want more info on the Shop Hop then visit this page Shop Hop. Here is a look at the week ahead here at The Bouncing Bead.

September 12th OPEN Noon – 6pm for the Shop Hop

September 13th Basic Beading FULL

September 13th Copper Patina 6pm – 8pm

September 14th Basic Knotting 6pm – 8pm

September 16th Shop Hop weekend 2 starts

September 18th Intro to Wire 10am – Noon

September 18th Everybody Loves Leather 11am – 1pm

September 18th Double Loop Bracelet 1pm – 3pm

September 18th Shop Hop ends for our store but it continues until the 19th at other locations. It’s our Moms birthday on the 18th but we are celebrating on the 19th!

Have a fabulous week!

One of the hardest parts of jewelry design is choosing what colors to use. Some have the innate ability to put things together without much effort but others need a helping hand, like me. There are many ways of putting color schemes together and they all work but which way is it right for you? Let’s go through a few of them. If you have any ideas or want to share what works for you please comment and share!

Color Wheels – I remember my mom using her color wheel for sewing but it is a great tool for any beaders tool box. You can use a color wheel in many different ways so here is a helpful break down of a few ways.

Complimentary colors - Looking at the color wheel you can use the colors that compliment each other by looking at the opposite side of the wheel of the color you like. Take a look at the wheel below. The black line is pointing to complimentary colors. The Violet is linked with the yellow. This is a really easy way to get started on your color path.

Complimentary Colors

Analogous Colors – Analogous color selection is when you choose the color next to the color you want to use. Looking at the color wheel below say you choose blue as your main color. You then look to the colors on either side and choose one and in this case you choose the blue green. Close but not the same colors and gives a really nice blend of color schemes.

Analogous Colors

Triad Colors – Choose a color on the wheel then draw or use the tool on your wheel in a equilateral triangle to find the other two colors. Now you don’t have to use all of the colors but they do make a nice mix. Say you choose orange on the color wheel below. You can see that the triad tool shows you that green and violet are the colors that go with the orange.

Triad Color Wheel

Those are just 3 ways to use a color wheel and there are infinitely many more ways. Some color wheels are very basic and some have all sorts of tools and shades of colors etc so you can get many more ideas. In fact we sell color wheels in the store and online! Take a look at the wheel we sell for only $7.95 and it comes with a Color Sense Guide Color Wheel

Paint Chips – Another great source of color inspiration is using paint chip cards. You can go to any paint store and pick up a few paint chips or buy a paint chip book with endless color combination’s!

Paint Chips

PANTONE – PANTONE is the authority on color. They say what colors are going to be hot and when. They also have a huge cataloging system for company colors so it can be replicated no matter who mixes it. Think UPS Brown or Tiffany Blue. They are the exact same color every. single. time. To learn more about the company see this page – PANTONE About Us

Every year PANTONE comes out with the colors that are going to be hot. Fashion designers, home designers, jewelry designers all look to PANTONE to see what the upcoming trends are going to be so they can jump in the game. You can as well by visiting PANTONE online and see the Fall 2010 Fashion Color Report

I opened a myPANTONE account, which is free, and you can download a free color palette software to play with colors. You can then upload them to your account so you can keep track and share with other members. You can also check out the color palettes that members come up with for a whole new idea. For example I searched for Nature and this was one of the palettes that came up Nature Palette

These are just a few tools to help you pick out colors but there are many many more.

Where do you find your inspirations for colors?  Share with all of us and leave a comment below!

Happy Labor Day! I hope you all have a good holiday and a great week. We will be open on Monday the 6th Labor Day from 10am – 4pm for your beading needs.

Here is the upcoming week:

Labor Day  September 6th OPEN 10am – 4pm

Beads n’ Chain Sept. 7th FULL

Bead Party Sept. 8th 5pm – 9pm

Basic Beading Sept 9th 6pm – 8pm

Basic Beading Sept 11th 9am – 11am

Petal Pushers Filigree Ring with Janet Pitcher Sept 11th 1pm – 4pm

Happy Labor Day weekend! We will be open regular hours on Saturday, closed on Sunday and OPEN on Monday, Labor Day, from 10am – 4pm. The store has been super busy the last week so come join the fun!