Spring Color Mania

Part of why I love beading is because so much of it is about color. Beads are like these little three-dimensional color droplets that we get to play with and mix together.

Of course color inspiration comes from the whole world around us, but I also get a kick out of doing color research and thought you might, too. Here are a few new resources for fellow color hounds:

• The Pantone Fashion Color Reports for Spring 2008 and Fall 2008 are available for free download. I print these out and hang them in my studio. When I'm stuck for new color combinations, I often refer to them. And, I'm sure they influence my color choices even when I'm not consciously trying to expand my palette.
  
  
• The Color Report for Bead Artists by Margie Deeb is an awesome 15-page PDF containing over 40 combinations and ideas for mixing gemstones, Delicas and other beads based on Pantone's fashion color report. This is a powerful resource for beaders and other three-dimensional artists because it helps you interpret the fashion color report in a way that makes sense for what we do.
  
  
• Fire Mountain Gems recently sent me a sample of the new Pantone Colorstrology cards. They show a color for each day of the month and include personality traits for people born under that color. The sample is for the month of May, so it's been fun to see how they describe my friends with May birthdays. (Candie Cooper, your color is Mandarin Orange - and I'm not even kidding!)
  

Have a colorful day!