Color Me Monday: 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!

To make a beautiful Silhouette canvas of your own, start by printing a photo with a good profile in it (enlarged appropriately to showcase the profile). Then trim out the silhouette image—use the microtip scissors to make your image as smooth as possible. Trace it on black cardstock, trim it, and apply to your painted or stamped canvas. (On my canvas, I painted first with acrylic paint, then stamped a background in Desert Sand ink using the “Damask Tiles” set (C1342).

Dashing, daring, and comfortable just about anywhere—that’s the beauty of neutrals!