Everyone Loves a Complement

One childhood memory that impacted me strongly was a compliment I received from my first-grade teacher, Mrs. Loftus. We had to draw a picture and write a little story. I remember drawing a picture of myself as a baby and including my shadow in that picture. Mrs. Loftus commented on what a great idea that was, and from that point on I included a shadow on every picture I drew in her class. Sometimes it’s easy to overuse a good idea. I find that the same thing can happen on my scrapbook pages. If I like how a page turns out using a certain color scheme, it can easily become an overused theme in my albums. Are you currently in a color rut? Do you find yourself always reaching for the same color combinations? How about trying a complementary color scheme?

What is a complementary color scheme?
A complementary color scheme uses two colors opposite each other on a color wheel.

These hues are complements of each other:

Yellow - Violet
Green - Red
Orange - Blue
Yellow-green - Red violet
Blue-green - Red-orange
Blue-violet - Yellow-orange

Why use a complementary color scheme?
A complementary color scheme contains one warm color (think fire colors) and one cold color (think ice). By pairing the two colors together, you can create high contrast and energy on your pages.

The Process
First look at the colors in your pictures. What is the dominant color? Find that color on the color wheel and then find its complement. In order to make your photographs stand out, use the complement as the main color on your layout, and the dominant color in your photos as an accent color. For instance, in my layout “Spring”, my daughter was wearing a purple shirt. I found purple on my color wheel and saw that yellow was its complement. I then emphasized yellow on my layout to make the purple in my picture pop off the page. Use the colors in varying proportions to create the best visual impact. Mix in different shades of the two hues, adding neutrals (black, white and gray) if needed. Add patterned paper using the same colors for additional variety and spice to your page. Choose embellishments to coordinate with your color scheme.

Timesaver
If you want to create a quick complementary color layout, inspiration could be right in front of you. Try looking through your patterned paper for color combinations. Many companies base their paper designs on color schemes. Here are several complementary color scheme papers I found in my patterned paper stash:

American Crafts
NRN Designs
Chatterbox
Karen Foster

A Little Twist
Want a little more variety? Try using a split-complement color scheme instead! This allows you to use three colors. First find the dominant color in your photos. Look on the color wheel and find this color’s complement. Look at the colors on either side of the complement. Those two colors plus your main color make up the split-complement color scheme.

For “Bless This Home” I first chose my key color of blue (1). I found the complement (orange) and then looked on the left and right for my other two colors, red-orange (2) and yellow-orange (3). I then used a darker shade of each of the three colors for my layout. Notice how I used different proportions of each color on my layout. A good guideline to follow is to use less of the dominant photograph color on your page and more of the other colors. This is only a guideline, not a rule, so feel free to experiment with different ratios of colors on your page and see what works best.

The next time you are tempted to stick with your tried-but-true colors, resist the urge and experiment with a complementary or split-complementary color scheme. The more you play with different color schemes, the more color confident you will become.

Supply Lists:

Spring
Cardstock: Bazzill
Patterned paper: 7 Gypsies; Carolee’s Creations; Making Memories; NRN Designs
Metal circle: Li’l Davis Designs
Butterfly: Karen Foster
Fibers: www.fibersbytheyard.com
Flowers: Patterned Builder by Delta using brass stencils by Lasting Impressions
Acrylic paint: Delta

Bless This Home:
Cardstock: Bazzill
Transparency: my own design
Hinges: Making Memories
Ribbon: Offray
Charm: unknown
Letter stickers: Mrs. Grossman’s; American Crafts
Dymo Labeler
Stamp: Making Memories

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