The Stampin' Up! Color Coach

I wonder if I am the only one? When I was younger and my mom would get one of those rings with all of the color cards on it, for kitchen counter tops I think, I really wanted to HAVE one. She also would have the paint swatch ones that have the different hues, and I would fan it out and play with it. Well, the new SU! Color Coach has an aesthetic similar to those nifty little things that my mom used to have, and I LOVE it!!

With the NEW SU! Color Coach, you can pull out one color here, another color there, and make up your own color combinations. OR, flip it over and you can look at the suggested color combinations on the backs of the cards. Each color has two color combinations on the back and about 97% of the colors also have a dynamic duo listed on the back as well. So far, I haven't noticed any duplicate color combinations either, so when you like a color in one combo and look up that color and flip it over, the combos on the back of it are not the same as the one you just came from.

You can see the SU! Color Coach in 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog on page 165 or online by visiting my SU! website by clicking HERE.

Where am I going with this? Well, I use the color coach all of the time when I need some color inspiration, and this month Shelli Gardner's Creative Challenge was to use the color coach to come up with a combination for a project. You can check out Shelli's Creative Challenge HERE. Next, I thought I would explain the evolution of the card and then share the picture with you.

I decided that I wanted to use one of the new colors, and when I had my Color Coach in front of me with the colors all fanned out, my eyes gravitated to Cajun Craze. It's kind of the "replacement" for Really Rust, and I really like it, but didn't have any ideas in mind so I flipped it over and looked at the combinations listed on the back of the card. It listed: Cajun Craze, Old Olive and Baja Breeze, or Cajun Craze, Perfect Plum and Always Artichoke. The dymanic duo that it showed was Cajun Craze and Tangerine Tango. So...as I sat there and looked at the combinations, I really gravitated towards the top one which was Cajun Craze, Old Olive and Baja Breeze. Any of you that have followed my blog for a while know that I LOVE Baja Breeze. So much so that my walls in my living room and family room are painted in it (you can see it sometimes in the background of some of the pictures I take of my cards). I didn't have any Old Olive handy though, and being lazy I decided to substitute Wild Wasabi for it. Next, I made my stamp choice, and I decided to use the Funky Four stamp set. As the name indicates, there are four little mushrooms, so I just had to add in a fourth color - Daffodil Delight. I didn't count the Crumb Cake (card base) as part of the combo because it's from the Neutrals family ;)

As for the details of the card, I colored the mushrooms with my Stampin' Write Markers. I colored an extra flower that is one the second mushroom from the left, stamped it, punched it out and added a little pearl for some bling. I added the little flower embellishment to the side of the sentiment and think it looks pretty cute, if I do say so myself ;) The recipe is below and I hope that you have a fabulous weekend!!!

All items used are SU!

Stamps: Funky Four, Apple Blossoms
Paper: Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake and Whisper White CS
Ink: Baja Breeze, Cajun Craze, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi and Early Espresso Stampin' Write Markers
Accessories: 3/8" Daffodil Delight Taffeta Ribbon, Basic Pearl Jewels, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, Clear-Mount Blocks