I've always been drawn to playing with color, whether it has been with paint and paintbrush, color pencils, or now with beads and clay. When I first started out making jewelry, most of my pieces had a monochromatic color palette, but I've since grown to love to mix it up a bit. I find inspiration for color everywhere, and some of the references I turn to frequently include the following:
- Jewelry How To Books - There are a ton of wonderful jewelry and beading books out there, and my library is stocked with quite a few of them. While I don't duplicate the designs in these, I do get great ideas for various color combos. One of my favorite color inspiration books, is Polymer Clay Color Inspirations by Lindly Haunani and Maggie Maggio.
- Stacks and Stacks of Beading and Hobby Magazines - I love pouring through my back issues of magazines like Stringing, Bead Style, and Bead Trends. When I'm in a rut, it always helps to sit back with a stack of these.
- Non-Hobby Books and Publications - My husband and I are currently planning to build a house, so immediately upon deciding to build, I picked up a few books on paint combinations for the interior of houses. I wasn't too surprised to find a lot of great color combinations that will work well in jewelry design. Those free little painting idea books that they have by paint samples also have some good combos.
- The Bead Themselves - While most of the strand of beads I buy are immediately cut apart and stored in plastic containers, I sometimes find myself playing with the strands - laying a few together at a time to see what kind of combination they will make.
- Making Something to Match - Another fun idea is making jewelry to match a specific item of clothing. It can be something you own, or something you see in an advertisement.
- Design-Seeds.com - I just found this site after becoming hooked on Pinterest. The site is just loaded with awesome color palettes!
Here are a few of some of the colorful bead combos I've done:
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