Background Designs Update

I apologize for the background on the blog being off.  I'm the process of and updating all areas...blog, Message Board, Design Team, etc, so please excuse the temporary construction.  If you have a question about anything please email me.

The good news is that the new product isn't going to stop coming, so keep your eyes on the store!

Have a great week!!

Jill

The winner is

Random number generator picked number 2 and that is Jenny! Pm me your address and I'll get your prize mailed to you.

Friday's colors are pink and purple

Show me something purple or pink. I know pink is really a shade of red but sometimes I can't decide if something is pink or a shade of purple. You have until Saturday at 3 to post your purple or pink photos. I have really enjoyed this week. I hope you have, too.

Purple combines the stability of blue and the energy of red. Purple is associated with royalty. It symbolizes power, nobility, luxury, and ambition. It conveys wealth and extravagance. Purple is associated with wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity, mystery, and magic.

According to surveys, almost 75 percent of pre-adolescent children prefer purple to all other colors. Purple is a very rare color in nature; some people consider it to be artificial.

Light purple is a good choice for a feminine design. You can use bright purple when promoting children's products.

Light purple evokes romantic and nostalgic feelings.
Dark purple evokes gloom and sad feelings. It can cause frustration.

Today is orange and yellow

I only have five days and way more than 5 colors that I wanted to do so I am combining two today. They coordinate well, though and sometimes, they can be mistaken for each other! Orange has always been Allison's favorite color and I really think that is a small part of why she picked UT for college. LOL So, show me something orange or yellow or both!
Another excerpt from Color Wheel Pro

Orange combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation.

To the human eye, orange is a very hot color, so it gives the sensation of heat. Nevertheless, orange is not as aggressive as red. Orange increases oxygen supply to the brain, produces an invigorating effect, and stimulates mental activity. It is highly accepted among young people. As a citrus color, orange is associated with healthy food and stimulates appetite. Orange is the color of fall and harvest. In heraldry, orange is symbolic of strength and endurance.

Orange has very high visibility, so you can use it to catch attention and highlight the most important elements of your design. Orange is very effective for promoting food products and toys.

Dark orange can mean deceit and distrust.
Red-orange corresponds to desire, sexual passion, pleasure, domination, aggression, and thirst for action.
Gold evokes the feeling of prestige. The meaning of gold is illumination, wisdom, and wealth. Gold often symbolizes high quality.

Yellow is the color of sunshine. It's associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy.

Yellow produces a warming effect, arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity, and generates muscle energy. Yellow is often associated with food. Bright, pure yellow is an attention getter, which is the reason taxicabs are painted this color. When overused, yellow may have a disturbing effect; it is known that babies cry more in yellow rooms. Yellow is seen before other colors when placed against black; this combination is often used to issue a warning. In heraldry, yellow indicates honor and loyalty. Later the meaning of yellow was connected with cowardice.

Use yellow to evoke pleasant, cheerful feelings. You can choose yellow to promote children's products and items related to leisure. Yellow is very effective for attracting attention, so use it to highlight the most important elements of your design. Men usually perceive yellow as a very lighthearted, 'childish' color, so it is not recommended to use yellow when selling prestigious, expensive products to men – nobody will buy a yellow business suit or a yellow Mercedes. Yellow is an unstable and spontaneous color, so avoid using yellow if you want to suggest stability and safety. Light yellow tends to disappear into white, so it usually needs a dark color to highlight it. Shades of yellow are visually unappealing because they loose cheerfulness and become dingy.

Dull (dingy) yellow represents caution, decay, sickness, and jealousy.
Light yellow is associated with intellect, freshness, and joy.

Wednesday's color is green

Green is my favorite color and has been since I was a child. I had this one green dress that I loved when I was in the fifth grade that I wore so much that kids started making fun of me and called me greenie. I quit wearing it so much but I still love the color.

Green is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility. Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety. Dark green is also commonly associated with money.

Green has great healing power. It is the most restful color for the human eye; it can improve vision. Green suggests stability and endurance. Sometimes green denotes lack of experience; for example, a 'greenhorn' is a novice. In heraldry, green indicates growth and hope. Green, as opposed to red, means safety; it is the color of free passage in road traffic.

Use green to indicate safety when advertising drugs and medical products. Green is directly related to nature, so you can use it to promote 'green' products. Dull, darker green is commonly associated with money, the financial world, banking, and Wall Street.

Dark green is associated with ambition, greed, and jealousy.
Yellow-green can indicate sickness, cowardice, discord, and jealousy.
Aqua is associated with emotional healing and protection.
Olive green is the traditional color of peace.

Today's color is blue

I know. That was pretty predictable, wasn't it?

Blue is the color of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven.

Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body. It slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect. Blue is strongly associated with tranquility and calmness. In heraldry, blue is used to symbolize piety and sincerity.

You can use blue to promote products and services related to cleanliness (water purification filters, cleaning liquids, vodka), air and sky (airlines, airports, air conditioners), water and sea (sea voyages, mineral water). As opposed to emotionally warm colors like red, orange, and yellow; blue is linked to consciousness and intellect. Use blue to suggest precision when promoting high-tech products.

Blue is a masculine color; according to studies, it is highly accepted among males. Dark blue is associated with depth, expertise, and stability; it is a preferred color for corporate America.

Avoid using blue when promoting food and cooking, because blue suppresses appetite. When used together with warm colors like yellow or red, blue can create high-impact, vibrant designs; for example, blue-yellow-red is a perfect color scheme for a superhero.

Light blue is associated with health, healing, tranquility, understanding, and softness.
Dark blue represents knowledge, power, integrity, and seriousness.

This week in color

My blog post for this week is going to be a little different. I am going to post something every day Monday through Friday and I am going to make it fun for you. I am personally going to give away a Rak on Saturday to someone who participates at least once this week. I have a Tinkering Ink Al Fresco Prize pack that includes papers, letters and embellishments. Here is a link to what is in it.

Every day, I will post a color. I want you to take a picture (or two or three) of something that color, post it somewhere like your blog or flickr or the MS gallery and link it to the corresponding blog post so we can all see what you found. I did this on my personal blog last year and it was a lot of fun.

Monday's color is red

Your first challenge is to show me something red. I have four here but you only need to show me one. Leave me a link and your name will be added to the list of potential prize winners. You have until Friday, August 28 at midnight.

The following is copied from the website for Color Wheel Pro

Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love.

Red is a very emotionally intense color. It enhances human metabolism, increases respiration rate, and raises blood pressure. It has very high visibility, which is why stop signs, stoplights, and fire equipment are usually painted red. In heraldry, red is used to indicate courage. It is a color found in many national flags.

Red brings text and images to the foreground. Use it as an accent color to stimulate people to make quick decisions; it is a perfect color for 'Buy Now' or 'Click Here' buttons on Internet banners and websites. In advertising, red is often used to evoke erotic feelings (red lips, red nails, red-light districts, 'Lady in Red', etc). Red is widely used to indicate danger (high voltage signs, traffic lights). This color is also commonly associated with energy, so you can use it when promoting energy drinks, games, cars, items related to sports and high physical activity.

Light red represents joy, sexuality, passion, sensitivity, and love.
Pink signifies romance, love, and friendship. It denotes feminine qualities and passiveness.
Dark red is associated with vigor, willpower, rage, anger, leadership, courage, longing, malice, and wrath.
Brown suggests stability and denotes masculine qualities.
Reddish-brown is associated with harvest and fall.

In Stitches

Lately I have been adding something new to my layouts...stitching. I don't own a sewing machine so I have been doing it by hand. I begin by drawing a design lightly with pencil and then I use a push pin and a foam mat to poke the holes first. If I am stitching a straight line I will use a ruler and poke the holes every 1/4 of an inch. It's a very simple technique and can add something new to your layouts. Here is my example. I stitched the zig zag border at the bottom and also a straight line at the top above the row of pictures.



This is our design team challenge this week. If you would like to participate visit our forum and link your layout to the Memorable Seasons gallery. Once a month a winner is chosen by a random drawing. Good luck!

Lindsay's August Sketch

I have just released my DT Challenge for the week and I have another sketch for you! Don't forget to include the border around the page - I used the 3 Bugs in a Rug To The Rescue stickers for mine!

Visit our Message Boards and link your take on the sketch under DT Challenges. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Time to choose Guest Design Team Member for September

It is time to choose the GDT for September. September brings Grandparent's day, so let's do a Grandparent themed layout. Load it in the regular member gallery but be sure to link it to this thread so we know whose to choose from. Deadline is Wednesday, Aug 26. We will announce by August 31. Good luck!

Scrapping without the photos...

This past week, my oldest son was so sweet and wrote the grocery list for me. He was very proud that I even used it at the store. I loved that his little hands wrote it, and that he was cute enough to draw a few pictures for me. (this was to, and I quote, "Help you out in the store Mom." He must think I am getting really forgetful!)

Since I wanted to scrap this memory rather than just throwing a random piece of paper into his memory box, I decided to do so... without any photos!

Sometimes there are things that we just need to write down, so we don't forget. Things like a random list of groceries on a Thursday afternoon...

It is this week's DT challenge to do just that. I hope that you will take the time to think about a simple memory, that may one day make your family smile... I think this list will do just that! If you decide to participate, remember to link your layout to the Memorable Seasons Gallery. We pick a random winner each month from our DT challenge participants to win a prize!!

Welcome Ashley

The first of August brings us a new design team member. Ashley Smith has joined us and today is her official first day. We've added her picture to this blog and linked that to her personal one. We are looking forward to her sharing her scrappiness with us. In her own words, here is her bio.

Hi, I’m Ashley. I am a stay at home Mom to two four year olds who always give me plenty to scrap about. My husband and I have been married for almost fifteen years and we currently live in sunny (hot, humid) Florida. Like a lot of women I started scrapbooking because I have children and they are my main source of inspiration. I’m excited to be a design team member for Memorable Seasons and look forward to sharing my scrapbook pages with you.

Please join Jill, Jude, Lindsay and me in welcoming Ashley.