Color Inspiration with a soft color combo

 Do you need help choosing colors for your cards?

I know the feeling. Sometimes I mull over what colors to use and it takes me a bit to decide. I'd love to help you with some of my favorite color combos. Today as I was deciding what colors to use, my 6 year old son came into my craft room. He often comes in to see what I'm working on. He's probably my #1 fan and I love that he loves what I'm creating and takes an interest. So today, as I was thinking over what green to use with Rich Razzleberry and Blushing Bride, I asked him to choose a green. He picked Soft Sea Foam. He liked Mint Macaron too but ultimately decided to go with the Soft Sea Foam. 

And then, this color combo was born. I love a gray as my neutral color. To soften this combo up, I choose Gray Granite. 

What happens next? 

I decide what stamps to use with my choose color combo. Easier said than done, right?! I decided to stamp my own patterned paper with Artistically Inked and Forever Fern stamp sets. This color combo worked perfectly in my opinion. I find stamping randomly on a sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock therapeutic. There's no right or wrong way to do it and you end up with a custom stamped piece to cut up and make layers for several cards. 

Here's a close-up of my stamped sheet. 

Next I just need to cut it up and make some cards. You can make notecards, standard size (5 1/2" x 4 1/4" folded here in the US), or slimline cards. I decided to cut my piece up into 6 card fronts for 6 standard sized cards. Add these layers to  colored card bases, some simple greetings and you have a custom set of cards ready to go. 

I cut mine in half at 4 1/4" on the 8 1/2" side and then cut each strip at 3 1/2" and 3 1/2". That gave me four pieces measuring 4 1/4" x 3 1/2" and two pieces measuring 4 1/4" x 4".

I used my Stamparatus to add my greetings right to my layers. They're all from Artistically Inked stamp set and stamped in Gray Granite ink. Each greeting is inked and stamped at least twice. The Stamparatus makes this task easy by keeping your paper in place so you can stamp the greeting as many times as needed.

Here's my completed cards:

I also stamped an inside layer since I used colored cardstock for my bases. 

I placed my Basic White layers (5" x 3 3/4") into my Stamparatus and stamped them all the same. Just make sure if you're stamping words inside that you rotate so it matches the direction of your card on the outside (landscape or portrait). I stamped mine without words so they are all the same and work for both landscape and portrait cards. 

I hope you enjoyed this color combo and the cards I made with it. Please give it a try. 

Need more ink colors from Stampin' Up!? Check out all the colors in my online store. 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. 

Happy stampin' 

~ Beth