How do you choose which card, ink and embellishment colours you should buy?
If you are just starting to build out your stamping supplies, or if you have made a good start, but want to make sure buy only the products that will use, read on, because I know this will help you.
I remember, it must have been about 2008, (because we were in our last house and I don’t think Carys had been born yet) when I sat down one evening, to make a card. I sat and flicked through the Stampin’ Up! catalogue looking for inspiration. A design in there appealed to me and I started getting things out to make the card. Then discovered that I didn’t have the ink colours that I needed to complete the design. This happened twice more that evening, and I was so frustrated that I complained to Jeremy in terms he would understand. I put him in a scenario where he was all kitted up and about to take off on a motorbike ride when he discovered his bike had no engine. He responded by telling me to just buy all the colours. So I did. I would be willing to bet that because of this, I would have ink pads that have never even been used. (Since then, the Stampin’ Up! colour schemes have changed, so I don’t have all the colours anymore. But this is the exact system I’m using to decide which colours I’m going to buy.)
Now that Stampin’ Up! have introduced ‘Suites’ which offer such value for money, I'm using these to help with deciding which ink and card colours to buy. (Disclaimer: This system will only work if you already have or are willing to buy a die-cut machine, such as a Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine.)
I’ve been card making for over 20 years, and for most of those years, I’ve been using Stampin’ Up! products exclusively (even though I’ve only been a demonstrator for a couple of years.) Even with all those years of experience, it was only very recently (a month ago) that I realised this is how I should be choosing my colours…
1.) Choose a Suite that you like and that you know you will be able to get plenty of use out of.
2.) Look at the colour combinations used in the matching DSP (Designer Series Paper). If you have a look at the catalogue page, Stampin’ Up! have demonstrated the colours that you will need, to make it super simple for you.)
3.) Choose a couple of those colours, I would suggest at least 3 that you like together, making sure you have a darker colour and a lighter colour to give you a good colour depth in your finished designs.
I discovered this only recently after purchasing a few Suites and finding that I didn’t have the colours I needed to complete the designs that I wanted to.
If you’re needing any help or wanting some honest advice or assistance in choosing products that you will get the most benefit out of, please send me an e-mail as hello@simonecollins.com.au and I will be happy to help you.