Color is very important in designing interesting and exciting design in scrap booking and card making. Color can affect a person in a positive or negative or even a neutral way. There are a few simple rules to remember:

• Back ground is important. A dark back ground sometimes causes confusion by not allowing adequate contrast with other dark objects. Make sue your back ground and the objects displayed are in adequate contrast. Look around in nature. You will often see the most striking beauty shows us light and dark colors working well together.
• There is a difference between cool colors and warm colors (see "Cool Colors" and "Warm Colors" examples below). Warm primary colors are best used sparingly. Allow the strong colors as an accent to bring attention to a special feature or to focus on an item.

• Dark or bright colors placed next to one another can confuse the viewer. Again, pay attention to contrast.
• Opposite colors on the color wheel are pleasing on a page. These are called complimentary colors (see "Complementary" example below). Another pleasing page consists of monochromatic (shades of one color) (see "Monochromatic Colors" example below).

• Take a close look at the picture you want to focus on in a page. Take a few pieces of paper out, and try the picture on the sheets. Does the picture pop out? You never want the background color to overshadow the picture. I have one page I really struggled with as I had two girls in the picture with very different coloring. One girl would look great on one color, and the other would not, and vice versa. I finally came to a solution of ripping the paper, and using orange behind one girl and pink behind the other. It was a simple solution, and made a fun page that complimented each girl. (fig. 4).

• Remember some simple color theory, and you will have pleasing pages.
  • There are three basic primary colors: red, yellow, and blue (see "Primary Colors" example below).
  • There are three secondary colors: green, orange, and purple (see "Secondary Colors" example below).
  • Colors that form a triangle on the color wheel are called triads. Triads are a great tool to attract attention.
  • Groups of color that are next to each other in the color wheel are called Analogous harmonies. (Don't worry, you ' have to remember that name). These are closely related colors and they are visually pleasing. An example would be blue, blue-violet and purple (see "Triads" example below).

• Color Blocking is a design techniques where you place geometric blocks or shapes of paper on the back ground. This is most often in rectangle or square form. These geometric shapes and blocks create impact. Usually the pictures are in a few, and journaling is in another shape.
• Always pay close attention to the relationships between colors in the visible spectrum. The color wheel is a great tool for the cropper, as it helps to make pleasing and harmonious pages. Remember that color combinations are important, and remember to always put the picture as the pop and the embellishments and backgrounds as a complimentary accent.