Have you had any fresh strawberries this season? We've found plenty in stores already and berries at nearby farms are usually ready mid-May. With those on my mind, this just had to be the first paper I pulled out of the new October Afternoon Fly a Kite paper pad. Then it was off to find some coordinating cardstock.
Maybe it is because I spend my professional life matching fabrics but when I'm scrapbooking or card making, I want my DSP and my cardstock to match as close as possible. To make it easier and mostly to use my crafting time as wisely as possible, I now check and note the cardstock colors that go with new DSP when it comes in or the first time I use a paper from that pack. No matter how good the light, and I love my Verilux desk lamp, natural lighting is the best way to match papers. But sometimes I'm working at night or other times when the lighting is poor in my room. Having the color matches already figured out takes out the guesswork. It also helps me see what papers I need to order from SU! or PTI. (Stampin' Up! cardstock has the colors already noted in the catalog so they make it really easy :-)
So I take my new designer papers and go through my Stampin' Up! and Papertrey Ink cardstock decks to figure out the best matches. Sometimes I pull out full sheets of cardstock.
Then I note the colors that match a particular pack of DSP on the back of the paper pad or on a note I tape to the packaging. That's it. When I'm making a card, I know what is going to work and can pull all the paper out at once.
The paper deck I referred to is one I posted here --
Cardstock Reference Deck; Of course, now that Stampin' Up! is changing color families I'll need to redo this deck. As soon as we know the new 2010/11 In Colors, I plan to repost the deck file on Splitcoaststampers with a link here at the blog. It will include all the current and just discontinued colors for SU and Papertrey Ink as well.
Yesterday morning, I was making a wedding card for my stepdaughter using some Basic Grey Marrakesh paper with green in it. I didn't even have to check, my notes said Mellow Moss and sure enough it was the perfect paper.
Here are the colors (by my interpretation) that go with the new October Afternoon Fly a Kite 8x8 paper pad:
From Stampin' Up!
Bermuda Bay/Taken with Teal
Chocolate Chip
So Saffron and Summer Sun
Dusty Durango
From Papertrey Ink:
Spring Moss
Berry Sorbet
Dark Chocolate isn't bad either.
Neutrals are Brown and Ivory
I also have October Afternoon's Thrift Shop and here are the colors for it:
Riding Hood Red
Bermuda Bay
So Saffron
Neutrals are Black and Ivory
Another benefit to doing some matching up is you can see what papers you need. This is going to be especially helpful as I decide what discontinued colors I want to stock up on from Stampin' Up! in the next couple of months.
Happy Tuesday! Thanks for visiting!
Ingredients: Stamps: Big Flowers, All Scallops by Stampin Up!; Mailbox Greetings by Papertrey InkCardstock: Bermuda Bay by SU!Ink: Bermuda Bay, Riding Hood Red, Choc Chip by SU!; Vintage Cream by PTI; Signo White Gel penDSP: Fly a Kite 8x8 paper pad by October Afternoon 
