We're All Ears :: January Inspiration :: Color of the Year

Photo by Remson Pellisserry on Unsplash

Purple tends to be a color that people either love or hate.  I love purple so I was very enthusiastic when I saw that  January's We're All Ears Challenge is focused on purple.  Pantone Color of the year is what they are calling Ultra Violet.  To me it is purple. Since I like purple so much, I have a nice collection of purple beads,  I get to dip into it to make Ultra Violet earrings! 

Because I have embraced this color for years, I have come to realize that when designing jewelry you need to take into consideration that there are three distinct purples: Red-Purple, Purple, Blue-Purple. Red-purples are warm, blue-purples are cool, and pure purple is neutral. I have developed some  combinations that I know work with different shades of purple. I love that fact that the Pantone people created  eight different color palettes that feature PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet to help us bring this year's beautiful shade into our designs. All color bases are covered; brights, deeper hues, pastels, mid-tones, and metallics. Each of the eight palettes demonstrate its own distinctive feeling and mood. 

To further inspire your  creativity, within each of these eight color stories Pantone has included three suggested color harmonies. The color harmonies provide examples of how individual colors in the palette can be mixed together and in what proportion. The color bars which make up the color harmony accompany each highlighted color story by Pantone.  These palettes are a wonderful resource for a designer.

I used the Intregue palette for one pair of earrings.  I have a couple of go to favorites that I use when designing jewelry.  One is green so Pantone's Intreue would be a go to palette for me. 

Intregue

Modern purple and green earrings by BayMoonDesign

These handmade purple and green earrings combine beautiful artisan modern lampwork and Swarovski crystals with silver. The violet and silver earrings have an organic and modern look to them. This silver, purple and green color palette is perfect for the lampwork by SRA artist Sue Kennedy.  The earrings are available for purchase HERE.

Purple Haze

Purple and lilac earrings by BayMoonDesign

My other go to favorites that I use when designing jewelry with purple are Ultra Violet and Misty lilac.  The Pantone palette Purple Haze is another palette that has my favorite purple combinations. The purple and lilac earrings have textured ceramics by Marsha Neal Studio.  If you would like to purchase these earrings they are available at BayMoonDesign.

Photo by Neven Krcmarek on Unsplash

I intend to grab a warm purple beverage and enjoy seeing what everyone made with my favorite color.