the green gal

Palette picking 3

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A great, great place for colour palettes and styling inspiration is A Creative Mint's flickr photostream and website. The colours, textures, compostion and use of light are just gorgeous, I could browse her image library for hours. I thought you might like a bit of Christmassy inspiration in preparation for the festive season so picked the above image, enjoy!

Palette pingpong no47

I do hope the sun is shining down on you this palette pingpong day. It certainly is in my little corner of the planet and very welcome it is too.

So, on with PPP! The fabulous Kirsty challenged me with a lovely photo which you can see on her blog, ginger and george, here. The palette I pulled from it doesn't look wildly exciting at first glance…

but… I think that used in conjunction with white (as the photo demonstrates) it turns into something rather fresh. And what have I done with this collection of colours? Why, only created three twitter background designs for you to download and use! 

So, above you can see the three simple designs and how they look on twitter (no tiling needed). I have made two sizes for each design – one for twitter used on a small laptop screen and one for twitter used on a bigger desktop monitor – as the size you need varies on how big a screen you have.

lines twitter background for laptop

lines twitter background for monitor

spots twitter background for laptop

spots twitter background for monitor

stripes twitter background for laptop

stripes twitter background for monitor

All the links you need are above, feel free to tell others about these downloads but do please link back to this original post and remember, as with all my free downloads, these are only for personal use.

Palette pingpong no46

Well goodness me, it's time for palette pingpong again. And this week I'm challenging Kirsty with this rather scrumptious photo…

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Is your tummy rumbling? Apologies. These tasty cubes of yumminess are funfetti marshmallows as made and blogged by Raspberri Cupcakes. There are several shots of the marshmallows on the blog and they're all beautifully photographed.

So, to see the colour palette Kirsty has taken from this photo, and what said palette has led her on to, come with me over to her ginger and george blog…

Palette pingpong no45 + printable poster

It's been such a grey and gloomy couple of weeks so I was very pleased to see the image Kirsty has challenged me with for today's palette pingpong. You can see the cheerful image over on Kirsty's blog, ginger and george, and here is the colour palette I took from it:

Pretty bright, eh? It put me in such an upbeat mood that I decided to create a free printable poster using these colours and a fantastic quote I recently stumbled upon: 

I would have taken a photo of the poster hung up in my studio but the light is so dire with the non-stop rain that there was no hope of getting a decent image. But anyway, isn't this a great quote?! I love the idea of deciding, and stating to the world, that you're not going to bumble through life with faded colours and muted sounds, not making the most of the time you have and failing to pursue your dreams. Instead, you're going to spend your time on this planet living life in full technicolour, chasing those dreams, never giving up, finding joy in the little stuff and living out LOUD! 

To download the poster just click on the link below and print on a sheet of (recycled if possible) paper or card. The poster is a little shorter than A4 or US legal letter so trim the excess off and you're good to go!

Download the poster

As always with my free printables, feel free to tell other people about them but please do link to the post, not just the download, and all my free downloads are for personal, not commercial, use.

Enjoy and go live out loud!

Palette pingpong no44

How's your week going? Still enjoying an Easter break or back to the grindstone with chocolate eggs a distant memory? Well, today is a pingpong palette day so you can take a few moments to enjoy a cuppa and see what Kirsty and I have been up to.

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Kirsty is tasked with pulling a palette from this image and then coming up with something inspired by it. Who knows what though?! Only way to find out is to hop on over to her blog, ginger and george, and take a look…

March moments

Quite a lot happened on here in March so I thought I'd post a little recap of the highlights…

I posted about a couple of fab designers – BiroRobot and Ian Dutton

I came up with a few desktop wallpapers for you to use in palette pingpong no 43

My giveaway is still running until 9pm GMT tomorrow (Monday) evening

There was a little tutorial

I revealed the new range of eco-friendly notebooks to join the green gables as well as more bunting, gift tags and gadget cases

I posted about the super helpful photography tips provided by one of my favourite blogs

and I entered a competition!

So that was March, I wonder what April will bring?

Palette pingpong no43

Who's up for a spot of palette pingpong? You are? Great stuff.

So, today I have been challenged by Kirsty to come up with a palette from a super Spring-y pic which you can see over at Kirsty's blog, ginger and george. I just love the image, so pretty, and this is the palette I pulled:

It's funny how you look at a photo and see certain colours as prominent but when you start investigating other shades come to the fore and grab your attention.

So, in the spirit of trying new things I thought I'd design a couple of desktop wallpapers using this palette, and offer them up to you. Here's a scattered bobbin version:

and with a dark background:

and then a more orderly version:

which has a dark background version too:

Save the images (or ctrl+click for Mac or right click for PC to set as desktop) and swap and change your desktop wallpaper to your heart's content! If you'd like to share these with others that'd be lovely, just be sure to link back to this original post, thank you! 

Palette pingpong no42

And we're back in the land of palette pingpong! In case you've forgotten, Kirsty, of ginger and george, and I take it in turns to challenge each other to come up with a colour palette from an image. I have challenged Kirsty with this image:

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If you come with me, we can pop on over to Kirsty's blog to find out what colour palette she pulled and what else she might have in store for us…

PS In previous PPP posts we have given away a variety of free downloads, you can find the full collection here.

PPS My kitchenware 75% off sale is still on! The mugs have gone but there are tea towels and aprons from just £2.50 right here…

The gift of palette pingpong

So, if you're wondering what's happened to the regular palette pingpong posts I can tell you that they're having a little holiday! But they will be back. In the meantime I thought I'd give you a round up of all the free gifts Kirsty and I have given you in our palette pingpong posts. Within 41 PPP posts lie 21 different freebies – printables, tutorials, desktop wallpapers – so there's a good chance you may have missed the odd one!

Here is a list of all the PPP posts that hold little gems of pretty palette-inspired downloads, in order, so you can be sure you've made the most of our offerings. Some of them are tied into seasonal events but you can always download the file to use at the appropriate time. As with all our free downloads, please remember they are only for personal use and if you'd like to share them be sure to link back to the original post.

Right, on with the list!

oh, hello card

cheery desktop wallpapers

handmade is heartmade print

bunting postcards

congratulations card

Hallowe'en ghost garland

you're a star card

Christmas tags

master plan sheets

twitter desktop

love you card

you are lovely card

life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful desktop wallpaper

you are the bestest cards

be kind prints

I heart you card

thank you cards

pears desktop wallpapers

mini flag garland tutorial

teardrops & rainbows print

patterned paper & Christmas tags

Palette pingpong no41 + printables

Feeling festive? Ready to spend a few days eating more than you normally do in a week and watching feel-good kids' movies? Well, before you pootle off to watch Mary Poppins and crack open a tin of chocs, we've just time to squeeze in the last palette pingpong of the year!

You can see the cheerful snap that Kirsty challenged me with over on her blog, ginger and george. And this is the fetching palette I pulled from the pic:

Nice, eh? Reminds me a little of the TV test screen (remember from ye olde teevee days?). Anyhow, what have I done with such a vivid palette you may ask? Well, a couple of things, all freebie printables for you! (Just in case you're not quite sorted with your gift wrap yet, not that I'm saying you're a disorganised bunch!)

I've taken a few of the colours and created two sheets of rectangular and circular tags. These can be used as gift tags or place names at the Christmas dinner table – I've left them suitably blank so you can use them in as many ways as you like. 

And because I love the stripy palette I am also giving you a couple of stripy sheets for you to print out and use however you choose! Perhaps as wrapping paper for a small gift or as additional tags (trace round another tag's outline and cut out the shape).

Download Christmas tags & paper

You can download the pdfs and print them on A4 recycled paper or card as many time as you like. All I ask is that you use them for yourself, not for commercial ideas, and if you want to tell others about these printables that you link back to this blog post, rather than just the pdfs.

And before I let you go I just want to say thank you very much. 2011 has been a very exciting year for me and my business, the green gables, and I so appreciate your support, your comments and your general loveliness!

So, have a very merry Christmas!

xx