Love is most often associated with the color red. Be that by conditioning of incessant advertising or that we are drawn to it by nature. Secondary to red is of course pink, in almost any level of saturation.

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Red is one of those colors that possesses the strongest Ying and Yang of its theoretical definitions. Between love and hate, rebirth and death, the human relationship in any combination, could literally be summed up in the meaning of the color Red. Pink has what I would describe as a temperamental scale, more based on softness versus loudness than the extreme left or right end of the spectrum.

"Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love." - paper-leaf.com // COLOR THEORY poster freebie

As we know, colors can generate a wide variety of emotions. Red might be the most diverse and along with pink, a tag-along little sister, many other colors in tow can lend a visual message of love a great big pop!

Falling in Love by Etsy artist,  DJEMBE & CANVAS

"Cranes represent longevity and grace. The flocks ascend our champagne symphony, where love is blessed upon those who simply believe." - posted by artist at the listing

The artist gave us a wonderfully light feeling with this palette and the birds adding further motion. I also like how the painting balances the realities of "love" with a little bit of darkness in the bottom right corner. What do you think of this palette and representation of falling in love?

For those of you following Leatrice Eisemen's training schedule, her 4-Day Color Training Program is off to a start this very morning in Burbank, CA. LindaHolt and ModernMuse (aka Michelle Stroescu), the two COLOURlovers who won full and half scholarship for the class back in November are excitedly enjoying their first day of learning and meeting Leatrice.

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To tide you all over until we get to do a followup with both Linda and Michelle about the class experience, Leatrice kindly took the time to answer the intriguing questions each winner had asked at the time of receiving the announcement that they had won.

Q & A From LindaHolt

Linda: I would love to know what the process is and what goes into choosing the Color of The Year? 

Leatrice: I literally travel the world looking for clues.  If I see a color that I think is ascending in importance, I make special note of it and then look for evidence in it gaining momentum.  Fashion is always a good indicator, but it is not the only design area that must be examined.  There are so much creative design areas that must be considered including graphics, the world of art, product design, home furnishings and so on .  Another very important part of the choice is tapping into the “zeitgeist ‘ of the world around us and the emotional message that the color imparts.  For example, with the that big gray elephant  (the economy) still looming large and the concern that is being felt internationally, we would not want to choose a color that could be a “downer’.  Instead we listen to people’s aspirations and try to give them a color that, at least symbolically, satisfies and encourages their needs and hopes.

Recently, we spent some time reflecting over some beautiful home decor images in order to curate these ten beautiful palettes from the Martha Stewart paint line in a collaborative project titled, "Paint Palettes We Love."

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Peruse these lovely combinations and fancy what your space might become, reinvented with fantastically bold or mellow combinations that might pull your imagination strings. One thing I adore about Martha's paint line is that her and Kevin Sharkey dig in to their memories and whims when building a collection of color around them. You can literally see these things in the names of the paints themselves.

Inspiration: A Sunny & Sweet Flower Arrangement

source

This sunny flower arrangement was procured from the sweet tooth of Kevin Sharkey. A few of his favorite sweets happen to be lemon drops and raspberry rock candy.

"Consider things that never fail to make you happy -- a box of pastel crayons, macaroons from Paris, a beloved artist's paintings -- and make note of their colors. Then bring the palette to life by plucking it from nature: Arrange flowers, leaves, branches, fruits, or vegetables in the shades of your passions." - how kevin creates

We took this arrangement and furthered its use by adding a wonderful palette drawing from the strongest points, which could be a great base for an entire room.

Lighting a space can make a significant impact on the emotional palette. From the design of a lighting fixture to how it radiates in a space can make or break the entire theme.

This article is presented by LBC Lighting offering you the easiest and most convenient way to purchase contemporary lighting including Juno Lighting for your home or business.

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There are a myriad concepts being done with lighting, from astonishing buys and extraordinary DIYs, everyone’s got a bug to be the most unique.

Beaded Chandeliers

Beaded chandeliers are becoming quite a popular trend. This style can encompass beads or discs made from many different types of materials such as glass, shell or metal and of course plastic or ceramic.

turquoise beaded | black metal discs | bone-colored beaded |  green DIY beaded

It seems that while manufacturers came out with these gorgeous pieces more prominently in early 2011, the DIY crowd is just starting to pick up on producing them in a variety of fashion. If you'll notice, the bottom row in the image above are similar lighting fixtures. On the left is the Malibu Chandelier by manufacturer Serena & Lily while on the right, the DIY blog, SimplySalvage.com decided to make their own version of it. I think they pulled it off pretty well.

We bring you a great interview with Jason Allen, of Haft2.com, an intriguing firm that focuses on, yeah, you guessed it, color! The focal point today is to showcase their 2012 Haft2COLOUR Calendar Project, and absolutely amazing piece of quality!

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I was highly impressed with the presentation of the calendar. It was delivered in a nice silver tin with a branded paper wrap and a wonderful opening letter about the project and the Haft2 mission - I felt like I had just received a very nice gift!

Haft2 is giving away three calendars to some lucky winners on a fun challenge (see bottom of post). I would like to add that I just so happened to come across this project originally from the comments on our previous post about 2012 Calendar Print Trends. I just had to know more about it, see the real deal and get to know what Haft2 and Jason were all about. I'm sure glad I did.

Home decor has become quite a happening thing that can encompass your whim and personality more and more. It is more widely accepted to make your space a unique one instead of trying to keep up with the Jones'. Let's take a look at what trends became red hot in 2011 and are sure to become more so as 2012 launches off.

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Owls & Birds

The owl is a decor trend that has been there all along in some shape or form since the 1900's. Through taxidermy, design inlay on a leather piece or stitched in to a hanky, these mysterious night creatures have been a part of our culture as a piece of interest for a very long time. I remember my grandmother had a macramé owl in her indoor greenhouse when I was a child and other various owl decor in a very 1970's fashion.

green ceramic | white ceramic | tan ceramic | stoneware | wooden | pillow with print | dish set  | pillow screen print  | coasters | ceramic wall hook | calendar

The recent trend of owls from about 2009 through the present has definitely picked up on a new level of design playing off of vintage styles with a modern day twist that makes them not so tasteless, but fascinating and simply adorable from everything home decor, holiday ornaments, fashion and party decor. People can't seem to get enough owl.

So many great things have happened on COLOURlovers in 2011, but one major, behind the scenes project that only a very small portion of members have been aware of was a quilt project straight from the heart of the Group: COLOURlovers on Spoonflower.

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Group administrator, leader and very involved COLOURlover, Penina, wanted her group to be something more than just a group of people who loved the idea of fabric. So one fine day back in July 2011, after coordinating ideas to make a digital quilt from the group member creations, she had the thought, “What’s stopping us from making a real quilt?!”

Penina wanted this quilt project to have purpose and to involve as many group members as possible. This also meant that the final piece would need to have a good home at a single location; so who would get the quilt?

Remember the Betabrand + COLOURlovers plaid shirt and striped, palette-sock contests back in August and September of this year? Yes! Of course you do! How could you forget?! It was so much fun. If you haven't hopped over to check out the finished products, you should!

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In the first contest, Color a Plaid Shirt, a single winner was chosen. The winner was, 'Elements' by Lisa Clair (lisadale69). Check out the real deal here at Betabrand!

The flannel shirt turned out fantastic! Complete with elbow patches and a nifty custom tag with all the COLOURlover designer info. Obviously, Betabrand spares no detail because this was produced top notch.

Gift wrapping has taken on a whole new life in recent years. It almost seems like it has become a competition to see who can be more genius at the art of gift giving.

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If this display of craftiness won't get you in the mood to dig around your house for things you can turn in to beautifully embellished gifts, I don't know what could. Here we give you a fabulous collective to top, tie and cover your gifts in an eye-devouring display!

Covering: Wrap It Or Bag It

Receiving a gift wrapped in anything other than ordinary wrapping paper can be intriguing and a lot of fun. There are many ways to creatively get the proper packaging for a gift. Crafters seem to be conquering the feat of the "gift card" gift. Anywhere from creating fancy hand-made envelopes to putting one in a handmade snow globe - there are some fun ways to tackle making it look cute.

Mini Envelopes | Word Search Wrapping Paper | Stamped Kraft Paper | Lace Covered Kraft Paper | Stenciling | Fabric Covered Gifts | Newspaper Gift Bags | Embroidered Fabric Gift Bags | Egg Carton Gift Box | Patterned Pillow Boxes (or up-cycled toilet paper rolls)

The possibilities and ideas are endless! Fabric covered gifts could potentially go to the seamstress or crafter to reuse (the whole gift with gift idea here). Lace and dollies are being used plenty as embellishments in many variations. Embroidered fabric gift bags would be perfect for children to reuse or store the gift that came in it. Did you run out of gift bags and wrapping paper? No big deal, dig out some Kraft paper or newspaper and create your own gift bag! Lastly, pillow boxes and up-cycling toilet paper and paper towel rolls are trending massively right now.

However you wrap it up, make sure you embellish it fantastically too!

Your email registered on COLOURlovers will receive a mighty delicious treat today! That's right! Today we sent out the very first newsletter in the history of COLOURlovers. From now forward, you will know every Tuesday as - Huesday!

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You can expect to receive this beautiful Huesday newsletter each week to get your fill of colorful ideas, inspiration and special goodies (aka giveaways, contests, announcements and the like) sometimes only available in the weekly Huesday mailing.

patterns featured this Huesday: The Dark Snow | Dulce Aroma | santa came to town

As you might know, we currently hand pick colors, palettes, patterns for daily Facebook and Twitter features (you are notified if your creation was featured). Now, Huesday will be another excellent platform for member creations to be featured because there are so many fantastic patterns, palettes and shapes to know about. We will include most popular as well as some hand-picked.

more patterns featured this Huesday: it's raining! | Duckling's Splash | sight

Don't miss out on getting some great inspiration, awesome announcements and must know COLOURlovin news each and every colorful Huesday.

Templates to the featured patterns: