Trending:Gold. Part 3. Colour Inspiration.

Hi everyone!
This is Ashley today, with the third installment in my Trending:Gold series. Today, we're going to talk about colour... and provide some ideas and inspiration on how to combine gold on your pages with other colours.
If you missed the first two installments, you can go back and read Part 1 and Part 2.

Before we go any further, I'm officially declaring that gold is the new black! That's right -- gold is basic, and timeless (for now!) and can be paired with anything. If you still aren't fully convinced, think of it as a shinier, flashier neutral.

Here are 10 colour ways that I've used to pair with gold... some of these, like neon pink and gold, became fast favourites and I've gone back to these colour combos again and again. Click on links in the caption below to see full size images.

1: mint green and navy. 2: cream and green. 3: neon pink and tan. 4: pale pink and butter yellow. 5: spinach green and pink. 6: teal and red. 7: purple and pink. 8: neon green and mustard. 9: pink and mint. 10: aqua and silver.

I've been Pinning some inspiration pieces that include gold. There are so many great colourways out there to try! I notice that I tend towards favouring either cool colours or pink, pink, pink and more pink with gold! At first I didn't think that reds, yellows, and oranges went well with gold, but after some thought, I realized that these colour combinations are very Morrocan and Indian inspired, and remind me of sun-saturated afternoons in warm places. So, perhaps in a few months from now when the dreary winter days here have been replaced by something more humane, I'll be on a sunny combo colour kick! 

What colours do you gravitate towards combining with gold?

If you are still suck and seeking inspiration, don't forget to check out my Trending:Gold Pinterest board for inspiration pieces. Or, use some of these below that I've put together. What speaks to you? I've included some patters in these colourways, for an extra dose of inspiration.

Lavender-grey, pale slate blue, mint, and piles of gold sequins.

Mint, pale blue, peacock blue, and woodgrain.

Light and dark apple green, hot pink, and golden feathers.

Grey, light pink, dark pink, and chalkboard.

Not feeling inspired yet? Switch up the feel of any of these colourways by changing the amounts of each used. Try using mostly a light background with small pops of colour, if you are colour-shy and want something light and airy. Start with a hefty dose of the darkest colour and highlight with the lighter shades for a dramatic effect.

Before you head off to get gilding your next colourful layout, here's a layout to demonstrate using gold as a neutral. I wasn't sure how to scrap this photo of my family, as there was no dominate colour in it, and too many colours present to try to match up any single one or find a colourway that would contrast and highlight the photo as a whole.

There are five

Supplies: patterned paper (Maggie Holmes/Crate Paper); brads (Dear Lizzy/American Crafts); gold foil stickers (Dear Lizzy/American Crafts); glitter tape (American Crafts); glitter brads (American Crafts); letter stickers (Dear Lizzy/American Crafts); punch (Martha Stewart).

I chose a creamy background to cover most of the layout base, and then used gold as the primary accent colour throughout the rest of the page. Gold foil heart stickers, gold glitter POW paper, gold-rimmed brads,  gold glitter brads, gold foil letter stickers, and gold glitter tape, all by American Crafts, go a long way to add embellishment and interest to this page, without adding bright colours to compete with the photo. The variety in gold finishes -- two different glitters, foil, and metal -- creates a dymanic feel to the page, adding depth and ensuring that despite the use of a similar colour, it does not feel flat. 

When struggling to pair colours with a difficult multi-hued photo, try using gold as the primary colour on your page. Although warm, glittery, and with a huge potential to be bold and loud, gold makes a great neutral. Try it, the next time you are found in a colour conundrum! 

Give-away is closed!

And now, for the give-away! This month I have an AMAZING prize to give away, thanks to my very generous sponsors. You’ll want to make sure to stop in every week and leave a comment for your chance to win this prize pack, that certainly must be worth its weight in gold (pun intended).

Giveaway Rules:

• Leave one comment per Trending:Gold post.
• Contest closes on April 15th.
• Winner will be contacted April 16th, and announced on my next Trending series article.
• Open to U.S. and Canadian residents only.

Thanks very much to our wonderful giveaway sponsors American Crafts, Pink Paislee, Heidi Swapp, Prima Marketing, Omiyage, and Stewart Superior.

For close-ups of the fabulous products included in the giveaway, visit my blog.

This give-away prize includes:  6 sheets gold glitter paper (American Crafts); 1 gold dot vellum (American Crafts); 9 packages gold glitter/gold foil Thickers (American Crafts); 4 packages gold glitter brads (American Crafts); 1 package gold pearl brads (American Crafts); 1 package gold glitter buttons (American Crafts); gold rimmed Dear Lizzy brads (American Crafts); gold foil accent stickers (American Crafts); metallic gold chipboard Luxe stars (Pink Paislee); gold glitter letters (Pink Paislee); 4 pack assorted gold glitter (American Crafts); 6 gold glitter tapes (American Crafts); chunky gold glitter, gold microbeads, gold metallic embossing powder, gold glitter finish embossing powder (American Crafts); gold leaf and glue pad (Stewart Superior); gold ink pad (Stewart Superior); gold glitter leaves (Prima); gold metallic leaves (Prima); junkyard gold metallic findings  (Prima); gold tipped zipper flowers (Prima); gold stick pins (Prima); gold accessory pack (Omiyage); Gold Lame Color Shine (Heidi Swapp); gold foil dot chipboard stars (Pink Paislee); gold rub-ons (Pink Paislee). WOW.