Color Files: Flint

While I have always been a huge fan of color, the older I get, the more I tend to dress in neutral colors. The majority of my closet these days is white, black, navy, grey or taupe. And while that sort of sounds boring at first, it's actually really freeing because everything matches and I can mix them in tons of different ways. Plus I feel kind of stylish and French chic. Or something like that.

Anyways, I thought grey deserved to be the color of choice for the revival of the color files series, specifically this medium grey, not light, not dark, that I'm calling flint grey.

Also, just a handy reminder--it's spelled grAy in America and grEy in Europe, or when you want it to look prettier, like I do. :)

Rucksack / Coat / Gloves / Skirt

Anyone else with me on the neutral-toned wardrobe thing? I especially love adding a small touch of color like these three accent colors above. 

Color Files: Tangerine

When I'm working on design for my blog or others, I'm constantly amazed by the way that color can transform lines. It can add a totally new attitude to a design or even make YOU feel things. Colors can hold memories and associations. I know whenever I see a certain shade of blue, it makes me thing of Lake Michigan. I bet you're the same--ever see a color and immediately think of your college's colors?

One of my favorite colors these days is tangerine. Tangerine can feel summery, clean, fun, fresh and invigorating. It can give energy, provide inspiration and wake you up. It feels lively and warm.

Crossbody bag / Roller Date Stamp / Swimsuit / Heels / Pillow / Bracelets - source not found

Anyone else obsessed with tangerine? How will you use tangerine--in your outfits, design or art?

California in Color Palettes: Pt. 1

I've been home for more than a week and I still haven't gone through all of my photos from California. I'm bad, I know. But I still wanted to share them, so I decided to make them into color palettes! In my own design, I'm a big believer in finding inspiration from natural things. This can be the shape of something I see or the feelings that come out or just the colors. The funny thing about colors in nature is that they never clash. Never. And these color palettes can really work for anything, from your blog to your home!

(taken on Alcatraz Island)

(somewhere in San Francisco)

(Lombard Street, San Francisco)

(somewhere, San Francisco)

(Alcatraz Prison Garden)

I hope you all enjoy them! If you do, feel free/please pin them on Pinterest. Which color palette is your favorite?

4 Gorgeous Color Palettes Inspired by Plants

Lately, as spring has been exploding all around me, I've been inspired by plants. Even when we think of nature in spring, it's always about the flowers. You know, the tulips and the daffodils and all. But I've just been enjoying the green. 

Behind my house, there's a little forest separating my street and the next street over. All through the winter, we can see the other houses, but as of the last week or two, the new leaves completely block our view. As I've been noticing and admiring those new leaves and all that lovely chlorophyll, I've been amazed by all the colors within the leaves. At a glance, they look like they're all the same color but there are all sorts of shades of green and even other tones of blues and yellows if you look closely. 

I'm using these color palettes to inspire my design, my attitude and even my writing as I work to breathe life back into this blog and into everything that I do. 

Particularly in that last palette, I just love admiring the colors. For the record, I used a color picker to take all of these colors directly from the picture. That bold purple in palette #2? That's all nature at work. How can you not feel happy looking at that + knowing that you get to live in that world!

Have a lovely day!

All images are from F L O R A. 

Catching My Eye [links + love]

Hellooooo! Happy Wednesday! In case you haven't gathered, I'm on a much-needed vacation in Florida with my family these days. So while I'm enjoying the sun (although it's supposed to rain soon....boo), I thought I'd share some reading for you in case you're stuck inside. 

For the record, a lot of these links are from blogs that I follow, but I also find a lot of great links through Pinterest or Stumbleupon. So if you're looking for hours worth of procrastination, I suggest you start there!

+ DIY Pots for Small Plants // How About Orange. I've been dyingggg to get myself some succulents lately because they're just so cute and from what I've heard, I probably can't even kill them. Plus, I'm super into the geometric home decor trend and these fit right in!

+ Sarah of Smitten Studio shares a bunch of unique but really gorgeous wallpapers. My favorite is the black and white malachite print! I'd lurvvv to have a small wall of that.

+ Growing up, I've always been called things like feisty or bossy or bold. I love this post on why we should Ban Bossy as an insult.

+ This awesome round-up from Sarah Von Bargen will give you 10 awesome reasons to use your printer, including stationery, blog organization worksheets and origami business card holders! Yes!

+ This Global Brights color palette from Design-Seeds is beautiful. I think it'd look especially great on a health + wellness website!

+ Holy helpful! The Introvert's Guide to Getting in Shape (from my forever love, Lifehack).

That's all for today! Have a great rest of the week, friends!