Using The Color Red In Scrapbooking

The color red is a rarity in the scrapbooking world. At times, it seems that the paper crafting and scrapbooking themes are typically romantic in the sense of a European tea party or an antebellum women’s luncheon; one can expect plenty of pastels, plenty of off-white, plenty of lace and plenty curvy elegant fonts. The advent of “new” scrapbooking patterns which complement the modern era has included a new scheme of colors. These can include geometric patterns, circular and oval shapes and curved and straight or pointed borders which come together to create a full picture, often digitized, which other scrapbookers can copy.

Though, in set patterns created for the duplication of the visual in a digital format, the use of the color red is rarely dominant. In fact, the use of vibrant and bold color in a way which lets it shine appears less common than the alternative use: color combinations. Color combining is the method of taking a few complementary colors and using them in a visual which gives them each attention. Usually these combine as a set of colors which complement one another. And the impression of the colors is made by the actual interaction of these colors together; we react because of how we are affected by the color combination itself instead of reacting to one particular color.

If we were to see a dominant color, a bold and almost startling color, like red, we’d be able to access the natural color reactions that this color demands just as we do with the calming pastels and other traditional color combinations. These also have their effects on our systems according to those who study color, color therapy and our inherent reactions to the colors we see.

The color red, for instance, represents the root chakra according to color expert and resident author of old-earth.com, Catherine Alvinivis. It is connected to action, work, sexual energy and motivation. We often see red used in ways which capitalize on this, sometimes hidden, color knowledge.

In the marketing world, the attempts to use our reaction to red is pervasive. Looking at your favorite fast food restaurants, at marketing visuals in food advertisements and at signs designed to capture your attention are the obvious examples; the use of the color red is blatant in these realms.

The next time that you are walking by a fire exit, see a stop sign or even a red light, consider just how much our society values the ability of the color red to motivate quick and instinctive behaviors for your advantage and for the well-being and safety of others in society as well. Ambulances and fire trucks, which call for our attention in terms of making us recognize them and inducing us to make a way for them to cross ahead of us, use red for our well-being, too.

Now, how can you, as a scrapbooker, use red to your advantage? One simple start is to see how red can please you in scrapbooking. If you do find yourself pleased by some shades and interested in using them (because your personal reaction is just as important if not more important than our general reaction), one way to capitalize is to use red in connection with where you want instinctive action and attention brought in an immediate way. If you have a work goal, a love goal, a manifesting goal, using red in ways which don’t alarm you but do resonate with you is likely to get at least part of your consciousness on board toward that goal.