Thursday 29 October 2015

Colour Collaborative: October: Blue


Blue. The coolest of colours. I discovered it late, after a childhood of loving sunshine yellow and a few years of black and purple. I started making scrapbooks, and flicking through my papers one day I realised that almost all of them were blues and greys.


Blue is well known for its soothing properties. It's the colour of gazing out to sea or lying on your back in a summer meadow or the door to a coastal cottage. No wonder then that it's a colour that so many people gravitate towards. It is apparently the world's favourite colour.

The two turquoise properties above overlook water. A bold choice of colour, no? I think I prefer the white walls and the more muted blue door. But I'm happy to live in a world where everyone's different. A world where I can walk down the road and go, "Wow, look at that". I say "wow" a lot, and so does the littlest boy. We're constantly amazed by the smallest things, oohing and aahing over little details and a whisper of prettiness - a flower, a butterfly, a fancy car, a stained glass window. We love it all.


Whilst I don't have blue walls, I love to look at photos of blue. Holiday snaps of sea reflecting sky, little children paddling at the edge, blue walled coastal homes and the peeling paint of salt battered boats.

Blue is a serene colour, a colour of the mind, helping with clear thought and concentration. It's just what I need right now. Cool, calm inspiration. Focus, but not hot stressful focus, more of a measured but driven focus. I should get some blue photos printed off I think, I like the look of them all together. And I could definitely use the psychological benefits of this most soothing of colours.

To visit the other Colour Collaborative blogs for more of this month's posts, just click on the links below: 

           Annie at Annie Cholewa                         

            Sandra at Cherry Heart                                     

            Jennifer at Thistlebear

            Sarah at Mitenska

What is The Colour Collaborative?

All creative bloggers make stuff, gather stuff, shape stuff, and share stuff. Mostly they work on their own, but what happens when a group of them work together? Is a creative collaboration greater than the sum of its parts? We think so and we hope you will too. We'll each be offering our own monthly take on a colour related theme, and hoping that in combination our ideas will encourage us, and perhaps you, to think about colour in new ways.


32 comments:

  1. Duck egg blue is my favourite colour. I'm currently trying to convince R to paint our garden shed in it, alas with little success so far! Have a serene, blue inspired day, CJ. xx

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  2. I love your galleries of blues. I could look at them again and again, not just for their colour but for all the different textures too. Sea, sky, rock, sand, petal, wing - our world is so beautiful.

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  3. Looks like we both had the same collage idea! Looking forward to seeing your photos in more detail when I switch the computer on later... a phone screen doesn't do them justice.
    Wish the skies were blue today. It's absolutely pouring down.
    S x

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  4. Beautiful photos and as you say blue is such a calming colour.

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  5. I love your montages of blue, CJ, and all the details and textures. Blue has always been my favourite colour; I love its calming effect.

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  6. Lovely photos. If you looked in my wardrobe, you'd find that most of my clothes are blue. I do try to make a concious effort to add different colours now since I noticed that there's little variation.

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  7. blue skies and blue seas are my favourite things to look at, they are never the same colour for more than a moment x

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  8. Blue is without doubt my favourite colour, especially the coastal blues fading into grey. Definitely soothing.

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  9. A lovely post and a wonderful selection of pictures. I've always liked blue, and reading this post I now know why. Flighty xx

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  10. Blues and greys - love them! Thank you for an array of beautiful and soothing photos :)

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  11. These are lovely collages CJ. I like blue now more than I used to. I wear it often, too. It is a comfortable colour I find. x

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  12. If only we had some blue sky :-(

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  13. Gorgeous pictures, what a delight to read your post. I loooove blue, it's such a feminine colour I dont know why people associate to men! :)

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  14. Beautiful photos. So many beautiful shades of blue!

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  15. Blue is a very soothing color and I have a lot of blue in my house. Purple is my favorite color and always has been, but I actually find blue to be more of a go-to color for clothes and household things. I think it's easier to use, more versatile. I enjoyed your photo collages, so much to see. Thanks for sharing your blue sightings.

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  16. What a lovely blue photo collage. It definitely evokes that calming soothing feeling you describe.

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  17. Love blue!! I like both the light blues and some of the dark blues as well. White and gray has also been favorites. Beautiful and happy photos you got there.

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  18. I do love blue and our house is painted aqua with white trim, but the color on the inside of our den and dining room are egg yolk yellow to bring a sunshine feel to our home even in the darkest of winter. I enjoyed your photos. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  19. From another Wow-er, Wow! So many gorgeous images. I loved this :o)

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  20. Hey CJ,
    I have just been on top of Rosewall, under a sky of the most perfect Autumn blue. Olly's room is now my favorite color, because of the blue. Soothing and restful is right. Lovely post. Gorgeous collages. You should print them off, and place them next to the one f you in your funky blue coat.
    Leanne xx

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  21. Ever since a friend who was a nurse told me that she had read a study that claimed that looking at a deep cobalt blue for fifteen minutes a day is an appetite suppressant and anti-depressant, I have been collecting cobalt blue glass :) While I have never tried to clock fifteen minutes of looking at it every day, I am hopeful that frequent glances help! Thanks for sharing the beautiful blues around you, CJ xx

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  22. i rarely wear blue, but i have a lot of soft, pale bluey greens in my house (especially my bedroom and bathroom) as it is so very calming and quietening.
    my favourite of your photos is the battered greeny-blue painted wood in the first block of pictures... just wonderful, CJ.

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  23. Beautiful collages there, CJ; the turquiose and aqua really draw the eye. I wonder when one feels blue what shade of blue it is exactly?

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  24. Isn't it amazing how blue can match so many different moods. It can be very cold and icy with a hint of grey. Then there is Mediterranean blue that wafts you to a deliciously warm place. Your photos really show its many moods well. B X

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  25. Great photos dear C.J. they do have the wow factor. There are so many beautiful shades of blue. I love neutrals with accents of colour, my favorite being shades of yellow, though I have just purchased a lovely shabby chic frame which is duck egg blue chalk paint. I copied off some blue and white wallpaper with birds and flowers and put it in the frame, it looks lovely.
    I say wow a lot myself for so many things I see are amazing and beautiful.
    Happy weekend!
    xoxoxo ♡

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  26. Can I say wow too? Unsurprising blue is my favourite colour and I do enjoy looking at all your blue images! Sarah x

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  27. These are amazing photos CJ! The colours are beautiful. The sky actually looks blue today so I'll have to get out there soon.
    PS I've just finished Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - really gripping and cleverly written, a deifinite one to add to the list if you haven't read it before

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  28. This was a really nice post CJ - love the bit about you and your son. A sense of wonder in everyone is a wonderful thing. Lots of pretty pictures.

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  29. Those are some gorgeous collages, really beautifully balanced. I adore blue. People say it's cold but I think it just depends which shade you choose.

    I say "wow" a lot too, and so does Angus. Yesterday on a walk, he nudged me and said "Wow, look at the view Mummy!". A little heart bursting moment. xx

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