yellow car

yellow car © 2011 novara design

 

Over the past few years I’ve been playing Yellow Car with my son. Most of the time when we drive together, one of us yells – “yellow car” and adds a point to our list. We never say “Hey, let’s play Yellow Car”, we just start, out of the blue. We especially like when we pass a dealership or a company with a fleet of yellow cars or vans. The number rises quickly and we laugh.

Sometimes on my way to work, I find myself counting yellow cars, as if it’s part of what I should be doing on my morning commute. It’s like when you get in the car, the radio is on and you find yourself humming or singing along. Then you realize it’s not the radio, it’s your 3 yr. old’s cd of Bear in the Big Blue House and your child isn’t even in the car! Crazy.

I realize we’re not the only people playing this funny car game. I was chatting with my friend Mary Ann the other day – we were both in the car (hands free, of course) and as she was talking, I heard her son yell out “yellow car”. I had to laugh, I think once you start playing, it’s hard to stop. Like when you buy a car and then all of sudden you see that car EVERYWHERE.

So here’s my segway into why I was thinking about the yellow car game. When I was a design student, I use to imagine how wonderful it would be, if all the cars on the road were either white, black or red. Traffic would be transformed from a bunch of multi-colored shapes into tidy rows of color, lines of color – sections and groups of the same color. Parking lots would be made up of patterns, stripes and shapes. Interesting thought. Even today I would still like to see what that would look like, just for a day or two, but (you know where I’m going with this) that would be the end of  Yellow Car.

So as I become more and more aware that the days of Raffi and Bear are gone, I wonder, will Yellow Car be with me forever? After my son is grown and living on his own, will I still find myself counting yellow cars? It’s hard to say, but if you suddenly hear “YELLOW CAR!” from my open window, please know that I’m not crazy, just a little nostalgic.

metallics ­— oh how they sparkle, twinkle, glitter and shine

mom & me © 2010 novara design

It’s that time of year when everything becomes metallic and shiny.

Look around and you’ll see clothes with threads of glitter running through them, shoes with sparkles and sweaters with rhinestones. The kitchen will sparkle with table clothes and runners woven with metallic threads and serving bowls with metallic glazes. Make-up and nail polish will advertise glitter for the holidays. Toys, dress-up for little girls and of course, lights and wrappings and bows and decorations everywhere will somehow twinkle. Everything gets some sparkle — even the cookies.

I love this time of year. Aside from the (sometimes frantic) shopping and crazy drivers out there (look out — we got an inch of snow last night!), the holiday season is fun if you know how to relax and enjoy it. So as someone who doesn’t wear sparkly clothes or sparkly make up, I rather enjoy the sparkle of the holidays.

For much of the retail market, I know the holiday preparations start months and months before the public ever sees anything for this glittery season. As a designer, I know when autumn hits, companies start thinking about holiday cards and events. That’s when I dig in my drawer for the PMS book of metallic swatches. I don’t think I spec. as much metallic ink as I do in the months approaching the holidays. And so it seems, even ink is more festive when it glimmers.

All of the metallic colors have found their way into my design projects at one time or another, but non as often as PMS 876 copper. I have speced it here and there throughout the year, but it really shines around the holidays. You can pair it with regular ink colors, and your job still looks festive, or depending on the design, sophisticated and ready for an evening out on the town.

So, it’s already December, and it may be time to tuck my metallic swatch book back in to the drawer. That is unless I get a frantic last-minute call to design yet another, festive card or invite. But, no worries, it’s all fun and games around the holidays and besides Christmas is only 19 days away, how many more calls can I get?

that color tastes delicious

candy-mine © 2010 novara design

Just the other day I walked out of the bank with two of those suckers that are wrapped in cellophane. The ones that are end to end that you could find hanging on the wall of the old five and dime. I grabbed a green one and a red one. I showed my daughter and said “pick one.” She went for the red one and as she did, she said “I didn’t feel like green apple, I rather have strawberry.” I laughed and said “What? This is lime.” I knew this was an old-time sucker and as I tasted the green candy, I knew I was right, it was lime.

That 60 second exchange got me thinking about colors and flavors and how things have changed in the candy industry. Kids have quite a different view on which color is which flavor. I first noticed this change when they were small. A yellow candy — lemon when I was a kid, was now banana. Green was no longer lime, it was green apple. Blue? Good question. Back then we didn’t know, we were kids and just liked the thought of eating blue food. Now it’s raspberry — blue raspberry. Crazy.

Colors and flavors are strange. A lot of times you think you taste a certain flavor only because your brain is telling you it is that flavor. You taste orange because, well, it’s an orange color. Usually you’re right. But isn’t it strange when you’re surprised by a different flavor? Like when you take a big gulp from your water glass and realize someone gave you Sprite? What a crazy taste sensation. For a split second you’re confused, not sure what that flavor is. I love the idea that you can confuse your brain with colors and flavors — just add food coloring and stir. Green eggs and ham, anyone?

crayola colors

howell balloon launch © 2010 novara design

Remember — the pure clear colors you used as a kid? Anytime I see something that’s in one of these colors I smile. It always reminds me that colors, music or certain scents can connect you to another time and place — a full-blown memory. I have quite a few of these connections, as I’m sure you do too.

A lot of things come to mind when I think of “Crayola” colors. I experienced one of these a few weeks ago, at a hot air balloon launch. You can imagine my delight  when I looked up and saw the balloons floating all around — I caught myself smiling like a fool. Above me were all sorts of brightly colored balloons — stripes and patterns, rainbows and geometrics — even a few Halloween designs. This launch was somewhat small but it was still quite a sight none-the-less.

The first launch I attended was back in ’97, the International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, NM. Welcome to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta This festival is huge with more than 600 balloons at the launching site. The fun part is that you get to walk through the launch area with balloons going up all around you. And, at night they have the balloon glow. Ahhh. Just about every color combination and pattern along with hundreds of speciality shaped balloons are at the Balloon Fiesta. It’s crazy colorful, as if every box of crayons out there, exploded in the sky.

Well, maybe not every box — just yesterday I noticed that school supplies are out already. What?! And of course, the first thing that caught my eye were the Crayola crayons. Everything from the classic eight-pack to the amazing 64 pack with built-in sharpener. I must admit I was close to buying a new pack — just for nostalgic reasons (my fav. being the 24 pack).

Something about the classic eight-pack got me thinking about Odd Velvet, a story I use to read to my daughter. Odd Velvet – Google Books The story is about an unusual little girl who brings a milkweed pod for show and tell, has a rock collection and wins the class art contest using only an eight-pack of crayons. This story has some great messages and very fun illustrations. Every time we read this story, my daughter would marvel at the wonderful apple Velvet drew with only eight crayons. Makes you think anything is possible.

So, here’s my thought. Whether you have school age kids or not, go to your local store and pick up an eight-pack of crayons and have some fun. The smell of a fresh pack of crayons alone will take you back to those simpler days. Leave a comment and tell me what you drew or colored. You can draw on anything from a piece of paper to a brown paper bag. Color in a coloring book for a 4 yr. old or a grown-up’s version found in one of the museum gift shops. It doesn’t matter how large or small your masterpiece is, just that you took a minute out of your busy schedule and sat down to do something different.

I can’t wait to hear what everyone comes up with.

Well, I guess I better get to the store, I hear there’s a run on crayons this week.

old man rain

rainy landscape © 2010 Novara Design

Let’s talk about the rain. As you know, if you’ve been faithful to my little blog, I grew up in the mid-west, where it can rain for days making everything wet and soggy (yuck) while being lush and beautiful all at the same time (ahh).

When I moved to Colorado, I thought I found heaven. I could go out and ride, hike, blade, do any outdoor activity and never worry that it might rain. Day after dry day, I was able to ride my bike to work, hike on the weekends and have barbeques with my friends. I really wasn’t missing the mid-west at all — not one bit.

Now that I am back here, I’m noticing things that I had forgotten while living out west, namely — the rain. Even though my plans often change due to the rain, I do love the way the rain changes the colors everywhere. Everything is a bit muted and calm. Quite nice, actually.

Thinking about the rain brings back one particular memory from my college days that I had long forgotten. When it would rain, I would drive down the country roads of Kalamazoo soaking in the beautiful scenery. To some, this sounds like an ordinary drive. But what made these trips special, was the way I saw the landscape through my windshield — my very wet windshield.

I would put the wipers on intermittent so that the rain would collect on the windshield. Just before the wiper swished the rain away I would see the most beautiful canvas. Depending on the raindrops’ size, how heavy the rain fell and time of day, I would see a painting — a beautiful impressionist painting. All of the colors running and mixing together, no hard edges, just a wonderful work of art. I guess my Art History teacher (Dr. Dull – real name) got me thinking beyond the text books when it came to the Masters and in particular Impressionism.

Even now, I admit that “rain, rain go away, come again another day.” crosses my lips now and again. But when my plans change, and I find myself running errands on those rainy days, I still sneak a peek at the canvas that is my wet windshield and marvel at the beautiful painting the rain has created.

orange smorange

i love pie © 2010 Novara Design

Orange is a funny color for me, sometimes I like it and sometimes I don’t. When I design I don’t spec it very often, but if I do, I like to use it in small doses as an accent with other colors like purples or greens. When it comes to the color orange it really depends what it is, what it’s with and occasionally if it comes in a different color. Oh, and isn’t orange the word that doesn’t rhyme with anything?

I think my love/hate affair with orange started when I got my first car, a little orange compact. Anyone from college will remember it. It was bright — really bright. In my defence it was the only automatic left on the lot (I didn’t know how to drive a stick at the time), so it became mine. I knew even then, orange was not my color. It was too bright, I would have liked something more subtle. I know I’m not the only one who’s had a crazy colored car. My brother drove a dark purple car for years, because my father, who was color blind, assured him it was dark blue.

My little orange car served me well and I was thankful to have some transportation through college. When I moved to Colorado, it took me all over Denver — favorite places like the Blue Bonnet, Washington Park and the Rainbow Music Hall (which eventually closed and became a Walgreens, ugh). We drove it through Eisenhower tunnel to ski in Breckenridge, Vail and Aspen. I drove it to the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs for hiking, and up to the foothills for mountain biking. We piled in and made our way to Boulder for parties and the Shakespeare Festival at CU’s outdoor theatre and Ft. Collins for the International Poster Show. We drove it to Morrison to have beers at the Little Bear and to Evergreen Lake to ice skate. I had it a few more years and then I sold it for a newer model — a white VW Golf with a stick (shout out to Xenti). Now I could get up I-70 in the fast lane. No more puttering up the hill with an automatic.

Growing up, the color orange didn’t show up much for me. I often prefered other colors — like violet when I was small, blues & greens and fluorescents as a teenager, black & white as a new designer and later no particular color, just combinations of colors. Orange has made it’s way back into my palette, with the help of retail and the renewed interest in the earth tones it’s hard not to have it on your list. Now that I think about it, the bottom half of my dining room walls are painted “adobe dust”, a nice muted shade of orange.

I like to think about how shades of orange relate to the seasons. Spring: light buttery orange found in pansies and other garden flowers; summer: yummy orange found in tropical drinks or Creamsicles and (of course the all too photographed) sunsets; autumn: darker earthy oranges like pumpkin pie and squash soups and of course we can’t forget Halloween (we love Jack) and in winter: well, all I can think of are winter navel oranges, the ones that made their way into your parents’ or grandparents’ Christmas stockings.

I know quite a few people love orange — it’s bright and cheery. So, even thought it’s not one of my favorite colors I understand the need for it and like it in small amounts.

As Vincent Van Gogh said “There is no blue without yellow and without orange”  and just as important to some, there’d be no Creamsicles.

does this go together?

mix and match © 2010 novara design

I’m organized, so shoot me — it was again realized years ago with a visit to the Container Store. It’s full of everything you need to organize your life. Little (and big) boxes and containers to separate sizes, arrange colors and keep things in their place — any place. I’ve bought things to categorise my CDs (back in the day), file office papers, tack up reminders and stack wrapping papers. Things made of wicker, plastic, coated wire, cloth-covered cardboard and wood. Round & square things, things with handles & holes, things I could see through or stack. Things that fit into other things, that coordinate or compliment, things on sale, on clearance, and sometimes probably even over-priced.

So you can image my delight when I came across the “weekly clothes organizer” for kids. You’ve probably seen it — it’s made of cloth, is divided into 7 sections, hangs vertically in your closet with each day printed at the top. The idea is to fill it at the beginning of the week with your child’s clothes — shirt, pants/skirt, socks so they can quickly grab the “outfit” in the morning. Hopefully this deters them from wasting time trying to figure this out on their own, or picking things that don’t match. [Garanimals anyone?] It sounds good in theory and actually works very well. At least it did for us. I think I started this routine when my daughter was in first grade. And only during the school year. It seemed to keep us on schedule and I was happy with the results.

Now, this went on for a year or two and then I decided she was getting old enough to get ready on her own. So, when she was in 3rd grade, I ditched the “organizer”.  For the first few days, no problem, I think she remembered what I had put together and it seemed to flow. But after that first week — nothing matched at all. Well, I should say, both top and bottom might have some shade of blue in them or both may have dots, but that’s as close as we got. It was the craziest thing I’d ever seen. She wasn’t trying to “express herself” (she truely thought it went together), she just didn’t know how to coordinate her clothes. I didn’t just see plaid with floral, like you would on little kids. This was different. Pairing winter pants with summer shirts, plaid skirts with summery floral tops was just the beginning. It was nuts, my daughter thought that as long as there was a similar color in each item, it was a good match. She didn’t realize there are winter fabrics and summer fabrics — textures, colors, even styles of clothes that don’t go together. I couldn’t figure out why this was happening.

And then it hit me – good color choices are not always natural, even to the artsy kids. My daughter has always produced beautiful artwork, has been complimented by her many art teachers and placed in district art shows. I never guessed choosing clothes would be so difficult for her. I thought — between the coloring, beautifully illustrated story books & various school art classes she would have achieved an understanding of color early on. I know she did when it came to art, but not when it came to clothes.

So, it took a little time to help her navigate through the flowers & stripes, denim & paisley. And I am happy to say, she can now coordinate her clothes while still holding true to her own independent style — with color and texture working together.

In fact, just the other day she mentioned she wanted a couple of new tank tops. So I asked “what colors?”  She replied “oh, maybe a couple of warm colors and a couple of cool colors.” I had to laugh, only a true artist would think in those terms.

a gardener’s palette

color no.4 in my palette © 2010 Novara Design

So, spring has sprung at my house, more specifically my garden. I have one of those gardens that might be called a cutting garden — although I never cut anything from it. I just sit on the porch and look at it, or more often than not, see it from my hands and knees while I weed, feed and water it.

I’ve planted bulbs over the past six years — hundreds of bulbs, I bet my number is around 1200 — crocus, daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, iris, allium, puschkinia, chionodoxa, anemone and a few I can’t remember. But this year is my year to shine. Many of the bulbs have multiplied and very few have been dug up (although I did have a few crocus sprouting in the grass — thank you Mr. Squirrel) Yes, my garden is looking good, even great. Now that it’s six years old it’s becoming very full, maybe too full, but it’s hard not to add something every year.

As always, the garden started out slow and quiet, with purple and blue pearl crocus peeking out of the snow, then the bigger bulbs started showing up and it was a massive amount of green. (I know the bunnies noticed, as they nibbled quite a few of my tulip leaves.) As the daffodils began to bloom in yellow and then yellow/orange, they gave way to tulips and now the garden has gone from purple to blue to green, yellow, orange and now red. Does this mean my garden is following the color wheel? Funny how that works – it wasn’t planned, but I like the sound of it. But this color wheel only happens in the spring. When spring starts to wind down and summer takes over it’s bittersweet, I am left with just the bulbs’ green leaves once again, waiting for the perennials to bloom. Soon my garden will be a mixture of every color — like a Jackson Pollock painting.

Having a garden is great, and it’s nice to see just how many people have returned to it. It’s no longer your Grandma’s rose garden. It has become an art for some, therapy for others and a learning experience for many. Having lived in Denver for many years, my gardens often were xeriscaped. We were only allowed to water every other day, so you planted accordingly. But now I am in the midwest and with the rain and humidity — everything grows and quickly too.

My neighbor also has a beautiful garden, or should I say gardens. She keeps expanding, not sure if she’ll end up in her neighbor’s yard soon. I love having someone close by that dives in to it like I do. We trade clippings, gardening tips and keep each other up to date on sales & swaps. We like to visit a garden or two throughout the summer just for a little fun and inspiration. Even though we share cuttings, bug remedies and nursery trips, her garden is quite different from mine. First and foremost she never, EVER plants reds or oranges. Me – I like them all, just mix it up and let ’em bloom! Also, her garden faces west, mine east — I am a full two weeks ahead of her, which is nice in spring but sad when autumn rolls around. So between the two of us, we see what works in our gardens and what doesn’t.

Yes, I love my spring garden and look forward to my summer perennials — but as you may have guessed I’m anxious to see what’s new at the nursery. I’m sure I can squeeze in one more plant — can’t I?

shhh… it’s pink

handmade paper © 2010 Novara Design

Pink is a tricky color. Most women like it, some men hate it. And it doesn’t stop there — people can get pretty picky about pink. Having made that statement, I do have one exception — designers — for the most part every designer I’ve talked to, likes some (however small) shade of pink.

I like pink in small doses. That is to say, the larger the volume — the quieter the shade. One favorite shade is what I call “ice pink”. My definition — a pink so light that it’s described as a “whisper of a color”. It’s a very clear color, and almost looks transparent. I’ve used it as a wall color in my home — nice because it took on a different hue at various times of the day. Usually a plus when talking about wall color — at least in my book.  I also like a bright fuchsia pink, like the Dahlias and Lilies in my garden. I rarely dress in pink, but did love it on my daughter when she was very, very small. But, by the time she was three, pink was out and blues and greens were in.

I’ve purchased little pink clothes, munched on pink candy and blown enormous pink bubbles. I’ve even had a taste of that chalky pink goo that settles your stomach. I’ve eaten the “perfectly pink in the middle” steak, frosted a pink topsy turvy birthday cake and talked on my mom’s 1960s pink princess phone (the one that was on her night stand, with a light up dial and curly cord.) One of my favorite childhood treasures is pink —  a small rotary style toy telephone, about 3″ wide. It was given to me by one of my brothers and winds up to play “Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf”. After seeing that, how could you not love pink? So through the years, I have had my pink moments.

Today when I “think pink” I immediately see breast cancer ribbons and Hello Kitty everything, pink lipstick (remember Molly Ringwald’s fuchsia lips in Pretty in Pink), the Pink Panther and of course, Blossom from the Powerpuff Girls — sugar & spice… Years ago in Denver, I even came across a poodle dyed bright pink. Sweet.

I’ve been kicking around the thought of pink for a few weeks now, talking to all sorts of people, and this is what I know. The more I look into pink, the more I realize people either like light pink, “retro” medium pink or bright magenta pink, but rarely all three. Pink is very personal — more so than any other color. I found out more women like bright/magenta pink than light pink; more men liked medium pink and one man didn’t like pink at all (you know who you are!) One designer said she liked pms 241 AND she liked it with red. Hmmmm, could be nice.

As a designer, I know pink can appear quickly when you’re not looking. Just screen that red you speced and get ready for a whole lotta pink. Of course that was back in the day when the occasional 2- color job landed on your desk, remember — black plus one.

So, as I close this post, I just want to say thanks to everyone for their input and funny quips. I learned a few things about pink and about the people who like it, love it and even hate it!

yikes, my lunch is green!

our collection © 2010 Novara Design

While my kids were in elementary school, I made their lunches everyday. As you can imagine, you can run out of new ideas now and then. Or, as in my daughter’s case, get stuck in a rut — case in point — eat a turkey sandwich everyday without fail. This led me down the path to what I called my “color lunches”.

Being the designer that I am, one day I noticed the colors of the food I was packing in their retro metal lunch boxes. So I got to thinking, what if this lunch was solely made up of one color? Could I pull this off? And would the kids figure it out? I’ve heard about kids getting “I love you” notes from mom in their lunch boxes — but I thought this would be more fun and might solicit a laugh or giggle instead of a shy embarrassing smile.

I started out with orange, which seemed the easiest to pull off and progressed from there. Sometimes the combinations would be a little strange, but all good food that I knew they would eat. Leftovers [lo] played a key role in a few of the lunches. So here are my color lunch recipes. And for what it’s worth — my kids still eat all of these foods — lucky for me they were never finicky eaters.

Yellow chicken soup [lo], banana, Goldfish crackers [Parmesan]

Orange colby cheese & crackers, carrots, Cheetos, mandarin oranges

Red spaghetti [lo], bbq chips, strawberries or red apple slices

Blue/Violet blue corn chips, berry yogurt with granola, blueberries, Oreos [spring blue]

Green pea soup [lo], spinach flat bread, pear or kiwi, celery

White clam chowder soup, saltines, popcorn, a couple of marshmallows

Brown Refried beans & meat [lo], tortilla chips, Bosc pear, brownie

My kids did finally notice the theme after a few times which started some good conversations at school and when they got home. I know I got a kick out of putting these together, hoping to give them a grin at lunch time.

Well, the days of color lunches are gone, they have moved on to middle and high school. I still pack a lunch for the middle schooler, while the high schooler packs her own or buys it at the cafeteria. Everyday I try to come up with fun, nutritious lunches for my son. It’s still pretty easy — about the only thing he doesn’t like are sandwiches. I can put all the ingredients into a little bag — just leave out the bread.  And my daughter — she loves leftovers. So as long as I make a big dinner the night before — she’s covered.

Now that my kids are growing up, I hope they remember the funny color lunches I made for them during their elementary days — and know I was thinking of them often, especially at lunch time.