Rainbow Week: Yellow

Yellow.  Such a bright, happy, sunshiney color.  Come to think of it, I really do like yellow.  Not quite as much as red and turquoise, but there is something incredibly cheerful about this sunny color.  It reminds me of summer too, which is so nice in the middle of November!  And we still have the whole winter ahead.  So let's look at some fun yellow stuff today to give us a little glimpse of the summertime.

1. Canary Yellow Ruffled Crepe Paper by The Gilded Bee | 2. Yellow Chuck Taylor All Star by Converse | 3. Yellow - Gray Bird Fabric by The Needle Shop | 4. Hooded Wool-Blend Toggle Jacket by Old Navy

I really love these yellow finds.  The damask pattern in the fabric is so elegant.  And that pattern proves that yellow, while sunshiney and happy, can also look formal and a little bit fancy - in a modern kind of way.  The crepe paper would be so fun for a party, and the coat and Converse shoes....well, they're just so cheerful looking!

In addition to looking at some fun yellow finds, today I thought it might be interesting to see a few color combinations and find out what sorts of other colors yellow is being paired with.  So I scoured my favorites list in Adobe Kuler, and found some neat yellow themes to share!  This theme, called Cold & Warm, is a very pleasant combination that includes a tasteful and almost serene shade of golden yellow with a bit of a green hue as well.

This next theme, Argentina, is super bright and cheerful.  It reminds me of a beach on an 100 degree day. 

And then this theme, Mellow Yellow, lives up to its name.  It's very warm and cozy looking, and the yellow tones in this theme carry some of the warm-you-up characteristics of orange. 

Can you tell that yellow can mean a lot of things color-wise, and when paired with different colors, can have lots of different types of feelings and uses?  For instance, the Argentina theme would be perfect for designing a beach towel, but I'm not so sure I'd paint my living room with those colors.  Mellow Yellow, on the other hand, is more quiet and calm and would be better for traditional home decorating.  And I can just see Cold and Warm on some lovely greeting cards.

Now for today's freebie.  As opposed to the printables from red day and orange day, today's free thing is computerized.  It's a desktop background!  Hooray!  Here is a sample of what it looks like. 

You can download it here in a ZIP file containing four different sizes: 800x600 pixels, 1027x728 pixels, 1280x1024 pixels, and 1680x1050 pixels.  Play around and find out which one fits your computer desktop the best.  If you don't know how to set your computer desktop background, here are quick instructions for Windows.  If you have a Mac, sorry - I can't help!  But I'm sure it can't be too difficult to figure out.

Desktop background installation instructions for Windows:
1. Download the ZIP file to your documents.
2. Unzip the file.
3. Find the JPG file of the background you want in your documents.
4. Right click on the aforesaid JPG file.
5. On the menu that pops up, there should be a button that says "Set as Desktop Background."  Click that!  Then you'll be good to go!

I hope you enjoy this little gift, and I hope you've liked these little glimpses of funky yellow things.  Don't forget to comment for a chance to win in the giveaway.