Curaçao is a brightly hued island country surrounded by the sparkling turquoise of the Southern Caribbean Sea. It recently became an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands but the architecture and design soul of its native country remains a distinct characteristic. In fact, Curaçao is often called Caribbean’s “Little Netherlands”. The neon blue liqueur “curacao” is probably the first thing that comes to mind when the country name is mentioned but aside from insanely bright booze, it is an absolutely stunning country. The island is covered in gorgeous natural hues from uniquely vibrant flowers to a lush green landscape edged with a vibrant blue sea. In addition, the capital city of Willemstad is full of beautiful historical buildings that feature Dutch details and a crayon box’s worth of colourful paint. The cityscape is so unique that UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site. Thank goodness. That means these vibrant shops and homes are here to stay. Curaçao is full of spectacular nature, colourful building and festivals, intriguing history and beaches with dazzling sea vistas. I could post endless pictures and adjectives but the bottom line is that I have a major crush on this colour saturated jewel in the Caribbean Sea!

(photography via infinite magic photography, infinite magic photography, mari ward foster, peter koke, keith delong, pietcur, versgeperst, haroldo castro, dksluis, scout13ca, derpunk, bea moedt, greetje dijkstra, michael from minnesota, syncronaut, haroldo castro, pietcur, soul aperture, syncronaut, derplunk, hawkfish, air farce and duenitas digital world)

I am mesmerized by N SKY C, a website that showcases the average colour of the New York City sky every five minutes via a block of colour. Hover over the block and you see a webcam snapshot of the sky in that five minute period. Created by web designer Mike Bodge from the viewpoint of his Noho and East Village facing desk, the website is a beautiful representation of weather, sunsets, sunrises and the transitions of a day. I love that each day can be summed up in its very own colour palette.

(found via new york magazine)

The Indigo Bunting is a small seed-eating bird that migrates from south-eastern Canada to northern Florida to South America. That’s all very interesting but l can’t focus on anything but that stunning shade of blue! Living on the opposite coast, I have never spotted one of these natural works of art but I imagine they are gorgeous comets of brilliant blue as they fly through the air. Interestingly, female indigo buntings are brown year-round while males are brown in the winter and vibrant blue in the summer. If you ever needed evidence that nature makes the most incredible hues of all, indigo buntings are proof positive!

(photographs via brian tang, captain narender, larry jw, rob hanson & pbase)

A brilliant fashion editorial photographed by Viviane Sassen for Dazed & Confused magazine. The vibrant work of colour-loving designers like Missoni, Diane von Furstenberg and Vivienne Westwood looks spectacular against the rich tapestry of Netherlands tulip fields. Don’t even get me started on the mix of textures! A beautiful fusion of colourful fashion and nature. (p.s. I previously did a post on tulip fields if you fancy a look)

(photography by viviane sassen, styling by katie shillingford, modelling by lisanne de jong)
(via models.com)

The beauty of wood grain never ceases to amazing me. I love how each type of wood has unique characteristics, patterns and, of course, different colours. Vicky from Asher Jasper created these Hardwood Building Blocks to not only give children a natural toy to learn from but to teach what makes wood different from colour to smell to texture. Talk about inspiration imagination-wise. I love the design and the stamped wood name. I wouldn’t mind a set myself to keep as wood colour swatches and general examples of beautiful design!

(to purchase, head to the Asher Jasper Etsy store.)
(photographs via asher jasper)

British photographer Louis Lander-Deacon is one of those artists you just know you are still going to be hearing about 30 years from now. His work reveals an immense talent and curiourity that can only result in spectacular photography. I love this series Louis created using coloured powder and a few willing friends. The very subdued and cold hues of the forest are a perfect backdrop to the vividly pigmented clouds of colours. Colour powder and smoke bomb photos seem to be growing in popularity and I personally love the randomness that results. Who knows what photograph you will end up with? The first image shown above has a colour palette that actually took my breath away. Yep, I need to find some willing friends and see what colour I can cover them with… (p.s. these photos also remind me of posts I have done on holi celebrations and silence/shapes by filippo minelli)

It’s always nice to see a car advertisement that is a bit different from the usual shiny car/people enjoying said car/masculine surroundings combination. Volkswagon seems to be the king of going a unique direction but this Land Rover piece really caught my eye. The ad captures Land Rover’s off roading brand essence by showcasing all of the colours you will see when exploring the world in your new car and where these colours will appear longitude and latitude-wise. I love the global colour names including Mont Blanc Blizzard, Mauna Loa Lava and La Palma Banana. Anyone fancy going on a global colour scavenger hunt?

(to see a bigger version of the ad, click on the image)
(image via ads of the world)

Golden desert sand, brilliant blue skies, lush green land, dusty urban life, ornate traditional dress, pure white snow, chestnut and ebony wild horses – Mongolia has such a stunning and distinct colour palette. Part of the reason Mongolia is the land of a million earthy colour swatches is its geography. A landlocked nation, Mongolia includes the Gobi Desert to the South, snowcapped mountains to the North and grasslands, forests, lakes and rivers in between. In addition to all of the beautiful landscapes, I have always been fascinating by the vibrant and completely unique faces of the Mongolian people. There is just something magical about them. A sparkle in the eye perhaps? When preparing this post, I also learned more about the traditional Mongolian khadags – blue silk scarves symbolizing goodwill and the open sky. These scarves are given for occasions like weddings, funerals, births, graduations, departing friends and other ceremonial events. When researching photos, the beautiful blue textiles seemed to pop up all over the place and only added another layer of gorgeous colour to the wonder that is Mongolia.

(images via dimitri mundorff, daily travel photos, daniel zollinger, li gang, melinda, daniel zollinger, john white, jim murray, yeeship, christopher de bruyn, charles meacham, mark heard, daniel zollinger, irena portfolio, john white, ms aitch, pixdaus)

There is something magical about sea glass and the journey required to turn sharp chunks of clear glass into smooth, matte works of art. American artist Jennifer Booher combs the beaches of Maine for beautiful cool-toned glass and arranges her collection into gorgeous spectrums of colour. I love how these photographs highlight the beauty and endless hues of sea glass. I am more than inspired to go on a beach walk as soon as possible!

(images via jennifer booher)

I’ve always felt like clotheslines were a kind of hanging colour palette where articles of clothing become swatches floating in the breeze. Also, as you can probably tell from the posts on plenty of colour thus far, I love when colour pops up in unexpected places. A line of vibrantly hued garments can definitely bring life and joy to a boring exterior (it helps if you have bright and interesting clothing!) Overall, I have just always loved clotheslines for their whimsy and colour inspiration so they became a very random topic for this week’s colour me happy!. Hoping you see a colour palette next time you pass a line of clothing dancing in the wind…

(images via yemanja79, darrell godliman, lindamade, aya_nakai, elli 19, chatursunil, ruffeloo, markus, g!l, g!l, foto blitz color, gabriela bruno, ashlee patten, elaine, sgoralnick, cozy memories)

Nope, these electric blue trees aren’t photoshopped! They are part of the Vancouver Biennale, a bi-annual public art exhibition. Three blue forests have popped up in areas of Metro Vancouver – Garden City Park in Richmond, Port Moody Arts and Civic Centres, and Grosvenor Ambleside in West Vancouver. Created by artist Konstantin Dimopoulos, the vibrant trees are painted to bring attention to global deforestation and the importance of trees as our world’s lungs. Dimopoulos used biologically-safe pigmented water that is completely biodegradable. The paint will slowly fade away, creating an evolving piece of art as the trees return to their natural forms. I love this project because it really does highlight the value of trees in our urban areas as well as underscoring the need for nations to address deforestation. Visually, it is also a gorgeous project. I can’t wait to see the forests as cherry blossoms start to burst open. The angular blue branches and fluffy pink flowers will look incredible together!

(images via clayton perry, the vancouver sun, grant mattice & art threat)

Cinque Terre is a region on the Italian Rivera consisting of five small fishing towns that hug the cliffs along the turquoise Ligurian Sea. The area has avoided modern development and as result, has retained its unique Italian culture and natural beauty. Every image I see of Cinque Terre is full of an almost indescribable glow. The warm colours of the town buildings, especially at dusk, are just breathtaking. At night, the towns look simply magical as they sparkle along the rugged coastline. I think I could stare at the first image in this post for hours on end. If the photographs of Cinque Terre are this beautiful, I can’t even imagine how colourful and luminious it must be in person. I think Cinque Terre has definitely shot to the top of my “must travel to” list.

(images via robert crum, jeff, andrew dobney, ian jeanneret, federico, trek earth, andy kaye, mirko caserta, alex roe, anita, andy kaye, eduard ballestero, lena q, travelpix, christopher schoenbohm, simon, gianluca)