Simple color combinations

I was making more cards for Operation Write Home yesterday, and after I finished the first two designs, I realized there was sort of a pattern in my color choices. For each design I'd used one main color, a neutral for accents and either white or vanilla. It seems terribly obvious and simplistic, and I've used color combos like that many times before, but for some reason this time it struck me what a great "formula" that is for choosing colors. I know it isn't always possible to select colors that way; sometimes you want or need to have a variety of colors on a card. But even in those situations it could be a great starting point.  

Here are the three cards I made with this color formula.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^®):
Stamps: You're My Type
Paper: Midnight Muse, Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla card stock; Patterns Pack III Designer Series Paper (DSP)
Ink: Midnight Muse, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Dimensionals

I decided to stamp the typewriter image in a color other than black, but I felt as if I still needed a strong, dark hue. Midnight Muse fit the bill nicely, and I paired it with Sahara Sand for a great masculine color combo. I used a piece of Sahara Sand DSP for the background, and I added three Midnight Muse banners behind the layered focal image.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Tagger's Dozen, Sending Happy Thoughts
Card stock: Raspberry Ripple, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Ink: Raspberry Ripple
Accessories: 1" square punch, Postage Stamp punch, taupe grosgrain ribbon, Blossom Builders kit (for rhinestones), Dimensionals

For this card I started by stamping the "miss you" image in Raspberry Ripple and then looked for a flower stamp that looked similar to the tiny flowers. I settled on one from Sending Happy Thoughts and started stamping the flower in the lower right corner, working up and to the left. I used Dimensionals to adhere the layered focal image in the upper left corner and added small rhinestones (from the Blossom Builders kit) to the flower centers. I tied a piece of ribbon around the bottom of the card to bring in the neutral color again.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Tea Shoppe, All-Year Cheer II
Card stock: Very Vanilla, Marina Mist, Soft Suede
Ink: Marina Mist, Soft Suede
Accessories: 1-1/4" and 1-3/8" square punches, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, Owl Builder punch

I switched my color formula a little bit for this card by using Very Vanilla as the card base. I stamped the teacups in Marina Mist and Soft Suede, punched them out and matted them with the same color card stock. I added three hearts (made with the Owl Builder punch)above the Soft Suede teacup and a punched strip of Marina Mist card stock along the bottom of the card.

Do you have a favorite simple color combination? Thanks for stopping by!