‘Color’ Me Impressed

This week’s blog is an exploration in color, and Perler has over a hundred of them!

Solid

I am proud to admit that I have every solid color Perler has to offer. I used to be very strict about using only them because…well, how often have you seen a pixelated video game character that glitters? It’s clear that Perler has been rising in popularity lately as they’ve released up to 30+ new colors in the last two years! Look at all those new oranges! I will admit that the limited colors before did make for some out-of-the-box thinking when it came to shading, but still! You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for that darker purple! With so many colors to choose from, the creative possibilities are endless.

Stripes

As I mentioned above, I didn’t used to care about the sillier colors, like the stripes. I still don’t, to some degree, but what was I supposed to do? Say, “Sorry, Grandma. I appreciate you getting this bead kit for me, but it would’ve been better if it didn’t include the stripes”? Besides, every now and then, a project will come along that makes good use for them. I’ve seen people use the ‘cinnamon stripe’ (red and white, which I don’t have in the picture) for candy canes and other Christmas projects. Personally, I think strung jewelry shows the stripes off the best. You may have noticed that some of the colors in the picture are shinier than others, and that’s because they are mixed with……

Pearls

As the name suggests, these colors have the soft, shiny luminescence of a pearl. I include the metallics (gold, silver, and bronze) with these because they’re made with that similar shininess. You can find the pastel pearl colors in Perler’s ‘Sweet Shoppe’ bucket, and that’s where I got most of them from. The fuchsia and white pearls are very hard to come by. You can only find them in specific individual mixed bags, like ‘Jewel Tone’ and ‘Winter’. Let’s just say I’ve done some careful and meticulous collecting over the years.

Glitters

Also in that ‘Sweet Shoppe’ bucket I mentioned above are these glitters. Only a few colors, though. Unlike the pearls, you can get most of these glitters in their individual bags. Aside from having glitter mixed into them, these beads are also translucent and make for an interesting effect when ironed. That being said, I find you can’t see the glitter all that well after ironing. Just like the stripes, I think strung jewelry shows off the glitter best.

Neon

There’s not much to say about the neons. Like the glitters, they are translucent as well and come in bright, eye-catching colors. There’s only the 5: neon blue, orange, yellow, green, and pink. Depending on your project, these can make for good shading substitutes.

Glow-in-the-Dark

My personal favorite, next to the good old-fashioned solids. Like the pearls, these only come in a very specific ‘Glow-in-the-Dark’ bucket (if you’re wanting to include the purple). They are loooooads of fun and truly do live up to their name.

Color-changing

I don’t actually own these, but I thought they deserved a mention. Did any of you ever have a special ring as a kid that changed colors when you held it out t in the sun? Well, that’s exactly what theses beads do. Kinda cool!

Here’s my attempt to show off the various types of colors based off of some things I’ve made.