Sky Color Palette - Bright, Breezy Blues

I wanted to capture the airy, expansive feeling of looking upward on a crisp day, and the resulting Sky palette is a literal interpretation of a mostly sunny afternoon, complete with little fluffy clouds! Featuring silver, turquoise, and blue, this palette is essentially a blue ombre that drifts from bright silver "clouds" into clear, sun-drenched turquoise before finally deepening into the rich blues of approaching nightfall.

Shown in the collage, starting from upper left and moving clockwise: Knotted Metal Graduated Earrings, Knotted Japanese Flower Pendant, Japanese Cross Earring, Cascading Leaves Necklace, Rubber Half Persian 4-in-1 Bracelet, Knotted Metal Large Knot Earrings, Short Cascading Earrings

Some Notes About the Colors

Technically, turquoise is a slight outlier in the ombre, as it has yellow undertones. But to me, that is the exact color of the sky on a bright, clear day! Our eyes perceive the sky as blue due to "Rayleigh scattering" (short, blue wavelengths of light scatter more than others). But the presence of haze or moisture can give the horizon a slightly greenish or turquoise tint. And when the sun is closer to the horizon, the sky can also shift to turquoise/cyan.

When making a Sky ombre, I’ll often add additional colors to help smooth the transition. Incorporating the intermediary swatches shown in the graphic, the full Sky ombre is: silver - light blue - turquoise - azure - blue - dark blue.

Fun Fact: When I first developed the ombre, white (acid-etched) aluminum was not widely available, otherwise I’m sure my very literal brain would’ve decided to use white—as shown in the rubber bracelet above—instead of silver to represent clouds!

The Elemental Suite

The Sky palette is the final of my original four “elemental” color palettes from my early days with my supplies company, Blue Buddha Boutique. I had been creating designs in fire, water, and earth colors for a few years and finally decided to round out the set with Sky!

This palette made its debut with the release of the Cascading Leaves necklace kit. At the time, I titled the project Elemental Leaves—and the DIY necklace tutorial still goes by that name today! It remains one of my signature designs and perfectly showcases how these gradients come to life in metal.

Explore the other elemental palettes:

• Water – deep, cool blue and purple
• Flame – hot reds, oranges and gold
• Earth – grounding greens, blues and gold

If you like the Sky palette but want a slightly different vibe, check out these closely related palettes:

Love the Sky colorway? Most items in my shop can be customized in Sky colors, or you can create your own masterpiece with a custom DIY kit from Blue Buddha Boutique in this palette. Contact me and let's bring your vision to life!

Follow this series on the dedicated Color Palette board on Pinterest.