Why Pantone Colors and Polymer Clay Recipes?

Since the pandemic hit in 2020, there has been a huge influx of people wanting to find ways to fill their time and explore new crafts, many of which have discovered polymer clay.  I have been playing with this type of clay for quite a few years and I still appreciate how one can be so creative with it but what attracted me the most was the possibilities with mixing colors.  I started out using the typical Sculpey Premo clay until I discovered Kato clay.  I immediately preferred this brand due to it being formulated in the "true artist colors".  It can be mixed and combined to create other colors, shades and hue just like using artist quality paints.  I quickly learned that I could do so much more by mixing my own colors, rather than just using it right out of the package.

I soon had so many colors mixed that I needed a way to organize my color stash so I could use it again later.  This eventually expanded into my first tutorial, Carolyn's Clay Color System.  This lesson contains a whole lot more than just mixing up color recipes.  It is an easy way to learn all about color and how to create your own blends.  There are easy to follow charts for creating your new colors which can be so much fun.  And with this system, you are not wasting a lot of clay like other color mixing methods.

My Color System tutorial is available in my online store (Canadian) here,

NOTE:  Check out my facebook page here to see my special sales on all of my tutorial lessons (until March 10).

So what is Pantone?  And why do I share clay recipes for these colors?  The Pantone Color Institute determines the color palettes for the fashion industry and there is a new palette of colors twice a year -- Spring & Summer and Fall & Winter.  I am a Pantone "member" and with my Pantone color charts plus apps, I like to mix up the latest fashion colors in clay to create up-to-date jewelry pieces, buttons and other items.

I also like to share these new recipes for those who have purchased my Color System tutorial, so they can add them to their collection.  My Color System contains the base colors that are sometimes used to create these new Pantone recipes as in the example shown below as in the "White Mix" and "Ecru Mix":

So this system was created using Kato clay but it can also be adapted to other clays but mainly brands that are created in true artist colors such as Fimo Professional.  Because some of the saturation in the colors can vary between clays, the amounts might require some tweaking.  I am currently working on some variations of my Color system using other clay brands plus more color recipes that will be using those other brands as well.  Follow this blog or my facebook page to keep up to date.

So tomorrow I will share the remaining Pantone color recipes for this Spring and then follow up with some ideas and inspiration for you.

If you have any questions or want to share, you can always post on my facebook page.  I would love to hear back from some of my followers.