Ring in the Pantone's Color of the Year!

Happy New Year everyone.  I like to generally start out the year exploring new clay colors and mixing up some of the Pantone color recipes.  Pantone actually made the news quite a bit last month with so much talk regarding Pantone's Color of the Year for 2026.  I am curious what your reaction was?

When I first saw it announced, all I could think of was. "WOW, Are they serious?  This must be a joke!"  I have been following the Pantone Fashion Colors since around 2006 when someone first introduced it to me.  A few years later, I started mixing up the colors using Kato Clay but didn't start posting the recipes on my blog until Fall 2011.  Over the years I found each of the season's color palette to be a wonderful mix and provided plenty of inspiration.  The past few years, however, I have found them to be less inspiring as many of the colors are repeated over time.

Pantone Spring 2026 Fashion Colors

When I look at this years spring colors I find most of them are a similar tone and seem more like fall than what you would expect for spring or summer.  

For instance, here are 3 colors from the above Spring 2026 palette that have been used in previous years in fall and winter palettes.  The others are very close variations of previous colors which I will share with you a little bit later.

Colors from left to right:

Marina - Fall 2017

Lava Falls - Fall 2022

Burnt Sienna - Fall 2023

In my eyes, Pantone pretty much hit bottom with Chocolate Mousse (a fancy word for brown) as the color of the year 2025 and I didn't think they could do worse . . . that is until I saw this years!  I actually find the names they use for their colors more inspiring as Cloud Dancer sounds so much better than "white".  So is Black going to be for next year?

I apologize if I sound too cynical, in which I am, but I cannot help it.  To me, a color of the year should be an actual "Color" that is full of life and vibrant!  To me, as someone who also likes to paint, looks at white as not a color but as a "blank canvas" in which to add color.

In the world of polymer clay, it does make a great neutral or contrast in our work.  But working with a large white base or background, however, has a huge challenge of keeping it clean and completely lint or blemish free before baking as well as preventing it from discoloration during the baking process.

Later on I will share with you a few tips that I have discovered in working with white clay -- that is unless you have a pet (cat or dog), it might be hopeless, but I do have tips on that as well.  So here are a few examples of my work using white in my designs which I will talk more on in my next post.

Faux White Stone Marble

Silk screen printing on white clay

Adding white for contrast in Mokume Gane technique.
These are created using the Cabezel Jewelry Molds.

Stitch Markers in Viva Magenta

Wow!  Another fall is here, but with all the raging wildfires that surrounded us this past summer, I must say I am looking forward to cooler weather.  I did manage to work out the Pantone fall colors a while ago but didn't get a chance to post here yet as I was busy filling orders.  I am still dealing with some health issues so I do not get as much done in a day (or week) as I would like, but I am happy if I can at least get a few things accomplished.

I custom make "yarn ball" stitch markers (and holders) for Kelowna Yarn & Needlecrafts based on their store logo.

Yarn Ball Stitch Markers & Holder

Every year I create a batch of stitch markers in the Pantone Color of the Year for their Anniversary sale in September.  Here are the ones I made for this year in Viva Magenta.

Yarn Ball Stitch Markers in Viva Magenta

The stitch markers (and holders) are made exclusively for Kelowna Yarn and available at their store.

I haven't made anything else yet in the Viva Magenta Color but plan to shortly.  I already posted the color recipe with the Pantone Spring colors and you can click on the photo below to see it.

I will be posting the clay recipes for the Pantone fall colors over the next week.  The recipes are again in Kato Clay but may be my final ones I will be sharing.  I am currently working on a revised edition to my Clay Color System tutorial and for those of you who use other brands of clay, will find it to be a very useful tool.  I will share more over the week to give you a sneak peek.

Viva Magenta! Pantone Color of the Year 2023

I am finally back and must apologize for the long delay.  I have had many things to deal with lately which I will be able to share eventually but not now.  In the meantime, I have just finally begun to mix up some of the new Pantone Spring Fashion colors for this year.

Pantone announced their color of the year for 2023.  It is called Viva Magenta!

I have been seeing a lot of facebook posts regarding this new color.  Some show it as an almost true magenta where some have even shared it as a plum or purple.

So is this color really a shade of magenta?  Or is it more a deeper red?

Leatrice Eiseman, Executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, explains how they "drew inspiration from nature and what is real.  Pantone, Viva Magenta, descends from the Red family and is inspired by the red of cochineal, one of the most precious dyes belonging to the natural dye family as well as one of the strongest and brightest the world has known.

Image credit: Vahe Martirosyan [CC BY 2.0], via Flickr

Cochineal is one of the most important insect dyes and you can read more about it here.  And this is another interesting article on its' history:   The Bug That Had the World Seeing Red

The dye it produces is a deep rich shade of red.  By adding various other ingredients, however, it can change to shades of pink, purple and even orange.  I have found that the Pantone color, Viva Magenta is a combination of both red and magenta.  That is why it is so difficult to determine on which side of the scale it really is.

As I mixed up the clay color to match my Pantone Swatch, I suddenly realized that this color looked awfully familiar!  I grabbed my samples and ran to my kitchen to discover why I had recognized it.  It was a dear ringer match for the color on the walls I had painted!  You can see my blog post here on the renovations I did.

I love this warm color and how it makes me feel whenever I am in the kitchen. I was looking for the paint color number but couldn't find the paint chip sample.  I used a Behr paint in a satin finish (recommended for kitchens).  When I find the color chip number I will add it here.

I haven't had time to create anything with my polymer clay version yet but should later on -- after I mix up the spring colors.  So here is the recipe using Kato clay:

Viva Magenta

4 parts Kato Magenta
3 parts Kato Red
1/8 part Kato Black

As you can see it is a very simple recipe that makes such a rich and exotic color!  I will be back shortly with more of my clay recipes for the spring colors.

Clay Recipe for Pantone Color of the Year - Very Peri

So my inventory and business work took a little longer than expected and now I am getting back to my creative side again and oh it feels so good!  I actually like doing the book work but I find it can get to be a bit too much (overwhelming) after literally counting all the little do-dads in my studio workroom.  And yes there are way too many.  Why is it seems it is so difficult to clear out items you do not use anymore but so much easier to add new things????

So, I am finally busy mixing up and playing with the new Spring and Summer colors from the Pantone Collection and happy to share them with you again.

I managed to make a few pieces for earrings and snaps with the Pantone Color of the Year, Very Peri. I generally cut out my shapes from a patterned sheet and bake the fronts first.  Then I will finish them off into earrings or snaps by adding the backs and bake again.

The Very "Peri" is short for "Periwinkle" which is a perfect description as it is a soft purple with a bit of blue.

So here is the recipe for Very Peri using Kato Clay:

Very Peri

5 parts Kato Violet
1 part Kato Blue
1 part Kato White

I will be sharing the remaining Pantone Spring & Summer color recipes through the week.  If you have my Clay Color System, you will find that you already have several of these recipes.  Others are very similar to past Pantone colors with some slight tweaking.

So back to my studio to whip up more color magic!

Pantone Color of the Year for 2020

The Pantone color of the year for 2020 is Classic Blue.  Pantone describes it as "Instilling calm, confidence and connection, this enduring blue hue highlights our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era".

I certainly feel I could use a lot of this color after my year being off to such a rocky start. Blue never use to be a color I would wear other than blue jeans.  In the past few years, however, I have been adding more colors along the navy and denim line to my wardrobe.  In selling my handcrafted jewelry I have found navy is also in more demand today than just your basic black.

For some reason this color looked familiar and in searching back through the previous Pantone color seasons, I discovered this was one of the Spring 2015 Fashion Colors.  You will find the original clay recipe posted here.

For easy reference I will post it here again using Kato clay:

Classic Blue

8 parts Kato Blue

1/2 part Kato Black

1 part White Mix #1-2 *

* This clay base color is found in my:

"Clay Color System" tutorial available as an instant download

in our Etsy Shop

or manually sent in an e-mail (no vat tax)

from our online store.

Pantone Color of the Year - Greenery

I have been mixing up the new Pantone Fashion Colors for Spring 2017.   This new color palette is one of my favorites so far and I am especially excited about the Pantone color of the year for 2017 which is Greenery -- my favorite color!

Pantone describes these new colors as a mixture of vitality, relaxation and the great outdoors.  You can read more about each of the colors and the inspiration behind them in the article here.  

So I thought what better way to start out the new year than to share some new color recipes and will post them for you next week.  Perhaps thinking of spring colors will warm our spirits and cheer us up a bit during the cold winter season.

In the meantime, I will be posting some new color inspiration ideas to our pinterest board if you want to follow.

A Toast to the New Year with the Pantone Color Marsala

Marsala is the Pantone Fashion Color of the Year for 2015.  This rich shade is described by Pantone as a naturally robust and earthy wine red.  Leatrice Eiseman, Pantone Color Institute's executive director,  describes it in a press release as:  "Much like the fortified wine that gives marsala its name, this tasteful hue embodies the satisfying richness of a fulfilling meal, while it's grounding red-brown roots emanate a sophisticated, natural earthiness."

When I did an image search on this Pantone color there were a lot of photos showing celebrities wearing this dramatic shade of red.   Add this glamorous color to your creations this year and let your star power shine.

So I have two versions of this color recipe using

Kato poly clay.

The full rich shade

and the other a "Sparkling".

Marsala

4 parts "Crimson" # 4-5 *

1 part "White Mix" # 1-2 *

Sparkling Marsala

2 parts "Crimson" # 4-5 *

1 part Kato Pearl

* These clay base colors are found in my

"Clay Color System" tutorial

available as an instant download in

our Etsy Shop

or manually sent in an e-mail from

our online store.