Playing with Fall Colors

I always look forward to my new issue of the Polymer Arts Magazine and the fall issue will be out shortly.  The last issue (Summer) was all about color.  Anyone that knows me personally understands how I love color and the main reason why I love playing with polymer clay!

I studied color in art class years ago and have all the various wheels and charts.  I have discovered, however, that color mixing and combining can still be somewhat complicated or even intimidating to others.  This is why I developed a lesson that I called my Clay Color System.

It includes several easy to follow exercises and worksheets for mixing colors and creating color blends and a method for saving the information as a reference.

It is also a method of organization and time management.  My lesson provides more than 50 clay color recipes to get you started and a unique way for keeping track of them as well as the clay that you have mixed up.  This way you do not have to start from scratch each time you need a new color.

Twice a year, I share on our blog the clay recipes for the Pantone Fashion Colors allowing you to add even more colors to your library.  Even if you aren't into the latest fashion colors, it can still (hopefully) provide some inspiration.

So starting tomorrow, I will share with you my clay recipes for the Pantone Fall 2017 Fashion colors along with some ideas on combining and using these warm shades.

Studio Organization Ideas

It is nice to have a clean and tidy studio again as I prefer to work in a well organized and uncluttered environment.  It has also helped improve production and my first day back to claying I decided to make a lot of new canes.  The intense colors in these remind me of a box of crayons and the patterns found in a coloring book.

Now that the studio is pretty much organized, I thought I would share a few organizing tips that I have applied.  I don't have a huge budget for new furnishings and consider myself to be good at improvising with what we already have.  Sometimes taking an item and using it in a different way than intended can be inspiring.

We have these metal shelves that are very useful.  They not only provide support in holding up our long countertop (clay table) but they are also strong enough to hold all of our clay supply which is away from direct heat and sunlight.

As you can see, we go through a lot of clay (yes these are the large blocks) and our order from Shades of Clay just arrived today.  Most of it fit here except for the extra case of black and transluscent.

We order extra (double our usual amount) in the spring before the hot summer arrives as it takes nearly a week to get here and we do not want the clay to "bake" in any trucks that might be sitting during transit.  Some of our large shows are in the early fall so it is important that we have enough clay to get us through the summer.

We found these little drawer units a while ago and I tested them out to see if the clay could be stored in them.  It turns out that the clay doesn't react at all to the plastic so I like to keep the open blocks of each clay color organized.  This way when I need some, it is quick and handy to grab.  I also have one drawer just for the "white mix", wrapped in deli sheets, that I use a lot of.

This simple book shelf sits on our clay table and is perfect for organizing all the containers that hold our canes and mixed color blends.  I still need to label a few of them but pretty much know what is in each one of them.

This is a simple cardboard stationary box that I've had for some time now.  The top part works as a dispenser for our deli sheets and the drawer works for stashing things like the shop towel.  Shop towels come in a roll like paper towel, but are much stronger and can be used over and over.  They are also lint-free which is a good thing when working with polymer clay.  The sheets are quite large so I like to cut them in quarters.

This is an old metal file cabinet that is used as a base for our large work counter.  It was an ugly grey color which we painted black.  The bottom drawer holds a lot of files but I found that one of the drawers is perfect for holding most of our texture sheets and moulds, etc. and all of our shape cutters fit in the top shallow drawer. 

The coolest thing about this cabinet is the pull out "shelf" at the top which can come in handy at times.

Lastly, a studio isn't complete without at least one OttLite which is a more accurate way to see true color.  We have several throughout our studio -- with two of them in my sewing area and one here.  It is on the jewelry making table but also right next to the clay table so is handy for color matching and mixing.

You will notice the metre (yard) stick attached to the front edge of the counter.  I never have to look for my ruler again this way.  If you don't have a yard stick you can always attach a tape measure instead.  This one has both imperial (inches) as well as metric (centimeters) measurements which is useful.

Clay Storage Tips

The first thing anyone says that enters our studio is "Wow, you  sure are organized".  It is not that everything automatically falls into place -- I do have to work at it -- a lot!  If I don't, it drives me (and Dave from all my moaning and complaining) nuts when I spend more time looking for something than actually working on a project.

I have been looking for some time to find the right container for storing my clay canes and blends and such.  I found these containers in the scrap booking section at a Michael's store and bought a few to test out.  I figured I could use them for other things if they were not compatible with the clay.

I was happy to discover that they are totally compatible and I love that they are shallow so you can store a lot of clay canes and pieces without having to stack them.

So on the next sale I picked up a bunch more and I love how they all fit nicely on the shelves at my clay work table.

The other item I was always looking for were those cool deli sheets that work great for wrapping and storing your clay.  They are just not a common item to buy here in Canada and I have never had success finding them.  I managed to buy some from a guild member who brought a few boxes up from the U.S. and showed them to my friend Denyse.  Well the next day she comes over with a box of these "perfect portions" bags by ziploc for me.  I could hardly believe it that it was the exact same stuff but in "bag" form.  We just cut the bottoms off and slit them open and voila --- we now have lots of sheets for our clay.  Thanks to Denyse that she found these (she bought them at Costco real cheap) and I thought I would pass this info on to anyone who has had a difficult time as well to find such a thing.

Clay Veneer Sheet Storage Tip

I was reading a clay book some time ago and the writer had suggested storing clay veneer sheets in plastic page protectors.  I wasn't really sure how well that would work but I was keeping them stored in containers and wasn't really happy with that system.  I would forget what was in the box and had to pull everything out to find what I was looking for and some of the sheets would start to dry out and crack.

I had several types of sheet protectors and decided to test them out to see if they would react with the clay.   I would check them every day and after several weeks there was no reaction with the plastic whatsoever. so I proceeded to fill them with my clay veneer sheets and pieces I had stored.

I liked the clearer type protectors as I could see through them much better and went with those.  I cut down the one side leaving the bottom seam still attached.  I could then fill the sheet up with all my clay pieces easily and then "reseal" it again.

It is really cool how the clay sheets stick to the plastic sheet keeping it sealed and you can turn the pages in the binder without them falling out or moving.  It also keeps them nice and clean and dust-free.

This is such a handy way to keep them and I store them in the same binder as my Clay Color System Recipes, etc. so everything is all together.