Mocha Mousse - Pantone Color of the Year

 I have been busy setting up a business account with several couriers to replace Canada Post.  If and when Canada Post starts functioning again, I will still have those other shipping options available.  I find dealing with these companies are a little more complicated than the postal system so hopefully I will have it running smoothly very soon.

In the meantime, I had finished and delivered the fall order to Kelowna Yarn & Needlecrafts in time for their anniversary sale which was over a week ago.  They sell a lot of yarn for baby and children's items and so my small buttons are quite popular.  My best seller is the simply textured Rainbow buttons which I make in "all the colors of the rainbow" including the Pantone colors.

Rainbow Buttons in Pantone Fall 2021 Colors

I now expanded these Rainbow buttons into little heart shapes which are also now available at the Kelowna Yarn store.

I also make custom stitch markers that are based on their store logo (shown below).

This is a hint on how they are created.  I first make a large cane and then reduce it smaller to the size I need.  Then each "yarn ball" is created by sandwiching a bit of clay filler in between two slices of the cane.

Each year for their anniversary I create stitch markers in the Pantone Color for the Year so the batch I made up here is in Mocha Mousse.

Since I mixed up the Pantone clay colors for this fall (using Kato clay) I thought I would share them here one final time.  I have been slowly using up the large supply of Kato clay I still have and now even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to purchase any more soon as Donna Kato just announced that Van Aken International is clearing out all their stock and will no longer manufacture it.  So in the future, any new colors created with be using Cernit clay.  If you do use other clays that are in the true artisan colors (Fimo professional or Cernit No. One)  you can improvise and still mix up these colors.  When I get the chance, I will add the converted Cernit recipes here later.

So here is the recipe for Mocha Mousse, the Pantone Color of the Year.

Mocha Mousse (Kato Clay)

4 parts Kato Brown
1 part Ecru Mix - Recipe # 2-7

Mocha Mousse (Cernit Clay)

Posted at a later date

* Note:  These clay color recipes are created using Kato clay.  Any of the base color "mixes" used are from my Clay Color System.  And don't forget that our Tutorial lessons are on sale right now in our online store.

I will be sharing the other Pantone fall colors for this year later this week.

Pantone Fall 2022 Core Classics

Pantone has added five more colors to their fall/winter palette which they call their "Core Classics".  They are types of neutrals and can be combined with any of the main fall/winter colors.

Pantone Core Classic Colors:
Loden Frost, Autumn Blonde
Arctic Wolf, Polar Night, Chiseled Stone 

Artic Wolf, Polar Night and Chiseled Stone are just your basic colors, white, black and grey, respectively.  Artic Wolf is actually more of an off white.  I have to say that is one of my main dislikes with Kato clay is that their white is not really pure white but more of an off white and wondering if anyone else has noticed this?  Just hold the block of clay next to a white from any other brand of clay and you will see what I mean.  And not only is it not that white to begin with, it is notorious for discoloring even more after baking!  Donna Kato had publicly shared how she bakes her transluscent pieces in a pan of baking soda (completely cover the item) to prevent darkening or discoloring.  I do the same for my whites as well.

I actually bake this way with a lot of my clay beads and larger items for another reason -- to prevent them from actually cracking!  I use to get a lot of pieces with surface cracks until I started baking my pieces this way.  Just a quick note:  I know many have confused baking soda with cornstarch.  I do NOT recommend cornstarch to be used this way.  After baking, the baking soda will wash right off where cornstarch will not and actually get embedded into the clay.  Cornstarch works best only as a mold release when water isn't suitable.

Anyhow, I felt it was futile to mix up more shades of white, black and grey but will share recipes for Loden Frost and Autumn Blonde.  Loden Frost is a very soft and muted shade of green.  For Autumn Blonde, the color "Linen" is a close match which could be used instead.  This color was in the Pantone Spring 2013 palette and you will find the clay recipe here.

Here are the two color recipes using Kato clay:

Loden Frost

2 parts Cilantro #7-3 *

1 part Ecru Base # 2-7 *

Autumn Blonde  (Linen)

14 parts Kato Beige

1 part Ecru Mix # 2-8 *

1 part White Mix # 1-2 *

*Note: These base color mixes are found in my Clay Color System tutorial

Pantone Color Samples in Very Peri, Innuendo and Harbor Blue

I just wanted to share some pieces that I created with some of the new Pantone Spring colors.  These have all been screen printed using various patterns.  The smaller pieces shown are post/stud earrings and the other items are all mounted on a snap so they are interchangeable.  Some items are already available in the Shuswap Artisan Market, in Sorrento, as well as our online store.  We have a category set up to make shopping the latest Pantone colors easy and you can see them here.

Very Peri
Crystals used are Purple & White Opal

Innuendo
Crystals used are Magenta-Orchid AB

Harbor Blue
Crystals used are Blue-Green AB

The crystal rhinestones used in the pieces shown above are available in our online store.  We have them in 3 sizes with a special if you purchase all 3 sizes (buy 2 packages and receive the 3rd free).

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.

Poinsettia Snaps for the Holidays

We only have a few days left to finish off some new items for the Craft-a-Fair this coming Sunday at the Sandman Center in Kamloops.  We created some new poinsettia designs in a snap for interchanging in the various jewelry pieces.  They are also now available in the Decorative Snaps Section of our online store.

To see more of our designs and accessories in our online store, we have included 2 other fun ways to help with your search:

Shop by Color:

and Shop by Collection:

Faux Turquoise in New Colors

I've been experimenting with my Faux Turquoise technique and finally made it in some new colors.  The photo below shows the faux turquoise in the usual blue shade on the left and the new greenish turquoise on the right.

Here are some faux turquoise beads in the new greener shade in the CaBezel molds ready to finish off in a necklace.  We have also been experimenting with sanding some of our pieces with the micro mesh and really love the finish they gave on these.  We will share more on that with you later.

And now here are some more buttons in a new red colored stone using my same faux turquoise technique.  I really love how this color turned out and coming up with all sorts of ideas on how to use it.

And last are some buttons done up in an ivory white blend.

So here are the clay recipes I used

to create the new faux Turquoise colors:

Follow the same steps in my Fabulous Faux Turquoise tutorial but use the following clay mixes.  (Sorry my clay recipes are only available using Kato clay -- see my Clay Color System tutorial for any of the color recipe mixes below.)

Green Turquoise:

Recipe Mix # 1
Follow the recipe for "Lagoon" (recipe #8-3)
but replace the pearl with only 1 part white mix #1-2

Recipe Mix # 2
Follow the recipe for "Lagoon" (recipe #8-3)
but replace the pearl with 4 parts white mix #1-2

Using 2 parts of the Mix #1 to 1 part of Mix # 2,
mix by rolling into two logs enough
to create a "marbling" effect.


Red Turquoise:

This was created with the Pantone Fall 2014 color
Aurora Red


White Stone Effect:

Combine 2 parts of White Mix #1-2 and 1 part Transluscent
Roll into two logs and mix enough
to create a "marbling" effect.

Pantone Fall 2014 Fashion Colors Mauve Mist, Aluminum and Cognac

I missed posting yesterday as we had to go out of town for a bit so I decide to wrap things up and combine the last three of the top ten Pantone Fall 2014 Fashion Color polymer clay recipes here.

There has been a bit of discussion and a few comments from polymer clayers who feel they do not like the Pantone colors for this fall.  Some feel they are too bright where others feel some of the colors are not appropriate for the fall season.  There might be a few colors I am not crazy about either but it all comes down to personal taste and let's face it, if we weren't all different, we would all like the same food, the same color and so on.

While most of these Pantone colors are not the traditional autumn shades (orange, brown, gold),  not everyone can wear these colors.  We all have different skin color tones and so therefore not everyone is going to look their best in brown where others it would be an excellent choice.  For myself, I have been told that lime green is "my color" and it brings out the green in my eyes.  Purple on the other hand makes my complexion look very drained and pale and I can look sickly.  I can wear purple, however, if there is enough lime green to offset it.

There is a system available called "color draping".  Colors are put into various categories (Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring) and a professional will test your skin tone to see what best suits you.

Another thing to consider is if you are creating jewelry or accessory pieces for yourself to wear or are you selling them to other people?  If you are making items for others to wear you need to think of your customer base and their color preferences and not just your own.  I hardly wear anything in purple but it is in big demand by our customers and so we always make sure we have a selection of items available in this color.

Some of the Pantone Fashion colors are not intended to "stand alone" but are considered more neutral (Aluminum for instance) and meant to be used more as an accent or "filler".  That is how I would use all of these last three colors and will show some examples of this a little later on.  In the meantime, here are the color recipes using Kato clay:

 Clay recipe for

Mauve Mist

(a soft and elegant light shade of purple)

1 part "Plum" #10-5*

4 parts Mix#1-2*

Clay recipe for

Aluminum

This is a pretty close match to the

color recipe for "Dove Grey" #1-14*

Clay recipe for

Cognac

(a rich autumn brown with a gold tone)

Follow the same recipe
for the color "Russet" #3-4*
but reduce the amount of copper to only 1 part.

* For these base color recipes using Kato clay, see my "Clay Color System" tutorial

To see some of these fall colors in action, you can follow my Pinterest boards.

Pantone Fall 2014 Fashion Color Cypress

Shades of olive and lime green are my absolute favorite colors and I was really happy to see this rich shade called Cypress as one of the Pantone fall colors.  I love this green and it combines really well with most of the other fall shades.  To create this color I have used some metallic gold in the mix which gives it a beautiful sheen.

Whenever I mix up my colors, I like to make up a set of sample chips to double check the colors as sometimes they can change or darken slightly after baking.  If the recipe needs a little more tweaking, I will remix and then bake another sample chip until I am satisfied.  When I am happy with the color mix I like to then bake up several more color chips.  The first set goes into my "Color System" album.  The second set is for my "Pantone color collection card".

The third set is mainly for playing with on my work table to help visualize different color combinations like the ones shown below.  I also like to keep them in a little pouch in my purse so when I am shopping I can identify the various colors in the stores.

"Color Combinations using Cypress"

Cypress with Aurora Red

Cypress with Misted Yellow

Cypress with Radiant Orchid

Cypress with Sangria

So here is the color recipe for

Cypress

Follow the clay color recipe for

"Forest" #7-7*

-- add 2 parts of Kato Black

* The clay color recipe for "Forest #7-7" is found in my "Clay Color System" tutorial.

One more thing.  When the softglass cord we ordered from Shades of Clay arrived the other day I was pleasantly surprised to see how the Avocado color was a perfect match for the Pantone shade of Cypress.  I am so glad we ordered extra in this color as it will go nicely with some of the jewelry pieces we are making.

Introducing the Pantone Fall 2014 Fashion Colors

Wow!  Summer is already half over and with the extreme hot weather we have been having here it is difficult to think about fall but it is time to share with you the polymer clay recipes for the Pantone fall 2014 fashion colors.

I find the colors for the coming season very earthy yet rich and deep with Radiant Orchid still included as it has been determined the "color of the year".  Here is the clay color recipe for Radiant Orchid using Kato clay.

I will be sharing the other fall color recipes with you over the next week along with some ideas for combining them.

New Brilliant Blooms Jewelry

Every spring I get into a mode of making lots of flowers.  I am not sure if it is due to spring fever and all the flowers popping up that inspire me or more to the fact that when I go through our inventory, I discover that we have few flower designs left in stock and the need to make more.

This year I wanted to create flowers that were extra bright and cheerful.  I decided to use the Pantone Spring 2014 Fashion Colors for inspiration.

Whenever I make my flowers (shown above), I like to save some extra "petal" canes to make the sculpted flowers like the ones in the scarf necklaces and earrings (below).  These were made the same way as the "Daisy" flower in my Sculpted Flowers Tutorial.  I just used bright colored clay in place of the white and black instead of the grey for the outlining.

These are our new falling petal earrings

for our interchangeable earring system:

The colors I used to make the flower petals shown above (left to right) are:

Dazzling Blue (with more white added),

Violet Tulip (reduce the amount of white mix to 1/2 part)

Cayenne, Radiant Orchid, Celosia Orange, Freesia

Each earring comes with three "strands" at different lengths that can be worn individually or combined in various ways.

More Color Matching For Buttons

Donna's Yarn & Craft in North shore Kamloops, had some new yarn arrive in their store that is so soft and luxurious.  She asked us to color match some of them and create an assortment of buttons to coordinate.  I love the color of this yarn which is a sort of peacock blue.

We made some textured buttons in the solid color as well as antiqued in white. 

This is the same brand of yarn in the Pantone Spring 2014 Fashion Color of Cayenne.

And here are some buttons in the basket weave pattern antiqued in white.

This yarn is super soft and variegated in the Pantone Spring 2014 Fashion Colors of Sand and Celosia Orange.

These are some textured buttons we made in the Celosia Orange.

These yarns and our handcrafted buttons are now available at Donna's.