Introducing the new Revised Edition and Sale

I am happy to announce I finally finished the revised edition to my Clay Color System tutorial.  My original tutorial was first published 12 years ago (2011).  It is my own concept that I had been using for several years before that.

My original Color System tutorial was first based on Kato clay.  At that time, it was the only brand that was made in the true artist colors.  Previous to that, Premo (Sculpey brand) also had the true artist colors, but made the huge mistake of discontinuing them.  This created quite an uproar within the polymer clay artist community, so Sculpey decided to put back some of the colors into circulation -- but only the three primary colors -- Red, Yellow and Blue.  When the Sculpey company did this, a lot of clay artists jumped ship and switched to Kato clay.

While I personally like working with Kato clay, many artists find it difficult to condition (it is very hard/firm) and many have issues with the smell.  For me, it had become more difficult to obtain here in Canada as the shipping charges and extra import fees are horrendous.  And in the last few years, other clay brands that are made in the true artist colors have become more widely available, like Cernit (Number One series) and Fimo Professional (Not Fimo soft). 

I have tried Fimo Professional and find it quite nice to work with, however it does have it's issues.  For instance I like to make impressions in my clay which requires a mold release.  I generally prefer to use water instead of cornstarch.  Fimo clay reacts to water and becomes sticky and gummy.  If you would like to apply any type of powders to your textured clay, after using cornstarch as a mold release, any colored powders will not stick.

Since a year ago, I started experimenting with the Cernit brand clay and discovered how much I like it.  Not only are the colors true (Number One series) and vibrant, it is soft enough to work with without being too soft or sticky.  I also have all the colors in the Metallic, Pearl and Translucent.  Other than the Number One series, I love the Metallic the most.  The colors are just so scrumptious!  I am also intrigued with the Translucent as I have seen some amazing faux glass pieces created by other artists.

So in my last blog post, I announced that the Pantone color recipes would be the last I would be sharing with you here as I will be no longer using Kato clay.  You might be wondering about what will be next.  Any future recipes will be available in my online store and I will be sharing here inspiration on using those new colors.

The new Revised Edition of my Clay Color System was revamped to work with other brand clays besides Kato.  It does not have all the extra color recipes provided in my Original Clay Color System that uses Kato clay but these recipes can be purchased separately or as an extra bonus.  Many of these recipes are used as base colors to create the Pantone color recipes provided on this blog (see the link at the top of this page).  This means you can still create the older color recipes provided here using other clay brands besides Kato, but the end results might not be the same.

So if you do not have my Clay Color System and would like to learn more about an easy way of mixing color, I have it on sale (30% off until the end of this week.  To celebrate finishing my work, I decided to put all my other tutorials on sale for 30% off as well (excluding my snap tutorial with the bonus Starter packs).  No coupon code is necessary.  The prices have already been reduced.  The sale will end on midnight next Saturday, October 28.

* Also my preprinted color recipe cards will be available soon - as soon as my materials arrive.  I will keep you up to date on this.

Pantone Spring 2023 Fashion Colors - Final Clay Recipes

The final five Pantone Spring 2023 Fashion Color recipes that I will be sharing are Blue Perennial, Summer Song, Skylight, Macchiato and Gray Lilac - shown from left to right in the samples below.

The illustration below shows where these colors are located on the color wheel.  You can see where Macchiato is a mix of orange and green (half way between - more or less), thus creating a shade of brown.  It is also on the opposite side of the color wheel to the two blue colors making them "complimentary".  Complimentary colors generally make a good contrast to each other and can also look good together.

Here are a few other illustrations combining these same five colors to see how they look on various color backgrounds and also as a gradient blend.

Gradient Blend

Mixing the different color backgrounds

Colors shown on a white vs. black background

I like to play with my Pantone app and create various color palettes to see how they look together.

I should mention that the Pantone color Skylight is a lighter version of the Pantone Spring 2022 color Blue Harbor.  Since it takes a fair amount of white to lighten, it is much easier to use a small amount of the Blue Harbor as the base rather than mixing the Skylight color from scratch.  If you already follow my Clay Color System and saved any left over clay in the color Harbor Blue, you already know how convenient this method is.  That is why my Color System tutorial is more than just color recipes.  It is a simple easy to understand way to mix and combine color but also how to organize your recipes and your clay colors that are mixed.

So here are the recipes for these five Pantone colors.  I hope you have fun with them and I would love to see any samples you come up with.  You can always share them on my facebook page.

BLUE PERENNIAL

2 parts Ultra Marine # 9-2 *

2 parts White Mix # 1-2 *

1 part Ecru Mix # 2-8 *

SUMMER SONG

2 parts Kato Blue

1/2 part Kato Turquoise

2 parts Kato Silver

2 parts Ecru Mix # 2-8*

15 parts White Mix # 1-2 *

SKYLIGHT

4 parts White Mix # 1-2 *

1/4 part "Harbor Blue"

(see recipe here from Pantone Spring 2022)

MACCHIATO

4 parts Kato Brown

1 part Ecru Mix # 2-8 *

GRAY LILAC

1/4 part Kato Violet

1 part Kato Silver

6 parts White Mix # 1-2 *

* Note:  These clay color recipes are created using Kato clay.  Any of the base color "mixes" used are from my Clay Color System.

Pantone Spring 2019 Fashion Colors Summary and Clay Recipe Cards

Here is a review of the Pantone Spring 2019 Fashion colors.  Click on the photos below to see the clay recipes using Kato clay.  If you would like to see more clay recipes for the past Pantone fashion colors, go to the color recipe page at the top of this blog.

Living Coral & Mango Mojito

Jester Red & Sweet Lilac

Terranium Moss, Pepper Stem & Aspen Gold

Pink Peacock, Fiesta & Turmeric

Princess Blue, Toffee & Sweet Corn

Eclipse, Brown Granite & Soybean

Clay Recipes for the Pantone Spring 2019 Colors Eclipse, Soybean and Brown Granite

Along with the Sweet Corn clay recipes that I shared yesterday, Eclipse, Soybean and Brown Granite are the other three Neutrals that Pantone includes in their spring 2019 fashion color palette.

Eclipse is a deeper shade of navy blue compared to the navy used in the past seasons.  Navy is sometimes referred to as the "new black" and I have found that my buttons and jewelry pieces created in navy as the dominant neutral instead of the typical black, have become quite popular.  Many people find they do not look good in black as it can drain their facial color where they can wear a dark neutral such as navy without the same negative effect.

While I show three of these neutral colors together they will also compliment the other colors in the Pantone Spring palette.  For instance, instead of using a white or ecru in your mokume gane blend, try using Sweet Corn or Soybean instead.  Or for a dark shade, you can use the Eclipse or Brown Granite instead of black.

I am going to continue on experimenting with my color blocks and see what new combinations I can come up with and perhaps expand this style even a little further which I will share with you later.  In the meantime, here are the last three recipes for the Pantone colors Eclipse, Soybean and Brown Granite using Kato clay.

Eclipse

Follow the base recipe for Navy # 9-7,

increasing the Kato Black to 2 parts

Soybean

2 parts Ecru Base #2-7 *

1 part Kato Yellow

1 part Kato Pearl

Brown Granite

Same as the clay recipe for

Chocolate Truffle # 3-5 *

* Note:  These clay color recipes are created using Kato clay.  Any of the base color "mixes" used are from my Clay Color System. 

If you do not have my Clay Color System tutorial, it is available in my Online Store (Canadian pricing and sent to the e-mail address you provide).

Tomorrow I will have these clay recipes available on 4x6 index cards that you can print out if you wish.  Please feel free to leave a comment here or on facebook if you have enjoyed receiving these clay recipes.  

Clay Recipes for the Pantone Spring Fashion Colors Princess Blue and Toffee

The last two clay recipes of the main Pantone 2019 spring color palette are Princess Blue and Toffee.  Tomorrow I will share three more clay recipes which are the Neutrals.  Sweet Corn is one of these neutrals which I have decided to show here as well.  If you have my clay color system, you already have this recipe along with the Toffee.

Here are some samples I mixed up combining these three colors.  The earring dangles (diamond shape) are all reversible and can be worn on their own or added to the posts.

Sweet Corn & Toffee

Princess Blue & Toffee

Reversible & Interchangeable Earrings
Princess Blue, Toffee & Sweet Corn

And finally the recipes for the Pantone colors Princess Blue, Toffee and Sweet Corn using Kato clay.

Princess Blue

8 parts Kato Blue

1 part Kato Violet

2 parts Kato Pearl

1 part Ecru Mix #2-8 *

Toffee

Same as clay recipe

Tanned Leather # 3-6 *

Sweet Corn

Same as clay recipe

Cream # 2-10 *

* Note:  These clay color recipes are created using Kato clay.  Any of the base color "mixes" used are from my Clay Color System. 

My Clay Color System tutorial, is available in my Online Store (Canadian pricing and sent to the e-mail address you provide).

Clay Recipes for the Pantone Spring 2019 Colors Pink Peacock, Fiesta and Turmeric

The three Pantone Spring 2019 colors Pink Peacock, Fiesta and Turmeric are all close together on the color wheel so I wanted to play around with more color blocking to show how they go well together.

I find that the as I experiment with the same technique over and over, each time my ideas expand a bit more.  This is how we learn to develop our own style.  In playing around with simple color blocking, I came up with this circular design that looks like a bulls eye.  These earrings could simply be worn on their own or for more fun, interchanged with the diamond shape reversible drops.

So here are the recipes for the Pantone colors Pink Peacock, Fiesta and Turmeric using Kato clay.

Pink Peacock

6 parts Kato Magenta

1/2 part Kato Yellow

1 part White Mix #1-2 *

Fiesta

1 part Kato Red

1 part Kato Orange

Turmeric

12 parts KatoYellow

1-1/2 parts Kato Orange

1 part Kato Gold

1 part Kato Pearl

* Note:  These clay color recipes are created using Kato clay.  Any of the base color "mixes" used are from my Clay Color System. 

Clay Recipes for the Pantone Spring 2019 Colors Terranium Moss, Pepper Stem and Aspen Gold

This spring season, Pantone includes two shades of green - Terranium Moss and Pepper Stem.  Both lean towards the yellow side of the color wheel which I am more partial to.  Aspen Gold is a soft yet still vibrant golden yellow and combines beautifully with the two greens.

Here are some samples I made using these three colors.

Interchangeable Earring Pieces in Terranium Moss & Pepper Stem

Earrings in Terranium Moss & Pepper Stem

Terranium Moss, Pepper Stem & Aspen Gold Combination

Earrings in Aspen Gold and Terranium Moss

So here are the recipes for the Pantone colors Terranium Moss, Pepper Stem and Aspen Gold using Kato clay.

Terranium Moss

Follow the clay recipe for

Forest Green #7-7 *

adding 1 part Kato Black

Pepper Stem

10 parts Kato Yellow

1/2 part Kato Green

1/2 part Kato Gold

Aspen Gold

12 parts Kato Yellow

1/2 part Kato Gold

5 parts White Mix #1-2 *

* Note:  These clay color recipes are created using Kato clay.  Any of the base color "mixes" used are from my Clay Color System. 

Tutorial Toot - some shameless self promotion

The Chameleon Exhibit came to an end last weekend and was a great success.  It was a real honor to be a part of such an exciting event.  Going out to the Horizons retreat was another highlight to last month and is where I unveiled my new lesson, Building Bargello Motifs.

Everyone had fun learning this new technique and when I was showing them how to combine their colors and then arrange them into bargello patterns or motifs there was some real "ahhhs".

This is a fun technique where you can create your own clay veneer patterns and then use them in so many different ways.

It is a fun technique where I take you from mixing up your color blends (without have to do a skinner blend) and then creating your patterns with many different variations that can be applied.  Some of the people in the class told me they thought the technique looked too finicky for them but were so pleased when they were making their own bargello veneers in no time. 

For those who have already purchased my Clay Color System and are using Kato clay, I have included references to all the colors I used to create all the bargello patterns taught in the tutorial.

I  really enjoy teaching and sharing with others who are so eager to learn.  When I receive such wonderful feedback from someone who took my class or purchased any of my lessons it gives me a real sense of accomplishment.

One person who purchased my bargello tutorial wrote: "it is the best tutorial on bargello I have ever seen, including the needlepoint ones."

Another person told me "I really like your tutorials.  You write them in a way that I totally get it."

Other feedback I've received:

"This is my third tutorial from you.  Your tutorials never disappoint.  I always learn so many new techniques."

"Absolutely perfect. These tutorials are packed with information that is useful and easy to follow.  Thank-you so much for helping me learn."

"After searching the web for useful information on how to make buttons, I found this person on Artfire.  I ordered a couple of her other tutorials and they were so thorough and easy to learn from, that I ordered this one as well.  I am so thankful that I did!  This is a marvelous tutorial and if you want to make buttons... start here!"

"Terrific tutorial. Very happy with this purchase. Can highly recommend.  A+++"

Regarding my Color System Tutorial:  "Excellent tutorial.  Great way to learn about color and organize your clay stash."

Many people have also shared with me how my color system, especially has not only helped them learn about color but to help inspire them as well.  Maureen (Moe) shared on her blog how "sometimes you just wanna go play with your clay but you have no oomph and nothing in mind to make but you just wanna do something."

She has found that mixing up new colors and color blends using my clay color system really helps energize her with new ideas.  This is her desk with her color blend sheets she has created.  It is a fun way of coming up with new colors and blends.  You can read all about it on her blog post here.  I find her blog quite entertaining and sometimes a real hoot to read.

Look at these gorgeous blue cabochons she made.  They just look like real stone cut gems, don't they?

So if you are looking for some new clay techniques to try but want some lessons that are a good value for you money and that are fun and easy to learn, you can check out the many other tutorials I have available in my online store as well as my Etsy shop.