Pantone Spring 2015 Fashion Color Tangerine

Pantone describes this Tangerine color as "a juicy orange shade that is energizing, yet not jarring to the eye.  This Tangerine is striking enough to stand on its own yet can also add vitality to a printed pattern."

Pantone suggests pairing this color with Toasted Almond or Strawberry Ice.  Once I mix up the clay recipes for the season's colors, I like to experiment with different combinations.  I first like to challenge myself by using only colors from the palette.  Afterwards I will bring in other colors to add more contrast and mix it up a bit.

I played around with a combination of the Tangerine and Strawberry Ice using the patterned clay technique by Julie Picarello.  I added some of the color Marsala and plain pearl clay to give it some contrast.  These are some slices from the patterned clay stack and then two buttons using the Tangerine as a background.  The buttons shown haven't been baked yet but we were working on other projects today and ran out of time.

So here is the clay recipe for the Pantone color Tangerine using Kato clay:

Tangerine

10 parts Kato Yellow

1/2 part Kato Orange

1/2 part Kato Magenta

1 part Kato Pearl

Pantone Spring 2015 Fashion Color Strawberry Ice

I really love this shade of pink as well as the name.  Pantone describes it as "a cool and refreshing delicacy ... a confection color that evokes a feeling of being 'in the pink', emitting a flattering and healthy glow.

Pantone suggests pairing this delicious color with Toasted Almond or Tangerine.  Tangerine is the color recipe I will share with you tomorrow so we will see how that combination turns out.  This pink is a bit on the coral side and looks scrumptious on it's own.  When I was doing a google search on this color, I came across this stone which I pinned to my pinterest board.  I couldn't help but think of experimenting with my Fabulous Faux Turquoise technique and using the Strawberry Ice as the base color.  Here are the results from my efforts:

These earring beads are double-sided (see my earlier post here) with the one side in the Strawberry ice and the opposite sides shown below in the green turquoise and the Pantone Fall color, Aurora red.

So here is the recipe for the Pantone color Strawberry Ice using Kato clay:

Strawberry Ice

1 part Kato Magenta

1 part Kato Yellow

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 from

our online store.

Pantone Spring 2015 Fashion Color Toasted Almond

With all these cool shades this spring, Pantone has added the color, Toasted Almond to "bring it into balance".  Described by Pantone as a sun-tanned neutral and natural organic shade.  To tell you the truth, I find this color rather uninspiring and didn't have any time to experiment with it yet and will have something later.

Pantone says this color pairs well with the spring color Lavender Herb.  This is actually one of the Pantone Spring colors for mens' fashion.  Four of the colors are the same as in the women's palette.  I will talk more about the men's fashion colors in a later post.

In the meantime, here is the recipe for Toasted Almond using Kato clay:

Toasted Almond

3 parts Ecru #2-7 *

2 parts Brown

4 parts White Mix # 1-2 *

* 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.

Pantone Spring 2015 Fashion Color Lucite Green

I am back on track again and ready to share with you the next Pantone Spring color, Lucite Green.  Pantone describes this color as "fresh and clarifying, cool and refreshing, with a minty glow."  While I never have been fond of mint green, I have to admit I really like this one and it seems to fit in quite well with this new spring palette.

Pantone suggests pairing it up with Classic Blue or Scuba Blue so I have done a little experimenting with a mokume gane technique using all three colors.  I really love the results with this combination.

For some reason I found this button difficult to photograph to show off the almost glass-like sheen and pearlescent shimmer.  Some of you might recognize the pattern which is from one of Helen Breil's texture sheets, Conga Line.

I had to create some veneer sheets using Julie Picarello's technique in this color combo as well and really loved the results.

These focal beads were made in the same way as in the post I shared with you yesterday.  I wanted to see what would happen to the textured background when I pressed it into the cabochon mold and I was so amazed to discover it was still intact!  The photo below shows how it came out of the mold before inserting into the clay bezel and then baking.

So here is the recipe for Lucite green using Kato clay:

Lucite Green

1 part Sea Green Base Mix #7-2 *

2 parts Kato Green

8 parts 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 from

our online store.

I hope you are having fun with these clay recipes so far and if you have any experiments with them you would like to share, please do.  You can e-mail them to us or post them on our facebook page.

More tomorrow...

Pantone Spring 2015 Fashion Color Classic Blue

I decided to go out of order and skip over to the Pantone color, Classic Blue, for this post.  Classic Blue is similar to a royal blue and, according to Pantone, will serve as an anchor to the Spring/Summer 2015 palette.

Pantone suggests pairing this Blue with Marsala.  We created some patterned sheets of clay using Julie Picarello's technique in the color combination of Classic Blue, Marsala and Aquamarine.  The clay sheets were then formed into focal beads which I will share how they were made at the end of this post.

Here is the clay recipe for Classic Blue 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

from our Online Store.

Now I will share with you how I created the above focal beads.  To create the veneer, using the technique from Julie Picarello's book, we used one stack of clay with a thin layer of Marsala and a thicker layer of Aquamarine and the other stack consisting of a thin layer of Classic Blue and a thicker layer of Aquamarine.

The shapes were formed using some cabochon molds called the "Almond Bezels and More" by Penny Jo.  Wendy Orlowski created the Bezel molds to coordinate with these cabochons which we made for the above beads in the Marsala color.  I am very familiar with Wendy's CaBezel Molds and have almost her entire collection.  These Bezel molds work the same way as her other CaBezels and she has several tutorials out on how to use them which you will find here.  This was my first time working with the molds from Penny Jo and was really impressed with how easy they were to use.  The Bezel and Cabochon molds are sold separately or you can purchase them together as a set at Shades of Clay (Sorry they have been discontinued).

Step 1 - To create the cabochon, I pressed some clay into one of the mold shapes.  I could have used scrap clay but in this case I wanted the color to show through the holes in the veneer as a background so I used some of the Classic Blue.

Step 2-3 - With your rigid tissue blade slice off the excess clay using the mold as a guide.

Step 4 - The cabochon easily pops out of the mold leaving a really smooth surface.

Step 5 - Lay the veneer sheet over the cabochon shape.

Step 6 - Flip it over and press it back into the cabochon mold.  I took the veneer sheet that was hanging over the edges and folded them onto the back of the cab which is optional.

Step 7 - Repeat the same method as in steps 2-3 by slicing off the excess clay.

Step 8 - Pop the cabochon out of the mold and it is ready to insert into the clay bezel.

These were so much fun and I really love the results so can't wait to play with this set even more.

Pantone Spring 2015 Fashion Color Scuba Blue

The color Scuba Blue is, as Pantone describes, an invigorating turquoise that conveys a sense of playfulness.  This vibrant, yet cool shade, adds a splash of excitement to this new spring palette that offers a feeling of escape to some tropical island.

Pantone suggests pairing this turquoise shade of blue with Classic Blue and Lucite Green.  That was my first thought when I was mixing up the new spring colors and will share with you my results as soon as they are finished.

Scuba Blue

This color is identical to the Teal recipe found in my "Clay Color System" tutorial* but with a slight change:

Follow the recipe for Teal # 8-4 * but replace the pearl with 3 parts of the White Mix #1-2*.  The white mix will give it the lighter tone it needs and brighten it up more.

* These clay 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.

Pantone Spring 2015 Fashion Color Aquamarine

According to Pantone, the color Aquamarine is to be the lead color for women for this upcoming spring season of 2015.  It is described as an "airy blue with a dreamy feel".  Cool and calming, it is a shade with a wet and watery feel.  This restful blue can also act as a stress reducer which I am sure many of us feel we could benefit from.  I'm already thinking I need to surround myself more with this color!

Pantone suggests combining this shade of blue with Glacier Gray and Marsala but I think it would also pair really well with the Classic Blue especially when working with clay techniques such as mokume gane.

Whenever I mix up the latest Pantone colors I like to bake some extra sample tiles to play around with to see different color combinations.

So here is the color recipe using Kato clay:

Aquamarine

1 part Kato Blue

1 part Silver

10 parts 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 from

our online store.