Starter Premo Clay Colors for Making Polymer Clay Beads and Jewelry
All You Really Need is a Set of Primary Colors to Get Going:
Part of getting started with making your own polymer clay beads, is choosing which colors of clay to purchase first, and which brand. But it can be a little bit daunting to stand in the aisle at your favorite craft store, gazing at all of the packaging… and wondering what's going to be best for your situation.
How are you supposed to choose? All the labels say polymer clay. So what's the difference? Will the cheap stuff work to get you up and running (HINT: NO).
Cheap clay is going to cause you to become frustrated, sometimes to the point of actually giving up. I've seen this happen way too often. That's why I put together a comprehensive course for newbie's starting out with polymer clay.
In the course I advise not to just choose colors all 'willy nilly'. You will risk having them not go together very well. Instead, I recommend that you buy only a few blocks of primary colors, and learn to mix up your own shades.
Buy only Premo Sculpey Clay to start with. It is a readily available, high quality, polymer clay with good mixing qualities. There are lots of other brands of polymer clay which you can work with later if you choose. But you won't be disappointed with Premo, so its a great place to start.
A Good Starter Pack of Premo Polymer Clay Colors is:
- 1 pack Black
- 1 pack White
- 1 pack Translucent
- 1 pack Cadmium Yellow Hue
- 1 pack Ultra Marine Blue
- 1 pack Alizarin Crimson
With these colors you can mix some lovely shades of slightly muted colors that will all go together quite nicely.
If you want to see a preview video from my Beginners Course, then click here: Polymer Clay Colors To Start With. The full video in the course provides you with a couple of different starter pack options, depending on whether you like muted tones… versus rich and vibrant.
Filed Under: 03: Supplies, 08: Color Theory by Comment. 
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Comments on Starter Premo Clay Colors for Making Polymer Clay Beads and Jewelry
5:08 pm
The Alizarin Crimson I mention in the color starter pack above is a very strong saturated color. Only a tiny amount is needed when you are using it to mix up new color combinations.
7:49 pm
I was just wondering if you had any advise for making pendants. I really like wearing them but the ones that I have made look like pieces of cardboard with color.
.
1:57 pm
Hi Sharon, thanks for your comment! There are a lot of different ways to make pendants from polymer clay. Pendants can be sculptural, flat semi transparent, made of cane slices, wire wrapped and many more.
The way to keep polymer clay from looking like a colorful piece of cardboard is to finish it nicely. Learning about the clay, how to properly bake it, sand it and polish will make all the difference in the world!
I do have a video course that would be of a tremendous help. If you click the link by my name, it will take you to information all about that.
You can also look for lots of free information here at this blog. Either go to the home page and scroll through the pictures to see what you like, or type in a topic in the search box at the top of the page.
10:45 am
Some of the people in my Polymer Clay Group and I noticed problems finding Copper and Ultra marine Blue at Michaels and Hobby Lobby. There was a rumor that these colors were beng discontinued. So…. I e-mailed Polyform to find out if this rumor was true.
Here is their response…..
Dear Anna,
Thank you for contacting Polyform Products Company. I’m happy to tell you, Anna, that these two colors are still available. We have no plans to discontinue them. I am enclosing the names of our distributors for you so that you can order from them.
Regards,
Patricia L. Colella
Polyform Products Company
Hooray these colors are not being discontinued.
10:45 am
Anna Sabina, I've had trouble finding the Copper colored Premo at Michael's, too. I've been able to get something similar by mixing equal parts Alazarian Crimson and Gold. Looks similar to the etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22687685
12:56 pm
Cindy, I've tried to respond to your home page's Reader Survey on our polymer clay & bead-making experience, expertise or lack of it, but I can't make any part of it 'click'. Probably one of those 'duh' things so common in my life- I'm not doing it right, am I? Over 2000 people have responded, it says, so it must work. If it's on your site I'm guessing the data it collects is useful, so can you help me join in? Thanks, Cindy, you wonderfully clever lady. XX Mary U.
1:08 pm
Hi Mary – thanks for letting me know about this. Is anyone else having a problem with that Reader Survey showing in the left side bar? I's appreciate hearing from a few others to see if this is an issue for more than just Mary. Thanks.
3:39 pm
It worked for me! I was able to choose which of the three I thought applied to me, clicked on the open dot, then hit vote. I got the results, with the percentages of the three types of votes.
4:02 pm
re: Reader Survey. Thanks Cindy and Phaedrakat. Must be my iMac. I've clicked all over the survey, again and again, but I don't see any "open dot" or "vote" spots to hit. Yet the rest of Cindy's pages work flawlessly for me. Just one of life's imponderables, I guess. Thanks for trying to help anyway. Mary
8:09 pm
Mary – are you sure you did not already vote? That survey widget is set up to only allow people to respond once so that the results don't get skewed by someone clicking over and over again. Once you have voted, you won't see any voting options. All you see is the results data.
1:42 am
Hi Cindy, That's probably it. Maybe in a woolly state I have unknowingly already voted and it didn't register in my, er, brain. Funny about that. It's the only explanation that makes sense. Thank goodness you're at the helm and not me! Thanks very much, Cindy; sorry to be a pest. While you're here: just got Vol-015 and found myself staring open-mouthed (such an attractive look!) at you making those graffiti beads. Wow! The hands of a surgeon! All the best, Mary
8:17 am
You're not a pest at all Mary. I actually like hearing about how everyone is using the site. When you find stuff that isn't working as you expect, or if you have ideas for improvements, by all means let me know.