1-B: Wool Scarf
2-B: Top Hat
3-B: Christmas Tree
4–B: Christmas Star
Well with Christmas just around the corner, I thought it would be nice to use one of my favorite Christmas Mugs as the inspiration for our next color recipe palette.
This sweet little (or big, really for a mug) Snowman Christmas Mug was given to me a few years ago by my Mom. She actually gave me two mugs, one you can’t see in this photo which is similar in style, but a little taller and of a full snowman, not just the head. She gave them to me because she knows how much I love this figurative style of pottery.
Let me share a little back story with you. When Doug and I got married 25 years ago, one of our wedding gifts was a porcelain water jug in the shape of all kinds of vegetables. If you look carefully behind the handle of the mug you can see it in the background. (I promise to show it to you properly some day.)
Well, I just loved that jug and wanted more of them. My mom was happy to indulge, and started buying me jugs for gifts until I had a collection of about 13 or 14 of them. Not all of them are displayed right now due to space, so I would have to dig them out to see the exact number.
Any way, this collection expanded a little outside of jugs, to include sugar bowls shaped like artichokes, vases shaped like radishes, cookie jars like pumpkins and tomatoes, and candlesticks like pink frogs holding flowers, etc. etc. Now that I think of it, I really do have a pretty large collection of fruit, vegetable and flower shaped sculptural kitchenware. And since some of the pieces are vintage Majolica and such, the whole set of them could be fairly collectable… Geez, lets hope we don’t have any earthquakes anytime soon!
But I digress… as usual! lol
So to make a long story even longer, since I have pretty much every kind of decorative container that I never put food in, I might as well also have a few Christmas theme pieces to go along with the set too! Hence the reason behind this smiley Frosty Mug sitting here on the shelf in a forest of organically themed Water Pitchers!
So, without any further chit chat, I introduce you to the inspiration behind the next color mixing recipe palette in our B-Series.
Everyone who is subscribed to our Polymer Clay Guest List will be able to download the following recipes free, one per week on Friday mornings during the month of December 2012:
- Wool Scarf (Recipe 055-1B)
- Top Hat (Recipe 055-2B)
- Christmas Tree (Recipe 055-3B)
- Christmas Star (Recipe 055-4B)
[wp_ad_camp_1]…Wool Scarf is the dusty vintage purple color of Frosty’s long wool scarf. Top Hat is the faded soft black of the hat on Frosty’s head. Christmas Tree is the true forest green of the pine Christmas tree in Frosty’s arms. And Christmas Star is the aged golden yellow of the star on the top of the tree.
The recipes described above are from the Volume-055 B-Series Palette. They are free to download for everyone subscribed to my Polymer Clay Guest List, Friday Email Newsletter.
If you want to see the Volume-055 A-Series Color Palette that paid library members will also receive during the month of Dec, then click here: Pomegranate Palette
Once again thanks CINDY, we appreciate all the hard work that goes into blending and naming your colour palettes. ~Elaine-F
Just recently I finally decided to print out all your color recipe cards and purchased all the rest of the colors I needed to mix them up. It took a few days to mix it all but I now have a notebook full of the recipe cards with the color chip attached to them. I hand make miniature bonsai and other miniatures… and am using your color recipes to make the pots for the bonsai. Some of the colors are just out of this world beautiful. If I never did anything but mix colors I’d probably be perfectly content. ~Kathy-H
Love how you take us on these inspirational journeys with you — and the colors that come from them are fantastic! The fact you give these recipes away to members AND GUESTS highlights your generous nature. Thank you so much, Cindy. You and your family bring so much to the polymer clay world!!! Love and Hugs. ~Phaedrakat
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If you would like more information about the Members Library, here are some direct links:
Library Member Benefits and What Others Are Saying
Order Page for Color Recipe and Video Back Issue Packages
Become A Full Member at the Library
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They’re beautiful, I was going to ask if they were Majolica. They are QUITE collectable, and some can be QUITE valuable too. Be careful what you say, I thought we were earthquake safe here on the east coast until two Augusts ago. Never want to experiance that again.
Oh I know Ken ‘the big’ one has always been in the back of the minds of anyone who lives here on the San Andres Fault. We have had a few pretty big quakes off the coast which hopefully took some of the pressure off. It would be a shame to lose any of my pieces but hiding them away to protect them would be a shame as well. If I had a way to put a force field around them, that would be good. Dang, after all those years of watching Star Trek, you’d think we’d have the technology by now! :)
Christmas ornaments, how we love them. Years ago when I was learning pottery I made a ceramic Christmas tree. We poured slip (liquid clay) into a plaster mold.
Let it dry carefully drilled little holes in it, fired it, glazed it forest green and made a base of clay glazed red. We then had to wire it up with a light bulb in the base. Finally we inserted faceted prisims into the little holes. When lit up it looks magical, all sparkly.This is hunted out every year, unwrapped from a multitude of bubble wrap and is lit up for the 12 days of Christmas
So know how you feel, Cindy, I have lots of “collectable” Christmas items either made for me or bought for me over the years. My girls, when they were small, liked nothing better than to get the Christmas boxes down and discover the magic within. You cannot put a price on these treasured memories. Knowing you Cindy, if you did have a disaster and all your pieces got broken you would turn them into the most amazing piece of mosaic art………………………….cheers xx……………………………………
Hi Elaine,
I also made these trees those many years ago and still put my two out each year. I added snow (specialty product like frosting) to the branches of one that sits in the center of my little village. It always brings back so many memories of when I was doing ceramics and the wonderful people in my life back then.
Great colors here also, Cindy.
Will be thinking of you and your DH when I light up my tree and will send healing thoughts to you all at this special time………….cheers xx…………………………
Just to add, these colours makes a great vintage palette for Christmas, so once again thanks Cindy. You must have been wearing your “Elf” hat for inspiration……………………cheers xx…………………………
This may be my favorite palette ever, and I will remember this scheme when I decorate my retirement home.
I really enjoy the links that take you back to other years when you learn all about carrots, eggs and coffee beans, mother and daughter crafting, poems that are all about the frazzles of getting ready for Christmas and Elaine’s reference to the Elf Hat was so cute. I know one thing, I want to be like a coffee bean and since I already drink a pot of coffee most days I’m pretty sure I can be. Cindy the color palette is so fitting for the season and I love your story about the pottery. I lost my Mother at such an early age and have nothing of hers to cherish but I love to hear stories of others who have. Thank you so much for sharing. It is so much fun reading the blog from back when things were just getting started. My what a big family we have become!
I’m still hoping to get a reply to my question in the Makins extruder blog. I need to purchase a new extruder and want to know if I should go with the Makins brand or try the Walnut Hollow. I remember Cindy commenting she hasn’t tried the Walnut Hollow brand yet. I’d love to hear the group’s thoughts on this matter so I can get a new machine ASAP!
Hi Maria,
Either one of the extruders will work nicely.
I had purchased a Makins which I really like the way it extracts more than the other but it is just a personal preference. I almost purchased the walnut hollow but after looking it over decided my Makins would do the best job and I really didn’t need two, although I know of other clayers who have both. Hope this helps.
They both work well (I have both), the handle is designed differently but I like that WH’s handle, it sort of folds up to make storage easier (not that it was a problem to begin with)
Thank you ! I may just stay with the familiar Makins brand as I have an extended special handle for it that I purchased several years ago.
Thank you guys for helping out Maria! I have not yet bought the Walnut Hollow Extruder since my Makins is still going strong. Glad to here that either one will do about equally, it just then depends on which one is easier to find.
On a side note: I did notice at my local Micheals that Walnut Hollow has a little vise for holding the extruder in. It looked like it would hold the Makins tool as well. Has anyone tried it yet? Just wondering how strong it is. May just have to pick one up to find out!
I, too, am trying to decide which one to buy. It looks like the Walnut Hollow brand has a smoother feeling tube to it. The Makins one appears to have a rougher feel – those types of things give me the willies so I’ll probably buy the Walnut Hollow one. If my local Michaels has it when I go out today I’ll buy it and let you all know what I think.