Vid #193: “Can you say
MUD!!? I’ve had my fair
share of mixing the wrong
colors together but thanks to
your color recipes I’m doing a
lot better now!” ~Katina-K
One of the great things about polymer clay is the many wonderful colors that come already pre-mixed and packaged by the various clay manufacturers. However, since there are also millions of other colors out in the world to inspire us all, it is important to be able to mix up custom recipes as well.
Color mixing is an art form in itself, that can sometimes be tricky. Each brand of polymer clay has its own color formula. Some of the colors are very complex and don’t always mix how you would expect. One of the reasons I have always liked Premo Clay, is because it uses many of the artist based colors which tend to yield more predictable results. If you have ever worked with acrylic or oil paints, you will know what I am talking about.
But… if you don’t have an artists’ background… or if color mixing just doesn’t come naturally for you… than you may experience some difficulty in being able to create your own custom palettes. In fact, often times you will end up with a whole lot of mud before arriving at the color you desire.
Can you say MUD!!? I have had my fair share of mixing the wrong colors together. I have never had a course in color theory and learned pretty quickly that is difficult to always get the desired result. But thanks to your color recipes I’m doing a lot better now! ~Katina-K
One would think anything would work with pearl / silver / white / black, but you would be surprised at how many of my colour combinations that seemed logical have ended up looking like mud or baby poo! ~Suzanne-C
As a teacher I completely understand the challenges many of you may be facing with the color mixing process. That is why I have created my color recipe card series. They provide you with two new and original designer palettes per month, based on inspirational photos from nature, flowers, landscapes and even architectural shots.
All that’s required is to mix up the recipes as presented, and you will end up with beautiful color palettes every time.
The A-Series Recipes are available to paid subscribers. And I also have monthly B-series Palettes for anyone and everyone who is subscribed to my free weekly email newsletter. The recipe cards can be downloaded to your computer and printed out for use as a valuable resource right in your own studio.
Now one of the most common questions that comes up about my color palettes, is in regards to measuring out the parts or proportions for each of the clay recipes.
Hi, Cindy, I don’t know for sure if you have told us about what the “parts” mean in the color recipes. How would I make parts verses the way the Fimo and the Premo is scored? Thanks. ~Stephanie-J
I know I dislike recipes that will call for a smidge of a color. I guess I am more literal and way to Virgo to be able to accept a smidge. ~Illaya-B
Is there a video that shows how MUCH clay to use for a recipe or a project? I don’t like to condition more than I will use, so is there a way to measure, like using a half block, quarter block or something like that? I mean using Premo of course. However with the Studio Sculpey, it does have those nice little squares. I notice you use just enough in your videos with very little left over. I am totally lost when it comes to measuring clay. The color cards says for instance, 1 part this or 2 parts that. Any tips would be appreciated. ~Ifama-J
Over the last few years, I have streamlined (refined, simplified) the way I mix the palettes. So in tomorrow’s Vol-033 video tutorial (Friday February 25 at the Polymer Clay Tutor Library), I figured it would be a good time to share my tips and tricks for mixing, cataloging and storing the color recipes. Even if you have already been successfully mixing these recipes for a while now, I think you will still find this lesson to be useful and handy.
Please Note: A general prerequisite for all of my weekly tutorials is that you have a good understanding of the polymer clay basics, including: conditioning clay, using a pasta machine, clay blade and other simple tools, making Skinner Blends or Teardrop Blends, baking clay, as well as sanding and finishing. If you need help in these areas, my Polymer Clay Beginners Course will get you up to speed quickly. There is also plenty of free information on this blog. Use the search box at the top of the page to find articles on specific topics.
Supplies & Tools: Video-033-4 Mixing Color Recipes:
- Color Recipes. You will need to be signed up on the Guest List to receive my free weekly newsletter containing the links to the recipe cards. Each week there are two B-Series recipe cards available for downloading, and one from the A-series. Print out the recipes onto card stock and cut them out.
- A file box or suitable container for storing the recipes cards. I find by printing the recipes at the A-4 size, that they end up fitting nicely into boxes that hold tea bags. But to the longer photo or CD storage boxes will also be perfect.
- Pasta machine.
- Clay in the colors required for the recipes.
- Square cutters in a variety of sizes.
- Small round cutter for cutting the color chip for the recipe card.
- Clay blade.
- Sheet of paper and a tile for baking on.
- Pencil, glue and scissors.
- Small ziploc bags and a Sharpie (optional).
The full version of the Vid-033-4 Mixing Color Recipes video will be posted in the Polymer Clay Members Library on Friday Feb 25th, 2011. But if you would like to see a sneak peek intro clip right now, scroll down the page a bit to the video player below.
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Here’s That “Link Below” Referred To at End of the Video
>> Polymer Clay Tutorials <<
The full version of the “Mixing Color Recipes” preview video shown above, is now available for purchase at the Polymer Clay Library in the Volume-033 Back Issue Package.
Customer Feedback About Membership Value:
Well Cindy, you know the saying, you can’t please all the people… I still can’t believe in this day of internet commerce that there are that many people who still believe all information on the internet should be free, that was the mentality from when the internet was invented, founded whatever the term is. I guess some people will never change, and it’s not like your charging $10 a video or something like that. In the begining I was a little worried about price but I found a way to get them and BOY AM I GLAD I DID! Those of us in the know truly appreciate EVERYTHING you do for us.
~Ken-H
Absolutely no one should complain about the cost of these tutorials!! The thought of you just trying to rip people off is ridiculous. Thank you for all you and Doug do for us!!
~Laura-Z
I have told so many about your tutes, the low cost and how all of this has stretched me creatively. I am now making things I never thought I could. Thank you and Doug – hugs.
~Patt-W
The following topics are included in this week’s Polymer Clay Tutor Library, Mixing Color Recipes video tutorial:
- See examples of the color recipe cards, the mixed color palettes and how they were used in some polymer clay canes.
- Discussion of the supplies and materials needed to create a fantastic collection of inspirational color recipe cards.
- Learn how simple and quick it really is to create gorgeous colors for all your polymer clay beads, canes and jewelry projects.
- Plus, with some creativity and ingenuity there are many ways to come up with unique palettes of your own.
The full version of the “Mixing Color Recipes” preview video shown above, is now available for purchase at the Polymer Clay Library in the Volume-033 Back Issue Package.
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Oh Yay!!!! This is one i am looking forward too. Don’t get me wrong I know how to mix colors. I would like to know how you mix them, and store them for a later use. You Rock Cindy!!
Sounds like a good basic tute we will all benefit from.
Yay! a chance to clean up my muddy color-makin’ ways.
Something we all love -COLOR. Your recipes are a way to relax and experiment. – looking forward to this tute ;D
You mean mixing colors isn’t supposed to be mud???? Am really looking forward to this, mixing is often a hit or miss thing for me.
I have a very large pile of scape clay from my color blending experiments gone wrong! so I tend to shy away from it. Any help you can give us will be greatly appreciated. I love the colors you come up with. :)
FANTASTIC!!!!! We get to see how the master organizes her color cards. I’m working on a massive reorganization of my cards, this comes just in time.
This sounds cool! I finally found my own way to organize the recipes. So, to see how you do it will be neat! I have one more secret, maybe, if you don’t mention it in the video I’ll post it here. Just something I do to make it quick and easy. Can’t wait till tomorrow!!
I agree with all that, I still have a LOT
oops, hit the wrong button, I still have a LOT of muddy colours which i don’t know what to do with. Though I have found that in some experimentation with adding different colours to they grey, i have got some lovely different colours out of it. BUT do you think I can remember what i did? hehe, hopefully this will teach me a bit more.
Can’t wait. I just started making the colour recipe chips and find them invaluable. There is nothing more frustrating then starting a project and wanting to add a specific colour to it and at that point having to start from scratch to figure out how to mix it. My collection is small, and I can’t wait to learn how to better organize it and utilize all the prepackaged colours to provide colourific inspiration.
This is a good idea…Cindy always gets so many questions regarding “what is a part?” This video should finally put that to rest, and also give us a look at our Tutor in fine, color-mixin’ form! Perhaps it will finally get me motivated, too…to mix up ALL of my recipes & organize them (instead of picking & choosing only what I plan to use for my project — aka “the LAZY way!”)
I’m in the middle of re-organising my studio (which is a tiny little room) and I’m planning on eventually having the entire wall in front of my work surface dedicated to colour. That way as I’m working I can just look up and be inspired by all the pretty colours.
I was thinking that I’ll have a section for colour palettes. I’ll probably print each one on a sheet of paper and pin it to the wall, including the the original inspiration picture, plus the clay chips and the recipes for each colour. And another idea’s just hit me as well – what about baking square chips for each colour, glueing on a small magnet to the back and writing the recipe number (like 034-1B for Pink Allium) on the front, then sticking them on a large magnetic board? Then I could move colours around as much as I wanted and see how they look together.
@Silverleaf: Silverleaf, I believe your color magnets idea could be a work of art in itself! I hope you’ll let us see the finished product someday soon…
@Maria: I guess it would be a kind of dynamic art piece that I could play with! I’ll have to pick up a magnetic board when I next get to Ikea (I do have one already, but it’s used for Magnetic Poetry, which is little word magnets that you use to make sentences and is surprisingly good fun).
I’ve always found sorting and organising colours very relaxing. When I was a kid I’d spend hours arranging my crayons, picking out my favourites, choosing which colours looked good together, sorting into rainbow order. Wait a minute, I still do that sometimes… ;)
@Silverleaf: Silverleaf, your magnetic board idea is fabulous! Gee, I guess I’m not the only one who used to spend more time sorting out crayons than actually coloring with them!
@Silverleaf: I agree, your color wall will probably be a work of art in itself. I love your idea of a magnetic board and magnet chips. I may steal your idea for my own room! I am in the process of moving my “studio” from my kitchen table to it’s own room and you have some great ideas to get me motivated. I know that Cindy’s color-mixing tute will also get me moving! I have just been reading Polymer Clay Color Inspirations by Lindly Haunani and Maggie Maggio and to tell the truth, it is a bit daunting to get started with their methods. I am certain that watching Cindy’s new tute will help inspire me to get the lead out and get the room and color palette’s organized.
Looking forward to this…especially the storing part. It will be good to get organized. Thanks, Cindy!
Well, decided to give polymer clay a try again. Got sidetracked with other things but recently started reading the blog and watching all the videos again. I was just going to start to make the color recipes and like so many here, Cindy’s color mixing video will now make that task easier. I am so glad to read Cindy’s remarks regarding her reason for starting The Polymer Clay Tutor and that was to help beginners. I can see that this is the best place to be-)))
Hi Cindy and all, just watched this weeks video on Mixing colour recipes.
Thank you so much Cindy. I do exactly what you do and had figured it all by my little self., but it is so good to see it reiterated here and to know I have been going the right way about it. The tip about putting the 4 colours in a plastic bag, is great as I never know what to do with the left overs as I seem to make a bit much sometimes, if not making the project for it at the time, but was not so organised as to the clay over,
so that was a help. I do use my cutters just like you demonstrated, so was glad to see, it was a good AHA moment for me, and I felt good that I am doing it right, or at least in the same manner.It is always good to see it
done visually like this, and these videos put us right there with you.
So thanks for your wonderful videos, they really make my week.
BTW I was working with some new students today on colour mixing so it is timely for me to enhance what I think I know about it.
I have a collection like you and giggled to myself when you said you had quite a few recpies printed out but not got to doing the chip yet, same here, I am so behind with that too. Next lesson could be how to find more hours inthe day LOL. Thanks again.
Love
Elizabeth XXX
Wonderful ideas in this video, Cindy! I am one of those who was mistakenly thinking that a “part” was a scored section of the clay, so, whew, good to realize that is not what that meant! I had even read about taking the little squares, etc, somewhere, but that had not really transferred to my brain and I needed to see your video to realize it! I, too, like the idea of the little baggies of leftover color with the names/numbers written on the front. Organization does not come naturally to me (you should see my house–or not, lol), so this video will be a huge help to me. Still thinking about Silverleaf’s idea of magnetic chips, too, for visual help in combining colors. Can make them thick enough to write the card recipe number on the side, too, so can just snatch up the recipe card out of the box I am soon going to have when I am ready to mix up a batch of colors for a project. Super! I get so excited about these tutorials and can’t wait to get to my clay, but I am supposed to be working now, so back at it I go. Thanks again for this wonderful video, Cindy!
Hi Cindy – a brilliant administrator as well as clay artist! Thank you so much for so many obvious tips for collating information! I have to admit I’ve only been keeping my colour cards on my computer, but all that is about to change, now!
I’d like to get a group of colours that will enable all others to be made. I’ve already bought the five you recommended in your short tute – Ultramarine, Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Yellow, Transparent, Black and White, but I notice you often have Ecru as a constituent part of your final colour, plus a few others, and I wonder what other colours, apart from the “5” I should have. Is it possible for you to tell us without giving too much away! My thanks again for another great video!
I am very pleased you liked the tutorial! I was getting so many questions I just thought it was time to make sure you all knew how to properly use the recipe cards.
Great ideas everyone! Loved some of the unique ways you guys have been working with the recipes so far. If you haven’t read them yet, Silverleaf, Ken, Catalina and a few others have added their own ‘twists’ to the method which are very clever, so make sure you’re reading all the comments as well. Whatever works the best for you is the way to go. Catalina has already posted pics of her system on our Facebook page for those of you that want to take a look by clicking the link by my name.
Having a hard copy of the recipes and a sample chip will be way more useful for you that just storing the recipes on your computer. (And as some of you have already experienced, it is the best way not to lose them should something happen to your computer.) I anticipate many more of you actually using these recipes. There is something about actually seeing the color in the actual clay, that will get you motivated to start using them.
@Marion: As far as which colors to buy, you will eventually need 1 block of every color, because chances are, if Premo makes it, I will use it in a recipe. But the most popular colors are White Translucent (aka Frost), Black, White, Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow, Ultra Marine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Zinc Yellow, Green, Purple, Orange, Turquoise, Fuchsia, Ecru, Pearl, Gold and lastly all the rest. Of course with the new colors coming, I will be using more of them. Who can resist great colors anyway?
@Cindy Lietz from Facebook Polymer Photo Gallery: Thank you so much for the list of Premo! colours Cindy. Seems I have a way to go! I’ve always worked in Fimo, which is the only polymer clay available in stores in my area – in fact I’ve found the name “Fimo” to be the generic term for polymer clay in the UK for most people, except for devotees of course. But I’ve now found an on-line resource for Premo! and I’ll be adding colours with each new card you pubish. Up till now I’ve been more interested in the videos each week, but now I can’t wait till the next colour card appears, it will be like magic creating new colours! Thanks again Cindy, so glad I found you!
@Marion: Just wanted to say hi from another UK Premo user. :) I live in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.
Cindy, although I do most things the same as you do, there were a couple of great new tips on this video. I did print up and cut out a whole bunch of recipe cards some time ago, but when I started thinking about how I would keep track of my color chips as they were baking, I couldn’t come up with a good idea. Now I know how to do this in volume!
Great ideas….another fine tute.
Very good tute ! I do what you taught -but I throw my left-overs in a covered sheet. It is in my scrap box. Next time I will do it your way. Colors at a glance -it’ll work for all of us. Many thanks for the tips……..;)
Fantastic tutorial! Now I understand how to measure “parts” Love the suggestion on storing the colors palette samples in the bag. Now to find the time to print the cards make and bake chips! Thank you Thank you for making life easier in the clay world. :)
Thanks Cindy for another great tutorial. I’m glad to see that I was using the cutters and mixing the recipes correctly. However, my recipes are not printed out; i will have to do something about that! Thanks for the tip for saving left over mixed recipes – I put a couple in the bag without the name and it got mixed up.
Thanks Cindy- I absolutely love your color recipe cards. I do it like you do, with one exception. I make all my color “chips” and etch the number on the back and then bake them. Then I put them in a glass jar. I have the recipes stored in a plastic box by category. (green, red etc) I find that if I am looking for a color it is easier to me to find it in the jar and then look up the recipe to make it. Plus I can put them next to my other colors or project etc. Great tip on using the square, I was using a round cutter and it is alot harder to cut fractions- no idea why I never tried the square . : )This is money well spent so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!!!
Cindy, When filing these, do we put them with the same colors like ; blue cards with the other blue cards? or do we put them in order of the numbers?
I think I am going to run out of ink before all these things get done printing. and I don’t think I have all of them downloaded. I am showing 88 cards? If I am missing some. I have some work cut out for me. LOL
@Brenda: I think it’s a personal choice, I have them filed by color and then in each color by code number, I am in the process of printing out a second set of cards (as if making my samples isn’t hard enough with one set) and organizing them in palette order, and then on top of that, I’m printing out the picture that goes with each palette and keeping them in Vol. order, and I like Silverleaf’s idea of the magnet color chips, this tutorial couldn’t have come at a better time as I’m starting the design phase for a studio and Silverleaf’s idea has given me the idea to put a sheet of metal on one of the walls to place the color chip magnets (thanks Silverleaf wonderful idea).
sorry miss counted. 176 that is 2 cards to a page.
And I just print them out on 4×6 size cards, you can get them at the dollar store, instead of using expensive printer paper and there’s no cutting them out, they fit right into a 4×6 recipe box.
Cindy, so glad you did this tutorial on how YOU follow the recipes. Using the shape of a square is brilliant, I had not thought of that. It is perfect for all the intricate, tiny amounts we have to measure! So appreciate this tip.
Thanks as always,
Debbie
Fire Gems Studio
This was sooo cool! I was doing some of the tips already, but it took me awhile to figure it out. I just started to work on the color palettes last month. Now, that I watched the tute here is another suggestion that I do that may help everyone out.
Because I was working on do so many at one time I needed to make things go a little faster. So, I bought a little jewelry finding box that has 50 tiny little snap boxes and two larger boxes (it came with a tiny spoon and tweezers) and is only 10″ x 7 1/4 ” and 2″ deep. (Of course, you can find it at Michaels!) This is great to hold your jewelry findings but it works super holding a small piece of pure color clay! I labeled each one and placed a small conditioned piece rolled out to the thickest setting on the pasta machine. This way all I have to do is pull out the “pure” colors I need for the recipe I’m making. Since they are already the same size I just cut out the sections I need and mix them together! I use a very tiny cutter. It can be a challenge to make a 1/16″ but it can be done and I hardly have any left over. I will have just enough to make my chip.
Also, I print all my cards, in the particular palette, on one sheet of paper with the palette photo at the top. I put them all in a 3 ring binder in a protective sheet in case the chip, if one falls off, I won’t lose it. I file them by volumn number with the A series one side and B-series on the other side. This saves me time I don’t have to cut them out, they are together by palette, and you can flip through them and rearrange them how ever you like.
So, far I love it and I’m almost caught up! Plus, I love leafing through them. I just admire the beautiful colors Cindy has dreamed up for us!
I’ll post a photo of my book on Cindy’s Polymer Clay FB page so you can see what I’ve done. Maybe it will work for you, too!
@Catalina: That’s what I’ve started doing! Like you said It’s nice to have the color picture at the top with the recipes below and the 3 ring binder works perfect for this. :)
@Catalina: Love your idea of having the package colors conditioned, sheeted, and ready to go for the recipes. This will come in handy as I start a mixin’!
Dang.. I should have waited to hear your commet Ken… I PRINTED EVERYONE OF THEM.. Shoot…. pft… oh well. I wish I would have save the little pics that came with them to. Too late now . I love all the tips. Thanks ;)
@Brenda: Just go back through the blog site and right click on the photo, you can copy and paste it to a doc to save or “Save as”, that’s what I’m doing.
thank you. that is wonderful, i know what i am doing today!
right, have printed the recipe cards, now just have to make the chips. Love the magnet idea as well as the file folder ideas too.
So clever,,,,,thanks!
someone is complaining about the cost of the videos ??????????? You’ve got to be kidding me. Nothing on this computer compares to Cindy and Dougs tireless, professional, helpful,sweet acts that they perform on this web site. Not only that, I could listen to Cindy all day, with that cute little voice and that accent…………I just love it. Plus where could you find all of that for such a small amount of money It’s perfect for me because I have no money and it makes me feel like I’m great because I’m a member. Yep, just look at me………I AM A MEMBER……..and very proud to be one….. Luv you Guys ………Cindy and Doug, be proud at what you accomplished……..
good Night ……..Honey
@Helen Sperring: Oh, I agree with you wholeheartedly, Helen. This membership has been vital to me and the cost very, very manageable, even though I could say I definitely have a low income. Actually, in comparison to the actual supplies and extras that I have purchased for this art form, the tutorials are the real bargain!!! I love Cindy’s voice, too, and her method of teaching us. I have bought a few other tutorials elsewhere on the web when there is a little extra money available and while they are very good written instructions, they just do not compare in any way with Cindy’s and Doug’s videos in quality, thoroughness or bang for my buck. I will be forever grateful that I found this website. Thank you so much, Cindy and Doug!
As some of you know, I use larger colour chips strung on ball chain, with the recipes written directly on stickers on the backs of the chips.
members.ozemail.com.au/~scef/stuff/images/KatoColourChips2.jpg
You can see all your colours in one glance, you can easily test colour combinations by putting chips next to or on top of each other without any paper backing getting in the way, and you just need to flip each chip over to see its recipe.
On the studio decorating front, they look pretty cool too. ;)
NB: For colours published as palettes, I make two chips: one goes onto the main chain which is arranged by colour; the other goes onto a second chain arranged in palette order, with neutral divider chips between each palette. I also have separate chains for Kato colours, Premo colours, and “everything else”.
Thanks again Ken :) I didn’t think of that either. Your just full of wonderful ideas …
@ Catalina- I like your idea of filing the recipes with the color palette on top and in a binder. Very easy to leaf through . I’m going to start making up color chips; plan to make two one for the binder and one on a chain so I can check how they match up with each other.
Loved the video, Cindy! I already knew how to follow the recipes, but it was so enjoyable watching you mixing your brilliant colors! Some smart tips and ideas in your tutorial, and now I’m loving everyone’s ideas here in the comments! It’s cool how each person eventually finds the method that suits them best.
The most important thing, of course, is to get those recipes mixed up in the first place. That’s been my problem…they’re stored nicely on my computer, but that’s only the beginning. This tute has inspired me to get my “rear in gear”…gonna get them all mixed & organized! Over the last year, I’ve only done a few complete palettes, as well as some “singled out” colors. I printed their recipes, mixed them up, & added the sample to the card…then made a 2nd, larger color chip, to add to my ball chain. It’s funny, I was going to link to Sue F.’s picture (to show her “fabulous!” color chip chain as an example.) But while I was dawdling over writing this (okay, I took a break to eat spaghetti,) she added it herself! My own color chip chain is rather puny in comparison, but I’m so inspired now…it’ll be looking SO much better in the coming weeks! My recipe cards will, too…thanks to this video tutorial!
Once again, thanks so much, Cindy…for your videos, your color recipes, and for this blog — where we can all come to learn & exchange ideas!
@Catherine R: Hi Catherine, so glad you’re back! I agree, this really IS the best place for polymer clay learning…and it’s great for inspiration, too. It’s also quite friendly, of course, so be sure to ask questions if you need help! ~Kat :D
@Wendy B: I’ll bet your jar of chips looks so pretty! Etching the # onto the back is a smart idea! Another idea (in case you haven’t tried it yet): you could make a 2nd chip of each color — one for the recipe card & one for the jar… :-) ~Kat
@Elizabeth K.: Elizabeth, your comments made me smile…love what you said about teaching your class what you “think” you know about color mixing. :-) What kind of class are you teaching? Anyway, couldn’t agree more about needing more hours in the day…although I think a lesson about that might be a waste of money. I’m pretty sure we’re stuck with only 24 — not that they can’t be put to better use, of course! Hugs, Kat
@Phaedrakat:
Hi Phaedrakat,
the people I teach, polymer clay to, are of a group we call (U. 3. A) University of the 3rd Age.
That is people about from 50yrs, that want to learn just about anything, without too much expense, languages, writing, speechmaking, greeting card making which I have taught for over 12 yrs, and now of course the Poly .
Anyway I am having fun.
The tutors, like me, are voulunteers,not paid.
I do it to keep me focused, and of course to be out there and make friends. Have been doing it for about 3/4yrs.and of course am still learning myself. Have one student who is a Cindy gal and so we can really talk about what we have done each week, so nice.
I just love it when a student takes what you say and runs with it in her own manner. That is where I get my enjoyment of it, to see they have learnt a technique and have become creative with it.
Sharon
The Makins Brand of cutters are what I have, and look similar to Cindys, so look up Makins and see where you go to get them.
They have a lot of lovely shapes. Not Excy.
Bye
love
Elizabeth K.
XXXXXXXX
I am learning some cool things from you guys! That is so awesome! It is like being part of a Polymer Think Tank!
Thank you so much for sharing your neat ideas and your clever ways of going about your polymer clay color mixing. This thread is becoming an excellent information resource for all clayers. I sure wish I had a place like this to come to when I started learning about polymer clay.
Well, I have been very busy printing my recipe cards and mixing the colors. I thought the original colors from Premo where pretty on their own, but after mixing these colors, it was amazing to see the outcome. Just a question, I have all of Cindy’s videos including her Basic course, but where does one start? I will be making the bullseye cane, stripe, skinner blend, etc with my new color palletes but should one make a lot of canes of each of the tutorials? Thanks for your help-))
@CatherineR: Sorry Catherine to not get to your question sooner. As far as where to start, I would just start with the course and go through each video one at a time from the beginning. Try as many of the techniques and tips as you can before moving on to the next one.
When it comes to making canes, I wouldn’t make a ton of each one, it isn’t really necessary. I like to keep the canes small so that I can move on to more designs without using up all my clay. It is nice to have a selection of different canes to use in your projects.
If you have moved on to a harder cane and are having trouble with it, you can go back to a simpler one and try to perfect your skills before moving on. The nice thing about having all the videos in your library is that you can go back to them over and over until you really understand how to do the technique. (That is something that is impossible to get with a live class.)
Try not to get overwhelmed with all that is available at the library. Just do one thing at a time and enjoy the process. Don’t worry about making mistakes. If I hadn’t made plenty of them I wouldn’t be here today.
If you have any questions along the way, you can use the search box at the top of the page to find articles and comments that will help you tremendously. If after doing a search you haven’t found your answer, make sure to ask here at the blog and myself or another member here will help you out.
If you have learned something that would be helpful to someone else, do make sure to answer them as well. I think you will find this to be a very supportive and creative community and that everyone helps each other out.
Enjoy your clay Journey
The great thing about this site is EVERYONE’S input/.I love the inspiration eveyone has. Cindy you and Doug arethe greatest and most generous
Hi Cindy…Can you tell me where to get the square cutters you use on the color recipe tutorial. I looked at Michael’s in Nanaimo but couldn’t find them…Thanks, Sharon
@Sharon W: At my Michael’s the cutter’s I brought are over in the cake/baking area they’re 3 or 4 graduated sizes on a card, there are also other sets as well, mine are sold by Wilton and they’re used for cutting fondant icing. hope this helps.
Thanks so much Cindy for your response and for your “beginners guide” on a starting point. I have read through most of the blog entries and do find that everyone here is supportive of each other. I just finished making all of my color chips and made 2 additional squares, 1 to put with your color pallettes and the other to put with it’s color category. I will try really hard to start from the beginning and not jump to the more difficult ones, but you know Cindy you make them all look easy! You are a great teacher and I am trying to encourage my daughter to sign up too. Thanks for being an inspiration to us all.
I just wanted to say that I made a start on my magnetic colour chips last night – I’m being systematic and making up the recipes in order, and I’m finding it quite exciting.
As far as I can see the early recipes aren’t really grouped in palettes, although some of them do make pretty combinations (my favourite of these so far is 000-A – Fern Leaf, Pink Rhododendron, Twig and Parchment look awesome together). And there are no photos, so I only have a very basic idea of what the colour will look like.
The best thing about the process? Looking at a little pile of squares of clay and making an educated guess as to what colour it will mix into. I’m already pretty good at it, but I’m learning more every time I mix up a pile of squares – usually when I’m mixing I stick to a few colours (black, white, fuchsia, zinc yellow, turquoise, cobalt blue, ecru, pearl) so it’s great to get a feel for how other colours blend.
It’s also made me realise how much I prefer mixed colours to out-of-the-package ones, which can look kind of flat and “plasticky”. They mostly don’t have the depth and richness of custom colours – mix up some fuchsia and ultramarine to make purple and compare it to the package purple and you’ll see what I mean.
Another good thing – mixing up the recipes makes me aware of colours that I wouldn’t normally use, because I have my usual favourites that I stick to. I usually hate orange, everything from yellow-orange to warm reds. But when I mixed up Cindy’s 002-1a Sunflower Petal (dark) which is definitely in that range, I was surprised at how much I liked it.
@Silverleaf: Wow, Anna — I’m feeling inspired by your inspiration! And your love of color, of course…actually, I just wanted to say I’m excited about how pretty your magnetic color chips are going to be! I sure hope we get to see a photo… ;D
Have fun, Kat
@Phaedrakat: Yeah, I’ll definitely add photos to the Facebook page when I’m done!
In fact I’m in the middle rearranging and organising my tiny studio which is 8′ x 9′ (with part of the room taken up by the bulkhead of the stairs) so I probably should take pics of the whole room as well. I’m one of these people that’s naturally quite messy and disorganised, so the only way I can be productive is to force myself to become very organised.
I’m really happy so many people like the magnets idea! I think it will really help us to get an eye for what colours work together. It’s wonderful that Cindy creates beautiful palettes for us, but maybe this could help us all feel more confident about creating our own palettes.
You gals and guys are all so inspiring to me! Yard work and other things have taken me away from the clay recently, but I am really hoping to get back to claying this weekend and trying to make up some color chips. I really, really want to do Anna’s trick of magnetic chips, too, to play around with and arrange on a magnetic board! That just sounds like such fun :)!
Okay, I’ve uploaded a few pics of the magnetic chips onto the Facebook Gallery Page if you want to have a look.
So far I’ve done the first 20 palettes, and I have the next 6 waiting to be labelled and magnetised as well… might be a while before I get up to date!
@Silverleaf: They look so cool! You did a great job!
When I use the pasta machine to roll out
thin sheets, I am getting a wave in the sheet, is this
normal or am I doing something wrong??
@Stephen S: Hi Stephen, that is a pretty common problem. I actually answered it the other day in another thread. I typed “pasta machine thin sheets” in the search box at the top of the page to find the reference. Sometimes you have to sift through the comments to find answers that you may be looking for, but you can usually “get to the gold” pretty quickly.
For your convenience, I provided a direct link by my name that will take you to the reference comment.
It’s great to see comments, questions and interest on many of these “older tutorials”. Of course, they are mostly all new to me. When I mix colours, I actually use a small scale to weigh the clay. If I see I will need the equivalent of 1/4 of a package (14g) for a project, I can convert the proportions to weight per colour to obtain a mix. It’s very quick and easy.
As Cindy has often suggested, it is better to use less clay and have more left for other projects. I like to have micro-canes and I have been “conditioned” to hate waste (my Mom was a teen in the Depression of the 1930’s, and we can learn a lot from that era). Anyway, my scale was purchased from Lee Valley Tools; I found it when I ordered my MicroMesh sanding pads. It’s the Precision Pocket Scale; it is accurate to 1/10 of a gram and I think it cost around $15. (CAD)
I haven’t yet made the colour chips. I was leaning toward a strung set (similsr to Maggie Maggio’s), but I now think that I’ll also do a card or binder set at some point. I’d love be able to PLAY with all those colours LOL
Cindy – Thanks for helping me to get straightened out with my password for the Beginners Course. I have now watched all 39 videos and can’t wait to get back to my clay station. I have worked periodically with clay in my crafting workshop but your details have given me many tips to try, especially the caning and colour mixing ideas. Keep up the great work.
Take care.