How to Mix Polymer Clay Colors
What Makes Colors so Important for Jewelry?
We polymer clay jewelry artists all sense the importance of color! Setting out the colors for your next slab or cane is one of the first steps in a new project. We enjoy picking just the right color to bring our vision alive!
But did you know how important color is in people’s buying decisions?
People make up their minds about a product within 90 seconds, and color is the most important deciding factor for a majority of people.
“Colors are the number one influencing factor in purchases for almost 93% of people.”
“One of the greatest assets and one of the easiest ways to sway decision or attract an emotive response – or alienate a consumer – is through colour.”
Your color choices directly impact sales conversions! Picking the right color combinations for your polymer clay is really important for making those sales!
Doesn’t Polymer Clay Come in Already-Mixed Colors?
It sure does! Most of us start out using these colors straight from the packages. This keeps us happy for a while. Soon, though, there’s a project that needs a lighter shade of yellow, or a brighter pink- and ZIP! You’re off on a color mixing adventure!
As you begin trying to make the color you see in your mind’s eye, you soon discover that the color theory you learned in high school art class wasn’t all that accurate. Sure, some yellow mixed with some blue does make a green, sort of, but it definitely isn’t the shade you wanted. You try varying the proportions of blue and yellow, and the green is still not what you want.
You spend several hours experimenting with various color mix combinations, and still don’t get exactly the color you want. You end up frustrated with the time you’ve spent and the amount of clay you’ve wasted making no-good colors!
Maybe Mixing my Own Colors isn’t Such a Good Idea?
On the contrary! Although polymer clay brands put lots of effort into developing their color lines, as you grow as a polymer clay artist, you’ll inevitably find colors that you can imagine and visualize that just don’t fit in any of the pre-made colors.
Here’s where Clay Color Recipes can help you! We spend the time doing the research and making zillions of test color mixes to find great shades that are easily made from our clay mixing recipes.!
What Clay Color Recipes can do for you!
And we develop Color Palettes that give you SIX colors at a time that ‘sing’ gloriously together. You don’t need to spend your valuable time trying to improvise the colors mixes you want. With Clay Color Recipes, it’s easy to find a palette that’s great for your project so you can get right down to mixing and making!
You can mix this Pale Dawn palette using just three colors of Sculpey Souffle plus Igloo (white).
But wait!
Can you be sure that the test colors mixed by Clay Color Recipes, the color you see on your screen and the color in the recipe you print out and mix are all the same?? Yes, you can. We have a reference point for each of our colors- the Hex Color Code.
Hexcode colors look like this. How does it work?
Nope, it’s not some kind of spell you cast! It’s a highly specific method of referring to multiple nuances of color. Used by programmers and decorators, illustrators and fashion designers, the hex color code reference lets you communicate to others the exact shade you want- kind of like a super-precise version of Pantone colors.
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Our next blog post dives into How Hex Color Codes Work.
What you get when you buy a recipe from Clay Color Recipes
Each color recipe you buy from Clay Color Recipes includes detailed instructions for mixing the colors including photographs and diagrams and the hex color code. All you have to do is google that color code, and, BINGO!, you have an independent reference for what the color looks like!!
Special Welcome to Clay Color Recipes
As a Special Welcome to Clay Color Recipes we are offering you FREE the recipe for mixing a special shade of Spring Lilac, using just two base colors of Sculpey Souffle plus Igloo (white)! Enter your email and we’ll get the FREE Spring Lilac color recipe straight to your inbox- and we’ll also get you signed up to receive fresh posts from this color blog twice monthly!
Enter your email address here to receive the Spring Lilac Color Recipe- and you’ll never miss a fascinating blog post from Clay Color Recipes!
This sample color recipe contains basic mixing information. The colors and palettes you buy on Etsy are loaded with more hints and tips about mixing your perfect colors!
See you soon to tell you some fascinating facts about Hex Color Codes and how they work!!