One of the reasons why I love polymer clay so much is because you can mix any colors together to create a brand new custom polymer clay color recipe to fit your project! There are so many polymer clay color options you can buy from the store, but so many projects can be elevated by mixing colors to create different shades and color palettes with your polymer clay!

Summer is coming and I have so much extra clay I wanted to see what I could create with the clay I already had. This blog will show you how I color mix polymer clay to get a fun summer color palette recipe with polymer clay.

What You Need To Color Mix Polymer Clay

To mix your polymer clay to create custom colors you will need the following tools,

• Polymer clay (Sculpey Souffle is my favorite)
• Circle or Square polymer clay cutter
• Polymer clay cutting blade / Exacto knife to divide the clay
• (optional) Polymer clay pasta machine to roll the clay
• Your favorite tools to create your polymer clay earrings and accessories! (Find cutters on Etsy here!)

Research Your Color Palette And Color Theory

PINTEREST can be your best friend for this step! The best way to create a color is to have a plan for the colors you want to create. Use Pinterest to find a color palette or to save images of colors that resemble what you want to create!

This water bottle my daughter got from the Dollar Tree was my inspiration for my summer color palette,

Once you have your color palette picked out, this is where your elementary art class comes in handy! 😆

Knowing the basics of color theory and mixing primary colors blue + yellow will result in a green shade, versus a Yellow + Red color mix will result in an orange shade, and a Red + Blue will result in a purple shade, will help when trying to match your clay colors.

Preparing Your Polymer Clay For Mixing

When you are mixing your polymer clay you want to keep track of how much of each clay color you mix so that you can recreate that color any time! It’s important to cut each color with the same proportions and same clay cutter.

TIP! I like to start in small batches. Since you are creating a color recipe, all you will need to do in the end to make a large batch of the color is to multiply the proportions (Like a real recipe!!) Starting with a small sample will allow you to throw it away with no guilt if you mess up… been there!!

1. Roll out your base color clay in a pasta machine
2. Then using your circle clay cutter, cut out several circles of each color
3. Using the polymer clay blade, cut each circle into even(ish) 8 triangles
4. Repeat this for each base color you will be using (in my case, I am starting with Pink and White)

Mix and Roll Out The Clay

When you are mixing clay to create your own Polymer Clay Recipes, you will make multiple passes with trying different proportions or adding different colors to try and meet your ideal color. It’s best to start lighter then add more color or different shades as you get closer.

Here's how to create your own polymer clay recipe:

1. With the colors you want to mix, if you have a polymer clay pasta machine, roll out the clay. (Otherwise use an acrylic roller and twist the clay by hand)

2. Keep folding the clay and rolling it until the clay is a solid color.

4. Take a sip of coffee :) You deserve it. *cheers!!*

5. Keep adding clay colors until you have reached the color you are happy with, keeping in mind:

1. How much of each color did you add, so you can recreate it!
2. The color wheel and color theory

Polymer Clay Color Recipe For Summer

Here is how I mixed my polymer clay for a summer palette and the polymer clay Sculpey Souffle recipes!

Summer Dress Pink	1 igloo 3/8 guava
Robins Egg Blue	1 igloo 1/8 sea glass 1/8 jade
Grapefruit Coral	1 guava 1 pumpkin

 

Summer Dress Pink Clay Color Recipe

Robins Egg Blue Clay Color Recipe

Grapefruit Coral Clay Color Recipe

 

Using Black Clay In Polymer Clay Color Mixing

When you use black paint, black paint kinda over-powers all of the other colors and will turn your entire paint palette into a grey/black mush.

Using black when color mixing polymer clay will make the original color a deep darker color. Here is one of my favorite polymer clay color recipes by CreoClay, and it was so shocking how the black turned this recipe into a deep dark green,

Do I have To Use A Special Color Mixing Clay Cutter?

NO! I like to use the clay cutters I have on hand to cut out my initial proportional shapes (circles and triangles), and then cut into even triangles with a clay cutting blade. As long as your colors are cut using the same cutter and same proportions you don’t need a special cutter.

What Clay Should You Use When Mixing?

I like using Sculpey Premo and Sculpey Souffle best when I’m creating polymer clay earrings and polymer clay accessories. However, I find that Sculpey Premo can get soft really quickly especially with how much you’re rolling and combining colors. Sculpey Souffle seems to stand up to color mixing much better!

Can You Color Mix Sculpey Souffle and Sculpey Premo Clay?

YES! You can mix the two different types of clays and colors together. Both have a similar bake time and temperature and this is totally OK! Doing this can open a lot more doors for making color mixing easier, I know when I go to a craft store there are always a lot more Sculpey Premo colors, but I love the texture of Sculpey Souffle clay.

Here are my favorite polymer clay recipes by LuLuCutters - she has mixed both Sculpey Premo and Sculpey Souffle in these recipes

What To Make With Your Custom Polymer Clay Color Recipes

I hope this gave you the tools and methods you needed to mix your own polymer clay and create your own polymer clay color recipes for your next project

If you are wondering what you can create with your new polymer clay colors, here are some ideas for polymer clay bookmarks and polymer clay accessories you can create!

• Super Easy Polymer clay bookmark
• 5 Polymer Clay Accessories Ideas (That aren't earrings!!)