I have been wanting to talk about this all week, ever since I finished making All Of The Millefiori Canes that will make up my 2026 offerings. (Not that I am ruling out the possibility of inspiration striking, but this is what I want to begin with). Eighteen color families, with three designs in each family. That’s it.
Historically, I have had way more color families than that. And I have had anywhere from one to six designs in each family. But this year, I want to simplify everything. If I could narrow the choices down even further, I would, but eighteen color families feels “right” to me. It’s what allows me to have enough different blues, and enough different pinks, and every color in between.
I’ll admit there’s a little voice nagging me right now, telling me that I don’t really have a true RED color scheme, and that I should get on that immediately. But for now I am just telling that voice, “there’s red in the Rainbow color scheme, and the Circus color scheme, and the Pink color scheme, and the Campfire color scheme, so just stop nagging me!!” But now that I think about it, that little voice might be right. There really is no true red. In which case, I guess I might add a 19th color family sometime this year. If you know me at all, though, you will know that I dislike odd numbers, so I can’t add Red unless I also add some other color. But what?
I over-complicate everything.
Anyway, let me introduce you to a few new members of the Polka Dot Cottage family: Cloudy, Teal, and Celadon
Cloudy is my answer to the Pantone color of the year for 2026, Cloud Dancer. Like most of my color schemes, it begins with three colors (in this case translucent, pearlescent, and beige), which I mix with each other, and with bits of white and black baby blue. (Yes, black felt too intense for this, so I decided to substitute baby blue, which keeps it light, and helps to reinforce the whole “sky” idea.)
Cloudy is really the only neutral in my collection, and by far the most light and desaturated.
After Cloudy, I set to work trying to bring Teal to life. I have been eager to introduce a teal-based color family for some time, but I had difficulty choosing the two colors to feature alongside the teal clay. I eventually settled on forest green and navy blue. It came out pretty much as I expected it to, and I do like it, but somehow it didn’t exactly scratch the itch I was trying to scratch. And so a third color family was born:
Celadon is my current favorite. I could look at these colors all day. And I do, via the ring I made for myself and have been wearing basically every day for the last two weeks 😁
Celadon combines teal with olive and mint, along with the usual pinches of white and black. I’m in love. I want a Celadon Jubilee version of everything I use. I’ve got the ring, a pair of big circular earrings, a bangle bracelet, and a pen (with teal ink!), so far. At some point, there will be a crochet hook with my name on it, too. I will use up the whole cane on selfish artistry if I’m not careful!
In addition to these three brand new color schemes, I’ve added some new designs to existing color schemes, so that every color would have a Calico (tiny flowers), a Jubilee (bold kaleidoscopic), and a Strata (messy stripes) version. The images above show all of the new additions to old color schemes that I have done this year.
It’s been a clayful January, let me tell you. And I haven’t stopped at just filling up my millefirori cane library. I’ve made some actual finished products. Many, as I mentioned earlier, went straight into my own personal collection 😁
But others are for you, in the shop, ready to go to a loving home: bracelets, rings, earrings, and pens!
Now, about that potential Red color scheme… do I really need to explore that? Should one of you maybe talk me out of it for my own sanity? Please?
P.S. I had some trouble this week with my site crashing. I think maybe I’ve fixed the problem, but if you find that the site doesn’t load, or you get 503 or 500 errors, please let me know at lisa@polkadotcottage.com! (I will assume, if you can read this, but you can’t access the site, that you are reading via the email newsletter. If that’s the case, you can just reply to the email.) Thank you!
