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September 2016 Meeting: Pumpkin & Fall Leaves Box

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pumpkin miceOur next guild meeting will be Saturday, September 10, 2016 from 1:30-4:30 p.m. at the Unity Church Fellowship Hall at 5603 NW 41st St., approximately Ann Arbor and NW 41st.

Chris Crossland and Karen Humphreys will show us how to make this decorative box featuring a pumpkin, fall leaves, and adorable mice. Following is Chris’ supply list and clays to bring:

Karen and I are so excited to be teaching the class at guild in September!!! We have designed a cute little box that we think will be fun to do. Here are the supplies you will need. If you already have leaf colors, feel free to use them. You will also need a mix for the pumpkin and the mice.

Clay (Premo)

You will need four fall colors for leaves – green, gold, yellow, and red. Suggested mixes are listed below, but you can choose any four colors, as long as they have quite a bit of contrast. We used the following colors for the entire project:

  • Cadmium red 1/2 block
  • 18K gold 1/2 block
  • Alizarin crimson 1/2 block
  • Cadmium yellow 1 block
  • Gold 1/2 block
  • White 1/2 block
  • Black 1 block
  • Spanish Olive 1 block

Mixes for leaves:

  • Red: 1 part cad red, 1 part 18K Gold, 1/2 part Alizarin
  • Green: Spanish Olive
  • Gold: 1 part gold, 1/32 part Alizarin
  • Yellow: 1 part cad yellow, 1 part 18K Gold

Mix for mice:

  • 1 part white, 1/2 part black

Mix for pumpkin:

  • 1/4 block cadmium yellow plus two 1/2” circles alizarin crimson (#1 thickness)

Mica Powders

For leaves:

  • Mink
  • Spring Green
  • Aztec Gold
  • Misty Lavender
  • Super Copper
  • Red Russett

For mice:

  • Silver

For pumpkin:

  • Dark Brown
  • Pumpkin Orange

Don’t worry if you don’t have some of these – we will have some to share.

Tools and Materials

Besides your usual clay tools, you will need Weldbond Glue or Bake & Bond and a small knitting needle for tendrils. You will also need the following circle cutters: 5/16″ (we will provide), 1/2″, 5/8″, and 1″. (If you are lucky enough to have a set of 7 tiny circle cutters that Myra sold at the retreat, the red one is 5/16″.)

We will provide the box, template for covering the box top, templates for leaves, and foil pumpkin form.

Minutes for August 2016 Meeting

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Recorded by Marsha Hinds

Penni Jo called the meeting to order and welcomed our two visitors, Diane and Pat. She then had the guild members introduce themselves and give a little bit of polymer clay background.

We had 20 members present and 2 visitors. We then went around the room for show and tell. Both members and guests had show and tell – lovely jewelry, bottles of hope, cabochons and other wonderful items were passed around for all to ooh and aah about.

Tom presented a great lesson on Transfer Papers. He had prepared a little goody bag for everyone so they could try out the technique. Another great program under our belt.

A motion was made and seconded to approve the July minutes as published.

Jane, Vice President, gave an update on upcoming programs: in September Chris Crossland will be coming in from Muskogee to give our program/lesson. NOTE: Remember that we will not be meeting at the fairgrounds in September, but at the Unity Church Fellowship Hall at 5603 NW 41st; approximately Ann Arbor and NW 41st Street. In October, Marsha will be presenting, in November Angela, and our Christmas party is in December.

Angela, Treasurer, gave the Treasurers report. We have 29 paid members.

Angel and Connie gave an update on our Bottles of Hope. Some were delivered to the Toby Keith Foundation, and they were much appreciated. They prompted the members to work on “kid-themed” bottles of hope at this time.

During old business, the Fall Specialty class was discussed. Deb Hart will be coming to teach us. We are still working out the final details. Check out her website (www.debhart.weebly.com) to get a feel for her work.

It was noted that next month is the month for our drawing, so if you won in July, bring a prize for September. The retreat had some goodie bags left, so Tom gave out Door Prize tickets, and Angela won this month. We will continue to do Door Prizes on the opposite months of drawings until he runs out of prizes.

August Meeting: Magic Transfer Paper

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Our next guild meeting will be Saturday, August 13, 2016 from 1:30-4:30 p.m. in the Contemporary Arts Center at the fairgrounds.

Tom Gibson will be presenting our lesson. This month we will be getting acquainted with Magic Transfer Paper and Color Me Magic Transfer Paper. A few meetings ago we had a suggestion that we wear name tags. This meeting seems like a good place to start, so we will provide our guild’s logo ready to transfer on a name tag of your own design. You choose the shape and size for your tag

Tools

  • Pasta machine, brayer or rod for rolling
  • Work surface
  • Scissors
  • Blades – flex, rigid, or zig-zag
  • Favorite claying tools
  • Pin back, eye pin or whatever you wish to use to secure your name tag
  • Any cutters you might fancy for your name tag
  • A tool for burnishing (bone folder, spoon, espresso tamper, finger, etc.)
  • Colored pencils, colored marking pens, alcohol ink or other coloring medium (not water-based prior to transfer, but after is fine)

Materials

  • 1/2 brick (1 oz) to 1 package Premo or Fimo (white or the lighter colors work better with the transfer paper)

Mini Project (if we have time): Ear bud holder

  • 1/4 brick Souffle (any color) for mini project
  • 2 ½” circle cutter
  • Optional – texture sheets or stamps

Minutes for July 2016 Meeting

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Minutes recorded by Deborah

There were 16 members at our JULY 9, 2016 meeting. There were lots of show and tell items. Check out the pictures on our Facebook page.  Many great prizes were won at our drawing.

Inches will be swapped four times a year.  Next time in October meeting with a Fall theme.  

AUGUST meeting – Tom will be teaching magic and colorful transfers.  

Don’t forget you can check out DVDs and magazines from the library.

Old Business

Bottles of Hope go to the Toby Keith Foundation for Children with cancer.

We have pages on facebook and yahoo.

New Business

State Fair is coming up. Entry deadlines are August 15th.

You can participate in the State Fair demo on September 18th.

Next regular meeting will be August 13, 2016, 1:30 pm at the Oklahoma Contemporary Art Center on the OKC Fairgrounds. 

Coming soon: Class in October by Deb Hart.

Minutes for June 2016 Meeting

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Minutes recorded by Shirley

There were fourteen members and no guests present at our June 11, 2016 meeting.

Seven members brought items to show, including several child-oriented Bottles of Hope. Tom will post photos on our Yahoo and Facebook pages.

Program: Jane and Penni Jo taught a very clever method of building a signature cane around our initials. They distributed an excellent handout with detailed instructions and diagrams. These cane slices will make a great way to sign our work. Several members completed their canes with excellent results.

Business Meeting

Officers Reports:

Secretary: Wendy moved to approve the minutes for the May meeting, and Jane seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.

Vice President: Jane listed the upcoming programs:

  • July – Tsunami Cane with Lee Ann
  • August – Using Transfer Paper with Tom

Treasurer: We have 29 members, including three new people who joined last month.

Bottles of Hope Coordinator: Connie reminded us that we are going to begin providing Bottles of Hope for juvenile cancer patients through the Toby Keith Foundation. She urged us to focus on making child-oriented bottles. The organization serves about 100 children a year, averaging about 12 per month. Connie has had little cards made to go along with each bottle. The cards will tell the story of Bottles of Hope and list our Web address. Wendy will help deliver the bottles.

Connie also suggested that to prevent bottle lids from falling out, people make longer, deeper shafts on their bottle stoppers to support the weight of heavy lids.

Librarian: Jane reported that the book we ordered last month is not yet in. Tom and his daughter, Alex, donated a book on jewelry making, which contains a section on polymer clay. Penni Jo donated the tutorial that she uses in her beginner class, which teaches leaf, vine, and flower making. Thank you all for donating to our library.

Webmaster: Myra mentioned questions regarding who can join our regular Yahoo group, but no decisions were made.

Photographer: Tom has been uploading our meeting pictures on our Yahoo and Facebook pages. Penni Jo suggested we look into paying for Flicker Pro, which allows unlimited pictures.

Old Business: The dates have been confirmed for next year’s retreat, which will be held April 6, 7, and 8, 2017.

There was no new business.

Raffle/Inchie Swap: There had been some confusion about the possible overlapping scheduling of these two activities. Inchies will be exchanged four times a year (January, April, July, and October), with seasonal themes. It was decided to hold a drawing every other month, regardless of when the inchie swap is scheduled. Our next drawing will be in July.

July 2016 Meeting: Tsunami Cane

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 Our next guild meeting will be Saturday, July 9, 2016 from 1:30-4:30 p.m. in the Contemporary Arts Center at the fairgrounds.

At this meeting, Lee Ann will be teaching us how to do Elissa Powell’s Tsunami Cane.

Tools

  • Pasta machine
  • Work surface
  • Blade
  • Brayer or rod for rolling
  • Favorite claying tools

Materials

  • 1/2 brick each of two contrasting colors of clay for Skinner blend (Fimo or Premo)
  • 1/4 brick of metallic silver (glitter) and white clay or gold clay
  • Scrap clay for base of bead (if we have time)

 This month, we will have our drawing, so if you won something at the last drawing, bring goodies for this one!

  We will also bring inchies with a “Summer” theme.

June 2016 Meeting: Signature Cane

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signatureOur next meeting will be Saturday, June 11, 2016 from 1:30-4:30 p.m. in the Contemporary Arts Center at the fairgrounds.

At this month’s meeting, Penni Jo and Jane will show us how to make and reduce a cane with initials for adding to polymer clay projects when finishing.

Materials:

  • Clay: Background = at least one full block of white [2 ounces] Letters = 1/4th block of very dark clay [we used black]
    NOTE 1: To create a crisp, clean design use black and white clay (or your choice of clay with very strong value contrasts)
    NOTE 2: these two colors need to be the same brand and the same softness of clay!
    NOTE 3: If using soft, new clay you may need to leach it at home before guild.

Tools:

  • Pasta machine or playing cards for hand-rolled clay
  • Roller: a brayer or acrylic rod to square up the cane
  • Work surface
  • Blades: one rigid and one flexible
  • Optional = acrylic disks for reducing canes, or scrap clay can be added to the ends of the finished clay to reduce the cane evenly
  • Even more optional: if you have a recent cane like a heart or other very simple cane you might be able to add it to the cane.