Shirley

Eight members and two guests were in attendance at our January meeting. Jane welcomed the guests and began the meeting with Show and Tell. Members shared some fabulous clay projects they had made.
**PROGRAM:** Lee Ann K. taught us a technique for making **large hollow vessels**. The vessels were made over a glass form of our choosing. After baking, the clay was cut in half and removed from the glass form. It was then glued back together and smoothed before adding a second, decorative layer. As always, Lee Ann’s clear instructions and helpful guidance made for an excellent lesson.
**BUSINESS MEETING:**
**MINUTES**: Not everyone had received the December minutes by e-mail prior to the meeting, so approval was postponed until everyone could check them for errors.
**OLD BUSINESS:**
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Annual membership dues were due. Jane asked members to pay our treasurer, Angela.
**NEW BUSINESS:**
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**Congratulations:**
Jane congratulated Angela on the publication of her new book, *Polymer Clay 101* which she co-authored. Angela talked a bit about the process of putting it together and announced that she had some copies available for sale to guild members.
Jane also congratulated member Lee Ann for having her mica shift challenge project published in the most recent issue of *Polymer Cafe* Magazine.
Jane also had a project published in the challenge article. Congratulations also went to Angela for having a project article published in the same magazine.
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**Election of Officers for 2011:** The following new officers were elected:
**President** – Shirley C.
**Vice President** (programs) – Angela M..
The following officers will continue in their offices:
**Web Master and Treasurer** – Angela M.
**Secretary** – Penni Jo C.
The following positions were changed from elected to volunteer:
**Bottles of Hope Coordinator** – Nance R.
**Librarian** – Jane L. and Lee Ann K. volunteered to assist
**Photographer** – Ruth Mitchell
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**Challenges:**
1.
**Polymer Cafe Challenge**- Wearable Art: Entrants need only send in a picture of the piece, a brief description, and their inspiration. The official entry form from the magazine must be used – no photocopies. Members were encouraged to mention our guild in their entries.
Information about a **bead contest** will be e-mailed to members later.
**NEW BUSINESS:**
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Web Master Angela M. reported that through our Web site, we have had several **requests for beginner classes**. There was some discussion, including the issue of whether we should charge a nominal fee for such a class, in order to cover materials and time. The group decided to postpone any decision until more thought could be given to the matter.
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Jane asked whether anyone wished to meet for a **play day** on the **5th Saturday of January**. She will check with Hobby Lobby as to whether our meeting room will be available and let us know.
**REPORTS:**
**Programs**: Our schedule for upcoming programs is:
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**February** – Kaleidoscope Canes with April (with Sue as a backup)
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**March** – Mosaics with Angela (tentative)
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**April** – Retreat? Penni Jo has been working on this, but it is not definite.
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**May** – Penni Jo may teach?
**Treasurer:** Angela reported a balance of $462.93, not including the dues which have been paid today. We have 10 members.
**Bottles of Hope Project:** no report
**Guild Library:** Librarian Jane L. reported on our newest library items, *Polymer Clay Beaded Jewellery* by Isabelle Cheramy Debray and our latest issue of **Polymer Cafe** Magazine.
**Drawing for New Library Book:** No drawing was needed because we acquired Angela’s new book, *Polymer Clay 101* and also we received last month’s new book, *Foundations in Polymer Clay Design*, by Barbara McGuire. Since our subscription to *Polymer Cafe* Magazine is ready for renewal, neither will there be a drawing next month.
**January Raffle:** Items were donated by last raffle winners, Angela, Sue, and Ruth. Winners of the raffle were Jane, Teresa (guest) and Angela
**February Swap:** Next month we will have our bi-monthly swap. The theme will be “Love Is in the Air.” Jane encouraged members to use their imaginations to interpret this theme.

We had a great October meeting! Six members attended, but sadly, there were no guests this month. Jane began the meeting with **Show and Tell**. As requested, some members brought their state fair entries so everyone could get a better look. Others brought recent creations, some of which were made during our polymer clay demonstration at the state fair.
**Program:** Our own resident author, Angela (“Crafty Goat”), taught us how to cover a business card case with carved faux ivory, a project from her new book, Polymer Clay 101, which will be published in January 2011. She brought several beautiful examples which she had carved. For many of us, this was our first experience using a lino carving tool. No one finished, but Jane urged us to bring our finished pieces next time. Many thanks to Angela for an excellent lesson!
**Business Meeting:**
Minutes from the September meeting were approved.
**Old Business:**
**Guild Retreat Planning:** Jane announced that Penni Jo is currently in California, at Sandy Camp, a polymer clay retreat, doing demonstrations and gathering ideas for a possible retreat for our guild.
**Guild Show April, 2011 at Midwest City Library:**
Jane reminded us to be planning for our show in April, suggesting that our state fair entries will be appropriate, but that we will need additional pieces. Shirley reported that there are three display cases, and if memory serves, each is approximately 5′ wide and contains three levels for display. We will be able to display our guild information, as well as leave business cards. Nance suggested that part of the space be used to display a few basic polymer clay tools and some books, and we all agreed. The library will provide books from their collection, if we need to fill space.
**State Fair Re-Cap:**
Jane asked for fresh thoughts or ideas for next year regarding our state fair display and demo. For the demo, it was suggested that we need to have more sign-up sheets for visitors who are interested, and that a member should do a follow-up call or email with an invitation before the next meeting. Shirley volunteered to do that. She also suggested that we request a support behind our demo tables on which to hang our banner, such as the lattice we had this year, as it was much better than bringing in something of our own for that purpose.
For the fair entries, we re-opened our discussion about whether to divide entries into hobby and professional categories, so that everyone would have a greater chance of winning a top prize. We decided not to do so, as each judge will have different ideas on what is good, and our group is very small at this point.
Several members voiced concerns about tightening the wording of our guidelines for entries: specifically, providing a definition of “beads” and writing more specific guidelines regarding the percentage of the entry that must be polymer clay. The question of adding a new category for “mixed media” was also brought up. Decisions will be postponed until next spring, in time for the 2011 fair.
**Paseo “Hold It” Show:**
Jane reminded us that the due date for entries into the Paseo Art Association’s container show is October 23rd. The entry fee is $25.
**New Business:**
There was no new business.
**Reports:**
**Programs:** April reviewed our upcoming meetings, and we planned several more as follows:
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**November:** Faux Cloisonne or Faux Enamel with Angela
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**December:** Members’ Ideas and Optional Swap
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**January:** Vessels with Lee Ann
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**February:**TBA
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**March:** Mosaic with Angela
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**April:** Kaleidoscope Canes with April
**Treasurer:** Angela reported that we have 10 members and a current balance of $490.39.
**Bottles of Hope:** No new report.
**Library Report:** Jane showed our newest library purchase, *Artists at Work: Polymer Clay Comes of Age*, by Pierrette Brown Ashcroft and Lindly Haunani.
**Drawing for New Library Book:** All agreed we should order Penni Jo’s phoned-in suggestion, **Mixed Media Mosaics: Techniques and Projects Using Polymer Clay Tiles, Beads, and Other Embellishments**, by Laurie Mika.
**October Swap:** Artistic covered pens were brought and swapped by Angela, Lee Ann, Jane, and Nance (see picture).

November Raffle: As winners of the September raffle, Penni Jo and Shirley will provide items for November’s raffle.

There were six members present at our first meeting of the new year. We began with Show and Tell. Angela M. has been asked to create a piece for the next Synergy. She showed her “Idea Tree,” which she had created from old spools, recycled materials, and polymer clay. She also showed two items she had bought from the new Art-O-Mat dispenser at City Arts Center in Oklahoma City.

Program

Lee Ann presented two excellent techniques, making faux wood and creating a pendant using a different mica shift technique, along with a handout with very clear directions.

Business Meeting

Old Business

**Election and Installation of Officers:** The following officers were elected by acclamation:
* President – Jane L.
* Vice President – April G.
* Secretary – Penni Jo C.
* Treasurer and Web Master – Angela M.
The position of librarian will be decided later.
Annual dues were collected by the treasurer.
Next month’s meeting will be held at Southern Oaks Recreation Center, 66th and South Walker, on Wednesday, February 10, from 6-9 p.m..
There was no new business.
**Officers Reports:**
V.P April G. reviewed our upcoming meeting schedule:
* February 10 – Hollow Vessels with April G.
* March (10 or 13, TBA) – continuing Hollow Vessels with April
* April (10 or 14, TBA) – Penni Jo’s “pointy flowers” and leaf canes from Skinner Blend
* May – Color Collage project from Maggie Maggio’s color book
**Treasurer’s Report:** Angela reported a balance of $411.86, plus the dues that had been paid during the meeting. Our membership stands at 8.
**Bottles of Hope:** Nance again asked for volunteers to take over her Tuesday morning BOH project at Norman Regional Hospital, as she will have a schedule conflict beginning soon.
**Library Report:** Librarian Jane L. praised our latest purchase, Clay So Cute, by Sherri Haab, for having excellent tips and instructions and good “trendy” projects. She would recommend it for beginners and for teenagers.
**Drawing for a new addition for the guild library:** The DVD Intricate Kaleidoscope Caning, by Sarah Shriver, was drawn and will be purchased this month.
**Bi-Monthly Raffle:** April, Angela, and Jane were the raffle winners and will bring items for the March raffle.
**Announcements:**
The theme for the swap at February’s meeting will be “red and/or pink.”
Jane reminded us that our own Angela M.’s segment on HGTV’s That’s Clever will be aired Tuesday, January 19th.

Our December meeting was a lot of fun, with all eight members in attendance! Most brought Christmas ideas and projects to share, so we all went home with a wealth of new techniques and projects to try. April had made a wreath in the delicate, detailed style she is known for. Lee Ann brought a little Santa on a platform, surrounded by clay “candies.” Jane made a snowman from clear ornaments and provided a detailed handout, complete with color photos! Penni Jo and Jane had decorated Christmas balls with extrusions, transfers, and jewels. Angela did an interesting project incorporating a flocking product into her clay. Nance made a snowman pin. Penni Jo demonstrated a method for coating the inside of clear glass ornaments with packaged snowflakes, and Sue demonstrated her recent success making lentil beads.
Pictured here are
the projects by April,
Lee Ann, Jane, and
Penni Jo and Jane:



**Business Meeting:**
**Old Business:**
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**Field Trips:** Jane asked whether we would like to have more “field trips” like our November meeting at Elements Beadery, and several members were in favor of more such trips.
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**Meeting Location:** We also continued our discussion about changing our meeting place to Southern Oaks Recreation Center, the second Wednesday of each month, from 6-9 p.m. Penni Jo will check to see whether that time slot is open, and if it is, we will try to meet there in February to try it out.
**New Business:**
**Annual Guild Elections** will be held in January. Descriptions of the duties of officers are available online. We were reminded that it has been advantageous for an officer to serve for two years, although this is not mamdatory. After two years, Angela said she feels it is beneficial in most cases for a new person to take the position. We did make exception for treasurer/web master, as it is simpler to have one person continue in those positions. Although there were some conditional volunteers for librarian, the position was left open until storage issues can be addressed. After some discussion, the following slate of officers emerged:
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President – Jane L.
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Vice-President – April G.
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Secretary – Penni Jo C.
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Treasurer and Web Master – Angela M.
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Librarian – TBA
Nance R. will continue in two volunteer positions, BOH Coordinator and Photographer.
**Officer Reports:**
Program Schedule: Vice-President April G. reviewed our upcoming meeting schedule. Some of the dates depend upon whether we permanently change our meeting place and time:
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**January 9** – Mica Shift with Lee Ann
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**February 13** – (first evening meeting) – Hollow Vessels with April
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**March** (10 or 13, TBA) – continuing Hollow Vessels with April
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**April** (10 or 14, TBA) – Penni Jo’s “pointy flowers” and leaf canes from Skinner Blend
**Treasurer’s Report:** Angela reported a balance of $387.37 and 8 members.
**Bottles of Hope:** Nance asked for substitute instructors to teach at Norman Hospital beginning toward the end of January, as she will have a schedule conflict. Nance will be teaching children who are cancer patients at Baptist Hospital on Tuesday mornings.
She asked members to check for other area hospitals with cancer units, so we can begin more projects to give away Bottles of Hope. She also mentioned that we are running short of the medium-sized bottles, and those will be the best size to use with the children.
**Library Report:** Jane talked about our November purchase, *Food Miniatures*, and found inspiring ideas in *The Best of Stringing*, one of our December purchases. She found *Beading 101 and Beyond* a great resource for basic information.
**Library Drawing:** *Clay So Cute*, by Sherri Haab, was the winning book and will be purchased for our library this month.
**Announcements:** Angela Mabray’s taped segment for the television show *That’s Clever* will finally be aired on January 19th.
After the meeting, members who wished to participate did an exchange of Christmas projects.

This month our guild met at **Elements Beadery in Bethany, OK**, to learn about jewelry finishing techniques and the use of appropriate findings. Seven members were present. Thanks to Elements staff member, Pat Dorety, we had two delightful hours learning to solve our jewelry-making problems and exploring the many wonderful beads and findings at the store. Pictured (right), Pat helps several members complete projects they had brought with them.
After our visit, we held our business meeting over lunch at a nearby tearoom.

**Business Meeting:**
**Old Business:**
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**HOLD IT: THE CONTAINER SHOW:**
Congratulations are in order for members Penni Jo C.and Jane L., (polymer clay) and April G., (pottery/ceramics) who all have had pieces accepted in the Paseo Art Association’s juried competition. The show will run until November 28th. The Paseo gallery is open Wed. – Sat., noon until 4 p.m. The artists and their works are pictured at the end of this article.
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**Use of Guild’s Flickr Site:** Angela reported that she had carried out the group’s decision to reserve the use of our Flickr site for paid members only.
**New Business:**
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**Meeting Space:** Penni Jo reminded us to visit the larger meeting space at Southern Oaks Recreation Center, at 66th and S. Walker. The facility has good equipment, including an accurate baking oven. It is only available 6-9 p.m. weekdays, however, so we would have to change our meeting time.
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**One of Our Members is an Author:** Angela Mabray has been asked to be a co-author of a new polymer clay book, and has been working on the chapters she is responsible for. We congratulate our talented Angela on this well-deserved opportunity!
**Reports:**
**Upcoming Meetings:** V.P. April G. reviewed our revised meeting schedule:
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**December 12:** Members will show and explain Christmas items they have made
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**January 9:** Mica Shift with Lee Ann K.
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**February 13:** Hollow Vessels with April G.
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**March 13:** Hollow Vessels, continued
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**April 10:** Flowers from Skinner Scraps with Penni Jo C.
**Treasurer’s Report:** Angela M. reported a balance of $410.31, and a total of 8 members.
**Bottles of Hope:** Chair Nance R. reported that she will be doing the bottles with cancer patients who are under age 18 soon, at an (as yet) undisclosed location.
**Librarian’s Report:** Angela reported that our newest purchase, *The Polymer Clay Cookbook*, by Jessica and Susan Partain, contains a great recipe for a sugar scrub to help remove clay from your hands.
**Library Drawing:** Instead of drawing this month, we purchased for our library two books from the bead shop, *Beading 101*, published by Hot Off The Press, and *The Best of Stringing 2009*, an Interweave Press publication.
No raffle was held this month.



After a delightful lunch in a beautiful setting, several members went to the Paseo gallery to see our members’ work in the container show. Pictured are (l-r) Penni Jo, Jane, and April with their work. All works: © all rights reserved.

*Many thanks to Nance R. and Jane L. for graciously writing up these meeting notes in the absence of the secretary.*
Seven members were present at our October meeting. We had a great demonstration of the “Starry Night” technique from Jane Linn, with reminders and a graphic to show us to be sure to include three intensities of color in our design: very light, medium, and fairly dark, so it would make the design pop.
Penni Jo gave us a demo in making feathers using the Starry Night pattern we had just completed.
**Business Meeting:**
**Reports:**
**Upcoming Meetings:** April G. reviewed the meeting schedule:
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**November 21:** We will meet at Elements Beadery in Bethany, where a staff member will give pointers on finishing our jewelry.
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**December 12:** Christmas Decorations/Giftables
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**January 9:** Mica Shift Technique with Lee Ann
**Treasurer’s Report:** Angela reported a balance of $476.77.
**Librarian’s Report:** Jane L. reviewed our newest library purchase, *PolyPens: Polymer Clay Pen Sets* by Linda Peterson. She felt that it provides beginners with good instructions for making some fun and practical pen projects, as well as providing inspiring ideas for more advanced clayers.
**Old Business**
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**State Fair Guild Demo and Competition:** The group evaluated the project and made the following suggestions for the future:
1. Have a sign-up list at the demo table where interested visitors could list their phone numbers and e-mail addresses.
2. Add to the back of our guild handout flyer some basic information about polymer clay and supplies to bring to the first meeting or to get started.
3. Consider having members do the demonstration in shifts.
4. Members thought the display of our banner, raised and behind the demo table was excellent.
5. On the demo table, have a display of finished projects that show the diversity of the medium, along with a sign that says, “You can do this with polymer clay.”
6. We discussed adding two additional categories for the competition, one for childrens’ work, and one for miniatures. It was also suggested that we break beads and buttons into two separate categories.
**New Business:**
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**Meeting Space:** Penni Jo invited us to visit the spacious facility at Southern Oaks Recreation Center, where she teaches her Thursday night class. We have discussed the need for more space at our meetings, and this space would give us room to grow. However, it is not open on weekends, so we would have to change our meeting time.
**Announcements:** Angela updated us on several crafts shows and competitions in the area.
**Library Drawing:** The winning suugestion for purchase this month was *The Polymer Clay Cookbook: Tiny Food Jewelry to Whip Up and Wear*, by Jessica and Susan Partain.
**Show and Tell:** Guild members brought their state fair entries to show, and all were incredible! Most were put in the Hobby Lobby display case at the front of the store.
No raffle was held this month.