Shirley

We all felt so liberated after Sue McCarrell taught us to make our own shape cutters for use with clay, using galvanized metal and solder. How great it is to be able to create shapes that are not found commercially! We were also treated to another demonstration by Penni Jo on multicolor skinner blends for flower petals and laser transfer. She showed us some wonderful examples she had made. Such talented members! It was a great meeting!
**Business Meeting:**
**New Business:**
April G. discussed the possibility of participating in the DeluxeOK Craft Fair on May 9, in Oklahoma City. Some wondered whether we could get one booth as a group, but it was decided not to pursue the idea at this time.
President Jane L. asked members whether they had preferences regarding placement of the business portion of our meetings. We decided we should be flexible, tailoring the schedule around the needs of the instructor each time.
**Reports:**
Our **upcoming meeting schedule**, as reviewed by Vice President April G.:
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**March 14:** Polymer Clay Bookmarks with Nance
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**April 11:** Faux Stone with Jane
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**May 9:** Making Nametags, Share a Tip Day, & Rose Cane Technique with Penni Jo
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**June 13:** Inclusions in Clay with Nance
**Treasurer:** Our account balance is $657.50, and we currently have 8 paid members.
**Bottles of Hope:** Coordinator Nance is trying to get in touch with the publicity coordinator of Norman Regional Hospital to arrange ana event. We have a good number of bottles ready to give away to cancer patients.
**Guild Library:** Jane gave our newest purchase, **The Best of Bead and Button Magazine Polymer Pizzazz** a very good review.
**Library Drawing:** We decided to purchase two suggested additions to our library this month. They are **Elegant Gifts in Polymer Clay** by Lisa Pavelka and **Adapting Quilt Patterns to Polymer Clay** by Judith Skinner and Sarajane Helm.
**Swap:** No one brought items for this month’s swap.
March will be a raffle month. Last month’s winners, Sue M. and Angela M. will bring items to raffle, and our president asked that anyone else who would like to participate bring raffle items also.
**Upcoming swap themes** will be: **April: Blue; June: Fruit.**
Show and Tell: April, Jane, Nancy, Penni Jo, and Shirley brought items to show.

Eight members attended our January meeting, when Lee Ann Kelley shared her “Swirlies” technique for covering three-dimensional shapes, such as boxes or glass balls. She brought some inspiring examples for us to see. Using our extruders, we made long strings of clay in our chosen colors and used them to create intricate designs to cover an object. Everyone seemed to love the process and several commented how relaxing it was. Many thanks to Lee Ann!
**Business Meeting:**
Vice President April G. reviewed our upcoming program schedule:
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**February 14:** Soldered Cookie Cutters with Sue M.
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**March 14:** Polymer Clay Bookmarks with Nance
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**April 11:** Open
April circulated the list of suggested program topics, and the group brainstormed for more ideas. April will follow up on them.
**Other Reports:**
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**Library:** Jane L. reviewed our newest issue of *Polymer Cafe Magazine*. Penni Jo talked about a good book that is not in our library; *The Art of Polymer Clay: Millefiori Techniques*, by Donna Kato.
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**Bottles of Hope:** Coordinator Nance R. reported no new information. She will contact the PR Department of the hospital in Norman.
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**Treasurer:** Angela reported a balance of $379.47 and a total of 13 members. She also reminded us that annual dues are due this month.
**New Business:**
The following **new officers were elected**:
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**President:** Jane L.
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**Vice-President:** April G.
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**Secretary:** Shirley C.
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**Treasurer and Webmaster:** Angela M.
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**Librarian:** Jane L.
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**Bottles of Hope Coordinator:** Nance R.
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**Photographer:** Nance R.
**Announcements:**
Angela talked about the **DeluxeOK Craft Fair** to be held on May 9, at the Oklahoma State Fair Grounds in Oklahoma City. Applications are now being accepted for this juried event. The booth fee will be $30. More information is available at [http://www.deluxeok.net].
Penni Jo announced that she had 1-ounce bottles of high gloss polycrylic varnish for sale for $1.00.
**Library Drawing:** *Polymer Pizzazz*, from *Bead and Button Magazine* won the drawing and will be purchased for our guild library this month.
**Raffle:** November’s raffle winners brought items for this month’s raffle. January winners were Sue M. and Angela M. These winners will bring raffle items for the March raffle.
February will be a swap month, and the theme is Birds. Other upcoming swap themes are: April – Blue and June – Fruit.

Member Nance Ross’s instruction made making leaf canes easy, as she led the five other members present in making a Christmas tree ornament. Thanks also to Nance for her excellent instructional handout. Some participants managed to go on to decorate their trees, while others will finish them at home.
**Business Meeting:**
Angela reviewed the schedule as it stands for our upcoming meetings:
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**January 10:** Curly Strings with Lee Ann
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**February 14:** open
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**March 14:** Polymer Clay Bookmarks with Nance
**Reports:**
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**Library:** Jane gave a quick review of our two most recent purchases, *Making Beautiful Beads,* by Suzanne Tourtillott and *Polymer Clay and Mixed Media Together At Last*, by Christie Friesen.
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**Bottles of Hope:** Nance said that we have about 50 bottles completed. No firm plans have been made for how we will give them away.
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**Treasurer:** Angela reported income from the November raffle was $20. We spent $5.23 to ship our swap items to the Tulsa guild and to send a Bottle of Hope to Cindy M., leaving a new balance of $393.04. We currently have 13 members.
**New Business:**
**Elections:** Angela reminded everyone that new officers will be elected in January. The current list of nominees, including those who volunteered at the meeting, is:
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President: Jane L.
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Vice-President: April G.
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Secretary: Shirley C.
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Treasurer & Webmaster: Angela M.
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Librarian: Jane L.
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Bottles of Hope Coordinator: Nance R.
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Photographer: Nance R.
Angela asked that anyone else who would like to run for an office notify her by December 19th. She also thanked the current officers for their service this year.
**Membership Dues:** Angela reminded the group that our annual dues will be due in January. She will send out notices in the next couple of weeks with each member’s final amount due after discounts.
**Inclement Weather:** Members can watch the website and email list for meeting cancellation notices.
**Library Drawing:** Donna Kato’s new book, *The Art of Polymer Clay: Millefiori Techniques* was the winner and will be purchased for our library.
**Bi-monthly Swap:** No one brought items to swap this month. The theme for our next swap, to be held in February, is Birds. Next month’s raffle items will be brought by last month’s winners, Magi, Nance, Penni Jo, and Shirley.

There were ten participants at our November meeting, including two guests. We all had fun as Angela Mabray led us in making cute Christmas ornaments. Everyone seemed to have a slightly different take on the little mouse.
Member Sue M. gave everyone metal clay scrapers she had made. Thank you, Sue!
**Business Meeting:**
After introcuction of guests and members, Angela asked for reports.
**Reports:**
April G. announced our updated meeting schedule:
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**November 29:** Play Day in our regular meeting room at Hobby Lobby
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**December 13:** Christmas Trees with Nance
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**January 10:** Filigree with Lee Ann
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**February 14:** open
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**March 14:** Polymer Clay Bookmarks with Nance
**Other reports:**
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**Library:** Jane announced that the new issue of Polymer Cafe magazine had arrived and was ready to check out.
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**Bottles of Hope:** Nance announced that she had more bottles in her car, if anyone wanted to take some to work on.
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**Treasurer’s Report:** Angela announced our current balance at $386.42. Our membership currently stands at 14.
**New Business:**
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**Workshop in Albuquerque:** Shirley announced that Kathleen Dustin is scheduled to conduct two workshops in Albuquerque, NM in 2009: The first will be on June 10-11 and the second June, 13-14. Two members of our guild have signed up, and there is still more space. Shirley will email the contact information to anyone who is interested.
**Announcements:**
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**Craft in America Exhibit:** Shirley spoke about the current fine craft exhibit at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Center, which continues through January 18, 2009. The show is a traveling exhibit of work featured in the PBS documentary series, *Craft in America*. She urged members to see the exhibit and will e-mail members the dates of scheduled lectures.
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Penni Jo and Jane announced that they are having their first show during the
craft show at Cleveland County Fairgrounds on Robinson in Norman, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Everyone wishes them well!
For our **library drawing**, we selected *Polymer Clay and Mixed Media Together At Last*, by Christie Friesen, to be purchased for our library this month.
We held our bi-monthly **raffle**. Guest Magi, and members Nance, Penni Jo, and Shirley were winners. They will be responsible for bringing the items for our next raffle, which will be in January. **December will be a swap month**, and the theme is Angels..

What an interesting technique Jane Linn presented at our October meeting! With her guidance, eight members and three guests tried the layering effect, using layers liquid polymer clay, inclusions, and stamping. Thanks to Jane for all of her research in preparation for the meeting! Thanks also to new member Sue M., who had made sets of triangle cutters and very generously gave them away to any of us who wanted them!
**Business Meeting:**
**Reports:**
April G. reviewed our meeting schedule:
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**Nov. 8:** Christmas Ornaments with Angela
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**Nov. 29:** 5th Saturday Play Day
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**Dec. 13:** Christmas Trees with Nance
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**Jan. 10:** (Open)
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**Library Report:** Jane L. gave a very positive review of one of last month’s purchases, *Polymer Clay Techniques*, by Sue Heaser. It is available to check out.
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**Bottles of Hope Report:** BOH coordinator Nance R. announced that we may have about 50 bottles. Telemundo aired a story on our BOH project on September 19 at 5 and 10 p.m. It included interviews with Angela M. and Nance R. Angela said she had sent members a link where they could view the broadcast. Angela also reported that she has taken initial steps to set up a BOH donation event for our guild at Mercy’s Cancer Resource Center and was expecting a call back to set up a time to show them the bottles and discuss details.
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**Treasurer’s Report:** Angela reported a balance of $386.42 in our treasury. She had spent $11.74 to purchase more group clay at Hobby Lobby’s last sale. (Group clay is kept available for the use of first-time visitors.) Our membership currently stands at 14.
**New Business:**
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**Guild Website:** Angela has set up a section where members can set up individual pages listing their specialties, linking to their websites, etc. She has sent an email with instructions and asked whether anyone had questions.
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**Elections:** New officers will be elected in January. Angela reported that members may look at the list of officers and their responsibilities at [http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddcr7zzx_31ct2grp]. As officers are limited to serving two years, Angela will be stepping down as president.
**Library Drawing:** There were no suggestions for a new title to purchase this month.
**Bi-Monthly Swap:** Four members brought items to swap. Next month we will be a raffle month. Winners of last month’s raffle, Lee Ann and Sue, will bring raffle items.
Swap themes for upcoming months are: **December:** Angels; **February:** Birds; **April:** Blue; **June:** Fruit.
Our meeting ended with a show of beautiful items made by members, including some wonderful necklaces and very creative Bottles of Hope.

There were seven members and one guest at our September meeting. Before we adjourned, our guest became our newest member. Welcome Sue!
We had lots of fun trying out the mokume gane technique, under the tutelage of Nance Ross. Nance brought in lots of finished projects to show us, including pendants and covered pens and boxes. Thanks, Nance!
**Business Meeting:**
The schedule for upcoming meetings is:
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**Oct. 11:** Translucent Layering with Jane
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**Nov. 8:** Christmas Ornaments with Angela
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**Nov. 29:** 5th Saturday Play Day
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**Dec. 13:** Christmas Trees with Nance
**Reports:**
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**Library:** Jane called our attention to the newest issue of Polymer Cafe magazine, which will be added to our library. The August book selection had been postponed until September.
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**Bottles of Hope:** Angela reported that our news story, taped at Studio Mid-Del, was aired on News 9 five different times during the day on Tuesday, September 9. BOH Coordinator Nance reported that we have had several calls and one email regarding the story. A woman who is a shut-in cancer survivor, and credits her cure to a miracle from the angels, requested an angel-themed bottle after seeing Penni Jo’s angel bottle in the news story. Nance is working with the Telemundo television station on another BOH story to be taped sometime this coming week at Studio Mid-Del and invited the participation of anyone who can come. **BOH Donation Event:** Our BOH mentor, Cindy, has asked that, if possible, we hold our event at Mercy Hospital’s Cancer Resource Center. Angela has a contact name there and will follow up. Angela said she believes we could hold our event when we have at least 50 bottles completed. Nance said that we now have about 30.
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**Treasurer:** Angela reported a balance of $403.97 in our treasury and a total membership of 13.
**New Business:**
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**Temporary Replacement for Vice President and Webmaster:** April S. will have to step down from her duties for a while. April G. offered to take over program scheduling duties, and Jane offered to take pictures at the meetings. A replacement for Webmaster was not found.
**Old Business:**
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**Meeting Space:** Because we are growing too large for our current meeting space, Studio Mid-Del has been approached about the possibility that our guild could meet there. They will discuss it with their board.
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**Swap with Tulsa Guild:** Angela has not heard back from her contact at the Tulsa Guild, so no date has been set.
The themes for our bi-monthly swaps are:
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**October:** Harvest
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**December:** Angels
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**February:** Birds
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**April:** Blue
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**June:** Fruit
We held a drawing for library purchases for both August and September. The two books to be purchased are *Polymer Clay Techniques*, by Sue Heaser and *Making Beautiful Beads*, by Suzanne Tourtillott.
The three winners of July’s raffle brought items for this month’s event. Winners were Lee Ann and new member Sue. The winners will bring items for November’s raffle.
For Show and Tell, we had an outstanding display. April G. brought an experimental bowl in which she combined pottery with polymer clay. Penni Jo brought kimono pendants and earrings that she had made, using the brocade effect. Angela brought some Bottles of Hope she had completed.

Six members and two guests were present for our August meeting. Shirley led us in using two techniques to create ink jet transfers. Each transfer became a “tile” which can be used to make an elasticized bracelet. The instruction handout is available as a pdf file. Here is a link. InkJet Transfer Handout [PDF]
Future meetings are scheduled as follows:
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**August 30:** Play Day
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**September 13:** Mokume Gane with Nance
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**October 11:** Translucent Layering with Jane
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**November 8:** Open
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**November 29:** Play Day
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**December 13:** Open
Angela volunteered to lead a Christmas-themed project for our November meeting.
She will try to reserve our Hobby Lobby meeting room for the August 30th play day.
In the **business** portion of our meeting, we discussed:
**Bottles of Hope Project:** Coordinator Nance announced that she now has about 30 bottles ready to donate to cancer patients. She requested that members help by e-mailing her some messages of hope that she could place inside the bottles.
TV News9, which taped some of our members making the bottles in July, has postponed airing the segment until a planned interview for the story can be completed. They will call Angela when it is set to air.
We discussed possible places for our first Bottles of Hope donation event. Angela will contact our project liaisson, Cindy Matteson, for recommendations.
**Treasurer’s Report:** Angela reported that we have a balance of $388.97, and our members currently number 13.
**New Business:**
**Bottles of Hope Challenge:** The theme of this year’s national BOH challenge is “A Message of Hope.” The deadline for sending entries is December 15. For more information, contact Angela.
**Munro Crafts Order:** Jane reminded everyone who wishes to add items to her order to send her their lists, as she plans to place the order on Monday, the 11th. Items will be discounted fifty percent because of the size of the order.
**Holocaust Children’s Memorial Butterflies:** Nance talked about a request for handmade butterflies to be displayed at a memorial to the children of the Holocaust in Texas. She gave specifications for the butterflies and will make information available through our web site.
**Meeting space:** With our recent increased attendance, our present meeting space is becoming too crowded. Angela asked members for ideas for new meeting places. We discussed various possibilities. Nance will check with a place in Midwest City.
**Swap with Tulsa Guild:** Angela announced that the Tulsa Guild has chosen vessels as the theme of our inter-guild swap. She sent around a sign-up sheet for those who wish to participate. TheTulsa group has 6 members.
**August Swap:** Several people brought items for the birthday-themed swap. Jane’s item was birthday brownies, and she even allowed those of us who didn’t bring a swap item to have one!
Angela asked for new ideas for the themes of our bi-monthly swaps. Our theme for the October swap will “Harvest”, and for December, “Angels.”
Reminder: Next month, instead of a swap, we will hold a raffle. July winners will provide the raffle items.
**Library Drawing:** As there were no nominations for the library drawing, we decided to postpone our August drawing until the September meeting.
**Show and Tell:** What a creative group! Several members brought beautiful items they had made.