Meeting Announcements

Hello Clayers! This month, our wonderful and award winning President, will be teaching us Donna Kato’s ‘Starry Night’ cane. Jane says, “Apparently Donna Kato using leftover bits and pieces of clay pieces left on her work table, end pieces from canes, and leftover canes , came up with a beautiful cane that reminded her of Vincent van Gogh’s painting The Starry Night. With this cane, we will make 2 other canes and then cover a pen.”
Janes Pen is beautiful but ,unfotunately ,I have spent 2 hours trying to attach it to this announcement to no avail! I’m sorry I cannot include her images.
We will meet Saturday September 12, 2009 from 1-4 p.m. at the *Hobby Lobby in Norman (2417 W. Main, Norman, OK)*.
**Supplies to bring:**
Leftover clay you like and want to put together AND/OR end pieces of canes and leftover bits and pieces of canes equaling at least 4 oz. of clay OR 3 or 4 colors of clay that combined will equal at least 4 oz. of clay.
1 oz. black clay
1 oz. white clay
1 Bic Round Stic ballpoint pin
Elmer or Sobo glue
(Optional) Any canes you have that you might want to decorate a pin covered in your ‘starry night’ cane
**Tools (favorite clay tools):**
Work surface
Pasta machine
Acrylic roller
Knife or blade(s)
Ruler-6 or 12 inch
Our guild did wonderfully at the Oklahoma State Fair. It would be wonderful for everyone to bring there state fair entries for everyone to see! The fair displays were sort of jummbled and compacted and as a result, it was difficult so see everyones beautiful pieces. So, please bring your fair entries and we can share them at show and tell.
This month is swap month! The swap for this month is “canes” every one bring 1 to 3 canes with a total of all the canes together measuring to 3′. Also, bring a book suggestion for the library!

Hello Clayers! It’s class time again and Angela will be teaching us her mold making techniqe by leading us through making a name tag. I know everyone has really been looking forward to this class. We will meet Saturday September 12, 2009 from 1-4 p.m. at the ****Hobby Lobby**** in Norman ****(2417 W. Main, Norman, OK)****.
First, she’ll go over the basics of mold-making using various brands of mold-making products. Then she’ll show us how to use those molds with polymer clay to make unique nametags, perfect for wearing to this month’s state fair demo and to our monthly guild meetings.
****What to bring:****
* polymer clay: Angela recommends 1/2 block white (for name section of
nametag) plus 1/4 – 1/2 block of another favorite color or colors (for
molded accents on nametag). strong brands such as Premo, Kato, or Fimo are best for making a durable nametag.
* favorite clay tools
* scissors
****Optional items:****
If you have the following supplies, please bring them. However, Angela
will some on hand if you don’t have them and don’t want to buy them
just for this meeting.
* charms, buttons, beads, or other small items to mold (this will be
the decoration for your nametag, so try to think of something that
reflects you!)
* favorite color(s) Pearl Ex powder
* pin back or magnetic fastener (Jane will have stick-on magnetic
fasteners available for purchase)
* mold-making products, such as Amazing Mold Putty, Super Sculpey,
Super Elasticlay MOLDMAKER, etc.
* mold release: cornstarch or baby powder and/or spray bottle filled with water
* rubbing alcohol
* pasta machine
* clay gun / extruder

This month is our ****raffle**** month. April G., Sue M. and Shirley C. were last raffle winners and should bring something to this months raffle. Everyone please bring something for the raffle as well as a book or video suggestion for our growing library.
See you at the meeting!

Just a quick scheduling note… We’ve switched the meeting topics for September and October. In September, Angela will be demonstrating how to use various mold-making materials, and showing how to make polymer clay nametags with the molded elements. October’s meeting will be Jane’s Starry Night Cane.
Angela will bring most of the molding supplies, but be thinking of small buttons, trinkets, or toys to use for molding. Look for a more complete class description coming soon!

Hello everyone! It’s meeting time again. Our next meeting will be **Saturday August 8th 1-4p.m. at the Hobby Lobby in Norman (2417 W. Main, Norman OK).**
Unfortunately Christy Wright is unable to be with us this Saturday to teach us the mica shift technique and due to unforseen circumstances, she will not be able to re-schedule. Instead, I will be teaching a class on flower canes. If time allows, I will be teaching 4 different types of canes.
**Supply List**
At least 4 different colors of polymer clay at least 4 blocks. Choose colors that will work great in a skinner blend
1-2 blocks of translucent clay
(
Premo, Fimo or Kato clays work best for canes)
Make sure your clay is pre-conditioned
Ruler
Acrylic roller
Needle tool
Cutting blade
Pasta machine
Flat block of wood to shape clay into a cane block
Work surface
Plastic wrap
This month will be our swap. The theme is nautical/ocean, so everyone bring something wonderful to share in the swap! Also, bring the name of a book or video that you would like to have added to our library.

Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful July 4th! Our next meeting will be Saturday July 11th 1-4p.m. at the **Hobby Lobby** **in Norman **(2417 W. Main, Norman OK)**
It was originally listed that I, April Gregory, would be teaching flower cane techniques, but after talking with Jane, we thought that the group might enjoy learning some of the techniques we learned at the Kathleen Dustin workshop. One of the techniques is called “lamella” and it is a way to create a log that looks like “fish flesh” or “plated layers “. Paraphrased from Wikipedia, lamella means- thin layers of plate like structures that appear in multiples. Kathleen uses thin slices of the lamella in her translucent layering technique. I also learned a simple way to make a polymer clay slab of lines. Kathleen Dustin uses this technique to accent the inside of her purses. Nance and I used it to cover a pen. We will not actually be making a finished piece, but will, instead, learn techniques that can be incorporated into a finished piece.
This month will be our raffle, so everyone bring something we can raffle off, so we can buy more resources for our wonderful library! Also, bring the name of a book or video that you would like to have added to our library.
**SUPPLY LIST**
Tissue Blade
Pasta Machine
Other Routine Polymer Clay Tools
Will need to bring something to take the raw clay slab and log home in
**Lamella**
-1 bar of translucent Premo, unconditioned.
-At least 3 sheets of gold leaf, plain or variegated gold leaf will both work and it can be faux gold leaf. It doesn’t have to be the real deal.
**Striped Slab**
-1 bar of gold Premo -conditioned
-3-5 other colors of Premo-conditioned
Premo is the clay that Kathleen Dustin primarily uses. These techniques should work well with other polymer clay brands as well so feel free to use whatever clay you are comfortable with.

Our next meeting is June 13, 2009, 1-4p.m., and we’ll be back at our normal location, the Norman Hobby Lobby (2417 W. Main, Norman, OK). Nance Ross will be sharing her knowledge. Here’s the write-up, straight from Nance:
At our meeting, we will have a guest from Norman Regional Hospital to pick up 20 BOH for distribution in their cancer ward. Eva Dilks will be representing the hospital.
Also, we shall be playing with the latest craze in Polymer……Steampunk! Sooooo start designing your project to do on Saturday, incorporating the nuts and bolts of the mechanical world into your clay designs. I have some on hand…..and they weren’t easy to find, since the watch shops are mainly messing with electrical watches these days, and cog wheels and such are rare. I had fun shopping in many places, and will have some free supplies on hand, and others for sale for what I paid for them. Usual clay and tools will be needed…..and lots of creativity and original ideas!
If you are looking, I suggest you hit sporting goods/bait shops (one of the few mechanical things readily available are parts for fishing reels….check out 10th St. a block from Douglas in Midwest City for a good supply and a friendly shop owner. Another likely place is hobby shops that sell to model airplane makers….and they are helpful!
I will have a limited supply of examples, plus lots of fun things you may want to use in your designs…..so we will have a good time designing some fun stuff, and donating some of our hard work on Saturday, June 13th.

Hello clayers! This months meeting is going to be a special treat and a great adventure! We will be having our meeting at The Delux Indie Craft Bazaar which will be located at the OKC Fairground’s Centenial Building. The Centennial Building is located south of and diagonal to the Space Tower and it is also adjacent to the Cox Pavillion and accross from the Hall of Modern Living. If these directions have you totally confused, please go to www.okstatefairpark.com/grounds-map to get a site map. We will be having our regular meeting so everyone bring book ideas and a raffle item. Jane and Nance were the winners of the last raffle. Jane is currently out of the country and Nance may be unable to attend the meeting, so lets all try to bring something in their place. We will be making Bottles of Hope and Nance has made arrangemetns for bottles and other BOH things to be available at the meeting. This meeting is a chance for the craft loving public to get to know about our wonderful guild and about this amazing medium we all love, polymer clay, so perhaps it might be a great idea for us all to bring items, not just for show and tell, but also for the public to see what we do and what can be done with polymer clay. Also, for those of you who like to incorporate beads into your polymer clay work (or for those of you who may be just plain addicted to beads) there is also a Bead Jamboree show going on at the fair grounds May 8-9 at the Oklahoma Expo Hall. See you at the meeting!