We had 10 members present for our May 2012 meeting. We started with Show & Tell, where several members brought items they’d made or started at the retreat. Tom showed his dragon sculpture, complete with glowing eyes, and his pheonix from Christi Friesen’s class. Ruth and Lisa showed a necklace they had collaborated on. Myra showed a necklace she made using animal print beads. Angela showed a notepad cover made using Pluffy clay and her CF-inspired moth and Make & Take items. Everyone shared great tips on how they made their show & tell items.
**Questions & Answers**
Instead of doing a lesson this month, we had an informal Q&A session. Some of the topics discussed included using polymer clay on canvas, different ways of using mica powders, and how to create armatures. We’re so fortunate to have such knowledgeable members who are so willing to share!
**Raffle**
Our bimonthly raffle included a prize from Alex plus a retreat goody bag and a mish-mash of leftover retreat items. The winners were Lisa, Tom, and Lori. They will be bringing July’s raffle prizes.
**Next Meeting**
The next meeting will be **Saturday, June 9, 2012 from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm** at the Hobby Lobby in Moore, when Kay will show us how to stamp and texture name tags.
In Shirley’s absence, Lee Ann led the meeting.
**Officer Reports:**
– **Vice President** – Lee Ann – Upcoming Programs
– June: Kay – Stamping and texture on name tags
– July: Shirley and Lee Ann – Protective finishes for our projects
– August: Jane – A transparent clay demo
– September: Penni Jo – Rose cane
– **Bottles of Hope** – Nance recently led a Bottles of Hope class at the Norman Breast Cancer Center. She helped them make their own bottles to take home, then she also delivered 25 of our completed bottles to them. (Pics to come!)
– **Treasurer** – Angela reported that we now have 19 members (Lisa and Tina have joined since the last report). Angela also gave the full treasurer’s report and a brief report on retreat funds.
**Old Business**
Since several members were unable to be at this meeting, we tabled the retreat assessment meeting until June. No other old business was discussed.
**New Business**
**State Fair Demo**: The group showed interest in doing a demo at the state fair again this year, and agreed to the September 16th 2-6 p.m. timeframe. Angela will let the fair coordinator know we want to participate. We’ll wait til closer to fair time to make additional plans and determine how many tickets we need.
**Leftover Goody Bags**: The group ended up with a few extra goody bags from the retreat. Angela motioned, Ruth seconded, and the group voted to give bags to the members who were unable to attend. The other bags will be raffled off in coming months.
**New Meeting Location**: With 19 members, our group has just about outgrown the Hobby Lobby classroom. Several members gave reports on the locations they’d researched. Tom called many places, and the prices ranged from $30 for 3 hours at a Metro Library location to $75 and up. Angela reported that the South OKC library wasn’t ideal because only one meeting at a time could be scheduled. There was a lot of excitement about the City Arts Center option. The price there was $40 for 4 hours. Tom offered to get a bit more info from them, and other members mentioned a couple of other places they plan to contact. We will gather a little more info, communicate by email, and plan to decide this at the June meeting.
**Polymer Clay State Fair Competition**: The group decided to continue sponsoring the Polymer Clay Creations division at the Oklahoma State Fair. If it’s not too late to make changes, we will add a subcategory for mixed media entries, where the 60% clay rule doesn’t apply.
**Toaster Oven**: Tom agreed to transport the guild’s toaster oven to and from meetings. Jane will bring it to him at the next meeting.
**Library Drawing**: Our choice for this month was Enlightened Polymer Clay: Artisan Jewelry Designs Inspired by Nature