Skip to content

December Meeting: Fun, Food & Dirty Santa!

  • by

Our next meeting will be Saturday, December 12, 2014 from 1:30-4:30 p.m. in the Contemporary Arts Center at the fairgrounds.

As we usually do for our December guild meeting, we will not have a lesson. Instead, we will bring items for show & tell, and then (optionally) swap our items in a Dirty Santa exchange. You don’t have to swap your item if you want to keep it, though! We’ll also bring goodies to snack on, and just generally have a good time of claymate fellowship.

Tom has adapted the rules of the Dirty Santa game to our purposes, so if anyone isn’t familiar with the rules, here they are:

How to Play Dirty Santa

Everyone playing the game brings a hand-crafted polymer item. Sometimes an item using a technique learned this past year or one you just enjoyed making and sharing. Please, please bring an item. It is so much more fun with many participants.

VARIATION: Since we will be showing off our gifts during Show & Tell, I will bring gift bags to mask the items for the game. Just to keep it in the spirit of Dirty Santa.

Numbers are written on pieces of paper for every gift and places them in a basket, bowl or hat.

Each person draws a number. Getting a higher number is actually better because you will have more chosen gifts to choose from.

The person with #1 picks a gift to open from the array of gift bags. The person with #2 can choose to another bag or steal the gift from #1. If a gift is stolen, the person who had it then steals from someone else or picks another gift to open. Gifts stolen cannot be directly stolen back. They must be in the pool of opened and unopened gifts for at least one turn.

The game continues like this until everyone takes a turn select an item or stealing an item. The last person to go can steal from anyone in the game or select the remaining item.

NOTICE: If the first person has not had their selection stolen during the game, they may steal a gift from anyone else. This may open a new round of stealing, but that’s the nature of Dirty Santa.

Once a gift is stolen three times, it is retired from the game.

So, let’s all come and have a great time!!!

Minutes for October 2015 Meeting

Minutes recorded by Angel

We had 12 members attending the October 10, 2015 meeting. Show & Tell was quite busy with the State Fair entries by our guild members and more!  Thanks to Tom the show and tell items are available to view on the guild website.

Angel demonstrated a blending and surface technique in an Aztec / Tribal style.

In the business meeting Angel moved to approve the 9/12/2015 minutes. Jane seconded and the motion passed.

Moving on to the officers reports:

Vice President Connie gave an overview of the upcoming programs:

  • November: Decorative Bowls with Penni Jo & Jane
  • December: Dirty Santa & Snacks
  • January:  Light Up Pendant with Lori
  • February:  Repair Clinic – bring clay items with problems / mistakes and the group will brain storm and offer ideas to repair or improve!

Angela gave the treasurer’s report. We have 25 paid members.

Bottles of Hope coordinator Nance spoke with Penni Jo about her availability in the near future and that it would be best to get a new coordinator.  Angel volunteered and will be our new BOH coordinator.

Librarian Jane reports that we received a new book from Julie Picarello, and 8 new molds from Best Flexible Molds!!

Six members brought inchies to exchange.

A major inchies discussion took place.  The following schedule came out of said discussion.

January: Winter Inchies

May: Spring Inchies

August: Summer Inchies

October was a raffle month.

Old Business:

  • Randee Ketzel Class:  The class was a success!  Considering travel, lodging, food, classroom and coordination of the class the total cost to the guild was $425.00.

New Business:

  • Deb Hart: Penni Jo spoke about having artist Deb Hart come to Oklahoma for a free demo.  PJ has communicated with Deb and she would be willing to come and teach us! PJ suggest we go to her website to check her out.  Her class is $45.00 and is longer in timeframe than our regular guild meetings.

Our next regular meeting will be December 12th, 1:30 pm at Oklahoma Contemporary Art Center on the OKC Fairgrounds.

November Meeting: Decorative Bowls

  • by

bowlsOur next meeting will be Saturday, November 14, 2015 from 1:30-4:30 p.m. in the Contemporary Arts Center at the fairgrounds.

Penni Jo and Jane will present our project this month – small decorative bowls. These photos are examples of what can be done with different choices of colors, style, canes, and more.

Materials:

  • Small, oven safe bowl can be glass, Pyrex type glass, Corel® or metal

NOTE: Please bring a small bowl, as our oven does not have room for very many large bowls and they take longer. We will have a few extra little bowls. The bowl used in this tutorial was purchased at Dollar Tree. They were three for a dollar a few years back.

  • Strong polymer clay in your choice of colors – about 3 to 4 ounces, depending on size of bowl
  • 2 or 3 sheets deli or candy paper (will be provided in class if needed) 
  • Work surface and baking surface (can be the same, like a tile, etc.) 
  • Brayer or acrylic rolling rod or pasta machine
  • Sandpaper 
  • Knitting needle or Penni Jo’s Clay Tools
  • Your favorite, regular clay tools
  • Blade
  • Scissors

NOTE: If using slices of blocks, mokume gane or canes, you will only need enough extra clay for ropes to join the parts. Also if you have a Simple Slicer, it will make larger slices much easier to cut. (The bowl I brought was covered with slices from a Stroppel cane. The lines between the slices were joined with ropes of clay.)

Optional:

  • Chalks, soft paint brush about 1/4 inch wide
  • Crayons
  • Acrylic paints with brush
  • Stamps
  • Alcohol inks, alcohol in spray bottle, rubber glove, paper towels
  • Colored markers or colored pencils
  • Pearl powders
  • Glitter
  • Metallic leaves
  • Molds

Minutes for September 2015 Meeting

Minutes recorded by Angela

We held our September 12, 2015 meeting at the Moore Public Library, since our regular meeting space was hosting the Oklahoma State Fair. In attendance were 13 members and 2 visitors. We had many beautiful Show & Tell items (see photos here).

Connie presented our lesson, “Tea Light Jack-o-Lanterns.”

During the business meeting, we discussed the following:

Minutes from the 8/8/2015 meeting were approved, Marsha motioned and Katherine seconded the motion.

Vice President Connie gave an overview of the upcoming programs:

  • October: Angel – Aztec / Tribal Design Technique
  • November: Penni Jo & Jane
  • December: Annual Holiday Meeting
  • January: Lori – Name Tags

November is an inchies month; the theme is “Fall.”

Angela gave the treasurer’s report. We have 24 paid members.

There was no report from the librarian.

Webmaster Myra reported that she has added the 2016 retreat dates to the website.

There was no Bottles of Hope report, as Nance was not present. Since Nance has other obligations on our meeting days and is no longer able to attend, the group discussed whether we need a new Bottles of Hope coordinator. No decision was made.

Old Business:

  • Randee Ketzel Class: The upcoming class, “Jade, Turquoise & Cinnabar.” will be held October 3rd from 9 to 5. Supply lists have been emailed to those enrolled.
  • State Fair: Our group will be doing a polymer clay demo at the state fair on September 20, 2-6 p.m. Tickets and parking passes were distributed to those participating.
  • Salt Scrub: Those present were encouraged to take home some of the salt scrub left over from the retreat.

New Business:

  • Meeting Places: Connie asked that members keep an eye out for places (churches, libraries, etc.) to hold meetings for those times we are unable to meet at the fairgrounds (such as during the state fair). There was a question about whether the Affair of the Heart in February would conflict with our guild weekend, and if so, whether we should find a different location or reschedule for a different weekend. Angela said she would check on it. Angela also offered to look into a meeting space she had heard about in Midtown.

Reminder: October is a Raffle month.  Winners from August were Tom X2, Angela, Laura Connie X2, Penni Jo and Jane. They will bring the raffle prizes.

October Meeting: Aztec/Tribal Designs

  • by

tribalOur next meeting will be Saturday, October 10, 2015 from 1:30-4:30 p.m. in the Contemporary Arts Center at the fairgrounds. This is our raffle month, so if you won something in the last raffle, remember to bring an item for this one! We will also be trading inchies this time, with a Fall theme.

Angel Mance will present a fun demo of tribal-inspired designs at our October meeting.

Clay:

Clay colors of your choice in small amounts. We will be making cabochons from molds, or pendent shapes.  For the color blended technique bring small amounts of colors that you feel would make a nice blend. Angel got out all of her small pieces of clay and had fun using them up!

Tools:

  • Basic clay working tools
  • Pasta machine
  • Work surface
  • Paper towels & baby wipes

Findings:

  • Bezel cups or bezel findings (this is optional – Angel has quite a few of these from past retreat goody bags)

The supplies listed below are not required, but if you have them, bring them! Our group is pretty good at sharing!!

Extras:

  • White or light color craft paint
  • Paint brush
  • Tiny cutters
  • Tiny circle cutters (Myra sells a set of tiny circle cutters – she will have some available at the meeting)
  • Tiny oval cutters (many of you may have these cutters that Chris Crossland made and gave out at the 2015 retreat)
  • Miscellaneous tools or found “tools” to make patterns in clay
  • Cabochons molds or shape molds – the guild owns many wonderful molds
  • Shape cutters, cookie cutters – something that would work well for a pendant

Minutes for August 2015 Meeting

Minutes recorded by Angel

We had 14 members and no visitors at the August 8, 2015 meeting. Many members brought Show & Tell items (see photos here).

The dynamic duo of Penni Jo & Jane presented “Harvest Moon Light switch Cover” designed by Penni Jo.    Together they presented a great project, with details, tips, techniques, directions, and patterns.  A BIG Thank You to both Penni Jo & Jane!

During the business meeting, we discussed the following:

Minutes from the 7/11/2015 meeting were approved, Tom motioned and Jane seconded the motion.

Vice President Connie gave an overview of the upcoming programs:

  • September: Connie –  Tea Light Jack-o-Lanterns
  • October: Angel – Aztec / Tribal Design Technique
  • November: Penni Jo & Jane

Connie opened discussion about programs for our future meetings. She suggested that we go over the guidelines for teaching projects seen on the internet, in books, picture tutorials etc.  Teaching is intimidating to members because the guidelines are unclear. Connie has struggled to get members to commit to teach due to these difficulties and wants the next Vice President to have an easier time of it!  She talked about “follow along projects” where the group is following published instructions or a picture tutorial together with the follow along leader offering their experience from having already completed the project.

November is an inchies month; the theme is “Fall.”

Angela sent the treasurer’s report. We have 24 paid members.

Librarian Jane reported that we received two magazines: Polymer Café and Polymer Arts. The molds discussed last meeting as a $25.00 purchase are to come next month.

Web Master Myra reported an issue with the website being unavailable; she determined it was due to a database problem. The issue has been resolved. A suggestion was made by Penni Jo to take down 2015 retreat info and put up new dates.

Bottles of Hope coordinator Nance was not present.

Old Business:

  • Randee Ketzel Class: The upcoming class, “Jade, Turquoise & Cinnabar.” will be held October 3rd from 9 to 5, and the cost is $70, which will include Randee’s $65 class fee plus $5 toward a box lunch.  The August meeting was the deadline for the class fee.

New Business:

  • A suggestion from Jane came up while we were discussing the Randee Ketzel class.  She suggested that the guild comp both the hostess (for home stay) and the organizer due to the amount of work involved. Angel moved and Marsha seconded the motion, all were in favor.
  • 2016 Retreat: Tom spoke about Lindly Haunani who will be our guest speaker for the 2016 retreat.  Class project photos were passed out to be voted on.  Members were asked to pick three.
  • State Fair discussion: Demo, which is September 20, 2-6 p.m. a sign-up sheet was passed around and 4 people signed up. There will be a Polymer Clay Creations category in the State Fair’s Creative Arts Competitions. The deadline to register online (http://www.okstatefair.com/content/creative-arts-competitions) for that contest was August 15th. If you register after August 15th, there’s a late fee. All entries must be taken to the fairgrounds on September 12th or 13th.
  • Lori Luli talked about teaching at an upcoming meeting.  She asked the group if they would be interested in making a LED nametag like the one she worked on at the 2015 retreat.  The group was receptive to the idea.  Lori went over the cost ($4.00 per kit) and that she wanted to partner with someone for help with the design.  Many questions were asked.
  • Jane opened discussion about the hand scrub we had at the 2015 retreat.  The salt in the scrub will not stay in a gritty form for a long period of time, so Jane suggested that it be divided among the guild members.  All were in agreement and members were instructed to bring glass jars or plastic bags to the September meeting.

Reminder: October is a Raffle month.  Winners from August were Tom X2, Angela, Laura Connie X2, Penni Jo and Jane. They will bring the raffle prizes!!

September Meeting: Tea Light Jack-o-Lantern

  • by

jackOur September meeting will be in the Story Time Room at the Moore Public Library (225 S Howard Ave, Moore, OK) instead of our usual meeting place, due to the State Fair. For those unfamiliar with Moore, here is a map.

Connie will present our project for this month – a jack-o-lantern illuminated with an electric tea light.

Supplies

  • 2 oz. of orange clay
  • 1/4 of green or brown for stem

Tools

  • Cutting blade
  • Paper tape measure (to measure around body of pumpkin)
  • Craft knife (to cut out face)
  • Round cutter 1 3/8 or 3 1/2 mm to get clean cut on bottom
  • General clay tools (to make ridges and indentions)
  • Pasta machine to make flat sheets of clay (orange sheets you can bring already done. setting on #2 with 0 being the thickest. Needs to be wide enough to cover from top to bottom and go all the way around body)
  • Work surface
  • Magic noodles (Connie will bring these)
  • Battery tea light (available at Dollar Tree). If you want it helps you know how big around pumpkin needs to be.
  • Box to carry your project home – we have no oven this time.