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August 2014 Meeting: Let’s Swellegant!

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swellegant

Our next meeting will be on August 9, 2014, from 1:30 to 4:30 at the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center at the fairgrounds. This is our raffle month, so if you won something in the last raffle, bring some goodies for this one!

At this meeting, Angel Mance will explore Swellegant, a metal coating system brought to us by Christi Friesen. The process is achieved in multiple layers of the metal coating and patinas. Due to the nature of the product (drying time & time-sensitive patina application), Angel will provide each participant with a prepped polymer piece to try out the process. You will have a choice of either a heart pendant or a leaf. She has prepared samples showing the effect of the three patinas on all five of the metal coatings. Angel says she has had a ball with this stuff!!! The Swellegant products are being provided by Angel, but if you have Swellegant in your stash and want to bring it, that would be great.

Supplies:

  • Work surface
  • Paper towels
  • Wet wipes
  • Plastic gloves
  • Small box (to take your piece home in)

Optional Supplies:

  • Small fan & extension cord (only if you already have one)

NOTE: Construction is still likely on May Avenue next to the fairgrounds. Enter through Gate 5 further south on May, across from Forest Lumber. See this map for reference.

Minutes for July 2014 Meeting

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Minutes recorded by Angel M.

We had 12 members and 1 visitor at the July 12, 2014 meeting. Show & Tell items included Bottles of Hope, jewelry, dragons, Best Flexible Molds texture sheets, and a pen. Penni Jo also asked the group to offer opinions on the texture sheets as a focus group.

Jane was our instructor this month. She presented “Extruder: Retro & Beyond”.  Many samples were sent around to inspire us to get our extruders out and use them!  Jane took us through the steps to make a retro cane.   Jane and Myra brought and showed extruder discs from a couple different companies.   Myra demonstrated two discs that worked together to make a heart cane.

During the business meeting, we discussed the following:

Minutes from the last meeting were approved, Penni Jo motioned and Cheryl seconded the motion.

Vice President Connie gave an overview of the upcoming programs:

  • August: Angel – Swellegant
  • September: Chris Crossland– glass pebble project

Angela gave the treasurer’s report. We have 23 members.

Librarian Jane described the latest addition to the library, the current Polymer Café. The challenge listed in the magazine is “Faux What?” due August 31, 2014.

We discussed where to have the September meeting due to the State Fair of Oklahoma during the month.  Many questions were raised, and we are checking on an alternate date in the same location.

August is raffle month, members to bring items for raffle are: Myra, Connie, Tom, and Angela.

Inchies were brought by four members.  August inchies will have a theme of “Back to School.” Anyone who would like to participate should make and bring enough inchies to swap.  Connie asked if we were going to continue doing inchies, due to the low number of members participating. No solid answers were gained from this question at this time, we may need to visit this again.  The question prompted conversation about what to people use the inchies for.  It was suggested that we explore what kinds of things could be made with the inchies.

Nance handed out bottles to cover for our on-going Bottles of Hope project.

Web Master Myra reported that things were fine, and she had nothing new to report.

Tom opened the topic of renting storage space to house our library and ovens.  Tom e-mailed earlier this month about this topic discussing the need etc.  $20.00 a month was the fee for renting a cabinet at our current location.  After much discussion, it was concluded that we have funds to cover this type of expense.  The library books would be accessible when the doors to the Art Center were open.  The president, vice-president and librarian will have a key to the library cabinet. Some of the members went to check out the cabinet and where it was located. Nance motioned to approve renting the cabinet and Angel seconded, the members were in agreement and the motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned. Our next meeting will be August 9th at 1:30 at the Contemporary Arts Center on the OKC Fairgrounds.

Minutes for June 2014 Meeting

We had 14 members at the June 2014 meeting. Show & Tell items included Bottles of Hope, jewelry, cat bowls, a barette, a baby footprint set, ghoulies, and goodies from Bead & Button and Fandango.

Penni Jo was our instructor this month. She taught the group how to use her tools to make Trumpet Blossoms. Other members also brought and showed their favorite tools, including a credit card, a linoleum carving tool, extruder discs, and many handmade tools.

During the business meeting, we discussed the following:

Vice President Connie gave an overview of the upcoming programs:

  • July: Jane and Myra – extruders
  • August: Angel – Swelligant
  • September: Chris – glass pebble project

Angela gave the treasurer’s report. We have 23 members, including Jennifer and Elizabeth who joined during the June meeting.

Librarian Jane described the latest additions to the library. We drew Polymer Clay Gemstones: The Art of Deception by Randee Ketzel as the new book to add to our library.

We discussed whether to do a live demonstration at this year’s Oklahoma State Fair, and several people said they would like to participate.

The winners of this month’s prize drawings were Tom, Angela, Myra, and Connie. July will be swap month, with a theme of “Red, White and Blue.” Anyone who would like to participate should make and bring enough inchies to swap.

The meeting was adjourned. Our next meeting will be July 12 at 1:30 at the Contemporary Arts Center on the OKC Fairgrounds.

July 2014 Meeting: Extruders – Retro and Beyond

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Our next meeting will be on July 12, 2014, from 1:30 to 4:30 at the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center at the fairgrounds. This is also inchie month, with the theme of Red, White & Blue.

klimt

Supplies:

  • Choose 4-8 colors clay, 1 (one) ounce each making sure that you’ve included sufficient light, dark and medium values. The value (lightness or darkness of color) is needed to achieve a satisfying result. If at all possible, please condition all of your clay (in advance) to same condition and bring in sheets rolled out on thickest setting on your pasta machine.
    NOTE: you may use more than one ounce of clay to test the design. As little as ½ ounce (one fourths of a block) will work fine. The most important color you will need is the color that will cover the extruded clay. The cover color shown on the knife project was silver.
  • Choice of project that is simple enough to complete in a short time (bring needed materials for it): Bottle of Hope (small glass bottle under 4 inches), light switch cover ( bring a switch plate), tool like the knife shown or X-acto knife, etc. (bring desired tool), pendant or beads (bail, bezel, wire, eye pin, or bead wire)
  • Extruder (Hobby Lobby, and Michael’s carry Makin’s and/or Walnut Hollow). If you don’t have one and not sure you want one, members that have more than one have offered to bring them to loan.
  • 2 tooth picks
  • Ruler
  • Pasta machine
  • Acrylic roller
  • Thin blade
  • Craft knife or X-acto
  • Work surface
  • Tile
  • Any of your favorite tools – you never know……

Optional:

  • 3/4“ round cutter
  • If you have one of the nice mokume gane slicers (Simple Slicer), please bring it!

NOTE: Construction is still likely on May Avenue next to the fairgrounds. Enter through Gate 5 further south on May, across from Forest Lumber. See this map for reference.

June 2014 Meeting: Favorite Tools

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Our next meeting will be on June 14, 2014, from 1:30 – 4:30 at the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center at the fairgrounds.

For this meeting, Penni Jo will be demonstrating her fabulous tool kit, as well as doing a demo making earrings using her tools. So if you have a set of Penni Jo’s Clay Tools, bring them with you to use for her demo!

Everyone is encouraged to bring their own favorite tools and tell the group about what makes them so useful.

This is our raffle month, so if you won something in the last raffle, bring some goodies for this one!

Supplies for Penni Jo’s demo (she will bring clay, enough for everyone to have some with which to play):

  • PJ’s Clay Tools (she has some to share)
  • Wire tools – cutter and round nose pliers
  • Flower color clay
  • Sepal color clay
  • 2 ear wires
  • 2 head pins
  • 8 seed beads
  • Four 4mm beads for stamen and stopper bead
  • 2 tube beads

NOTE: Construction is still likely on May Avenue next to the fairgrounds. Enter through Gate 5 further south on May, across from Forest Lumber. See this map for reference.

Minutes for May 2014 Meeting

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We had 9 members at the May 2014 meeting. Show & Tell items included texture tools, covered utensils, Bottles of Hope, baby footprint kit, Swelligant pieces, and auction wins from the Fandango retreat.

Nance Ross was our instructor this month. She taught the group how to make bugs captured in faux amber. We had lots of creepy crawlies… and lots of fun! Thanks, Nance.

The business meeting began with a motion from Angel and a second by Jane to approve the March minutes.

Vice President Connie gave an overview of the upcoming programs:

  • June: Everybody bring your favorite tool. Penni Jo will also demonstrate using her tools.
  • July: Jane – Extruders
  • August: Angel – Swelligant

Angela gave the treasurer’s report. We have 21 members.

Librarian Jane talked about the latest additions to our library: the DVD from the 2013 retreat, a HandCrafted magazine from Stampington, Polymer Clay Artist Guide by Marie Segal, and the latest Polymer CAFE.

We discussed last month’s retreat:

  • Folks were pleased with our decisions to buy cord covers and hire a clean up crew — said it made Saturday night’s tear-down much easier.
  • We got good feedback on the round tables and mats in the classroom. The group agreed we should purchase mats again next year.
  • We discussed this year’s changes to the inchies swap (instead of trying to do a formal swap with baggies, retreat attendees approached others they wished to swap with). The consensus was that this made it more casual, and worked as a nice conversation starter.

In new business, we briefly discussed next year’s retreat:

  • The 2015 retreat will be the 2nd weekend in April (April 9-11, 2015), in the same location.
  • Lisa Pavelka will be our featured teacher.
  • Tom will be our retreat director.

Penni Jo also gave a report from the Fandango retreat that she and Cheryl both attended.

Next month will be a raffle month, with Penni Jo, Elizabeth and Connie scheduled to bring prizes.

The meeting was adjourned. Our next meeting will be June 14th at 1:30 at the Contemporary Arts Center on the OKC Fairgrounds.

May 2014 Meeting: Faux Opals & Fossils

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Meeting announcements: Our May guild meeting will be on Saturday, May 10 from 1:30 to 4:30 at the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center at the State Fair Park (3000 General Pershing Blvd.). We’re doing inchies this month, and there is no set theme – bring as many as you would like to trade. We will have a raffle next month, so if you won an item in the item last time, bring something next time!

Nance will be presenting our lesson (or lessons) this month – fossils and faux opals! Following is the supply list:

Clay

  • For fossils: Reptile colors….quarter of a package in each of three or four colors of your choice, plus a small piece of black or brown clay.
  • For faux opals: Half a package of silver, half a package of pearl white….and a little piece of black or brown.

Products

  • Donna Kato Transparent Liquid Clay OR Mod Podge, or  Crystal Accent (made by Ranger and available at Hobby Lobby)
  • Mica powder to match colors you chose in clay
  • Alcohol ink in yellow
  • Good box to bring home your projects safely

Tools

  • Regular slicers, sculpting tools etc. No need for pasta machines.

Other 

  • You may want a leaf texture stamp, if you have one.

We will be making a decoration to apply to a trinket box in the future….no need to get one for the project, just one to put the project safely inside for the drive home, in case it is still not fully cured!

NOTE: Construction is still likely on May Avenue next to the fairgrounds. Enter through Gate 5 further south on May, across from Forest Lumber. See this map for reference.