There were six members present at our first meeting of the new year. We began with Show and Tell. Angela M. has been asked to create a piece for the next Synergy. She showed her “Idea Tree,” which she had created from old spools, recycled materials, and polymer clay. She also showed two items she had bought from the new Art-O-Mat dispenser at City Arts Center in Oklahoma City.

Program

Lee Ann presented two excellent techniques, making faux wood and creating a pendant using a different mica shift technique, along with a handout with very clear directions.

Business Meeting

Old Business

**Election and Installation of Officers:** The following officers were elected by acclamation:
* President – Jane L.
* Vice President – April G.
* Secretary – Penni Jo C.
* Treasurer and Web Master – Angela M.
The position of librarian will be decided later.
Annual dues were collected by the treasurer.
Next month’s meeting will be held at Southern Oaks Recreation Center, 66th and South Walker, on Wednesday, February 10, from 6-9 p.m..
There was no new business.
**Officers Reports:**
V.P April G. reviewed our upcoming meeting schedule:
* February 10 – Hollow Vessels with April G.
* March (10 or 13, TBA) – continuing Hollow Vessels with April
* April (10 or 14, TBA) – Penni Jo’s “pointy flowers” and leaf canes from Skinner Blend
* May – Color Collage project from Maggie Maggio’s color book
**Treasurer’s Report:** Angela reported a balance of $411.86, plus the dues that had been paid during the meeting. Our membership stands at 8.
**Bottles of Hope:** Nance again asked for volunteers to take over her Tuesday morning BOH project at Norman Regional Hospital, as she will have a schedule conflict beginning soon.
**Library Report:** Librarian Jane L. praised our latest purchase, Clay So Cute, by Sherri Haab, for having excellent tips and instructions and good “trendy” projects. She would recommend it for beginners and for teenagers.
**Drawing for a new addition for the guild library:** The DVD Intricate Kaleidoscope Caning, by Sarah Shriver, was drawn and will be purchased this month.
**Bi-Monthly Raffle:** April, Angela, and Jane were the raffle winners and will bring items for the March raffle.
**Announcements:**
The theme for the swap at February’s meeting will be “red and/or pink.”
Jane reminded us that our own Angela M.’s segment on HGTV’s That’s Clever will be aired Tuesday, January 19th.

Our December meeting was a lot of fun, with all eight members in attendance! Most brought Christmas ideas and projects to share, so we all went home with a wealth of new techniques and projects to try. April had made a wreath in the delicate, detailed style she is known for. Lee Ann brought a little Santa on a platform, surrounded by clay “candies.” Jane made a snowman from clear ornaments and provided a detailed handout, complete with color photos! Penni Jo and Jane had decorated Christmas balls with extrusions, transfers, and jewels. Angela did an interesting project incorporating a flocking product into her clay. Nance made a snowman pin. Penni Jo demonstrated a method for coating the inside of clear glass ornaments with packaged snowflakes, and Sue demonstrated her recent success making lentil beads.
Pictured here are
the projects by April,
Lee Ann, Jane, and
Penni Jo and Jane:



**Business Meeting:**
**Old Business:**
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**Field Trips:** Jane asked whether we would like to have more “field trips” like our November meeting at Elements Beadery, and several members were in favor of more such trips.
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**Meeting Location:** We also continued our discussion about changing our meeting place to Southern Oaks Recreation Center, the second Wednesday of each month, from 6-9 p.m. Penni Jo will check to see whether that time slot is open, and if it is, we will try to meet there in February to try it out.
**New Business:**
**Annual Guild Elections** will be held in January. Descriptions of the duties of officers are available online. We were reminded that it has been advantageous for an officer to serve for two years, although this is not mamdatory. After two years, Angela said she feels it is beneficial in most cases for a new person to take the position. We did make exception for treasurer/web master, as it is simpler to have one person continue in those positions. Although there were some conditional volunteers for librarian, the position was left open until storage issues can be addressed. After some discussion, the following slate of officers emerged:
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President – Jane L.
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Vice-President – April G.
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Secretary – Penni Jo C.
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Treasurer and Web Master – Angela M.
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Librarian – TBA
Nance R. will continue in two volunteer positions, BOH Coordinator and Photographer.
**Officer Reports:**
Program Schedule: Vice-President April G. reviewed our upcoming meeting schedule. Some of the dates depend upon whether we permanently change our meeting place and time:
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**January 9** – Mica Shift with Lee Ann
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**February 13** – (first evening meeting) – Hollow Vessels with April
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**March** (10 or 13, TBA) – continuing Hollow Vessels with April
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**April** (10 or 14, TBA) – Penni Jo’s “pointy flowers” and leaf canes from Skinner Blend
**Treasurer’s Report:** Angela reported a balance of $387.37 and 8 members.
**Bottles of Hope:** Nance asked for substitute instructors to teach at Norman Hospital beginning toward the end of January, as she will have a schedule conflict. Nance will be teaching children who are cancer patients at Baptist Hospital on Tuesday mornings.
She asked members to check for other area hospitals with cancer units, so we can begin more projects to give away Bottles of Hope. She also mentioned that we are running short of the medium-sized bottles, and those will be the best size to use with the children.
**Library Report:** Jane talked about our November purchase, *Food Miniatures*, and found inspiring ideas in *The Best of Stringing*, one of our December purchases. She found *Beading 101 and Beyond* a great resource for basic information.
**Library Drawing:** *Clay So Cute*, by Sherri Haab, was the winning book and will be purchased for our library this month.
**Announcements:** Angela Mabray’s taped segment for the television show *That’s Clever* will finally be aired on January 19th.
After the meeting, members who wished to participate did an exchange of Christmas projects.

This month our guild met at **Elements Beadery in Bethany, OK**, to learn about jewelry finishing techniques and the use of appropriate findings. Seven members were present. Thanks to Elements staff member, Pat Dorety, we had two delightful hours learning to solve our jewelry-making problems and exploring the many wonderful beads and findings at the store. Pictured (right), Pat helps several members complete projects they had brought with them.
After our visit, we held our business meeting over lunch at a nearby tearoom.

**Business Meeting:**
**Old Business:**
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**HOLD IT: THE CONTAINER SHOW:**
Congratulations are in order for members Penni Jo C.and Jane L., (polymer clay) and April G., (pottery/ceramics) who all have had pieces accepted in the Paseo Art Association’s juried competition. The show will run until November 28th. The Paseo gallery is open Wed. – Sat., noon until 4 p.m. The artists and their works are pictured at the end of this article.
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**Use of Guild’s Flickr Site:** Angela reported that she had carried out the group’s decision to reserve the use of our Flickr site for paid members only.
**New Business:**
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**Meeting Space:** Penni Jo reminded us to visit the larger meeting space at Southern Oaks Recreation Center, at 66th and S. Walker. The facility has good equipment, including an accurate baking oven. It is only available 6-9 p.m. weekdays, however, so we would have to change our meeting time.
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**One of Our Members is an Author:** Angela Mabray has been asked to be a co-author of a new polymer clay book, and has been working on the chapters she is responsible for. We congratulate our talented Angela on this well-deserved opportunity!
**Reports:**
**Upcoming Meetings:** V.P. April G. reviewed our revised meeting schedule:
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**December 12:** Members will show and explain Christmas items they have made
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**January 9:** Mica Shift with Lee Ann K.
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**February 13:** Hollow Vessels with April G.
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**March 13:** Hollow Vessels, continued
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**April 10:** Flowers from Skinner Scraps with Penni Jo C.
**Treasurer’s Report:** Angela M. reported a balance of $410.31, and a total of 8 members.
**Bottles of Hope:** Chair Nance R. reported that she will be doing the bottles with cancer patients who are under age 18 soon, at an (as yet) undisclosed location.
**Librarian’s Report:** Angela reported that our newest purchase, *The Polymer Clay Cookbook*, by Jessica and Susan Partain, contains a great recipe for a sugar scrub to help remove clay from your hands.
**Library Drawing:** Instead of drawing this month, we purchased for our library two books from the bead shop, *Beading 101*, published by Hot Off The Press, and *The Best of Stringing 2009*, an Interweave Press publication.
No raffle was held this month.



After a delightful lunch in a beautiful setting, several members went to the Paseo gallery to see our members’ work in the container show. Pictured are (l-r) Penni Jo, Jane, and April with their work. All works: © all rights reserved.