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June 2008 Meeting Notes

There were twelve people at the June meeting, nine members and three guests. Angela Mabray gave us an extensive handout detailing stamping techniques and various types of ink and their effects. She led us in making coasters using a stamping technique, with optional ink and various ways of coloring the clay. As always, there were lots of interesting and creative results among the members.
**Business meeting:**
The meeting schedule, as far as planned, will be:

July 12: Beads (all members sharing tips about bead rollers, making beads, etc.)

August 9: Ink-Jet Image Transfers with Shirley

August 30: Play Day

September 13: Mokume Gane with Nance

October 11: Translucent Layering with Jane
**Treasurer’s Report and Membership:** Angela reported that we have a balance of $418.20. She withdrew $14.00 in petty cash to help make change on raffle days. One member has had to drop out, bringing our membership to 12.
**Library and Drawing:** Jane reported that May’s library choice, *Creative Canes: 30-plus Cane Techniques with Polymer Clay*, by Barbara McGuire, had been received. This month, the book selected for the library is *The Human Figure in Clay*, by Mark A. Dennis.
**Show and Tell:** In addition to several Bottles of Hope brought by members, Penni Jo, April S., and Nance brought things for show and tell. Penni Jo announced that she will be teaching a polymer clay class for Oklahoma City Parks and Recreation. She also showed more of her inro projects and announced that she will be hired as an artist to teach inro at the Orlando Clay Fandango in Florida next March. Nan reported that her Bottles of Hope lesson at the Norman Newcomers Club was a great success.
**Swap:** This month was our first swap, and items followed a floral theme. Nance, April S., April G., Lee Ann, Jane, Penni Jo, and Angela swapped some beautiful floral clay creations.
Angela reminded the group that next month we will return to the raffle. Prizes will be provided by Penni Jo and April S.
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June Meeting: Rubber Stamped Coasters

Swirly Bird Coaster 2 by CraftyGoat
This month, Angela Mabray will be giving tips on using rubber stamps with polymer clay, then showing how to make a **Rubber Stamped Coaster**.
* When: Saturday, June 14, 2008, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
* Where: The new Hobby Lobby in Norman, 2417 W. Main, Norman, OK. (The classroom is up front, near the check out stands. Go right after entering & it’s the first door on the right.)
* What to Bring:
* Polymer Clay: Our main project will use about 1/2 block of white clay (makes one 4″ coaster). Angela will be discussing various techniques, so bring along extra clay if you want to make other coasters.
* Rubber Stamps: Angela will have lots of stamps available, but feel free to bring a few favorites to use and share. Deeply cut stamps tend to work best with polymer clay.
* Cork Coasters: You can buy pre-cut round or square cork coasters at Hobby Lobby (a package of 6 costs $2.77). These are usually on the same aisle as bulletin boards & other cork boards. If you prefer, you can buy the rolls of cork and cut them down to size.
* Pasta Machine
* Glue: Super glue or Sobo
* Work surface and baking tile (at least 4″ x 4″)
* Clay blade
* Scissors
* StazOn ink pad, chalks, stamp cleaner: Angela will have some available to share if you don’t have these
* Optional (for projects other than the coaster pictured above): Kato or TLS liquid clay, alcohol inks, black acrylic paint, colorful acrylic paint
Swap: Don’t forget — this month is our first swap. Bring one item to swap that fits this month’s theme, which is **floral**

May 2008 Meeting Notes

Nine people attended the May meeting, including 8 members (2 of whom had to leave before the lesson) and 1 returning guest. Penni Jo demonstrated the faux zebra wood technique, then showed us all how to make inros from a PVC pipe mold she provided. As always, the resulting projects were diverse & wonderful. Thanks to Penni Jo for providing such an in-depth lesson!
If you missed the meeting (or just need a refresher on some of the steps), you can find the handouts here.
Our upcoming meetings are:
* May 31: 5th Saturday Play Day at Penni Jo’s home
* June 14: Rubber Stamp Techniques with Angela
* July 12: Beads (all members sharing tips about bead rollers, making beads, etc.)
* August 9: Ink-Jet Image Transfers with Shirley
* August 30: Play Day
* September 13: Mokume Gane with Nance
* October 11: Translucent Layering with Jane
During the business portion of the meeting, we discussed the following items:
* Swap Theme: Starting in June, we will be doing a swap every other month (alternating months with the raffle). Our June theme will be Florals. If you would like to take part, just bring 1 polymer clay item that fits that theme. Everyone who brings an item will swap with another member. The type of object you make is completely up to you, as long as it fits with the theme. Participation is completely optional.
* Membership: Lee Ann K. became our newest member, which brings our member count to 14. Our balance is $417.26.
* Bottles of Hope: Several members brought back finished Bottles of Hope. Penni Jo told the group about a possible lead for obtaining classroom space to teach Bottles of Hope workshops. April G. entered one of her Bottles in the Integris Hospital Celebration of Life & Art Exhibit.
* Show & Tell: We took a few minutes after the business portion of the meeting to do a quick Show & Tell. It was a lot of fun to see what members have been working on. Jane suggested members also bring their completed projects from the previous month to show.
* Drawings: Nance donated 2 prizes for this month’s raffle. Penni Jo and April were the winners. The new library book selection is Creative Canes by Barbara McGuire.

May Meeting: Faux Zebrawood Inro

Faux Zebrawood Inro CloseupThis month, Penni Jo Couch will be showing us how to make a **Faux Zebrawood Inro** using polymer clay.
* When: Saturday, May 10, 2008, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
* Where: The new Hobby Lobby in Norman, 2417 W. Main, Norman, OK. (The classroom is up front, near the check stands. Go right after entering & it’s the first door on the right.)
* What to Bring:
* Strong Polymer Clay: **Please** have your clay conditioned before class and use only a strong brand of clay for this project. The Faux Zebrawood inro pictured uses 1/2 block gold, 1/4 block of dark brown and 1/2 block of black. For the inside, metallic clay is nice as it is bright when the box is opened. Gold may be very soft, so you may want to mix it 50/50 with translucent for the inside.
* Paper, scotch tape, scissors
* Cord: like 1 mm or 2 mm rolled leather cord or other heavy cord
approx. 1/16” in diameter. The drill bit will need to be about the same diameter as your cord.
* Hand drill with 1/16” drill bit in a handle.
* Blades: Exacto knife with new, sharp blade. Rigid tissue blade or razor blade for straight cuts.
* Pasta machine or Acrylic roller and spacers
* Deli paper or wax paper: The deli or wax paper is needed to prevent the clay from sticking to your work surface.
* Poly-fill, small amount to stuff inside the inro.
* Liquid clay – Kato or TLS.
* Release Agent: Baby powder or cornstarch and a small brush for applying OR Kato Repel Gel.
* Brushes: Small brush dedicated to liquid polymer clay. (No need to clean it out. It can be stored in a baggie between uses.)
* Thin, stiff wire or needle to make holes in the beads.
* Baking Surface – Small (4” by 4” or 2” by 2”) tile or heavy cardboard. Remember, we share the ovens at guild so bring something just larger than your project so that many can be put into the oven at the same time.
* Varnish – Future or other polymer clay friendly varnish.
* Optional Items: Extruder to make the ropes that go around the box, under the lid and above the bottom. Closure if you wish for the necklace to separate in the back.
* Optional Embellishments: Canes – Assortment of canes, Pearl Ex or other mica powders, Mokume Gane slices, or other faux finishes.
As this is a fairly involved class with specialized supplies, Penni Jo has put together a kit that has some of the necessary items for $1.00 each. She needs to know in advance which members want the kits so she can have these prepared. **Please reserve a kit via our mailing list.** If you’re not on the mailing list, you can also use contact form.
**Inro Kit Contents** (available from Penni Jo for $1):
* 1 1/4” tall PVC pipe form with paper taped around it, bottom clipped and ready to use.
* 1/4” Paper strip for cut line
* Small piece of paper for patterns
* Tiny bag of baby powder for release agent
* Tiny bag of liquid Kato MediumĀ®
* Two sheets of Deli Paper
* Small amount of Fiber-filĀ®
* Toothpicks, two cut in half, ready to use
* Full color lesson with pictures.
If you would like a sneak peak at what we’ll be doing, check out these PDFs from Penni Jo:
* InroMaterialsList.pdf
* InroClassInstructions.pdf
It’s going to be an exciting meeting — we hope to see you there!

April 2008 Meeting Notes

Ten people attended our April meeting, including three guests, two of whom became our newest members. Welcome, Carole and Sharon! We all had a lot of fun as Nance Ross taught us how to make an articulated teddy bear. She brought three delightful examples, as well as pictures. As expected, each participant’s bear developed its own unique personality. Some participants had time to bake their bears, and others will finish at home.
Our raffle featured four drawings with items donated by April S., Nance, Penni Jo, and April G. Cassy won one drawing. It is alleged that the other three drawings were won by Nance’s three teddy bears, but they’re not talking, and neither is Nance!
The book selected in the library drawing was ***400 Polymer Clay Designs***, published by Lark Books. It will be purchased for our guild library this month.
Our upcoming schedule is as follows:

**May 10:**Inro Box with Penni Jo

**May 31:** Play Day. Location TBA.

**June 14:** Rubber Stamping Techniques with Angela

**July 12:** TBA

**August 9:** Ink Jet Transfers with Shirley
During the business portion of our meeting, we discussed the following:
Angela, our treasurer, reported that our checking account total is $357.24. We now have a total of 14 members.
Angela read an e-mail message thanking the guild for its donations to **Hearts for Heroes**.
Angela announced that she is making application to the IRS for 501(a) non-profit status for the guild and asked for help from anyone who had been through the process before.
Angela recapped our play day discussion with Cindy Matteson regarding the guild’s future involvement with the **Bottles of Hope** project. She voiced her hope that we would commit to it, perhaps doing a once-a-year event at which we would donate our bottles to cancer patients. Nance has volunteered to be coordinator of our effort. It was suggested that members find out whether their local church youth groups might be willing to participate. Nance volunteered to teach these groups how to work with clay. Some members took home more bottles to decorate. Angela suggested that if members know a current cancer patient, they could give their bottle directly, rather than saving it for our event.
April G. brought up the possibility of bringing in a nationally known polymer clay artist to present a workshop, as the North Texas Guild has done. It was noted that the cost would be prohibitive for our small group, but we may look at the possibility of partnering with other groups in the region at some future time.

April Meeting: Articulated Teddy Bear

bear.jpg
Nance Ross will be showing us how to create an Articulated Teddy Bear. It is small, fits in your pocket, and yes, the arms and legs move. They are cute and fun to make. They are baked in pieces and then assembled.
**When: Saturday, April 12, 2008, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m.** (Do not forget about the new meeting time)
**Where: The new Hobby Lobby in Norman, 2417 W. Main, Norman, OK**. (The classroom is up front, near the check stands. Go right after entering & it’s the first door on the right.)
**What to Bring:**
***Supplies:***
– 1 package any color Premo you wish for a color for your bear….ecru, black, white, brown etc.
– Scraps in a good complimentary color for pads on paws, inside ears
– Scrap in pink or red for tongue, if you plan to have your bear’s mouth open!
– Two eye pins in silver or gold, whichever will look better on the color bear you make.
– Little black bead for a nose
– Little fiber optic or tigereye beads for eyes ~ She will have some extra with her, if you are not able to bring any.
– 1 toothpick
***Tools:***
– Needle tool
– Your favorite sculpting tool
– Wire cutter
– Needlenose pliers
***Optional:***
– Scrap colors to make a lei around the bear’s neck, if you wish
– canes to decorate bear’s body, if you wish
– Pearlex and brush, if you wish to glitter your creation up a bit
Nance is a new member to our guild, she has come to us from Orange County California, and was a two year member of the Orange County Polymer Clay Guild. She informed us that she has had the joy of knowing Dottie MacMillan, Trina Williams, Kathy Davis and so many more helpful mentors, and look forward to getting to know us and finding new ideas and people with whom we can all share. We are glad to have Nance as a part of our guild and very thankful for offering to teach us this lesson.

March 2008 Play Day Notes

Breast cancer bear with pendantThanks so much to everyone who came out to the Bottles of Hope Play Day, and thanks especially to our speaker, Cindy Matteson. Cindy was very sharing about her journey with breast cancer & her ideas for setting up a Bottles of Hope program locally. She even brought each of us a pink ribbon teddy bear!
We discussed the following:
* Cindy would love to see us have a special event in conjunction with a local hospital (perhaps Baptist or Integris Cancer Centers), where we deliver our Bottles of Hope to cancer patients & survivors. According to the organizer of the Kansas City event, we would need 75-100 bottles to make such an event worthwhile.
* Cindy suggested we might get high school art classes involved — not only would they enjoy learning about the clay and helping create the bottles, but this would help us build up our bottle supply. She knows some folks at the local high school and will help us look into this. Other similar possibilities mentioned were girl scouts and the YMCA.
* Cindy mentioned the possibility of putting together a few sample bottles, then making contact with the media, to start getting the word out about the program.
Angela created a handout with information on Bottles of Hope. She has made the handout and a video available on her site.
We had five people in attendance, and after Cindy’s talk, folks stayed around for several hours creating gorgeous Bottles of Hope. We ended up adding several bottles to our collection, and each person took home a few bottles to cover at home. We have *lots* of bottles (over 200), which will be available at all of our meetings for folks to take home and cover.
Thanks to all for a creative & fun-filled play day!