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:
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**May 10:**Inro Box with Penni Jo
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**May 31:** Play Day. Location TBA.
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**June 14:** Rubber Stamping Techniques with Angela
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**July 12:** TBA
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**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.

Thanks 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!

Seven members were present at our March meeting, along with two guests, Diana and Teresa. What fun we all had, as April Salcedo showed us how to make several types of canes using the extruder. Everyone was pleased to learn how much easier caning can be, using this tool. There were some beautiful results to take home and use in projects. April provided some excellent handouts.
We held our first raffle to benefit the library fund, and it brought in $16.00. Angela, April S., and Nance donated mold putty samples, texture sheets, a book, and a necklace. Raffle winners were Angela, April S., April G, and Nance. As we discussed in February, this month’s winners will bring the items for next month’s raffle.
The schedule for future meetings is:
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**March 29**: Play day hosted by Angela. Bottles of Hope will be discussed.
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**April 12**: Articulated Teddy Bear with Nance
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**May 10**: Inro Box with Penni Jo
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**June 14**: Rubber Stamping Effects with Angela
**During the business portion of the meeting we discussed the following items:**
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**Treasury and Membership** – Angela announced that we now have twelve members. Our treasury balance is $312.15.
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**Dues** – Because member points are awarded for service, we voted to make our membership year coincide with our administrative year, for easier accounting. Those whose membership renewal falls due before next January will pay a pro-rated amount. A full year’s dues will be collected from all members next January.
The library drawing was held as a raffle this month, with the winner choosing our next purchase. *Stamping Effects in Polymer Clay*, by Sandra McCall, was chosen.
Angela reminded the group of contest deadlines she had previously forwarded by email from the National Polymer Clay Guild. The deadline for Bead Dreams is April 14 and for Fire Mountain Beading Contest, April 15.
It was announced that www.artdolls.com is offering a free disk about Pro-Sculpt Clay with a dual order of art doll books.

Six members and one guest were present at our February meeting. Guest Nance Ross became our newest member. Welcome, Nance! Several members wore their own new polymer clay nametags, each unique and very creative.
In keeping with the season, heart projects were the order of the day. April Salcedo taught a technique for making **pillow hearts** with inserted wire loops for hanging. Most made hearts no larger than a quarter, regulation size for the **Hearts for Heroes Campaign**, and we produced quite a number to donate. Angela Mabray then taught how to make **candy hearts**, using molds she had made from actual candies. She provided laser-printed transfer sheets with typical candy heart messages, and in the end, we had produced some very realistic candy hearts suitable for a necklace or charm bracelet. Last, Cassy Salcedo demonstrated how to make a beautifully **encased heart**.
Our tentative schedule for the next few meetings is:
– **March 8:** Extruder Canes – April Salcedo
– **March 29:** Saturday Play Day – Bottles of Hope. Angela will host.
– **April 12:** TBA
– **May 10:** Inro Box – Penni Jo Couch
During the business meeting, we discussed the following:
President Angela Mabray announced that the first issue of *Polymer Cafe* had arrived for our library. She also reported that she had also used some of our funds to purchase a supply of clay for the group, as agreed last month. This clay can be used when needed for new attendees or for other purposes.
New member Nance brings experience from her former guild in California. At her suggestion, we decided to try holding a raffle at each monthly meeting. Members may bring anything they wish to donate that is related to polymer clay. The winner of the raffle will then be obligated to bring something for the raffle the following month. Although a price of three for $1.00 was suggested, no decision was made as to price. Nance and Angela volunteered to bring items for the March meeting.
Annual membership dues, which are $36, are coming due for some of the earliest members. According to the points-for-service schedule agreed upon in 2007, the first allocation of points has been made, resulting in a discount on this year’s dues for some members.
April reported that a representative of the Makins Corporation said the company would sponsor any event our group might decide to hold, by sending tote bags and other items. She also said that they stand by their products and will work with any customer who has problems.
The Norman Hobby Lobby, which provides our meeting space, also generously provides a small display space where we can promote the guild. We discussed recurring difficulties with the stand for display of our guild poster. April was again able to get it to stay upright, but the stand is showing wear. No decision was made about replacing it.
We held our monthly drawing for an additional purchase for the guild library. The DVD, “Sculpting Babies in Clay” was the winner for this month.