We had seven people at our October meeting, & everyone seemed to have a spooky-good time. Cassy kicked things off by showing everyone how to sculpt Halloween pumpkins, then “angel” and “deviled” eggs. After that, Angela & Penni Jo demonstrated how to make a beaded spider using glow-in-the-dark clay & alcohol inks. (See Penni Jo’s beading diagram here.)
It was a free-for-all when card-swapping time rolled around. The five members who signed up for the ATC Swap (based on September’s ATC project) eagerly grabbed up each others’ cards. All the swappers brought — and took home — beautiful creations!
In the business part of the meeting, we discussed the schedule for the next two meetings:
* November 10: April will be teaching the Watercolor/Torn Paper technique (unless there’s a game conflict — in which case Angela will have a fall project to share)
* December 8: Penni Jo will be teaching how to cover light switch plates in polymer clay
Other upcoming classes include the extruder/cane technique and an inro project.
We drew two new book selections for the guild library:
* The Art of Polymer Clay Creative Surface Effects by Donna Kato
* The Art of Jewelry, by Katherine Duncan Aimone
Penni Jo showed us her preview copy of the Fall 2007 Bead Unique magazine, where her “Circling Dragonfly” article will be appearing. The article looks great, & she even mentioned the guild in her bio — so we’re all famous now!
Angela offered guild business cards for members to help spread the word about the group. The business cards, along with the fliers Penni Jo created, are now available on our new “Member Resources” page — so members can feel free to print these out as needed.
Angela also mentioned that officer elections will be held in January, and that we’re looking for interested volunteers to fill these roles: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Photographer, & Guild Librarian. Please be thinking about which role(s) you would be interested in filling.
We look forward to seeing everyone at the November meeting!

Three members showed up for the September Play Day, where we snacked on goodies provided by our host, Penni Jo (thanks!), and learned all about photographing our work. Penni Jo showed us her photography set-up, where we snapped a few photos. We then moved to the computer to learn how to optimize those photos (and scans) using Photoshop. A very informative & enjoyable meeting!
In the business portion of our meeting, we discussed the following items:
* The National Polymer Clay Guild will be having its Synergy Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, February 21-23, 2008. Registration begins tomorrow. Angela handed out postcards to the attendees with additional information (more postcards will be available at the next meeting). Or you can find out more on their website.
* Penni Jo offered additional ideas for future meeting topics: how to make an Inro box, and how to do the torn paper technique. Anyone interested in demonstrating these techniques for the group? If so, give me a holler!
* Jane suggested we might consider holding the Play Days in a different section of town for the members who don’t live in the Moore/Norman area. Those in attendance agreed.
* Angela handed out some business cards she made up with guild information on them. These will also be available at the next meeting.
Thanks to Penni Jo for hosting a very enjoyable Play Day!

Six members and one guest attended the September meeting. We had a fun time making Artist Trading Cards (ATCs), with members trying various techniques — skinner blend backgrounds, transfers, rubber stamps with mica powders, molding, antiquing — and even a beach scene complete with sand & shells! April also shared a successful inkjet transfer she had done using JetprintPhoto Imaging & Photo (Matte) paper (available at Wal-Mart, $10.00 for 100 sheets). Thanks to everyone who attended. And a special thanks to Jeanne Rhea of Heart of Clay for sending along gorgeous sample ATCs for us to drool over!
When we finished playing, we discussed the following business items:
* Group Swap: We will hold a swap at the October 13th meeting for anyone who wants to swap ATCs. You may participate regardless of whether you attended the September meeting. To get an idea of the number of cards each person needs to make, please RSVP by September 22nd if you’re interested. We will be organizing this swap via our mailing list, so be sure to sign up for the list if you haven’t already.
* Other ATC Swaps:
* There’s a polymer clay tree-themed ATC swap listed on Swap-bot with a sign-up date of September 15th. This one is open to newbies, so it’s a good place to get your feet wet if you haven’t done a swap before. You might even consider incorporating one of your leaf canes from our June meeting.
* Looking for more swap action? Here’s a list of all of Swap-bot’s current ATC swaps.
* The group modified, then voted on, the points reward system. Here is the system we unanimously decided on:
* Members will earn 2 points for each book or video they donate to the guild library.
* Members will earn 4 points for each lesson they teach or co-teach.
* Members will earn 8 points for holding an office for a year.
* At the end of the year, points will be calculated. For members who’ve earned 11-20 points, their yearly dues will be discounted $2. For 21-30 points, dues will be discounted $4. And for 31+ points, dues will be discounted $8.
* We held our first drawing to start populating our guild library. The two winning books (which should be ordered in time for the next meeting) were:
* Faux Surfaces in Polymer Clay: 30 Techniques & Projects That Imitate Stones, Metals, Wood & More, by Irene Semanchuk Dean
* Polymer Clay Jewelry, by Debbie Jackson.
* We discussed holding a joint meeting with the Tulsa guild, probably next spring. We’ve been emailing them to start arranging something like this and will keep everyone posted.
* We discussed the schedule for the rest of the year, and decided we should not have the 5th Saturday Play Day that would normally be scheduled for December 29th, since most people will probably be out of town or otherwise busy with holiday festivities.
* We decided on plans for the next two meetings & discussed additional ideas for meeting topics. If you are willing to teach us one of the unassigned topics, please get in touch.
* September 29th Play Day – Photographing your Artwork – Penni Jo.
* October 13th – Halloween Project – Cassy (Deviled & Angel Eggs) & Angela (glow-in-the-dark clay)
* Covering Switch Plates – Penni Jo
* Extruders & Canes – April
* Christmas Projects
* Ink-jet Image Transfers
* Rubber Stamps & Clay
* Faux Techniques
* Beads & Bead-Making
We look forward to seeing everyone at our September 29th Play Day!

We had a smallish-turnout for our August meeting — but we still had a lot of fun! There were 4 people present for our “Sculptures Inspired by Christi Friesen” lesson — our teacher April Salcedo & her daughter, Cassie; Angela; and first-time visitor (and brand new member!) Shirley. April explained how to make the starfish first, then a baby turtle. She also went over some of the goodies in Christi Friesen’s various books. Everyone seemed to have a great time creating beautiful marine life.
Because we had such a small group, those in attendance decided to hold off til September on the library and points system discussions. We decided that the September 8th football game would probably not cause traffic problems since the game starts at 11. No other games’ times have been announced, so we’ll play it by ear on the next few meetings.
The next meeting will be September 8th, when Angela Mabray will be teaching how to make polymer clay Artist Trading Cards. Hope to see you then!