BRPCG Minutes: May 2012

BRPCG Minutes 5-12-12
The meeting was called to order at 12:35
Barb announced a really great balance. Kay suggests we take a road trip.
Barb suggests a workshop paid by treasury just for guild.  Maybe Carol Simmons. Maybe Barb McGuire.
Pat the librarian– has Dan Cormier's e-book. Will print and bind with GBC binding. Will get that together for next month. Print on Bright White paper. Bridget said she would help
Is anyone ready to place an order with Munroe? We have a few interested. Pat to put a message on the board to collect requests.
From Polymer to Art ordered. We already have a subscription to Polymer Arts. Barb got an e-mail in French, but doesn't happen to speak the language. Kay suggests using the translator in Word or other ones on the Internet.
We missed Teresa. Bridget needed travel advice, so she better be here in June.
Sandra is not here yet. She got her picture in the paper for super realty sales. Guess we'll hold off on the intervention for this week.  Rhonda's husband will make some wood blocks so we can more easily attach our pasta machine.
Bridget – brought some samples of siikscreened clay, and did a little better demo. The best way to learn something is to teach it. We learned that if you burnish the screen into the clay too hard, it's a bad deal.
Kay brought more to ooh and aah over. I'd say more, but here's where my computer decided to take a nap and I lost track for a few minutes.
Barb V suggests maybe a field trip to Barbara McGuire's house next time? Yes, you heard me right! We had a guest celebrity - Barb V put in a rare appearance, and Barbara McGuire also visited.
Sharon completed 2 challenge pieces by adding some terrific bling. Then she blew us away with her "beginner" face drawings. Anybody who didn't get to see the book she brought really missed out.
Jackie spiced up her challenge pieces by squeezing blood out of a stone. Way cool! She showed us some pen covers she made in the style of Amy's alcohol ink demo. Lacking the inks, she used Sharpie permanent markers on raw clay. Sharon pointed out that if you spritz the piece with alcohol at this point, you can move and blend the colors.
Barb D brought samples of spastic dolls plus samples of what she will show us next month. She mnade a handle for a Doorknob burnishing tool . Completed her challenge very nicely.
Judy has been working w/ kaleidoscope canes from Carol Simmons class, and mnodeled agorgeous necklace she made from Sutton slices. She also made color samples from an exercise in Lindly Haunani's book. Anyone who hasn't seen Judy's notebook is really missing out. I'm not where she first heard the term, "Stoppel's polymer strudel", but what a perfect description.
Judy's sister Cheryl spilled the beans and admitted that Judy has a time machine and managed to squeeze 3 years worth into last month. Cheryl did challenge from veneer from watercolor technique Julie taught, and is working on a second piece. Not to be out done by her overachieving sister, she soldered metal onto rocks and proclaimed them, "Rock Bands". They are really attractive. Judy also made Cheryl a set of colors for her birthday.
Pat – Saw Dolly Parton at Dollywood. Went with Christina and Rhonda. They had an inside tip on which show she would be attending, so they didn't have to stalk her.
They tried to create w/faux amber but it didn't work out all that well, though they did get end up with some fun effects from translucent. Thety used Trilene instead of Fireline#4 and it wasn't as durable. You can get Fireline #4 at t Dick's and sometimes at Wal-Mart.
Christina made her challenge piece with a cane from Judy, and it turned out beautifully.
Rhonda put beads on her challenge piece. Her studio is complete and they are working in it. They are taking care to store raw clay in the house so it won't overheat. The cats like it, but will steal your seat if you're not careful!
Demos: A really bright and fun cane from Sharon + Silkscreen from Bridget.
-Bridget, BRPCG Secretary

BRPCG Minutes: April 2012

April Clay Day!

Treasurer's Report – most everybody is paid up on dues.

A suggestion was made to order the Polymer magazine from Europe – "This is not Black and White" is the current issue. Barb will order.

New magazines received this month include Belle Amore & Polymer Cafe.

Bridget enjoyed her workshop with Carol Simmons in Dahlonega, GA. Carol is interested in teaching a class for us on covering eggs with Kaleidescope Canes March 23 and 24th (Saturday and Sunday) next year (2013). This is just after Synergy. Carol will already have her travel expenses paid to Synergy, and Bridget could transport her from there to Asheville, so we might be able to make the class affordable! We had a hard time locating a place for a workshop last year, so I'm thinking almost a year's notice will help. Please let Bridget know if you are interested and we will work to make this happen.

Suzanne – wanted to demo tortilla press mokume gane, but can't find the press. Her house is on the market and anything other than Realtor-approved items is in storage. She's working on proposal for Fandango – pomador beads – can add scents inside. Another one is all polymer hollow vessels formed over a potato. The Polymer Chef prefers less juicy potatoes – baking or Idaho. She also showed us some beautiful heart shaped beads made from oatmeal in her lab. Our guild was the testing ground for some of the Polymer Chef column's new features. Remember – you saw it here first!

Amy reminded everyone that the Auction will end at 2 pm. The guild had an idea to videotape demos to become part of library. This was agreed to only with permission of the person doing the demo. Someone else suggested we might be able to put them on line and have them password protected for members only. Sandra has cameras and could transfer. Pat also has a usable camera. We agreed with the proviso that the person doing the demo always has the right to refuse for any reason.

Pete made pigs with attitude. Wheeee!

Tonya is working on impressions to make a mold and tiles for a bracelet.

Barbara made lots of stuff. She sculpted flowers and made them into stamp. Then made 2 pendants . She found a tool for making Skinner Blends at Dollar Tree on Tunnel Road – a sandwich cutter.

Karen decided to sit next to Barbara in hopes that some of her creativity would rub off.

Janet is going to take lots of notes & picutres.

Cheryl from Charlotte has been working on Sutton Slices. She did a demo that really helped us understand how to get ours just right.

Julie was amazed that we had the nerve to start the meeting without our illustrious Charlotte members. She brought Swelligant to share. I guess she got over it, because she did a nice demo experimenting with the different components.

Maggie made butterfly canes and horse's heads. A big neigh was sent out to Teresa.

Judy attended Carol Simmons' Kaleidoscope class and brought notebook to share. She wore her necklace from Julie's demo. Judy's been busy! She followed Sarah Shriver's video to make some great beads. And also made her first swirled lentil.

Cheryl from Hendersonville brought her first brain cane to show.

Jackie has been playing and learning. She started a candle holder of mostly translucent w/ metallic that looks pretty when glowing and turned a few heads when she showed it to us.

Pat worked from the Dan Cormier lines & holes tutorial. She is going to ask for his permission to print his e-book and put in library.
Christina made a nice necklace for Rhonda's birthday using Julie's torn clay technique.

Rhonda worked w/ Christina & Pat on Dan Cormier techniques.

Sandra – has 8 houses under contract. She met Barbara McGuire at the Maya Gallery in Weaverville. Kay has some beautiful beaded work in there. Barbara donated some items for our auctions. Housing market is improving but interest rates are rising.

Kay did an extensive demo on creating beads over rocks that included windows, beading, feathers and great results. The end product was lots of smiles around the room. We benefitted by being the beta testers for the class she is developing for Creative Journeys Studios in Buford.

Bridget did a really sorry demo on using silk-screens that she was woefully unprepared for. She promised to bring them back next month and do a better job.

She also did a pitiful job with the minutes this month. On the way out the door, she picked up her husband's computer instead of his and has had to wait all this time for him to send the file. As if that weren't bad enough, she is sure she forgot to mention some of the demos, and has no doubt insulted several members in doing so.

The food was absolutely wonderful. Sharon outdid herself baking (or did herself in – one or the other). Cheryl from Hendersonville made some amazing sandwiches on homemade Foccacia that my mouth is still watering for.
-Bridget, BRPCG Secretary

BRPCG Minutes: March 2012

BRPCG Minutes – March 10, 2012
Dues are due! Note: Only members who have paid their dues may check out items from the library.

New in Library: The Polymer Arts Magazine. We have re-ordered the Lindly Haunani / Maggie Maggio book for the library to replace the one that was lost.

Thanks to Amy for doing the wonderful poetic minutes. However, do not expect that your regular secretary to be so creative.

Next Month: Clay Day 9am till – 5pm and the Guild Anniversary – Which one? Anyone know? (editor note: 13th!)

Bring things to donate for silent auction.
Bring $$ to buy stuff
Let Sharon know what you would like to demo.
Bring food. Sharon brings muffins & scones.
Kay will do a demo.
Maggie's doing a demo.
Julie will do a Swellegant demo.
Sharon will do a mystery demo.
A list of supplies should be sent before clay day.
Come for a day, come for an hour!
The day is a free for all – Play, demo, chat, or whatever.

Kay has been using rocks as forms to make hollow pieces. She has repurposed glass from her old carriage lights as baking tiles – upside down makes it easy to pick up from the oven. Brought inks to try today. True Blue's supply of Piñata inks is very low. Kay also brought testure sheets she made from a placemat.

Bridget attended Karen Woods' silkscreen class in Buford at Creative Journeys studios – a really amazing, must-see place. She's going back for more to Carol Simmons' class next month in Dahlonega, GA.

Pat ordered Dan Cormier's e-book and has been working from it. She will be ordering the wide peeler. If anyone wants to order one, let Pat know. She will also check out the Williams Sonoma version to see if she can save on postage.

Cathy attended the last Queen City Meeting, as did Maggie. Maggie created a terrific teacup faerie. They practiced Sutton Slices at QCC.

Teresa has been busy at school and survived her economics and statistics classes. She wants her life back.

Barbara played all month. Tried making a squishy, swirly can from an on-line demo, and found that she liked her own adaptation better. She also made faux rocks.

Janet is back after a long absence.

Debbie is here from Maggie Valley.

Sharon is here, but people were talking so I couldn't hear what she said.

Cheryl has been working on Sutton Slice & has done some very nice work.

Julie has new pieces – a really great Little Red Riding Hood one. She will demo the technique she has been adapting from Maggie Maggio's watercolor method.

Judy used JB Weld to adhere two sides of a knife handle to cover the knife her husband made . She is wearing a beautiful cabochon necklace made entirely from techniques she learned from Kay.

Cheryl from Hendersonville has done a new cane. She wants to join the news group, but is having technical difficulties. Anyone who wants to join – give Teresa your e-mail address and she will invite you and get you all set up. Oops. Before I could even get this sent out Teresa had it all taken care of.

Jackie from Saluda is semi-retired nurse, adjunct instructor at Blue Ridge, introduced to PC by Cheryl, and has fallen in love with it. She's here to learn, so we'd better get on with the demos.

Next month we'll have a special announcement from Kay about a class she would like to teach for us.

See you all at Clay Day for a full day of fun from 9am to 5pm. Whoopee!!
-Bridget, BRPCG Secretary

BRPCG Minutes: January 2012

BRPCG Minutes January 14, 2012
Welcome old and new faces! Happy New Year!
Web site: We decided to create updated static web site that would only need changing once a year. Teresa has friend who can create.

It will include links to:

Yahoo Group

Facebook Page

Blog

The main web site will contain basic BRPCG info – Library rules, directions, etc.

Dues are now being collected by Barb D. $25 per year.

Barb is communicating personally with people who asked for addresses for sending in dues.

We asked Kay to do a class on silkscreening on polymer clay. Sounds like a must-see!

Other ideas for instructors or classes are welcome. Who would we like to present a workshop this year?

Maggie is doing her Mermaid demo today.

Amy has photos to create our t-shirts and plans to have a mock-up by next meeting.

Sharon would like ideas for what demos we would like to see this year. Some suggestions were:

• Canes – leaves and flowers.
• Butterfly cane: – Maggie, Sharon or Tonya.
• Lathe turning.
• Pardo translucent – sea glass - Julie.
• Metal clay class from Marilyn.
• Your ideas – (yes YOU!!) Tell us what you want to learn or teach.

Maybe if we get a good list going, Sharon can give us a calendar of what to expect each month so we can all be bursting with enthusiasm?

Congrats to Marilyn for her entry in progress and possibilities. She would be glad to teach a metal clay class and also recommends Heather Jacobson as a wealth of Metal clay resources.

Library: Reminder- If you can't return a library item, you must be responsible for mailing it back. To date we have not had to collect deposits for DVDs, but will need to if we continue to have problems.

We are looking for our copy of the Lindly Haunani/ Maggie Maggie color book. If you happen to have that at home, please return so others may enjoy?

Lots of folks participated in the mini food swap. The creations were so yummy we were tempted to bite into them.

We had a really big crowd for the first week of the year –over 20 people!!

Amy had nothing to show but herself, which was pretty great to see. She has recovered from her October car accident and has new mini van. We are so happy to see evidence of what a survivor she is.

Teresa got carried away with making a mini food cake, and never got around to making mini foods to swap. We can't wait to see the cake. Maybe next month?

Kay is working on embellishments for her pieces. She is incorporating ideas from Victorian tremblers.

Bridget brought mini corn on the cob and showed off the new hip she got herself for Christmas.

Kathy brought some of the beautiful bezels she has made with resin. She seems to have effortlessly mastered the technique.

Maggie has been working on dragons & faeries & things. She brought an entire display case of her finished work.

Tonya had a breakfast theme with her mini food. She also has a new sexy red Roma pasta machine from Kitchen and Company. She gave it very good reviews. We're all watching to see how it works out in the long run. It is an affordable option with a motor incorporated.

Marilyn has been doing hollow beads, alcohol inks, faux jade, pmc, fortune cookies and Lord knows what else?

Barb created an incredible steam punk shadow box. She finished up her chocolate chip cookie earrings and made a Stroppel can embellishment for a set of candlesticks. Her mini food was blueberry muffins.

Debbie is new to our guild - Welcome.

Sharon – did glass lampworking for holidays. Made bread, salads, tacos, pancakes, lots more mini food. Yes, Sharon, we know you are the master pastry chef. Now you have permanent samples to prove it.

Julie attended Clay Carnival in Vegas and brought back the incredible projects she made there. She also brought some pieces from her grandmother cane. And when do you paint it? She will teach her face cane class at Woman Creative in August and Columbus, OH in April. Just in case she didn't have enough going on, Julie took a silversmithing class. Carol Simmons is teaching week long intensive caning class in GA in April and needs an assistant. See Julie if interested.

We will be ordering the Polymer Arts magazine for our guild.

Aliceis new and does big work. She brought us some great samples. She has a history as furniture maker. We are the first polymer clay artists she has ever met. Alice would like to learn transfers. Those can be tricky, so if anyone has a tried and true method for making them both in color or black and white, see Sharon to be put on our demo schedule.

Julie bought copy of the RAM (Racine Art Museum) book for guild and will bring it in after it makes the round of the Charlotte Guild. This contains photos from opening of permanent polymer clay exhibit. Julie also brought chocolate. As if she didn't think we'd let her in without it?

Judy Carroll retired on Jan. 1 and lives in Fletcher. She is really enjoying having time for crafts. She has enjoyed metal clay, and is also a silversmith. HMM – maybe we have enough people who might like to learn silversmithing to pull together a class??

Cheryl, Judy's sister, has also been working with crafts since she was little. She makes stained glass as day job. Judy bought her a Donna Kato book for Christmas, so she is now officially hooked. Both Judy & Cheryl attended our 2-day Christi Freisen class, and we didn't scare them off. They actually came back for more!

Karen has nothing, but loves the enthusiasm about the recent swap. She remembers some of the community activities like Bottles of Hope we have done and would like to see us create finger puppets and larger multi-media puppets to give away to a charity as a guild activity. Thanks for the suggestion!

Pat, our wonderful Librarian, met a pen turner at Asheville gun show in Oct, hence the interest in turning. Please feel free to suggest books or magazines for the library. Her Mom has been crocheting. She brought samples of gorgeous neck pieces to give us all ideas.

Sandra LoCastro made snow cones. She had fun at Christi's workshop.

Sue and Krista are new to the guild. Kristina used to make beaded jewelry.

Christina made some mini cupcakes. She create bracelets from a new technique she found in a book. Christina's work just gets better all the time. She is amazing!

Rhonda made mini pizzas. Her wonderful husband is building her and Christina a workshop so they don't have to work at kitchen table any more. We all agreed that we wanted to be next on the list to borrow him.

Looking around, we had to declare this The most talented room in NC.

Info was requested on smaller craft shows to participate in, and lots of folks had suggestions – too many for me to keep up with .

The Demo started at 1:40 at Maggie's table. Not only did she show us some great sculpting techniques and wow us with her skills, her technique for easily making scales on the mermaid's tail had us all oohing and aahing. Lots of possibilities for using in other work.

All in all, a really great meeting. What else could you expect from the most talented room in NC?

-Bridget, BRPCG Secretary

BRPCG Minutes: November 2011

BRPCG Minutes 11-12-11
We're just about set for the Christi Friesen Workshop. We plan to have dinner at Morning Glory Café in Black Mountain on Saturday night. Meals have been planned, goody bags in progress, plenty of folks signed up. We're good to go. Now if we could just get Christi to send those supply lists! Actually, even that isn't a problem. She never wants us to bring anything weird unless she's bringing plenty to share. Just plan on bringing your regular clay kit.
 
New member lists!Happy 40th anniversary Barb. Surprise dinner!
New Facebook page – type in Blue Ridge Polymer Clay Guild. Sandra to send out e-mail to members.
February Plans:
Maggie will do a mermaid demo.
•Food swap (polymer, not real!)

Sharon did 4 different demos! Christmas ribbon and peppermint candy, fall leaf pendant, wire wrapping.
As you can see, it was a quiet meeting. We did have 2 new guests who will be attending Christi's workshop.
Have a wonderful holiday and a happy new year!

BRPCG Minutes: October 2011

(I know these are old but I wanna post them for consistency...)

BRPCG Meeting Minutes 10-8-2011
Lunch at 1pm
Auction at 2pm
Thanks for all the great auction items everyone brought. We had an especially bountiful harvest from Suzanne Ivester.

All 2nd Saturdays reserved for next year (Except December, when we have no meeting.)

2 new magazines have come into the Library.
2 New VCRs transferred to DVD with some existing background noise.

Check with Barb to make sure she has your current e-mail. Pat will be sending out reminders so folks will know if they have late library items.

A 12 X 12 tile up for auction, but Pat also brought extras for $11.
Sandra suggested a Facebook page for the group and we agreed.
Christi Friesen class registrations at group discount rate today only. They are now available for everyone.

Kay brought more texture sheets to share. Suzanne brought tins to share.

Kay did a demo on her twist on beads Dan Cormier taught in his Asheville class. We're all excited about Kay doing more demos for us in the future.

Julie demo'd Alice Stroppel's new cane technique. Lots of folks tried it with great results.

Thanks to all who put up with Bridget's motor running all day as she conditioned nearly 5 pounds of clay for the Carol Simmons class. I Promise NEVER to do that again! Whew!

We have 8 people signed up for the Christi Friesen classes in December. It's shaping up to be a fun event.
See you in November!

-Bridget, BRPCG Secretary

BRPCG Minutes: August 2011

BRPCG Meeting Minutes August 13, 2011

Sharon opened the meeting with difficulty. There was quite a ruckus going on.  You’d think we hadn’t seen each other in years. She brought some great tins to share.

2 new books: Laurie Mika, Creative Sparks

Bridget needs help finding a space for Dec 3 & 4. The place we had found in Riverview is too small.  We will check libraries community centers.

We need to annoy Sandra about next year’s classes. Start planning early, so we won’t have so much trouble finding a place. Let’s keep it to less popular times of the year, too.

Today’s demo: faux batik by heather Campbell.

Janet Johnson has been busy doing audio description, not clay.

Marilyn Davenport from TN brought a necklace made from metal clay & crystals & wild strawberries. It has 3 real wild strawberries that burned up in the firing process.

Suzanne Ivester from TN brought 3 necklaces made from her demo on IPCA. She and Marilyn made some pieces like today’s demo to show.  At Pete’s suggestion, they went to the bead bead show and brought some treasures to show us. They looked all over at the show, but never saw Pete. Marilyn has a leftover free coupon to share. Suzanne has some dollar-off coupons.

Pete from Bristol VA-TN has a new schedule and will be able to attend more meetings (if not bead shows).  Suzanne& Pete went to the IPCA retreat and had a blast.

Bridget camping

Laurie Prevette from Charlotte is trying to use up things she has made. She loves the figures in shadow boxes  Ann Klocko makes, complete with wonderful costumes. So far Laurie has the  head made for her own.

Maggie drove one of 2 carloads of people from Charlotte, serenaded all the way. She brought examples of her cane from Julie Eakes face can class, which is just gorgeous. Somehow during that class she was renamed Sister Mary Margaret. Maggie been making boxes from Christmas cards for her faeries thanks to Suzanne’s tutorial. She has developed new faerie wings.

Tonya McDonald came over from Fariview.  She left us some of her experiments on Pete’s crap table. Since last meeting she has been working on earrings & pendant.

Note:  Pete left her roving crap collection in a box for us. We can continue to add to and remove items from this box.

Barbara D from Fairview made some finished her mosaic. She did a great job with the silver leaf. It looks like metal. She has Turquoise blue hair today to match her top.

Sharon Solly brought face cane from Julie’s class. Also magnificent. Doing lampwork beads at home in the garage at night, once it cools down. Still learning & experimenting. Think the neighbors wonder about the odd glow?

Tamara hasn’t been to a meeting for a while.  She says it’s good to be back, and we’re glad to have her back.

Cathy from Charlotte cut 13.5 inches of hair off for Locks of Love. Thanks to Cheryl, she’s been working on bezels covered in resin for months now. Cathy joined today as member.

Cheryl from charlotte is hot.

Julie came from Charlotte in the singing car. She brought the examples that were recently featured in Polymer Clay Daily.

Linda from charlotte has lost 30 lbs since she last visited. She was one of the privileged few who attended Julie’s cane class. She’s been doing a second face cane at home. Linda plays bridge, so she’s been using playing cards & transfers in her work.  

Pat has been doing some serious scrapbooking  . She created an 11 lb book of her grandson from age 0 – 5. She had a deadline to finish it by Tuesday so she could give it to her houseguests instead of having to mail it. She’s now starting her next book.  Happy birthday a day late and a dollar short. Also - Happy Birthday to Sharon 10 days ago.  

Christina made photo frame from Sharon’s mosaic demo so she could frame a photo of her cat Tivo.

Rhonda has been canning beans, tomatoes, okra, etc.

Karen has enjoyed reading books all summer.

Somehow we made it through the demo, despite all the helpful comments from our membership. Special thanks to Cheryl for her consultations during the demo.

Sharon had limited success getting responses from the lively crowd on ideas for demos during 2012. She was trying to poll the troops on whether we would like to learn things other than polymer clay. She suggested chain maille and a few other items, but the noise level prevented any coherent responses. Maybe folks could chime in and let Sharon know what they’d like to learn next year?

Barbara reminds everyone that October is just around the corner. We need to be finishing pieces and making new ones for the auction.

-Bridget, BRPCG Secretary