Upcoming Meeting: November 12, 2010

November 13, 2010: Meeting Notice
Our Guild was the fortunate recipient of Mary Lee Forsyth's vast collection of beads. The variety defies description. Let's just say she had a whole lotta beading going on! A few of us have worked hard to organize and apply some type of pricing structure for this sale. Bring lots of 1$ bills (NO - we are NOT having a stripper) for the sale. You'll be really glad you did.



Sharon Solly will be presenting a demo on incorporating beads into our poly clay work. She has some great ideas, so hush up & listen now!

What to bring?

• Regular clay supplies.
• A little clay in a variety of colors.
• Pliers for wire work ONLY if you have them.

If not, there will be plenty to share. Absolutely do not go out and BUY pliers. Sharon will also demo different types of pliers and show what to look for in making a purchase and demo a brand that we don't often see around here, but one that's good quality at a reasonable price.


This is a Must-Attend meeting. You won't want to miss out on the treasures our dear Mary Lee has left us.

Thanks,
Bridget, Queen of Commas

Meeting Report: October 9, 2010

What? Could it be that finally, finally I am caught up with the blog!?

BRPCG October Clay Day Minutes 2010

Amy had to shout to call the meeting to order. I'm starting to think that if we had a meeting where we didn't bring any clay, nobody would miss it!!
We talked some about doing a retreat. Everyone loves the idea, but we sure have a bunch of busy people.

We keep discussing who the next teacher to bring in should be. This week's suggestions were:
• Heather Campbell
• Judy Belcher
• Christi Friessen
• Kathleen Dustin
Challenge:
Well, we haven't had one of these for a while! We passed out stick pins and the challenge was to create a (guess what? . . . wait for it . . . ) Decorated Stick Pin!


If you missed the meeting and didn't get one, you can make a décor and we'll lend you some superglue. Don't forget. We're all looking forward to seeing what YOU made.

Today's agenda was:
1. Maggie's Gauze Bracelets
2. Julie's Complex Fall Cane
3. Suzanne's Plastic Canvas Mokume Gane (Where's the Green??)
4. Amy's Mica Shift
5. Auction


We have 3 new DVDs to check out from the library:
• Arabesque  (Pat and I are the only two who knows who took this home to watch....)
• Intricate Kaleidoscope
• Lindly's Color

Also – new magazines have been ordered. It just takes a while for a subscription to kick in. No wonder the Internet's so popular!. . . and Pat just keeps on going. She's converting our VCRs so those of us without can watch them.

Magazine sales will be held at the end of the auction. Hope you didn't miss all the great deals.

We're going to bring in Mary Lee's beads for a sale at the November meeting, and are trying to convince Sharon to do "something beady" as a demo. Notice the specificity involved in this request. Do you think that has anything to do with Sharon not being totally convinced?


Julie Eakes – Yes, the actual nominee as a Niche Award Finalist made an appearance at our meeting. She's been globe-trotting to retreats, swaps, and all sorts of events for the up and coming. She actually swapped with Kathleen Dustin during her Santa Fe Museum Piece Workshop. The place had a gorgeous view. I nominate this for our retreat.

There's a rumor afoot that the next Synergy may be in Santa Fe.


After all Julie's carrying on, Cheryl had nothing to say. Don't blame her.


Suzanne Ivester will be the IPCA Prez for 2 more months. Get your special requests in quick. I hear there are still a few good seats available. Pete will stay on board as the VA Member at Large.


Mark drove over from Waynesville. Don't tell anyone, but I actually saw him holding a lump of clay.

Maggie brought her Vampira Tableau to scare the snot out of us. It's amazing.

Teresa's trip from itty bitty Marion to Iceland sounded like a dream vacation. Everywhere she went was a gorgeous photo op. Teresa has some tricky software to stitch photos into panoramas that go on forever.


Besides Teresa, Jean Weston gets the prize for distance traveled. She's a snowbird from FL, and new to polymer clay. She wants to make focal pieces for her beading.

Rhonda's been helping her daughter Christina, who made some beautiful mica shift donuts.


Sandra's been in an organizing frenzy. I hear you can actually see her work table. We're starting to break her of the Realtor habit. She had customers in town but came to Clay Day anyway.

We made over $400 at our auction. Way to go! See everyone at the November meeting wearing your finest stick pins.
-Bridget, Stock-holder in Redbull Energy Drinks

I am exhausted just reading it...until next time, blog fairy

Meeting Report: September 11, 2010

BRPCG September Minutes 2010


Heller all!

Laurie made us some yummy tea. Good to see you again!

Pat has the list together of DVDs to buy. A new suggestion: Lindly Huanani's color mixing.

Bridget brought in our photo album. Everyone please bring photos to fill it – meetings, events, etc.

Suzanne drove over from Knoxville to do her donut demo. What a clever trick! We had big fun trying it out. Let's see some finished examples at the October Clay Day.


Laurie and maggie drove in from Charlotte. Laurie has some gorgeous lentil beads form an extruded cane. Maggie's perfected the art of gauze bracelets.

Mark came back from Waynesville. We didn't scare him off last month!


Amerie came over from Canton to show us the cabochons she's been slaving over. She's getting pretty darned good with them.

Barb has been busy making lizard tails with actual lizards attached. Well not actual –PC lizards actually. She's also become a steampunk.

Janet Johnson came for her 2nd meeting. Lynne Baldwin's becoming a regular.

Karen's been away from clay for a while, practicing her thrift shopper extraordinaire talents. If you need anything hard-to-find, she's probably got it.


Sharon's been working with metal and cold collections. She saw some white tiles on PC Daily, gave the idea her own unique tweak, and produced some 3-D bracelet tiles folks will soon be fighting over. Really creative.

Pat delivered the Munro order. It is so kind of her to do this for us! Barb had ordered some gorgeous texture sheets that most of us hadn't seen before.

Christine & Rhonda also have become Lizard tail addicts. They had a whole herd of the colorful little critters.


We had to have an intervention for Sandra. After many months in the real estate world, we had to teach her the words clay & play.


And for next time:


October 9 is Clay Day – a full day of fun from 9 to 5. Bring things to sell, snacks to share, beads for the Bead jar, and lots of creative energy. We should begin to see supply lists for the demos soon.


For those of us who just barely get started at a regular meeting, Clay Day is the answer. We get the whole day to catch up, share ideas, and learn new techniques. It just doesn't get any better than this. See you all there.
-Bridget, The Quiet One

Meeting Report: August 14, 2010

BRPCG August Minutes 2010

Reminder: October will be here before you know it! Bring in your donations for the bead jar – any kind of beads will do. Be thinking about what you want to bring in to auction off. I donated my kitchen sink to Habitat for Humanity when I remodeled, and I know many of you will be disappointed, but maybe something equally quirky will show up?
In appreciation for all of Pat's work building the World's Best Polymer Clay Library, we gave her a gift certificate to take her family out to Nona Mia – a really yummy Italian restaurant on Patton Avenue. Mmm – makes me hungry!

Fun Ideas:

• How about a retreat? We've been talking about this for the last couple of meetings. We need to ask Sharon about the place her beady friends go in TN and Barbara McGuire about the place she's used somewhere in NC. Barb D says we have a few sheckles in the coffer and could maybe find somebody (who was that crazy lady?) to coordinate the food.
• Who's going to be the next guest instructor? We talked about Judy Belcher and Heather Campbell. Bring your ideas to talk about at the September meeting.
• Julie is still planning to do her face cane class on a weekend when the Panthers are not playing. She's moved into her new house. Maybe soon we'll get a date?

Library Additons:
Our VHS tapes don't seem to be getting much use. We're talking about getting some new titles on DVD. Suggestions include Sarah Shriver, Lisa Lichtenfels, and Jana Roberts Benzon. Also, we decided to subscribe to Belle Armoire Jewelry and Art Jewelry. We have a lot of old magazines that don't get checked out and are planning to offer them at the auction in October.

New Project:
Bridget has agreed to start a photo album for our guild. Bring in any photos you have from past classes, your work, demos, or our guild members. Remember – she said photos, not computer files. If you can't get it printed, it won't get in the book. Ask her husband Bob, who never gets to see any vacation photos `cause they're still on the computer (if they even make it out of the camera chip).

• Teresa has been working on Theology papers for school. She didn't even bring any of her buddies with her to the meeting. Too bad. We had a fella drop in to check out our guild and he was really interested in sculpture. Teresa's on her way to Iceland for a vacation that sounds like a great adventure. She'd better bring some photos back!
• Maggie created some wild bracelets from cotton gauze. They look like they're still soft. Must have been the optical delusions month.
• Marilyn brought samples of word made using the canes she demo'd. She also brought the bracelet she made from the Helen Briel article in Polymer café – gorgeous!
• Amy brought in work she has done in faux abalone. It was hard to tell it from the real thing. She's teaching a mica shift class and brought some samples she is using that were absolutely amazing. You couldn't believe the pieces were flat until you touched them. They had so much depth from the mica shift.
• Suzanne brought us some donut pendants and some potato vases (oops! I meant to say spud vases), using the lost potato method. Those TN gals come up with the whackiest ideas. She's writing up a storm. She has a greencraft necklace made from recycled chandelier parts, something in Bead & Button, and an article in the latest Polymer Café.
• Barb D brought her finished birdhouse. Absolutely beautiful!
• Pete has been obsessed with lizard tails. We convinced her to do an ad-hoc demo, so we should see a bunch of them in September. Here's her technique:
• Chop, smoosh, roll, twist, fold, roll again, reshape, roll in one direction into a cone. Cut the big end off. Slice down the middle, open up, shape & bake. She said she thinks it comes from Carl Allen's Jacob's ladder technique. Julie Piccarello also teaches it. You can get Carl's tutorial plus a lot of others at this site: http://polymerclaycentral.com/masterindex.html#lessonsprojects.
• Cheryl is really progressing with her faux lampwork. She's giving Pandora a run for their money.
• Christine has done some beautiful work with the U-cane Julie demonstrated. She's covered an Altoid tin and made a necklace with 3 color schemes that is very nice.

I don't know how a person sprains her ankle caning, but Rhonda found a way. She must have some really interesting techniques!

Pat had 8 X 10 pieces of glass to give away. You never know what you'll miss if you don't make it to a meeting. There were also a lot of Papercraft magazines given away, but I'm not sure if Pat or someone else brought them. It gets a little crazy at these meetings sometimes. I worry about spraining my neck as it whips back and forth to catch all the action.

See you guys on September 11th!! There are a few folks we've been missing, so come on back and see us! Not to drop any names like Sandra & James & Julie!!!


-Bridget, Crazy Pen Lady

Meeting Report: July 10, 2010

Not as exciting as Christmas in July, but finally here they are: 



BRPCG July Minutes 2010


Reminder: October will be here before you know it! Bring in your donations for the bead jar – any kind of beads will do. We'll try to remember to bring out the bead necklace Mary Lee created from her winnings at last year's auction.

Pat finished sorting and cataloging the magazines and will bring them in. We tried, but we couldn't say enough good things to show our appreciation for all Pat & her hubby have done to create what is probably the world's best Polymer Clay library.


Amy finished her Nightmare before Christmas bracelet and brought in some samples to show us.


Amerie has been busy creating cabs and (according to her) learning to solder badly. Keep it up Amerie. The more you practice the better it gets. How bad can it be? She's been busy selling her work at the Downtown Market on French Broad across from United Way.


That location is just down the street from Nathaniel's house (Bridget's Son). Since she's been creating nothing with clay, she promised to bring photos of his and other peoples' crazy cars for Barb. Anyone else who has crazy car photos is welcome to bring them to share.

Barb brought samples of the faux silk and frames she's been making. She used her 50% off coupon to get some Tim Holtz gears from Michal's so she can go Steampunkin'.


Cheryl brought some pens that those fabulous Queen City Clayers turned on lathes. They turned them while raw, so they don't waste any clay. She's been using liquid clay to make some stunning Pandora beads.


Sharon has been beading up a storm and brought us lots of metal charms to ooh and aah over.


Teresa has been making chain mail for her creatures, plus leather armor.


We passed around a card to send to Glenn. Mary Lee's gifts just keep on giving. We had tons of fabric to sort through and select from.


Bridget did her itty bitty birdhouse demo, proving that everybody has something to share. Sharon turned a texture stamp sideways so that, instead of producing bricks, looked like an elegant Japanese pattern. Teresa chipped in creating amazing itty bitty birds to perch on the houses.

Next month's topic (If we get really lucky) will be Marilyn's black and white pieces from Polymer Café. Keep your fingers crossed!


Thanks to Pat for the gentle nudge. The minutes were really, really late. If any of you got a strange message from me with a bogus attachment, please delete. I keep having spam problems. I've had a yahoo account for over 10 years now and hate to give it up, but if this doesn't quit happening, I may have to make the sacrifice.

See you guys on August 14!! There are a few folks we've been missing, so come on back and see us!
-Bridget, Secretary BRPCG

Meeting Report: June 12, 2010

There seems to be some confusion that I might have to make a bird house....however, I am wondering what tiny piece of Florida has frozen over that this has come to pass....? hum.  Well we will have to see 'bout that.

I might be willing to make a house for a tiny fae or a sprite or some other elemental that might be creeping about the yard...

Now to Bridget, punctuator de excellence.

What a Crowd! From all directions of the compass: VA, TN, SC & Charlotte. This is starting to resemble a Gypsy Caravan – Have Clay, Will Travel!



(Hmmmm > maybe we need to rent a bus and go on a road trip)


Back to reality . . . the good news is: our oven may be OK. We checked it with the good thermometers, and we're right at 275. Still . . . as all good clayers know, baking on tiles is the best way to keep your clay curing evenly.


Today's Demo was presented by the world's most tolerant instructor – the one and only Sharon Solly. We're all thanking our lucky stars that raising four children has prepared her to put up with anything and everything – and boy, did she get it! She was heckled, interrupted, outstaged, and overwhelmed, but still she forged on. Not one but two demos were completed! Even the slacker secretary completed a simple sounding but tricky U-Cane. Others made dazzling faux bezels. The overachievers did both.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the world's greatest librarian pulled off a mind-boggling feat. Not only did she reorganize and catalog all the new books in the library (Gifts of the ever-gracious Glenn Forsyth), she also color –coded them!


Green is for Clay


Orange is for Wire


Pink is for ???? Elephants? Rats!! I missed that part!


As if she didn't already have plenty to do, Pat took home all the Polymer Clay magazines to re-work. Wonder what color scheme they'll end up? Plaid or Polka Dot?


But Seriously Folks – We're talking about MONEY here. A reminder of the Fees:


$3 to rent a video
$2 fee for each month late
$3 if it's a video


SOOOO – If you can't make a meeting and are going to be late, you can mail your library items to Pat. She's putting her address in with every item, just to make it easy for us. We are getting so spoilt, Pat! You treat us way better than we deserve. I even heard a rumor that you've got the whole library catalog on your computer!


So, what can we do to show our appreciation? How about if we return all our library items at the beginning of each meeting so they will be available for other members to check out. That way Pat can have an easier time keeping track of what's coming and going.


Here's all the action that went on between meetings:

Bridget mucked out her workshop and found, among the items that came back from the Library Display: two of Mary Lee's creations. They will be among the many great treasures we're already starting to collect for the auction on Clay Day.

Suzanne brought her entire living room. (It did shrink a little)

Marilyn brought that great necklace from the Polymer Café and promised to come back and teach us how to do it, too. Maybe in August? Check your calendar, Marylin.

Tonya put her kaleidoscope cane on You Tube.


Amy had her first experience with Kato – crack – sizzle – fizz. Guess it takes some getting used to!

Amerie is making PC cabochons & taking a soldering class.

Maggie brought Julie & Cheryl.


Sheryl with an S sold a necklace.

Cheryl with a C came with Maggie & Julie.

Julie was fresh from a workshop where she hobbed and nobbed with the fabulous fingers of clay – Lindly Huanani, Melanie West, Laurie Profiter, etc. I think they must have all gone home 10 pounds lighter, `cause Julie had all their jewelery.

For all of you who have been patiently waiting for Julie's book, get used to it. It's now doubled in size and lead time.

Get out your little black dresses. Christina's making black and white necklaces that will be the envy of everyone else at the party.

For all the great company old and new that I didn't scribble fast enough to record – my apologies. Say something crazy next time to get my attention and I'll give you lots of room to crow.

And now for something completely different:


Remember all the really outstanding demos by talented instructors we've had lately?


Next month we're going to change all that. It's time to give the rookies a chance.


Just to prove that everyone has something to share, we'll be conducting a socialogical experiment. We're going to let yours truly – secretary Bridget – try to demonstrate how entertaining a demo can be when presented by a mere mortal (i.e. not a big name polymerista!)

We will all (Yes, even you, Teresa) be making itty bitty bird houses. Teresa, we may need your help for the itty bitty birds. Supply lists to follow when I get my act together.


But, before we go: Remember the Challenge: SOMETHING PATRIOTIC. What does that mean? Well, I don't know. If I did, it wouldn't be a Challenge!


Clay Anyway!

-Bridget

posted June 17 by the blog fae

Meeting Report: May 15, 2010

Flitting about the summer gardens, and I, the Blog Fae, have been all amiss with managing the posts.  But today, the rain has sogged my wings and I thing a good time to catch up with this sort of thing...

The oven dilemma. Hmmm. The oven seemed to spike quite a bit during Kathleen Dustin's class. Should we buy a new one, or get a good thermometer and monitor it for a while? Let's do that. Meanwhile, if anyone sees a good convection oven on sale, let us know.

Maggie brought exciting news. Julie is having a 2-day Face Cane Class in Charlotte. It's a good thing I didn't get these minutes typed promptly! Since the meeting Cheryl has to have knee surgery and the class is being delayed. New time TBA. Cheryl – have a smooth event and a speedy recovery! For those who like to prepare, Julie always uses Kato clay, so start your conditioning early. Now might not bee too soon!

Lots of books are being added to the library, courtesy of Mary Lee's husband Glenn, who donated her wonderful collection. Pat is cataloging bit by bit as she gets the time, so we should have new surprises every month for a while.

Welcome back old friend! Christy Ray Buck from days of old returned, bringing two friends along as a treat.

Suzanne came `round the mountain! The road is open again and we were glad to see her. After a grueling attempt, Suzanne realized maybe she wasn't quite ready for the wholesale jewelery business, but she did bring some beautiful work. What she didn't bring with her was Marilyn. Somebody was off shaggin' in Myrtle Beach.

Commercial Pause: Did you know that members can bring in stuff to sell if they give 10% of the proceeds to the guild? Well, I didn't. Guess I need to study the by-laws more closely. We did have a tablefull of great stuff on sale – and it wasn't even Clay Day. Just goes to show – there's never a bad day to show up at a guild meeting.

Back to our regularly scheduled program – Barb D brought greetings from Barb VL. OK folks – all at once now, Hey Barb! She did a stupendous demo on basic beads. We all (well except Teresa) had fun trying new bead ideas. Suzanne jumped right in there and showed us how to melt plastic onion bags into beads. Strange! Barb also brought her prized gem – a 25 cent ring she gussied up with PC.

Teresa wowed us all with Dandy Lion, her creation from the Wendy Froud workshop. She also came away with the grand prize – a foot made by Wendy herself. Wish I had gotten a picture of that Dandy Lion character. Sure hope he comes back to visit again soon. He was the best! I think I've developed quite a crush.

Christina made 2 pins after seeing Maggie's demos. Pat brought lots & lots of pens, plus some of her Mom's quilt work.

Last but not least was some good reading. Barb brought us copies of Sandra's article on polymer clay from the Town Crier plus a copy of Tamara's article on TBI from the Citizen Times.

The June meeting is only 10 days away. We're back to the 2nd Saturday of the month, so don't get confused. We want to see everybody there!

-In case anyone might forget, that was written by guild secretary Bridget, who in her creative fervour forgot to sign this one...
the blog fae

Meeting Report: April 10, 2010

The ever fearless Bridget has once again dared the torture of the pen and blank paper and conquered them both.  In a stunning submission the factual account of BRPCG Clay Day is presented in all its naked honesty with the occasional sprinkling of humour and good will.   But let me not delay your literary adventure any longer...

April 10, 2010: Clay Day!
Greetings from the house without a kitchen. Your schedule-challenged secretary has been mucking about in the land of never-ending construction, instead of focusing on more fun and useful endeavors like polymer clay. Fear not !– The remnants of the April 10 Clay Day are still rumbling around in this tortured brain somewhere . . .



Oh, yes, how could I forget? Lots and lots of fun people came from far and wide: Pete from VA, Ernie from Atlanta, and even lots of folks with girl names from in-between. We did miss a few of you: Barb V off taking care of family, Sandra taking care of business, and Jim taking care of excess chocolate, as he was pampered through his recovery. Plus too many more to name.


In addition to all the great folks and fun, did we ever have food. One visitor was overheard (after at least 4 slices of Sharon Solly's yummy cake) she would be at every clay day from now on. We do take good care of ourselves. Nobody goes home hungry!


Lots of great show and tell. Barb D brought in her entry into the Polymer Café Fall Leaves Challenge. Julie brought samples she's been working on for her book. Pete brought the work she did at Clay Fandango. Rhonda and Christina had gone into full-scale production mode and out-clayed everyone. Several folks brought their pieces from the Kathleen Dustin class. Amerie brought some plums from Canton so gorgeous, they hopped over from the food descriptions and demanded to be included with the art.


Pat won the best-dressed award, appearing in a swanky black and white ensemble with piles of coordinated polymer accents.


We had so many demos, we had to postpone one for next month. Remember our May Meeting is the 3rd Saturday. Update your calendars now or you'll have to go downstairs and flirt with the firemen, `cause we won't be there until a week later than usual.


Barb D's Basic Beads will be taught in May. After all the other demos, our brains were close to exploding, so Barb graciously agreed to haul all the demo gear back for the May 15th meeting. I'm so glad. I was looking forward to hers, and it wouldn't be fair to rush through it when some folks had already started packing up.

Amy did get to present her demo: Backfilled Beads. She even demo'd the way she creates a simple base bead. Her samples were gorgeous, and the teaching so effective, we could all do it, too. If you didn't make it, be sure to catch Amy so she can show you what you missed.


Maggie brought exotic imported techniques to us from the Queen City Clayers in faraway Charlotte, NC. The guild had challenged themselves to make polymer clay look like watercolor silk, and succeeded beautifully. Their method used alcohol inks and produced some surprising results that were lots of fun to play with. If they don't quit coming up with such great ideas, they may find themselves looking for a larger meeting space. I'm tempted to rent a bus and haul us all over to see what all the excitement is about.


Julie showed us the Rorsarch Slab, Crazy Sheet, Oh, whatever - Name that Technique! Then, just to show off, she gave us a simple way to make signature canes. Pat had the shortest name, and she did have the black and white motif going anyway, so she now has a lifetime supply of Pat canes. That, of course, gave us yet another demo: Julie's table-slamming reduction secrets. Is it any wonder we didn't get through all the planned demos?

Amerie brought her mold-making suplies. Let's get this straight for once. Those are little blobs of squishy stuff that you use to shape clay, not the fungal variety. We were all left with our brains looking at things differently – wondering what shapes all around us would be fun to be able to cast in a mold for clay.


Do you guys realize that there are guilds out there that just have meetings? –You know, those dull-as-a-dirt-sandwich events where people fall in love with the sound of their own voices? They don't have food. They don't have clay. Whatever is the point? Aren't you glad to be part of the BRPCG? Me, too.


- Bridget

me too..although I only ate 3 pieces of cake.  Until next time, fare thee well.
-blog fairy

Meeting Report: 13Mar10

Yeppers, I am running late with posting the meetings as they are sent to me.  Chop it up to a hectic life, general everyday stresses, place any excuse here: ______  the fact is, time gets ahead of me very quickly.  But I am getting to it slowly.   As we now have a new secretary, pen and paper in hand, Bridget makes her secretarial debut.

Blue Ridge Polymer Clay Guild: March 13, 2010 Minutes


We had a good crowd on Saturday – right at 20 people. And this is despite an ailing Jim Peacock (Get Well Soon!) and Suzanne and Marilyn still being trapped behind the rockslide. We have one new member, Hema, who has just moved here from Missouri.


Lots of exciting news!


Julie told a lot of lies about the trip to Cabin Fever and Synergy, presenting her gracious chauffeur in a most dubious light. I wasn't there to hear all of this slander, as I had spaced out and run back to the house to collect both clay and pasta machine. Pete, you are not the resident DA for this month. Maybe you can reclaim the title when you come for Clay Day next month. Julie and Bridget both brought in the treasures they collected to show off.


Teresa is going to be attending a 3-day workshop with Wendy Froud in the Chicago area April 30th -May 2, 2010. Wendy was the original designer of Yoda and also worked with Jim Henson. Anyone unfamiliar with Wendy's artistry can find lots of examples on the web, starting with http://www.worldoffroud.com/index.html. There you will also find a link to Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book by Brian Froud, a classic once prescribed by a very hip MD for my son.


Pat came back looking rested and refreshed from her cruise, which included St. Thomas and lots of other wonderful destinations. She didn't give high marks to Holland America cruises, though. Best to stick with the old standbys, like the QE2.


Barbara and Maggie brought in samples of spores inspired by a National Geographic article. They were so realistic, we were worried they might be contagious. Anyone exhibiting symptoms should call 911 or go to your local emergency room, as they have not yet created antidotes.


Many beautiful pieces were seen sporting the latest in Hidden Magic, courtesy of Sharon Solly's demo. That technique really does produce some gorgeous effects. Bridget shared some info collected from travels to MD. If you didn't get the Synergy info, you can read Susan Lomuto's insightful look into the world of polymer at http://dailyartmuse.com/2010/03/04/synergy-2-part-1-in-pursuit-of-excellence-the/-evolution-of-a-medium/. If there was anything else you wanted copies of, please contact Bridget directly.


Under some very trying circumstances (a chorus of hecklers that would put any group of doo-wop girls to shame), Sharon Solly presented an outstanding demo on making tiny boxes. She uses pearl clay and alcohol inks to create a Raku effect.


As always her tips were quite detailed and anyone who followed instructions was assured of a tidy, well-proportioned box. She claims to have been mesmerized by houses lately, but she's not alone. Everyone who's seen the enchanting examples she's created is starting to feel the same way.


 . . a Few Reminders
Kathleen Dustin Class
Saturday and Sunday, March 27 & 28 10am – 5pm both days (get there early and be ready on time!)
Remember to bring the food you've signed up for, and those who have promised to bring ovens or other items, don't forget them.


Saturday, April 10 is Clay Day: 9am – 5pm.
Please remember to bring:
Snacks to share
Beads for the bead jar
Donations for the auction
(can be anything – use your imagination!)
Supplies for demos – to be announced later
Lots of cash – small and large bills


May 15th – the 3rd Saturday


Our meeting in May is the 3rd Saturday, not the 2nd, due to some scheduling challenges with the community center. We'll keep reminding you!


Thanks for electing me your Secretary. You folks are terrific. I'm glad there's something I can do to help!


- Bridget

Posted by the blog fairy on this gorgeous spring day...
I bid you adieu.
-blog fairy

Meeting Report: 20Feb10

BRPCG's February 2010 meeting was held on Feb. 20th at Avery's Creek Community Center with 8 in attendance, including new member Valerie Halverson, welcome. And welcome back to Lynn after a long absence.


The meeting had been re-scheduled from the 13th due to inclement weather.

The meeting started off with sharing of our sadness at the passing of our friend, fellow guild member and newly elected guild secretary, Mary Lee Forsythe. All of us that knew her will miss her greatly. In a touching gesture Barb D. placed roses where Mary Lee usually sat.

"Generosity of time and spirit - that is what makes a wonderful artist," was said by Amy. The quote is by Judy Belcher from her Milliefiorie Story Cd but it summed up Mary Lee's spirit and attitude as an artist eloquently.

Barb D. received an acknowledgment from the American Heart Association of the $100.00 donation from the guild in Mary Lee's name.

Congratulations to Marilyn D from our Tennessee contingent for her wonderful article and winning challenge entry in Polymer Cafe.

Show and tell and introduction started with Sharon Solly and her exciting news. Donna Kato has contacted her to be one of the teachers on Donna's new on-line Craft.edu site. It is a new type of on line class thing and still in the works. It consists of many famous teachers in all types of art mediums. Sharon will be teaching her famous fabulous faux lamp work beads and also her mixed media paper techniques. Oh, and she brought her famous copper and clay bracelets like the ones shown on Polymer Clay Daley for show and tell. Way to go girl. You ROCK!

Show and tell continued around the room and with so many talented folks it's hard to list all the wonderful things. Barb D showed us her faux amber necklace and a bracelet that was inspired by a method Mary Lee had shown us.

There were butterfly canes, note pad and pen set, and a heart box to name a few more things. Karen H brought house shaped macaroni, aluminum tags and small vials to share with all.

After show and tell some time was spent checking out all the neat projects.

Then most of us went to work on our own projects. There was a lot of sharing of methods, general socializing and some wandering around as usual. Barb D. and Maggie even discovered that they both had the same inspiration to do beads from a National Geographic article with photos of grains of pollen. We will have to see how that turns out. Funny how polymerclayers see the world as something to cover with or imitate in clay!

Next meeting Sharon will demonstrate how she makes her little box house Beads.

If I have left anything out or gotten something wrong please let me know.

Submitted By Temporary volunteer report writer,

Maggie

February Meeting Report

Our February meeting report was written by our roving reporter Maggie...tried and true...forever faithful with her qwerty keys.  So without further fuss and adieu:  (okay i editted just a bit...a comma here, a quote there.)

BRPCG's February 2010 meeting was held on Feb. 20th at Avery's Creek Community Center with 8 in attendance, including new member Valerie Halverson, welcome. And welcome back to Lynn after a long absence.  The meeting had been re-scheduled from the 13th due to inclement weather.

The meeting started off with sharing of our sadness at the passing of our friend, fellow guild member and newly elected guild secretary, Mary Lee Forsythe. All of us that knew her will miss her greatly. In a touching gesture Barb D. placed roses where Mary Lee usually sat.


"Generosity of time and spirit - that is what makes a wonderful artist," was said by Amy. The quote is by Judy Belcher from her Milliefiorie Story Cd but it summed up Mary Lee's spirit and attitude as an artist eloquently.


Barb D. received an acknowledgment from the American Heart Association of the $100.00 donation from the guild in Mary Lee's name.

Congratulations to Marilyn D from our Tennessee contingent for her wonderful article and winning challenge entry in Polymer Cafe.


Show and tell and introduction started with Sharon Solly and her exciting news. Donna Kato has contacted her to be one of the teachers on Donna's new on-line Craft.edu site. It is a new type of on-line class thing and still in the works. It consists of many famous teachers in all types of art mediums. Sharon will be teaching her famous fabulous faux lamp work beads and also her mixed media paper techniques. Oh, and she brought her famous copper and clay bracelets like the ones shown on Polymer Clay Daily for show and tell. Way to go girl. You ROCK!


Show and tell continued around the room and with so many talented folks it's hard to list all the wonderful things. Barb D showed us her faux amber necklace and a bracelet that was inspired by a method Mary Lee had shown us.


There were butterfly canes, note pad and pen set, and a heart box to name a few more things. Karen H brought house shaped macaroni, aluminum tags and small vials to share with all.


After show and tell some time was spent checking out all the neat projects.


Then most of us went to work on our own projects. There was a lot of sharing of methods, general socializing and some wandering around as usual. Barb D. and Maggie even discovered that they both had the same inspiration to do beads from a National Geographic article with photos of grains of pollen. We will have to see how that turns out! Funny how polymerclayers see the world as something to cover with or imitate in clay!

Next meeting Sharon will demonstrate how she makes her little box house Beads.

If I have left anything out or gotten something wrong please let me know.


Submitted By Temporary volunteer report writer,
Maggie

Happy times, sad times, successes and failures, pieces that plaque and pieces that dont.  That about sums it up.....
-blog fairy

Update to February Meeting

Due to all this white stuff (who ordered this stuff anyway?  we already had a batch on the ground..) we had to cancel our regularly scheduled February meeting.  That would be Feb 13th for those of you who are not paying attention.  But...our ever diligent officers have been able to reschedule our meeting for the following Saturday, February 20th, for those of you who calendar challenged (er..not me!) and it will be at the regular time of 12 noon-ish to 4pm-ish.  So come as you are and bring cool stuff you have been working on...
-Blog Fairy

Business for February 13, 2010 Meeting

According to our newly minted pres Amy:

In memory of Mary Lee and as we currently have no demo planned for February, the meeting will probably be rather low-key.  Perhaps a forum type to discuss information or to talk about our work, tips, issues etc.  Although I am certain there will be many show-n-tells to see about and fuss over as there always is.  This might also be a good time for our newbies (or noobs) to give us an idea of what they might like to see over the year in demos. Sometimes we forget how scary that first skinner blend can be and a bit of experienced instruction might go a long way.  Or perhaps ..if there are other ideas floating around out there you can weigh in on the yahoogroup. 

Of a more serious business note, now that our secretary position is vacant, we have need to fill that position.  I, for one, vote for Maggie as she has not held the position in some time and she was the fill-in for that office.  So, I think, now is time for her to fill in.

-teresa, guild member (and the only one with the blog password right now)

In Memory: Mary Lee Forsythe

In Memory

Mary Lee Forsythe

We grieve the passing of our beloved member Mary Lee and extend our condolences to her family and friends. We mourn together for the loss of our dear friend and miss her bright smile, kind words, and generous heart. If the workings of an artists hands are a reflection of the spirit within, then we should feel so honored that we were able to witness a truly joyous, gentle soul through the beautiful creations that she made and shared with us. We always knew her work was fit for the angels. - BRPCG 27Jan10



"Mary Lee, I know wherever you are, you are reading this. There's no way a little thing like death could stop you. There's just too much artistic talent to be wasted. We've always enjoyed your positive approach to everything, your wonderful sense of humor, and just the great bundle of energy that was you. There's no measurement for the number of ways you've enriched our lives, and certainly not a prayer of ever conveying how much you will be missed. You can be assured that your memory will always live on in our guild. I doubt if we'll be able to do a single thing without it reminding us of you. We will treasure our memories of you forever." -Bridget, Guild Member

January Meeting Report

As submitted by Mary Lee Forsythe 20Jan10

BRPCG's first meeting of 2010 was held on Jan 9th at Avery's Creek Community Center with 15 in attendance, including our special little guest "Chloe" !


Business items discussed and/or handled were:

* Member dues at $25.00 per individual for 2010 are due this month.


* Items for the North Asheville Library Display were collected and will be delivered to the library by Teresa Haynes and Barb Dolcimascolo before the end of January. If by chance, you have any other items for display and they have not yet taken our objects to the library, please contact Teresa or Barb for arrangements and time frames.


* Barb Verni-Lau will be absent (physically only) during upcoming months for some personal family obligations. We will miss her terribly and while she will "help as needed by long distance", Sandra LoCastro has graciously volunteered to assume Barb's responsibilities as Events Co-Ordinator. As such, Sandra will be completing the arrangements for the Kathleen Dustin workshop to be held at Avery's Creek Community Center on 3-27/28-2010.


* Following officers were elected for the upcoming 2 year terms: President - Amy Sharp, Secretary - Mary Lee Forsythe, Librarian - Pat Gentilella. Other officers will remain in place for the second year of their term: Vice President - Sharon Solly, Treasurer - Barb Dolcimascolo.


* We also discussed and are in general agreement with suggested Internet changes for the Guild. Tentatively planned are - Website will be maintained as "basic reference site" (good term, Teresa?) and a Guild Blog will be set up as the primary information and communication site, as well as maintaining the Yahoo Group Site.


Despite the Holidays, some of us were very busy during the 2 months absence (lo-o-o-ng time)from Guild meetings. Julie Eakes brought a 5x8" thick slice of her "extruded cane Face Cane" (Sorry Julie - Thought it was the best way to describe without a picture) which has not only been on her blog, but on Polymer Clay Daily - Absolutely fantastic art !


Sharon Solly displayed her increasing skills and production with copper jewelry - Oh, so lovely !


We had dragons, forest imps, rocks, a snowman and many beads and jewelry - What a talented group we are !!


After Show&Tell and a short break to get closer looks at all of the projects, Sharon Solly presented a demo on the "Monet Cane", as shown by Mia Rox on pcpolyzine web site. The use of tinted translucent clay was very effective and looked like Monet watercolors. Thanks Sharon for an informative demo and a beautiful cane.The next Guild meeting will be on February 13th at ACCC. Mary Lee will present a demo on "Geometric Patterned Fabric Inspirations". Altho' we did not state a formal challenge, let's see what you have done with the "Monet Cane". As this is my initial report as "Madame Secretary", please feel free to serve as my "Editors". Please let me know if I missed anything or mispelled anyone's name - for which I apologize in advance !