Have you seen what Christi is doing?

For those of you who met Christi when we hosted her at our workshop you know that she always has those creative gears a-going!

Well now she has Steampunk!

What is Steampunk? Want some?

Steampunk is a look that's all gears and brass and turn-of-the-century clockworking - with a bit of fantasy on the side.

So here's some steampunky things to get your creative gears turning! http://www.cforiginals.net/steampunk.html

Make sure you check out her on line projects also!! And her new book!!
http://www.cforiginals.net/cpibook.html

Julie Picarello in April

A message about the upcoming workshop from Tracy....

The Picarello workshop is filling up fast!!! We already have 15 signed up. We cannot put you on a hold basis. You must fill out the registration form ( http://pppcg.org/index_page0006.html )and mail it along with a check to Tracy Miller ASAP. We we are capping the class at 20 due to the size of our room.
There are about 5 slots left!
Peg Montieth

Pikes Peak Polymer Clay Guild President

To check out more of her work see the web address below

Julie Picarello
Yellow House Designs
http://www.yhdesigns.com/

We watched the Watches being hatched!

WOW - I was blown away by how many people came to make a watch... 23 plus two darling daughters of members who joined right in. (They are our artists in training and doing super! ) We had a great time and I was tickled to see all the wonderful variations on a simple bracelet watch.Next month, due to the interest in beading, we will BEAD BEAD BEAD... by making our very own from our favorite medium. Come and share a bead making tip... and learn from others. I am hoping Shane will be there... she has dozens of kinds of bead ideas.SWAP NEWS - good news! We now have two groups of 9 and the swap will happen at the DECEMBER meeting rather than Nov. We have been informed that Cottonwood will not be moving for quite some time.Have a wonderful month... see ya soon!Peg Montieth

TRICK or TREAT?

This is no TRICK but certainly a TREAT for those who hate moving.

Cottonwood will remain our Polymer Clay Home for a while longer.

Apparently stock market crashes can be positive in that we get to stay at our location!

So no packing no boxes or lugging our goodies across town.

The following is a referal from http://www.npcg.org

Please reply to: lisapavelka@cox.net
Name:
Lisa Pavelka
Email:
lisapavelka@cox.net
Subject: Call for Entries

Hi Tracy,
Can you please share this with your guild: STAEDTLER ISSUES "2009 DESIGNER'S CHALLENGE" Call for entries - Staedtler (Distributors of FIMO Clays), announces the 2009 Bottles of Hope Designer Challenge. Clay artists of all skill levels are encourage to submit one or more entries for the challenge which will award charitable contributions to the cancer charity of the winner\'s choice plus a cash prize to winners in three categories. Product prizes will also be awarded to the top three runner-ups. Finalists will receive guest badges to the CHA 2009 show in January (Anaheim, California) where the award ceremony will take place. For rules and entry forms visit: http://staedtler-usa.com/bottles_of_hope_2009_us.Staedtler or contact Lisa Pavelka at 702-243-6564 or lisapavelka@cox.net

Harvest Fest, Art and Wine Festival in Canon City

Dear Friends and Collectors,

I wanted to let you know about an outdoor art show that I will be showing at this weekend. Plan a fun day trip to Canon City to visit the Holy Cross Abbey for art on display by over 50 artists, wine tasting, good food and entertainment from 10am-5pm each day.

I will be debuting my new contemporary paintings as well selling my petroglyph inspired works!

Have a great day and I hope to see you this weekend!

Tracy Miller

FYI ALL - This was a blast last year...

KATO POLYCLAY PRESENTS Las Vegas Clay Carnival 08′
WHEN: November 13 - 16, 2008

WHO: Donna Kato, Judy Belcher, Leslie Blackford, Kim Cavender, Cathy Johnston, Sue Kelsey, Lindly Haunani, and Natalia Garcia de Leaniz will be your instructors.

WHERE: Imperial Palace Las Vegas, Nevada
for more info and registration forms.... http://cathyjohnston.net/

SEPT GUILD MEETING

We had a great time chatting and making Hearts for Heroes and Bottles of Hope - please bring any you make this month to the Oct meeting. Anita Lerner has volunteered to send the Hearts on to Linda Weeks and Marcene, Gina, Bev and Tejae will deliver the Bottles of Hope to various locales. Thanks to those who are participating... it is wonderful to use our art to give from the heart.
The new convection oven seemed to be a success! We had a little scorching (I think someone may have used Sculpey 2... which is not as happy with the new higher temps that can be used with Kato and Premo.) Next time we will move the rack down a level or two!

---

Next month we will have a Watch making (bracelet making if you don't want a watch) demo by me... the watch lady - with make and take kits.... I will bring a large variety of watch faces (silver, gold and copper colors), the Power Cord and a variety of spacer beads in the same metallic colors. A full kit (face/cord/spacer beads) is 10$, or just a face and cord is 5$. You can make your own poly clay beads prior to the next meeting and/ or learn a trick or two from our very own Shane Smith.
The most successful beads for a watch band are not real thick or long - tube beads, round beads and other flat shapes work very well.

---

DUES DUES DUES if you haven't paid yet - Please do so...contact the treasurer @ annemadedesigns@yahoo.com for info on how to take care of that.

---

I will be purging my email lists soon, too... so those who are on the non-member list will no longer be getting information about meetings and events... please sign up... 30$ is an amazingly inexpensive way to stay in touch with the growing polymer clay world and such fun to meet and learn from others. just email me to find out how to join - or better yet, come check out our next meeting :-)

---

SWAP - the swap sign up is now closed.... there will be two groups of 7.. so make 7 (that means you will have one of your own to keep too:-) We will no longer keep a set for the guild... taking photos will be a more efficient way to archive our swaps. We have moved the actual swap date up to the November meeting since we may be moving in Dec...

---

MEMBERS - Please consider getting more involved in the guild activities and "up-keep" - time commitments are not lengthy, particularly if we share in the tasks that keep the guild an inspiring and fun place to meet and learn from other Clayers/Artists.
NEEDED (We may have clearer ideas after our board meeting - but off the top of my head at this moment....
___ Nominations for Secretary (already nominated is Gina Stephenson)
___a person or two to organize potlucks (typically just one per year at our December meeting)
___ a person or two to organize bi-annual silent auction and other fund raising ideas
___ a person to facilitate workshops and handle registrations etc.

Hope to see you all in November!
Peg Montieth
President

We had a small but merry group this time

Summer is like that . We really enjoyed SHANE SMITH'S demo of her spaghetti cane... she lead us through so well that making a cane seemed easy! I had seen Shane do this demo before and really enjoyed how the group wondered aloud how the stack would turn into such a cool cane... it's magic! We had a great time comparing our results... amazing how we get so many outcomes from this variation of a kaleidoscope cane. Shane said she would be willing to come back some time and do a demo on making all sorts of miniatures... you should have seen the teensy little mugs she had with her... pretty amazing. Thank you, thank you Shane!

Our SILENT AUCTION brought in 82$ and change which will help to pay for our new Haier convection oven. Boy is it purty... and is still riding around in the back of my 4-Runner til we know when and if we are moving to the new location with Cottonwood School. Hate to move this 50 lb baby more than necessary! Can't wait to "fire it up".

ANNUAL DUES are, well, no other way to say it, due Sept 1. You can send your check to Anne Morris or bring to a meeting. (Check your directory or email Anne for her address. This was sent out in an email but personal information such as that will not be posted on the BLOG).
Make check to PPPCG
Members 30$ and Assoc Members 15$ (only if you are a full member of another poly clay guild).
Be sure to look at the library - we have a terrific collection that is getting very little use lately... Check it Out (LOL).

Our August meeting is still in the planning stages but will for sure include our BRACELET SWAP. Be sure to watch your email to find out if we will be at the new location or continuing at our current spot.

Our September meeting will be a Hearts and Hope session... come and participate as we make Hearts for Heroes and Bottles of Hope together... it is wonderful to use our favorite medium to share from our hearts. Check out the pictures on line for the Hearts and Bottles...
http://www.palousenet.com/h4h/
www.BottlesofHope.com
See ya soon!!!

Peg
President


Peg Montieth
Polymer Clay and Bead Works
http://www.twincreekcrafts.etsy.comtwincreekcrafts@aol.com

Pasta Machine Blades Worn Out?

Recently I took apart my atlas pasta machine and realized one of my blades had worn down unevenly so I needed a new one. Thought I'd pass along the information in case any of you need new scraper blades. The information below was recommended by www.theclaystore.com

You can find this information on sculpey's website...
www.sculpey.com/Projects/projects_CleaningPastaMachines.htm

I contacted them today and they sell the blades for $5 a set. Very reasonable. They accept checks or credit cards and accept orders over the phone, fax or email.

Atlas Pasta Machines (GARY VALENTI, INC., 54-36 FLUSHING AVENUE, MASPETH, N.Y. 11378, TEL.: 718-386-0896 / FAX: 718-417-6227)

Contact Dawn M. Steiger at Valentimp1@aol.com.
They have a website, http://www.MarcatoUSA.com
-Tejae Floyde

Reminders...News....Etc

Ahhh... it is finally warm in Colorado - I know we get a little break from "very" warm up here in the Mts... seems like it was a long time of snow and cold so I am loving this! Judging by the traffic up here this weekend, most of Colo Spgs is camping or hitting Cripple Creek :-)
We have two new members one from Denver and the other from Boulder who joined to take Donna Kato's workshop. (You missed a fun time if you weren't there!).... we hope they will come back often!

Our July meeting will be a fun one (I know I say that a lot but this one is special) SHANE SMITH has agreed to come and do another demo for us... this time she will teach us a CANE TECHNIQUE. Shane is able to teach any experience level. She taught me to make my very first successful cane (bless her!) Bring your usual tools, black, white and any favorite accent colors of clay so you can work along with her. If you condition your clay ahead of time you will find it easier to just dive into the project. This is something I only do occasionally, myself, but it sure does help.
We will also have our biannual SILENT AUCTION. We traditionally do this at our Dec meeting and have added July since it is always fun and successful. Bring a piece of your work, an extra tool, supplies, books... anything clay related to donate to the auction. I have some fun supplies and tools donated by Donna Kato to bring along. ;-) And don't forget your SHOW AND TELL which is always one of my favorite activities... it is amazing to see how many different takes on clay our members make!

ANNUAL DUES - Associate Members $15 (members of other guilds)
Regular Members $30 - members for whom this is their primary guild
DUE SEPTEMBER
One of the best reasons to maintain your membership, second only to being able to attend meetings, is the chance to get a library card and access our ever growing and always inspirational collection of polymer clay books, magazines, videos and DVD's

Our AUGUST meeting, as far as we know now... will be at the new location of Cottonwood Artists School - I will have more details and a map in the reminder for that meeting. We will have our SWAP - always fun to watch... and even more fun to be among the swappers!
The swap is closed now and we have 7 signed up.

Great news! We now have a brand new CONVECTION OVEN - the toaster ovens are a handy item to have for curing clay in our home but pretty unwieldy for a large group, particularly during workshops. I bought the biggest and most highly recommended - a Haier that would hold a turkey (should anyone decide to make a polymer clay turkey LOL).
Be sure to check out the WEBSITE AND BLOG for upcoming events... and pics of activities.
We have space for a picture of member's work in our gallery.
www.pppcg.org
www.polytalk.blogspot.com

See ya soon!!
Peg
Peg Montieth
President

June Meeting Highlights

Very nice turnout! We had a lovely and lively group :-)
Tejae Floyde and Kaye Wilson gave us a terrific primer on taking photos of our work. They helped me figure out a couple of my own recent problems! I hope everyone feels a little more comfortable with their skills :-) I want Kaye to be my photographer with the HUMONGOUS wonderful camera she brought - WOW! We had a chance to practice some with our great advisors there with us
I (Peg M) did a quick demo of different bracelet styles in preparation for our SWAP - and we have 8 people signed up - Louise F, Lynn T, Shane, Cathie G, Karen F, Sue M, Kaye, and Peg M. SWAP is closed for sign up - we will trade at the meeting in August. I also showed a quick technique for making tube beads and how to tie off a stretch cord bracelet. I totally forgot that I was going to show how to roll that tube on a texture sheet to make a whole different kind of tube bead. But give that a try - comes out great... and when baked you can use acrylic paint to bring out the texture effect by "antiquing" it.

August will find us in our new location - not too far away... a little east on Colorado AV near the curve that scoops you on to Pikes Peak AV. We will be doing our SWAP and perhaps a Pot Luck
Thank you Darlene Clark for stepping up to be our new librarian. Darlene dove right in and learned the system. Anne Morris will continue as treasurer, tho she will be unable to attend during the summer because she is now the proud owner of a Phatt Hatties BBG business and will be at the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo and all manner of events making great food :-)
Speaking of the Library, be sure to buy a library card if you do not already have one. We have a wonderful array of books, magazines, videos and DVDs available. It's a great way to decide if you want to buy a book for your own library or just take in the ideas you see while borrowed.
Have a wonderful June!
Peg

What do Clayers love as much as Clay?

A Great Bargain!

Leslie Blackford in Colorado Springs

for one day only!!

Leslie will be in Colorado for other reasons and

we want to take advantage of her being close! ...

She has agreed to do a one day workshop on Saturday June 21st to teach us her famous Magic Beans ideas... anyone who was able to get to Clay Carnival last winter had fun making these wonderful one of a kind beads (just ask Peg Harper :-)!

Leslie will also do some fun creative spark activities.

Fee 60$ at Cottonwood Artists School

Colorado Springs Colorado

Sat June 21 9:30 AM to approx 4 PM

Please send me a quick reply at the email listed below

if you intend to sign up or if you want more info...

I will then send my address so you can mail the fee and registration...

I have always found that my skills seem

to take a little leap every time I take a workshop...

just so inspiring.

Leslie is a terrific teacher.

This should be fun!

PPPCG President
Peg Montieth

pegmontieth@aol.com

June Meeting

June 8th - at the current Cottonwood location

Tejae Floyde and Kaye DelMar Wilson will be teaching us photo techniques. Taking good pictures of ones work can be even harder that making the item! Trust me, I know this personally. I will demo making tube beads and making bracelets using stretch cord (my favorite brand is PowerCord that I buy from Fire Mountain Gems.

We will also have some catalogs (bring your favorite) to see if we can put together some group orders to get great discounts.

Have a nice Spring (yep, looks like it is finally here!)
Peg

May Meeting Rocked!

Shane Smith (shall we call her Wilma or Pebbles ? :-) did a great job teaching us to use inclusions from the spice cupboard in tinted translucent clay to form little "rocks" - wouldn't that make a fun bracelet? She also brought a "stone" bowl that was great... polymer clay can pretend to be so many things! Thanks Shane... and I overheard someone asking if you would teach us cane methods sometime.... we will be sure to see that it happens :-)

We voted on a SWAP and will be making bracelets this time... please contact me or Cathie Graeser cathiegraeser@juno.com to sign up.. we will do the actual swapping at our August meeting. This should be fun... I can show anyone interested how to use stretch cord at our next meeting if you want to try this quick and easy alternative.

Dayle Doroshow

On April 19 and 20th, Pikes Peak Polymer Clay Guild welcomed reknowned artist Dayle Doroshow to Colorado Springs to teach a two day workshop featuring chaos cards and messengers and storytellers. I was lucky enough to have Dayle stay in my home for the weekend! A great time was had by all and we worked through our creative blocks on Saturday by making "chaos cards." These very thin, flexible cards were made entirely of polymer clay using various techniques that each of us wanted to explore. We had to come up with a list of trigger words that name the cards ( that was harder than I thought it would be) The purpose of this deck of cards is to throw a little chaos into your art making process. By doing that, you can become unstuck if you need it, change direction in your work and come up with a way to solve a problem.

Tina Holdman won the official "most Cards" made in the room that day. I think she made well over 40 cards!

On Sunday we made our messengers and storytellers. These "dolls" all turned out to be very sophisticated and personal to each participant.
Dayle first showed us how to make the head using various techniques and colors of clay which we then antiqued with burnt umber or even white paint. Some of us even tried animal heads which all turned out great. Then we got to work on the bodies. We could decorate them any way we wanted to using any and all techniques. Everyone "dolls" turned out terrific!

Dayle is a wonderful teacher and really helps her students think creatively and outside the box. While hosting her in my home, I heard wonderful stories of all her travels around the world, in particular, the workshops she teaches at Gwen Gibson's polymer clay retreat in the south of France. It sounds like the most wonderful place to go take week to relax and clay. She is very knowledgeable about travelling abroad and I learned a lot from her.

Hopefully, you'll be able to see from my photos all that we learned and made!

Tracy Miller

Dan Cormier

For any of you that are fans of Dan Cormier, his new website is officially up!
Talk about inspiration!
It's http://www.dancormier.ca/ have fun looking! Tracy

PCAGOE

Have you ever wanted to promote the value of buying handmade goods directly from the artist?

Want to have your own online store and the support of others in your craft? Want to inspire people to return to the time when we valued items that have been shaped by human hands and given life through the creative soul...well then perhaps PCAGOE is for you!

PCAGOE is an acronym for Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy.com you can read about them by following this link. http://pcagoe.com/about/

Christi Freisen New Book

Preorders for Christi's newest book "Down Under"

You Christi fans know, when you preorder, you will receive an autographed copy as well as the special limited edition card. These cards are really sweet and inspirational!

The book will begin shipping out April 15, 2008.

Here is the link for ordering and checking out some of the pages.

http://www.cforiginals.net/auzbook.html

If you are going to be in NYC why not go the Book Release Party atThe Compleat Sculptor in Manhattan, NYC on Friday, April 11, 2008. Here's the link for more info: http://www.thecompleatsculptor.com/

Bead Dreams Competition and Exhibit

Here is a chance to let your light shine!

Pictured right is our very own

Barb Fajardo's entry from 2007.
(used with permission)

Each year, Bead&Button magazine sponsors Bead Dreams, a juried competition of exceptional bead artistry from around the world. And they have a polymer clay category! They display the accepted pieces at the Bead&Button Show and award ribbons in five categories. The outstanding piece among category winners receives a Best in Show trophy and a $1,000 gift certificate from Fire Mountain Gems and Beads.

Barb would be glad to answer any questions you might have regarding the process.

This is a great opportunity to get your work seen and we have many talented artists in our guild! Entry deadline is April 4th!

Wire Work Demo

Peg writes : Our February Demo was terrific. Barb Harper always does a super job and comes so well prepared. Barb took the group, most of us real newbies to wire work, through the basics of tools (some of us thought pliers were, well, PLIERS :-) Who knew there were so many sizes and kinds... and that cheap ones can hinder your work?

She showed us different gauges of wire and suggested about a 20 for ear wires (ah - another of the inscrutable things... why is thinner wire a HIGHER gauge number?) Her lovely little spirals on earrings are 24 gauge and she recommended an art wire especially for learning with... before we move to sterling or gold filled etc. I was tickled to get my very first ROUND loop... seemed always to get flat ones before!

Barb is such a generous spirit that she brought enough lovely earring blanks so we could move right to the wire work and not have to also make the blank. Her handout was very helpful info... and has some tips for earring wires (we were a little poky learning the basics and didn't get there) and Barb may come back and teach us some more techniques another month. Unique ear wires and wire work really make jewelry more special. What a perfect compliment to polymer clay work.

It is always so much fun to see the wide range of different ideas people have for the technique we learn. Guess that is why our meetings and workshops have been such a boon to me... always learning something new and getting sparks of new ideas.

Downloadable Projects from Kalmbach Publishing

You have heard of Bead and Button magazine but did you know you can get downloadable projects? Many well know artists are listed; Jody Bishel , Dotty McMillan, Lindly Haunani , Mike Buesseler, and Christi Friesen to name a few.

One of my favorite artists Jana Roberts Benzon has her Millefiori Floral Corsage available.
Stunning!
http://www.beadandcraftbooks.com/ajpdf060730.html

In Italian, millefiori means "thousand flowers" and refers to a centuries-old glass-making technique. Using polymer clay to creat this brooch Jana's technique is dazzling, well isn't all of her work?

Jana Roberts Benzon personal webpage is at http://www.janarobertsbenzon.com/

Next Meeting February 10th

Next meeting:
Feb 10: Barb Harper~Wire Working
Our DEMO this month; Barb Harper has agreed to teach us some wire working techniques... wouldn't it be nice to be able to create your own bails and other findings?

Coming soon: Dayle Doroshow!

One look at Dayle Doroshow's portfolio and you will be scrambling to get out the registration form and sign up for the workshop being held in April at our new location!

This mixed media artist enjoys creating and teaching others and we get her for 2 days.

If you enjoyed this glimpse...go to the link to see lots more!

http://dayledoroshow.com/blog/portfolio/

Did You Know?

Two of our members were featured on Polymer Clay Daily?
Yes it is true, read for yourselves!
Here is the link:
http://polymerclaydaily.com/2008/01/29/710/