ClayDay started off with Enid's demo. She showed how to use 'wet sanding' technique and how to buff it even more using a Dremel tool. There are different grades of sandpaper which has to be used if you want it to have that natural shine!

Members tried the same technique on their own polymer clay creations and had success.

Before Sue started her demo, she briefed the members about colour theory and showed them the colour wheel and how to choose the right matching ones.

After the lesson, she taught how to do a colourful colour wash technique

It was so interesting so obviously members had to have a go at it. Everyone produced such unique results.

We had all of our usual tables and members are getting more and more talented as they are now more experienced - just look at their latest creations!

We hope all members had a good time and patiently wait for the next ClayDay next month!

The next ClayDay is less than 2 weeks away! Since it has been a year since we implemented the annual membership fee, please make sure that you check your membership card and bring £30 if your membership is expiring.

The first demo will be from Enid and she will be showing us how to polish beads like a pro! Enid's workmanship is a labour of love and you will learn her technique of sanding, buffing and polishing. Make sure you bring some beads that you want to polish so you can try it out too.

Although this is her second time showing this demo, it works as a refresher course for some and new members will definitely benefit from her technique. 
​
Members would need to bring:

• Some beads and/or a pendant to work on
• Two small shallow dishes for water
• An old face flannel or a piece of towelling
• A Dremel Drill, if they have one

 
Enid will provide some sanding materials if you do not have any.

The next demo will be from our new member, Sue. She will be demonstrating a variation of Maggie Maggio's colour-wash technique. She  will also talk a bit about colour theory and bring her colour wheel sphere to talk about the 3 dimensions of colour! We can't stress enough the importance of understanding colour since polymer clay is an art form.

For the demo everyone needs to bring a small piece of 3 different colours that go well together - they should be strong colours, with no white added. 
If you are unsure about which 3 colours to choose from, do not fret as we are sure that Sue will be able to advice you on the day.

Also bring:

• white, black and scrap clay
• a cutter
• some grease proof paper or baking parchment
• pasta machine/clay conditioning machine

So make sure to reserve your place for the next ClayDay as it will teach you extremely useful knowledge that will be used in your everyday claying.

​ Send your RSVP to 
​apcg@live.co.uk

The clocks changed and we had another successful meeting at the village hall. We are thrilled to welcome another new member to the guild.

Enid demonstrated first on how to make a new cane. She made mirrored patterns like Kaleidoscope in clay. By stretching and dividing and rejoining again - it is so easy to make simple repeated patterns to create a stunning piece. 

Anne demonstrated how to make a pattern that look like watercolours. She starts off with laminating a piece of clay tinted in alcohol inks and layering a thin piece of translucent clay on top. Using cutters, she cuts out shapes and layers them. When the clay is baked, the inks look like it is painted on

Our members tried out the new techniques and produced good results:

Members had also brought some of their recent makes to the meet. 

Sculpey generously donated some clay to us again. Everyone received a block of Bake Shop to try. We also had a chance to re-stock our own clay supply by purchasing discounted polymer clay which is sold by the guild. 

The meet had all the usual tables and we hope that everyone had a good day and enjoyed themselves. 

Time sure flies since our next ClayDay is only a week away! Be sure to book your places for another exciting day of claying with other polymer clay enthusiasts.

Enid will be teaching how to make these gorgeous square canes since members have requested that we learned how to do more canes. 
Please bring polymer clay in black, white and 2 coloured clays of choice, a ruler or squared surface, and two pieces of acrylic or wood about 5 x 15 cm to help square up the cane.

The other demo will be from Anne and she is demonstrating a watercolour technique to make a veneer. You will need usual clay tools, small round graded cutters, a small paintbrush to apply inks, white, black, pearl and translucent clay and alcohol inks.

We will have all of our usual activities so make sure you bring your latest make, anything you would like to sell or even donations for the raffle. But before that, do make sure to book your place by sending an email to 
​apcg@live.co.uk

Our first ClayDay for the year kick-started with our usual activities, demonstrations plus we also had a new member joining us for 2018! Unfortunately we also had to say goodbye to Anne Murray as she was moving back to Scotland so it was her last ClayDay but she taught us a new skill before parting ways. 

Members also received a giant block of Premo clay courtesy of Polyform and everyone was grateful to receive their favourite brand of clay for free! Here is a short picture summary of our 2 demos from Enid and Anne. If you did miss out and wanted to know more about the process, do visit the APCG Facebook page to get step-by-step instructions for each process. Shelley has curated every single step on the guild's Facebook page so you will never miss out. 

In Anne's demo, she showed how to make this faux ceramics easily using liquid clay, alcohol inks and a textured sheet:

Enid showed us her technique of making a hallow bead - in a rectangular box shape! She mixes scrap clay with Sculpey Ultralight and covers the finished bead with a veneer. The result is a large bead which is hallow and doesn't feel heavy which is perfect for jewellery making. 

Members of the APCG are a talented bunch since they produce so many beautiful and unique items. ClayDay is the perfect opportunity for members to share their makes with other members.

We are pleased that our guild had a good start for 2018 so we hope all of our members can look forward to a whole year of claying. ​

The first ClayDay for 2018 will be held in less than 2 weeks! To kick off the new year, there will be 2 demos and plenty of clay for sale. Our usual tables will also be available such as the Tool Library, Raffle and "I made this".

The first demo will be from Enid that will teach us another way to make Hallow Beads. The beads photos here have been made using the technique Enid will be demonstrating. (please note that the veneer isn't demonstrated). As usual Enid will also have spares for some materials if you do not have any. 

You will need:

• Baking or layout paper
• Sellotape
• Scissors
• Ultralight clay, if you have it
• Small piece of coarse (about 120 grit) wet or dry sandpaper
• Scrap clay
• Little dish for water
• Ruler, or squared work surface
• Liquid polymer clay
• Needle tool
• Small round cutter
• Polymer clay veneer of you own choosing

The next demo will be done by Anne Murray. She will teach a clever technique to make faux ceramics. If you don't have all the materials there will be some spare for you so that you can try it out yourself. 

Please bring:

• White clay.
• Cutter shape of your choice to make pendant (not too small).
• Texture sheet of your choice (make sure that when transferred to clay it gives you depressions to hold liquid.
• Liquid Clay or Bake n Bond.
• Two contrasting colours of alcohol inks.
• Something to mix in (metal paint pallet is good).
• Cloth (baby wipe left to dry out is ideal).
• Gloss varnish.
• Paint brush.
• Cocktail sticks.
• Bail (if you want to use one). You can cut a hole in the pendant if you want.

Please bring any raffle donations, craft items you want to sell and even something new that you have just made to show to other members. We hope to see you so do join us by sending an RSVP to ​apcg@live.co.uk

It was a wonderful meet-up with a big group of 12 clayers. In the morning Nadia showed how to make seashells with different effect clays and how to make a simple bow.

In the afternoon Anne demonstrated an easy but effective way of making beautiful patterns with clay. 

Members had a go with what they have just learned from Nadia and Anne.

We have such talented members who share some of their most recent work for other members to see.

We had all of the usual tables including clay for sale, the raffle, trash to treasure, and the tool library. Members were also given some sample clay from Sculpey.

It may be the last meet of the year but it was a good one with a great attendance. 

We would like to wish all members a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Have a great holiday and see you again in January next year!

This will be our last demo for the year so make sure you don't miss it!

There will be 2 demos on the day.

Anne will be teaching how to make these beautiful designs

To try this, please bring:

• 3 colours of clay for a skinner blend - I have used coloured clay in one picture and pearl clay in the other
  
• set of same shaped cutters in graded sizes ( I prefer round but any can be used eg square, oval, star flower etc)
• usual clay tools- pasta machine, blades, tile to work on
  
• large cutter for pendant- if you want to make a pendant
  
• sanding equipment if you want to polish the pendants

*Anne will bring her dremel if anyone wants to use it.

Our second demo comes from Nadia. Learn to sculpt your own sea shells instead of taking them from the beach. Shells are random in size and colour so you can play around with it.

Seashells. Hollow polymer clay sculptures not from mold. Mottling pattern on shell with seashell texture.

You will need:

-Neutral colour clays like white, beige, sand
-stone effect clays like graphite, marble, etc.
-you can use scrap clay too
-blade
-long blade 
-hollow bead maker (you can borrow this on the day from the Guild Library) or large marble

We just confirmed dates for 2018's ClayDay dates. Please take note in your diary for next year. We hope you can attend a whole day of claying on these dates.

                   28th January                   
25th March
20th May
22nd July
 23rd September
 4th November

We will have all of the usual tables and we appreaciate any donations for our raffle. Let us have a fun ClayDay. Book your place by RSVP-ing at

apcg@live.co.uk

A ClayDay a week before the BPCG Anniversary event! We had all of our usual tables plus 2 demos

In the morning Karen's tutorial showed us how she made these flowers

Members tried making flowers using Karen's technique. So many beautiful flowers

Nadia demonstrated how to use various resins in the current market. Bezzeling is very easy using clear resin.

Here are the usual tables on every ClayDay. Members usually sell any craft supplies and we had FIMO on sale too.

Our members make a lot of beautiful items using polymer clay

We hope members who attended the BPCG event had a great time. Here is our own Guild table during the weekend celebration.

If you missed this ClayDay, make sure you attend the next one in early November

Attention Clayers! Our next ClayDay is in 8 days and please remember to bring your donation for the 'Beads of Courage' and anything that you want Enid to sell at the BPCG anniversary celebration (held the week after).

If you have anything you want to sell, please make sure that you follow these guidelines to make it easier for our representative to sell them on your behalf. We are not taking a cut or charging you to sell your items so take this oppurtunity to show what a diverse and active group we are.

• each piece should be securely labelled with a tie-on label.
  
• the label should have your initials and a number code on one side, and the price on the other.  For example, Enid's piece will be labelled EW1, her second EW2 etc.
  
• complete the form on the day (Item code, decription and price) with the necessary information.
  
• Securely and safely wrap your pieces, put them in a box, and lightly seal it.  Put your name on the outside.
  

Our first demo for the day will be a first from member Karen. She will show us how to make these garden stakes which you can use to decorate your garden.

To try out this demo, please bring

• Polymer clay cane (flower petal, bulls eye or color blend)  
• 1.5cm dia and approx 15cm long
• Polymer clay snake(s) any color you like 1.5cm dia and about 15cm long total
  
• Polymer clay for making flower backing and centres, any colour you would like to use with your flowers (or you could use 1cm and 2cm dia cane slices if you wish)
  
• Texture mat/tools
• Baking paper eg parchment or greaseproof
• Burnisher (old plastic store card?)
• Liquid polymer clay
• Twisted wire or thin bamboo skewer
• Cutting blade, pasta machine, tile or work surface

In the afternoon, Nadia will give a workshop on using resin for crafting. She will be demonstrating 2 part resin, UV resin and even a pre-coloured resin (in white) and how to use them with molds. Since Nadia works in miniature, she will be sharing us tips on using resin. She only uses a little at a time so she will show you a cool trick on mixing little resin at a time especially if you are just mixing resin to make a clear dome.

Resin can be quite useful for polymer clay artists since you can mix them together and if you don't have resin, Nadia will even demonstrate how you can use liquid polymer clay as a substitute.

If you have any questions or simply want to be guided in using resin on the day, please bring your own:

• UV resin (this can be cured in minutes and easier to show on ClayDay)
  
• Any piece you want to emboss in clear resin
• Disposable gloves
• Mixing containers
• alcohol inks or oil paint
  
• cocktail stick
  
• any molds that you want to create a cast from
  

As usual, please RSVP your place at apcg@live.co.uk

See you very soon!