On our last ClayDay of 2019, Alison demonstrated her brilliant Stroppel cane and even showed us how she made the lightweight discs. She uses scrap clay and Ultralight as the core to make a strong base for the veneer.

She uses scrap canes (donated by Enid) and flattens them onto a piece of black clay. The scrap clay is sandwiched with another piece of thin black clay and fused by rolling it through the pasta machine. Pieces are cut and arranged alternately to get a truly unique pattern. 

After that we also made Christmas-themed crafts since it was already that time of year.

We also saw what members made at the successful Polyanglia event. Every piece looked so professionally made and it definitely shows. 

Other members also brought items that they've made at home since the last ClayDay.

We had all of our usual tables and activities. 

Our last ClayDay of the year will be this weekend and you don't want to miss it!

Alison will be demonstrating her version of the Stroppel Cane.
Stroppel canes are a great way to make use of old cane ends – no-one would ever guess you were getting rid of scrap.  The demo will include quick lentil beads from veneers. 
You will need: 
As well as standard kit of pasta machine, tile, blade and roller, you will need to bring cutters and/or bead centres for shaping your veneers into something useful. If you want to make the lentils, you will also need some liquid clay for glue, some Ultralight for the insides and domes to mould them to (eg escargot plate, palette or drink can bases).
Bring lots of old cane ends and some new clay.  You will probably want some black, and possibly white, but also try some strong colours that contrast or tone well with the overall colour of some of your canes.

In the afternoon everyone will be sharing their Christmas ornaments idea. Feel free to demonstrate something small and share your festive creations on the day. Here are just some inspirations to get your creative juices flowing.

We will have all of our usual tables and please bring any raffle donations and your latest polymer clay projects. There will also be the tool library and blocks of clay to purchase. 

Please RSVP your place by emailing ​apcg@live.co.uk and see you this Sunday!

We had another great ClayDay on a mild day in September.  Monkey Ann was present (https://www.monkeyann.co.uk) and brought a lot of really cool tools and cutters. Sue started the first demo in the morning so we could all try out with her guidance. 

Start with a Skinner blend and create indents on top. Add white and another colour accent.

Make into a triangular cane and elongate and reduce again. Add another dent, divide into 3 and then join again. Elongate again with 4 sides this time. Divide into 4 and fuse them (mirror effect). That's your main cube all done! 

Now reduce that cube again until it is smaller and you can combine this veneer together.

So members had a go and with Sue's generous help they managed to make this beautiful veneer.

Belinda's demo showed us how to make very light and flexible pieces using translucent clay. They are so see-through and look like shiny plastic! You will need to cut out a uniform round size of clay and use another guide piece of film on top. She magically rubs it and thus spreading the clay until it is the required diameter. Leave on the tile to bake and when you gently remove the piece, the part which is pressed against the tile will be naturally glossy!

Monkey Ann was also present and had a table of wonderful tools, findings and cutters! It was so hard to choose what to buy when there are so many goodies to choose from.

Member's also brought some of their recent makes. So many different styles shows how creative each member can be!

All of our usual tables were packed with many different things for everyone to peruse. 

Just over a month until the last ClayDay of the year! Hope members who missed out can join for a fun day with friends. 

An update on our PolyAnglia 2019 event (at the Hotel Mercure, Norwich) on Friday 4th October, Saturday 5th October and Sunday 6th October   There are a few seats left, so you might like to come on just one day of your choice.

You can choose your day – Friday 4 October, Saturday 5th or Sunday 6 October
– and which tutor’s workshop you would like to join:
-       Ginger Davis Allman: get really shiny with faux lampwork beads
-       Cara Jane Hayman: develop perfect canes with fireworks and sparkle
-       Tina Mezek, explore the potential of mixed media with Slovenia’s
        wire work expert.

The fee for each day is £150, which includes all refreshments (morning coffee & biscuits, buffet lunch and afternoon tea with cake) and all the materials are being provided by our sponsors. 
Places are limited, so it’s first come first served.  You can tell us your preferred choice of workshop on the questionnaire you will find at www.polyanglia.co.uk/choices  We hope one of the days will suit your diary, and that we can meet your choice of tutor.

The next ClayDay is this weekend so make sure you drop everything and check out what's on offer!

The first demo is from Sue who will be demonstrating Fiona Abel-Smith’s Square Dance Cane, which needs:

In addition to all the usual equipment

• pasta machine, roller, blade 
• cling film
  
• knitting needle 
• a cylindrical object to make an indent such as a thin roller or fat marker pen
• some graph paper preferably in inches, such as the paper which is freely downloadable from www.PrintablePaper.net  (I’ll bring some in any case) 
• some round cutters. 

If you wish to bake on the day

• a dome shape mould, clay needed
• 4 colours  which go together, with some difference in tones ( some dark, some lighter)  as well as black and white.

The next demo comes from Belinda who loves colours! She will show us how to make the gorgeous necklace she showed us during July's ClayDay. 

You will need to bring: 

• translucent clay (coloured or plain can be coloured with alcohol inks)
• 2p coin or round cutter of similar size
• a pencil
• fine permanent maker pen
• 6" ruler, a piece of clear flat acrylic about 2" (could be larger, I will have a selection of pieces I use to borrow)
• needle tool
• the usual pasta machine, cutter etc.

There will also be all of our usual activities PLUS Money Ann (www.monkeyann.co.uk) is visiting us with some cool tools to purchase. If you could also bring your current polymer clay makes as well as some small gifts for the raffle to share with everybody. 

Please RSVP your place by emailing ​apcg@live.co.uk and see you this Sunday!

Apologies for the delay of this report. The website admin (aka Nadia) has been busy all summer with hosting family, house-sitting, driving 6 hours to Lake District and even commissions! Without further ado, here is the report for our most recent meeting in the peak of summer. 

Shelley kicked off the first demo showing how mica powders (and some eye shadows) can be used to 'paint' a solid colour sculpture. The results are amazing and as long as the clay is raw/uncured, the powders will stick to it really well. You can simply add more layers of the powder for a more effective coverage and better effect. These powders have micro-metallic pigmentation that will make your project shiny and sparkly!

And another brief demo on how to use gold leaf for a crackling effect.

Of course this technique can be applied to almost anything you are making but Enid does give us some lovely inspiration.

It's always fun to see what other members have made. ClayDay is the opportunity to show them off.

We had all of our usual tables, sales and raffle with terrific items for members to win/buy/borrow.

We hope everyone had fun and looking forward to the upcoming one happening this Sunday!

We will also have our usual tables: clay sale, trash to treasure, tool library and raffle. Donations for the raffle is appreciated and do bring your latest makes for other members to see. We hope to see all of our members before summer holidays!

Please RSVP your place now by emailing ​apcg@live.co.uk

This great three-day polymer clay event is happening from Friday 4th October until Sunday 6th October, at the Mercure Hotel in Norwich.
We have three great tutors:  Cara Jane Hayman, from the UK, Tina Mezek, from Slovenia, and Ginger Davis Allman from the USA.
 
Exciting Update!
There will be an opportunity to buy clay and tools from Cernit, Monkey Ann, Clayaround, Debbie Bulford and Lucy Clay Tools!
There will be demonstrations of Lucy Clay Tools, and a chance to win them, as well as other prizes, in the raffle.
For beginners and less experienced clayers, the organisers will offer a “warm up” and practice session for anyone interested on the evening of 3rd October, at no extra cost.
 

 
You will find more details on the website www.polyanglia.co.uk
 
To book, go to www.polyanglia.co.uk/reservation, and complete the booking form.  It is possible to pay in two instalments, the second due at the end of August.   Your booking is not confirmed until you have made a payment, and will be on a first come first served basis.
 
Don’t delay!

Our first ClayDay demo came from Belinda who showed us how to make a pixelated cane step-by-step. Select some colours and stack using a formula alternating the colours with black and white clay. Extrude and line them up. The results are amazing and so easy to do!

Members spent their morning making their own pixelated canes. The veneer can be used to made into all types of polymer clay jewellery. 

After lunch Shelley demonstrated how she makes her colourful rainbow roses by blending the colours (like Skinner blend). 

Everyone made such colourful and wonderful roses from their own colour blends.

We had all of our usual tables including a table dedicated to members' own makes. Each person in the group has such unique and creative talent!

We would like to thank That's Original for donating some Premo and Bake Shop polymer clay for members to use and try. We would also like to thank members for their raffle donations and we hope the winners enjoyed their prizes too! Can't wait until the next ClayDay!

Another 1 week left to the next ClayDay! How time flies but we hope you can join us again for a full day of claying. Our first demo is from Belinda who will be showing how to make this pixelated cane for you to make into a veneer.

You will need:

• ​Clay - black, white & 5 other colours.
• Extruder with small circle, square or triangular disc.
• Something to measure 20cm/8".
• Work surface to hold 20cm/8" lengths of clay. 

By popular request Shelley will demonstrate how she makes these colourful rainbow roses. 

You will need:

• Clay in Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple. 
• Small(ish) circle cutter
• Blades
• Pasta machine

A few reminders!

• Inchies

If you plan to take part in the Inchie Swap, you could bring your 20 Inchie Tiles on Sunday, although there will still be time at our next meeting.  I have attached a photo of 16 Inchies I made for the 2017 20th Anniversary Event in Kidderminster, not as a particularly good example, but just to give you an idea of what it entails.
 

• Christi Friesen Weekend

There are still some places available at this event in Kidderminster on 25th and 26th May.  You can find out more about it on the  website: www.bpcg.org.uk  or, on YouTube 
 

• Debbie Bulford Template Competition

The idea is that, those who want to, should design a template and bring it to the ClayDay next Sunday.  It would be best drawn on a slightly larger than a postcard piece of thin card.  We will then choose a winner at random and keep it secret. I will then send the winner’s design to Debbie Bulford.  An overall winner will be selected and their design will be turned into a template which will then be sent to their group. It will be possible for other groups to buy the templates too and Debbie will offer these at trade price and postage.  There are further details attached.  Could I suggest that you leave a space on your template design to draw round one or two of the bail shapes that I showed you last time, as that template is not available to buy.  If we all put it on, and win, then we will guarantee to get the bail shape!

There will be all of our usual tables and we welcome any raffle donations. Please RSVP your place by emailing ​apcg@live.co.uk