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!

We are pleased to have another new member in our guild. Despite the gloomy weather we all managed to gather at the village hall for another day of fun with polymer clay.

Enid will be attending the BPCG 20th Anniversary weekend to do a demo and will also have a sale table for the guild. If anyone would like to sell some of your own work (you do not have to attend), please bring your item to the September ClayDay and Enid will sell it on your behalf on our very own Anglian Polymer Clay Guild table (no charge).

In the morning, Gill demonstrated how to create an amazing swirly pattern using extruded clay. It was not that hard to do and everyone had fun trying out the same technique using their own choice of colours. This pattern can be used on it’s own as a pendant or to cover beads. Either way you will always get a design which is totally unique and random.here to edit.

In the afternoon, Trish taught us another new technique which is transfering images from a paper napkin directly onto clay! We never knew it could be so easy and effective. She made them into bookmarks but of course we can make it into other items like coasters.

All of our usual tables during ClayDay including 'Trash to Treasure', 'Raffle' and our very own guild tool library.

If you missed ClayDay this time, do not fret as we have another upcoming ClayDay in September! Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list so that you don't miss out

It is only a week away 'til our next meet and make sure you don't miss out on these exclusive demonstrations by our members.

Gill's demo
Tools and materials
Extruder kit
Cutters - shapes and sizes of choice
Texture/poky tools
Lightbulb or similar dome shape
selection of coloured clays, some pearl would be good, max of 1/4 block per colour.
Pasta machine/work tile/blade etc.

Trish will also be demonstrating something very unique on the day with napkins.

You will need:
Pretty napkins preferably with no writing as is will be reversed.
Non-stick baking paper or wax paper
Cutters (optional)
Soft white clay

We will also have all of our usual side activities so make sure to bring anything you would like to share with the guild (magazines, articles, your recent work) and some raffle donations. There will be guild tools for you to borrow and even clay to purchase. You can also sell your own surplus crafting tools with members on the day.

Please send your RSVP to apcg@live.co.uk

We look forward to seeing you!

We had the most amazing day with our two special guest artists, Fiona Abel-Smith and Ange Smith, who very generously divulged their know-how with two very different demos. Fiona took the morning demo, showing us her fun fish project. Starting with the cane for the fins, she then went on to show us the 'Natasha' body and how to finish the project.

After lunch, Ange showed us her beautiful translucent beads using, translucent clay (obviously), silver/gold leaf and alcohol inks. Using a Mokume Gane technique we picked ours colours, stacked our layers and sliced away, revealing absolutely stunning results. Unfortunately I completely forgot to take photos of our endeavours but they were all very very good. We cannot thank Fiona and Ange enough for such a fabulous day. It was a pleasure to have them both visit us.

​We had seven entries in our 'Curtain Ring Challenge', all of which were very good but there was one clear winner. ENID WINDER with her hanging piece covered in pretty roses. Well done Enid enjoy your prize.

​Also on the 'I Made This' table, more outstanding creations from Guild members.

That was a great ClayDay and don't forget our next meet is on July 16th. Hope to see members for another great ClayDay.

A reminder to all that our next ClayDay is only 3 weeks away. During this ClayDay we have 2 special guests Fiona Abel-Smith and Ange Smith. For the days workshop, Fiona will be showing us the cute and quirky fish project and Ange will be show us how to make these beautiful translucent beads. So we will have not 1, but 2 different projects to learn. 

For the fish project:

If you have a selection of your own canes at home that you think would make great patterns for the fish bodies, do bring those with you too, although everything you need to make the fish from scratch will be covered on the workshop.

To make several different coloured Fish you will need to bring with you:

•  4 x colours of polymer clay of your choice, 28g of each colour, cut into 4 equal 7g pieces
•  35g of white clay, cut into 5 equal 7g pieces
•  2g black polymer clay
•  Pasta Machine
•  Tissue blade and blunt ended round tool (knitting needle is good)
•  Craft Knife and cocktail stick
•  Clay roller
•  Wet wipes
•  Tile to work/cook on

Just as a thought, and it’s not essential, but if you wanted to give yourself more time on the day, conditionthe clay in the individual 7g pieces before you arrive.

The following will also be needed, and while I have some to borrow on the day, if you have any of the following to bring, they would be very useful, and would save having to share my limited numbers:

•  Teardrop shaped cutter (1 inch / 2.4cm in length) also known as a petal cutter
•  Mini round cutters (0.7 and 0.4cm diameter)
•  Mini heart cutter (0.4cm)
•  Squared measuring sheet
•  Liquid Polymer Clay/PVA glue
•  Fish scale texture sheet (I use the ripple one from the Makins set A of clear thin plastic texturesheets).
• Texturing material

Members and new members please take note!

After a suggestion was made to introduce a yearly membership fee, all members were contacted and asked for their opinion. The overwhelming majority voted in favour of this, so as of the May meeting, the Anglian Polymer Clay Guild will be introducing a yearly membership fee of £30. This will cover all 6 meetings, in which we hold morning and afternoon demos, and include any workshops with a professional guest artist. This will also entitle members to sell their masterpieces when we hold a Sale Day.
Memberships can be paid by cash or cheque (cheques made payable to Anglian Polymer Clay Guild) at our next meeting on May 21st. All members will receive a membership card. 

In our last ClayDay, members were taught how to prepare curtain rings to be used in projects. Be sure to get your 'Curtain Ring' projects ready before the next ClayDay to enter it into the Curtain Ring Challenge. All entries will be judged to win a special prize! (pssssstt, the prize is going to be a tool for polymer clay of course!)

As usual please RSVP by contacting apcg@live.co.uk

We look forward to seeing you!