2010 Program Demo Schedule

2010 demo schedule, revised as of 5/5/2010

• February  
• Feb.13 - Quarterly Clay Play Day - Saturday, 12:00 - 4:00 pm  

• Tiny Flowers - Donna Hess will demo making small, sculptural flowers.
• 4th Saturday Free Play Day
  Sat, Feb 27, 12:00 - 4:00 pm
• March 10 - Tuesday, 6:30 - 8:00 pm
• Disc Beads - Robin Young will demo how she made the cool disc beads in the necklace she wore to the January meeting.

•  Free Play Day in March will be on the 3rd Saturday instead
• March 27 - Barbara McGuire Workshop sponsored by Heartland Bead Market
• April 13 - Tuesday, 6:30 - 8:00 pm
•  Making a Music Cane - Lynette Fisk - postponed due to illness
• 4th Saturday FREE PLAY DAY - Sat, Apr 24, 12 -4
• May 8 - Quarterly Clay Play Day - Saturday, 12:00 - 4:00 pm   
• Making a Bird Cane - Deb Williams  

• Challenge -  DUE IN SEPTEMBER: Theme: Organic
  Get inspired by nature, and show us what you create!
• 4th Saturday FREE PLAY DAY - Sat, May 22, 12 -4
• June 8 - Tuesday, 6:30 - 8:00 pm 
• Making a Music Cane - Lynette Fisk (Rescheduled)
• 4th Saturday FREE PLAY DAY - Sat, Jun 26, 12 -4 
•  July 13 - Tuesday, 6:30 - 8:00 pm
• TBD Demo
• 4th Saturday FREE PLAY DAY - Sat, July 24, 12 -4
• August 14 - Saturday, 12:00 - 4:00 pm
• TBD - MariEtta Williams
• 4th Saturday FREE PLAY DAY - Sat, Aug 28, 12 -4
• September 14 - Tuesday, 6:30 - 8:00pm
•  Organic Challenge Item Due
• TBD Demo - Michelle Wineland
• Commitment Signup for November Bead Exchange Color Theme - RED
• 4th Saturday FREE PLAY DAY - Sat, Sept 25, 12 -4
•  October 12 - Tuesday, 6:30 - 8:00 pm
• TBD Demo by Teri Stettnisch
• 4th Saturday FREE PLAY DAY - Sat, Oct 23, 12 - 4
  November 13
  Annual Bead Exchange 2010  - Color Theme - RED
  (View 2009 exchanged beads here)
  Election of 2011 officers
  Demo: Flower Cane - Kim Keane 
• December 14 -Tuesday, 6:30 - 8:00pm
• Open -  TBD (Probably a free-play night, since the last 3 years this meeting was snowed out!)
• 4th Saturday FREE PLAY DAY - NONE.
  Would have been Dec. 25!

Linda Lee's Jelly Roll Balls

Here's another "how's you do that?" from our 2009 Christmas Exchange beads....

Linda Lee conditioned Green Premo clay and rolled into base beads.  Then she made a Jelly roll out of well conditioned Premo Green Pearl clay. She rolled the green pearl clay out into a sheet to about 1.6mm thick, making sure the mica in the sheet had shifted.  Then she created a jelly roll. She formed the jelly roll into tapering, carrot like shapes, which she then cut into random size pieces.  Each piece was rolled into little balls and placed randomly into the base bead. The entire bead was then rolled with by hand until there was a smooth surface. Beads were then baked, wet sanded and buffed.

Layered Lentils by Lynette

By my count we had 17 beads exchanged, but only a few people have sent me a simple paragraph describing the techniques they used. So here's how I created my lentils...

First I processed up some scrap clay and also made a pale green. The scrap was rolled into a snake, cut into equal pieces and rolled into balls. The light green was used to cover each ball with a thin layer.

I gathered up a few older canes (white stars in translucent, white/translucent spiral, an older green leaf cane, etc.) and woke them up (a little squeeze pressure and wiggling to soften the clay before slicing.) I also made several new canes, using translucent and opaque clays: white & translucent stripe, green & translucent stripe, a lace cane with white wrapped translucent and random tiny blue/green snakes, dark green & translucent spiral. I made another lace cane using some reduced white starburst cane, wrapped in translucent & olive green.

Next I cut VERY THIN slices from all the canes and layered pieces randomly over each ball. Then I rolled the ball smooth in my hands, applied pressure with the plexi square and rolled each ball into a bicone, which I flattened into a lentil. Then I baked the clay.

Holes were drilled AFTER baking using my new mini-drill press and my lentil drilling jig, which I made following instructions found here. Great idea from Desiree's Desired Creations - thanks!  I altered mine a bit, using a heavy duty cardboard tube glued to the board rather then buy a 48" piece of 1/4 round. I used a small finishing nail instead of a needle - hammered straight in and with the head snipped off. You still must be careful to match the drill bit with the nail, so they just kiss and drill the starter hole straight.

After drilling, the beads were sanded with the standard series of wet sand papers then polished on my buffing wheel. (I keep trying to achieve the same level of gloss that Debbie Updegraff - she sets the bar pretty high!)

Coming soon: How I was inspired by those striped white/translucent canes to make some angelic music! But that's another story and another guild.

Mazzie Talley's Calla Lily Beads

 

Calla Lily beads
Mazzie starts with a Skinner blend, rolled at a very thin setting and cut out heart shapes. Using a metal cake icing tip ( #2 or #3) as a form, place the tip of the cone between the lobes of the heart, leaving the point of the heart at the widest part pf the icing tip (bottom).

Fold over one lobe of the heart (always using the same side first). Wrap the second lobe around, mark where it will cover the first and trim away the excess clay from beneath the second lobe. Trim at an angle to create a smooth surface for the second lobe to lie upon.

Tap the tip of the cone so the hole is open and the top of the bead is flat. Bake clay lily for 12 minutes.

Assemble by placing enough beads on a long head pin so the end bead shows the way you want it to.  I used one crystal tear drop, eight size11/0 clear beads and one size 6/0 bead, a second cone, one size 6/0 bead and a final size 6/0 bead and then formed a wrapped loop to finish. Hopefully this is understandable.

Robin Young's Large Inked Oval Beads

Robin's technique: "I first made a stack of clay with ecru and green stripes.  I then stamped in it and sliced off pieces of makume gane (using Barbara McGuire's mokume technique.) I added alcohol inks in three greens, yellow, red and rust.  I added some acrylic paint to the top and cut out the pendants.  I added a stamped backing of copper clay.  After baking, I put three layers of sealer on top and that was about it." She always makes it sound so simple!

Pear Beads by Donna Hess

Next installment of the explanations of  "how did you do that???" from the 2009 Kansas City Polymer Clay Guild's annual bead exchange. These are Donna's green pear beads. Read how she did them below.

I'm still waiting for info from more of you....to be posted right here.

 

Donna says to start with translucent clay and added green fine embossing power. (She says medium would have worked better.) Mix clay and powder. Shape into pear shapes, pierce hole and bake. Once cooled, dab on red and butterscotch ink with a Q-tip and let dry. Done! So simple. Now she just needs a small tree and one partridge!

Check out Donna's website

Kim Keane's Faux Jade Beads

Here is the first of the explanations of  "how did you do that???" from the 2009 Kansas City Polymer Clay Guild's annual bead exchange. These are Kim's great jade tablet beads. Read how she did them below.






Jade; I used Dotty’s McMillan’s technique in her book Artful Ways with Polymer Clay. I mixed translucent and leaf green with a tiny bit of orange to create the jade color. Barbara McGuire’s beautiful stamps to make an impression. Baked then painted with titanium white. I then rubbed the white paint off leaving paint in the crevasse to look antiqued. Sanded and buffed.