Hi Everyone,

Once again I have returned from one of our meetings energized and inspired - and pitying those of you who couldn't be there! I had been so uncreative (and busy) lately, that it wasn't until after the gathering that I realized part of what was wrong was that it had been too long since my last booster from all my BRPCG clay friends. We had a huge turn out this meeting, with guests from Atlanta, new members, and many familiar faces. (Irene's hard work on our web site is already yielding results.) New works were shared and admired as we settled in and made room for everyone, and I saw some beautiful and innovative creations. As I always say, it just doesn't pay to miss meetings.

We started our afternoon by hurrying through the business to get to the good stuff, but still managed to cover a lot of ground. Here's the rundown of the meeting topics:

1) Yearly dues of $20.00 are due in January, and there was a rush of people writing checks. If you need to mail in your check, you can do so by making the check out to Pat Smith, BRPCG. Email Pat at nipntuck@bellsouth.net for her mailing address.

We also agreed to institute family dues starting this year, with $20.00 for the first family member and $10.00 for each subsequent family member.

2) The best part about paying dues is that we now have money, above and beyond the operating budget, to think about spending on the Guild. We briefly discussed some of our options, which (from various sources) include but are not limited to:
- buying more videos
- buying more books
- paying travel and accommodations for an outside teacher (if we can find one that the majority agrees on...),
- subscribing to a magazine or two
- buying a portable oven for the Guild
- financing materials for a Clay Day

The purpose of the above list is to get you started thinking about what extras are most important to you. We will get a more formal, detailed discussion started separate from this post.

3) Don't forget the Logo contest, which will end in March. Details can be found in the pertinent previous eGroups postings under that heading (or on the Logo contest page on the web site).

4) We also discussed whether to have any paid classes on our regular meeting days. The consensus seemed to be that most people still wanted to have the regular meetings, with the paid classes scheduled separately. Members brought up several options that might limit the burden on those who drive long distances. We will look at such possibilities as scheduling a Sunday class, or a different weekend altogether for future classes as they arise.

5) Which brings us to our next meeting - the paid class being offered by Byrd. We have enough sign-ups to make the class a definite go. Since plans were already underway for this class, it will be on our regular Guild meeting day of February 10th, and will take the place of that month's meeting. This day-long class, "21 Things to Do With a Skinner Blend," sounds as if it will be packed with useful information as well as hands-on creativity, so don't forget to sign up before the February 3rd deadline if you are planning to attend. Later this week I will post all the class information separately so it will be easy to find on the eGroups postings.

6) We talked about BRPCG Library policies (which are posted on the web site) and Irene helped people check out materials in Gail's absence.

Believe it or not, we crammed all that into less than an hour so we could have as much time as possible with our wonderful guest teacher (and now official BRPCG member - yeah!), Lynn Krucke. Although I am sure that nearly everyone who has been involved with crafts has at some time played with a rubber stamp, on Saturday we were privileged to see what could be done with the right materials in the right, creative hands. Lynn has an easygoing, effortless teaching style that still managed to grab everyone's attention when she was ready to move on to the next part of our lesson. She spent three hours telling, then showing us the essentials of combining stamps with our clay. Each step was followed by a chance for us to practice what she was explaining, at which time we got to play with the DOZENS of wonderful stamps that Lynn and other members had brought to class. The last step was experimenting with various embellishment techniques and materials which we shared, also. There always seems to be one or two little tips I gather at every meeting that are small, yet hard to pick up on your own, and Lynn had several of these gems. But her grand finale made my whole drive worthwhile all by itself. Lynn showed us a new way to stamp with Liquid Sculpey. If you couldn't be there, I hope you get to read about this technique from an article by Lynn. It would make a wonderful submission. Thanks again, Lynn, for everything.

Start clearing your calendars, because coming up in March will be the demonstration by fellow BRPCG member and silversmith, Kathy Wu:

"Jewelry Making for the Polymer Clay Addict - This demo will show how to take your beautiful polymer clay beads and other pieces and turn them into jewelry using simple tools and wire."

More details will be posted as we get closer, but I know you will want to start planning to be there.

Take care, everyone, and I will have the additional postings up by the week's end.

submitted by Sara Jane Whyte, January 17, 2001