Before you leave...

Hi everyone!

We are almost there, less than one week to go: our yearly clay fest is about to begin.
If you have any questions just ask us:
Margi: margilaurin@sympatico.ca
Vio: fxvio@sympatico.ca

Last checklist

Basic clayers kit
Materials for each class
Driving instructions and phone numbers
Books and magazines (optional)
Table de Junque a great opportunity to recycle (optional)
Shop, Hawk and Gawk, we want to see what you make (optional)
Canes and beads for swaps (optional)
Smile (not optional)

How to get to Morrisburg

From the 401 take exit 750 at Morrisburg. Follow signs to town about 1km
from highway overpass. (You will be turning RIGHT into town if you are
coming from Toronto, and LEFT into town coming from Montreal). Turn left at
the lights and drive another 1 km approx. On the left side of the road, you
will see the MacIntosh Inn. It is well marked and you will already have seen
the signs directing you to it. Drive safely!

The Hotel number is: 613-543-3788
Vio and I will be around and the contact person to speak to at the Inn is
Patsy.

When You Arrive

Someone at the front desk will direct you to the conference room and give you your keys and room number. You may want to drop your “stuff” off so you don’t have to lug it upstairs or downstairs.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER IS THAT WE ALL WANT TO RELAX AND HAVE FUN!!

You will receive a folder upon arrival with class descriptions and schedule as well as some useful information about the town.

This is YOUR event. You have paid for all of the classes, it is your choice whether to attend them or not. If you feel you have too much on your plate, or that a class may not be beneficial to you, you may opt out and go for a long lunch or a nap or a Jacuzzi. (You need to book Jacuzzi times with the front desk.)

Or you may want to continue working on something that has piqued your interest. And even though you may choose to work on something else, you will benefit just from listening. The instructors will be willing to answer questions and help you any time you need it, not only during their class time.

This is our eighth MPCG gathering and we feel every one has been very successful. If you have any questions, concerns or comments, come directly to Margi or Vio. We will do our very best to help you.
Margi and Violette

Sandy's description and list

This is what Sandy Willis wrote on her blog Friday.
Her list of things to bring is pretty complete; you might want to check it out.
Thanks Sandy!! And by the way, go and visit her blog; it is interesting.



Hi Everyone,
In just a few short weeks Morrisburg will be upon us. It's an annual gathering of 30+ women from Ontario and Quebec. We meet for a long weekend and clay all weekend long. I was dragged kicking and screaming to it five years ago by some women I had barely gotten to know at Guild. I then became one of the biggest converts as the session had met and exceeded my every expectation. It's now something I look forward to every year.


There's lots of claying, eating, laughter, friendship, and happy exhaustion. Everyone is incredibly warm and giving in their time, talent, and companionship. I'm smiling as I type this because it's just so much fun.


The photos above are a collage of the lessons that we'll be learning this year. It's a good mix of items and I'm looking forward to each and every one of them. I'll be giving a tutorial in one of the evenings, on some caning techniques that I've been playing with. You'll get to see the canes after Morrisburg.


I've started putting some things aside for packing. Here's the list of everything I've got to put together and figure out how to pack. There will be a lot of "oh, and I guess I should also add..." as I browse my hobby room. Fortunately I know that if I forget something someone else will have one.

Paints, Inks, Liquids and other tints

•Acrylic paints in favourite colours
•Glazing medium or pre-mixed acrylic glazes
•Dollar store paint brushes
•Paint Pallette
•Pallette knife
•Acrylic gel medium that dries clear (Golden brand or modge podge)
•Pearlized acrylic paint
•Stamping ink
•Water container
•Alcohol inks
•Pearlex powders
•Future floor finish
•Armorall
•Water spray bottle
•Alcohol
•fabric acrylic paints or inks(Dye Na Flow) - 1-3 colours
•sponges and makeup brushes
•Liquid Clay

Containers

•Wooden boxes
•Small tins
•Empty match boxes
•Bottles
•Glued books

Adhesives

•Glue – White craft glue and acid free glue stick – PVA or archival
•Loctite
•TLS
•Adhesive Tape
•Weldbond

Blades and Cutters

•Cane cutting blades
•Heavy duty utility knife with supply of extra blades
•Scissors
•Cutting mat
•Cookie cutters
•Chef scoopy thingy
•Kemper cutters

Other

•Cork-backed metal ruler
•Cutting Mat or cardboard
•Small measuring containers from Lee Valley
•Bone folder
•Wax paper
•Paper towels
•Hole punches
•Gloves for hot clay
•Styrofoam
•Bull dog clips
•Straight pins
•Key rings
•Plastic sheet protectors
•Sponges
•Toothbrush
•Credit card
•-20 g. wire and flat-nose plier
•-cotton balls
•knitting needle
•mica sheets
•Small white vinyl canvas
•Mr. Clean magic eraser

Clay Tools

•Extruder
•Roller
•Tile/s
•Pasta Machine
•Polymer clay extruder with discs

Clay

•Bake n Bend clay
•-polymer clay - white,black, translucent,ecru,pearl and brown
•black clay
•Scrap clay
•light coloured polymer clay
•Play dough
•Flesh
•Other colours
•Samples for tutorial


Textures and stamps

•Images for collages and transfers
•-small rubber stamps (ex. star,leaf)
•Textures
•Word stamps

Finishings

•beads,
•headpins, earrings
•glitter,
•marker pens,
•brads, eyelets & eyelet setter,
•found objects,
•ribbons, yarns, wire, bits of fabric, sewing needles, thread, coins, buttons

Junque Table stuff

Show and Tell

MPCG10-Schedule

Thurs. April 29
Afternoon: Arrival and Set-up
6:00 to 7:30 Dinner
Evening: Welcome and announcements;
Leslie Lockhart and Sherry Nash: A Book with a Secret (part one)
Fri. April 30
Fri. 7:30 - 8:30 Breakfast
Fri. 8:30 – Gaby Orbach: GoingWild and Fine With Surface Design
Fri. 12:00 - Lunch
Fri. 1:30 – Louise Gagné: Best Face Forward
Fri. 6:00 - Dinner
Fri. 7:30 Sandy Willis: demo with canes
Sat. May 1st
Sat. 7:30 - Breakfast
Sat. 8:30 – Georgia Ferrell: A Tisket A Tasket, a Polymer Clay Basket
Sat. 12:00 - Lunch
Sat. 1:30 – Fanny Achache: Inkjet Transfers on Polymer Clay
Sat. 6:00 - Dinner
Sat. 7:30 –Melani Litwack: demo origami: making a box
Sun. May 2nd
Sun. 7:30 - Breakfast
Sun. (Time TBA) – Leslie and Sherry: A Book with a Secret (part 3 or 4)*

* Leslie's and Sherry's class will be ongoing during the weekend. They will intervene here and there as this project advances. We will be finishing up on Sunday morning. To prepare your book go to the blog: http://mpcg09.blogspot.com and look up their instructions. (I (vio) just did mine! easy)

Once again, we are anticipating a super weekend of learning, laughter and lots of claying. Don’t forget to bring your smile and energy because we plan to have some fun.

Margi and Violette

MPCG10 - a reminder

Hi there,

The 8th (I know, I can't count) Morrisburg Polymer Clay Gathering is going to happen in a few weeks! This message is a reminder of things you can bring along with you to share, show or sell.

LIBRARY: once again we ask for your cooperation for the reading table; we all like to read and if you have any magazines or books of interest, please bring them along. They don’t necessarily need to be clay related: anything to inspire will do the trick. Please mark the books/magazines you bring so that they can be returned to you.

TABLE DE JUNQUE: how about making a special effort for the table. In this time of recycling, take a good look at all your clay related tools/supplies. There are a lot of things that you don’t use and won’t use. Why don’t you give them to someone who will? We can’t think of a better way of sharing. We all have stuff lying around begging to be used…by someone else!! Think about it. There are always little treasures to be found on that table.

SHOP HAWK AND GAWK: if you have anything to show and tell we would be happy to see it (does not have to be for sale). Just bring anything you are proud of or maybe things you want input on. And if you have stuff to sell, we will set up a table like in the years past.
Mark each item with your name and price.
You are responsible for the sale (i.e. receipt, taking cash,
packaging etc).
We will have an area assigned, but if you have special display requirements, please bring them.

CANES: Do you have canes that are never-ending? Why don’t you bring them along to exchange? that way, you will have a greater variety of canes to work with. The more canes, the merrier. This has worked well in the last three years and we want to do it again this year.

BEADS: Do you want to swap beads?, bring some with you to exchange.

If you have any ideas you want to share, please go right ahead. The information we gave you will be uploaded to the Morrisburg blog. http://www.mpcg09.blogspot.com
Once again, we are anticipating a super weekend of learning, laughter and lots of claying. Don’t forget to bring your smile and energy because we plan to have some fun.

You will be receiving driving directions and phone numbers etc. closer to the date.

Margi and Vio


PS: we have also planned two demos.

The first one by Sandy Willis who will show us more elaborate things to do with caning. For sure, this will be a great complement to Louise's class.

The second demo will be given by Melly who will show us how to make a pretty box to give that special gift in. Get ready to fold paper!!

A note from Georgia

Georgia sent this out to the Clayamies list recently. You might not all be on that list so here is the information:

if you are going to morrisburg and have no other way to get some superflex
bake and bend clay, please let me know and i will try to bring some for
you. it has many uses besides what i will be doing with it, so perhaps you
might want to either purchase a 6- one ounce package or an 8 - 2 ounce
package at michaels with a 40% coupon... or share one of these packages with
two or three friends.

From Janice Van Beek re:Clay Order

Hi Group,

I am going to place a bulk order for Premo clay (only) thru KJP crafts.

Not all colours are available in the 1 lb's, here is the list of colours available:

Premo Sculpey Open Stock

Premo Sculpey comes in 33 colors in 2oz bars for retail. Box pack is 8 units of one color. Mixing colors

(min. one box/color) OK for volume pricing. Please see our website for colors.

5001 White 5101 Pearl 5323 Green 5521 Fluorescent Green

5018 Copper 5129 Silver 5382 Cadmium Red 5562 Ultramarine Blue

5033 Orange 5259 Red Pearl 5383 Alizarin Crimson 5572 Cadmium Yellow

5042 Black 5289 Blue Pearl 5392 Raw Sienna 5583 Fluorescent Red

5053 Burnt Umber 5299 Green Pearl 5503 Fluorescent Pink 5600 Fluorescent Yellow

5063 Cobalt Blue 5303 Gold 5504 Fuchsia 5703 Glow-in-the-Dark

5072 Zinc Yellow 5305 Sea Green 5505 Turquoise

5092 Beige 5310 Translucent 5513 Purple

5093 Ecru 5317 Frost 5515 Violet

Sixteen colors of Premo Sculpey are available in 1lb bars labeled for retail.

5001-1 White 5101-1 Pearl 5323-1 Green

5042-1 Black 5129-1 Silver 5382-1 Cadmium Red

5053-1 Burnt Umber 5303-1 Gold 5513-1 Purple

5092-1 Beige 5310-1 Translucent 5562-1 Ultramarine Blue

5093-1 Ecru 5317-1 Frost 5572-1 Cadmium Yellow

Case pack is 12 bars. Mixing OK for volume pricing.

Contact Janice Van Beek for prices please.

MPCG-10 Class description Leslie Lockhart and Sherry Nash

A BOOK WITH A SECRET… A HIDDEN CLAY NICHE

Welcome to our fun and exciting workshop where we will explore the art of “altered books” and how they marry with Polymer Clay to create a “new book look”.

We will teach you how to line a niche in clay and then introduce you to exciting new applications to fill that niche, techniques to embellish your book and for the more ambitious, possibly construct a drawer or two. The ideas are only as limited as your polymer clay supply and imagination … fill your niche with a mosaic pictorial, a vignette, a polymer clay painting! Your altered book can become a travelling suitcase or art gallery to showcase your finished ATCs, jewelry pieces, mini art works. Or add polymer clay fronts to drawers designed to store beads and miniature pieces. Think “Infinite”!






Optional – Advance Prep work
1. Find a good book (but not to read! To ALTER!) and construct a niche* …or NOT (if you just don’t have the time or inkling to hunt for a used book and do the pre-work, we will gladly provide you with a book complete with prepared niche (measuring 3.5”h x 2.5”w x ½”deep) and ready to alter for a nominal fee ($5.00).
NOTE: If you want to purchase a prepared book, please notify Leslie by email no later than Friday, 26 March 2010: leslock@total.net


2. Bring a finished polymer clay focal piece to showcase within the dimensions of your completed niche …or NOT (you could use something you create while in Morrisburg).
NOTE: If you’re purchasing a prepared book, pay attention to the size of your focal piece as it must not exceed the dimensions of the niche.

3. Decide whether you want a theme for your altered book …or NOT: Some artists enjoy working with a theme and can be inspired by the title or content of their book while others prefer to see what develops (or… let your focal piece inspire you).

*For those opting to prepare their book in advance
What kind of used book? The only pre-requisite is that the book must be hardcover as they work best. The ideal size is around 5”wide x 8”long x 1 ½” deep, but for just this once, size won’t matter….. it just has to be deep enough to carve a niche to hold your focal piece. Click on this instructional link for more details: Considerations for Choosing a book.

How do I construct a niche? To create a niche you will have to glue and cut pages ahead of time. Click on this instructional link for more details: Gluing and Cutting Niches

Materials List – MUST HAVE’S

· Basic polymer clay kit items
· Cutting Mat
· Cork-backed metal ruler
· Heavy duty utility knife with supply of extra blades ($store brand ok)
· Used hardcover book with prepared niche OR $5
· Polymer clay focal piece to fit the dimensions of your niche OR create one in Morrisburg
· Polymer clay of your choice – approximately 2oz – to line a niche and for embellishments
· Acrylic paints in your favourite colours
· Glazing medium or pre-mixed acrylic glazes
· Glue – White craft glue and acid free glue stick – PVA or archival
· Paint brushes for painting altered book pages (flat ones, sizes 8 – 14 work well) plus one for applying glue
· Palette or container for mixing paints and holding glue
· Container for water
· Waxed paper
· Paper towels
· Scissors

Materials List – “NICE TO HAVE’S” but optional for embellishments

· Extra used book to “practice” experimenting with layout or colours or treatment of altered pages
· Acrylic gel medium that dries clear (Golden brand best or modge podge)
· Pearlized acrylic paint
· Polymer clay extruder with discs
· Mold forms
· Rubber stamps for impressing polymer clay and for stamping pages
· Stamping inks
· Collage papers
· Images for collaging or transfers
· TLS for image transfers in polymer
· Bone folder or equivalent (old credit card, back of spoon)
· Ephemera for embellishing book pages such as assorted polymer clay beads, glitter, marker pens, brads, eyelets & eyelet setter, found objects, ribbons, yarns, wire, bits of fabric, sewing needles, thread, coins, buttons
· Heat gun – to speed paint drying
· Adhesive tape – regular, double-sided, removable are all useful
· Hole punches
· Small (empty) match boxes if doing drawers