Metal Clay Artisans

September 21st Member

2010-09-20T18:59:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that our next meeting will be Tuesday September 21st at
the San Diego Lapidary Society. The meeting will begin at 6:30pm and
we'll be discussing finishing. There will probably be some
demonstration but mostly just discussion on the different methods we all
like for finishing pieces. Feel free to bring examples to show others
of your work!

Hope to see you all there!!

Mary De Armond
creativemary@gmail.com
(951) 694-9406

August Meeting

2010-08-16T15:45:00.001-07:00

Hi All!

Just a quick reminder that our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday
August 17th at the San Diego Lapidary Society. This month we will be
a play date so we'll be starting at 5:30pm for those who can come
early.
We spoke last month about playing with polymer clay, as well as,
metal clay so I'm bringing a toaster oven is anyone is interested.

Hope to see you all there!
Mary De Armond
creativemary@gmail.com
(951) 694-9406

July Meeting

2010-07-15T12:29:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone-

Just a reminder that the our next meeting is scheduled for July 20th at
the Lapidary Society. This is a demonstration month so we'll be starting
at 6:30pm.

I'll be demonstrating what I learned at Barbara Becker-Simon's seminar
on Box Beads. This technique includes constructing a box with dry clay
and without seams. It should be fun! (Note: It's my first
demonstration so be nice!!!)

Next month we will have a play date starting at 5:30pm (for those who
can come early). Then in September we'll be having a discussion on
finishing pieces.

Hope to see you all there!

Mary De Armond
creativemary@gmail.com
(951) 694-9406

June Meeting

2010-06-12T14:19:00.000-07:00

Hi All!!! Don't forget the next meeting of the Metal Clay Artisans is
Tuesday June 15 at 5:30pm. We're starting early (for those who can come
early) so we have time to PLAY.

This month we're working on making molds of 3D items. You'll need to
bring 2 part molding compound. If you don't have any, Michael's sells
"Amazing Mold Putty" in their Polymer Clay aisle.

Also, bring any items that you want to mold or are willing to share with
the rest of us. Shells, buttons, charms, etc. pretty much anything can
be molded!

Hope to see you all there -
Mary De Armond
creativemary@gmail.com
(951)694-9406

2010-05-19T11:03:00.001-07:00

Hi All!!! I hope this message finds everyone healthy and happy...

Just a reminder that our next meeting is this Tuesday (May 18th), 6:30pm
at the San Diego Lapidary Society. We will be learning how to carve our
own texture plates/stamps. If you have not had a chance to order the
material, I am bringing extra mats that you can purchase. They are
$2.12 each if you are interested. Venetia also recommended that you
come prepared with a pattern (sharpie marker seems to be the best) so we
can carve at the meeting.

I also wanted to try and get an idea of the number and kind of samples
of your work that you want to add to the display for this years fair
display. I think it's really important that everyone in the group be
represented - even if you only have one piece completed!!! If you could
let me know how much you are displaying as soon as possible, I would be
very grateful.

See ya Tuesday!!

Mary De Armond
creativemary@gmail.com

May 18th Meeting

2010-05-08T16:52:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

May Meeting – Our next meeting is May 18th at the San Diego Lapidary Society and will start at 6:30pm. Venetia is going to demonstrate carving our own stamps/texture plates. She suggested purchasing Carving Sheet from Art Clay World (stock #F043) for this purpose and drawing out a design in Sharpie marker. You’ll also need to bring carving tools. I’ll have some extras if you need to borrow.

Future Meetings – The June meeting will be a play date and start at 5:30pm for those who can come early. For July we need demo ideas! Ideas previously mentioned included soldering on PMC, Keumbo, proper syringe use, etc. If there are lots of people on vacation we could also take a break for July and/or August. We can discuss this more at the meeting as well.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact me.

See ya on the 18th!!!
Mary De Armond
creativemary@gmail.com

April 20th Meeting

2010-04-13T16:18:00.000-07:00

Hi All!!!
It's time for the San Diego County PMC Guild meeting next week (April 20, 2010). We are going to learn about making leaves in PMC and using rubber stamps to add texture to our pieces. So bring some leaves with good veins on the backs, whatever stamps you want to play with, general clay tools and *clay*. I don't know how you feel, but I'm really excited to get my hands on some clay! As this month is a hands-on meeting we will be starting at 5:30pm at the Lapidary Society. Don't worry if you can't get there early, the format is open so you'll still get plenty of time to work. If you have any questions or concerns, just let me know!
See ya next week...
Mary De Armond
creativemary@gmail.com
(951) 694-9406

March Meeting Recap

2010-03-22T04:02:00.000-07:00

First I want to thank all those who attended the meeting or gave their input into the future of the group. I am very happy that the group is so enthusiastic about the future! If you have any input or changes, please let me know.As a reminder the next meeting will be April 20, 2010 and start at 5:30pm for those of you who can come early. We will be exploring making leaves in clay and using rubber stamps for texture. So bring your clay, tools, some leaves (there should be good vein definition on the leaf and no “fuzz”) and whatever rubber stamps you want.Again, thank you for your participation and I'll see ya next month...Mary De Armond

March Meeting

2010-03-11T12:33:00.000-08:00

As many of you know the SD County PMC Guild is at a turning point. With recent changes to the leadership we need to decide if and/or how the group will continue.As such, the next meeting will be used for discussion of several key issues. Some of them being: - do we continue meeting monthly or every other month? - who is willing to teach workshops? - what teachers are you interested in taking workshops from? - what demonstrations would you like to see? - do we include time each meeting for show and tell? - do we set aside time every meeting to discuss problems people are having? - do you want to start some meetings early to have an opportunity to "play" with the clay? - would a design challenge be of interest? - would a "play date" be of interest? - what do you personally want to get out of this group?This group is for everyone's benefit and needs to be a collaborative effort. We would appreciate it if you would consider these and any other suggestions for discussion at the meeting so it is productive. That way we can have less "talk" and more fun in the future!!!The meeting is set for next Tuesday (3/16/2010) at 6:30pm at the San Diego Lapidary. *Please RSVP by Saturday (3/13/2010).* If you cannot make the meeting please let me know if you are interested in continuing with the group or not. We need your input so the group can be a positive experience for everyone. If we do not hear from you we will assume you are no longer interested.Thank you in advance for your help!!Mary De Armondcreativemary@gmail.com(951) 694-9406 home(951) 764-7299 cell

January Meeting

2010-01-18T17:10:00.000-08:00

Well it's that time again. Happy New Year to all.

Tuesday, Jan 19th at 6:30 pm is our next meeting. We will be discussing how to care for your kiln and if you don't have one the different options.

Also everyone is to bring a tip or trick technique to share.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in this new and exciting new year.

Melissa Wilcoxson
San Diego County PMC Guild Chapter

October Mtg Minutes

2009-10-31T22:29:00.001-07:00

Here is a short update of October's meeting:
Short discussion of the Show in September
Welcomed a new member and two new visitors
Our upcoming November meeting
Our December members only meeting for the Holidays
Plans for next year

Venetia did the Tips and Tricks with handouts for the group on what temperature to fire and hold the various types of PMC in a kiln. Then she discussed the various types of PMC, their structure and comparisons.

We made our own mini hydration chamber for our PMC clay. Each small clay pots was sealed and everyone used their own creativity for the placements of the beads.

Melissa
San Diego County chapter of the PMC Guild

Tuesday, Oct. 20th Meeting

2009-10-18T12:42:00.001-07:00

Is everyone getting ready for HALLOWEEN!!!!

This Tuesday is our next meeting, Oct 20th at 6:30 pm at the SD Lapdiary Building located at 5654 Mildred Street. We will have our tips and technique along with a subject matter.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Melissa

Rancho Bernardo Winery Show Pics

2009-10-07T23:53:00.001-07:00

More Charm Exchange Photos!

2009-10-04T19:56:00.001-07:00

Show & Meeting + Thanks

2009-10-03T18:23:00.000-07:00

What a Great weekend last week at the Rancho Bernardo Winery. We had a demo booth set up and showed the public how easy it is to work with PMC. Thank you to Kathy, Carol and Mary for doing demos and Ellen and Yvonne for helping man the booth and giving us breaks.

At our last meeting we finalized the show and brochure. We now have our first color brochure for our Guild. Thank you Mary for putting that together for us. The best part of our last meeting was our charm exchange. We had such a wonderful time sharing the charms we made and what that charm meant. Eight of our members now have the First Charms from our new chapter of the PMC Guild. You can find photos on http://www.sdcpmcguild.blogspot.com/

I am looking forward to our next meeting, Tuesday, October 20th at 6:30 pm. We will go back to our regular meeting by offering a tip and/or trick and a subject or guest speaker. The last several months we have spent a lot of time on planning, shows, classes and brochures.

I just want to say how proud I am of all our members. We just started this guild in April and in that short time we have accomplished a lot. Patrik Kusek class in May, a blog, SD County Fair educational display, a color brochure for our guild, beginners class being offered, a demo booth at a Gem and Mineral show and our First Charm exchange. None of this could be done without the creative ideas and help of all our members. I am happy to say we have a very solid core base.

Thank you for all your hard work.

Melissa
San Diego County chapter of the PMC Guild

Charm Exchange

2009-09-18T01:33:00.000-07:00

Check out the charms our Guild members traded for our 1st Annual Charm Exchange!

Tuesday, Sept. 15 Meeting

2009-09-12T15:26:00.000-07:00

Tuesday is around the corner. I trust everyone has their charms made or are adding the final touches.

Our next meeting is Tuesday, September 15th at 6:30 at the San Diego Lapidary building at 5654 Mildred Street.

This meeting will be more of a social gathering. Eight members have signed up for the 1st Charm Exchange that we will plan to do annually. Thank you Kathy for such a Great idea. Those that are part of the charm exchange need to bring their charms along with a bracelet, jump rings and tools to attach your new charms to your bracelet.

Everyone is invited whether you are doing the charm exchange or not. Please bring a dish to share (no meals items, just snacks like chips, veggies, desserts etc.). This will be more of a social and sharing time.
A way for us to get to know each other better.

We will have a short meeting to go over the upcoming show on Sat & Sun Sept 26th & 27th.

Melissa
San Diego County PMC Guild chapter

8/18 Meeting Minutes

2009-08-30T15:41:00.000-07:00

How's everyone enjoying this HOT weather??

We had one new guest at our meeting this month and look forward to seeing more new faces in the future.

At our August meeting we discussed our set up for the Gem & Mineral Show that the SD Lapidary is hosting on September 26th & 27th at the Rancho Bernardo Winery. This is a great show, hope you can all attend.

We discussed costs for having outside instructors coming to San Diego to teach to our group.

We have plans to offer an introductory class to PMC that will be offered at the show.
We discussed having a flyer designed for our group to use at shows.

We had sign ups for working our demo booth at the September show and Cathy went over ideas for the demos. We finalized the items needed.

Our tricks and tips for the month was about texture and Ellen brought some items that she uses to create texture.

Next month is our charm exchange. If you didn't sign up for this event, you are still welcome to come. Details to follow in our email for September.

Melissa
San Diego County chapter of the PMC Guild

Next Meeting

2009-08-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Enjoying the summer?

Next Tuesday, August 18th is our next San Diego County PMC Guild meeting. We will be working on our display set up for the Gems and Minerals Show in RB in September. Please bring the items you committed to at the last meeting so we can get a look at the booth set up. Also next week we will be working on textures. Please bring polymer clay or a molding compound and any items you would like to share with the other members to make molds of textures to use in our creations. Examples would be buttons, rubber stamps, shells, unusual textures you have around the house. Be creative and share your ideas. You are also welcome to bring items you have made using a mold or texture with your PMC. I am looking forward to seeing you next week.

Melissa
San Diego County PMC Guild chapter

July 21st Meeting Minutes

2009-08-03T02:52:00.000-07:00

Here is an update on the July PMC Guild meeting:
Cathy discussed the demonstration options for the Gem and Mineral Show in September. People signed up to work the show and we are bringing items to do a mock set up at the August meeting to make sure we have everything we need. Members also signed up to work the booth. This is a booth to demo PMC.
We had our final sign ups for the charm exchange at the September meeting. We have eight members signed up to exchange charms. If you are interested in participating in this event you will need to contact me by August 5th and pay your membership dues.
Venetia gave a treasurer’s report.
Yvonne gave a follow up on the Copper Clay that Carol demonstrated last month. Most of her information was found on the Yahoo group for Metal Clay.
This month’s demonstration was on How to Photograph your jewelry. We had a special guest photographer, Jonathan Fennell. Jonathan is a professional photographer and the husband of one of our members, Ashley. He brought some equipment (which he purchased on EBay) and we practiced photographing our own pieces with our camera or those of other members. He gave us tips and advice. I also want to thank Cathy for bringing her array of props and domes. This gave us an opportunity to see what supplies can be purchased and the use of them.
Jonathan Fennell’s web site is www.jfennellphoto.com his email is jfennell@jfennellphoto.com and his phone number is 619-861-7873 for those whom inquired about him taking your photos for you.
Web sites that might be helpful:
www.tabletopstudio.com go to Product Photography How To
www.sodoityourself.com/the-ikea-hamper-light-tent/ this one uses an IKEA hamper!
www.wrotniak.net/photo/tips/tabletop.html how to build a $7.00 set up

Thank you for all attending last month’s meeting and I look forward to seeing you in August on the 18th at 6:30 pm.

Melissa
San Diego County chapter of the PMC Guild
www.sdcpmcguild.blogspot.com

July 21st Meeting

2009-07-16T13:53:00.000-07:00

It's that time again. The San Diego County Fair is over and I hope that if you visited the fair that you stopped by our display in the Gems and Minerals building. We will be receiving $50 for meeting the requirements of the educational criteria.

On to this month's meeting. Our discussion this month is about how to take photos of your work for print or the web. We ask that you bring pieces of your work and a digital camera if you have one. I will have my outdated digital camera and my laptop. We will be experimenting with taking photos.

This is the last month to sign up for the charm swap in September.

This month we will also be collecting dues of $15 for the remaining part of the year. If you have not joined us at one of our meetings, please be our guest at your first meeting.

Melissa
San Diego County PMC Guild chapter

June 16th Meeting Minutes

2009-06-20T16:03:00.000-07:00

Our meeting on Tuesday, June 16th proved to be quite successful in planning for the future of our chapter. First Carol spoke about her experience with the new copper clay. Our technique this month was about ring making. Then we went on to discussing upcoming projects: future guest artists, our 1st charm exchange, applying for the grant from the national guild and a booth in an upcoming show.

As of July all members will now have to pay to join our chapter. The fee for the rest of this year 2009 will be $15. We started several committees on Tuesday: one for education (future guest artists), one for the grant (to decide what project the money will be used for) and one for the booth we have in September. If you are interested in helping with any of these committees please let me know. We encourage all our members to help on at least one committee each year.

A BIG thank you to Yvonne for offering to be our secretary and helping me with structuring our meetings. I also want to thank Venetia for her time as our treasurer.

Cathy presented last month the idea of a charm swap. She has provided an outline below. We decided to kick this off with our new membership. You must be a member to participate in this swap. The charm must be made out of PMC silver clay, no bronze or copper.
1st Silver Charm Swap
Sign up for the swap by the July meeting. (so everyone knows how many to make)
Sign the back with your initials, name or logo and the year. (ex: mw ’09)
Attach charm to a business card or business card size card stock with your name and type of charm. (ex: Melissa Wilcoxson – flower)
Make one charm for each person in the swap plus one for yourself.
The finished size of the charm should be no larger than a penny.
Charm should have a sturdy hole with a strong jump ring.
Non-silver parts can be added (ie beads/other materials)
All the charms need to be the same.
Bring the charms, a bracelet for yourself to put the charms on and your pliers for assembling the bracelet to the meeting in September. (Sept. 15th). We will have a small party like meeting. Sharing our charms and ideas. This will be a fun filled evening.

Last item on the agenda was that we made a commitment to provide a working demo at a booth in September. The show is sponsored by the San Diego Lapidary Society at the Rancho Bernardo Winery. The dates are Sat and Sun the 26th and 27th of September. There is no charge for the booth and the show hours are from 10am to 4pm. We will be in a sheltered area and Cathy has offered to chair this committee to decide what we will be demonstrating. If you are interested in helping her please let me know. We will be looking for volunteers to help man this booth.

NOTE: I went to the exhibitors appreciation night at the San Diego County Fair and we received an outstanding 98 points out of 100 on our educational display. Thank you for all those helped in any way by setting up and by providing photos for the display. I believe we will receive $50 for this display.

If you are new to PMC and are interested in taking a beginning class please contact me directly, we have discussed offering such a class to our members.

I look forward to seeing you at next months meeting when we will be working with photographing our work. Thank you Ashley for offering to help me with that meeting. Look for an update email next month.

Melissa Wilcoxson
Oversite Director
San Diego County chapter PMC Guild

SDC Guild at the Fair!

2009-06-18T02:09:00.000-07:00

Come see our display at the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar, CA!

Our display is in the Gem & Mineral building next to the Mission Tower and Fun Zone.

The fair runs from June 12th to July 5th, 2009.

See you there!

San Diego County PMC Guild News

2009-06-05T01:05:00.000-07:00

We held a successful two day workshop in May. Patrik Kusek, a Saul Bell award winner in 2007 came to San Diego to teach his award winning botanical bracelet. There were 12 students and we all had a great time. We are looking forward to Patrik returning to San Diego.

Our May meeting was about hollow forms and how many different ways you can create a hollow form. We shared the makings of the workshop and discussed plans for next months meeting.

There will be an educational display at the San Diego County Fair in the Gems and Minerals Building. If you are going to be at the fair please stop by and take a look.

June is the last month to attend our meetings for free, in July we will be asking for a $15 membership fee to cover the rest of the year. If you have not attended one of our meeting please be our guest your first time.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday, June 16th at 6:30 pm. We will have a discussion about the new Copper clay and a short demo on reconstituting your clay.

PMC Guild Meeting

2009-05-16T03:52:00.000-07:00

The next SD County chapter of the PMC Guild will be meeting next Tuesday, May 19th at 6:30 pm at the SD Lapidary Society, 5654 Mildred Street, SD.

We will get feedback from those who attended the Patrik Kusek class last weekend.
We will have a tips and tricks for PMC.
Our discussion this month will be about Hollow Forms.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Melissa
mwilcoxson83@aol.com

Patrik Kusek Class 5/9 - 5/10/09

2009-05-14T21:11:00.000-07:00

We all had a great time in Patrik's class!

Thank you Patrik for traveling to San Diego and sharing a multitude of tips & tricks with all of us!!!

We had some technical difficulties, but in the end learned the process and how to overcome the technical challenges.

Attached are pictures of Patrik showing us how to sun expose our photopolymer plates, a demo of how to make the toggle, and a visual sample of his work.

Patrik Kusek Class Update 2

2009-05-03T16:53:00.000-07:00

We now have 12 students enrolled in Patrik's Botanical Bracelet class!

The class is officially full and enrollment is closed.

Thank you to everyone that expressed interest and excitement in our class.

A special thank you to all students that enrolled in our class and put up with our short lead time!

Patrik Kusek Class Update 1

2009-04-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

We now have 10 students enrolled in Patrik's class!
The cost is now $195, if can get to 12 students the price goes even lower!

Please visit the PMC Guild website to view our class listing:

http://www.pmcguild.com/forms/search.php?ClassID=CA6873&Submit=yes&ClassMonth=Any&ClassYear=Any&Instructor=Any&ClassType=Any&State%5B%5D=CA

Contact Melissa Wilcoxson for additional information:
mwilcoxson83@aol.com

PMC Guild Meeting -- Class with Patrik Kusek

2009-04-23T23:34:00.000-07:00

First of all I would like to thank everyone who attended our meeting last night. I had a great time and loved meeting everyone.

On to business. Here is the information we discussed last night about the two-day class with Patrik Kusek.
The dates are May 9th and 10th. Location is the SD Lapidary Society.

Cost will vary depending on class size:
6 students - $270 including the $65 material fee (you supply the PMC)
10 students - $195 including the $65 material fee (you supply the PMC)

Below is more detailed information.

If you are interested in taking this class I need a commitment via email by 2 pm tomorrow, Thursday April 23rd. If we don't have at least 6 students we will not proceed at this time. Commitment means that you are willing to pay the max cost of $270 for the amazing 2-Day opportunity. The more we have the less the cost.

2 Day Class with Patrik Kusek
Winner of the 2007 Saul Bell Award

Dates: Saturday May 9th - 12:30 pm to 7:00 pm and Sunday May 10th (Mother’s Day) - 10:00 am to 5:00 pm

Botanical Bracelet – Create your version of his Saul Bell winning bracelet. Learn PPP’s, construction of toggles and carving. This is a very clay intensive class. There will be an overview of PPP’s then some practice with them before creating your own. You will be making 5 links and a toggle.

Patrik is a PMC Certification instructor and has been in the design and fashion industry for over 20 years. His work has appeared in numerous publications including Art Jewelry, Lapidary Journal, MJSA and various books such as CeCe Wire’s New Directions in Metal Clay, the 2007 PMC Guild Annual and 500 Pendants and Lockets. In addition he has appeared on HGTV’s “That’s Clever” television show.

Material fee is $65. Includes 5 plates, exposure frame, jump rings, liver of sulfur etc. Each student will need to email Patrik the 4 or 5 common name and botanical name of each specimen so he can make the negative prior to class.

Your will need to supply:

A Basic PMC Tool Kit
Carving tools if you have them otherwise they will be available
Approximately 25 grams of PMC 3 this will be for the toggle
Approximately 90 grams (2 pkgs of 45 gram) PMC+ this will be for the 5 links
Bring 4 to 5 different types of leaves, picked fresh in the morning (bring more than you need so you can pick the best ones) Specimens should be around an inch in size or smaller. If it is a littler larger that’s ok, he will demo how to “prune” the specimen. You will be using the specimen to make the impression into the clay, so foliage with prominent veins and leaves that are waxy work best, leaves that are fuzzy don’t work too well.

Please email me with any questions.

Melissa
mwilcoxson83@aol.com

San Diego County PMC Guild Meeting

2009-04-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

Please come and join us on Tuesday April 21st at 6:30 PM
Located at the San Diego Lapidary Society building
5654 Mildred Street, San Diego, CA 92110

The agenda this month is Bronze Clay, anything and everything you wanted to know. This meeting will be a discussion about Bronze Clay, handling, firing, finishing, shrinkage etc. Attendees are welcome to bring their pieces to show and discuss their successes and their challenges.

Everyone that loves metal clay or wants to learn more about metal clay is welcome.

Please RSVP to Melissa Wilcoxson at mwilcoxson83@aol.com

First Meeting of the San Diego County PMC Guild!

2009-03-14T04:54:00.000-07:00

Our first meeting of the San Diego County PMC Guild will be held at the San Diego Lapidary Society on Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at 6:30 pm.
The agenda will be to organize and plan our new guild and to meet new members.
Please come join us!
Everyone that loves metal clay or wants to learn more about metal clay is welcome.
The San Diego Lapidary Society is located at:

5654 Mildred Street
San Diego, CA 92110

Please RSVP to Melissa Wilcoxson at mwilcoxson83@aol.com.

2008-11-15T21:09:00.001-08:00

A new PMC Guild chapter in San Diego County!

We are looking for artists of all levels and experience in metal clay that are willing to learn, share ideas, techniques, and product information about Precious Metal Clay.

Please be our guest when you attend your first meeting. If you decide to join, the yearly membership fee is only $30. We are looking to build a structured group with officers, committees and coordinators with all members using their diversified talents.

Goals of the San Diego County PMC chapter:

• Create an open environment where we can share ideas, creativity, and discussion.
• Share technical information, tools and tricks.
• Offer demonstrations with handouts.
• Present interesting guest speakers from all aspects of the metal clay world.
• Provide workshops with time allowed for hands on work (workshops may be held at different times than regular meetings).

We welcome committed, interested PMC enthusiasts of all skill levels to our monthly meetings. Our chapter meets the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 6:30 pm.

For the location of the meetings please contact Melissa Wilcoxson at mwilcoxson83@aol.com.