Hello...
......and a massively warm welcome to the first edition of the new newsletter from the British Polymer Clay Guild. Our publication PolyNews will complement our website, www.bpcg.org.uk and will bring you a regular and concise round-up of all the current highlights. PolyNews will ensure you don’t miss out on polymer events in the UK, Europe and further afield; we will test drive new products on your behalf, seek out exciting work from other polymer artists, check out blogs, write book reviews, track down elusive artists and persuade them to reveal their darkest secrets! There will be alerts when we are planning special events on the BPCG Facebook sites and there’s plenty more ideas in the pipeline including regular give-aways from our talented Committee Members and other covetable and often unique clay-related items. Keep an eye out for the monthly edition of PolyNews so you don't miss out.
We very much hope you will look forward to receiving PolyNews in your in-box and that you will enjoy the content as well as finding a useful resource. If you are a member of the Guild, you will receive the newsletter automatically and also if you have requested to be kept up to date with the Guild. However, we understand that in-boxes can sometimes be overwhelmed, so it is easy to unsubscribe by clicking the link below. You can subscribe at any time from the BPCG website.
If you would like a print copy of PolyNews, we are going to make them available at the Regional group meetings. Please contact your local group co-ordinator, so that they can prepare it for you when you attend the Clayday.
Editorial
I expect you’ve heard the sayings, ‘You are never too old to learn something new’, and ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’. Our old website served us faithfully, creaking into the 21st Century but just couldn’t keep up with the incredible technological changes we’ve seen in the last decade. I know how it felt. We are fortunate that we have on our Committee talented people who gleefully embrace social media and technological networking skills and who have the patience to teach the rest of us not to fear it. You will meet them in PolyNews in due course. They are working tirelessly and going without sleep, I fear, with the launch of our lovely, new and fresh website. Lizzi, our web editor has received many compliments on the modern and clean look.
The British Polymer Clay Guild Facebook page www.facebook.com/BritishPCGuild and Group forum www.facebook.com/groups/538935692939040/ have proved to be invaluable keeping our faithful members and the increasing claying community up to date with Guild events. We have a closed group specifically for BPCG members as well as an open group so that we can network widely both here and around the world. Do check into both on a regular basis, as the open group is a valuable forum for the exchange of help and ideas.
This old dog is learning new tricks, if a bit slowly. I’ve been claying for over ten years, and I believe I’m well up with most things polymer. I now double check what I’ve assumed I’ve known, on questions such as what varnish to use on polymer. I didn’t realise that one brand of polymer clay will react differently with another brand of clay’s varnish, and that question is very important if you work with different brands. That is where PolyNews will come in handy. When we spot an interesting technical note, we will steer you in the right direction. Incidentally, for the above question, hop on over to Ginger Allman Davis’s excellent site, The Blue Bottle Tree https://thebluebottletree.com
Kerrie Venner
Chair, March 2017
It's our 20th Anniversary!
The Guild was formed 20 years ago on the 23rd of September. We thought it would be a good excuse for a celebration, so we would like to invite you to the 20th Birthday Party of the British Polymer Clay Guild. It will take place on 23rd and 24th September 2017. Save the weekend! We have secured an amazing venue in Kidderminster, largely due to the generous clay spirit of Lisa Walker of Lisa Walker Designs, and the Trustees of The Simply Limitless Wellbeing Centre. Much frantic planning and scheming is going on at the moment. We will let you know how our plans are progressing in due course, but meanwhile, hop on over to the Simply Limitless website http://www.simply-limitless.org and look at all that lovely space.
Classes, courses and other clay goings-on
Hobbycrafts and Miniatura at the NEC Birmingham
Thanks to the untiring and loyal work of Committee members Allan Marshall, Ange Smith and Fiona Abel-Smith, supported by other members of the Guild, who are of course not at all tempted by the opportunity to sample the Hobbycrafts show, the Guild always has a strong presence at these events. This report from Fiona explains why.....
‘We had a great four days at the NEC again for the Hobbycrafts show, and as always we took details from anyone who showed serious interest in joining one of our groups. The show was a little quieter than past years and I certainly noticed that the vast majority of people who we spoke to came from the midlands areas. many people took the Guild's business cards and so hopefully even those who didn't want to leave a contact email may still get in touch (I have had one for the South Midlands group this morning - so you never know). We give away 'orphan' beads quite often which we attach our website details to, and it was such a joy to be able to tell people about the new website.’ The longer version will be available to Members in the website.
Lisa Walker has also shared her personal experience on the Guild stand and we will be hearing from Lisa in the May PolyNews. Maybe it will inspire you to volunteer for the next show. It is a fun and rewarding experience.
We will leave you now to go on over to the Guild web pages and spend a bit of time finding your way around. Have fun, and we would love to hear from you!
Happy Claying!
Many of you have been asking when your membership is up for renewal. Well, it is due by the 30th April for everyone except for those who have joined recently (well done - you have joined at the right time!). As a special incentive, we will select a paid up member at random to receive an extra special clay related gift - the draw will take place on the 7th of May and the lucky recipient will be given a shout out on the Facebook members page! Click here to complete the membership form or contact Angela@BPCG.org.uk for more details.