September 2011 Meeting Report

The September clay day was extra special as we have moved into our new home, the Hugh Cubitt Centre in Islington. This is the 3rd venue since the group began in 2007. Our membership numbers have steadily grown and the larger venue means we have plenty of space for about 40 – 45 people. I think that it will be our home for quite a while.

Nico’s coffee shop is at the entrance to the centre and they very kindly opened up on Sunday especially for us. The Steering Group arrived early and immediately ordered the fantastic full English breakfast, toasted sandwiches and delicious lattes before going upstairs to set up the room.

There was a warm welcome for our new members, Kelly, Verena, Angela, Ekta, Sabah, Stephanie and Lynne.

I began the day with a short demo on making spacer beads from clay leftovers. These striped tube beads are simple to make and can be used to match a pendant or used on their own as a necklace.

Emily Parker held her ‘nursery’ class for 9 ‘newbies’ who are just starting with polymer clay.

It was lovely sunny day so many of us ordered our lunch from Nico’s and sat outside on the terrace.

After lunch Chris Hobbs held his extrusions workshop and showed how he has been using the extruder tool to create pendants with an interesting stone-like appearance. He uses old, and rather dry, unconditioned clay which cracks and breaks up as it is extruded. He also showed his hollow beads made in two halves by wrapping extruded clay around a light bulb to form the bead shapes.

As ever the ‘show and tell’ table displayed many different styles of working with polymer clay from jewellery to a delightful group of chickens sitting on their perches!

It was a superb clay day and by all accounts everyone enjoyed it and thought the new venue a great find. So we hope to see you at the next one on Sunday 27th November when Nico’s will again be open and tempting us to start the day with a ‘full English’. Join the queue! See you then.

Carol (Pictures by Carol Blackburn and Susan Rimmer)