Sojourn- New Friends and So Much Claying!

Sojourn was a wonderful opportunity for our two British Columbia Polymer Clay Guilds- The Vancouver Island and the Vancouver (why not make it BC?) guilds to finally get together in "real time". There was a great buzz as people shared their passion for clay and delighted in new friendships (as well as some very good food!)

Starting the day with a pleasant breakfast - left to right- Cheryl, Wanda, iggy, Maureen, Dee & Gen.

Lots of concentration but it was never quiet!

we were too busy to be organized!

Dee- a "newbie" no longer!

Georgia Ferrel aka iggy- teaching her Tumblescope workshop-
Joan Tayler covering the scope barrel

Cheryl Trottier selling her marvellous "Itty bitty Baby" DVDs and molds-

Joan

Mona

Lunchtime! Dee, Gen, Cheryl, Wanda and iggy.

Sojourn Bracelet Bead Swap

Instructions and materials were available at a station and Sojourners chose fo We had several self-directed activities at Sojourn.r themselves if they would like to try the idea. Jem Redlich had been to Ravensdale and had swapped beads with people she met and added each bead to a charm bracelet (which is a stunner!) so we put together a Sojourn Bracelet Bead Swap. Wanda Shum made a Sojourn cane bead as the first bead for everyone. It was a popular project and I for one plan to upgrade my chain . Here's Vanessa Betcher's Bracelet, Wanda shum's cool Sojourn Cane Bead and our Bracelet Station.

Sojourn 08-- A shopper's delight!

What a weekend! Sojourn has ended and was a great success. The VIPCAG is popping its polymer clay buttons! I have plenty of photos and I'll post some each day this week.

On opening day we set up Sales and Silent Auction Tables all around the periphery of the room. These photos showcase the talent and generosity of the participants. I apologise for missing some items & especially for the poor quality of some photos. Kudos to Liz for the beautiful silent auction display and outstanding paperwork organisation.

Ready, set, start shopping!

Joan Tayler

Jem Redlich

Wanda Shum

Tina Holden

Handcrafted wines by Kristine Ovens & Tina Holden with martini glasses by Wanda Shum

Kim Cavender donated a copy of her wonderful new publication!

A beautiful pendant donated by Marie Segal and a woodturned bowl donated by Sidestreet Studio in Victoria.

Basket Weave Style Lamp by Genevieve Jenkins, Green Bracelet by Liz Hoar, Bracelet by Jem Redlich
Earrings and necklace by Joan Tayler, Moxies and Teapot by Gera Scott Chandler and pendant by Tina Holden.

Sales were brisk and bidding on the auction was enthusiastic..... here are the final moments of the auction-charge!! Barb Alexander wins the Power Shopper Gold Medal and Linda Gross takes Silver. After taking these photos I was laughing too hard to get in to win my items but the photos are priceless!

Sojourn- Day One

What a BUSY day!! Arrived at 9:00 am and got right to work covering carpets- arranging tables, setting up display, sales and auction tables and finally finishing up at 4:00 pm to greet everyone!

Here- uncropped are the photos of some of the day's events from the perspective of a committee member.....the sign is up, the tables are being draped....

The Sojourn Library and Photo Centre.....

Wanda arranges the Sojourn Gallery....

Fast forward... The Wine and Cheese Opening Reception!

More and better photos tomorrow!

Sojourn 08- getting closer!

Our organizing committee is wrapping up all of the pre-event preparations for Sojourn. All the boxes are packed, polymer clay is ready in pristeen packages, pasta machines are polished and ready. There's a lot of excited chatter in MSN and in emails and we still keep having more ideas. Even yesterday another mini committee was set up for a special display. It's great to have such a terrific group willing to volunteer their time!

Sojourn will keep everyone busy but if anyone needs a change of scenery they'll be able to drop over to Nanaimo's 2nd Annual Naked Bungy Jump for Schizophrenia!

VOLUNTEERS?

A new work table

I managed to get all the IKEA boxes unloaded and set up my new worktable! I discovered the configuration while wandering through all those wonderful IKEA-staged rooms and found a craft area designed for someone like me! I was thrilled because it was exactly what I wanted. It has an 8 foot wide table top and is set alongside a wall shelving unit. I had to move my fibre storage rack into the other area of the studio but it wasn't a huge job.

The studio still needs a new floor and a visit from an electrician but this is a great start.

No time to get into polymer clay work on the table though. I'm up to my ears with preparation for Sojourn!

Crazy Daze

It's been a while since my last post here- it's been a bit of a whirlwind! We've been coming to the wire with preparations for Sojourn which is ONE WEEK from today! I went to Vancouver and picked up Georgia who is planning to tour Vancouver Island before joining us in Nanaimo. She'll be teaching a tumblescope workshop. While in Vancouver I spent 3 hours at IKEA where I found a wonderful new desk for the studio. (it currently is residing in a box until I find some spare time to put it together!)

Of course there's always a monkey wrench in the works here and there when times get busy- I installed a programme in my computer that has challenged my computer's memory so my computer has had to go visit the local computer vet to get a new card! There are still a few things I need to have tweaked so another trip there is scheduled for today. No need to say how awful it is not to have your computer at hand in times like these!

Today several Vancouver Island Polymer Clay Artists Guild members met for lunch- great fun!

left to right- Kristine Ovens, Georgia Ferrel and Gera Scott Chandler

left to right- Liz Hoar, Wanda Shum, Genevieve Jenkins

Red Tulips

When I was a teacher one of my favourite stories in the kids' readers was "Red Tulips"- about a little girl who planted bulbs in an old teapot and was thrilled with the springtime show on her windowsill. A sure sign of the onset of spring is when the tulips are available in the local shops and I give myself a midwinter boost with a vase full of red tulips. I decided to celebrate by making this vase... Red Tulips is one of my favourite themes.
Speaking of Spring, our Canadian Groundhogs didn't see their shadows so spring IS on the way! http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/Environment/article/299845 (I feel sorry for the groundhog with a paper mache stump)

Making Polymer Progress

I've been away from the blog for a few days... making progress on the newest polymer clay project as well as several little friezes and some vases. Here's a detail of the as-yet untitled piece. there will be a tassle hanging from the little tablecloth. This piece will take quite a while to complete. It doesn't help that I've run out of several critical colours of clay!

I'm also pleased to report that the studio is pretty tidy again and I'm excited about an upcoming trip to Vancouver where I'll be spending several happy hours shopping at IKEA . Several people noticed that the floor on the new piece is the same as my lamented checkerboard studio floor. It was unintentional and made me laugh when I realised what I had done. The concept will hopefully work better for my Muse in her imaginary world than it has for me here in my clay strewn little studio.

This weekend will be for photography and paperwork. I have to put together a brochure for the IAA Wholesale Show in March !