We have been blessed with the opportunity to speak with four talented polymer clay artists about their thoughts and plans for the Synergy Conference. It takes place next February in Baltimore, Maryland, on the East Coast of the US. It will be an exciting opportunity to get together with all the “famous” poly-clayers, and a chance to listen to them speak about three specific topics- Craftsmanship, Business, and Inspiration. The three days are each dedicated to a topic. Seminars will be 90 minutes long, and panel discussions and lunchtime roundtable talks are planned as well. Deemed a “pasta-machine-free” zone, this conference aims to close the gap between presenters and attendees, by creating an environment where more people can attend and the cost is a bit more affordable than the usual clay-play retreat. A networking, social, and learning opportunity for all. We can’t wait to attend. Yes, we will be there- with our cameras rolling. Of course we will not be able to film the whole three days, but we hope to interview some more artists, and show some key moments. We hope many of you will be able to attend and if you do, please be sure to drop us a line, we’ll have lunch!

Enjoy- our interviewees are Seth Lee Savarick, Sarah Shriver, Maggie Maggio, and Maureen Carlson. This is a long podcast- an hour. It may take a few minutes to download and play.

Be sure to come back next week- we will be airing a video on making pendants using rubber stamps. Thanks for joining us!

In case you haven’t heard the National Polymer Clay Guild will be having a conference in Maryland in Feb. They just released their catalog of events and I thought I would post them for you all to see. Make sure to listen to Polymer Clay Podcast this Friday to hear more about what the NPCG has planned for the event. I am really looking forward to getting to meet everyone in person. I have never been to a polymer clay retreat or event so it will be great to attend this one. I encourage you to consider going to this event especially if you want to take your polymer clay art or business to a new level. There are some amazingly talented artists attending and giving seminars that you won’t want to miss. Here is some of the things they have planned.

Sessions

The NPCG 2008 conference is a new kind of conference for the polymer clay, metal clay, mixed media, and sculpting communities. Rather than hands-on classes aimed at teaching specific creative techniques, this conference is full of 90 minute seminars, lectures and panel discussions aimed at promoting sharing and communication between presenters and attendees alike.

In addition, Synergy will give you the opportunity to speak with teachers and bring back their proposals to your local organizations, purchase supplies, tools, and finished work, network with other artists, and attend the American Craft Council show (separate fee).

Registration includes six 90 minute seminars, all presentations and panel discussions, admittance to the Synergy Gallery, Teacher Fair, and Vendor Fair. Additional seminars can be purchased for $30 each. Tickets for the Closing Banquet and Auction are $35 each.

Registration will open on October 1.

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To view detailed descriptions of each seminar or the biography of the presenter, click the title. For an overview of each day’s event, select the desired day in the menu or click the date title, below.

Thursday, February 21: Craftsmanship

8:30 am - 10:00 am
	T410	Creating Custom Colors and Stencils	Greynolds

Friday, February 22: Business

8:30 am - 10:00 am
10:30 am - 1:30 pm
	Gallery Open
5:00 - 7:30 pm
	Gallery Open
	B410	Finding your Niche in Beads	KLEW

Saturday, February 23: Design

8:30 am - 10:00 am
11:30 am - 1:30 am
	Gallery open for pickup only
11:45 am - 1:15 pm
	Lunchtime Seminars
	D200	Personal Icons	Preston
	D210	Sculpture on the wall, Painting on the sculpture	Gozonar
	D220	Art Jewelry Designing	Friesen
	D230	Creative Sparks	Doroshow
	D240	Unconventional Polymer	Woods
	D250	A Whole New Dimension	Benzon
		Banquet Keynote: Cynthia Tinapple
		Honoring NPCG Founders
		Live Auction
		Closing Ceremony

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This Friday on Polymer Clay Podcast we will be releasing the four interviews we did with Sarah Shriver, Seth Lee Savarick, Maureen Carlson & Maggie Maggio. They shared a little about themselves and about the part they will be playing in the National Polymer Clay Guilds Synergy Conference next February. Check out the NPCG website for all the details. The conference will be three days long, with lots of well known polymer clay artists giving seminars and sitting on panel discussions. If you have ever wanted to  meet some of the polymer clay artists you see in magazines and books and hear their prospective on things, this will be a great opportunity to do so. There will be discussion panels, keynote speakers and lots of seminars.  Make sure to listen to Polymer Clay Podcast this Friday to hear some of the fun things that are planned for the conference. It is sure to be a good time and we plan on attending and getting lots of footage to share with our listeners and viewers.

Kalmbach Publishing is coming out with a new magazine called Make It Mine and it sounds like it is right up my alley. I always loved to add my special touch to my clothes and spruce up my home and this magazine will give lots of easy ideas. I am really looking forward to the first issue. Kalmbach Publishing also publishes some other great magazines like Bead & Button & Bead Style so this magazine should be another great addition. The great news is that Kalmbach Publishing is giving a copy of the first two issues to one of our lucky listeners or viewers. All you have to do to be entered is to follow the link to the new magazine, Make It Mine and let us know what you would like to see in the magazine by leaving a comment at our website and you will automatically entered to win a copy of the first two issues. The first issue is due out November 13th and I can’t wait to see it.
Make sure to sign up for our newsletter so you will automatically be entered in our monthly giveaways we have lots of great prizes to give away!

We are getting ready to film soon and have lots of great projects planned for upcoming episodes so stay tuned. Hope you have a creative week!

Watch right here, or get your videocast from a feedcatcher by clicking on the sidebar link that says “Get podcast and videocast here.”

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Dye inks are fun to use- they bleed into the clay and change the color, they can be mixed into new colors, and they are translucent which makes them really fun to use with translucent clay. Enjoy the video, and be sure to listen to last week’s podcast for more information.

Thanks for listening! We have put together a great full length tutorial video on using dye inks. Here is a link to purchase our full length project tutorial video showing how to use dye inks and translucent clay to make two votive candle holders- two whole projects in one full length video, and lessons on simple caning too! A great value!

Full project available at www.polymerclayclassroom.com

This Friday we have a new episode of Polymer Clay TV where we demonstrate how to work with dye ink. It is hard to believe there is only one more episode before we start filming again. We usually film 6 episodes of Polymer Clay TV at a time and 6 episodes of Polymer Clay Classroom which is our complete project downloads that can be found in our shop. We have all kinds of projects planned so we hope you stay tuned. If you have any suggestions feel free to post a comment, send an e-mail or give us a call. We are always open to suggestions and submissions. This months newsletter went out with a coupon so if you are on the mailing list check your inbox for that, if you haven’t subscribed to the newsletter make sure to sign up so you don’t miss anything or any of our special offers or coupons. Every month we will be giving away prizes to some of our lucky newsletter subscribers so make sure to sign up to automatically be entered to win. We have been in contact with publishers and product manufacturers who are sending us goodies to give away. If you haven’t checked out the videos by Page Sage you are in for a big treat. The nice people from Page Sage have sent us an extra copy of Lisa Pavelkas DVD to give away to our listeners and viewers, so make sure to stay tuned to find out how you can win a copy for your very own. We will be doing a review of Lisa’s instructional DVD in an upcoming podcast that you won’t want to miss. I will give you a hint, Lisa’s DVD is so packed with goodies that it is over 2 hours long. We also found out that Page Sage will be releasing another polymer clay DVD by Judy Belcher and it is on learning the millefiore technique. We will have more on that as soon as it is released. I think that learning from video’s and DVD’s are a fun way to learn when you don’t have the opportunity to take a class. They also allow you to sit at home and watch them as many times as you need until you can create your own masterpieces. Polymer clay is so versatile that in 18 years I can honestly say I have never been bored with it. I encourage you to seek out guilds, groups, classes, video’s and DVD’s to help you learn different techniques and projects and I promise you, you won’t ever get bored either. Happy claying!