The meeting began at 12:06 p.m. Present were: Bob Wiley – President, Betsy Fraser – Vice-President , Paula Kennedy – Secretary, Patricia Daugherty -- Education Coordinator, Milli Jewell – Publicity Coordinator, and Tabiatha McKeever – Member-at-Large. Absent was Ronalyn Hurley – Treasurer and Membership Coordinator.

Treasurer’s and Membership reports: Ronalyn had emailed her report – the guild has $6700.62 in our bank account and we have 53 paid members.

Future meetings: November: Betsy will help us make holiday ornaments using white or pearl clay, TLS and Pearl Ex powders.
December: Holiday Party
January: Paula will do a demo on finalizing your raw clay pieces before baking.
February: Patricia will demo Skinner blend variations. The board is trying to emphasize Skinner blends in preparation for Sandra McCaw’s class in April.

Classes for 2010: Beginners’ Classes – Milli has volunteered to teach a basic beginners class or classes at Read It Again and Again in late January. It is intended for those who are not at all familiar with clay. She will cover very basic concepts such as conditioning, color mixing, baking, etc. The guild will provide utensils including pasta machines. Students will only need to bring clay. Milli will get information to Bob for the website within a few weeks after discussing the room rental with Gracie.

Patricia has asked Betsy to teach a beginning caning class.

Sandra McCaw has confirmed that she will teach a weekend workshop April 10-11, 2010. The class will require several hours of pre-class clay work creating Skinner blends. We need to ask Jill if she is available to host Sandra.

Judy Belcher will teach a one day class (possibly Friday evening and Saturday all day) in September. She will already be in town to visit relatives.

Laurie Mika will not be available to teach in Houston until 2011.

There had been some past discussions with the staff of Bayou Manor about holding a class for residents of the facility. Bob will pursue the matter.

Adorn Me! is coming in March. There are several polymer clay classes included in the schedule. The organizers are paying us $40/month to have advertisement for it on our website. Bob will write up the policies and procedures for web advertising and distribute it to the board members.

Spring Sale: The board is considering holding a spring sale at Read It Again and Again. Milli will check with Gracie. Paula approached the owner of Bead Boutique on Bay Area Boulevard in Clear Lake about the possibility of a trunk sale at the store. The owner was interested. Paula will discuss it further with her.

Challenge: The challenge for the April meeting will be “Skinner blends.”

Publicity/Marketing: Milli has contacted Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) about the guild displaying in the Artists’ Hallway. She was told that there are no openings until 2011; we will proceed with submitting a proposal for an exhibit. The Fiber Artists currently have a display there. Milli will contact them to get a copy of their proposal for the exhibit as an example of what to submit to HCCC. Milli will contact Jason at HCCC about holding another Hands-On-Houston at HCCC.

The meeting adjourned at 12:52 p.m.

Respectfully submitted, Paula Kennedy, secretary