The weekend before last I had the immense pleasure of attending Klay Karma 2007, a polymer clay artist’s retreat sponsored and organized by the Massachusetts and New Hampshire polymer clay guilds. To say that these ladies came together and organized a fantastic event would be such an understatement. The retreat was held at Rivier College in Nashua, NH, about an hour drive from my home. I arrived in the early afternoon on Friday and went in to register and get set up. I was greeted by a bunch of welcoming faces ready to direct me to where the fun would begin. Here’s Amy and Bette, both committee members.

I received a key to my dorm room and an enormous bag filled with all sorts of art goodies. I then moved on into the workroom where I got set up and then had a lot of fun greeting old and new friends. All of our meals were in the cafeteria in the same building and the selection of food was mind boggling, especially the array of delectable desserts. I especially enjoyed the chocolate cake and strawberry shortcake. The weekend was filled with creating and sharing, laughing and hugging, demos and learning new techniques. What I especially loved doing was walking around periodically to see what everyone was working on. Some ladies brought beautiful jewelry to sell and it was an eye candy feast!

I attended Klay Karma 2005 a couple of years ago and it was my first ever artist’s retreat. At that time, I found it very challenging to stay focused and work on anything because there was so much to see and do. This time I had a better focus on creating and I think it was because of the wonderful idea of the 1 inch swap. Before the retreat, participants were asked to make two 1 inch squares to bring in. You could make the squares any way you’d like, with any technique you liked. The only criteria was that the squares be 1 inch and no more than 1/8 inch thick. We dropped our squares into a glass container when we arrived and I was very curious about what would be done with them. My curiosity was satisfied when I visited my friend Amy’s table on Saturday and saw the gorgeous mirror frame she was making with all of the donated squares. The frame was later raffled off and Diane from the Connecticut guild won it amongst a lot of excited cheers and oh-ing and ah-ing. You can see a picture of it here.

During the weekend, everyone was walking around exchanging squares. Here is my collection.

Another thing I really enjoyed about going to Klay Karma is that it gave me the opportunity to spend more time with fellow members of my Rhode Island guild, Rita (top left), Dora (top right), and Toine (bottom). We meet once a month and it always seems like the meeting time flies by. Thanks for a great time, ladies!

I look forward to Klay Karma 2009!