Update on What’s Happening With Polymer Clay in the UK and Europe

Executives of the British PC Guild Resign En Mass To Open Door for Positive Change:

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A few weeks ago, I received an email from Penny Vingoe. She is planning to start up a polymer clay supply company in Britain. The name will be Clayaround… A jolly good play on words, as the Brits would say.

It was great to hear about Penny’s business plans because there seems to be a real lack of support for polymer clay artists outside of North America. I wrote about this several months ago in a review of the British-based, Beads and Beyond Magazine.

Although I thought the magazine was wonderful, I was also somewhat “…disappointed to see an obvious lack of focus on polymer clay beads. This was surprising since I know there is a very talented group of polymer clay artists in the UK.”

Below, Penny provides an insightful update on where things are at with polymer clay in England. And at the end of the report, she presents some general questions for all of the European based readers here at the blog. It would be wonderful if you could provide her with some feedback.

Here’s What Penny Had to Say…

I have just come back from the Annual General Meeting of the British Polymer Clay Guild. It wasn’t a very big meeting but those there were very enthusiastic about the Guild. The existing committee have been running the Guild for a very long time and they expressed the desire for ‘new blood’ – they even resigned en mass to precipitate new nominations. In the event many people offered to work on the committee (I landed myself with the job of webmaster and designer!). Two of the previous committee did remain. Alison Gallant remained as Treasurer (she is a jewellery maker and demonstrator and was one of the originators of the Guild along with Sue Heaser – well known clayer and author) and Philippa Todd, previously Secretary, agreed to become Chair (she is a miniaturist and demonstrator).

I question constantly why Polymer Clay hasn’t taken off in the UK. There are barely 200 members on the books of the Polymer Clay Guild Whenever I talk about Polymer Clay with people who are keen crafters, the invariable response is “Polymer Clay, what is that?” Philippa summed it up very succinctly: “In America working with Polymer Clay is an Art, in Europe it is a craft, and in the UK it is fun for kiddies.” This latter is because the clay distributor with the monopoly in Britain, Staedtler (the distributor of Fimo), have marketed this clay for decades here as children’s play clay. Other clays, particularly polyform products, have limited exposure and even more limited distribution. Kato is almost non existent here – and in Europe.

Less than two months ago in Nottingham, I attended some very successful ‘playdays‘ run by Helen Cox. There were almost 60 people there of which only one third were from the UK – the rest from most of the European countries. Donna Kato (who was one of the tutors) kindly donated Kato clay for us all to use on our projects over the three days, and as a result, predictably, most of us were converted to her clay. There are so few outlets for her clay in Britain that my idea was formed. I will import Kato and supply it.

To that end I have been researching the market and developing a business plan. My research of suppliers has shown some of the main British craft suppliers are actually running down their already limited stocks of clay – suggesting there is very little demand. However I know there are clayers out there – but where are they? Who are they (are they hobbyists or professional sellers) and where do they buy their clay?

This is where you might be able to help Cindy, because you have such enthusiastic and loyal followers. Do your UK and European followers think that people would buy Kato clay were it more readily available in the UK? And were I to supply it, what is important to them: is it customer service, is it access to other consumables and tools associated with the craft? Or is price the criteria? What else is important? Any thoughts and comments would be so welcome.

~Penny Vingoe

Thanks, Penny, for your insights. It’s great to hear what you have to say from across the pond.

Now… for all of the European based readers and members here at the blog, it would be wonderful if you could provide Penny with some feedback to her general research questions. Please use the comments section below to share your thoughts.

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I am desperate to find a spray varnish for polymer clay, I have seen the PYM II but I cannot find the equivalent or the very product here in the UK, is there any way you can recommend a, non sticky product after a few months, product that I can purchase here please.

Jocelyn C says:

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Hi Tracey!

Never have used spray varnishes. But I did use google search for the UK, and there are a couple of links that recommend certain sprays as compatible with polymer clay. Up to you, but I would certainly pre-test them for a period of time before selling the product. Good luck!

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There are bi monthly meetings for claying enthusiasts at Lichfield near Birmingham, the next one almost certainly being on 23rd January. Details are on the British Polymer Clay Guild website (which I built!) – bpcg.org.uk. Visitors are welcome. People come from all over the country – from the south coast to North Yorkshire. On the BPCG website click on ‘midland region’ in the menu on the left hand side to see reports of previous meetings.
Also there is a more expensive option on 11th,12th and 13th March in Dorset – a ‘Polymer Pamper Weekend’ when Carol Blackburn and Christine Dumont (both respected clay teachers) will be offering workshops. More information is on this blog: polymerandmetalclayheaven.blogspot.com/2010/12/great-guest-teachers-for-our-polymer.html?spref=fb

I live in Grimsby, northeast lincolnshire! But wouldn’t mind traveling any where where are you ?

Phaedrakat says:

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@Anne o: Oh, sorry…I’m in the US! I wanted to reply to your comment so someone closer to you might notice your request. I wish you the best of luck in finding some “claymates”…

(I’m replying again to “bump” this up the recent comment list.) C’mon UK clayers…Anne wants to play~ :D

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Anyone know of any clay days!

Phaedrakat says:

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@Anne o: Oh, I wish there was something like that near me! BTW, Where are you looking to play, Anne? :)

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**FYI: A Spotlight article featuring Zuleykha McMillan has just been posted. She is a Russian polymer clay artist currently living in the UK. The link by my name will take you to the post.

Getting to be with Sue Heaser would be awesome! You gals are lucky to have had the opportunity.

@Caroline: Thanks for that link to the govt info about the all sorts. Arghhh… legislation :0

@Penny! Love to see what you think of the Studio by Sculpey Products.

I have her book on Faux stones – very good. My motivation for going on her class was more to see her at work, and as you say, to be with other people who are interested in this wonderful craft.
I am excited – I have my first clay now from America – so we are soon to be in business selling at ClayAround.com – but much more importantly they have sent me lots of sample goodies so I can play and ‘try them out’ – like Cindy I can form an opinion on all the new Studio products.

Penny – I went to her faux gemstone class. Although the techniques are already published in her books it was very useful to have her show us “live” :-) We made faux turquoise, jade (very successful), agate slices and a surface a bit like abalone.
Really it was just good to spend a day playing with other friendly people! The other three in the group were complete beginners – they had been at the previous day’s class as well.

Caroline – I really don’t want to know that you had a good day with Sue Heaser – I missed it so I am envious!! So tell us all about it – what specifically did you learn? ( The next jewelry class she is holding is on 10th January – with luck I will be able to make it then.)

@ Cindy. There’s been quite a lot of mostly exasperated discussion on UK beading message boards about this as you can imagine!
Some UK suppliers of Allsorts type beads have been told to stop selling them, probably after a complaint. The government legislation which was used can be found if you scroll down here:
opsi.gov.uk/si/si1989/Uksi_19891291_en_1.htm

When Trading Standards offices have been contacted it seems there hasn’t been a consistent reply – some saying it’s ok if they are threaded up, others saying they mustn’t be sold at all. It is absolutely ridiculous!

Small children can just as easily choke on a real sweet!

@Penny. I had a good day with Sue Heaser – only four of us on Sunday – a good small class! I think there had been five in Saturday’s class.

Have a fab meet-up, everybody :-)

Well well, it is a small world really. I remember fruit salads, a favourite of mine!

Yeah, home of Mr Bassett himself! There used to be a Trebor Basset factory in my home town near the train station, I used to catch the train in the morning accompanied by the smell of Blackjacks (chewy aniseed sweets) or Fruit Salads (similar but fruit flavoured) or buttermints. Made me hungry. Don’t think they made liquorice there though.

And some friends of mine from choir sang at Bertie’s recent wedding!

Heh! I must be showing my age! Cindy – I expect there are an awful lot of ‘allsorts’ beads in the uk – it is the home of Bertie Bassett am I right Silverleaf? Maybe I’ll restrict it to a couple of pairs of earrings then. Acutally it was my hubby who suggested it coming home with a ‘bag of’ one evening. LOL!

@Polyanya – It’s not that I’ve seen so many, but they’re really a novelty thing. And once I’d seen a couple of allsorts necklaces the novelty wore off!

It’s just me having a horror of jumping on the bandwagon with these kind of trendy, quirky “check out how retro I am!” kind of beads. Don’t let me put you off. ;)

@Caroline: I wouldn’t mind finding out where you heard about that ban as well. Would make a newsworthy post!

@Polyanya: The ‘allsorts’ beads are pretty popular in the UK. Much more so than in other places in the world. Silverleaf probably just saw too many of them where she is. :-)

Oh dear – and I was thinking of making a few ‘allsorts’ beads this winter, where have you seen so many that you’re fed up of them Silverleaf?

hi caroline where did you find that out??? thats crazy dont you think at least theres no calories in them lol??

Ange

Apparently the trading standards people have just put a stop to the sale of beads that look like candies and sweets…….health and safety gone mad.

Or even worse, liquorice allsorts! Getting really bored of seeing them now, lol.

A magazine, now that sounds fantastic! I’m with Caroline, we really need a magazine with a little bit more than simple bullseye cane slices on round beads.

Sorry to hear you missed out on the workshop that would have been great. I do on the other hand love the idea of a polymer clay based magazine as this can be aimed at both beginers while also for people that have used clay for some time. I see lots of ideas and possibilities as it still isnt widely know in the U.K.

Heres looking forward to Manchester though I cant wait!!

Caroline – I tried to book on Sue Heaser’s workshop but was too late – full up – much to my disgust! Let us know what you got up to. Maybe the next thing we have to do is produce a magazine!!!

Hi all!
I’m going to a Sue Heaser workshop on the 27th! It is quite close to me here on the beautiful Suffolk coast. I was also at Helen Cox’s Playdays both years – and will be going next year, with luck.

Won’t be able to go to Manchester to meet any of you but it’s a brilliant idea – one of the best things about the Playdays was being with other clay addicts!

I mostly buy my polyclay online, eg at the Craft Cellar (the cheaper price was a short-term offer and I wish I had bought more), and also in The Range, where it’s competitively priced. Otherwise, local shops are expensive.

A craft shop in Ipswich stocks Fimo, Pardo and Studio now, plus a range of Studio tools etc. Not cheap though!

I didn’t enjoy conditioning Kato clay at the Playdays so for that reason prefer Fimo Classic, or the soft if I don’t need a firm clay.

Price is obviously a major factor, especially when postage is factored in (thanks for the links to the suppliers, btw!)

I am really disappointed by the UK mags – the project in Beads and Beyond was very pretty but aimed at beginners. Jean Power who edits Bead magazine was at the Playdays (hope she doesn’t mind me saying this!) but even so the mag doesn’t feature polymer clay – the one occasion when it did it was a piece straight out of Carol Blackburn’s book – grrrr!! If only we had a mag more like Polymer Café over here….but that’s a magazine which always leaves me feeling slightly disappointed – I am not a fan of the whimsical stuff which features too often for me!

Have a great time in Manchester!!

FYI: The date for the Manchester Meet Up has been set for October 3, 2009. The link by my name above (“UK Polymer Clay”) will take you to the announcement post with details about the agenda. All aboard for Piccadilly Station…

NOTE ADDED OCT 8, 2009: Penny Vingoe wrote a wonderful update report of how the Oct 3 Manchester Meet Up Went. Here is the link: Polymer Clay In Britain

Cindy Lietz says:

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In regards to the Manchester Meet Up Event that took place on October 3, 2009, Penny Vingoe wrote a wonderful summary of the event, complete with a nice gallery of photos from both Penny and Silverleaf (Anna). The link by my name will take you to that post.

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I’m set for the 3rd then! I’m really excited about the chance to meet other clayers. Penny, I Hope you make Sue’s workshop..I would love to hear about it.

Victoria

So shall we make it 3rd October then ladies? (and if I make it to Sue’s workshop I can report and share!

I can’t do 10th October, but any other time’s fine.

October 3rd is good for me. I saw Sue’s workshop listed as well and would love to attend but it’s just not in my budget yet…lol. maybe I can catch one at a later date.

I’ll keep watching for updates on our meet up.

Victoria

Well – the meeting we are going to have. So far as I can see Josie can’t make it (sorry to hear your husband is ill) and nor can Polyana – its a long way from Shetland. Angela and Silverleaf and Victoria seem to be potentials. I have suggested 26th ~September. Guess What – Sue Heaser – one of the most prominent clayers in Britain – is doing a workshop on that day. I would quite like to go to that (she is the person who started the Polymer Clay Pit – and has recently sold it – and has written a lot of books on Polymer Clay). How about 3rd October guys? I am Addressing Silverleaf mainly because you said that October was OK for you Victoria dind’t you? and what about those other people from Britain we have heard from – Ritzs – are you interested (we could set up a Polymer clay group in Wales maybe!) and Sarah from Glasgow and Sally from London – are you interested? Once we set a date (see previous postings to find suggestions of what we will be doing) then Cindy has kindly said she will post on her main blog to see if anyone else might be interested. This does not rule out 26th September if its more convenient by the way….

Hi Penny would love to join you all but hubby is just getting over a stroke and I need to be at home with him. Will be keeping in touch to see how things progress.

Cheers
Josie.

Yeah, I can do the 26th I think. :)

Yep the 26th Sept is fine with me as well. The more the merrier lol. I just cant wait to meet you all this will be the first time Ive been able to chat polymer without people thinking I’m crackers lol.

Ange

I’ll await the final vote with fingers crossed..lol
xx
Victoria

No Victoria – it was an arbitrary date – 26th is fine if others can make it. Democracy rules!
Penny

So everyone – how about 26th instead of the 19th so Victoria can make it? Sliverleaf and Angela and Josie -and of course anyone else who can make it?

LOL..okay..just now read the rest of the posts..lol. So it’s set for the 19th…just my luck, but I’ll be thinking about you all while I’m laying on the beach (hopefully)..lol.

Cheers,
Victoria

Penny, I’d love to make this meet, but I’ll be in Cornwall from the 11th to the 21st…long awaited holiday…lol. The 26th would work for me though or any Saturday in October. I’d be arriving by train so I’d need directions from which ever train station is the nearest.

Cheers,
Victoria

Hi Josie – can you afford the time to come and meet us all in Manchester on 19th September? Meeting at the Tie Rack on Picadilly Station at 11am? At the moment we are going to find somewhere to sit and have a coffee and talk Polymer – and plan how we can persuade more people to be as addicted as we are! And maybe go to Fred Aldus craft store – and anything else anyone else suggests….

Well I’ve already checked out how much the train is going to cost me! Luckily it’s only an hour’s journey from my home town so it’s not too bad. (And weirdly the return ticket costs just 10p more than the single, what on earth’s the deal with that??)

I’m really really excited!!! I love meeting new people and it’s going to be so much fun. :)

Hi from NEWCASTLE in the North East. I’ve only been working with clay since July when I joined Cindy’s course. So far have only been able to buy Sculpey111 Or Fimo, have seen Pardo in the local craft shop but to expensive for a pensioner. So can’t wait to see what happens when Penny gets going. Will be watching this space.

Good luck with your get together.

Thank you Angela, I haven’t checked out Fred Aldous recently, but will do.
Good luck everyone meeting up, I’m sure you’ll have a great time.

Good idea Penny on using the Twitter tag. By the way, I edited the short url link so that it directs people to Angela’s 7:12 am comment (today Aug 21) about the “word is getting out” about this event. That way visitors don’t have to scroll through all of the other dialog in this thread unless they want to.

I sent out a tweet earlier today. My Twitter address is linked to my name above. FYI: Jenny Barnett Rohrs (CraftTestDummy) already RT’d it to her followers. Thanks Jenny… much appreciated.

Update on What’s Happening With Polymer Clay in the UK and Europe

Executives of the British PC Guild Resign En Mass To Open Door for Positive Change:

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