Dotty McMillan sez

Sandy Camp 2005: A great time was had by all! One of the best clay camps yet. The weather was glorious! I arrived on Thursday morning but those who came on Wednesday said it was a bit warm that day but the huge white tents where we worked had lots of vents where a nice soft breeze blew through and were helped by several large fans. Thursday the temperature was lower which made for perfect weather. By sundown it became very cool, and the night was actually quite cold. Many attendees spent the late night soaking in the hot sulphur spring pool.

It was wonderful to see so many old Clay friends! Such a joy to renew these friendships and to see all the wonderful work they were doing.

We were all blown away by the quality of the work offered in the Sandy Camp store. So many incredibly beautiful and creative items there it was almost impossible to choose things to purchase. We held a "Meet the Artists" night and many of the people vacationing at Warner Springs Rance came by to see
what we offered as well as to buy. A table overflowing with mouthwatering desserts helped entice people to visit us. Trina's delicious Berry Dessert scooped over Kathy's angel food cake and topped by whipped cream is just one example.

This year the food table in the work tent actually groaned from the weight of all the food people brought to share, so of course we munched continually. On Saturday night we were treated to a scrumptious meal of Italian food and an assortment of wines. On the other days, the large Ranch dining room also offered food for those who wanted a full meal instead of munches.

The demos by a variety of artists were wonderfully creative and enlightening. A wide variety of image transfer techniques, Inlay processes, faux dichroic and foil projects, the use of Photoshop for enhancing images, as well as an introduction to some new clay related products were among them. I'm too clay camp pooped at the moment to go into all of them, but I know some others will.

To end things up, a fantastic raffle was held to raise money for the San Diego Guild. A ton of wonderful donated items were given away to the excitement of many of the attendees.

An added note: I took two large plastic boxes filled with a lot of what I call my "junk" items, things I've done too many of, projects I'm not happy with, old odd beads, etc. and offered them for a donation of at least one quarter each, with the total received to be given to the Red Cross Disaster Fund. From these small items we raised $110!! So thank you to all who helped with this.

So now, another Sandy Camp has come and gone.

Did you know that toes have cleavage? Just ask Dawn Schiller.

I'll add more as my brain and body recover from 5 days of polymer clay fUnNiShNeSs.