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Welcome to the Metal Clay Academy!
Greetings!
This is the first newsletter from the Metal Clay Academy so a very warm welcome!
Thankyou so much for signing up for our newsletter.
The Metal Clay Academy was launched on July 16th 2008 and from the beginning, feedback has been amazing.
The Academy website is growing fast and we now have around 150 pages of information for metal clay artists.
In this newsletter, you'll find a variety of information about the website so please read on.
And let us know what you'd like to see in future newsletters and on the website!
Best wishes,
Julia |
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| What's New...?
As the Metal Clay Academy website has grown, more and more information is added - usually on a daily basis. Feedback from regular users of the site led us to add a What's New page. This page shows the  things that have been added day by day for the past month.
We started this in October so currently you can see all the things we've added during that month. We intend to archive the monthly updates so people can always look back and see what they've missed.
We're very keen to hear your feedback on using the Academy website so please contact us to let us know your thoughts. |
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Newsletters and Blogs
Do you know a great newsletter or blog featuring metal clay? If so, we'd like to hear from you. We've got some great ones on the website already but we're always on the lookout for new stuff to add. If you've found a great source of information or inspiration, contact us with your findings. Let us know what's great about it and you may find yourself in print! |
| Calling all Local Groups!
If you meet on a regular basis with like-minded metal clay people, we'd like to hear from you. Our Local  Groups page lists groups - both formal Guild Chapters and informal show and tell groups - so people in your area can come along and join in the fun.
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| Support the Metal Clay Academy
The Metal Clay Academy is a not for profit resource and relies on sponsorship and advertising to deliver its mission. The website traffic is growing daily and we are also investing in advertising the site through Google adwords and other methods.
You can support the Academy in a number of ways. Simply by putting a link to our site on your website, blog, Facebook or My Space site etc helps to drive traffic to us and increase our exposure. You can also send us a one-off donation using Paypal - there's a link for donations at the bottom of every page of the website.
Sponsorship of the site is available and provides stable exposure to the MCA target audience - people interested in metal clay and jewellery making. Your sponsor ad appears on every page of the website in the left hand column. Sign up is quick and easy through Paypal. To find out more about becoming a sponsor, click here.
Advertising on the site is organised through Project Wonderful. These ads appear on the right hand side of every page on the website.
Ads are sold through Project Wonderful's innovative Infinite Auction model: you bid on an advertising slot, and for as long as you are the high bidder, your ad is displayed. You can bid whatever price you'd  like for as long as you'd like: two days, a week, a year - it's your choice.
All bids are in "cost per day" - you simply tell Project Wonderful how much you're willing to pay for a day's worth of advertising, and whenever you are the high bidder, your ad will be displayed! You're only charged for the time periods when your ad is shown. You can also set hard expense limits on your bids, so you'll never get charged more than you expect. |
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Our Shops!
We now have two shops selling metal clay themed merchandise. One is based in the US, the other in the UK. Visit our shops page to access both of these stores. Stuffed with t-shirts and sweatshirts with fun metal clay slogans, this is the place to find a great gift for the metal clay maniac in your life!
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Metal Clay on a Shoestring - or how to work with metal clay and not bust the bank account!
The purpose of this article is to show you that it is not necessary to buy lots of expensive tools and equipment to work with metal clay. The clay itself is expensive enough, and when you're just starting out, how do you know you'll like it? (We're pretty sure you will but... :-)
There are plenty of sources for tools and equipment and if you decide to do lots more work with metal clay you may want to buy some of them. When you're finding out about metal clay, you can normally find enough items around your home to make some great things without the expense. Read the whole article... |
Need some Inspiration?
We all need to recharge our creative batteries from time to time so at the Metal Clay Academy, we've created several ways to do this.
First, you could visit the Inspiration Page. Strange, you might think, to have a page about artistic inspiration with no pictures! That was deliberate. We've got loads of pictures elsewhere on the site but this page has links to some of the most inspirational websites we've found.
Want to explore the art of ancient civilisations for a minute? Go to the Cairo Museum or the Museum of Ancient Inventions. Need design inspiration? What about the Design Museum in London or the Smithsonian Craft Show. This page has links to many different sites, all of which give unique and varied food for thought. Give it a try!
Or just want some eye candy? The Gallery section has lots of images to give you ideas. There are two Artists Pages, both with a wide variety of different styles from the best metal clay artists around. Or have a look at the Inspirational Pictures page. This page allows artists to tell you a bit about their work. It's great to get an idea about how they designed their piece or why they did something a certain way.
All over the website you'll find great work by leading metal clay artists. The images in the left hand column of every page are 'clickable' - so you can see a bigger picture and really appreciate the artistry.
Enjoy! | |
