Gift Certificate Drawing Winner...

Thank you everyone that purchased items from my Etsy shop during my spur of the moment:

"I've got to get my jewelry making area cleaned up and in order" clay sale over the weekend!

I had my hands full this weekend with Chloe having a stomach bug, Dave being overwhelmed with work stuff, and Riley - well - just being a funny & crazy 18 month old toddler:

…that grape was a little cold or tart!

And because I'm a spur of the moment & like to give stuff away kind of gal…

And I really appreciate all that my customers do for me by buying my beads…

I'm going to do two drawings, not just one!

Winner #1 ($50 Marsha Neal Studio Gift Certificate):

The 18th item purchased in my sale was this set of shards in my FERN glaze:

Winner #2 ($50 Marsha Neal Studio Gift Certificate):

The 9th item purchased during the sale was this crusty porcelain flower shaped pendant:

Congratulations!!!

You two lucky winners will be receiving an email from me so you can go ahead and add $50 more worth of stuff from my shop!

***Is is me or did anyone else see some weird things going on with numbers in this post? 

Riley is 18 months old (tomorrow)...

2 winners - happen to be randomly picked as 18 and 9…

2x9=18…

Not to mention that my birthday is on the 18th...

Thank You Everyone!!!

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Final Day of Sale And Giveaway

Just a reminder that all of the Clay items in my Etsy shop are marked down 20% off for the rest of today.

And for every item you purchase, you get a chance at winning a $50 Marsha Neal Studio Etsy shop gift certificate.

Check out some of the items recently listed in my shop:

Good luck with the gift certificate drawing!!!

Thanks for your continued support...

Saturday Night Special On Etsy

I've just heard about this Etsy Team: 

The Original Saturday Night Specials Team.

It is such a cool concept - join the team and run a special sale from 5pm EST on Saturday through 6am EST on Sunday. 

You list your shop on the discussion board with your shop, a brief description, your special, and list an item.

So hurry up!

You've got just under 7 hours from the time of this post to go check out all the shops running specials.

I will do what I can to have some kind of special running every Saturday!

Ok - going over to shop stuff myself now!

Have fun!!!

Giveaway and Studio Motivation

Do you want a chance at winning a $30 $50 Gift Certificate to my Etsy shop or Website?

With the added bonus: Coupon Code: FreeShip and I'll make sure your order ships for free.

For each item you purchase today June 23 through Sunday, June 26, 2011 through:

Marsha Neal Studio Etsy shop

or

Marsha Neal Studio Website

You will automatically be entered to win a $50 Gift Certificate to either of my shops.

The more items you buy, the better your chances at winning are.

I'll contact the winner on Monday via email.

Why the sudden sale you might be asking?

Well - there are a number of reasons for this motivation...

Health: Need to get that elliptical unburied for Dave and myself. 

Done! Yay!

Olfactory Health: I can only take working by litter boxes for so long. 

Almost Done...

Creative Flow: no organization means frustration means no flow. 

Not Done...

Safety: I have two little ones running around the main part of the house & this stuff - even though it is in the basement, needs to be in a lockable studio area down there - out of their reach.
Accidents do happen. 

Almost Done...

Socialization: I want my friends to come over and have a place to hang out & work with me. 

Almost Done…

The above picture is what I have to look forward to going to to work in (not very inspirational).

So this sale will hopefully bring in some monies so I can go out and get new chair and something to use to cover up that horrible hole in the wall (the crawlspace).

It is the back room-studio area where I have all kinds of shelves with boxes and storage for my jewelry making supplies (and all kinds of other craft supplies).

But it is all "stored". 

That's just not going to do anymore.

So I've kept some words from my friend Jenny Davies-Reazor in my head this afternoon:

"Work with What you Have…"

I have stopped my head from thinking about moving this and that, and sorting this first, then making a plan. 

Forget it - that is just a level of procrastination for me.

Jump both feet in and bring the iPhone just incase one gets stuck, needs music, or wants to take photos of progressions being made for ones blog - that has been neglected for a while...

Oh man - this looks like crap!

I need a good dose of pretty down there…

Please help me out! 

Yes - that was an extremely tired, frustrated, yet could be potentially turned around to giddy excitement way of asking for help. 

I think I'll be adding an extra surprise in each shipment too for this special clean-up and re-organizational event…

Many beautiful things will be coming out of this space…

I can feel it!

Models, Photography, and Etsy Enhancements...

I've always wanted to convey a bit more scale of my pieces that are in my Etsy shop to people that have not seen them in person. And what better way to do that then with an actual person…

Photo By Katy Timney

This is Claudia Twardus. 

She is not just a fantastic model, she is the jewelry designer & artist of Antica Treasures with an eclectic outlook on life (it shows through her art and being) and she is a fellow Delaware Etsy Street Team member. She has a blog too.

Photo By Katy Timney

This is Becky Kolpak.

She is also a local Delaware area model & artist that has studied photography, so she is a natural when getting in front of the camera because she understands what the photographer is looking for.

We all met here, on an early June day, just a couple of weekends ago.

The photo shoot was arranged by Katy Timney of Katy Rose Photography.

Claudia and I brought the jewelry, Becky & Claudia brought various outfits and small props, and Katy brought her camera, expert eye, and artistic vision.

Becky, Katy and Claudia know exactly what to do.

I just stood back and watched the three of them move together in this kind of dance.

It was amazing…

Photo By Katy Timney

You can just see how much fun everyone was having…

Photo By Katy Timney

And amazingly natural (I would be so awkward)
Both Becky and Claudia were able to change expressions…

Photo By Katy Timney

I really like this shot that Katy took of Becky sitting atop the stone wall, looking down over the water cascading out of it onto the creek below…

Photo By Katy Timney

And Claudia is just so charming…

Photo By Katy Timney

She had us cracking up the entire time with her comments about her poses and things she was thinking as she noticed little nooks and crannies where faeries might be found in this eclectic park.

Photo By Katy Timney

Remarkable…

Thank you Katy.

Thank you Becky.

Thank you Claudia.

I can't wait to work with you all again on another photo shoot!

And here are a couple of screen shots of my Etsy shop:

My normal shop view - without models.

My updated shop view with models.

All still needing a bit more tweaking, but it's well on it's way to becoming more of a shop that I want it to be…

What do you think?

Have I reached my one goal to show scale?

How about the unmentioned goal of wanting to have these photos used in more treasuries?

I really think there is a balance to obtain for a happy Etsy shop.

Not just a successful one full of sales, but of something that helps to inspire you.

Oh - that gives me an idea for a giveaway…

Create a treasury and include one of my new shop photos featuring one of the models - which there will be a few more added as I get the time in the next couple of days, then link that treasury up below by July 10, 2011 and I'll pull a random winner for a $25 gift certificate to my Marsha Neal Studio Etsy shop.

A Treasury Inspired By My Daydreams...

Do you dream in color? I know that I must because I often remember vivid colors when I wake up…

I am also a very emotional dreamer, talking in my sleep a lot and having a hard time leaving dream emotions behind. There are times I can't shake the emotions (Dave can tell you some pretty funny stories - we just laugh them off together once we figure out what is going on emotionally).

These colors I am drawn to in life, and one of the things I love about being part of the Etsy community is the opportunity to create collections of some items that could have come from some of my dreams (either sleeping dreams or daydreams).

There is something about being a part of a group of creative people that enjoy life through food, gardening, beading, art, clay, photography, friends & family (did I forget anyone - oh, chocolate and coffee lovers) that we have bonded through meeting in person and here online and have touched each others lives in so many ways…

Well, if you would like, you can click on over to the "Dreaming of Enchanted Woods" treasury on Etsy and leave a comment (I really enjoy reading comments - to see how the overall color and items makes you feel). And you never know - one of these items might end up talking to you and inspire your day (or maybe you'll end up even owning one of them!)

Have a wonderful day!

Reviewing Through Photos

I love having a good phone camera. It allows me to be a complete slacker here on this blog or journaling, record keeping, whatever in that category - because I have a visual timeline. Yes I need more memory to keep these, but I'm ok with that.

So here is where I've been in the last month (and a bit beyond that):

Finished my 12 week training completed my required hours (although I am by no means close to being done with volunteer hours & advanced training for this year) and I am now a New Castle County, DE Master Gardener. Pretty good feeling...

Aphid Mummies: Makes me think about something Indiana Jones related...

Saw some interesting things through MG Training Classes.

Got to have fun with my new Hipstamatic film & lens (Salvador 84 & Dream Canvas) at the UD Botanical Gardens.

Spending time here in the Native Plants Teaching Garden.

A weekend at the Beach, early morning stroller walk with Riley and my other new Hipstamatic Lens & Film (Buckhorst H1 and Cano Cafenol).

Thought this was a great image for the "rapture day"…

Like the earth was shaking or something.

Hipstamatic again (Salvador 84 & DreamCanvas).

And Loving Riley's hair - it's so wire-y and straight - the styles are hysterical sometimes.

Taking time to show my little ones how to treat nature with respect (even this tent caterpillar gets some love from Chloe and me).

And having fun with my new birthday present. Yes - I did in fact really want a wheel barrow…

One day she'll be big enough to push me around in it.

Had a few realizations about life and where some of my off the cuff frustration comes from:

1. Coffee filters are played with by Riley.

2. Wrinkled coffee filters = coffee grinds in pot.

3. Sipping in coffee grinds can ruin a good cup of coffee & throw off my creative mood.

So - keep wrinkled ones on top of good ones so Riley just can keep wrinkling that wrinkled one.

Also realized that if you go through your wallet and remove a bunch of those frequent buyers cards and any other odd cards & crap that accumulates - you can actually snap it closed and fit in into your bag a lot easier without it feeling like a pair of jeans that are too tight.

These are just a few of my recent head smacking - duh - moments.

But when things are overwhelming, fixing just a couple of these little annoyances makes a huge difference with daily moods. 

It's like dropping 10 pounds of emotional baggage in just a few adjustments.

And I spent some time with members of my dad's side of the family - it's been YEARS since we've all gotten together. Way too long! I love this picture of Dave and Riley with everyone in the background…

And words cannot describe how awesome it felt to meet a few fellow Delaware Etsians for a photo shoot opportunity. I'll be posting about that whole event very soon - this one photo is just a sneak peek into the shoot. I think having professional photos with models will help with the look and feel of my Marsha Neal Studio Etsy shop & the My Mom Pattie Etsy shop. 

Efforts over time will tell...