First Friday And Where I'm At

In January 2013, I picked up being Captain of the Art Walk Etsy Team.

Our team, the AWETeam hosts First Friday Art Walk over the First Friday of the month.

It's a virtual blog hop of artwork for sale on Etsy.com

Click HERE to check out the March Blog hop.

Like many teams (in my experience) things seem to have died off quite a bit in the last couple of years.

Life happens, people change direction, changes take place that people are not thrilled about, and they move on...

And right now I'm standing here, getting ready for the March First Friday Art Walk, and I'm a bit wondering how it is I got HERE...

As 2012 was ending, I was really looking at where my work, my life, my time spent on 4 heavy volunteer group commitments were all going.

I was looking forward to some changes in direction, and moving on with my focus to make new work, and really get my website, Etsy shop and blog all put together.

New work is really starting to trickle out of my studio (now just to get it listed for sale!)

In the fall of 2012, I was asked to join as a blog contributor to Love My Art Jewelry Blog (to which I said, I'm a bit full at the moment, would 1 post a month be ok? Yes, it is).

I was asked to move into Captain of the Art Walk Etsy Team (my brain said No, gut said "YES")

I moved into a Chair position for the NCCMG's for the Programs Committee for this year to help better organize things for arranging trips and speakers for our group - along with the help of all my MG friends (I love my garden friends!)

We have some ambitious new members on the DE Team, and with my level quickly approaching burn out, I happily stepped down as Captain of the Delaware Etsy Team into a supporting Leader position.

And my commitments with the ceramic bead makers group was suddenly gone. Totally unexpected and unplanned. Woke up to an email and blocked out of everything. At first I was confused, but after a couple of days it became not a huge deal since I am still doing what I have always done, but now, there is more time for me. It was time for a change for me within that group, and I guess that decision was put right there for me, seemingly made for me, and I just walked on.

I knew my 2013 was going to be a busy one.

And I hope that with all of this reorganization of all of these volunteer commitments, that by mid-March, my time will once again become mine. 

And I can get back on track for the goals I had for my business.

PS - All of these brand new headpins are making their way to Darlene of D7Studio this weekend at the Berks Bead Bazaar. She is still traveling around to sell my work, other artist work, and jewelry making supplies here in the Northeast US.

I had SO much fun making them, and will be making more ASAP to list for sale in my Etsy shop.

Finding Clarity Through Cleaning and Writing

Why is it that our "Christmas Cactus" blooms in full for every Thanksgiving (and Easter?).

Surely has something to do with the amount of daylight and it's physiological makeup.

Not that it matters much to me.
I just enjoy catching glimpses of it in bloom...

And that it reminds me of my mom (Dave got this for me and one for his mom and my mom at the same time years ago)...

And this weekend is hopefully going to be a "family chill out" weekend.

So far - slept in to 8:30am.
Which is pretty good seeing as how Riley, almost 3, is an early bird just like his mom.

I have swept up, vacuumed and wet Swiffered the hardwood floors and the Florida room floor.

The temperature is pretty chilly, and we close the FL room off for the winter - only to be opened when we have birthday and holiday celebrations (that would be 3-4 times in December).
So at least it is clean and we can just party decorate then.
That is a few things in one off my brain "to do" pressure list.

And seeing the kids dance and fool around on the kitchen floor last night made me itch and have to clean it this morning.
I don't care that in a day or two it will look the same. 

At least I know it was cleaned "recently"... 

And that alone allows me to now sit and relax and type up this blog post (Sweet!!!)

So one thing I know about myself: I have a hard time sitting still.

My house may have some clutter here and there, and things may be heavily in the "to do" piles at times,

But I can't relax and I can't get anything done until I clean up and clear my head.

So for me - cleaning and straightening is my bit of therapy.

It wipes away the guilt of having a job that allows me to be creative.

It makes my husband less stressed (his job that pays the bills stresses him enough already).

And I know my kids aren't going to be walking around covered in cat hair.

So on with the day of Family Chill Out!!!

(well - after I pull a few silk orders that need to ship out today)

And one more thing to share with you:

This arrived in my email today:

Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger.

I quite enjoy CopyBlogger.

Especially the blog.

Not that I use this blog to write much other than about my work and my business lately...

But that's ok.

It's my therapy and my place to market my work and the things in my life that affect my work.

There is a lot of stuff on the horizon for me as I start to find my clarity again.

And I hope you will come along for the journey by checking in here on my blog and keeping up with me through my Marsha Neal Studio FaceBook page (I love posting studio progress there - so easy for me to do from my phone in my studio when I am taking a quick break!)

I hope you are doing great and getting yourself centered this weekend...

Fun Times!

I am finally getting back to "normal" after being away and working like a bird (constantly)...


I often read comments in the blogging world that say something about the stuff in life that keeps you from blogging is often the interesting stuff that you should write about...


Well - with two young kids, and running a business my life is never boring...


Throw in travel, weddings, hurricanes, and Halloween on top of regular life - and that is a crazy storm of it's own!

















And those are since we have been back from this:


Driving through Virginia...





Arriving in Tennessee (Gatlinburg). That exhausted, but excited feeling about a week of vacation with family that we rarely see...


Seeing some local sights...


Being in the woods in a cabin on a steep slope with Bears (not so much fun being stuck on the steep driveway, in a car while you hope that bear that just passed didn't want to take a look in said car for dinner). Pretty foliage though and cool cabin with lots of room...


A day to spend time with family...


And fun times on "the fast cars" as Riley put it every time he fell asleep or woke up to remind us of how much he liked them...


Visiting Cade's Cove early one morning...








Amazing mountain views everywhere!


And time for putt putt golf and some additional rounds of go-cart racing (we had tickets to use up from the first visit).


We visited some shops downtown with Grandma Neal. Picked up some Moonshine gifts and Dave splurged on a huge lollipop for each of the kids (that is A Lot of sugar!!! Luckily they didn't come close to finishing them).


To end the week: the wedding...
Chloe was a flower girl and I was a bridesmaid.
It was great to be around so many people that we don't get to see a lot of.


And the final exit before packing and heading home to get back to Delaware before Hurricane Sandy...


I bet these men & women on these electrical crews have not had a break for a long while. We passed them on I-81 heading up to the North East US from Mississippi last Sunday. Very thankful to them for being there in preparation for helping people get power back after the storm...

My thoughts keep going out to those without power or with lost loved ones or homes from this storm. Hoping that they find comfort soon. I need to brush off this feeling of guilt for not even losing power during this storm (amazing considering all the trees & power lines around here) and get back into life here and now. Something not so easily done...

I hope you and yours are safe!
All the best to you all...
~Marsha

- Posted using BlogPress from my mobile device

Through The Eyes Of A Child (To Dream...)

Sometimes life keeps throwing you curve balls.

Our recent family curve since August of last year is 7 people have passed away.

A few more are dealing with life changing medical diagnosis (cancer, disease, and such).

It is getting a bit crazy.

But there is hope. There is love. There is laughter...

 And there is imagination...

The drawing above is from my daughter (4 years old).

It is a picture she drew of me. With colored spirals in my hair.

I adore her vision. Her imagination. Her view on life.

The other day my son (2 years old) stopped and laid down in the grass in our front yard,

While we were busy with fixing up some parts of the garden that needed tending.

Mind you, he is not quite graceful as he is only 2, and we at first were unsure at what he was doing.

Dave to Riley: "What's wrong buddy, are you ok?"

Riley to Dave: "Yook Daddy. Yook at the Clouds. Up Dere!"

Made me think more about stopping and looking around a bit more.

I've gotten out of that habit recently - and I'm not thrilled with it.

 My garden has been such a work in progress.

A propagation garden. Trying to grow as many plants as possible, see what makes it garden.

Mostly natives. Mostly with insects and birds in mind.

Also - enough hostsa and day lilies to keep the deer from dead heading all else (not working that well though - but not hurting either).

So I've now planted some cucumbers, sugar snap peas, and two blueberry bushes in hopes of having some fresh food again this year. The deer eat mostly everything - so until we have formal raised beds (next year perhaps?) I'm just throwing some seeds in and seeing what we get.

 And at the garden center, I couldn't pass up on some color and texture in the garden now that my cone flowers are out again for this year's growing season (although there are some growing. I will pull them soon).

These two photos are annual Osteospermum's (African Daisy).

Above is the Zion Copper Amethyst.

Below is the Serenity White Bliss.

And in the studio...

What few hours I've had to spend there recently...

I have been working on glazing bead pairs.

 All of these bead pairs will be photographed first for color and shape.

I've got plans on adding these to my Marsha Neal Studio website shopping cart where anyone can go in and order a specific set of beads.

 There will of course be parameters.

I have to set limits.

Not only for the sake of actually being able to follow through with something like this undertaking,

Because computer applications are based on set parameters.

And to be able to keep my sanity, I must limit what I offer...

 So there will be "general" parameters:

1. Bead size.

2. Bead shape.

3. Bead hole diameter.

4. Bead color.

I am not one for measuring out the size of clay by extruding a coil of clay, measuring lengths, cutting exactly, rolling a perfect shape, and making sure the hole is exactly perfectly round.

That is what machines are for. 

I am not a machine. 

I am a person.

I like going into the studio and rolling out clay, cutting out lengths, making beads in whatever texture and shape suits me at the moment...

Then when it comes to glazing - that is when I need direction limits.

Because without them, I would be lost for hours upon hours (days actually) just glazing away with any color I wanted in lots of quantities... 

Then would run out of beads and have to make more beads, to glaze in more colors...

Wait. That is what I have been doing.

Oh - and I have another glaze shipment arriving today with "more new colors".

Somebody stop me. I'm obsessed!!!

So for now I'm slowly working on beads.

And photographing beads.

And making and glazing more beads...

Then sorting beads into a website shopping cart...

All in amongst all the other things in life.

And hopefully catching a few days here and there to look at things around me and do some cloud watching with the little ones...

So that's what's going on with me.

I'm letting go of all the guilt of not being able to do everything.

Just trying to eek out things here and there.

Riding this wave of life into the shore (still can't quite see the coast line yet - but I know it is there...).

Thank you for continuing to support me and my work.

Don't forget to add your photos or listings by direct URL of the work you are making with any of my clay or silks I sell through my Etsy shop or Website to my "Creations" page of this blog!

I love to see what you are making and will hopefully help you sell some of it too...

Hope you are keeping your head up & looking at some clouds too!

Fiddling Around In The Social Media Realm...

Just fiddling around trying to figure stuff out.

Do you ever do that?

I'm cleaning up my Flickr account a bit reorganizing photo sets and wondering how I can use the images on there with my blog here...
Like the photo mosaic above (created through flickr, then big huge labs, then flickr again) - wondering since I added by html code, if you click on it will you go to my flickr page or just an enlarged version of the image?
(Answer: takes you to my flickr photo stream - good to know!)

And what is the best way to get things like this up on Pinterest...
Because right now I would have to "publish" this blog post to get the photo URL
(unless I can grab that from Flickr too nope didn't work...).
then get the image URL and go over to the Pinterest Goodies Page and add the Pin It button to my blog.
(Update: it is easiest to hit the Pin It that I have installed on my personal internet browser window and share it on the board, but self promotion is not looked upon with smiling eyes. Having that Pin It red & white button is the nice way for you to ask someone else to pin it for you...)
Just trying to figure out what the fastest way to do this is...

If I save the image direct from Big Huge Labs to my computer as a jpg file, I can then upload it here:

Marsha Neal Studio Recent Clay Works Mosaic

So then after saving this blog post, I can go over to Pinterest and add the URL, website, description and then copy and paste the html code to get this:
Pin It

And all of this is stemming from a few questions...
One being: How can I help out the jewelry designers that are using my pieces in their creations...

I want to have a place for you to link up your Etsy shop listings or website listings or blog posts here on my blog to help people see your beautiful work (and maybe even buy it...)

Maybe I need to create a dedicated page with an Inlinkz gadget.
Or a monthly post...

All this is going to take a bit of figuring out.
But I'm sure it will be well worth it showing off how "pulled together" it all seems...
Do you ever get like this - just fiddling around trying to figure it all out.
If you've got any ideas or links to helpful sites, I would love it if you could post it in the comments below.

New Work - In A Way...

These have been hanging out in the studio unglazed for almost 2 years.

I wanted something different than my normal glazes I use on my pendants.

This application of an oxide under the glaze allows for lots of variations from out of the bottle...

And this isn't the final way they are going to look.

What are they?

Ring Holders? Terrarium ornaments?

To me they are just experiments at this early stage - the beginning of a series of new work...

They have a few more stages to go through before they are how I really want them.

While I was fiddling around with these oxides & glazes for the little abstract organic pagoda tops,

I also decided to glaze up some of my porcelain pendants...

In the photo above, they are the same glaze, but the bottom piece underwent an additional step of etching.

This etching solution removes the glossy surface and leaves a matte, more rustic finish to the piece.

I'm hoping to make a few more decisions on these, then photograph them and put them into my Etsy shop later this week.

Here is a peek at the test tiles for these oxides & glazes.

Three tiles narrowed down from twelve - just for this round of testing.

Here you can see the test tile I decided to start with.

Crazy how pastel the glazes are before firing!

And in the studio itself, I'm starting to have a few more constant visitors down there with me.

Making messes & making art!

I finally have some big artwork with lots of color to go up on my white cinderblock walls.

It is currently just SO drab. Especially in the winter...

And look - Chloe is even helping me paint the exterior of my kiln room door.

Never moved past the manufacturer primer.

Can I tell you how delighted she and I are that she is helping me put color in the studio!?

And on Saturday it was 65 degrees here! 

Unbelievable for January...

On a whim, we jumped into the car and drove to the beach for a couple of hours.

Here are some of the treasures that Chloe and I collected.

Notice the crab claws?

This beach is Lewes Beach, DE. 

Estuary where the DE river empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

The place where I learned to swim (for my life - or rather - for my feet - all kinds of things in that water!)

We were barely on the beach when Chloe started finding shells and such & made herself a little pile.

Dad remembered the buckets, so we were able to gather a few more things to bring home.

And Riley was not into taking his shoes & socks off (too cold for his toes - he likes warm sand!)

But he did sit for a while just checking out all the stuff the beach had to offer.

Overall - a pretty good weekend.

I've got a lot on my mind & some pretty big decisions to make for myself & my business.

Dave and I were just talking last week about me looking for a job soon.

So I've got to get things lined up and figured out for how I need to be spending my time...

Wish me luck! I'm going to need it (my brain will - big time!)