Hand Painted Silk Color Update...

I have been trying to get to this project for months now, but things just seem to keep creeping in.

But I've chomped away at it little by little and have gotten to this point!

Updated Silky and Fairy Ribbons and 2mm Silk Ribbon Strands…

By Number (last time I did it by color palette).

2011 Marsha Neal Studio Silk Update Set 1

2011 Marsha Neal Studio Silk Update Set 2

2011 Marsha Neal Studio Silk Update Set 3

Some colors have been discontinued because they were custom mixes that ran out of stock, they were discontinued colors (by Ute) or because there was a new color that was pretty close to it and I picked the newer color (one must try to stick to some kind of budget right?).

Now to just get all of my Etsy listings updated…

I was also informed by Ute that a price increase would be coming down the line in early 2012.

Not sure if this will affect my retail pricing yet - not at the fewer quantities anyway.

Most likely you will see the price change at larger quantities & wholesale where there are deeper discounts.

Also, the Marsha Neal Studio Website is still being worked on in behind the scenes.

We're trying to find a cart (near impossible) that will take the discounts I offer with silks.

The way it is set up & has always been is that I will correct the pricing before your cc is charged.

With the cart update though, your cc gets charged automatically, then there are credits and all that mess to take care of.

We'll see how it all works out…

Oh, and now that I've gotten my silk colors update - I'm able to work on my new monthly color palette contest with the silks where you help me pick out palettes of 5 or 10 colors, then they get voted on and the ones that win get the chance to be named after the person that created the palette. 

And of course there will be silks to be had by the winners…

More to come!

What do you think about the colors being by number vs color palette?

If I was designing, I would probably prefer by palette.

Ordering is easier by number though… Hmmm - what to do?

Twelve Colors For My Clay Twirl Shards

All of the pieces are out of the kiln…

Marsha Neal Studio Porcelain Twirls In Twelve Colors

In all the right colors...

So now customers that are looking at this earring listing below can pick their own color right on the spot.

Porcelain Clay Twirl Earring with Sterling Silver

And I've also created a listing for anyone that wants to pick out just a pair of these twirls and make their own earrings (or whatever you can think up to use them with).

Through creating this custom listing it dawned on me that I really should have an Etsy "shop section" for all of the listings I've got for the silk and clay "you pick the color" listings.

So that is now done too…

Now if only the sun would peek out from behind the clouds so I can photograph the other two main porcelain clay shard textures I've got in these 12 colors too…

Including two NEW glaze colors:

NEW Glazes: Blood Red and Peacock

Blood Red Glaze on Chocolate Clay

Glacier Glaze on Chocolate Clay

I think there will be an Etsy shop update happening soon…

Make sure you are on my email mailing list to get the heads up on the update and any special coupon codes I may decide to run for my newsletter customers…

Don't forget, if you like to make treasuries, I'm running a "contest" for anyone using the jewelry listings with the new modeled pieces (on Claudia and Becky) that is running until July 11, 2011.

Winner gets a $25 MNS Etsy Shop gift certificate.

See the bottom of my previous post for details and to add your qualified treasury to the list.

Good Luck!!!

***After I looked over this post again when it was live, I really didn't like the way that first color choice photo looked in the center. But I did like that circle photo…
What do you think?
Is this better???

***Ok - here is the final photo update - I promise:
I just changed the positions of the labeled colored shards to match the inner photo.
I like things a bit tidy...

New Silk Photographs

Here it is! The complete color selection of silks I have for my Marsha Neal Studio website shopping cart. If you visit my website and don't see the new color swatches (they will be skinny still, but snippets of these) hit the refresh button on your browser address bar, and they should reload.

It has been a process pulling every color (75 currently) in each string type (3 kinds) and getting a photograph that is as close to the actual string color as possible (of course your monitor and printer will alter that too). 

Marsha Neal Studio's Hand Painted Silks (by SPIF)

Marsha Neal Studio's Hand Painted Silks (by SPIF)

Marsha Neal Studio's Hand Painted Silks (by SPIF)

I started selling these hand painted silks when I was selling my pendants through Bead Shows all across the country. When I first met Ute (Silk Painting Is Fun) she was wearing a many-strand silk necklace in Royal Blue (and totally can pull off those colors!) and commented how her silks would go great with my selection of Porcelain Pendants. She of course was right, and ever since I have been selling them through shows (which is now run through my friend Darlene of D7 Studio), my website and a selection of silk knot bundles in my Etsy shop.

Not all of the new colors are in my website shopping cart yet (we are working on the new site right now, although I think I may convince Dave he needs to show me how to add the codes - even without pics to the current site for ease of ordering… He does not like it when I get in there and fiddle with all the website stuff - it becomes super cluttered - much like my studio ;).

With the addition of new colors by Ute, some of the old ones have been discontinued. This is because they were too close to another color or some ingredient changed within her dye mixture and it can no longer be reproduced. I can totally relate because sometimes I get variations in my glazes because ingredients have change and colors need to be discontinued.

So refer to these pictures for the correct number and name to order the silks by until we update the website (by tonight? I sure hope so!) **The silks page of the website is updated!!!

Oh, and if you have a moment, let me know what you think of those three images. Are they useful, hard to read, etc… I appreciate the input since I have been working on the computer all day and my brain is now shutting down.

And one last thing. If you want to get hands on with these high quality, beautifully hand painted silk strands (and many more colors) shop with Darlene of D7 Studio in person. This weekend Jan 14-16 she is in Marlborough, MA at the Innovative Beads Expo show.