Crescent Earrings

Sometimes as I work, I quick post photos up on my Marsha Neal Studio FaceBook page and then completely forget that I didn't actually blog about them.

Marsha Neal Studio Earrings ($38).

So is the case with this new for me shape: The Crescent.

Then I make, but put aside pieces that are finished.

I put them in piles to go to Darlene (D7 Studio) for her bead shows.

I put them in piles for me to make jewelry with (Bellefonte Arts in Wilmington, DE)

And then into trays of "to take photos of".

Somehow recently, my work is just not making into my Etsy shop or even to my website.

Marsha Neal Studio Medium Crescent Pendants

So today I worked on my biggest stumbling block:

Glaze Color Selection.

I have hundreds of glazes.

How does one narrow them down?

And what do you narrow them down to?

It was extremely difficult, but it had to be done.

So here they are. The 60 finalist glaze colors:

Marsha Neal Studio Glaze Color Selections

Marsha Neal Studio Glaze Color Selections

Now to work on the website and get these crescent pieces up there along with the pairs of beads:

Textured Discs, Spiral, Chevron Inspired, Round, etc.

I still need to work on my matte glaze color choices as well as the color palettes of the pieces with the oxides and colored celadons to see what kind of colors I can reliably get from those.

I just wanted these crescent pieces up NOW so I could start to offer them for people that want them to make earrings with or for people that keep mentioning that they want them made up as wearable earrings for themselves or for gifts...

Bead Kabobs Are Being Created Now!

I've been working on making (and making and making) then photographing my newest bead line. Individual colors are taken, now I'm working on palettes like these in 4 different bead styles that these will come in. There are 8 pairs in each set. The kabob bit is an inside joke from some of the gals on Face Book, Beads of Clay group...

I am super excited about this addition to my website overhaul!

Here is a peek:

New Beads and Glazes In The Works...

I have been a bit MIA due to all kinds of "life" things going on.

In between here and there I have been working a bit on some new glaze tests...

And I just wanted to quick share!

1. Marsha Neal Studio Handmade Beads, 2. Newly Tested Glaze Colors, 3. Marsha Neal Studio Bead Tray 1, 4. Marsha Neal Studio Bead Tray 2

After I test out these glazes a bit more on some pendants and beads (which I had to make, because I used all of my previous stash up on glazing the ones you see above).

My goal for making all of these is to be able to sit down on one day and photograph the crap out of them.

I promised Dave that I would make it a priority to get my website back up and running on the side of my pendants and beads.

Not that I will be getting rid of my Etsy shop by any means.

But why pay extra fees for listing a bunch of items in two places?

Etsy will once again become a place for new and OOAK things that I don't want to list on the website.

But things like this - things I can give you a shape and size that I make - and you pick the color...

Why not have it online?

I'm game...

Look for this all towards the end of June starting to show up on my website.

Pantone Summer 2012 Color Matching

Every month I write a post for the Beads of Clay Blog for Cone 6 Glazes.

I go into my studio and pull out my glaze notebook, grab some colors (sometimes planned, sometimes on a whim), and get to work...

Working in a home based studio, I don't have a lot of room for dry material storage (I would rather have a jewelry making area, and not have so much dust in my house from working with bulk dry materials) so I made the decision when setting up shop, that I would use commercial glazes.

Something that I find much pleasure in now that Commercial Cone 6 Glazes are so readily available and have many, many different colors and effects (and safety when properly fired).

The scientific side of my brain loves to try out various color combinations, layering and mixing different glazes to get different effects on various textured surfaces (my pieces).

And watching my little one with these Velvet underglazes - the experimentation of mixing colors is something that is a natural human instinct.

Being part of the bead and fashion industry, it is not only fun to take a look around and see what some of the "trends" are, but it is a little necessary to keep your line of work fresh. 

In this world of bead making - which relates to jewelry making - which relates to fashion...

There is the "Pantone Spring and Fall color palettes" that come out twice a year.

And for someone like me that tends to lean towards earthy tones - having a direction to work in that is outside of my "comfort zone" of colors that I would normally pick is a great way to create work in palettes that other people might be interested in. At the minimum, thinking about something like this is a stepping stone for a lot of potential creativity...

Here is a selection of glaze colors that I quick put into the kiln to see if I could get a decent match (not exact - because every kiln firing can have different results).

Marsha Neal Studio Glaze tests for Pantone Fashion Colors.

A lot of these glazes are glazes I have had for years.

And I have a lot of beads to be glazed in these colors (I keep making earthy, rustic, blue and patina ones because they are my favorite to wear) and will be updating my website with sets that customers can pick out and buy by whatever glaze colors I pick to offer.

So this month, for the Beads of Clay blog, I decided to show some of my glaze tests that work on my clay body that are close - or what I feel "work" for creating in a similar palette of the Spring season's trending color palette.

Hop on over and check it out!

And don't forget about my
TWO $37 GIFT CERTIFICATE DRAWINGS AND SALE
Celebrating my birthday (which happens to be today!)
Sale and giveaway end 5/20/12.

And sign up for my email newsletter if you want a heads up for my progress with these new beads in different colors. Also, my Marsha Neal Studio Face Book page, twitter, and Flickr also get photo insights on what is going on with Marsha Neal Studio usually daily.

In Progress

I've been super busy in the studio!

Beads being made, fired, glazed, fired...

Just wanted to share progress with you. I apologize if the photos are out of order (phone blogging has limits).

Etsy shop update next week sometime. Will keep you posted.

Crusty Porcelain Pieces...

The other day on my Marsha Neal Studio Facebook page I posted this picture of some pieces I came across that I had made back in October.

Then I said I would be adding them up into my Etsy shop…

These teeny tiny pieces were so close to staying with me…

And I did - that very same day. Not all of them, but a good bit of them.

I really liked the way the glaze was just thick enough around the edge with this piece…

Some I am going to make jewelry with - on Monday night (beading night with friends!)

Look at that brown rusty looking surface - Love it!!!

I also added a new section to my Etsy shop for them called Crusty Porcelain. I think I am going to be making a bunch of pieces in these glazes. They are like sandpaper - SO not my normal super smooth glaze - but I just love them. They look like old rusted things and I'm always slightly obsessed with things that look rusted… And your hands won't get all iron-y from fondling these!!!

They are porcelain clay, layered with an underglaze, then brown, green or blue crawl glaze. Want to see my glaze tests - check out my Glaze Post on Beads-of-Clay blog.

Remember, if you are one of my Marsha Neal Studio Facebook Fans, you can get 10% off your Marsha Neal Studio Etsy Shop by using "FaceBookFan10" coupon code before checking out…

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Glaze Test Picture and Link Help...

Ok, I need some input if you have the time…

I want to make a picture for the side bar that can be used to link to the Beads-of-Clay blog posts that I do with the Cone 6 commercial glazes.

Thinking about using this one…

Not sure if the blue type is good though…

Maybe White will stand out better against the black…

And the white type will go with the white lines on the tile (my Lick texture…)

***I updated it with the white lettering… See below***

Then the next thing I want to do with it is figure out the html that goes with it so if someone else wants to use the image, they can copy and paste the html and the picture appears then links to the BOC blog…

Advice? I am sure I can get it figured at some point…

But time to go feed Riley and get off this computer for a bit of one on one time with him...

Mosaic of Cutout Flower Pendants With New Glaze Colors

I am excited to have created this image for showing the 12 new glazes that I have recently tested and plan on adding 8 of them to my glaze line.

I am working on an entire new line of cutout flower pendants...

For now, keep an eye out in my Etsy shop to see what I'm coming up with and testing out.

Hope all is well with you!

Thanks for stopping by...

Here is a great link to a blog: Little Red House that hosts Mosaic Mondays...

Talk about a whole lot of inspiration in one place!

Think about participating... I'm giving it a try on a more regular basis!

Wish I could be this inspired for exercising (one day!)...

Want to make your own Mosaic?

Check out Big Huge Labs.