Feeling a little topsy turvy - and a bit angry...

Some days are better than others...

And sometimes...

The not so good ones last for a bit longer than expected or wanted...

I feel like I've been in a bit of a slump for a while...

It comes and goes...

But feeling a bit - dare I say it - depressed - in recent months has become something I've been dealing with on a daily basis.

And I hate it - it sucks!!!

It would be easy to say that there are exterior things piling up that are making me feel down,

But I know that it is mainly an internal thing...

Stemming from the loss of my mom...

Not just the loss, but the watching her through her suffering with Leukemia...

And trying to accept my life as it is now - as a mom without her mom.

It's like I've mentally checked out for a while now...

Burnt out on many levels.

So right now I'm at a point where I feel that I should try to snap out of it.

To become a more active participant in my life every day...

To become a better wife and mother first and foremost...

I mean come on Marsha...

Look how cute they are...

How could one not want to be a better person to feel included in a life with these two goofballs...

To help take care of my Dave and Chloe...

They have helped me through this troubling time...

And to take care of myself and our new little Peanut on the way...

Due to join our family sometime around January 13, 2010!

I'm feeling angry now...

And although I've heard that anger leads to the dark side...

Not to worry here...

This kind of anger leads to the dark side of de-cluttering and getting rid of crap that has been weighing me down...

Not to mention eating a bit more chocolate to help ease the stress...

I want a clean slate!

I want to feel motivation!

I want to feel inspired!

I want to walk into a room and not feel that I have to turn around and walk out because I have so much piling up to deal with before I can get to what I wanted to do.

My procrastination is my torturer...

I'm ready to put on the gloves and get a shovel to dig myself out...

So if you are an object sitting in a pile in the house or studio...

If you are a piece of paper waiting to be "dealt with"...

If you are something I'm looking at every day, not doing anything except blocking my eyesight to creativity and freedom...

Watch out - you're on your way out the door...

You're on my bad side, and that is not a place to be...

And I apologize for not blogging for a bit...

It will come and go while I'm working on my spaces...

I'm planning a big move of my glazing area down into the studio where it should be.

Must get a few orders done first - but then off to that overhaul...

If you are in the general area or know someone that is, and work with Cone 6 glazes...

I will most likely be getting rid of a lot of "test glaze" pints that I've collected over the years for pretty cheap (I don't want to deal with shipping liquids - sorry).

Keep an eye out here for more info - lots of stuff will be practically "given away".

Think I may set up an Etsy shop for all kinds of "supplies" I'm going to unload...

Hmmm...

Bead & Button Booth #521 (Coupon Too)

This year for Bead & Button Show we've moved our booth to a little more front and center.

Booth #521 is where you can find us:

Marsha Neal Studio and

Kelly Russell of Beadfuddled.

Here is a quick picture of one of my new pieces - my shards...

This one I've turned into an earring by wire wrapping it and putting a few Vintaj pieces layered on the side that is usually towards the front.

They are all quite different in shape and size since the process of making them is rolling out one small clay ball at a time...

There are lots of pendants at the show - textured and my porcelain decal pieces.

I've got some new glaze colors that will be available.

I have plans on being at the show on Thursday for the preview night from 4-8pm and on Friday during the show 10am-6pm as long as things work out as they should! Then I'm homeward bound on Saturday because more than a couple days away from Dave and Chloe and I become totally miserable.

So I hope to see you there!

OOOHHHH.... and for those of you making purchases at the show...

Here is a little something for you!

When you make a purchase of at least $40 from Marsha Neal Studio at the Bead & Button Show (2009), use your receipt number as a discount code through July 31, 2009 to receive 20% off your purchase through MashaNealStudio.com. Just put the receipt number in your message to me when you place your order, and I'll adjust the shopping cart for you.

Happy Shopping!!!

Travel Safe!

Birthday New and Old Things

Ok, May 18th is my actual birthday...

So what did I decide to do on my birthday...

I decided that after a crazy morning of running around and checking FaceBook & emails...

That I would do something productive...

In the sense of getting that nagging feeling off my back and just get to it...

So I spent my birthday afternoon sorting through my garage...

Not an ordinary garage cleaning...

It was a go through the stuff from 3 grandmothers and 1 mother bins upon bins of stuff sitting there, wanting to be unpacked and out into the world again...

Here are some of the finds from my Grandma Neal's bins...

Above: antique shoe making...

(I also have some of my great-grandmothers shoes from around 1900)

Antique Coffee Bean Grinder, Antique Toy Stove, Antique Toy Sewing Machine

Antique Toaster (I just love the shape & overall design... what a magnificent toaster!)

A basket of old paperback books circa 1924...

Old pictures and pocket frames... family members? Not sure...

Some really cool pieces of her silver collection.

Not from a set she has, but probably ones she collected individually...

Old hand held mirror and body/face powder holder...

An old massage kit in a suitcase - pretty funky!

The above picture was not from my Grandma Neal's bin - but rather from another bin from my mom... See my other blog about my mom for more details...

And speaking of hands and how wonderful they can be...

Check out how Chloe has deciding to use her hands and fingers to eat these black olives...

One more day of garage clean up for now, then I'm back into studio mode to get ready for Bead & Button... (booth 521).

I'm thinking that hands will have a strong influence in my upcoming work...

Oh, and Kelly (yes, you - Kelly with the pink hair sometimes... I think I'm onto something for that commissioned work we talked about). I'm going to let you read up on my blogs to see if you get it without me leading you into it... I think you will see the path...

Step By Step Wire Jewelry Summer 2009

I just got my copy of Step By Step Wire Jewelry magazine in the mail today.

It's the Summer 2009 issue...

My friend Gaea has a beautiful necklace on the front cover!

Some of my new porcelain decal pieces are featured in the "Product News" section (page 54) by Sara E. Graham, Assistant Editor.

And I've had some people emailing me about them.

I don't quite have a catalog for the decal pieces - not sure if I really want to start a production line of them like I did with the textured pieces. It becomes a potential burnout situation for me... I'd rather work with you on making something unique and special!

So here is a quick breakdown...

Some images work better on particular shapes and sizes of my pendants.

So this means there is a bit of limitation with what I can make (with what I want to make really... it's got to have a certain look to me or I just can't bring myself to keep making it).

My shapes are the same as my textured pendants.

The pricing is just $2 more per piece due to the additional time to work with the decal and the extra firing...

So if you want to order any of the pieces shown in the picture above from the magazine, you can email me the following "code" to Marsha@MarshaNealStudio.com

Starting with the upper left pendant and going clock-wise:

Wasp Decal Image - D- Pendant = $20 retail

Wasp Decal Image - N - Pendant = $16 retail

Flower Drawing 16 - G - Pendant = $20 retail

Chickadee Drawing - F - Pendant = $12 retail

Tree Drawing - Med Oval - Pendant = $16 retail

The flower image is the only pendant that has an image on the one side only. The image wraps around to the back of the piece. The other 4 have the same image - or another one on the back. If you want the same, you can email me that you want it that way - or I can surprise you with another image that works with it on the back which makes it reversible.

I also have a bunch of my decal pieces in my Etsy shop with wire wrapped bails and a silky ribbon for a necklace for anyone that wants something ready to wear! I'm all about making things simple at times...

Make sure you pick up your copy of Step By Step Wire Jewelry for some great project ideas and inspirations!!! It's a great place to jump start your creative juices!!!

Thanks!

Mother's Day Picture From Chloe

We had a very nice morning - our little family group...

Chloe made this construction paper and marker drawing after breakfast...

Thank goodness for washable markers!

It was all over her hands, her pajamas, and the table...

She loves making art, and of course, had to use every color in the pack...

I asked Dave to scan it and put a little saying on it via the computer to send to our "mom" relatives in Florida.

I love that he put a recent picture of her as a watermark within the image...

If you are a mom,

If you act like a mom,

If you care about people like you're a mom...

Then Happy Mother's Day to you!!!

Garden Decal Pendants with Words

I don't have too much time today, so some quick pictures of pieces that I just took out of the kiln and have split to go to two places:

D7 Studio (Marsha Neal Studio's Bead Show Rep)

Marlborough, MA this weekend: May 8-10 at the Innovative Beads Expo Show

Artful Bead Studio and Workshop (Trunk Show)

Pennington, NJ May 8 - 17, 2009.

I have a wandering mind...

Every day when I have time to sit and think about stuff,

I remember some of the things that I talked to my mom about before she passed away...

Some of these sayings are funny things that pop into my head.

Some are conversations I have in my head that I am thinking towards people...

Which I think stem from ALL of the actual conversations I have with people, and are just wondering how they are doing and what they are up to (and how is their garden growing...)

I love to share plants from my garden.

In the next 2 weeks I plan on starting to split up some of the clumps that seem to be doing quite well to share them with my neighbors and friends...

See - my mind wanders...

Here are some pictures that I took this last weekend at Bead Fest Wire in Philly of the "Marsha Neal Studio" booth.

Quote marks because my friend Darlene of D7 Studio has taken the reigns with the bead shows for me so I can try to become the "bead maker" once again (more on that subject later...).

Here are the pics. You can see this cool stuff along with some other artists pieces (Artisan Clay)at the Innovative Beads Expo Show in Marlborough, MA this weekend May 8-10, 2009

Marsha Neal Studio Porcelain Pendants

Marsha Neal Studio Porcelain Pendants

Nollie's Follies Artist made Glass Beads

You've GOT to see these flower beads - the picture does no justice!

Darlene made this necklace with Nolly's beads and some of the Hand Painted Silks

Italian Wire Mesh: 2.5mm, 6mm and some new round mesh!

Silky, Fairy and 2mm Hand Painted Silks (a lot more here than on my website!)

Some examples of the various ceramic artists work including:

Charlene Randolf, Gaea, Mazet Studios, Off Center Productions, Jangles, Earthenwood Studio, Golem Designs + others... (running out of time to make links to everyone - sorry... will fix that later!)

Some of Lisa Kan's Haiku Beads...

There are Lilly Pilly Shell Pendants in there too.

And Lily Studios pressed flower pendants...

And this is Darlene. The owner of D7 Studio. What a great gal!!!

Make sure to stop by and tell her that you saw this on the Marsha Neal Studio Blog.

We're trying to see if it helps to bring in customers to the shows...

See you all later...