Etched Pendant Etsy Shop Update

There are a bunch of new items in my shop (over 100 new listings) all being New Etched Pieces!

Here is a quick photo peek...

New Two-Hole Crescent Pendant

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New Etched Line Curls Round Pendant in Dusty Denim Glaze

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New Urban Grid Round Pendant in OOAK Green Brown Etched Glaze

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New Gnarly Spiral Texture Bat Pendant in Etched Dusty Denim Glaze

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New Line Curls Butterfly in Etched Blue Molasses Glaze

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Medium Round Brain Coral Textured Pendant in Etched Fern Green Glaze

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Small Round Cluster Spiral Textured Pair (earring size) in Etched Pomegranate.

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Porcelain Clay Twirls in Etched Peacock Teal Blue Glaze

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Wavy Grid Texture Diamond Shaped Pendant Set in Etched Old Oil Bronze Brown Glaze

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Hibiscus Flower Porcelain Pendant in Etched Dusty Denim Glaze

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And if you're into Pinterest and FaceBook make sure to stop by the Marsha Neal Studio Facebook & follow me on Pinterest.

During shop updates I often run special giveaways and coupon codes.

Want a heads up next time? Sign up to receive my email newsletters!

Oh, and check this out!

One of my just listed butterfly pendants was added to this Etsy treasury collection within hours of it being listed...

Thank You Megan!

I Heart Macro...

It's been a while since I've been in the groove of my regular blogging.

One thing I'd really like to get back into is I Heart Macro Sundays via Studio Waterstone.

This is a quick shot from today as I was working in my studio and had my little 2 year old down there painting on the new painting easel that he and his sister got for a Christmas present from me.

I wanted them to be able to come down with me and spend some time creating and not worrying so much about keeping things ultra clean (my way of not having to clean up the house after them - studio is fine - house - not so much... I don't like to clean the house - I like it clean, but would rather be spending my time in the studio or in the garden hanging out with these guys).

I love to just watch how they figure things out.

What goes through their head...

Oh, Wait...

I know exactly what is about to happen...

Riley is such a boy!

He got a huge kick out of chasing me around with this water bottle (even played along when I grabbed it and sprayed him - oh the squealy screams and laughter that came out of that kid!).

I can't wait until it is not the middle of winter and we can run outside a lot more.

Check out the other posts over on this weeks I Heart Macro:

Saturday Night Specials Time (an Etsy Team Event)

It's Saturday Night Specials Time for the SNS team on Etsy.com

My coupon code is SNS20 to get you 20% off your retail purchase in my Marsha Neal Studio Etsy shop.

Sales for participants on this team run from 5pm EST Sat (1/28/12) to 6am EST Sun (1/29/12).

Here are a couple of SNS treasury collections that included one of the items from my shop.

Thanks for stopping by!

Make sure to click around a bit on the post for tonights specials. 

There are some great deals on some awesome things!!!

Ceramic Clay Shards Update

One of my favorite parts about my job as a bead maker is photographing my work.

It can be frustrating trying to find the perfect daylight, but when else do I get to have all these little treasures in one place - waiting for their chance to be in front of the camera?

 I just like to look at them all...

Get to know each one of them a little bit better...

Spend time sorting them from their "out of the kiln, hole cleaned, paired up and ready to be photographed" tray to their "for sale on Etsy tray".

Each one photographed against a neutral background and a second time to show the size...

I love how this blue of my Dusty Denim glaze puddles and then breaks tan on the ridges of my porcelain clay shards...

And in my previous posts of late, here is a set of shards from the same firing, same glaze, that have been etched (removal of clear glossy glass finish). 

I love these rich buttery muted tones...

I've done a ton of research on etching beads, but there is just something in my brain that I need to test out before I can do my big Etsy shop update (with etched beads).

The photo above is a standard home test that potters can use to see if their glazes leach any materials (acid test). This is especially important for any glaze that is to come into contact with food or drink.

Now I know my pendants are not going to be used as scoop to get the hummus from the bowl at your next party... 

But still. I need to know if and how it reacts with long exposure (a couple days) to something so acidic with the shiny glass outer coating removed...

If it does leach - well, then I've got a bunch of work to use for "other art projects".

Although shards used to make earrings like this would be totally fine...

Speaking of which...

I'm going to have my first ever magazine article published in the April 2012 edition of Step By Step Wire Jewelry on how to make my Porcelain Shard Trapeze Earrings as you see them below...

I'm pretty excited. Nervous excited...

So with all these thoughts of clay shards going on today, I decided to roll out some clay balls...

And from those balls - more shards...

Just enough to squeeze in at the end of a very long day of working on the computer...

I love having just a bit of time like that to get into the clay groove.

I want to do it more often - so many ideas brewing!

With this bit of insight into what I've got in stock for shards,

Directions coming out soon for how to make the Trapeze Earrings (of which I could also make them up for you if you don't have the time to try it yourself),

And my wanting to make more means I need to move some of those that are sitting in my Etsy shop, taking up valuable space - there needs to be a sale.

Want in on the details?

The coupon code is going to be announced to my Newsletter subscribers later today (Jan. 27, 2012).

If there are any shards left after the Shard sale, I may post a code to use either here on my blog or on my Facebook Fan page - but I'm hoping that they will be gobbled up fast.

Hope you're finding inspiration somewhere!!!

Etch All Dip n Etch Info

Here are some pics I quick snapped for those of you interested in the contents of the etching solution that I mentioned in my previous post on Etching Ceramic Beads. 

Art & Creative Materials Institute, Inc

As noted in my previous post, when working with this material - always wear gloves and long clothes to protect your skin. 

Safety goggles will help protect your eyes from any splashing. 

Good ventilation is necessary as well.

This is a chemical. 

There are risks for using it improperly (as does just about anything in life when it comes down to it). 

Be Smart. Be Safe!

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:
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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.