Sunday, April 29, 2012

Sunday Morning Studio Clean Up

I woke up before Dave and the kids and thought I could just hop into the studio and get in a quick glaze session. Not so much... 

Marsha Neal Studio Messy Studio
I felt not only overwhelmed and out of touch because of vacation (prepping for vacation, taking it, then getting back into the swing of things Plus added 5 house issues going on)...
I lost any motivation for glazing.

When I glaze - I have to pull stock and lay out the colors I am going to use. This takes time and needs space. With at least 5 layers of crap blocking my way (cluttered unorganized shelves and tabletops full of "projects") and 4 places where I had glazes stored - there was no clear way to get anything other than cleaning and reorganization done...
Marsha Neal Studio Sea Treasures Texture collection (found it!)
So now Chloe and Riley have a dedicated low (easy to reach) shelf for their Crayola paints (and Chloe's beads she paints). 
And BONUS: I found some old sea treasures for texturing clay. 
Marsha Neal Studio Glaze "In Use" Glaze reorganization.
All of my glazes were sorted by color when I moved them down into this part of the studio.
But I needed more space, so a section of the above photo that had "test glazes" was gotten rid of and all of the "test glazes" from that place and the three other places were all sorted into color by use or put onto the "extras" shelf. 
It's like looking at a rainbow of colors now - I love it!!!
Marsha Neal Studio reorganized and wiped down work table.
And a lot of surfaces got a good wet sponge wipe down - which is a good idea when you work with ceramic clay and glazes.
Marsha Neal Studio Clean and Ready work space.
Needless to say I am now ready for a good relaxing and productive glazing session this afternoon when it is kid naptime...

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Treasury Catching Up...

I'm back from vacation (almost back for a week now) and things on the personal front just keep piling and piling on. It's life though and you've just got to take things one step at a time and kick through it right?!

So while I'm getting my list punched out, here are some pretty blue related treasuries that you can find items from my Etsy shop in:

Stormy Skies by Megan
The Ocean Song by Bayila
Blue #5 by YuniliSmiles
Sea Shore by Alison Tolson
Lots of beautiful blue collections... 
I'm honored to have some items included!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Last Firing Before Personal Break...

I started off the day firing a batch of pieces with decal images, glazed all day (pieces I unloaded this morning from a bisque firing) and now am about to load my L&L for a final glaze firing before I cut out and take a personal break until mid April.

I am debating on putting my Etsy shop on Vacation Mode - but am not comfortable with that... 
If things don't ship by Thursday this week, they will just have to wait until the 16th.

Scarily - that day is tax due day here in the US and is not that far off!

Oh - and D7 Studio will be at BeadFest Philly Spring (sharing a booth area with Twisted Sistah Beads and Fibers). 
So some of these new pieces will be making an appearance at that show!