
Announcement
Handmade ceramic beads, pendants, beaded silk cord wrap bracelet kits, small terrarium sculptures, and tiny hanging vessels fill my Etsy shop. If you are looking for the hand painted silks use my sections to narrow your search! There are many listings for specific colors, styles of silk and quantities you may want to purchase.
My love and admiration of nature is expressed through my hands working in clay. And I find that the winter months give me time to reorganize my studio and spend some creative time coming up with new work before spring sets in and my garden and outdoor play with my children calls...
I am always up to something - want to see?
Marsha Neal Studio You Tube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_RCCK4ExOSjYgi740h6G8A
Marsha Neal Studio Blog:
http://www.blog.MarshaNealStudio.com
Marsha Neal Studio Group Share on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/184707968589991
Marsha Neal Studio FaceBook:
http://www.facebook.com/MarshaNealStudio
MarshaNealStudio on Instagram:
http://www.instagram.com/MarshaNealStudio
MarshaNealStudio Newsletter (MailChimp):
http://eepurl.com/gBHl7z
Thanks for stopping by!
Happy shopping…
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Reviews
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cherylb8 on Jan 21, 2023
4 out of 5 starsI must admit when I received the kits the beads I was a bit disappointed. The beads were smaller than expected which made the mix of colors harder to see. However, once I made the bracelets they were pretty and although I would have preferred larger beads I was very pleased with the bracelets. Marsha is responsive and the kits were shipped quickly.
Marsha responded on Jan 30, 2023
Thanks for your review. The beads are a standard Miyuki size 6 round seed bead (a high quality Japanese seed bead) as described in the item details. Colors can vary slightly with batches of the glass beads as I receive them, and the color selections are a close up, so I get why you may have thought they were larger. But with seed beads, size 6 is one of the larger standard bead sizes for bead weaving. And I picked Miyuki for my kits for the consistency in their bead shape, bead hole, and quality of glass bead finish. Sorry you were disappointed in the size of the beads. Hope this explanation helps with why I picked these higher quality beads for my kits.
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Sandy on Jan 21, 2023
5 out of 5 starsI love these silk cords. Item is as described, and shipped promptly. It's always hard to match colors to the names. And I know colors change some with each batch, but I keep adding to my chart.
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summerfields81 on Jan 19, 2023
5 out of 5 starsShipping was super fast. We haven't put them together yet, but the beads are pretty.
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Kassandra on Jan 8, 2023
5 out of 5 starsSo thankful for Marsha’s shop! I regularly purchase and am never disappointed.
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goldnsoft on Jan 28, 2023
5 out of 5 starsThese ribbons are beautiful. I will buy more in the future. Fast shipping. Thank you.
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Michelle on Jan 28, 2023
5 out of 5 starsVery nice kit. Makes really nice bracelet. Love that you can customize your colors.
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cherylb8 on Jan 21, 2023
3 out of 5 starsThe seller was very professional, helpful and fulfilled the order quickly. The beads were so much smaller than expected and the colors lighter. The kit is nice, but be aware the beads are tiny.
Marsha responded on Jan 30, 2023
Thanks for your review. The beads are a standard Miyuki size 6 round seed bead (a high quality Japanese seed bead) as described in the item details. Colors can vary slightly with batches of the glass beads as I receive them, and the color selections are a close up, so I get why you may have thought they were larger. But with seed beads, size 6 is one of the larger standard bead sizes for bead weaving. And I picked Miyuki for my kits for the consistency in their bead shape, bead hole, and quality of glass bead finish. Sorry you were disappointed in the size of the beads. Hope this explanation helps with why I picked these higher quality beads for my kits.
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About MarshaNealStudio
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With two young children much of our time is spent exploring and discovering the balance between work and family time.
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Fall 2013 Just completed recycling about 1000 pounds of ceramic clay scrap into useable de-aired pugged clay!!!
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I love creating color palettes of silks strands, simple bracelets, and pulling color palettes for customers.
Creator of handmade ceramic bead, pendants, cabochons, buttons. Lots of glorious hand painted silks too in three styles and lots of colors.
I have always been a maker. As a child I was always in my mothers DMC collection to work on making friendship bracelets. I remember discovering tigers tail and seed beads around the same time. For hours I would sit and make - and I loved it.
While in college I was not quite sure what direction I wanted to go in, and was guided towards Entomology since I wanted to work with "animals". During that time, I felt a disconnect with school as I was working 3 part time jobs just to make ends meet. So with my now husbands encouragement, I took a ceramics class. After 1 semester, I was encouraged again, this time by my grad student teacher to take another class (since I seemed to quite enjoy it and spent a lot of time in the studio). That was in 1997, and I have never been away from clay since.
When I was finished with college in 2001, I first started making small ceramic tiles, but soon realized that people wanted to wear them, so in 2002, I started making and selling ceramic beads. For a few years I traveled all over the US selling my beads through the Innovative Beads Expo shows, and other shows in Tucson, AZ and Tacoma, WA. It was a wonderful life traveling, making bead friends that became more like family and getting my work out there.
When websites, Etsy, Blogging, Amazon and such started taking over the internet around 2007, I just happened to hit my first life changing whirlwind that set me on another path. I lost my mom to Leukemia in September 2007, and had my first child in December 2007. I stopped traveling when my mom became sick, and after having my daughter I did my last Tucson show, and decided no more until I was in a better place in my life.
In Dec. 2009 my son was born and I focused all of my selling efforts through Etsy (tried to maintain a website, but that just was too much for me to deal with). I changed up my line of beads from larger pendants to smaller spacer beads, and worked on some jewelry kits for the silks I sell incorporating my beads).
Around 2014 I started to feel burnout from working alone in my basement studio. The economy was not all that great for makers, and I didn't want to make beads, just to make them. I happened to take a couple of needle felting classes with Sara of SarafinaFiberArt.com and when I went to their shop open house in October 2014, Sara offered me a job working at the Sarafina Art House (in Elkton, MD) helping with kit production, wood bunling, and shipping of orders.
I cannot express how thankful I am for being offered a creative job working for such a fun company. As the company has grown, positions have changed, and everyone there can do a little bit of everything around the shop. Sara showed me how to wash and dye sheep fleeces about a year after I began, and now I am able to shop for the fleeces we need, and get them washed and dyed. I absolutely LOVE the texture and colors of fleeces and my creativity often goes into my job there.
I still make ceramic beads and do not plan on stopping running my Marsha Neal Studio business. I mainly keep listings here on Etsy updated with refreshed listings that have new items to replace sold ones. I do monthly Facebook Group sales with new items on a regular basis.
I have also been a blog contributor on ArtElements.net blog over the last couple of years. There are great weekly and monthly themes and challenges there to keep creativity flowing.
The kids are getting bigger, we have lost our old cats and have new fur babies from the humane association, and life keeps taking loved ones as we age. Life everyday is a treasure. I appreciate how fortunate I am to live a creative maker life and thank you for supporting my work always!
Shop members
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Marsha
Owner, Maker, Designer, Curator
I have been forever been a maker. As a young person I was obsessed with making friendship bracelets and seed bead necklaces. And now I get to make beads and jewelry kits for others to enjoy as well. So many ideas, so little time...
Shop policies
If I had to write a quick priority list about my current position in this life it would be: Mom to Chloe & Riley, Wife to Dave, Porcelain Bead Artist, Wildlife Conservationist, Entomologist, Bird Watcher, Garden Enthusiast, Chocolate Lover, and much more!
If you want to see what I am up to this week, swing over to my Blog:
http://www.blog.MarshaNealStudio.com
How did I get to where I am now?
I have been working with clay since I took an elective beginning ceramics class in 1997 (I was studying to become an Entomologist - concentrating in Wildlife Conservation). After graduating with an MA in Ceramics in 2001, yes - bugs and clay, I started making tiles. I also worked three jobs through college, and after. I have been a waitress and a bartender, sold shoes at Sears, taught kids and adults about nature, ran a butterfly house for a few summers, worked in the Quarantine lab at the USDA BIRL, then finally, before selling beads full time, I worked for my in-laws at their lighting business doing all kinds of things that fall under "office assistant".
After trying a few not-so-great local craft shows (neighbors had macaroni glued to a plate - seriously!) I realized I was not in my ideal market and that I should learn to really listen to my customers that kept mentioning "You should put a hole in that tile - I want to wear it on a necklace". So upon an urge, I cast aside the tiles and vases and started making beads and pendants.
After figuring out how to create pendants from my "tiles" (put the hole in it when the clay is soft) and fire the pieces suspended on tiny hooks, suspended from bead trees in order to have a smooth glazed surface over the entire piece, I started to apply to bead shows. Within a couple of years I was selling my work and jewelry making supplies at over 30 bead shows a year.
Traveling like this lasted until 2006. After a few years of selling, making, and traveling, I started to get a bit burnt out. My husband and I wanted to work on starting a family (not going to happen with all the alone traveling ;). Not to mention that all of the traveling to sell and long hours making beads did not fit into our ideal situation for raising a family.
My friend Darlene (D7Studio) picked up the bead show circuit for me, and now runs that side under her business. What a relief to just have to send her a bunch of new work and see what sells.
I do miss the interaction though. I loved getting to know all of my customers and hearing about how they plan on using my pieces in their jewelry design. Or how that piece they bought before was used as a necklace or earrings and the person receiving it, loved it (often incorporating my handmade story into their inspiration)… SO cool!
So to keep up on the socialization aspect of my business, I have a blog, a flickr group (for creations made with one of my clay pieces). a Marsha Neal Studio Facebook Page, and a MarshaNeal twitter account. I use these tools to interact with my customers. And really - most of my customers become like extended family over time. Maybe that is just the way I feel though being brought up in an Italian family…
I try to show the pieces here as what you will receive. There may be a few listings (decal pieces, silk strands) that are a general listing because the actual items are somewhat easily reproduced. Those listing will indicate it.
A little know fact about my work: If you happen to drop the piece and it breaks (think of it - clay is covered with glaze, glaze is glass… Treat it as you would a glass bead), and I am still alive and working in clay in this way, just send me the broken piece and I will do my best to send out a replacement piece at no cost (well - you do have to pay to ship it to me).
I love my work. I am passionate about the level of quality in my work. And I treasure the relationships I have with my customers. So please do not ever hesitate to email me about something. I will get back to you as soon as my kids allow me time on the computer (timing will get easier as they get older - Right?!)
Thanks for stopping by! Have fun shopping!!!
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Returns & exchanges
Cancellations
Cancellations: not accepted
Please contact the seller if you have any problems with your order.