Thank you Thank you Thank you

Thank you each and all who visited my blog during the Beads-of-Clay Open Studio Tour blog event. It was so exciting to have you visit and leave comments and write comments back. I could feel the great swirl of energy in cyberspace as you swept through and visited my site and the 16 others that participated in the event. Your response to this event was beyond my wildest dreams. What a wonderful sense of community and appreciation you communicated to me and the others in the event. Thank you so much for being there and having a fun day visiting us.

And the Winner is...

And the winner of the 2nd Giveaway had just been picked from the hat by my husband and it is Katie Nelson.
Thank you all who came and visited my blog and left me such wonderful comments. I have enough good Karma to go on for a very long time. You have been so wonderful to me. I cannot thank you enough.

A Look Inside My Studio

This is a closer look at the internal structure of this old barn that my husband is restoring.

My studio door enters into a hallway that was once the entrance into the room where the milk was refrigerated (the milkhouse.) My actual studio is in a part of the barn that was once home to some very sweet and lovely Jersey cows.

This is a picture of my AIM 88 kiln. My little workhorse. I also have a larger kiln. I am fortunate that all of kilns are digital. It is a bit of a walk from my house to the barn so it saves me some running back and forth. Much appreciated in the winter.

This is a long counter space that I have for making my clay pieces. It is a great space. I always work standing up and it is just the right height. My husband is so good to me. He does all the carpentry and building work on this barn and my studio. Those things on sticks are some beads and pendants in the process of being glazed.

My studio tour today consists of a number of photos of my work place. Here we have from left to right The door to my studio. My studio is part of an old barn that was built about 1850. I have included photos of the interior of the barn so that you can see the hand hewn beams(last photo on the right). My husband also has a workspace in this barn. The restoration of this barn is a big project and not yet complete. It is a great feeling to be in this space because of its age and the fact that we once milked cows here. From my studio, I look out over pastures that have been in use for over 150 years. Many of the plants that I use to make my ceramic pendants have been growning here for at least that long. I sometimes feels as if I am preserving the history of this farm in my art work. But most of the time I just enjoy looking out on green grass. I grew up out West, and am still in awe of the greeness of this place and the abundance of water. No too far down the fields from this barn is a great river that begins in the Adirondack Mountains and flows[Photo] by here on its way to the St. Lawrence River. And that is another kind of journey that I enjoy watching and partaking of in our chubby canoe.

Open Studio Blog Event 2nd Giveaway

It is at least 2:00 PM and my husband picked a name from the hat and the winner is Lorelei.
For those of you who didn't win this round, your names stay in the hat and I will add any more that show. Good luck to all.




Here is a picture of my 2nd Beads of Clay Open Studio Blog Event Giveaway. This is a ceramic pendant that features the small flowers of a tomato plant. I love the way they radiate into a circle. This is one of my favorites and I am pleased to share it with you. It also comes with a $25.00 gift certificate to my Etsy Store. I hope you are the lucky winner.

Open Studio Blog Event First Giveaway

My first giveaway today is a ceramic pendant of a dill flower gone to seed. It also comes with a $25.oo gift certificate to use in my Etsy shop .You can be the lucky winner by making a comment on my blog about this event or about your favorite fall activities. All the names of commenters will be put into a hat and I will draw one out and announce the winner at 2:00PM.

I look forward to reading your comments. I will be on line so I can answer questions as well. And I will be sure to comment as well. Good luck.

Welcome to The Beads of Clay Open Studio Blog Event

Welcome to the Beads-of-Clay Open Studio Blog Event. I am excited to be participating today and looking forward to greeting you on my blog. You can talk to me through the comments section of the blog. As a special celebration for today's events, I am giving a 40% discount on any purchase in my Etsy store between 1:00PM and Midnight tonight. I have put each part of today's activities into separate blog posts but I will be keeping up with comments.

This event is about visiting my studio, seeing my creative process and celebrating Fall. I will celebrate with two Giveaways that will be announed by picture postings at 1:15PM and 3:00PM. You can be part of this Giveaway by making a comment on my blog during this event. The first drawing of names from commenters will be at 2:15PM and the second winner will be announced at 3:00PM. So you have two chances to win because I will be putting all the names back in from the first drawing for the second drawing.

By way of introduction, I am a ceramic bead artist. I have been making beads out of clay for about 10 years. I happened into this wonderful art form by chance. I was making macrame jewelry at the time and I couldn't find beads with holes large enough. When I had an opportunity to take a clay class at my friend's gallery Ladies First, I made my first ceramic beads, while the rest of the class was making bowls and tiles. And it has gone on from there.

I including a schedule of events so that you can pop back and forth between the 17 or so artists that are participating in this event. You can find their live links at the Beads-of-Clay blog .
Here is the scedule: ( I have made a separate blog post for each of the events but your comments will be counted no matter which one you put them on.)

1pm: Individual Artists welcome people to their blog by introducing themselves and announcing any special discount prices in their Etsy store or website.
1:15: Picture posting of 1st giveaway to commenter on your blog post.
2pm: Commenter winner giveaway announced
2:15: Opening up your studio space: Share pictures of your studio
3pm: Picture posting of 2nd giveaway to commenter on your blog post.
3:15pm: Commenter winner giveaway announced
3:30pm: Here are some "Fall" info that we would like to share
4:00 End of event but shoppers can continue with my "sale" prices until Midnight

New Pieces for BOC Open Studio Blog Event

I am spending this morning listing new pieces on my Etsy store to get ready for the BOC Open Studio Tour on Sunday, Oct. 25 from 1:00-4:00PM EST. The pieces will be listed in my store and then the discount price--40% off will be listed early Sunday to be ready for the event. This way if you see something you like you can be ready to pick it out on Sunday at the discounted price. Also, I will be choosinig my giveaways this afternoon and hopefully I will be bloggintg about them later on today.

Here is the most up to date list of participants in this event.

MarshaNealStudio http://www.marshanealstudioblog.blogspot.com/

MaryHardingJewlery http://www.maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com/

Chinook Jewelry http://chinookdesigns.blogspot.com/

Diane Hawkey http://dianehawkey.blogspot.com/

Marsha Hedrick http://porcelainart.blogspot.com/

Joan Tucker http://offcenterproductions.blogspot.com/

Indian Creek Studios http://pampots.blogspot.com/

Lisa Peters http://lisa-petersart.blogspot.com/

Kristie Roeder http://artisanclay.blogspot.com/

Tracy Isley http://tracyisley.blogspot.com/

Melanie Earthenwood Studio http://earthenwood-beads.blogspot.com/

Winchell Clay Works http://www.winchell-clayworks.com/

Summers Studio http://summersstudio.blogspot.com/

Jessica Sharrah http://jessicasharrah.blogspot.com/

Creative Impressions in Clay http://www.claybuttons.blogspot.com/

EveryHeartCrafts http://everyheartcrafts.blogspot.com/

Donna Kornegay http://blingbeadsandjewelry.blogspot.com/

Sharleen Newland http://www.shaterraclaystudio.blogspot.com/.

Here is a picture of some bisque ware pieces that I have been working on to get ready for the Beads-of-Clay Open Studio Blog event on October 25, 2009 from 1:00-4:00PM EST.
We will be blogging live as we open up our studios and communicate with you through the comments section of our blogs. You will have opportunities to win giveaways from each participating artist by commenting on their blog and having your name go into the hat for the two drawings that will take place during the event. Each artist will also be offering their work at a sale price on their Etsy store or website. You can visit my Etsy store here. Most artists will continue the sale price of their work until Midnight.
I have included a schedule of the event and all the participating artists so that you can navigate around the sites easily. Be sure to mark your calendar for this exciting multi site event, giveaways and sale prices. And what fun it will be to look into the studios of all these artists.


BOC October 25, 2009 Open Studio Fall Theme Schedule of events:
1pm: Individual Artists welcome people to their blog by introducing themselves and announcing any special discount prices in their Etsy store or website.
1:45: Picture posting of 1st giveaway to commenter on your blog post.
2pm: Commenter winner giveaway announced
2:15: Opening up your studio space: Share pictures of your studio
3pm: Picture posting of 2nd giveaway to commenter on your blog post.
3:15pm: Commenter winner giveaway announced
3:30pm: Here are some "Fall" info that we would like to share
4:00 End of event but shoppers can continue with your "sale" prices until Midnight
HERE IS THE UPDATED LIST OF PARTICIPANTS IN THIS EVENT.
MarshaNealStudio http://www.marshanealstudioblog.blogspot.com/
MaryHardingJewlery http://www.maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com/
Chinook Jewelry http://chinookdesigns.blogspot.com/
Diane Hawkey http://dianehawkey.blogspot.com/
Marsha Hedrick http://porcelainart.blogspot.com/
Joan Tucker http://offcenterproductions.blogspot.com/
Indian Creek Studios http://pampots.blogspot.com/
Lisa Peters http://lisa-petersart.blogspot.com/
Kristie Roeder http://artisanclay.blogspot.com/
Tracy Isley http://tracyisley.blogspot.com/
Melanie Earthenwood Studio http://earthenwood-beads.blogspot.com/
Winchell Clay Works http://www.winchell-clayworks.com/
Summers Studio http://summersstudio.blogspot.com/
Jessica Sharrah http://jessicasharrah.blogspot.com/
Creative Impressions in Clay http://www.claybuttons.blogspot.com/
EveryHeartCrafts http://everyheartcrafts.blogspot.com/
Donna Kornegay http://blingbeadsandjewelry.blogspot.com/

BOC Open Studio Blog Event

Beads-of-Clay Open Studio Blog Event. Here is a mosaic I made from mosaic maker. I am using it for some promo for this exciting event that is happening next Sunday Oct. 25.
I hope you will join me and all the other artists who are participating. Tomorrow all participating artists will be listed with their blog links so you can travel around this event with ease.

Open Studio Blog Event

Marsha Minutella (owner and artist of Marsha Neal Studio) and Mary Harding invite you to participate in a Fall Open Studio Blog event on Sunday Oct. 25. This event is designed to help Beads-of-Clay members and other "ceramic" clay bead makers promote their work via the internet. All you need to do to participate in the Open Studio event is to sign up by Oct. 14, have a blog, and follow the general format of the event(Marsha Minutella designed this so you know it is going to be good.) If you don't have a blog right now, you can start one so that you can participate. If interested in being a part of this please contact me by email (mary@maryhardingjewelry.com) and please also include your blog web address.We will be promoting this event through our own blogs, the BOC blog and our newsletters. Participants are encouraged to promote the event as well. I look forward to hearing from you.