Finding Some Holiday Cheer...

Friday evening our little family of four ventured out for dinner and some Christmas Cheer.

And around here, the place to go for some awesome Christmas Light displays is Longwood Gardens.

It is an annual tradition since I can remember.

I love how this fountain display doesn't change every year.

Insert your favorite Holiday Song (instrumental version) and fountains moving to it and you're there!

It is magical seeing something with your kids, that you remember as a child...

And that every year there is a new theme and the trees are all just a bit different…

I love the red and white lights (they remind me of peppermint - which I love!)

And this is my favorite light wrapping technique.

I hate doing it (frustrating & too many lights & branches to deal with)...

But I love seeing the tree structure like this at night!

Oh, and in the Conservatory - how grand this inside garden is!

Pretty formal for my garden taste - but I can admire the design that goes into it.

I love the visual layering of the lines, texture & color...

The smell of paper-whites is everywhere inside this building.

It is not the most pleasant smell - reminds Dave and I of a Sharpie marker…

But is is a scent that brings back memories of Christmas Time here with family from years ago...

Pin It

The theme this year is Gingerbread…

There were gingerbread decorations everywhere...

And this - the Conservatory in Gingerbread…

And huge jars filled with so much candy!

Wish it smelled more like Gingerbread than Paper-whites…

But there were gingerbread scents here and there..

And the trees were dripping with decorations…

Seriously… dripping with SO many decorations!

We always save the Children's water garden for last.

We have learned to bring a change of clothes due to it being - well. Wet...

If we time it right, the change of clothes is feety pajamas.

Perfect so the little ones can be ready for a sleepy car ride home...

Then all bundled up with hats, gloves, scarves…

The kids in their pj's snuggled in blankets with their jackets, hats, gloves & scarves on…

We venture back out through the gardens to admire the outside lights one more time…

This was our favorite tree there - it was immense!

I especially loved snapping this photo of a man taking a photo of three of his girl friends posing in front of the big tree… 

Their silhouettes posing were so much fun to watch against the bright lights…

An family night out was exactly what we all needed!

With my dad through a successful surgery (went as the doctor expected) and now on the hopefully normal slightly bumpy road to recovery...

We were all able to actually enjoy this outing just that much more & we were able to exhale a bit too.

Hope this brings you some cheer as well.

Thank you for all the well wishes & prayers!

It means so much more than you will ever know… 

Thank You!!!

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

Happy Holidays to you!

Finding Some Holiday Cheer...

Friday evening our little family of four ventured out for dinner and some Christmas Cheer.

And around here, the place to go for some awesome Christmas Light displays is Longwood Gardens.

It is an annual tradition since I can remember.

I love how this fountain display doesn't change every year.

Insert your favorite Holiday Song (instrumental version) and fountains moving to it and you're there!

It is magical seeing something with your kids, that you remember as a child...

And that every year there is a new theme and the trees are all just a bit different…

I love the red and white lights (they remind me of peppermint - which I love!)

And this is my favorite light wrapping technique.

I hate doing it (frustrating & too many lights & branches to deal with)...

But I love seeing the tree structure like this at night!

Oh, and in the Conservatory - how grand this inside garden is!

Pretty formal for my garden taste - but I can admire the design that goes into it.

I love the visual layering of the lines, texture & color...

The smell of paper-whites is everywhere inside this building.

It is not the most pleasant smell - reminds Dave and I of a Sharpie marker…

But is is a scent that brings back memories of Christmas Time here with family from years ago...

Pin It

The theme this year is Gingerbread…

There were gingerbread decorations everywhere...

And this - the Conservatory in Gingerbread…

And huge jars filled with so much candy!

Wish it smelled more like Gingerbread than Paper-whites…

But there were gingerbread scents here and there..

And the trees were dripping with decorations…

Seriously… dripping with SO many decorations!

We always save the Children's water garden for last.

We have learned to bring a change of clothes due to it being - well. Wet...

If we time it right, the change of clothes is feety pajamas.

Perfect so the little ones can be ready for a sleepy car ride home...

Then all bundled up with hats, gloves, scarves…

The kids in their pj's snuggled in blankets with their jackets, hats, gloves & scarves on…

We venture back out through the gardens to admire the outside lights one more time…

This was our favorite tree there - it was immense!

I especially loved snapping this photo of a man taking a photo of three of his girl friends posing in front of the big tree… 

Their silhouettes posing were so much fun to watch against the bright lights…

An family night out was exactly what we all needed!

With my dad through a successful surgery (went as the doctor expected) and now on the hopefully normal slightly bumpy road to recovery...

We were all able to actually enjoy this outing just that much more & we were able to exhale a bit too.

Hope this brings you some cheer as well.

Thank you for all the well wishes & prayers!

It means so much more than you will ever know… 

Thank You!!!

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

Happy Holidays to you!

I Heart Macro… Grasshopper

This week for Lori's I Heart Macro event,

I give you a picture of a grasshopper that I snapped with my iPhone & hand lens…

If I had the time I would spend hours peering into my garden and capturing these fleeting moments on digital media.

Stop on by and see what everyone else is posting on the Studio Waterstone Blog.

I Heart Macro… Grasshopper

This week for Lori's I Heart Macro event,

I give you a picture of a grasshopper that I snapped with my iPhone & hand lens…

If I had the time I would spend hours peering into my garden and capturing these fleeting moments on digital media.

Stop on by and see what everyone else is posting on the Studio Waterstone Blog.

New Silk Color Palettes Inspired By Nature

Nature through the lens of my iPhone Hipstamatic app inspires my color palettes…

The different combinations of "lenses and film"can give you rich colors that vary from the exact spectrum as we see it with our naked human eye.

Marsha Neal Studio iPhone Hipstamatic Image.

Marsha Neal Studio iPhone Hipstamatic Image.

Marsha Neal Studio iPhone Hipstamatic Image.

Marsha Neal Studio iPhone Hipstamatic Image.

Marsha Neal Studio iPhone Hipstamatic Image.

Marsha Neal Studio iPhone Hipstamatic Image.

Marsha Neal Studio iPhone Hipstamatic Image.

Looking at these photos - is it any wonder that I have a lot of blue-green-purple palette variations?

I'll take these photos with my iPhone Hipstamatic app.

Then the photos get opened in the ColorSchemer app.

From my photo I can pick out all kinds of color palettes and save them to my file.

This is what a screen shot of my iPhone looks like from a bunch of the above photos:

From this point, I can go down to my studio and pull out a bunch of silks that I think go with these palettes.

Colors are not always an exact match, but I like to pull the silks and see what works...

I prefer to see color palettes by using a bit of a the squinting blurry eye technique anyway, so I am ok with working from photos that are not quite perfectly in focus.

And here is a sampling of the new color palettes that are starting to show up in my Etsy Shop:

You can buy these silks from me through my Etsy shop.
Pricing is per strand:
2mm Silk Strands Retail at $3 ea.
4 for $10 ($2.50 each)
*10 for $20 ($2 each)
30 for $54 ($1.80 each)
50 for $85 ($1.70 each)
100 for $160 ($1.60 each)


The Silks as "Knot Bundles" sell as
10 individual 2mm silks in a bundle for $20


I've got a few bundles that only have 5 silks in them for $12.50 each.
This way you can get a sampling without dropping a fast $20.


However, if you want to mix and match a bunch of knots, I will price them out for you according to the price list above for the total quantity your are purchasing.


You can do this easily too by just figuring out your silk quantity total, then selecting one of the "pick your own color palette" listings with the correct total number of silks, then just list the ones you want (including individual colors, OOAK palettes in the shop, named color palettes, etc).


Like always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
I'll get back to you as soon as possible…


Wholesale inquiries must be willing to meet 100 silk minimum for each purchase consisting of at least 5 of any one particular color and silk type. 
Must have a valid business license.
Email me if you are interested & I'll send you a pdf of the details:
Marsha {at} MarshaNealStudio.com
*remove spacing and brackets in my email address*

New Silk Color Palettes Inspired By Nature

Nature through the lens of my iPhone Hipstamatic app inspires my color palettes…

The different combinations of "lenses and film"can give you rich colors that vary from the exact spectrum as we see it with our naked human eye.

Marsha Neal Studio iPhone Hipstamatic Image.

Marsha Neal Studio iPhone Hipstamatic Image.

Marsha Neal Studio iPhone Hipstamatic Image.

Marsha Neal Studio iPhone Hipstamatic Image.

Marsha Neal Studio iPhone Hipstamatic Image.

Marsha Neal Studio iPhone Hipstamatic Image.

Marsha Neal Studio iPhone Hipstamatic Image.

Looking at these photos - is it any wonder that I have a lot of blue-green-purple palette variations?

I'll take these photos with my iPhone Hipstamatic app.

Then the photos get opened in the ColorSchemer app.

From my photo I can pick out all kinds of color palettes and save them to my file.

This is what a screen shot of my iPhone looks like from a bunch of the above photos:

From this point, I can go down to my studio and pull out a bunch of silks that I think go with these palettes.

Colors are not always an exact match, but I like to pull the silks and see what works...

I prefer to see color palettes by using a bit of a the squinting blurry eye technique anyway, so I am ok with working from photos that are not quite perfectly in focus.

And here is a sampling of the new color palettes that are starting to show up in my Etsy Shop:

You can buy these silks from me through my Etsy shop.
Pricing is per strand:
2mm Silk Strands Retail at $3 ea.
4 for $10 ($2.50 each)
*10 for $20 ($2 each)
30 for $54 ($1.80 each)
50 for $85 ($1.70 each)
100 for $160 ($1.60 each)


The Silks as "Knot Bundles" sell as
10 individual 2mm silks in a bundle for $20


I've got a few bundles that only have 5 silks in them for $12.50 each.
This way you can get a sampling without dropping a fast $20.


However, if you want to mix and match a bunch of knots, I will price them out for you according to the price list above for the total quantity your are purchasing.


You can do this easily too by just figuring out your silk quantity total, then selecting one of the "pick your own color palette" listings with the correct total number of silks, then just list the ones you want (including individual colors, OOAK palettes in the shop, named color palettes, etc).


Like always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
I'll get back to you as soon as possible…


Wholesale inquiries must be willing to meet 100 silk minimum for each purchase consisting of at least 5 of any one particular color and silk type. 
Must have a valid business license.
Email me if you are interested & I'll send you a pdf of the details:
Marsha {at} MarshaNealStudio.com
*remove spacing and brackets in my email address*

State of Your Studio Saturday...

Over on BOC I create a monthly post on the 2nd saturday where artists that blog can link up their post about the current State of your Studio.

The state of my clay studio right now - well, I couldn't even tell you what it looks like. I have some porcelain rolled out into slabs from about a month ago, covered in plastic - waiting to be made into cutout flowers. And I just came across my glaze tests on the dining room table (the place where I put the tray last month after photographing the test tiles for my monthly glaze post).

My mind and hands have been in the garden. I have been dividing plants and donating a number of them to non-profit organization plant sales in the last month. My interests in gardening with sustainability in mind is at the forefront.

August 2010 Main Hill Garden

The lack of an overall "design" in my garden is bugging the crap out of me. Maybe it is just impatience and lack of funds to buy more plants (Yes - I have a plant addiction, much like my bead addiction). Wish the plant center would trade beads or jewelry with my beads for plants… Maybe they will - hmmm…

For now, I continue to divide my perennials and plant more plants to help increase the availability of pollen, nectar, seed, and habitat for the wildlife. But it is getting to be too much of the same thing repeated around in the different garden areas. So it need to focus more on design to be balanced for that human aspect that is incorporated within the idea of garden sustainability.

Blood-root in amongst vines. These were transplanted after flowering.

I'm irked at all the vines growing at the edge of my garden and woods. I am strongly considering having a contractor come in and clear that area, leaving only one oak tree in place. Just to get a bit of control back and to make sense of that area and to get rid of those invasive vines that are choking out the trees and fragmented woodland understory plants. 

Some early vines and plants that will soon take over this area.

So little by little, I am digging up the native plants that I can get to and moving them to a better location so when we have the funds, and it is the right time of the year (fall I believe - after bird nesting season), I can say - take it all, except that oak, out…

Oh, and one project that I am working on for my Native Teaching Garden for Master Gardeners is a list of native plants for shade gardens that can actually be found at local nurseries around here. There is already a list of native plants for the demonstration garden. Not that it will be used, but I think a list of native plants, that are usually available to the general public is quite helpful to have. At this point of my education, I get so confused with all the names being thrown about.

So the next step will be me taking my camera and photographing the plant in prime growth season, with a label in front of it so I can get some things straight in my head. Learning a whole new language here…

I wonder if I'll get into the studio (other than for orders) between now and next month's post for the BOC State of Your Studio Saturday… 

Somehow, I doubt it. I'll be back in there once we arrive at 80 degree days and I can't stand to be outside in the heat...

State of Your Studio Saturday...

Over on BOC I create a monthly post on the 2nd saturday where artists that blog can link up their post about the current State of your Studio.

The state of my clay studio right now - well, I couldn't even tell you what it looks like. I have some porcelain rolled out into slabs from about a month ago, covered in plastic - waiting to be made into cutout flowers. And I just came across my glaze tests on the dining room table (the place where I put the tray last month after photographing the test tiles for my monthly glaze post).

My mind and hands have been in the garden. I have been dividing plants and donating a number of them to non-profit organization plant sales in the last month. My interests in gardening with sustainability in mind is at the forefront.

August 2010 Main Hill Garden

The lack of an overall "design" in my garden is bugging the crap out of me. Maybe it is just impatience and lack of funds to buy more plants (Yes - I have a plant addiction, much like my bead addiction). Wish the plant center would trade beads or jewelry with my beads for plants… Maybe they will - hmmm…

For now, I continue to divide my perennials and plant more plants to help increase the availability of pollen, nectar, seed, and habitat for the wildlife. But it is getting to be too much of the same thing repeated around in the different garden areas. So it need to focus more on design to be balanced for that human aspect that is incorporated within the idea of garden sustainability.

Blood-root in amongst vines. These were transplanted after flowering.

I'm irked at all the vines growing at the edge of my garden and woods. I am strongly considering having a contractor come in and clear that area, leaving only one oak tree in place. Just to get a bit of control back and to make sense of that area and to get rid of those invasive vines that are choking out the trees and fragmented woodland understory plants. 

Some early vines and plants that will soon take over this area.

So little by little, I am digging up the native plants that I can get to and moving them to a better location so when we have the funds, and it is the right time of the year (fall I believe - after bird nesting season), I can say - take it all, except that oak, out…

Oh, and one project that I am working on for my Native Teaching Garden for Master Gardeners is a list of native plants for shade gardens that can actually be found at local nurseries around here. There is already a list of native plants for the demonstration garden. Not that it will be used, but I think a list of native plants, that are usually available to the general public is quite helpful to have. At this point of my education, I get so confused with all the names being thrown about.

So the next step will be me taking my camera and photographing the plant in prime growth season, with a label in front of it so I can get some things straight in my head. Learning a whole new language here…

I wonder if I'll get into the studio (other than for orders) between now and next month's post for the BOC State of Your Studio Saturday… 

Somehow, I doubt it. I'll be back in there once we arrive at 80 degree days and I can't stand to be outside in the heat...