Pretty Pumpkins!

On Saturday, I had my blown glass pumpkin workshop! There is a glass studio in Columbus called Glass Axis that provides classes and workshops in all sorts of glassmaking techniques. For the workshops, you don't need any previous experience to participate, and you get to bring home a pretty cool piece of glass. I ended up having a private lesson, so I was able to make two pumpkins!
The first one is a pretty traditional pumpkin, and the second one, well, who wouldn't want a funky purple pumpkin? the base is a blue/violet opaque with orange speckles overlayed...
Definitely not your run of the mill pumpkin! I signed up for a few more workshops in the next few months. I really enjoyed it, and I'm thinking of taking some classes in it. You can never have too many hobbies, right?

Weekly Update

Last weekend the inlaws visited! We had fun playing Rock Band with Rhonda (Eric's sister) while the parents watched. And fell asleep. So, I guess we weren't too horrible if you could sleep through our playing!
Eric's parents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary next month, so we took them out to J. Gilberts for dinner. Great food there, and the chocolate souffle was awesome!
The inlaws left on Sunday, and we were going to take Eric's car to get new tires, when one of the neighbors sideswiped Eric's car when he was backing out. Eric is fine, his back bumper is just scratched up. The guy didn't own the car (it was his brother's) and didn't bother to give us his insurance info or his drivers' license. I kind of suspect that he doesn't have either. Anyway, it totally bummed Eric out, understandably.
This weekend I have my first of many glass workshops! This time is making blown glass pumkins. I'm pretty excited, and will post pictures of my creation next week.

How Cool is this?

So we were eating dinner on the deck the other night (Tuesday) with our friends, when a hot air balloon landed behind the row of condos to the right of us, in the elementary school parking lot! We ran over to the school and watched as several others landed. It was really neat to watch them deflate the balloons and pack them up, and totally unexpected. Next time we have a dinner party, I don't know how we'll top that!

Another thing on the cool list: check out this view from The Hay-Adams Hotel in Washington, DC! Part of the wedding we attended was held on the roof, right across the street from The White House. It was an awesome wedding, the food was spectacular! And it was great seeing Eugene and Jen, Steve and Jen, Bryon and Judy (the happy couple!) and Angry Chris (aka Eurotrash) Who, btw, is still angry, even after spending 10 months surrounded by the beauty of the Meditteranean living it up. Go figure.
My inlaws are coming to visit this weekend for eye exams. Chris hitched a ride back to Ohio with us from the wedding and stayed for a few days, so I feel like my routine is totally off (and I don't have a ton of time to pick up for the inlaws!)

New Listing

Its been a few days since I've listed (or posted) anything, so I thought I would list this today. Its Friday, and Fridays should be fun! This is a fun bracelet (or anklet if you prefer) perfect for a Friday night fling.
We're getting ready for Bryon and Judy's wedding, which basically means doing laundry. And we're also pretty excited because Angry Chris is going to be there. He's been bumming around Europe for the past 10 months, hopefully getting less angry.

Fun Filled 4th

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I feel like I need a weekend from my weekend!
First of all, I'd like to wish Caitlin a very happy 4th of July Birthday (kind of belated!)
We were pretty busy this weekend, which is kind of unusual since I don't think we have as big of a social life as my mom thinks we do. Of course, most of the time when I call her, we've just done something cool, or going to do something cool, so it gives an impression of having a very exciting social calendar.
On Friday, we went to a 4th of July party (fitting, since it was on the 4th!) where we watched the Doodah parade and played Rock Band. Which led to Eric running out to buy Rock Band for the Wii (Tif, I can't even blame you for this one!:) ) We did our usual Friday night dinner with our friends Harold and Megumi, and played Rock Band.
Saturday, I saw Wall-E with our neighbor Christie (great movie!) and we had our friends Scott and Mary over to play (what else?) Rock Band. I'm actually getting pretty good at playing the drums (on easy!)
Sunday, we went out to Dayton and did another 20 mile bike ride with or friends Cara and Nicky.
So, a very fun-filled and busy weekend!
Next weekend, Washington DC!

Blogging: so much fun, the whole family will love it!

My sister emailed me this weekend announcing her new blogsite, angelstern.blogspot.com in part becuase of my blog. Check out her site and all of her cool craft projects that she's been working on! I love her jellyfish plate! (go, check it out!!)
Yes, we are one talented family, if I do say so myself!
Another family trait (at least all of the Chandler women) is that we all love Alexandrite. Whenever I come across any Swarovski crystal in alexandrite, or Czech glass beads in alexandrite, I have to buy it. Call it a compulsion. What is so cool about this stone, and also the glass/crystal replicas, is that it changes color depending on the light source (yes, its partly an eye nerd thing!) The stone is like "an emerald by day, a ruby by night" in daylight, it looks green, in candlelight, it looks red. The glass isn't as dramatic, but in daylight and incandescent light, its lavender, in fluorescent light, its an aqua/blue. So, can you see why its so mesmerizing? (BTW, my avatar is an angel with alexandrite czech glass wings) Anyway, I made some earrings with alexandrite czech glass for sale on Etsy, and trying to take photo of the color change is practically impossible! Check it out on the etsy site, and let me know what you think. I hope I was able to capture at least a hint of the color change!

I've Been Framed...

A few weeks ago, a good friend and I went to the Columbus Art Fair. She was on a quest to find a piece of artwork to go over the fireplace, and I tagged along to see the local talent. I ended up buying four pieces, and she ended up buying a print for another room in her house. Anyway, I framed them this weekend, and actually hung two of them, along with the prints from Santa Cruz I think I bought last January, framed them when I got home, and couldn't get Eric to help me hang them! The doors are hanging in our landing. They are so colorful! And the really cool thing about them is there is depth to them buy layering different parts of the photo-- its pretty awesome.
These are going to be in our bedroom-- the one on the left are prints of dandelion fluff, the other is hydrangeas.


These are hanging in the guest room. I have a bunch of San Fransico National Parks prints by the same graphic artist hanging around the room. These four are from Santa Cruz county parks.