Moriah's Art Corner

Latest projects

2010-09-16T18:15:00.008-04:00

My friend Tami has resurrected her blog, and now that my major project has been completed as of August 18th, I have been inspired to resurrect my blog. My major project-- "little e" was born on August 18th at 5:01am after 27 hours of labor. He weighed 7lbs, 15.5oz and was 21 inches long. At 4 weeks, I swear he's almost doubled in size, and I've been afraid to weigh him (much to my mother-in-law's disappointment!). He is a great baby, I think we'll keep him... :) Even if he does make it difficult to work on any other art projects right now.

For his room, my partner in crime, Christie and I made some wall art. Amazingly, three of the four Winnie the Pooh hangings were completed before his arrival. I finished the E and the last one after he was born. I have a few other things that I want to do for his room (coordinating basket liners) and then I can hopefully get back to quilting. I have a few classes that I've signed up for so I can learn paper piecing so I can make my sister's quilt that I promised her. I also have three baby afghans to finish, I hope the kids they are meant for aren't teenagers by the time they get them!

4th Quilt is Finished!

2010-03-17T23:23:00.005-04:00

Lately, I haven't been feeling overly crafty. I guess I have Jeweler's Block. I've been working on an afghan for a friend's baby girl, and all of the fun part is finished, just the sewing together. (My least favorite part!)

At least I haven't been slacking in the quilting department. I started this one shortly after dropping off the last quilt at the quilter's in early Febuary. The material is from Moda's Goodnight Monkey line, and the pattern is from Happy Hour. I'm going to use navy flannel for the backing to make it extra snuggly. This will be perfect for the really big "craft" project I've been working on since December. That one won't be ready until late August...

In the meantime, I have a bunch more material ready to go for quilt projects, yarn for more baby blankets (I will soon be able to figure out which color scheme gets started first...) and plenty of beads and wire for jewelry. My husband gave me a soldering iron for my birthday, which is something new to figure out!

New Year, New Quilt

2010-01-28T23:16:00.002-05:00

Happy January everyone!

I just finished this last night, I think I started it last October, but between travelling and making Christmas presents (and being way more complicated that the first two quilts!) it took me longer for this one. I'm hoping to take it to the quilter's next week to finish it.

The quilt is for Eric and is destined to dwell in the 'Man Cave.' If you haven't guessed, its a Scarlett and Grey themed room.

A bit more info about the quilt: the pattern comes from Marti Michell's Log Cabin book. It combines a Star within a star, log cabin blocks and an outer border of flying geese and pinwheels.

The next quilt will be purely for fun- a monkey quilt. Then I have another red/white/black quilt and the most ambitious quilt for my sister. I'm going to have to take a class for that one!

Quilt #2 is Finished!

2009-12-16T17:18:00.005-05:00

Ok, so I have been doing so much more than quilting lately, but I was sending some of these pics to my folks so I thought I would share them with everyone.
Glassblowing is going well, I have some pics on my camera that I need to download and then I can share those.
We've had so many travels and visitors lately! I can't complain that I don't get visitors in Ohio now. My sister and her boyfriend visited us in September. Our friends Caitlin and Kyle came to visit in October, and our friends Mike and Tif were here also in October. Then, my folks came to visit in November for a few days before Thanksgiving.
So, I haven't had much time for quilting or jewelry making lately, but I'm hoping things will settle down after the holidays for a bit.
We went to Florida for a Conference in November too. I donated six pieces of jewelry for the American Optometric Foundation auction that was being held at the conference. My jewelry raised over $700 for the AOF! It was for a great cause and so gratifying that my work was so well received! Check it out here (Mine are listed under Donated by Dr. Moriah Chandler) The green necklace sold for $200!!

Next up: pictures of glass pieces and a tutorial on making some awesome Christmas Tree ornaments, in time for next Christmas!

Another New Hobby!

2009-07-29T23:41:00.004-04:00

Happy Summer All!

This summer, my neighbor and partner in crime has been teaching me how to quilt. I think she's been wanting to do this for years! I finished piecing my first quilt, and I did a pretty good job. I'm not going to do the quilting myself-- I would rather have a finished quilt than a pile of material. Anyway, the quilter was pretty impressed. I can't wait to see it all together and be able to use it!

I already started cutting pieces for my second quilt. I found the material for it when I was looking for material for the border for the first quilt. And I have extra red material, so that means I have to make a Buckeye quilt, right?

Please Vote for Mel the Monkey!

2009-06-08T17:30:00.003-04:00

http://etsyhookers.blogspot.com/

The Etsy Hookers team is having a creative challenge, "a walk of the wild side." I entered my crochetted and felted monkey, Mel. Voting is now open and you can vote now until next Monday, June 15th noon EST. Please vote early and often! :) Thank you!

Mel is now available in my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25059122 and is looking for a good home!

St. Petersburg Chain

2009-05-20T16:13:00.004-04:00

I had a another beading workshop on Monday night. This is my work in progress-- isn't it nifty? The stitch is a double St. Petersburg Chain, and the bottom of the pendant is going to have lots of beaded fringe when I'm finished getting the length of the chain to where I want it. The focal bead is Labradorite (my current fave!) and I actually got some of the blue flashes in the picture. The seed beads are size 11, and it takes 3mm Swarovski crystals. I picked light sapphire satin since it goes well with the labradorite. This is a neat project, but its pretty intensive since you have to make half of the upper side, then the other half, and then work on the lower halves separately. I have a ton of respect for beadweavers; it takes a ton of time and work!

In other news, I'm trying to make my own light box so I can take pictures whenever I need to and not wait for a sunny day. The convenience will be good, but I will miss showcasing parts of my garden! (Which looks awesome this year!!)

Its....a bicycle!

2009-04-22T18:13:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago, I finally got my Christmas present! Its a Trek 2.1 road bike. We've been having pretty schizophrenic weather these past weeks and whenever its been good biking weather, we've had guests over, or been out of town, so I didn't get to ride it until last weekend.

I also upgraded to "big girl" pedals-- clipless pedals with cleats. To be honest, they kind of intimidate me. Its like learning how to ride a bike all over again getting used to attaching your feet to the pedals. I got the right foot down pretty quickly, but I had a really hard time keeping the left foot clipped in. We eventually worked it out and adjusted the cleat and pedal enough to go for a quick spin around the neighborhood.

10 miles later, I love the new bike! Well, I loved it before, but it was so cool-- I can pass Eric easily without really having to pedal my butt off like with my old bike. Don't get me wrong, my old bike was the first "big" purchase I treated myself to after graduating from optometry school (some people get a car, I buy a bike!) and I had hundreds of good rides on it, but I kind of outgrew it. Especially when we started doing 20 mile rides with our friends who are much more accomplished cyclists than I am.

So, I'm pretty happy, and can't wait for another weekend of good weather so we can try a longer ride soon...

New Item In My Etsy Shop

2009-02-03T18:54:00.003-05:00

Meet Peggy, a perky pink pig just listed in my Etsy Shop . My neice and nephews are always asking for handmade pets, and Peggy was a request from my neice. So far, she is a very limited edition of three (Three little pigs, anyone?) One went to my neice for her Christmas present, one for me to keep (I have a bad habit of never making anything for myself!) and one for the shop.

The boys got spiders for Christmas, which turned out really cute, and I'll have to make more of them soon.

Falling of the bead wagon

2009-01-31T16:16:00.002-05:00

I have a lot of beads. (I have a lot of yarn too, but that's another story) I have beads organized into projects for when the muse strikes me, I have leftover beads from completed projects and I have a nice collection of "someday I'll find the perfect beads to go with these" beads.
Before Christmas, I actually put a moratorium on buying more beads for awhile. Well, my favorite bead shop, 1 Stop Bead Shop just moved into a bigger store, right next to Trader Joe's. (Big Trouble) And they were having a 20% off your entire purchase coupon today. (Even bigger Trouble) And of course, my partner in crime and neighbor Christie and I had to check out the new digs. (Can we see where this is going?) Yeah, we had fun. And I came home with a lot more beads, and more food from Trader Joe's. I don't think I should restrict my bead purchases anymore-- it just leads to more trouble.

Winter Blahs and Man How Time Flies

2009-01-07T17:20:00.002-05:00

First of all, Happy New Year's everyone! Hope everyone had a great holiday season, happy Kwanza, Solstice, Boxing Day and et al. :) Christmas was good, we went up to Eric's parents, the kids got a Wii, so Eric and I are off the hook for bringing ours up everytime we visit. (or, we're no longer the cool aunt and uncle becuase they don't need us to play Wii) Eric wasn't feeling too Christmassy this year, I think its because of his impending PhD candidacy exams. He has two months to write a grant proposal and then defend it. Needless to say, he's kind of stressed right now, and prone to needing the computer.
So, he's busy, I'm laying low being supportive and staying out of the way. Its gray and cold, not much snow yet, just a lot of ice, sleet and bad driver. And I'm slipping into the after-Christmas malaise.
Onto some more exciting and less whiney things...
I had a couple of jewelry orders that I completed this week, so that is good. I finished some felted pigs, spiders, monkeys and a giraffe (which sold the same day I took it into work to show off) And if we have a sunny day soon, I'll take some pictures and post them.
I have another friend expecting in July, so add another baby afghan to the list. :) I think that makes four between April and July this year. Eric is afraid that I'll get carpal tunnel from all that crocheting.
I'm looking forward to going on vacation at the end of Eric's canidacy exam. We booked a cruise to the Carribean for an insanely amazing price. Half off for a balcony stateroom on Princess Cruises- we couldn't believe it.
Anyway, stay warm everyone!

Operation Birthday Surprise a Success!

2008-11-25T10:30:00.002-05:00

My husband is turning 35 this week. Because it is also Thanksgiving, I decided to have his birthday celebration last weekend. What do you get someone that has just about everything and really doesn't need anything (except a new car, but, not a real need, more of a want)? I got him friends. I managed to persuade Tracy and Martin, our friends whom we haven't seen since their wedding last year to come for a surprise visit. And I was able to get two tickets to the OSU/Michigan game (cold!!!) so they could go to the game with us. It was way awesome, despite the frustration. I'll have to think of some way to top this, I don't know if I can since he said that it was the best birthday present ever.
Anyway, I'm pretty tired from all the partying. And I'm really ready for some turkey and pumkin pie.

Has it really been almost a month since my last post?

2008-11-11T21:13:00.002-05:00

I guess it has! Time flies when you're having fun, and fall seems to be the busiest time of the year. We've had football games to go to, we were in California for a week for an eye conference and visit with the family. I got a great sinus infection while we were out there (I think I can honestly say that I don't ever remember coughing up GREEN phlegm...until now) And we've been getting ready for new hardwood floors. We have a lot of stuff.

This weekend, we had our contractor friend Jon install the floors, and they look amazing! We picked a Brazillian Cherry wood. Today I touched up the baseboards with paint, and we moved the furniture back into the room. Again, we have a lot of stuff!

So, I haven't been working on too many artistic endevors. I have a baby blanket that I've been piecing together and that's been taking up most of my craft time. (can't post pictures as it's for Caitlin!) Once I get that together, I have the urge to make some more critters.

Eric's birthday is at the end of the month, I've been busy planning his birthday surprise. That's taken a lot more energy that I thought it would. Mainly because I don't really know what to get him, and he hasn't been terribly helpful with hints.

Finally... Witches Balls

2008-10-13T20:53:00.003-04:00

At long last, I'm posting pics of the glass Witches Balls that I made. I ended up going to two workshops because the first time around, someone took some of mine, and the others didn't turn out the way I had hoped. So, I went last Friday and had to miss Eric's Graduate Studies Barbeque.

Super busy week!

2008-10-01T14:37:00.002-04:00

Thank you everyone for your thoughts for my mother in law! They let her out of the hospital last Thursday and continues to do well. Still no idea how it all happened, but the good thing is that she's okay now.
Last weekend, my sister in law and her family came down to visit. While we were up visiting them last week, she was telling us that our eldest nephew (who is 8) was saying that "Uncle Eric NEEDS to take me to a football game." I was thinking it was too bad we didn't know that earlier because taking him to the Troy game would have been perfect and easier to get tickets for rather than finding tickets for a Big 10 game. Well, while I was thinking that, Eric was thinking, hey, I CAN take him to a football game if Aunt Moriah agrees to give up her ticket. Which is what I (somewhat) graciously did. And it ended up Eric found another ticket so his brother in law could go and I got to spend time with my sister in law and our three year old nephew. He's kind of going through a very whiney stage, and I know three is a tough age, but really, I'm afraid to have kids now!
The 8 year old wanted to leave the game after the 1st quarter! Once they bought him some nachos and a tshirt, he was happy to stay, so I guess they had a good time. After the game, we went to Dave and Buster's for dinner (on the 8 year old insistance) and we also played a ton of Wii.
I made caramel apples for them too. I ended up sending them home with them because we went out for ice cream and I didn't want to hype them up too much on sugar.

My glass workshop was cancelled, which worked out fine since we had guests, but I'm really hoping that this week's one isn't cancelled!

What's new?

2008-09-24T18:20:00.002-04:00

Sorry to post a blog without a picture, but its been a bad week! My mother in law was admitted to the hospital on Saturday because she was losing blood somehow. She's on the mend, although they still don't know what caused the bleeding in her small intestine. So, we were up with the family until last night when they moved her out of ICU.

On a very, very minor note, my glass workshop was cancelled. (Which turned out to be ok since I would have missed it anyway) So, no new cool pieces of glasswork. The next one is coming up, so I still have that to look forward to!

In The Dark and New Etsy Listings

2008-09-16T13:41:00.005-04:00

One of the nice things about living in Ohio is that we usually don't have too many natural disaters. Earthquakes are next to nonexistant (I think I felt one years ago, but it could have been a truck driving by!) and I've lived in California and been through some major earthquakes. Tornadoes, we get warnings for, but usually nothing touches down. Blizzards, occasionally, but nothing like upstate New York or even closer to the Great Lakes. Our last "blizzard" had 20 inches of snow, but not the high winds. But hurricaines? Impossible, right? I thought so, but on Sunday, we had the remnants of Ike rip through the Midwest. Winds topped out at 74mph in Columbus, and over 2 million people were left without power in Ohio. Many people are still without electricity, and will likely not get their power back until the end of this week. We lost power for over 24 hours (came back last night, thank goodness, otherwise Eric was going to go nuts!) It was annoying and inconvient, but not as bad as it could have been. Our house wasn't damaged much (lots of missing shingles though!) and we had running water. We played card games with our neighbor in the dark. It was kind of fun. Like when you were little and went camping. I'm glad it wasn't worse. My thoughts are with the Ike victims along the coast.

I have new goodies for my Etsy shop! Wire wrapped pendants. I'll be listing these throughout the week...

Also, new glass workshop this weekend! So excited!

Busted!

2008-09-09T17:33:00.003-04:00

Scarlett has been rather acrobatic lately! I caught her scaling the fridge last night and actually had my camera handy to catch my mountain goat of a cat in the act. Last time I caught her, she had actually climbed up to the space above the cabinets, up where the teapot is in the picture. And yes, I know, the top of the fridge is a mess! I had hoped to deter Scarlett from jumping up there if there wasn't enough space for her paws to land, but alas, it hasn't stopped her. Eric gets pretty upset with her, but I can't, she's just too cute!

Buckeye Bling and What I did for Labor Day

2008-09-02T14:42:00.003-04:00

Buckeye football officially started on Saturday. Of course, we went to the slaughter, umm, I mean game. The Buckeyes trounced Youngstown State 43-0. It was Alumni day as well, and its always so cool seeing four 'script Ohios' on the field. We went to my friend Lori's great tailgate party before the game, and I managed to hand out all of my business cards. Hopefully, I'll get some orders out of it!
After the game, our friends Nicky and Cara went out to dinner with us to our favorite Greek restaurant Anna's . They loved the food so much they want to go again after this Saturday's game!

On Sunday, Eric had to check on some of his lab work, and we met his honorary sister's fiancee. Afterwards, we had movie night with our next door neighbor and some yummy mango margaritas.

Satruday was the Upper Arlington Art Festival. It was a nice fair, but I kind of thought that a lot of the jewelry was kind of similar and overpriced. Or maybe I'm just not charging enough for mine? After I got back from that, Eric had invited some of his lab friends for an impromptu cook out (we already had the food so it wasn't a crisis) and swimming party. Rock Band was included, of course!

I've been making more of these beaded pendants in OSU colors. I gave one to Cara on Saturday. I don't think she had any Buckeye jewelry, and that is practically a must, especially if you go to the football games!

Bathing Scarlett

2008-08-28T09:13:00.004-04:00

We've had some pretty low key weekends lately, and I've been feeling really lazy. Because of that, I really haven't had anything too exciting to post. Yes, I'm excited about Buckeye Football starting this weekend, but it also means that summer is over, and other than going to our friends' wedding in July, I didn't take any time off from work, and I think I'm a little cranky about that. So, next summer, definitely taking some sort of vacation! Or, people could come and visit...

Anyway, I digress! The highlight of last weekend was giving Scarlett, our fur child, a bath. Yes, I know, its kind of sad that this is how exciting my weekends have been lately! My parents always think that I do nothing but go out with friends, have friends over, etc, but we haven't even had an impromptu Wii party lately! (well, it was finals week for Eric) We usually give Scarlett a bath a couple times a year. She loves playing up in the basement crawlspace, so she gets kind of dusty and musty smelling even though she is very fastidious about cleaning herself (and sleeping). So, we bathe the cat. She actually does pretty well for a cat getting soaked, although this time she was a lot more vocal about her dislike of bathtime. Her fur is soft to begin with, but after her bath, its incredibly soft like rabbit fur. And she gets very snuggly too. She spent the entire afternoon on my lap afterwards.

Glass is Fun!

2008-08-12T16:42:00.005-04:00

I had my second glass workshop on Saturday! This time, it was dichroic glass pendants. These are basically layers of glass sandwiched between two pieces of glass and fused in a kiln. I so totally want a kiln now! I think that will have to wait until we have a house with a bigger garage, (or a workshop?) and it can go right next to the potter's wheel I want too... :)

Anyway, these are the three pieces I made, and I plan to wire wrap them and make them into pendants.

OSU Sunday

2008-08-03T20:13:00.006-04:00

Today I spent the day on my neighbor Christie's deck playing with beads! It was a totally gorgeous day and I was happy hanging out being creative and working on some of my OSU Buckeye baubles. We were pretty productive; Christie fixed a bracelet, made a pair of earrings, and made a new bracelet for her 5 year old neice (whose wrist is about 3/4 inches smaller than mine!). I finished a couple of earrings, made a necklace, a crocheted bracelet and a scarlet and gray daisy bracelet.

Then we both worked on a fringed yo-yo bead pendant. I've been trying to figure out how to get the beads to stay tight, and I swear you need ten hands to do so!

Pretty Pumpkins!

2008-07-29T22:10:00.005-04:00

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

2008-07-22T20:06:00.002-04:00

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?

2008-07-17T10:36:00.004-04:00

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

2008-07-11T18:15:00.004-04:00

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

2008-07-07T20:56:00.003-04:00

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!

2008-07-02T22:03:00.004-04:00

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...

2008-07-01T22:56:00.003-04:00

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.

Random Acts of Kindness in July/Remember When...

2008-06-30T17:15:00.004-04:00

This is reprinted with permission from sisterjinx.etsy.com:
Remember When...
You had only just a couple of sales? Remember how hard it was to get from 0 or 1 or 3 to 5 or 10? Well these folks know that struggle. Let's support these wonderful etsy artisans and help them reach that magic number 5.

I compiled this list of etsians with under 5 sales to help them reach that goal. Will you help me to help them?

lazyfish.etsy.com photography, banners, sewn goodies
capitalcitycrafts.etsy.comjewelry
owlbot.etsy.comCards
malamoosephotography.etsy.comphotography, cards
appleoranges.etsy.comjewelry
signcerelyyours.etsy.comsigns
theledgecollection.etsy.comminiture clay figurines
mistym03.etsy.comjewelry, hair items, crochet items
tcpjewelry.etsy.comjewelry
polkadot61.etsy.comjewelry
thatdirtydog.etsy.comtowels
candaradesign.etsy.comphotos, cards, jewelry
snaplifeimages.etsy.comphotography
simplesurfer.etsy.comJewelry, jewelry boxes, crocheted items
vintagefairretrorare.etsy.comvintage
juliejongleuse.etsy.comjewelry
mycreativepaper.etsy.comgreeting cards, scrapbook pages, notecards, labels, tags
beadyeyelass.etsy.com (ME!)jewelry and felted friends
beadedoriginals.etsy.comjewelry and pillows
jamijewelry.etsy.comjewelry

Have fun shopping! :)
to share this list with your friends you can direct them to this blog hcdreams.blogspot.com/2008/06/random-acts-of-kindness-july.html
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If you have a spare moment, check out all of the talented new etsians from the list! There are some awesome pieces, great prices and a ton of talent!

Froggy Friday

2008-06-27T20:08:00.003-04:00

Here are my felted frogs that I've been working on this week. My oldest nephew asked if I would make him a frog last weekend and I had to oblige! And since I hate felting just one thing in the washing machine, I made him some buddies to go swimming with.

We don't have much planned this weekend. I think its supposed to rain for most of it (wish we could send some of our weather out to California right now!!!) and we're having our friend from Washington DC stay with us next week, so I'm thinking we're going to be doing a lot of cleaning this weekend. Once we've picked up the livingroom, I really want to work on some wire wrapped pendants. I've been stockpiling wire and cabachons for that for months!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Turtle Tuesday

2008-06-24T11:52:00.003-04:00

Here are my latest cuties! Laverne and Shirley are the ladies with the beautifully beaded backsides. Laverne is the larger lass. Dottie is my first attempt at using needle felting to decorate my felted menagerie. I was going to add different colors of polka dots, but Eric suggested having a series of turtles with different colored dots.

While we were up visiting my in laws this weekend, I took my yarn with me to make more animals. My neice fell in love with the tiny striped one I was finishing, so I gave it to her. The boys were pretty fascinated as well-- the younger one more so with the ball of green yarn! He's getting a turtle out of his favorite green, and the oldest was asking what else could I make? So I told him rabbits and turtles, and I have a frog in the works. He wants a frog. I'll give him my prototype when I'm finished with it. Of course, my neice wants a frog now too...

New Idea, What Do Y'all Think?

2008-06-23T17:30:00.003-04:00

Ok, so I'm still having a great time making turtles and I've managed to change my pattern to make them even tinier. I've been wondering though: do you think there would be any interest in personalized turtles? I was thinking I could put people's names or initials on the turtle shells either with beading or with needle felting. I just started needle felting and its pretty cool! Perfect for embellishing my amigurumi animals and still be toddler-proof. I'll be listing Dottie, my first needle felted turtle this week, along with Laverne and Shirley, two beaded turtles.

In other news, we bought a new laptop this weekend. My laptop died last year, so Eric and I have been sharing his. Now his laptop is dying. So, new laptop. Its very light, under 4 pounds and way faster than Eric's laptop. The cool thing is, we bought it at Best Buy, where we have a rewards zone card (you get gift certificates for a percentage of what you spend), using gift cards that we bought through the grocery store (where you can get up to 50 cents off a gallon of gas on 4 fill ups) and using the credit card that has cash back. So, we basically tripled up our rewards, and we'll save a ton on gas next month. Which is good, because we're driving to a wedding in DC!

St Louis Puffins!

2008-06-17T17:17:00.003-04:00

This weekend we visited St Louis with our friends Harold and Megumi. I lived in St Louis for a year during my residency. Its a really cool city with tons of stuff to do and it only takes about six and a half hours to drive to from Columbus. Anyway, when Eric and I moved out there, Harold helped us move (yes, we shanghied him into helping) and while he was there, we took him to the zoo. Harold was mesmerized by the puffins. So, a few Fridays ago, Harold mentioned that he wanted to go visit the puffins, and since I had a day off, and we hadn't been back to the Lou in a few years, we decided to tag along, split the gas and hotel room. We had a great time revisiting old haunts, going to the zoo (yes, puffins!) the Boathouse in Forest Park, the City Museum, and stocking up on Schaflys Hefeweizen. Am I too old to go on a beer run? Apparently not!

Some Projects I'm Working On

2008-06-10T13:54:00.004-04:00

Here are some projects that I've been working on lately. You'll notice the curl has grown, I have one more color left to do on it, and then cleaning up the sides. I still have no idea what to do with it when I'm finished with it.

More turtles, I changed the pattern a little on the wee one, so instead of just crochetting tighter, he really is smaller. I'll be beading both of the turtles, and I'm thinking of naming them Laverne and Shirley. I can't remember which one was the tall one, something I'll have to look up before listing them.

The copper bracelet was a for an order last week, two of those in different sizes, A pair of Jade Peas earrings and two Green Pebble bracelets.. I managed to track down enough green irridescent beads for them, and hopefully for another one.

The silver/aqua strands are going to be a bracelet. The feedback that I've been getting since I've started showing off my jewlery has been great. One of the suggestions I got was to do more bracelets!!! So I'm trying to oblige.

Lastly, this is my Ladybug necklace. The center bead and the two surrounding the silver ladybugs are some of the Lampwork beads I made last summer. I think they go perfectly, don't you? And I couldn't resist the clasp for it-- how cute is that?

Today I'm thinking of moving all of my beading supplies to my "studio" (aka the spare bedroom) instead of the living room. I think Eric will appreciate that, since it will give him more room to play Guitar Hero. Yes, he bought Guitar Hero on Sunday. Ever since our visit to New Mexico where he got to play it, he's been talking about buying it. I'm still trying to figure out why you need a plastic guitar when you just bought a really nice acoustic guitar, but if it makes him happy, and gives me time to work on crafts, then its okay with me.

New Listing: Ladybugs!

2008-06-05T19:03:00.003-04:00

I just listed this necklace on etsy. The whole inspiration for this piece came last summer when my mom was visiting and we took a workshop in Lampwork beadmaking. I made three beads that looked like ladybugs. And yes, it took me practically a year to get around to making the necklaces! I actually like this one a tiny bit better than the one I made for myself with my lampwork beads-- I went a little crazy with the length on mine, so I'm thinking of redoing it. This one is a good length for most people, and who doesn't like ladybugs?

I also took the time and redid some of my pictures that didn't turn out quite as well as I'd like. We have a beautiful sunny day today, so the colors should come out nicely.

While I was at it, I took some pictures of the front garden for posterity before the bunny family completely desecrates it. They're working their way from my neighbor's side over to mine and they aren't afraid of anything. The really exciting thing is our tree we planted a year and a half ago is blooming for the first time! Its a tree lilac and smells divine.

Got your back

2008-06-03T16:03:00.002-04:00

Many things have happened last week. I had my first etsy sale! Shelly and Timmy were adopted on Friday. So, I guess I'm official now! I also sold a few things in person and have a few orders placed. I have a quest to find similar beads I bought months ago for two bracelets. I think I'll be stalking the aisles of Joann's this week. Good thing too, they're having a sale on beads.
Eric bought an acoustic guitar last week. It was his anniversary present to himself. So I have been merrily beading while he learns chords. He keeps asking me if he's driving me crazy yet. Most of the time, the strumming and the tuning (and re-tuning) don't bother me too much. Its the asking me if I'm crazy yet that does. I'm beginning to wonder if he's actually trying to drive me nuts.
We celebrated out third anniversary last week of wedded bliss. The traditional third anniversary gift is leather. So, I got a leather purse, and he got a guitar stap and a gift certificate for new shoes. I don't know what the theme for four years is.
Yesterday we went to Cedar Point. I love going on roller coasters, and the weather was perfect! The park wasn't overly crowded since most of the schools get out this week. My favorite ones are Maverick and Raptor. My least favorite were Mean Streak and Mantis. The Mean Streak is a huge wooden coaster, but I think they make it overly rough on purpose. Every hill jars your back! I can barely move today because of that. The Mantis is a stand up coaster, and on some of the loops, it switches direction so fast your head hits the side of the shoulder harness. Nothing like boxing your own ears! Despite those two, we had a great time!
So, I'm pretty sore, and not inclined to move much. I hate feeling like I'm getting old!

Banner update and more listings

2008-05-27T21:21:00.003-04:00

This afternoon I added more listings on etsy. It was rainy today, so I didn't use my usual photo spot for pictures, so I'll probably redo some of the jewelry ones when we have a sunnier day. I also took the time to play with my banner by adding some insets of different pieces I've made. I'm getting pretty good at Photoshop, if only I could figure out how to add borders... :)

Beading and biking (not at the same time)

2008-05-27T14:55:00.003-04:00

I hope everyone had a great and relaxing weekend! I worked on some new projects-- 2 new necklaces (one for me to keep and the other to list!), matching earrings and a bracelet. The bracelet is already sold, along with the Spring Flowers Bracelet. Not to worry, I have enough supplies to make another fun and funky flower bracelet and will list that soon.
We also went on a 20 mile bike ride with our friends in Dayton. The weather was incredible, and it was awesome actually going somewhere on the bicycle. Usually, Eric and I just tool around the neighborhood. We're all pumped about biking now, and since everyone else had a road bike, and I have a heavy hybrid, I'm thinking I want a new bike. I know, want, not need. And no, if everyone jumped off a building, I wouldn't jump too.

Meet Shelly and Timmy

2008-05-22T21:56:00.003-04:00

Here are the remaining two turtles I made last week: Shelly (with the pretty beaded shell) and Timmy (the tiny one). It took me a little longer to finish the beadwork on Shelly, mainly because its been a busy week. I'll be listing them on Etsy soon.

We went to an optometry continuing education meeting on Tuesday, and yesterday I got a Wii Fit. Thats a pretty neat peripheral for the Wii, and I think the potential to have a lot of games based on it is huge. I'm a little sore from playing with it last night. I don't think it is the total answer to fitness, but it gets you off the couch and moving, and it makes you think a little bit more about being active than your typical video game.

Any plans for Memorial Day Weekend? I plan on working on some jewelry ideas and we're going to visit some friends in Dayton and go biking.

Mastering the Curl (The Wicked Bead Lady)

2008-05-20T12:46:00.003-04:00

I had my beading class on Saturday night. Its taken me that long to recover from it! Seriously, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and the Wicked Bead Lady did not yell at anyone like I feared. The style of the project isn't something that I typically go for, but the technique was interesting. As you can see, I'm still working on it.

Goodbye Old Friend

2008-05-20T12:31:00.003-04:00

Okay, so this isn't arts and crafts related (unless you think vintage cars can be a piece of art!)

I sold my 1982 BMW 528e last week. That was my first car I ever owned, it belonged to my grandparents who gave it to my sister and me for our high school graduation present. The car had 172,000 miles on it when I sold it. The reason why I sold it was because I bought a Honda two years ago, and while I had every intention of driving the beemer on the weekends, I just never did. So it was sitting out in our parking lot being ignored and slowly rusting. I felt slightly guilty everytime I looked at my poor little car because until I bought the Honda, that car was pampered!

I sold it to a family who has two teenagers getting their drivers' licenses soon (shouldn't every kids' first car be a BMW?), and their dad's hobby is restoring old cars. I think he is more excited than the kids about his new project!

Its difficult letting something that I've had for so long go, but its easier doing so knowing that the new owners are able to take care of the car and really apprieciate it for what a cool old beast it is. I'm looking forward to seeing it restored to its former glory! Broomhilda, you will be missed!!!

Oh Look! Turtles!

2008-05-17T13:20:00.005-04:00

Just a quick update while I'm felting these cute little guys. I love making these turtles! They are so darling and easy to make. I'm going to leave some of them plain, some of them are already pretty fancy with their racing stripes, and some of them are going to get a little bling of their own. The unembellished ones make great baby gifts, or one of the ladies I work with think they would be good dog toys. I think they would be sturdy and safe enough for that, but I don't want to know if you're using them for that purpose.

In other news, the bead class is tonight. I'm actually pretty nervous about this because Christie (my neighbor and partner in crime) and I went to the guest artist's trunk show last night which was being held during another one of her classes. The teacher totally b***hed this poor woman out for not knowing some of the stitches real well! The reason why I'm worried is because this beading technique is something I've been dabbling in, but just for simple bracelets, and I have never done Peyote or Brick stitch before. So, Christie has christened the teacher the "Wicked Bead Lady" and I hope I do okay in this class. Fortunately, I don't think there's a test at the end!

The Usual Suspects

2008-05-15T10:11:00.002-04:00

Here's my trio of crocheted bunnies, all grown up and felted! And look, in true bunny fashion, there's a fourth one now. The things bunnies get into when you're felting them in the washing machine! The little one is made from the same hook size and yarn, I just tightened the tension of stitches.

We have a birthday party for a one year old this weekend, the pink one with yellow ears is for her. I also have a beadweaving class that I'm taking this Saturday, so lots of photos soon.

Taking the Plunge

2008-05-14T15:18:00.000-04:00

Ok, so its official. I've taken the plunge and started my own ETSY shop! I've also been working on some crochet amigurumi bunnies that I've been felting. Boy, was Eric complaining about that! I guess wet wool is not one of his favorite scents. Remind me not to get that for him for Christmas!

So now that I have the site up and running, I am torn between making for fuzzy animals or jewelry...

Here's a peek at the bunnies before felting, I'll post the finished product once they are dry.