the s-word and winter inspired earrings

Finally, finally the cold is letting up some. The Eisblumen have disappeared from the window pane. The temps might even reach 0° during the day - sounds pretty good to me. And as predicted - we are getting the s-word - that white stuff everybody thinks looks so pretty... well it is, if viewed on a picture, I guess - like this maybe...

Especially if you are cuddled up like this?

We have had about 4 inches since yesterday, with more to come. So I will be spending lots of time outside in the fresh air, shovelling sn.. I can't say it. the s-word....

But my muse did find inspiration in the cold winter weather and this is what she prompted me to make:

Leaves - just the colour of the leaves still clinging to the hedge; with gems that remind me of frost and icicles...

Hope you are all warm and cozy, where ever you are...

Eisblumen

This is the view through my bedroom window - well not exactly through - I guess, 'of' would be more to the point. Or shall we say - this is what I see when I try to see the view from my bedroom window... It has been this way for two weeks. It's actually quite lovely - if it weren't so cold... we call this 'Eisblumen' = ice flowers. As you may or may not have heard - it has been extremely cold in Europe these last two weeks. They say the icy frost will let up a bit next week. Good news. But they also say, we are going to get a ....load of the s-word. You know, that white stuff. Not so good news. Although, if I had to choose - well, give me some of the white stuff. If it means bearable temps, I'm all for it... just for this once...

The rising sun. Interesting - the sky is apricot pink and the earth is still shrouded in blue tones.

The angel's wing is laid bare of sheltering foliage...

Interesting also how the snow makes the face of this garden sculpture more visible...

Frosty early morning impression...

I have the impression that all this icy winter is going to find its way into my jewelry soon - but for now, I have to go throw some wood on the fire...

Edit: just wanted to say - we don't have it that bad - although the temps have gone down to -20° some nights - but there are many people much worse off in the rest of Europe... there have been many deaths. We do have a roof over our heads and heating - the cats are getting their food warmed, so we are thankful...

...the weather outside is frightful...

 A few weeks ago, Diane of Rosa & Josie's kindly sent me some beautiful brass filigrees to play with, along with a copy of Artful Blogging that she was in, because she knew I didn't have access to the magazine here - thank you again, Diane - you sweet and thoughtful woman! I am sure most of you know Diane and her beautiful jewelry (if not, hop right over to her blog - she is also a very talented photographer).
Inspired by Diane's style - I decided to create a piece with one of the brass filigrees as a tribute to her. This is what I came up with.

The focal is layered with the brass filigree, silk rod, vintage lace, a vintage image and mica.

The necklace was created using brass chain, Czech glass, rhinestone rondelles, vintage chandelier crystals, more vintage lace and textile forget-me-nots. I created the clasp using a vintage glass cabochon and brass filigree.

I know I haven't been posting very regulary lately.I seem to be caught in an endless loop of waking up to find more fresh snow - which needs to be shoveled away. So that I can get my car onto the slippery road. Driving anywhere requires more time than usual. This is what my world looks like right about now. I will have to go out and shovel some more snow - second time today.

The birds are hungry, because the deep snow has buried everything edible. I even have to clear a space beneath the pear tree in the yard, so that the bird seed I put out does not just disappear.

Even a few thrushes (I think these - the grey ones with the lighter coloured belly - front, center and far right - are juniper thrushes) have joined the multitude that feed in my yard.

Sunday flea market not available due to...

this! Just wanted to show you what it looks like here. Hey, I heard that! I heard you say it was beautiful.

Well, I will get it all loaded on to a few trucks and have it sent over to you. No, no need to thank me. My pleasure...

If only I could get rid of it that easy. It was minus 10°C this morning. And since there was no really interesting flea market scheduled today, I decided to keep my toes warm and stay in the house. I mean, even one of my cats came in from outside this morning and almost wiped out going around the corner, in his hurry to get to the litter box. So it apparently too cold to take care of business outside. Hmmm. It must be colder than I thought.

I am feeding the birds, as I do every winter. This little guy is a robin. Very different from the American robin. This is sort of the original thing. Tiny little bird. But so cute.

It is hard to get a decent picture through the kitchen window. And for some strange reason, they refuse to all come round and peck at the seeds when I am standing outside. I wonder why? I have a multitude of sparrows, chickadees, titmice (is that the plural of titmouse? I wonder), finches, blackbirds, thrushes and other birds that I don't know the English names of .

 Today, I borrowed my husband's camera to try to get some decent pictures of some of the birds. My camera just can't do it. This is a woodpecker in the pear tree. He likes peanuts.
I am still waiting for the partridge to turn up. We had a pheasant two years ago. Does that count?

Several of these large jay-like birds come to the feeders - they are also fond of the peanuts. They are called Eichelhäher - which could be (kinda-sorta) translated to acorn jay. A very shy bird, slightly smaller than a crow, and this is the first photo I have been able to shoot that wasn't just a blur.

They are predicting more s-word this afternoon and tomorrow. Maybe I should hibernate?

Hope you are all having a lovely Sunday, with or without the s word.

The dreaded S-word

This is what greeted me when darkness lifted this morning. Winter is here, seriously.

It kept snowing all morning. It won't last, but they are predicting a drop in the temperature. Meaning we will be looking at a high of 1-2° C (thats 33° for you Fahrenheit people). I won't even tell you what they are predicting as a low temperature. 

I sewed this heart pouch to use as a "gift wrap" for a necklace. It was fun to do some sewing for a change of pace. Now I have to get back to the jewelry - I have to finish some commission work. 

Hope you are all enjoying your long weekend.

and the snow falls

This is what my world looked like this morning.

What you can't see in this photo is the fact that it is snowing. It has been snowing since the early hours of yesterday morning. Nonstop. The streets are a mess. Traffic is a mess. Cars sliding around. No fun driving to work and back.

The birds are hungry. Constantly. I have been trying again and again to get a good shot of them. Not a chance. Always a flutter.

Two chickadees and a blackbird. All this snow is making it even more difficult for them. Even if I put out a kilo of bird seed (which I did this morning), it gets covered by the snow so quickly.

We will just have to hope that it will finally stop - but at the moment, it doesn't look that way.

Winter

Late yesterday afternoon, we took a walk down through the now empty hop gardens, through the woods and along the road back home. The temperatures had dropped during the previous night and it snowed a bit.

The air was crisp and cold.

The trees were powdered with snow.

A hop garden silhouetted against the sky.

Glorious evening sky.

Winter left her calling card

It was cold last night. Real cold. When I left the house this morning, it was 1°C. My car were all covered in frost. Not that easy to stratch away kind, no, the kind that really takes some muscle to remove. The car looked like it was covered with great big frosty fronds of farn. During the day we had several snow flurries. Nothing serious, it won't stay on the ground yet. But it is early this year. I'm not ready for winter yet.
My cats are spending alot of time in the house lately. They are restless, but they don't stay outside for long. Apparently, they are not ready for the cold yet either.

I know some of you are glad the weather is finally getting a bit cooler. All a matter of latitude, I guess.