'Snow On Snow'

White spots on white beads on a white background. Not the easiest thing in the world to photograph, that.

These beads remind me of falling snow. Pure white cores encased in clear, decorated with off-white (CiM Coconut Milk) spots. I carried on the snow theme with a heart which is half clear and half white.

This strand is priced at £25.00 and it's available in my shop.

'Winter Mix'

I made these beads yesterday as a kind of 'snow dance' in the hope that they would bring some snow to our little part of the world.  It kind of worked - this morning we woke up to a fine (read as 'pathetic') dusting of snow.  The sun has come out and most if it has thawed now.  Maybe we'll get some proper snow soon .....

You all seem to be absolutely loving the clear and white beads at the moment so I thought I'd make up a sort of icy glass bead potpourri to add to the Beads To Order page.  This strand contains four clear 'Sugar' beads, four white 'Snow' beads and ten 'White Shimmer' spacers.  I can imagine these with some crystal and silver in a frosty-looking charm bracelet.  It'd be just perfect for the festive period and would match the snow that seems to be slowly covering the UK.  The 'Winter Mix' strand costs £20.00 and is available here.

I've also made my 'Snow' beads available as sets of six and these can be found over on the Beads To Order page too.

Chris and I are making our Christmas cake this weekend.  I know, I know, we're late with it.  Recent family events threw everyday life up into the air but things are getting back to some kind of normality and I am determined to get the ingredients and get baking this weekend.  If we chuck enough brandy on the cake I'm sure it'll be fine in time for Christmas.

Right-o, I think it's about time to find my scarf and gloves and venture to the shops .....

Have a great Saturday!

EDIT : Just re-read this and I apologise for my ridiculous over-use of the word 'snow' in this post.

So much snow!

And I love it. I feel like I'm on Hoth!

The snow is about seven inches deep here in Abingdon and it's still snowing now. They forecast even more snowfall tonight. I've been out walking in it (I must get me some wellies!) and it's so deep that you don't touch the ground underneath. You can't see your feet either - the picture below is of me walking along an undisturbed, pristine stretch of snow. Don't you just love doing that?

I'm entranced by the trees - they look so pretty with their branches laden with snow. I always worry about the birds in this weather so I've put a little dish of bread and seed out in the shelter of the arbour in the back garden. I've just seen a robin stop by for a snack and against the snow he looked like something off the front of a Christmas card.

I don't think Buster's enjoying the weather. Mind you, it's so funny watching him trying to walk about in the snow. Last night he ventured out and came back in covered in snowflakes. Very cute!

I'm meant to be going to Cambridge on Friday but I'm not sure if that'll happen. When I spoke to Chris last night he said there wasn't any snow. Trains are running on revised timetables this end so maybe I'll be lucky.

Snow Glee!

I know that the snow is causing a huge amount of disruption across the country at the moment but I'm totally loving the stuff! I went to bed late last night (I was absorbed in knitting a sock) and when I turned the television off I could hear the soft sound of snowflakes falling upon the conservatory roof. All of our Monday snow had melted away so my snow excitement was renewed and I kept waking up every hour or so last night to peer out of the window and see if the white stuff was still falling.

When I got up this morning I was delighted to see about ten centimetres of snow outside! Snow just makes everything look magically beautiful, doesn't it? Like an absolute child I got dressed and rushed outside to play. Yes, I'm thirty one but you've got to make the most of snow like that!

I built a little snowcat. Her name is Bianca and her eyes and nose are made of beads from my Lonelies jar. I only made a tiny one as I didn't want to use all the snow up!

Now that my hands have thawed out and my kiln is warmed up I shall switch from fashioning cats from snow to creating cakes from glass. Thank you so much for the fabulous response to last night's Cupcake beads. Something tells me I'll be making a lot of these. Do any of you out there have any colour or decoration suggestions for them? If so, please leave them in my comments section and I'll see what I can do.

See you later!

Sock-Making : Sockcess!

Huzzah! My first proper pair of socks! I totally love them. They fit perfectly and they're so warm and snug. I knitted them in a groovy-coloured variegated yarn in shades of orange and purple.

I finished knitting them last night and it couldn't have been better timing because today it's snowing outside. I'm so excited! I absolutely flippin' love the snow and I just did a little it's-snowing-and-I'm-wearing-my-new-socks dance in the conservatory. In fact I got a little bit snow-crazy and flung the conservatory door open and sat there with my legs dangling outside to test the warmth of the socks. They're toasty!

I know I sound like a sap but I think it's safe to say that I'm totally addicted to knitting socks. I've already started another pair. I think the ladies in the local wool shop are going to be sick of the sight of me!

I'll post again later with bead news .....