A Little Snow

I took these photos back in December after a little snow. One benefit to not cutting back plants in the Fall is that it makes for whimsical yard decor.

Happy Winter! I am really looking forward to Spring, flowers, etc. but until then will try to enjoy the few benefits of winter.

It had been a very easy winter up until this past week. Now winter is in full gear here! 

Thank you for stopping by! ~Val

A Snow Storm

We had a decent snow storm! This one was heavy and sticky. The type that looks beautiful but is horrible to shovel. It seemed like 8 inches which isn't much here.

It was a very grey day.

I love this baby tree covered in snow.

It is marvelous being surrounded by trees in this weather.

Later the sun started to show its golden hues!

All the photos were taken from the comfort of home through the window with my cheap camera.

After the golden hues, we saw pink.

We have been quite busy as you can imagine so I haven't put much effort into my blog. Our first real snow fall in our new home was an excuse for a post!

Wishing you a fabulous weekend and week ahead! Thank you for stopping by! ~Val

This Past Week Update

Custom Lanyard
This request was for a lanyard using the 7 chakra colors. My customer loves the fancy jasper here and wanted the chakra colors to be muted to compliment this particular stone.

The charka colors are stacked near the bottom of the lanyard.

I used for the following stones to represent the colors:
violet - fancy jasper
indigo - lapis lazuli
blue - blue lace agate
green - fancy jasper
yellow - calcite
orange - fancy jasper
red - red jasper

This was a fun project to take on and I'm thankful to my customer for asking me to do so!

Progress
This was the backyard on February 15.

The deck furniture was completely buried! Luckily the deck didn't collapse.

This is the yard on April 1. We have had more melting over the past few days too!

I don't think we will be seeing much of the early spring flowers this year. The bulbs will likely be confused!

It would be nice to put the shovels away but being a New Englander I'm well aware of the possibility of an April snowstorm. Of course I'm hoping for none!

Almonds and Chocolate
I had a bag of these roasted salted almonds.

My taste buds felt they were way too salty, hence inedible! The solution?

I coarsely chopped them and mixed them with melted chocolate. The result? Very edible salty almonds!

Jewelry Making Journal
Here is my latest post seen in the most recent issue of the Jewelry Making Journal!

Thank you for stopping by. Happy Easter and Happy Passover if you are celebrating! ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

Green Aventurine
This necklace has nuggets of unakite and autumn jasper, stones that I typically associate with fall.

Pairing them with green aventurine is making me think spring! This piece is available at Miss Val’s Creations.

Snow!
Let me just say that snow is not my friend. I do not care for it much. However this winter has been so strange that I actually got excited that we had some snow to take pictures of. I do love how it looks just after it has fallen and sticks to trees, shrubs, plants, etc!

For those of you who are not from a snow infested area, this was the good stuff. The good snow is perfect for snowball fights and snowman making.

It is also the stuff that sticks to the trees and plants making them look so pretty! On the other hand, it is the evil stuff. Try shoveling cement!!! Not fun.

Even though I got slightly excited, I still look forward to my future retirement with Jim in sunny Florida.


Oscars
I did not get too excited about any Oscar gowns this year except for Michelle Williams who was wearing Octavia Spencer. If I could have a love affair with a dress, this would be the one!

It actually looked red on my old fashioned television so I was blown away even more when I saw it online the next day! The coral color is so beautiful and I adore the pairing with a pink clutch and pink lipstick. Perfection. She was working it too. Subtly though, not like Angelina Jolie and her strange leg movements. What was that all about?

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Speaking of Oscars, this section ties in with the annual awards show.

Yes, the title sounds silly! My mom gave me this book to read since we have roots from the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. This novel is unique because the content is entirely letters to and from different people that create the story! This really brought the characters to life!

The storyline sounds depressing. It is about a writer who goes to Guernsey after World War II to learn of the Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society that was formed during the island’s German occupation during the war to cope with the times. However it is written with lots of humor!

It was the only novel from Mary Ann Shaffer and was completed by her niece, Annie Barrows when Mary fell ill. Mary has since passed but I find it so inspirational since she had been quoted saying that “all I wanted was to write a book that someone would like to publish”. Apparently many publishers wanted to get their hands on this one!!!! We can do anything we put our minds to!

How does this tie into the Oscars you ask? Well I was ecstatic to learn that this novel is being brought to the big screen starring Kate Winslet and directed by Kenneth Branagh!

So it is safe to assume that this will be an Academy Award nominated film. It is due to start filming soon and will be released in 2013. It will be interesting to see this compilation of letters be put to film!!!

Thank you for stopping by! Have a wonderful week! ~Val

Winter Wonderland!!!

So I woke up to tons of snow today....at least a foot. It is supposed to snow all day. We had a smaller blizzard in December but this one is a a crazy one!

Here's my backyard. Right now, looking out the window, is what would be categorized at whiteout conditions! The wind is blowing wildy and the snow is falling heavily!!!

This makes me nervous. The sticky snow like this is what causes the power lines to go down. No electricity means no heat!!!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

This is my buddy Emmett. He is completely and utterly fascinated with the kitchen sink. Why? I have no clue!!!

Here he is looking back at the sink in fear that he has missed out on something exciting.

I'm looking forward to some super fun shoveling today!!!! Hear my sarcasm? Wish me luck!