We're All Ears :: February Reveal :: Frozen

Friends. I don't have anything new to share today. Some of you know this, but others may not...my mother passed away just two days after the challenge post, on February 3rd. My Muse has not returned with all the things that I have needed to attend to, but she is thawing out a bit, so I am sure that I will be back to creating quite soon.

Photo by Damian McCoig on Unsplash

Instead of something new, I am going to share a few things that I made over the years that I think fit the wintery theme. And of course, I am most looking forward to what you have created because when you step outside your comfort zone and challenge yourself it is a thing of beauty.
  

  

Show me your best tribute to the frosty, frozen, winter chill!

We're All Ears Challenge:: February :: Frozen

They call the land where I live the "Frozen Tundra."

And this week, I totally believe this to be true!

Temperatures as I write this are dipping into the -20 to -30 range...and that is before the gusty winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour, which means that it feels like -50 below and colder!

Schools are closed for most of this week. Businesses and restaurants have shut down. Even the local university (actually, every state college in Wisconsin!) has been called off. When windchill gets colder than -20 to -30 you can get frostbite in less than 10 minutes. Imagine how fast at -50 to -60 below. This polar vortex is brutally COLD and highly DANGEROUS!

This morning I woke up to about mid 50 degrees inside my house with -27 degrees outside and 11 mph winds. Brrrr! We called the technician right away and it was a relatively minor fix, thankfully. But it made me pause to be grateful that I do have a warm place to live and the means to have something like this fixed pretty quickly. When I look out my windows it really is both harsh and beautiful, in a Game of Thrones beyond-the-wall kind of way (can't wait for April...72 days, baby!). Doesn't mean I want to be out in it, but at least it is pretty to view.

So this month, what is on my mind is what I see from my cozy vantage point: snow, ice and frost. Yes, the sun is out and the sky is blue, but the cold is bitter even when it creates undulating landscapes of snow, crackled icicles dangling precariously and dancing frost on the windows.

I am so glad my husband bought me a heated bird bath to keep all my feathered friends hydrated during this weather! They have been flitting around the feeders the past few days so I feel like they know we love them. I especially adore how the cardinals pop out against the stark palette of winter. I do have an affinity for snowflakes and hoarfrost as well. And of course, there are the Let It Go sisters and their quirky snowman friend, Olaf, in case you are into that. I see lots of white and other frosty pastels, jagged crystal points and streamers of Swarovskis playing against a backdrop of stark steel wire. All are fair game for this month!

What winter image will you use as your inspiration?

Stay warm + be safe, and see you on Friday, February 15th to show off our FROZEN earrings!

First Frost

I know we're just getting in to Spring but these Frosty Silvered Stone Lampwork Beads by
  Judith Billig and some of my Copper Leaves definitely need to be called "First Frost".

I topped them with a little bit of coiled wire and some Copper Bead Caps with a beautiful Scroll design and Hypo Allergenic Niobium Earwires.

I took this frosty photo a few years ago for a Macro Challenge, thought it was a perfect time to share it again. 

These earrings are available HERE in my webstore.

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.com

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy

Frosted Flakes

“Frost grows on the window glass, forming whorl patterns of lovely translucent geometry.
Breathe on the glass, and you give frost more ammunition.
Now it can build castles and cities and whole ice continents with your breath’s vapor.
In a few blinks you can almost see the winter fairies moving in . . .
But first, you hear the crackle of their wings.” 

~Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration 

I noticed today that the Wisconsin River outside my office is frozen. Yesterday it was flowing along and today it is a mirror of the first layer of ice, reflecting the clear gray sky. Brrrr! It's cold outside! I guess that means it is time to start wearing socks.... (tomorrow ;-)

Each year I make some new holiday creations. The ones that I keep coming back to are snowflakes. I love the delicate intricacy, the beautiful geometry. This is the only sort of math that intrigues me and inspires me.

 I created these Frosted Flakes as a nod to my favorite winter motif. 

  

I made these Frosted Flakes in brass with a ginger color that remind me of painting the cookie roofs of my gingerbread houses with creamy frosting icicles. These charms are also available in my shop in a silver lacy bezel with a steel gray color in case you would like to make a pair for yourself.

Just like in nature, no two flakes are alike. And these sets of Frosted Flakes are the same - mismatched pairs of flakes to remind me that the smallest thing has beauty in my life and I need only to stop and look for it. 

 I kept it simple and added some graduated dangles of tiny vintage glass pearl icicles. This is the perfect outfit to wear for your gingerbread house decorating and cookie baking party, don't you think?

Available for sale in my Etsy Shop.

Erin Prais-Hintz invites you to go on a journey of inspiration at her blog Treasures Found :: Inspiration is Everywhere. You can view a gallery of her work at http://www.tesoritrovati.com/ or purchase her popular line of 'Simple Truths' in her Etsy shop.