A White Christmas & a Boxing Day Surprise

Had to take a 'housie' - it looked so cute all decorated in snow

Who says wishes never come true? 

Yesterday morning, we woke to a Winter Wonderland; the world outside our door decorated with a liberal coating of snow.  And it hadn't stopped snowing; there was more softly drifting through the chilly air like party confetti.  Snow Day!!!!

This being Seattle - we weren’t sure how long it would last.  By some accounts this was Seattle's eighth White Christmas since 1909!  Which is how we found ourselves wandering the neighborhood in the early morning light, drinking in the sights.  Pre-coffee, pre-presents, predawn, just us and the snow.

wandering the neighborhood in the half-light before dawn

Cherry trees limned with snow

It was a wet, heavy snow and I love how it highlighted all the little tree branches. 

These are photos of some cherry trees.  The snow made it easy to see the variations in branching patterns between different tree species.  Even the littlest branches of the cherry trees provided nice stark, dark lines of contrast.   That’s likely the reason they were also my most successful tree photos.

What an amazing way to start Christmas morning!  And sure enough, by late afternoon, the snow had begun to melt.  Today, there's still snow on the ground, but it's gone from all of the trees.

Snow equals Snowflakes!

In celebration of our first Snow Day in forever, our first White Christmas in even longer, and as a little gift for Boxing Day, I'm putting together a free bonus snowflake tutorial for anyone who has ever purchased my Snowflakes and Stars tutorial, or one of my snowflake kits.  This includes people who have taken one of my Snowflake workshops. 

How do you receive your copy?  Simply let me know where and when you purchased the tutorial (to the best of your memory).  On New Year's day, I'll send you instructions for the snowflake pictured in my earlier post, Hoping for Snow, (and below).  It's a 'decorated' version of my basic snowflake.  Make sure you include an email address, or some way to contact you!  If you send me a picture of one of the snowflakes you made, I may include a little extra bonus.  Yep, a little bribery because I'd love to see your work.  :)

Don't have the original pattern?  Purchase it between now and New Years, and I'll send you the bonus instructions, too. 

I'll send out instructions for this beaded snowflake on New Years

(Speaking of snowflakes, if there are friends who have a Cricut cutter and would like me to share how I made the paper ornaments, let me know.  They were really easy; the snowflakes are stock images that I combined with a circle frame).

 Happy Boxing Day! 

Hoping for Snow

There’s potential for snow in the forecast, both today and tomorrow.  Like always, it’s still uncertain; everything has to go just right (or just wrong depending upon your perspective) for it to snow in Seattle. Today, there’s a chance that by mid-afternoon, the fluffy white stuff might grace our skies and leave a light dusting all around.  The original inspiration for glitter!  If it doesn’t snow this afternoon, there’s a renewed chance of snow tomorrow.  In either case, no real accumulation is expected.

If it does snow, it will be our first white Christmas since 2008. That year was definitely a case of too much of a good thing.  It started snowing mid-December and didn’t stop until December 24th. Over a week straight of snow!  Pretty much unheard of here.  I only want an inch or two; a little extra decoration for the holidays, that disappears in time for the Tuesday commute.

And so I’m dreaming of a White Christmas, while sitting at my local coffee shop in front of the (gas) fireplace enjoying the quiet magic of Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas to all of my friends who celebrate the holiday.  In the immortal words of Irving Berlin:

May your Christmas be merry and bright, 

and may all your Christmases be white.