Once Again Into the Deep Freeze and Bead & Button Classes

There is a reason why we have good quality winter coats up here in the Frozen Northland, or at least have coats in varying sizes so that we can layer upon layer and upon layer. Today our high will be 4 F  (-15 C) and our low will be -2 F (-18.8 C). Of course with our 14 mph wind chill added to this, our temps will feel like -14 F (-25 C) down to -21 F (-30 C). In other words, it's going to be COLD. It will be in this basic temp range through Saturday. I'll be lucky to see a single customer a day with temps like this.

We're not this cold here, but check this photo out. This was taken by Niccol
Bonfadini (Italian) in Finland, and those are frozen trees! Aren't they amazing? 

Of course, that's not going to change my schedule. I'll still be swimming, turning on the computers and getting the shop ready for the day, then maybe meeting DH for coffee and a bagel, and finally returning one Christmas gift that just didn't work out before going on to Target for some household things we're getting very low on. I suspect I'm not going to be very happy while I'm outside, and I'll certainly be wrapping myself in blankets with a hot cup of tea when I chat with Aearwen later in the afternoon.

I just got a new Discover chip technology card from them in
the fall of last year, now they are sending another. This is
getting annoying and really boring. It's a pain going to
each autopay website and changing my credit card information. 

I had an email in my in-box this morning that I will be receiving another new Discover card within a week or so. I think this will be either the 3rd or 4th card within the past 12 months they will have sent me. I actually appreciate their diligence, but this is a royal PITA! I have a lot of automatic charges attached to this card, so when they replace it, it entails a lot of extra work to make sure that I have caught all of the various places that charge to this card, some of which only do it once or twice a year. *sigh* I suppose it is part of today's cyber culture and credit card issues, but I'm getting REALLY tired of this.

One of the classes I will be taking is this one - coloring the center panel, then
setting it into an elaborate wire-wrapped bezel and adding the chain. I have
dome classes that had some of these techniques before, but I like the way
they designed the project, so I'll have fun playing in the class. 

I did manage to get all five of my Bead & Button Classes yesterday, although the process was less slick than in prior years. Apparently the software was new this year. It was slower and a bit less clear about order progress than past versions. Nonetheless, I was successful, so I'm pleased. Once again I'll be playing with metal, fire and chemicals in early June. Yippee!

On Friday I'll be etching metal and then coloring it
with alcohol inks. Anyone who knows my work knows
that I've been etching metal for a very long time. But
I usually don't color the metal afterward, unless I enamel
or resin the etching. It should be fun to play with inks. 

Now on to my "day off". I have a lot to do, so I suppose I won't have time to complain about the low temperatures. Have a wonderful Wednesday, all!